The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-25 00:00:00

01:73 1!,44,4 t 7
itt-t
it 41'1444 e 01m1-‘NI ATIL

roVD ON, SATURDAY, FEB. 25, 18(35.

-- - 4.- -

The government of Ireland can never cease to be
one of the most interesting, as, unfortunately, it is
one of the most perplexing questions which come
before an English statesman. There are so many
ties which bind us to the sister island independently
of the ' mere political union—the natural qualities
-both of the beautiful island and of its gifted,
enthusiastic people, are so attractive, and the sense
of a long course of unjust and ill advised legislation
is so present on both sides of the Channel, that an
Englishman comes to the consideration of Irish_
affairs under some difficulties. No one doubts that,
b mpa guns adopted to-

wards Ireland in the early days of its subjection,
there have been years of misgovernment both
wilfully and ignorantly. The Catholic Dis-
abilities were manifestly a grievous injus-
tice to a people who still retained their
old faith, and the hardship was the more se-
verely felt because the natural gifts of Irishmen
especially qualify them for distinguishing themselves
in public life. Their fiery natures, chafed under

their comparative degradation and obscurity, their
enthusiastic patriotism burned at the depression and
wretchedness of their beloved country., and various
local and incidental circumstances helped to foster

a state of things which England could not have

wholly averted, but for which she was made wholly
responsible. Matters have now improved. What-

ever may be their mistakes or mismanagement,
Englishmen are now unanimous in their

anxiety to do justice to Ireland, and to con-

suit the welfare of her people, and thoughtful

and educated Irishmen have. long ceased

to raise the cry of wilful oppression and brutal
tyranny. The condition of the country is by no
means, however, such as we would have it, and the
difficulties attending any attempt at legislation for
a race and a religion dissimilar to those of the
governing country do not seem to diminish. The
picture drawn by Mr. PoPh HENNESSY last evening
was melancholy enough, and it lost nothing of its
force by his advocacy. The hon. gentleman is an
earnest and eloquent speaker, and the misfortunes
and grievances of the Emerald Isle found in him an
able advocate. But while all parties agree in re-
gretting the absence of material prosperity in Ire-
land, there are some considerations that should have
weight with the impartial observer. The crops, it
is said, have diminished during the last few years,
though this statement does not bear reference to
three very important branches, wheat, flax, and
potatoes. The wheat crop has been good; the flax
cultivation, as we all know, has greatly increased in
consequence of the cotton famine ; ,while the yield
of potatoes, that great staple of the peasant's food,
has been reasonably good. Still, some kinds of
cereals, it must be frankly admitted, have made but
a meagre return during the last few years—a fact,
however, not to be attributed to English misgovern-
ment, but to deficient harvests. Even in 1863,

when the success of the English wheat harvest was
the cause of general rejoicing, the Irish harvest was
not of a first-rate character, and this season the hay
and oats have been very deficient. This difficulty,
then, may be set down to an exceptional cause,

while there is a corresponding gain to be set
against the loss. The number of cattle
in Ireland, as those may remember who examined
the last official report, has very greatly increased
during the last few years, and a marked addition
may be also seen to the number of horses. These,
then, are favourable signs, and although the con-
stant stream of emigration that is going on from a
thinly populated country must be a matter of sincere
regret, yet we must bear in mind that an exceptional
cause has been at work there also. There can be
no doubt that the civil war in America has been
mainly instrumental in beguiling a large proportion
of the emigrants of the last two or three years across
the Atlantic. To an Irishman always poor, always
sanguine, and always warlike, the pictures drawn
by unscrupulous Federal agents have proved un-
fortunately fascinating, and those who might per-
haps have shrunk from the tender mercies of the
American army, had they known where they were
going, have often been enticed to the States by spe-
cious promises of profitable civil employment. We
may reasonably hope that the people are now getting
undeceived, and will not for the future be so easily
made the dupes of designing agents, and indeed the

reduction in the rate of emigration for 1864 en-
courages this expectation. Still the Irish difficulty
remains unsettled. The country is poor, the people
discontented and ill cared for, and yearly diminish-
ing in numbers, the crops are unsatisfactory, and
industry generally is not thriving.
Such, at least, is the picture drawn by the Irish
members, though some of their statements
are disputed by the members of the Go-
vernment. Mr. lIENNEssY's solution of the
question is a vote of public money for
public works, such as arterial draining and the re-
clamation of waste lands. Mr. GLADSTONE'S answer
to this proposal brought forward several substantial
arguments. He pointed out the difficulties which
stood in the way of grants of the public money, and
showed that, except in the instance of Lancashire,
which was a case of peculiar temporary distress,
money was not generally lent to England or Scot-
land, unless at a very high rate of interest, not so
much in order to make the transaction profitable,
as to avoid unfair competition with private money
lenders. In Ireland, he said, they had been willing
to proceed on a different principle, and lend money
without any'view to profit. "With regard to advances
in the way of reproductive expenditure, his hon. friend
said that, between 1817 and 1863, these advances
amounted to £13,959,000 for Great Britain. Of this
sum £7,658,000-and. £3,500,000 had been repaid in
principal and interest. Within the same period
£26,292,000 had-been advanced for public works in
Ireland, of which only £12,292,000 principal and
interest had been repaid." That point, said the
Chancellor of the Exchequer very justly, should not
be overlooked, because it showed that Ireland had
not been forgotten, and he further pointed out that
the difference of taxation in the sister kingdom
was virtually a grant to the people. Perhaps the
most singular argument brought forward on either
side in the -whole course of the debate, which after
all did
made b
reachdnoty a
Sir FAT
,con.cliuisEioynG,wasthe assertion
gravelyE and
supported
by other members, that many of the evils of
Ireland were attributable to Free Trade. Why
the increase of trade and commerce, the develop-
mentn:ercantile
the almost
very
of manufacturing and
in-
dustry, which are the natural
inevitable consequences of Free-trade,naarye,
things which Ireland most wants. If her industry
could have sufficient stimulus to engage the interests
and employ the energies of her people in developinc,
the resources and capabilities of their own land in-
stead of seeking other scenes of action—if a Judi
cious outlay of capital could be followed with some-
thing like certainty by a fair return of interest, the
evils of which Ireland so justly complains would in
a great measure right themselves. Increased com-
fort and plenty would bring increasedff half
-savage
and with the disappearance of the ha
degraded poverty of some parts of the peasantry
would disappear the agrarian outrages, the wild no-
tions of opposition to the law, ancllreland self-administered
justice. These are the cures which eland
wants,
and as gradually the prosperity and tranquillity of
the country developes itself, we may hope to see an
end to the evil of absenteeism and many other evils
which the rude and unsettled condition of the coun-
try now fosters and increases.

• r
Th47great curiosity which has so long prevailed
esPcting the fate of the Duchies is likely before
.5
_ysaTlong to be gratified it appears, for there are
r
signs and tokens that a crisis is impending. The
Prussian Ambassador at Vienna has signified to the
Austrian Cabinet the nature of the Prussian
claims in respect to the Duchies. It will not, there-
fore, be very long before this important communi-
cation is made 1111111i0 and

necessary to say gnat speculations will be rife on the
subject, and on flits the order of the day. In the
present instanQe there can be no doubt that there
is much more ground afforded for comment than is
usually the tase in matters of this kind, for the
Berlin Cabinet has been at no pains to conceal its
intentions throughout, if indeed it has not gone out
of the way to brave opinion and to defy criticism.
Under such circumstances, then, we are fully justi-
fied in premising that a rare spoil will be made
by Prussia, and that she will retire from the contest
self-crowned with the honours of war, and largely
endowed with the trophies of peace. The more
selfish and grasping, the more grasping and calcu-
lating the pecrple, the greater advantages do they
reap from then 3 affairs. It is a notorious fact, that
England has always been backward in making
anything out of a war, but it is quite otherwise with
kingdoms like Prussia, and those infatuated indi-
viduals who have persisted in declaring all along
that King WILLIAM and Herr von BISMARK did
not design any wrong to the Duchies will find them-
selves wofully mistaken, and may hide their dimi-
nished heads in future when political prophecies
are in vogue. One very significant circumstance of
the affair is that Prussia is making most strenuous
efforts in the Duchies, and working her way slowly
but surely in those. dearly-coveted territories.
There can be no doubt that it was on
account of some secret motive that the
settlement of affairs has been so long delayed,
and that the tactics of Herr BISMARK have been to
gain time officially while he made the best use of
his time in a private manner. As he knew from the
beginning what were the objects to which he
aspired, it is all nonsense to say that he was con-
sulting on the necessities of the case, and dwelling
upon the chief points of the arrangements in respect
to their bearing upon future affairs. Such excuses
may suit, and they may be made to suit, but as for
being valid, they are no more so than the men who
make them are genuine in their professions or
honest in their views. The Prussian party is making
great efforts to secure the passing of resolutions in
favour of annexation to Prussia in the Duchies, and
for that purpose many attempts have been made to
influence and direct those who give an opinion.
Next week an assembly of delegates will take place
from the political associations of Schleswig and Hol-
stein, and from their expressions much may doubtless
be gathered of the tone prevailing there. It does not
at all follow that we should glean an accurate ac-
count of the real, true, and circumstantial opinion
of the people represented, because there is every
probability that Prussian policy has, to a great de-
gree, triumphed, and that evidence will be afforded
of the success of the artful dodges and deep machi-
nations of Herr BIS3IARK at this Conference. There
is little chance that the Austrian EMPEROR and his
Government will deem it advisable to thwart the
Berlin administration, but most probably they will
give vent to their irritated feelings by making a
protest which will serve to satisfy the scruples of the
nation, and thus another instance will be afforded
of might triumphing over right. It is certainly a
new style of alliance for one party to dictate terms
to the other, instead of both taking steps to pro-
mote the success of the predetermined object, and
by common consent acting in earnest on terms of
equality.

It is satisfactory to notice that Mr. NORTON has
been at some pains to inquire into the merits of the
prosecution which has been instituted against the
Canterbury Hall by the lessees of the regular
theatres. It is certainly the right way to administer
justice, to be well assured of all the particulars of a
case before deciding upon it, and when this informa-
don can be obtained by personal observation so

much the better for the clearness of the decision,
and the just settlement of the dispute. At the
Lambeth Police-court, yesterday, Mr. NORTON de-
clared that he had attended at the Canterbury Hall
last Saturday, and that he had been much pleased
with the performances he had witnessed there. He
further mentioned that he had an opinion at the
outset as to the merits of the case on the evidence
brouilit before him, and his subsequent considera-
tion had served to strengthen that opinion. It
must be confessed that the decision which the
worthy magistrate came to was as good as could be
expected, and much better than would in all proba-
bility have been that of many in his position. He
proposed that the Lord Chamberlain should be
applied to for a license, which no doubt he would
grant, and, therefore, he postponed his " final adju-
dication" until the application was made. This is
the shortest and surest way of settling this vexed
question, into which it is impossible to say that
personal feelings do not in some measure intrude,
and over which trade interests must exercise a con-
siderable influence. Mr. NORTON gave the best
reason forhis delay in giving judgment, iu pronounc-

ing a high eulogium upon the character of the Can-
terbury Hall, and stating that for many years he
had not had a single complaint against it. So far
as the safety of the public is concerned, it has
been shown that the greatest caution has been
adopted, and that care has been taken to provide
ample means of security. There are four exits from
' the place, which allow of a speedy clearance in case
of accidental fire, and precautions are taken that

the fireworks fall upon lead, water being in the
midst of it. It seems difficult to understand in what
precise manner the performances in the Canterbury
Hall can justify the complaints made against them
upon the score of offending public taste, or of not
providing suitable means for safety or convenience ;
and it is to be hoped that the Lord Chamberlain,
by granting a license, will put a stop to these alter-
cations, and remove the legal obstacle that may
interpose to prevent the continuance of perform-
ances that have afforded great pleasure to the public
and reflected credit on those who have arranged
them, and carried them out in a spirited manner.

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES ON HIGHWAYS.--In accord-
ance with the decision of the noblemen and gentle-
men forming the deputation which recently waited on
the Secretary of State for the Home Department, request-
ing issuedhpiamtogereosfcilnodoonithoettvorodeernsgtnes
alonbyg hthimo
highwaysprohibitingof
the passage
certain districts, excepting during very inconvenient hours
at night, the following regulations were drawn up and
recommended by the committee appointed on that occa-
sion for apptlieriocoovmalotbiyveSsiorenuoGtbrie?orge Grey :—•‘ That in the
which waited upon Sir G
opinion
agricultural ofcommittee appointed by the deputation
ehGigrehyr,oßadasrti.t,luvpoinnhothsueffiuolhotf
for the protection of theypre
requires
the Locomotive Act,
:08 64h
a,
vi if Sirs
some
mGe eo
personr n e G Grey
accompany or
nreecrelortlpieersenognisnien,
charge of such engines whenq travelling ll? on the public roads,
whose duty it shall be to signal thye engine-driver driver when ho
deems it necessary to stop or slacken the speed of the
engine, and who shall be instructed to assistie
carriages drawn by horses passing such engines • horsesd and
further precaution it is recommended that the speed should
a
be limited to four miles an hour." The following 'is uthlde
reply of the Homo Secretary :—" Whitehall, Feb. 14, 1865.
My Lord,—l am directed by Secretary Sir G. Grey to ac-
knowledge the receipt of your lordship's letter of the 14th
inst., forwarding a copy of a resolution of the Agricultural
Locomotive Committee in reference to the use of locomotives
on high roads; and I am to inform your lordship that Sir
G. Grey does not think he is empowered by law to impose
on the owners of locomotive traction engines regulations of
the nature proposed in the resolution of the committee; but
that he would suggest that the owners of such engines in
any district in which a restrictive order is in force, should
give public notice that they are willing to adopt such regu-
lations, and should ascertain whether their adoption would
be satisfactory, so as to admit of a revocation or modifica-
tion of the order.i—l have the honour to be, my lord, your
lordship's obedient servant, H. WADDINGTON.—The Lord