The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-12 00:00:00

IRELAND.

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL, ALP., &c.

LETTER 111.

My Lord,—There was an omission in my last,
after the words "to become tenants of land of that
annual value," there should have followed, "to
which they would bo entitled if their share became a
prize."
Previous to comparing the proposal I have made
with the plans suggested by others, it may be as well
to state shortly the advantages which the proposed
tontine would confer on every one ; saying nothing
of those which would accrue to the Irish people by
giving them employment, for these are apparent to
every rational being.
Independent of the fact that it is hardly possible
any gambling could take place in the shares of the
tontine, such shares would only ba taken by those
who desired to make a permanent investment as a
provision for children ; and this is a most important
element in considering the most eligible mode of rais-
ing capital for agricultural purposes.
For such operations, if conducted in the best and
most profitable manner—and it is only in this way
the people can be employe d—can only make an
adequate return after the lapse of several years.
Subscribers to a joint-stock company will not wait
for this, while the shareholders in the tontine I have
proposed would advance their money as a permanent
investment, the first return of which would be at
the expiration of ten years.
The proprietors who are unfortunately obliged to
sell their land will assuredly obtain a higher price
from a tontine company than they would from an
individual capitalist ; for few would like to wait so
long for an adequate return ; while that delay is the
characteristic of a tontine, and one source of its
profit. Who would grudge this advantage to a dis-
tressed proprietor ?
And to those whose distress has been caused by
vicious legislation—yes, it can never be too often
repeated that the national cause of Irish distress has
been the wicked measures of Sir Robert Peel and his
party. Individual cases of extravagance may un-
doubtedly have occurred, but his Currency Bill gave
Irish proprietors the first blow ; then his corn-law,
which promised them a high price for their corn;
then his repeated assertions, down to a late period,
that he would never consent to a departure from the
principle of the sliding scale.
These were the measures to which Irish proprietors
are indebted for their present position. They be-
lieved then high rental was safe ; they entered into
mortgages and family settlements, and pecuniary en-
gagements, under this impression. Justice to the people
at last prevailed, and with classic retribution, by the
hands of the principal delinquent ; but where is the
Englishman vho would not do all in his power to
alleviate the distress of the victim ?
Then, with regard to the shareholders, who (un-
like the gamblers in joint-stuck companies, taking
shares with the view of selling them at a profit), are
prepared to make a present sacrifice for the benefit of
their children, or those whom they love. Is not
this a feeling which should be encouraged by all wise
statesmen ?
A tontine such as I have suggected would confer a
great social advan'age to the community; for if there
is one subject more than another on which there is
greater unanimity of opinion, among all wise men of
all nations and of all ages, it is the magnitude of the
evil which inevitably occurs in every wealthy coun-
try by the tendency to accumulate large masses of
property in the hinds of individuals.
Various remedies have been proposed, and some
adopted to meet this admitted evil; but all of them
fraught with the still greater danger of an inter-
ference with that bond of society—the rights of pro-
perty. But the tontine which I have proposed, having
a great number of prizes of different value, combines
all the beneficial effect of occasionally breaking up
and divid'ing large masses of property, without the
slightest possibility of incurring that serious danger.
If then the adoption of the proposed tontine would
confer such advantages to all—to the community, by
finding a remedy for an admitted evil—to the em.
barrassed proprietors, who will obtain a higher price
than they would otherwise expect—to the subscribers,
by enabling them at a present trifling sacrifice to
provide for a loved object—to the Irish people, by the
introduction of that capital which is essentially ne-
cessary kr their employment—and to Great Britain,
distressed by Irish woes--will your Lordship hesitate
to adopt it, because, forsooth, " One eyed Men" will
persist in calling it a lottery.
Now, let me compare this proposal with others
which have been made for the benefit of the Irish
people—first, that introduced by your Lordship fur
the reclamation of waste lands in Ireland, a wise and
salutary measure, faulty, as I believe, in some of its
details, but in its broad outline the proposal of a states-
man ; and it possessed, independent of its intrinsic
merits, this inestimable advantage—that men of all
parties and creeds in Ireland believed that it would
be most efficacious, both in its immediate effect and
in its certain consequences.
Sir Robert Peel opposed the measure, and, according
to his usual practice, commenced with misstating its
character. He untruly called it the " Drainage of
Bogs." In all probability his opposition would have
been unsuccessful, had it not been for the discreditable
conduct of a member of your Lordship's Cabinet. Be
that as it may, your Lordship was obliged to with-
draw the very best measure yet introduced for alle-
viating the condition of the Irish people.
Next came the proposal of Lord Stanley, also
bearing the mark of a statesman's mind. He did not
believe that the adoption of any one measure, however
useful in itself, could possibly be sufficient to relieve
the country ; and he would apply, with an unsparing
hand, to each distressed locality that remedy which
was most appropriate to local wants.
Then Sir Robert Peel introduced his nostrum, and
remembering the year when he used to drink
" Protestant ascendancy" and the " Immortal me-
reory," at a time when the surest path to place lay in
pandering to Orange bigotry, seriously proposed to
try colonization in Ireland, because that had been
successful nearly two centuries ago!!!
The public were amazed, the Irish rejoiced, for the
silly proposal was announced with all the pomposity
for which he is celebrated ; and they believed that
one who called himself a statesman would not con-
descend to raise hopes and expectations, without
being prepared to satisfy them by laying on the
table a Bill showing the mode his proposition might
be practically carried out.
Those who had watched his conduct on this and
other questions entertained no such belief—they knew
that the same motive actuated him in opposing your
Lordship's measure for the reclamation of waste
lands, and, in proposing this shadow, the result has
been that those three proposals, so singularly indi-
cative of the respective characters of the individuals
introducing them, have produced nothing for the
benefit of Ireland or of the Irish people.
Then came the proposal of Sir Charles Wood, by
the grace of the Greys Chancellor of the Exchequer;
but I must leave this and other measures for a sub-
sequent letter, and have the honour to remain,
Your Lordship's most obedient servant,
RIGBY WASON.
Corwar, Sept. 8,1849.