The Sun.
London, England, 1801-07-09 00:00:00

IRELAND.

.A.iUMMARY REVIEW OF THE, PRINCIPAL MEA.
SURES RELATING TO IRELAND, WHICH WERE
DISCUSSED IN THE LAST SESSION OF PARLIA.

MINT.

(Continued from our Paper of Yesterday.)

. HAVING briefly stated those measures which ate
of a general constitutional nature, such as the two
Martial Law _Bills, the Habeas Corpus Suspension
Bill, the Indemnity Bill, and the Elation Bill, we
now proceed to thoSe which come under the head of
Internal Regulation.
One, of the first benefits which Ireland obtained,
in point of Internal Regulation, was the Plan pro-
posed by Mr. AB SOT for the more effedual promul-
gation of the Statutes throeghout Great Britain and
• Ireland.. As to" Great Britain, he proposed to in-
- • crease "the number of Ads of Parliament which were
allowed to that most valuable body of men the jus-
tices of Peace. And as to Ireland, he proposed
•' to execute the measure upon a plan similar to that
which he had introduced for Great Britain in 1797,
viz, sending the Ads to the Great Officers of State,
the-Courts of Law, the Municipal Magistrates, &c.
He stated that the only hostile objeCtion to the
Plan, was the increase of expence, but he declared
himself by no means a friend to that species ,of eco-
nomy which would prevent the circulation and
knowledge of those Laws, which it is the duty of
the Magistrates to enforce, and which all persons
are bound to obey. His objed was, that the Public
Ads should be circulated upon one common prin-
. ciple throughout the United Kingdom, and he
conceived that it would materially tend to create
that identity of manners and habits which were so
necessary to an identity of interests: And a Bill
-being founded upon this Proposition, it passed with
general approbation.
Another subjed of considerable importance to
Ireland, was the Bill which was brought in to re-
gulate the Office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland.
That Office had hitherto been upon a very different
footing from the. Office. of Master of the Rolls in
,E w
ngland, for it as'a complete sinecure, 'and filled
-by persons not of the profession of the' Law. The
advantage of having an able Assistant to the Chan-
cellor, in the Master of the Rolls, was so obvious,
that even if the Union had not taken place, it would
:piobably have been made an efficient legal Office.
But in consequence of 'the Union, the presence of
the Chancellor of Ireland becoming occasionally- de-
, sirable in England for a considerable part of the
Session, the necessity of giving him an Assistant
became more apparent. Lord CAstn E EACH there-
; fore, on the 23d of February, called the attention of
the House to the subjed : he proposed to make the
'Office, instead of a sinecure held during pleasure,
an efficient legal Office to be held for life, with a
salary of 35001. a year. This Bill, after repeated
discussions, passed both Houses, and ultimately re-
• ceived-the Royal Assent.
In a very early period of the Session, notice was
taken of the peculiar situation in which the Mem-
bers for that part of the United Kingdom were
placed, on coining to attend their Parliamentary
duty, because they not only paid takes for raising
the contribution to be borne by' Ireland, but when
they came over to England, they were again liable
to taxation towards the contribution to be provided
by Great Britain, and that thus they became coin-
Tellable to pay in both countries ; a situation in
which no other description of His Majesty's Sub.
jeds were placed. The justice of this observation
was apparent : His Majesty's Ministers said, the
subject had not escaped their notice, and that in the
course of the Session it was their intention to pro-
pose some regulation to the House 'upon the sub_
)c. Accordingly, on the 3oth of April the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, Mr. ADD I NGTON, moved
for a Bill to exempt Irish Members from the pay-
ment of certain duties. He said it would be very
hard if the Gentlemen from Irleland; whose resi-
dence in England was not optional, but compulsory
on account of their Parliamentary duties, should be
made to pay taxes here as well as in Ireland. This
observation applied to Dired Taxes, for as to In-
dired Taxes, such as duties upon the various articles
fof consumption, no remedy could in the nature of
things be applied ; but the duties upon Carriages,
Servants, &c. &c. and more especially the Income
Tax, he thought, upon every principle of justice,
they ought to he exempted from. It was also his
wish that ail duties upon the passing of private
efieds between the two Countries should be sup.
pressed ; but in the progress of the Bill, apprehcH..
sions being expressed by some Members, that such
a Law might clash with the ACI of Union, by which
specific duties were imposed upon many articles of
that description, such as Plate, Carriages, Books,
&c. it was thought, upon the whole, more exile.
ilient for the present, not to make any provisions
which might even in appearance clash with that
Treaty, especially when the object in view was the
accommodation of Members of Parliament, This
point was therefore left open for future legislation ;
although in truth there seems to be a very sound
and, rational distindion between the carriage of
such articles as are merely the private effetis of
travellers, and those which are imported or ex-
ported in the course of trade.—The former part of
the Bill then passed without opposition.
On the 7th of June, Mr. ABBOT proposed a Bill,
the objet of which was to make the Laws resped-
ing Literary Property the same in the two Coun-
tries. The effed of this Bill is, to create in Ire..
land for the encouragement of learned men in that
Country, an exclusive property in their own ;Works,
4nd open to them the whole Market of the United
Kingdom, while it gives to British Authors the
additional Market of Ireland. , The Bill also,
in conformity ith British Ads of Parliament,
gives A right.
to. the 7‘Tniversity of Dublin to hold
in perpetuity the Copy .right of all Works printed
at their own Press, and within their own walls.. A
further privilege is also given to the University,
and ;o the Society of King's InnseDublin, entitling
'them?, for the use of their 4ibraries, to one Copy of
AVM Work published in the United Kingdom,
wki.c:4 the 4nthof -shool4 think 'to 'register for
th'e purpse gf ct444isiiing hi§ C)Wil Pac,l4lght•