The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-15 00:00:00

ElamNos..---It appears from the final Report of the Com-
missioners of Irish Poor Inquiry, that the average amount of
wages is about SW. pl. day, an:l that of day's employment, of,
hire, about 135 for each able-bodied labourer. If about eight
weeks, or 48 days, for the work upon their own land, be adderi
to the employment obtained by the labourers who hold land.
and if 14 days, for the work on their con acre ground, be added
to the employment of those labourers who, having no land,
take con-acre, the, average amount of employment obtained
during the whole year by the entire class of able-bodied la-
bourers will beabout 166 days. This, at the rate of 8.1,1. pet
day, gives an average of 2st. 31. per week during the whole
year for the earnings of each labourer.
There are several circumstances mentioned in the Commis-
sioners' statement of employment which, without explanation,
would appear incredible. The very small amount of employ.
ment stated to be obtained by the labourers in some districts
of Mayo, Sligo, and other parts of Connaught, arises from the
following causes. The population consists only of three
classes of occupiers whose holdings are so small that
they only require assistance, beyond their own families, during
harvest and potato-digging ; 2d, of " Spalpeens," who per-
manently occupy from half an acre to two acres of land, and
get the rest of their subsistence from the little work above-
mentioned, and by the young and ablest of them usually going
to other parts of Ireland, or to England, to work during harvest
and haymaking ; 3d, of the mere labourers, most of whom con-
sist of the families characteristically called " freeholders"—an
unfortunate class of poor, who have no fixed place of residence,
but wander from district to district, staying in or moving from
each place as work and fuel arc more or less to be had, and
living in temporary hovels which they build on bogs and
wastes, or lodging with the second class above-mentioned
(the " Spalpeens.") They subsist by taking con-acre to grow
potatoes in, by the little work of the country, and by the young
I men among them going, like the " Spalpeens," to other parts
of Ireland, and to England, for summer. work and harvest.
Another circumstance mentioned in the general statement of
employment which needs explanation is the large proportion of
the whole doss of labourers who are said, in some of the baro-
nies, to be seldom or never employed in consequence of age,
infirmity, and local circumstances. In districts where the land
is occupied by rich resident proprietors, or by good farmers
with sufficient means, the labourers are much employed ;
whereas in districts occupied by very small holders, and where
the population is dense, there is little or no employment for the
labourers, who are consequently in great misery. This dread-
ful state of destitution is also almost invariably found in the
suburbs and vicinity of towns, and on the edges of bogs and
waste lands, because the small occupiers who have been ejected
from their holding, and the labourers from their cabins, upon the
many estates where the " clearing" (ejecting) system has been
practised, all fly for refuge to those places, as the only ones
where they can hire or build a cabin. The aged, the sick,
the lame, the blind, and the widows, also -flock from all
quarters to those neighbourhoods to get habitations,
and to the vicinity of towns, because the number and
means of the inhabitants render begging a better trade
there. Hence the proportion which the number of persons
who depend chiefly or entirely upon alms for subsistence bears
to that of the whole class of labourers in many of the places
we have described is truly frightful, and appears incredible.
This congregation of hopeless wretchedness—these hives of
human misery—form, in fact, a complete suburb to almost
every town in Ireland.
It seems to have been the opinion of the great majority of
the witnesses, and the result of the inquiries made by the As-
sistant Commissioners, that employment has, in most places,
been gradually decreasing ever since the peace, or rather that
the population has increased so much more rapidly than em-
ployment (admitting the latter to have increased in many dis-
tricts, as is maintained by a number of the witnesses), that
the excess of the supply of labour beyond the demand for it
has been becoming greater and greater from that time to the
present moment. With respect to wages, it would seem that
a great reduction took place in their amount during the first
five or ten years after the peace, but that no great alteration
has since occurred in the general custom of the country, al-
though the distress of the labourer, and the avarice or poverty
of his employer, lead to occasional exceptions to this rule, such
as working for food alone, or for much less than the usual
wages, especially during the seasons when work is scarce and
potatoes are dear. Some of the witnesses, however, maintain
that the rate of wages has been continually, and is still decreas-
ing, in the same ratio as the number of labourers has been, and
is increasing, beyond the demand for them.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Fit. 14.

STURDY V. HADNUM•

Mr. Martin appeared for the plaintiff, a stonemason. The
action was brought to recover from the defendant, who is a
publican, the sum of 160/., the amount of a bond, which was
made on the 30th of April, 1834. The interest on the bond
was to be paid every April, on the 13th of the month, but de-
fendant had omitted to do so. The defence was, that it was
a usurious contract.—Mr. C. Clark, for the defendant, con-
tended that it was a usurious contract.--The Jury returned a
verdict for the plaintiff.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, FRB. 14.
LIBEL.-GOMPERTZ V. WESTON.

This was an action for libel, instituted by the Rev. Mr.
Gompertz, the late Minister of Harlington, against the de-
fendant, Mr. Weston, in sending a memorial to the Bishop of
London, imputing to the plaintiff acts of great indecorum in
the discharge of his clerical duties. The Lord Chief Justice
charged the Jury, and having gone through the different alle-
gations advanced by the defendant, his Lordship directed
them that such allegations having been abandoned by de-
fendant, their verdict on that issue must go for the plaintiff.
There were cases in which persons, if they acted honestly and
fairly, were privileged by law for the statements they might
make, and his Lordship could conceive no instance in which
such privilege ought to be more strongly sanctioned than in
a case like the present; but there was a certain degree of
limit to such privilege, and it was for the Jury to say, after
looking at the record and the whole evidence, whether it had
been passed in the present case.—The Jury returned a ver-
dict for the plaintiff--Damages, 200/.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, FEn. 14.
IN THE MATTER OF LORD IN,V. PAGET.
Lord Win. Paget, the second son of the Marquis of An-
glesea, who, it will be remembered, petitioned the Court, pray-
ing to be discharged from the King's Bench prison, and came
up for hearing a short time since, has been discharged from
custody without the intervention of the Court. The case was
not heard on the day fixed for the hearing, an adjournment
having been prayed to insert and serve creditors, but it was
then understood that the principal object was to effect an ar-
rangement with the creditors, so as to prevent the necessity
of a member of the noble family being relieved from his in-
cumbrances by taking the benefit of the Act. An offer of
los. in the pound was immediately made on the part of his
Lordship, which was accepted, and yesterday he was dis-
charged from prison. There were 14 detainers against him
which were settled. The debts inserted in the schedule, ex-
tending over a lengthened period, were not considerable, nor
did the schedule show any oxtravagance on the part of the
hon. petitioner. A noble relative of the family advanced the
money for the creditors.