The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-22 00:00:00

METROPOLIS.

Mr. HUME asked the Secretary of State for the Home
Department, whether he had it in contemplation to intro-
duce a bill this session to amend the law relating to the
traffic of cabs and public carriages through the streets of
the metropolis ; and, if so, when it may be expected to be
laid upon the table of the house.
Sir G. GREY replied in the negative.
THE POST-OFFICE EMPLOYES.

Sir G. BOAVYER asked the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer when the report of the committee on tho Post-office
would be laid on the tab!e I)

Jhe CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he
' stated last session,reply hon.
in to the baronet, the
subject
,_ Was under the consideration of the Government.
The "Pert
the referredreetropota to the claims made by some portion of
n efficers employ ed in the Post-office, and
these eitti,el
of the Polt-owfuere examined by the Treasury and the heads
the subject, a:ed. There was some difference of opinion on
thought itt,
twit
to undertake
the circumstances Government
with the subject, He
the responsibility of dealing
etbought the report in question ought
Dot to be laid
on
tt table, as it would be unfavourable to
the discipline of the
pubnDISTREseT/Zietei
s t,
On the motion for got, ELAND.
11Mo Committee of Supply,
Mr. MAGUIRE called
tiilhe attention of the house
to the serious distress which
he alleged existed in
Ireland. He trustedwhich that
hheezould be able to prove
that the statements rkaade as to the extent
of that distress, and the information
°ll
lie did not wish
which the Irish
executive acted was unfounded in fact
to say anything unfavourable of
contended
eanaiable nobleman
the Viceroy of Ireland, but he
too prone to view the state of
Ireland that he was
much
inclined to
rough a
tha member
Claude Loraine medium, and to be too
ignore the real condition of Ireland. The hou
then entered into different statistics to show
some time past there had been a decrease in the for
e live
stock and cereal production in Ireland. He quoted also the
report of Messrs. Sturge for the same purpose. He denied
in Coto that the number of poor is the workhouses in Ire-
land was a test of the condition of the people in
that country, though it might perhaps be a delicate barn.
meter on the subject. The fact was that th,Te was the
greatest repugnance to accepting parish relief, which in
some cases extended even to death from starvation
as a preferable alternative. He thought it reflected very
little credit on the sagacity of Sir Robert Peel that he
relied on the information on which he founded his opinion
as to the state of Ireland, and ridiculed his assuming a know-
ledge of the condition of the people from the fact that he
th
travelled 300' miles- through
(Hear, e country in three days.
hear, from Irish
.. members.) He next reverted to
the subject of the cusinolinatiou of the Irish p 0 or to receive

' pttl'ochial relief, and read extracts from different influential
parties In support of his statement. One of these writers
said that there had been 8 or 10 deaths in Sligo which came
under his own knowledge, and some of the letters stated
that the greatest distress prevailed in Sligo.
Sir It. PEEL said he believed the house was always
ready to listen to statements which engag d its sympathy,
but the alarm suggested did not come frJal the landed pro-
prietors of Ireland, as in 1846, 1847, and 1848, nor from
the tenant•farmers, nor from the Parliamentary represen-
tatives of popular constituencies, nor from the people them-
selves, nor from persons who had an opportunity of know-
ing the condition of Ireland ; but it came from a few per-
sons in Ireland who had their representative in Mr.
Maguire, whose knowledge of Ireland was of the most
limited and subordinate character. The season in Ireland,
he admitted, had been most unfortunate; the quantity of
rain had been unusually large, and there was a scarcity of
fuel ; but from the earliest period, apprehending that there
might be a considerable amount of distress, everything had
been done by the Irish Government to meet any unusual
pressure, so that the acctvations against them were most
unfounded. The cry raised and the representations made
of great distress in Ireland he asserted to be not true; on
the contrary, the state of that country was sound and satis-
factory, as evinced by the diminished amount of crime,
agrarian outrages, and evictions. He had had assurances
from lieutenants of counties, he said, entirely corroborating
the statements he had made, and he indignantly denounced
the attempt to conjure up imaginary grievances in Ireland,
which was now happily change I, and where the pledges of
prosperity were becoming daily more apparent.
Mr. WHALLEY made some strong remarks upon the
conduct of the Roman Catholic priests in Ireland.

Mr. MAGUIRE withdrew his motion.
THE REPORT OF THE IRON PLATE COM-

MIT FEE—THE PIER AT HOLYHEAD.
Sir F. SMITH asked the Secretary to the Admiralty
when he expected to receive the report of the Iron Plate
Committee, and whether he intended to lay it upon the table
of the house. They were now building ships of war, iron-
cased to a great extent, and the time had arrived when the
house ought to know whether they were being constructed
upon a true principle or not. The committee was appointed
early in the last session, and worked conjointly under the
War-office and the Admiralty. The subject was one of
vast importance, and therefore he would say, why had not
the house the report laid on the table ?
Col. DUNNE said, before the noble lord answered that
question, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty
whether the Government intended to complets the pier at
Holyhead, which had been so long promised, and when It
was three years since the question was first mooted, and up
to this moment there was not a semblance of any com-
mencement of the works for the pier.
Lord C. PAGET said he could not state at this moment
when the report of the Committee on Iron Plates would be
made, because there were three very great experiments to
come off, and they were so important that the system of
the plating of new iron ships wholly depended upon the
result. He believed the experiments would come off next
week. There were three great authorities who had pro-
posed plans, viz., Mr. W. Fairbairn, Mr. Scott Russell,
and Mr. Samuda. Upon these experiments would depend
their future proceedings in regard to iron-cased ships.
The committee had not been at all dilatory, as surmised
by his gallant friend, considering the vast number of ex-
periments with which they had had to deal. He hoped that
in the course of a very short time the report would be made,
but he could not state when it would be laid on the table
of the house. In answer to other questions, the noble lord
said that he felt nothing could be more unsatisfactory than
the state of the pier at Holyhead—(hear, hear)—that
question had been afloat for a good many years, as his gal-
lant friend had just stated. The Admiralty had had many
plans brought before them. The first would have cost in
construction half a million of money, and in regard to that
the hydrographer had pronounced against it, as the packets
would not be able to come alongside in rough weather.
Another notion was that the present pier, than which
nothing could be more uncomfortable for passengers,should
be made to afford shelter to the packets as they came in, and
that was under consideration. Another plan had been pro-
posed, viz., to construct a pier on the new system, as the
pier at the Isle of Man, and if this plan succeeded, it would
be much less costly than the original plan of Mr. aennie.
He was in hopes that in a month or so he should be able to
answer the question of his gallant friend in a satisfactory
manner. (Hear, hear.)