The Sun.
London, England, 1837-06-30 00:00:00

IRISH MAGISTRACY.

Mr. Sergeant JACKSON rose to present a petition
i'rom the Deputy Lieutenants and three other Magistrates
of the county of Kerry, complaining of the conduct of Go-
vernment in Ireland. They complained that a chief-constable,
M‘DJnogh, hal grossly insulted them on several occa-
sions—that a memorial had been addressed to the Lord-
Lieutenant, and after repeated applications inquiry was
promised. After very considerable delay an Investigation
took place before the Hon. Thomas Browne, Vice-Lieu-
tenant of the county ; and a Mr. Shea Lalor, a member of
the National Association, was sent down by the
Government to conduct it.—(Hear.) All the charges
brought by the Magistrates against Mr. M•Donogh
had been established satisfactorily, and all the charges
which Mr. M‘Donogli alleged against them fell to
the ground. -It was then stated that tile notes of the

investigation had been mislaid, and that no opinion could'
be pronounced by the Government upon the matter. - It
subsequently turned out that the notes had been carried off
by Mr. Shea Lalor ; and up to the present time the magis-
trates had received no intimation from the Government
as to its decision upon the investigation. He should be
exceedingly glad if the Noble Lord could justify the course
that had been adopted ; but, at all events, he would submit
that, under the circumstances, the magistrates were entitled
to the investigation they now prayed for.
Lord MORPETH did not mean to follow the Hon. and
Learned Member through the long detail into which he
had entered, but he thought he could shortly and simply
meet the statements contained in the petition, by merely
reading a letter which within the last few days had been ad-
dressed, by order of the Lord Lieutenant, to the Hon.
Thomas Brown, Vice-lieutenant of the county of Kerry.
He thought he should also be able sufficiently to explain the
delay that had occurred, and obviate the objection that
no result had been communicated by the Lord Lieutenant.
The Noble Lord then read the letter in a very low tone
of voice. We understood it to say, that the Lord-Lieu-
tenant regretted the long delay, which he accounted for by
the fact, that the first copy of the minutes of the inquiry
were destroyed by fire. The original was in the hands of
Mr. Lalor, who could not furnish another copy for some
time. Then, again, public business interfered, and the vo-
luminous nature of the notes of the investigation, which
required much study, fully accounted for the delay that bad
taken place. His Lordship, upon mature consideration
of the evidence, was of opinion that the admi-
nistration of justice in the district of Listowel, con-
ducted as it had been, did not merit the respect
and confidence of the public, and with respect to the
conduct of Chief Constable M'Donogh, his Excellency
considered that he had been guilty of great want of
respect to the bench, and that his conduct was repre-
hensible, and lie had commanded him to be severely re-
primanded and removed from his present station. His
Excellency, however, was glad that nothing had been proved
respecting his moral character, and as he had always con-
ducted himself with great zeal in the discharge of his duty,
his Excellency regretted that his judgment had not always
been equal to his zeal. With regard to two of
the magistrates, his Excellency thought that they
had shoWn much indiscretion on the bench and with
regard to another, his Excellency considered that
it would conduce much to the peace and quietness of the
district of Listowell, if the Lord Chancellor were advised
to remove his name from the Commission. His Excel-
lency also intimated the intention of the Government to ap-
point a stipend to the magistrate of the district, and he
greatly deprecated the practice which had been proved to
exist, of Magistrates receiving gratuitous labour from the
poor. It would appear from that letter that the delay
arose entirely from accidental circumstances, and he was
sorry to add that the Report, which was so anxiously called
for did-not at all amount to an acquittal of the Magistrates.
Sir R. INGLIS begged to ask by whom the letter was
written, and by whose order, and to whom it was addressed ?
Lord MORPET II had set out with stating all these
circumstances. The letter was written by the Under Se-
cretary in Ireland, by order of the Lord Lieutenant, and was
addressed to Mr. Brown, Vice-Lieutenant of the county of
Kerry.
Dr. LEFROY said the petition upon the face of it af-
forded grounds for a very grave imputation upon the con-
duct of Government. From the document which had
just been read to the House, it might fairly be presumed
that all that was sought for was some grounds for the ac-
pointment of a stipendiary magistrate.
Lord MORPETH begged it to be remembered that
the charges against the Magistrates were not sought for by
the Government, but were made the subject of investiga-
tion by representations addressed to the Government. As
things had taken the course they had now done, he felt
that he could not object to the production of the evidence.
only cbjeetion was to its very voluminous nature.

Mr. o'CoNNELL defended the conduct of Mr. Shea
Lalor, who was a gentleman by birth, wealth, and educa-
tion, and who was the equal, if not the superior of the
Learned Sergeant. The Magistrates, he was happy to
say, would gain little by having the evidence printed. It
hal already been printed, day by day, in the newspapers,
and the charges made against them had been clearly
proved.
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON had stated only one fact that
was not in the petition, and that was that Mr. S. Lalor had
belonged to the Association, and he did not think that they
were proper people to be employed by the Government.
With reTect to the insinuations of the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman, he received them as he did any other coming
from the seine source.
Mr. O'CONNELL said, the Learned Gentleman was
perfectly welcome to receive them as he pleased. With
respect to Mr. Lalor, he would receive the insinuations of
the L,..:arricd Sergeant as they deserved to be received by
anyrbonourable man.—(Cries of " Order.")
Captain JONES could assure the House, that however
it might be ith Magistrates in the south of Irdand, no
Mag;strate of the north of Ireland ever received gratuitous
Ltbour from the poor.—(" Hear, hear," from Mr. O'Con-
nell.)
Mr. WALLACE presented a petition from the Ma-
gistrates and Town Council of Greenock, praying that some
means might be adopted for the better conducting of the
private business before the House. The petition alleged
that according to the present mode of conducting the
business the expense was enormous : and there was no com-
munity in Scotland who bad not suffered by it during the
last three years. He (Mr. W.) was aware that a Com-
mittee had been appointed to investigate the subject, but
he felt convinced that no plan could be devised for its im-
provement, unless the private business was transacted before
the measure came into that House. The Hon. Member
also presented a petition from Greenock, in favour of Uni-
versal Suffrage ; also a petition from a parish in Fife for
the total abolition of the Corn Laws.

Mr. SHAW presented a petition from the diocese of
Ferns against the Irish Tithe Bill.

On the motion of the SOLICITOR-GENERAL, the
Lords Amendments to the Shire Hall Bill, after a few ob-
servations front Mr. Grote, were agreed to.

SUGAR DUTIES.

On the motion of Mr. BARING, the Sug2r Duties
Bill was read a third time and passed.
The Rolls Estate Bill went through Committee, and was
ordered to be reported to-morrow.
The Civil Bill Courts (Ireland) Bill was reported.
The Court of Exchequer (Scotland) Bill went through
a Committee, and was ordered to be read a third time to-
morrow.

A Message from the Lords brought up several Railway
Bills.
IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT BILL.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the Order of
the Day for the House going into Committee on the Im-
prisonment for Debt Bill.

. Mr. SHAW could scarcely suppose that the Hon. and.
Learned Attorney-General anticipated the Bill would pass
into a law this Session, and, therefore, it would be better to
postpone it for the present. He did not mean to offer any
objection to it himself, but there were several Gentlemen
who generally offered objections that were absent, and who
had not received any notice of its coming on to-night.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that his Noble
Friend, the Home Secretary, had stated distinctly the
other night that the Government would press the Impri-
sonment for Debt Bill through Parliament this Session, and
he himself had yesterday announced that he should bring
it on to-day. He regretted that any Member should be
absent, but he could not for that reason postpone the further
consideration of so important a measure.
Sir E. KNATCHBULL hoped the -Hon. and Learned
Gentleman would not proceed with the Bill this evening.
He thought it would only be a waste of time, because
he believed there was no probability of its passing the
House of Lords this Session.

'I he ATTORNEY-GENERAL felt there was a strong
probability of its passing the other House ; because some
of the clauses of the Bill were so framed as to meet the
views of several Noble Lords who had opposed it last
Session.
Mr. Alderman COPELAND considered the House
had not had sufficient notice of the intention of bringing
on this measure, which was one of immense importance,
its object being the alteration of the entire law of debtor and
creditor. It had not been forwarded a single stage since
the 6th of April, and they were now to proceed with it,
having had only one day's notice of such intention, which
he was bound to say, as a tradesman and a merchant, was
monstrous in the extreme.
Sir It. INGLIS did not know whether the Hon. and
Learned Attorney-General had come to any understanding
with the other House that the Bill should pass this Ses-
sion. He saw no use in the House of Commons proceed-
ing with the measure, unless there was a bona fide expecta-
tion of carrying it through the other House this Session.
The ATTORNEY.GENERA.L would not boast of
any under Standing with the other House of Parliament ;
and he was happy to say that he had never had any mis-
understanding with that House. All lie knew was that
the Bill would go up to the other house in the fair expec-
tation of its passing this Session.
The House then went into Committee on the Bill.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that last Sssion
there had been some objections made to the powers given
to the Commissioners in the 13th clause, and he should
now move an amendment, the object of which was to
limit their power of committing persons for creating any
riot or disturbance in the Court to one month.

Alderman COPELAND objected to any such power
Leing granted to the Commissioners. In the event of an
unfortunate debtor remonstrating against any order of the
Court, it might be construed into a riot or disturbance,
end the party might thereupon be committed.
The ATTORN E Y-GEN E RA L—lf the Commis-

sioners acted in such a way they would be halite to an ac-
tion of trespass, and a jury would award heavy damages
against them.
The amendment was then agreed to.
Clauses up to 32, after a short discussion, were
agreed to.
On clause 32 being put, which gave compensation to
gaolers,
Mr. WYNNE and Mr. PEASE objected to the clause.
Mr. HUME moved its rejection.
Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, but no division
took place, and the clause as amended was agreed to.
The other clauses were then agreed to, and the Report
was ordered to be received to-morrow.

On the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL the Offences against
the Person Bill, the Robbery and Stealing from the Person
Bill, the Burglary and Stealing in a Dwelling House Bill,
the Burning and Destroying Buildings and Ships Bill, the
Transportation for Life Bill, and the Tithe Commuta-
tion Act Amendment Bill, were severally read a third
time and passed.
The Beet Root Sugar Bill was read a second time and
ordered to be committed to-morrow (this day.)