The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-15 00:00:00

L' 11131 L IL

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 184 t

When we observe among the requisitions laid
before Parliament, the demand of the documents
connected with the transfer of Vancouver's Island to
the Hudson's Bay Company, we are disposed at first
to rejoice as at the chance of some obstacle being
raised against the completion of that disgraceful
transaction. When, however, we learn that the ar-
rangements for the grant are positively completed,
and that the House of Commons will be officially
warned that any interference will be useless, seeing
that the charter has been definitively awarded to the
fur-traders, our exultation at the prospect of a
creditable withdrawal vanishes. Nevertheless, we are
grateful to Lord LINCOLN for having required from
the Government the production of all the papers re-
lating to this miserable negotiation ; for those papers
cannot but lay bare the corruption, the nepotism, and
the pernicious precipitation which has characterised
the conduct of this proceeding throughout.
Nothing could possibly have occurred more inop-
portunely for the credit of the Colonial Secretary
than the recent discoveries of gold and quicksilver
in the diggings of California. The coincidence of
those discoveries at the very moment when the im-
mense island of Quadra was being juggled out of our
possession into that of a Company of mercantile me-
nopolist•=, reveals only in a more glaring light the
voishness and the shameless extravagance of the transac-
tion. At any time the l
abl ndonmtenc tan association of such ac.o
of
lony
as that of Vancouver's sand
merchants like the Hudson's Bay Company would
have been an act of the most reprehensible de-
scription, but at such a period as the pre-
sent, when the eastern shores of the Pacific give
promise of becoming the arena of the most extraor-
dinary commercial enterprises, the grant thus snugly
brought to a conclusion sub rosa amounts to little
short of an act of positive insanity. Let it be re-
membered that Vancouver's Island is situated as it
were within sight of the golden valleys of the Sacra-
mento--that it constitutes one of the most felicitously
placed coaling stations in the westerns hemisphere—
that it immediately confronts the western shores of
North America, being partially imbedded in a scoop
of that continent and that it occupies in re-
gard to the Pacific Ocean the position occu-
pied by England in regard to the Atlantic Ocean.
Let it be remembered also that it commands
the whole of that magnificent archipelago, which is
teeming with the most precious productions of nature
and art, spices and carved-Vory, crape and indigo,
china and japan—that the decoying influence of the
mineral wealth of California will attract, and is now
attracting to that hitherto neglected quarter of the
globe, a swarm of noloritsts, the number of which it
is calculated will amount before twelve months have
expired to upwards of 100,000 human beings—that
projects are already on foot for the purpose of cutting
through the Isthmus of Panama (a distance of only
and of thus shortening by a
twenty-three mils*),

* "Vancouver's Island, the Hudson's Bay Company,
and the Government." By James Edward Fitzgerald,
Esq.—page 23.

period of two months the voyage to the Columbia
river by means of a ship canal between the Pacific
and Atlantic Oceans. Let these facts ba• borne in
mind, and the enormous folly of this gran- of Van-
couver's Island to the Hudson's Bay Company may
be in some measure appreciated.
True, that in the charter between tl-p Company
and the Government there are certain specious and
ingenious stipulations, to the effect that the former
undertakes to apply ninety per cent. of all the moneys
received for land and metals in the colonization and
improvement of the newly-acquired territories, and
that in addition to this the Directors will generously
bestow upon their subjects the blessings of a repre-
sentative system and a free constitution. But with
the experience of their past short-comings is it ra-
tional to anticipate the fulfilment of the first promise,
or with the recollection of the dignity and
the immunities afforded by good government,
is it rational in the Cabinet to delegate to
a party of fur-traders this sublime prerogative, this
prerogative which should, under every circumstance,
be alone exercised by the Ministers of her Britannic
MAJESTY. Besides, in the event of the Company
really acquitting themselves of the duties imposed
upon them by the former engagement, they would in
the end be at no outlay whatever, seeing that the
Government of the mother-country engages to repay

to them, at the expiration of the period of occupa-
tion, the whole of their expenditure during the inter-
val—and, of course, among the other items of their
expenditure would figure very conspicuously
this ninety per cent. which is impudently
paraded as a sort of humanity-money by the monopo-
lists. The consequence of all which will be, that the
Company will, besides the proceeds derived from the
sale of the skins produced in the forests and jungles of
Quadra, take to themselves the whole of the sums de-
rived from the sale of land and minerals. As to the
possibility of any thing like colonisation being effected
under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company,
that man must be marvellously sanguine who can

form any such expectation. Beyond the establish

meat of some wretched settlements of the servants
required by the fur-traders, there will be no attempt
whatever at improvement in the way of populating
the colony with inhabitants of an industrious charac-
ter:; and the effect must inevitably be to drive back the
island in the scale of progress, just as the continental
possessions of the same Association have retrograded
when compared with the continental dominions of
the United States, with the two Canadas, or even with
the American colony of the Russian AUTOCRAT. It is
to this medieval or rather antediluvian body
of Nimrods chasing the savage animals
through the primeval forests of the New
World that the British Government, under
the instigation of Earl GREY, has made over a
splendid island like that of Vancouver. In this age
of advancement the Colonial Secretary in the Ad-
ministration of Lord Joux RussaLL has not blushed
to take this monstrous step of retrogression. Not-
withstanding the remonstrances of so many who are
acquainted with the intrinsic and extrinsic importance
of Vancouver's Island, that vast tract of land has been
doomed to a protracted period of stagnation ; the
result of which will be that the United States,
will get immeasurably " the start" of the
United Kingdom in the extension and
development of commerce in the Pacific Ocean.
What may be the consequence of this circumstance
it is scarcely possible to anticipate ; but that it must,
in any case, exercise a most pernicious influence
over our relative position in that division of the earth
is altogether indisputable. There may yet be time
for the Legislature to effect a modification in the ar-
rangement, and to diminish in some degree the evil
that must accrue from the family stock-jobbing of
the Colonial Secretary.

The proposed grant of 50,0001. for the relief of
Irish distress has excited considerable discussion. A
variety of conflicting views and opinions have been
elicited on the vexata quaatio, the working of the
Irish poor-law. That which was intended merely as
an aid to the more impoverished unions—to those
which without some such assistance would be
wholly unable to support the myriads of un-
employed wretches dependent on their exhausted
resources— while the discussion was pending, was
looked upon as in some degree affirming
the objectionable principle, that England
was still to be charged for the relief of
the poverty of Ireland. Many Hon. Members were
therefore naturally desirous to place their sentiments
on record, to indicate the decided opposition they
would offer to any such suggestion. It is well that
the matter should be fully and clearly understood,
that there should be no mistake on the subject. If
the area of taxation should be materially diminished—

if the liability should be individualised, and made as
far as practicable conterminous with property—there
will be many localities in which such aid must be
afforded, if we are not prepared to see the wretched
inhabitants undergoing the most fearful privations,
perhaps eventually perishing from the combined effects
of pestilence and famine. Every principle and feel-
ing of humanity would oppose a catastrophe so
horrible. The exigency would inevitably arise,
and England would again have to pour her treasures
into the country while a new arrangement was dis-
cussed. It is therefore impossible to be too explicit
on the point, the grand principle must be maintained,
" that the poverty of Ireland is the first charge
upon its property "—that nothing can be applied to
the superfluities of any until the necessities of all are
provided for.

It is with this view that the Hon. Member for
Stroud, and the Noble Lord the Member for Mary-
lebone, have given notices for this evening of ad-
ditions to be made to the report when it is brought
up. Neither would desire to withhold the assistance
that is so urgently required ; neither would suffer
the gold of England to be saved at the expense of
its humanity, but both would desire to preserve the
great principle to which we have alluded intact, to
bestow their charity in a prudent and judicious man-
ner—not on sturdy mendicants, who declined toil-
ing for their own support, but rather in
loans to assist the meritorious poor, who
only require a helping hand, and would thankfully
repay the aid they had obtained when their position
had been ameliorated, and they were reaping the re-
wards of their honest industry. _ _

In many cases we prefer the principle advocated by
Lord DUDLEY STUART to that of Mr. POULETT
SCROPE. There is one point in common which, we
trust, will receive the support not only of the English
representatives, but of the Irish also. Indeed, we
should suppose that the latter gentlemen would, for
the honour of their country, reject the alms
wrung from a reluctant people, although they

might freely accept the assistance which one
nation or individual might freely receive from another
without disgrace or shame. Mr. SCROPE and Lord
DUDLEY STUART, then, insist that the money shall be
advanced only by way of loan. The important dif
ference between them, however, relates to the mode
of repayment, to the funds from which the advances
are to be reimbursed. Mr. SCROPE desire that" re-
payment should be secured by a lien on the lands
liable to the uncollected rates, with power of sale for
its recovery ;" while Lord DUDLEY STUART pro-
poses that it should be " repaid by means of a rate to
be levied on the whole of the unions in Ireland, ex-
cept the unions receiving such relief."
'We fear that there would be great difficulty in
the law es
carrying the suggestion of the Hon. Member for
into tohpeepraotwioenrs;
every effo
rt h vas
been no Stroud
already into effect.
calledbeen made to collect the rates already' imposed, but
in
in vain. We really believe that in t
the o
meetrn
at
teei
rr
how
majority
of
instances the parties are unable
lia-
bilities, and that they could not do so,
Thesale
stringent might be the penalties of default.no
of their holdings for arrears of poor-rate would not
influence the nation in favour of the charge. An
organized opposition would speedily be got up,
and it would be with the utmost difficulty
that the majesty of the law could be vindicated and
its decrees carried into execution. On the other
hatid, there can be no rational objection to the course
proposed by the Noble Member for Marylebone. He
feels that it is a charge which Ireland can pay, and
:which she ought to pay, and that the best mode of ob-
taining that payment would be by a general charge on
the entire property of the country—in fact, by a
national rate.
What moral obligation is imposed upon the pro-
prietor of lands that happen to be in the same union,

to support the pauper occupants of the estate of another
person over whose property he has no control or
influence whatever, that is not equally participated in
by every person throughout the kingdom ? If once
the charge is extended beyond the proprietor the
more it is generalized the better. Why should not
poor-rates be equalized throughout the entire king-
dom, and the law of settlement altogether abolished,
so as to leave labour perfectly free, and to permit
the poor-law guardians to view the approach of
hard-working and industrious labourers without
apprehension ?
A very able work has recently appeared on
the subject,* and a general feeling is springing up
throughout the country against the working of the
present system, which costs the country thousands of
pounds every year, which is expended in useless and
unnecessary litigation. The wealthy parishes at
present escape comparatively scatheless, while heavier
and almost intolerable burdens are imposed on the
distressed and impoverished localities. We shall
always have the poor in the land—why should not
their support be as equally divided as possible, in
accordance with the means of the parties ?

We look upon Lord DUDLEY STUART'S motion 36
a step in the right direction. The principle is still
more urgently required in Ireland than in this
country ; and if it be affirmed, as we most sincerely
hope it may be, we shall not despair of an equitable
arrangement of the poor-law question, which will
be beneficial to the entire nation. Then works of
utility would be advocated without reference to their
locality, and parties would not try to promote jobs,
in order to lessen the amount of the claims upon them
individually.

We have frequently had occasion to animadvert on
the absurd decisions of the great unpaid, and to ex-
pose to public ridicule the arbitrary and illegal con •
duct of Justices' justice ; but few instances have
come under our notice of a more palpable and unac-
countable decision than the following, which has
recently taken place at the petty sessions at Dartford,
in Kent. Some inhabitants of the parish of Swans-
combe, evidently actuated by party spirit, lodged an
information against their own appointed road sur-
veyors for neglecting to keep the roads in repair, and
on the hearing of the complaint, the evidence being
conflicting, some witnesses asserting that the roads
were out of repair, and others that they were not so,
the Justices then present took a discreet and proper
course—they appointed a man of great experience in
road surveying, and who was living at a distance
from the locality, to view the two roads complained
of, and required him to give them a true and bin-
partial report on the subject, in order to guide and
enable them to give a fair and just decision. Thus
far nothing could be complained of, but when the
final hearing took place, and the viewer's report
(which was to decide the case) was to be read and
acted upon, other Justices were present, and not-
withstanding that report stated that when he (the
surveyor) first viewed the roads, one of the two
complained of was in a very good state, and the other
only required a few common repairs when the time
arrived for doing them ; that there was no part of it
on which the public could not travel with perfect safety,
and he might say it was in a fair travelling state,
and as the time had not arrived for judiciously per-
forming the repair of roads, the surveyor, in his opi-
nion, had not been guilty of inattention or neglect—
they, the Justices present, four in number, in 'the
face of this s report, which further stated that
all the roads were in a VERY SATISFACTORY STATE,
convicted the surveyors in the penalty of ten
shillings, and ordered them to pay all the in-
former's costs, which were no doubt very con-
siderable, as he and his party had employed an at-
torney, and also a surveyor to draw plans, and had
hired a vehicle to take their party to Dartford, 4lnd
regaled them there. Fortunately, however, the con-
viction was not only impeachable as being against
evidence and reason, but it was made in terms that
could not be enforced, and was altogether nugatory,
as the Justices when they convicted had no juris•
diction to act 1 The surveyors, therefore, instead of
submitting to pay the penalty and costs, gave notice
of their determination to resist the decision by all
legal means, and as no levy has been made,
or other step taken for several weeks past to

enforce the conviction, the matter may be considered
at an end, and the informer and his party will be left
to pay all the expenses they have so needlessly in-
curred.

We are in possession of the underhand means which
were used to obtain the conviction; for the present,
however, we abstain from relating them, but may
hereafter revert to the subject.