The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-08 00:00:00

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (IRELAND).

That part of his Majesty's Speech relating to Ireland hav-
ing been read,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said—Although, Sir, I feel no
apprehension as to the result of the motion I am going to
make, yet the subject I am about to introduce is of
so much importance, and I feel so strongly that
the question of what relates to the political condition of
Ireland is so difficult, that I approach it with great caution
and anxiety. United as we are with that country, and al-
though I do not believe that the people of England are either
hostile or indifferent to the welfare of Ireland, yet I must
confess that so much misapprehension of the subject exists,
that misrepresentation is to easily believed—( Hear)
—and with so much difficulty dispelled ; that impressions are
readily taken and hardly ever removed; that misstatements so
hastily are put forward and laboriously propagated—that
I feel great fear lest I should not be able to state my
sincere conviction on the subject ; while at the same time I
state forcibly, as I feel strongly, my firm impressions - and I
hope that my arguments will not fail to induce the House to
give its sanction and approbation to the motion with which I
shall conclude.—( Cheers.) Sir, the Bill which I shall pro-
pose is of that nature that it requires not any very length-
ened defence or explanation.—( Hear, hear, hear.) It is
simply a Bill to remove abuses, and to provide for the Reform
of the Irish Corporations.—(Hear, hear.)—The abuses are
not denied ; in truth they are stated to be greater than the abuses
which prevailed in the Corporations of England and Scotland.
Neither, Sir, is the remedy stated to be an unfit or an unsuffi-
cient one. n the contrary you have admitted, Parliament has
admitted, that the remedy which has been proposed was a
remedy fit for the occasion—fit to be applied to the
corporations of Scotland and England. ( Hear.) The whole
question, therefore, is this—that whether the abuses
being, notorious—that whether the remedy being suf-
ficient—you will apply to Ireland that which you have
already applied to Scotland and to England ? And in fact the
whole statement in opposition to this Bill is little more
than this, that whereas Scotland is inhabited by Scotchmen and
England by Englishmen, because Ireland is inhabited by Irish-
men, you will refuse them the same measure of relief. Now
Sir, I will only say, that with respect to the particular pro-
visions of the Bill, the Bill I now propose to introduce
varies very little indeed from the Bill passed by this
House last year; and that Bill was not different in its
principle from the Bill passed the year before for Eng-
land. There were one or two points, as the House knows, in
which alterations were made in the English Bill from that
adopted for Albtland • and there was also some difference be-
tween the Bill that had been introduced for Ireland, and the
English Bill—the one in regard to the franchise, as we had not
the same description of rate-payers in Ireland as we have
in this country—therefore, in place of the la fran-
chise, we were obliged to adopt the 5/. franchise. Sir, ano-
ther difference which was made in the Bill of last year—not
at first, but after it came to this House—was one vesting the
appointment of the sheriffs in the Crown. Now, Sir, upon
this subject I shall state generally my opinion that in
many of those offi,:es connected with the administration of
justice, the Crown ought to have the appointment. In the
Scottish Bill we give the appointment of the magistracy to
the councillors; in the English Bill that appointment
is given to the Crown. It is now in the Crown,
although the advisers of the Crown generally take the advice
of the Council. In the Bill we proposed last year for Ireland
the appointment of sheriffs for towns was vested in the Crown.
Now, Sir, I have somewhat altered that in the Bill I new