The Sun.
London, England, 1837-04-29 00:00:00

ESTIMATES

" Of the amount it would annually take to provide support
for the destitute unable to work, at' 2.1 d. per head per diem,
1,9531., or more than one-fourth of the rental and tithes.
" Of the amount it would annually take to provide for the
persons left without employment seven months in the year, at
3d. per head per diem, 18,5791.
" Of the amount it would annually take to provide for both
classes, those destitute and unable to work, and those seven
months in the vear out of employment, 20,5231., or nearly
treble the rental and tithes.

INFERENCEN,

" Proportion per acre on the cultivated land it would an- 1
nually take to provide for the destitute unable to work,
2s. sd.
" Proportion per acre on the cultivated land and that re-
claimable it would annually take to relieve both classes, 13s.
" Proportion per acre on the cultivated land it would annu-
ally take to relieve both classes, those unable to work, and
those seven months in the year out of employment, 251. 7d. "
I mean to read but one other statement. I assure the
House I am confining myself to a few of the many extracts I
have made upon this subject:—
COUNTY LONOYORD.--" Those who have a plot of early po-
tatoes dig them before they are half grown ; they often have
dug them out when they ought to be beginning to ripen ;
eating these unripe potatoes causes sickness; many men arc
put to their graves by this bad food; they arc pounded with
salt and vegetables, to give them a substantial body, other
wise they could not be eaten, they are so wet and tasteless;
they are soft as mushrooms."—See Ist Report.
COUNTY KILDARE.—" It is matter of frequent occurrence to
find able-bodied persons committing offences for the purpose
of being sent to gaol, and of getting food and shelter there."
—See First Report, p. 400.
" There are at least 200 families without straw to lie on, and
without any potato-ground, and, as they get little employment,
it is a miracle how they live."
COUNTY TIPPERARY.—" The poor have been known to live
on phrarragh (yellowweed), or on unripe cabbages or potatoes.
Even in ordinary seasons, no small number of labouring men
are compelled to allow their wives and children to have re-
course to begging."—See Report, p. 453.
I suppose there is not a civilised country i❑ the world, except
Ireland, where such details of misery are to be found.—( Hear. )
It is heart-rending. It is so extensive as to be almost incre-
dible.—( Hear.) But let it be recollected—let the House re.
member—that this evidence has been collected by gentlemen of
intelligence and humanity—( Hear)—that the Lord Archbishop
of Dublin, that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, that
Mr. Blake, aided by a number of Assistant Commissioners,
vouch for the accuracy of those statements, which underwent in-
vestigation on the spot. There was a report published in 1830—
see what a description it gave—the report on the state of the poor
of Ireland in 1830. Like the report of 1830, Mr. Nicholls, who
paid a flying visit to Ireland, reported that there were great
and encouraging prospects of the happiness and comfort of
the Irish. The report of 1930 stated it was gratifying to
them to notice the progress of improvement. Mr. Mahony
declared that "the state of the peasantry was improving very
rapidly," and that " the peasantry were now better clothed
than formerly." Then there was Mr. Wayne, of the Woods
and Forests, who said that every corner in Ireland was rapidly
increasing in prosperity. There was, too, Mr. Wigans, an
English land agent, stating that there was very great im-
provement in Ireland within the last 22 years. He stated that
he conceived there was even an improvement in the morality
of the people This was the evidence in 1830, but I have'been
reading for you the evidence in 1835. There, you find that
these prospects of improvement all end in this miserable dis-
play of wretchedness.—( Hear, hear.) I assure the Housa
I have shrunk from half the selections I have made;—( Hear,
hear.) The report says that the population is increasing ra-
pidly.) I know that it is generally believed that the in-
crease in the Irish population is greater than in that of the
English. The fact is not so. The population in-
creases more rapidly in England than in Ireland. The ra-
tio of increase from 1821 to 1831 in England has been 16 per
cent. ; in Ireland, in the same period, it has been 13 per
cent. This ratio shows that it is totally false that the great

increase in the population can be made 'fairly accountable for
the distress that exists. You see the pictures of misery that
Ireland presents—you behold it in its present condition—that
condition is attributable to the most frightful code which a
Satanic imagination could have invented. Did we govern
ourselves? Who ard this? You. —( Cheers. ) Englishmen,
I say you did it.—( Cheers.) I say that the domination of
England did this.—( Hear, hear.) You, you cannot accuse