The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-02 00:00:00

uN7 FEBRUARY 2, 1849,

at the very moment when he was compelled
to make allusions to the British intervention
through the medium of Mr. TEMPLE in the affairs of
Sicily, and through the medium of Lord MINTO in
the general affairs of the Roman peninsula. Had
M. DE LAMARTINE been elected President (as he
would infallibly have been had the balloting taken
place in March instead of December) policy would
have prevented such words from escaping from
the mouth of the English Premier. Now that a
causeless reaction has tranformed the poet from a
ruler into a simple representative, a sentiment of
magnanimity, if not of justice or of candour, should
have protected him from this unprovoked and paren-
thetical insult. Otherwise, the speech of the chief
Minister of the Crown was marked with all that
careful explicitness of elucidation by which he ac-
quired for himself distinction.
Viewing the debate of last night in one compre-
hensive glance, it is by no means difficult to dis-
cern through the maze of its discursiveness,
the portents of the three paramount sub-
jects of the session just commenced. Ireland is
dealt with more or less by every one of the political
athletes who participated in the preparatory skirmish
of the campaign. Financial retrenchment was for-
gotten by no one—from the QUEEN, who recom-
mended it to her faithful Commons, to Lord
BROUGHAM, who denounced it to the sympathising
Lords. And beyond these arch-difficulties of the
present epoch and of the present Government, there
were copious allusions to that foreign policy which is
stigmatised by the enemies of Lord PALMERSTON as
altogether unconstitutional; but which, in truth, is
the worthy emanation from his enlarged and liberal
intellect. With such themes for deliberation, the
records of Parliament during 1849 cannot fail to be
fraught with peculiar interest and extraordinary im-
portance.

It is now certain, not only from the intimation
containedi n the Royal Speech, but also from the
statement made by the Hon. Member for Devonport,
as to the matters that will be brought forward by
the Government during the ensuing fortnight,
that the condition of Ireland will be one of the
first, as it will be one of the most important topics
to be submitted to the consideration of the Imperial
Parliament. How are the labouring population of
that unhappy land to be fed ? By what means can
productive employment be afforded, so as to relieve
the proprietors of the soil from the enormous burdens
that press with such overwhelming weight upon their
resources ? These are questions which must be an-
swered, which cannot be postponed or neglected.
Something must be done, and that speedily.
If we were influenced by no higher motives, if we
were insensible to every feeling of humanity, our own
interests would demand that the earliest and most
attentive consideration should be given to the subject.
The landlords of Ireland will undoubtedly be the first
victims if matters should remain much longer in their
present state, but they will not be the last. They
may be involved in bankruptcy and ruin. The occu-
piers of the soil may be reduced to pauperism
And become burdens on the estates they
once cultivated_; and the labourers may be
decimated by the combined effects of famine and its
twin-sister pestilence. But the evil will not termi-
nate at the other side of St. George's Channel.
When the lands are suffered to lie waste and uncul-
tivated—when the entire country has become one
vast lazar house, and the wretched inhabitants are
dying by thousands—relief must be administered.
No alternative will then remain. It will cost far
more to preserve the people from absolute starvation,
to enable them to drag on a miserable existence, than
would now suffice to develope the national resources,
to elevate the social condition of the country, and to
divert the labour of its inhabitant. into channels alike
beneficial to themselves and to their neighbours.
Can any doubt exist as to the course that should be
adopted ? There cannot be a second opinion on the
question. The line of conduct dictated by philan-
thropy and benevolence will also prove the soundest
policy—the most unquestionable economy.
It is not, however, by large grantg, to support the
people in unproductive idleness, that these great
objects can be obtained. It is by stimulating
the national industry, by providing employment for
the people, that the regeneration of Ireland can be
accomplished. That is the first great want of the
country. If employment be afforded we shall no
longer witness the discontent that prevails in every
district, that produces agrarian outrages and inse-
curity, and thus banishes capital from the country.
Employment, full, adequate, and remunerative em-
ployment for the people, i► the only remedy that can
be applied to the social ills under which Ireland has
so long suffered.

How, then, can that employment be afforded ?
That is the great problem that must speedily be
solved ; if we would avert the most fearful misery
from our Irish brethren, and, perhaps, eventually
from ourselves. It is not by the Government be-
coming the general employer, and thus usurping the
province of private enterprise. Every facility should
be afforded, every assistance rendered to those will-
ing to embark their capital, but public works should
be avoided save as a dernier resort. Our experience
of the working of the Labour-rate Act, the enor-
mous expenditure that was then encountered, without
one single good result, except mere temporary sup-
port for the people, forbid a recurrence to that un-
wise and most impolitic system.
Many means have, however, been suggested by
which the labour of the country can be directed
into profitable channels. The reclamation of the
waste lands, the extension of the fisheries, the cul-
tivation of flax,—all afford beneficial channels for in-
vestment, in which large profits may be realised by
the parties embarking in the speculations, and great
advantages conferred upon the country.
There is, perhaps, none of those that have been
suggested which affords more propitious au-
guries than the plan to employ the Irish
peasantry in the preparation of peat fuel,
and charcoal, and thus to effect the full reclamation
of the bog lands, put forward by Mr. JASPER
ROGERS, the eminent engineer, and adopted by the
" Irish Amelioration Society." If fully carried into
execution, it will provide a constant source of bene-
ficial employment for the people, while it will afford
handsome and remunerative dividends to the share-
holders. A royal charter has most justly been
granted to the society, by which the individual
liability is limited to the amount of shares
subscribed for. The prospectus truly sets forth some
of the many advantages that will result from the
working of the project. It says—
"To the capitalist who joins this undertaking a larger
return for his capital will be secured than by any mea-
sure which has been submitted to the public for many
years past. But to the benevolent a far higher reward
is promised. To them are offered the means of achiev-
ing much more than was conceived in the emancipation
of the slaves in the British colonies—the present relief
and permanent amelioration of the condition in mind
and body of millions of their fellow-countrymen pressed
down to the lowest state of wretchedness."

It is shown that peat charcoal may be pre-
pared according to a process invented by Mr
ROGERS (and for which that gentleman has obtained
a patent), " fully equal, if not superior, to wood .char-
coal, for all purposes of iron manufacture ;" that it
may be made " superior in density," and at about
"one-fourth of the cost ;" that it possesses the most
valuable qualities as a fertilizer or manure, and
that its properties as a deodorizer of feculent animal
matter are superior to any that have hitherto been
discovered. It will, therefore, prove of extraordi-
nary value for sanitary purposes. The health of
the British metropolis may be secured by the
same means by which employment, with all
its accompanying blessings, is afforded to the
Irish peasant. An atmosphere redolent of dis
ease and death may be purified, disinfected, and ren-
dered innocuous. All those who have perused the
reports of the Sanitary Commissioners, who have lis-
tened to the harrowing revelations of Mr. GEORGE
\VALIER in his lectures on metropolitan grave-yards,
who have considered the tables of comparative mor-

[PRICE SD.

tality in different parts of London, will easily con-
ceive the benefits to be derived from its use. 'When
we find that in the more healthy parishes
the average duration of human life amounts
to 55 or 56 years, while in the more densely inha-
bited, badly drained, and badly ventilated localities,
it only reaches to 19 or 20 years, the absolute
necessity of some adequate remedies will be fully
recognised. An able pamphlet that has recently
appeared from the pen of Major-General BRIGGS*
fully explains the manner in which the proposed
charcoal will act, and exhibits the manifold advan-
tages of the project in the strongest light. If his
statement be correct, and we cannot discover any
error or mistake therein, we shall be amply
rewarded for the philanthropy that dictated
the establishment of the Irish Amelioration Society.
We shall find that " the quality of mercy''
is indeed " twice blessed," and that England will be
more than compensated for the benevolence exhibited
towards the destitute and starving Irish by the im-
proved health of its metropolis and the increased fer-
tility of its soil.

'ME FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
It is now generally believed that the military display
of Monday was got up solely for the purpose of intimi-
dating the National Assembly into passing tho proposi-
tion of M. RATEAU, and of endeavouring to irritate the
Republicans into some overt act of violence, which might
afford CHANGARNIER an excuse for lotting loose his
troops, and restoring monarchy at the point of the
bayonet. It was, in fact, a coup d'etat manque. The
Government has been unable to bring forward a tittle of
evidence to show the existence of any conspiracy, and it
is generally believed that the whole affair was got up
to intimidate the Assembly, to alarm the public, and to
give the Government an excuse for arresting certain of
their political opponents. Among those who have been
arrested is Count D'ALTON SHEE.

In the Assembly, on Wednesday, it was decided by
a majority of 458 to 250, that the proposition of M.
LEDRU ROLLIN for an impeachment of Ministers should
not be referred to the Bureaux. The Assembly then
proceeded to discuss M. BILLAULT'S motion relative to
the Budget of 1849. It was opposed by the Minister of
Finance, and was ultimately rejected by a majority of 7,
the numbers being—

For the motion ... ... ... ... 390
Against it ... ... . ... ... 397

Majority for Ministers
The Garde Mobile has been withdrawn from all the
posts which it occupied in Paris.

•
Through the intervention of M. DUFAIIRE an arrange-
ment has been entered into between the Ministry and
the supporters of General Csvlicruc with respect to
the dissolution of the Assembly. The proposition of
M. RATEAu will be rejected by a large majority, and an
amendment, to the effect that the Assembly shall dis-
solve after having passed the Election law, the law on
the Council of State, and the law on the responsibility
of Public Functionaries, will be carried.
The question of urgency for a proposition demanding
an inquiry into the conduct of the Ministers in calling
out the troops on Monday, was discussed in the Bureaux
of the Assembly on Wednesday, and a Committee no-
minated to report thereon. Seven members of the
Committee are in favour of urgency, and six against it.
The Committee appointed to examine the pr4et de loi
for the suppression of the clubs is greatly divided on that
measure. Nine of the members do not wish to discuss
the proposition of the Government at all, and propose
to reject it purely and simply. The six others aro in-
clined to support the closing of the clubs, but with
certain restrictions with respect to special eases. It
is expected that a compromise will be come to, by
which the law for the suppression of the clubs will be
passed, with the modification, that, instead of being
totally suppressed, the clubs will be only suspended for
two years. M. DIIELURE has for the last two days been
endeavouring to arrange the matter on this footing.
M. BAROCIIE iS appointed Procureur-General of the
High Court of Justice for the trial of BARBES and other
prisoners of the 15th May.
The Minister of the Interior, on Tuesday evening,
received the following telegraphic dispatch from the
Prefect of the COte-d'Or:—
" The conspiracy which was to break out in Paris was
concerted in the secret societies of this department. These
remained in permanent sitting during the night of the 29th.
Some dragoons, led by two wall-known socialists, who bad
put on the uniforms of dragoons, sought during the night to
disturb the public peace. This small band broke the arm of
one policeman. The two leaders, together with the dra-
goons,
have been arrested."
We read in the Journal de Lille of the 30th ult.:—
" During the whole of yesterday, from all the points
along the North of France Railroad at which there
were garrisons, troops were called to Paris by telegra-
phic dispatches. In the morning a special train started
from our station with two battalions of the 25th of
the line."

The Constitutionnel has following on the subject of
the proposed interference in the affairs of the Roman
States:—

" If we can believe our correspondent, it is an incontest-
able fact that a proposition has been made by Austria to
France, on the subject of a simultaneous intervention of Aus-
tria, Naples, and our own army in the Roman States. The
part which was reserved to France in this triple intervention
was below our dignity, and it was on that account that it
has rejected the propositions of Austria. Besides, at Geneoa,
as in all the north of Italy, persons were persuaded, as our
correspondent informs us, that France, before taking a deci-
sive part, before pronouncing definitively on the affairs of the
Italian peninsula, intended to await the result of the Confer-
ence at Brussels."

The second volume of the budget of 1849 has just
been distributed. It contains the budgets of all the
Ministries not spoken of in the other two volumes.
Considerable economies are proposed in all the Minis-
terial departments. That of Foreign Affairs is dimi-
nished 2,032,503 f. compared with the credits voted for
1848. The econnmy effected for that year amounted, it
may be remembered, to 3,643,1i100f. The suppression of
twenty consulships will give a saving of 300,000 f., but
the Government has thought it necessary to propose se-
veral sub-agents in various towns, in place of the con-
suls supressed. The budget of the Interior undergoes a
diminution of 15,315,368 f. The grants made to the
various theatres are to be reduced from 1,963,034 f. to
1,20,2001.; that granted to the Odits,m is not to be
continued.