The Sun.
London, England, 1836-04-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6,4836.

of the community at large. This important financial
maxim has influenced the financial policy of the pre-
sent Government since its accession to

.. vaall;G•

The Third Report of the Commissioners for in-
quiring into the condition of the Poorer Classes in Ire-
land, has been printed, and is now before us. We
regret that a day or two must elapse before we can
have an opportunity of republishing it for the benefit
of our readers. In the meantime we shall select a few
extracts from it, with a view to make the inhabitants of
Great Britain acquainted with the real condition of
their poor fellow-subjects in Ireland. We are sensible
that there is a strong feeling abroad in favour of the
Irish labourers ; and we are anxious to make it sub-
servient to the advancement of national justice. Those
who cannot find a cause for the discontent, the misery,
and the crime of Ireland in the following extract from

he Report of the Commissioners, know little of human
lature :

It appears that in Groat Britain the agricultural families
constitute little more than a fourth, while in Ireland they
constitute about two-thirds of the whole population ; that
there were in Great Britain, in 1831, 1,055,982 agricultural
labourers, in Ireland 1,131,715, although the cultivated
land of Great Britain amounts to about 34,250,000 acres,
and that of Ireland only to about 14,600,000.
We thus find that there are in Ireland about five agri-
cultural labourers for every two that there are for the same
quantity of land in Great Britain.
It further appears, that the agricultural produce of Great
Britain is more than four times that of Ireland ; that agri-
cultural wages vary from 6d. to ls. a day ; that the average
of the country in general is about Sid. ; and that the
earnings of the labourers come, on an average of the whole
class, to from 2s. to 2s. 6d. a-week, or thereabouts, for the
year round.
Thus circumstanced, it it impossible for the able-bodied

in general, to provide against sickness or the temporary ab-
sence of employment, or against old age or the destitution
of their widows and children, in the contingent event of
their own premature decease.
A great portion of them are insufficiently provided at
any time with the commonest necessaries of life. Their
habitations are wretched hovels, several of a family sleep

together upon straw or upon the bare ground, sometimes
with a blanket, sometimes even without so much to cover
them ; their food commonly consists of dry potatoes, and
with these they are at times so scantily supplied, as to be
obliged to stint themselves to one spare meal in the day.
There are even instances of persons being driven by hunger
to seek sustenance in wild herbs. Ley sometimes get a
herring, or a little milk, but they never get meat, except at
Christmas, Easter, or Shrovetide.
Some go in search of employment to Great Britain
during the harvest, others wander through Ireland, with
the same view.
The wives and children of many are occasionally obliged
to beg ; they do so reluctantly, and vith shame, and in
general go to a distance from home, that they may not
be known.
Mendicancy, too, is the sole resource of the aged and
impotent of the poorer classes in general, when children
or relatives are unable to support tlem. To it, there-
fore, crowds are driven for the mean; of existence ; and
the knowledge that such is the fact bads to an indiscri-
minate giving of alms, which encour%es idleness, impos-
ture, and general crime.

Such is the condition of the poo' in Ireland 1 But
what, it may be asked, has producel this state of ex-
treme wretchedness ? The people must have in them
the germs of this prevailing misery—it must result from

their habits or their creed--otherwise how could they
be so much worse off than the inha)itants of England
and Scotland ? This is
.the usual Tory cant when-
ever the sufferings of the Irish po)r are alluded to.
But no ; the people of Ireland have not produced the
misery under which they have so long languished. It
is one of the many results of the pent! code—the bitter
fruit of a tree implanted by Eng,lish bigotry, and
saturated with Irish blood. Thus, after centuries of
oppression, the poisoned chalice, o which we com-
pelled Ireland to drink so deeply, returns to our own
lips ; and in the full consciousness of the danger, we
are forced to quaff it to the very dregs. The humiliating
acknowledgment is thus made by the Commissioners :
It may be said that England, with the poor-law system
we condemn, has become a great and flourishing country,
while Ireland, without it, is in a state of semi-barbarism.
The fact is undoubtedly so. But because extraordinary
strength has withstood poison, it does not follow that poison
should be prescribed as a remedy for weakness. The true
cause of the greatness of England is to be found in her free
constitution. It is the spirit of that constitution which,
long and happily enjoyed, gives to England the energies she
possesses, enables her to subdue any vice that may from
time to time get into her system, and keeps her constantly
ascending in the general scale of civilization. Unfortu-
nately it is only of late years, and by slow degrees, that it
has been allowed to diffuse itself through the mass of the
people of Ireland. For nearly the whole of the last cen-
tury they were governed by a code, the policy of which was
to keep them in poverty and ignorance, and which was per-
fect for its purpose. It was, to use the words of Mr.
Burke, " a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance ; and
as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment, and de-
gradation of a people, and the debasement in them of hu-
man nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted in-
genuity of man." Although it is now no more, it has left
behind it habits and dispositions which are opposed to im-
provement, and we should consider ourselves accessories to
a continuance of them if we attempted to guarantee to the
labourer pauper-support, instead of endeavouring to render
him independent of it."
No honest Englishmen can read this extract without
blushing for the misdeeds of his so-oft lauded ances-
tors ; nor can he dismiss it from his mind without re-
solving to do his utmost to procure justice for Ireland.
What Ireland is, England would become, under the
same system of coercive government. Nay, we are
persuaded, that for one outrage committed in Ireland,
there would be ten of a more heinous kind committed
in this country, were the populace exposed to half the
privations and provocations with which the Irish are
constantly familiar. Nor would we blame them for
such excesses. Ireland has endured, and continues to
endure, what no high-minded nation ought to submit
to, unless by compulsion. Laws for the abrogation
of human liberty are only binding upon slaves. A
free people is bound by the principle which guarantees
freedom itself to resist them at any sacrifice.
With regard to the relief to be granted to the poor
in Ireland, the Commissioners find that they have
many difficulties to contend with, of which they ap-
pear to have had no idea prior to this investigation.
The remedy has been so long delayed, that the case is
nearly desperate. The following is their own account
of the embarrassments which beset them at the very
outset :

We cannot estimate the number of persons in Ireland
out of work and in distress—during thirty weeks of the
year—at less than 585,000, nor the number of persons de-
pendent upon them at less than I,Boo,ooo—making in the
whole 2,385,000.
This, therefore, is about the number for which it would
be necessary to provide accommodation in workhouses, if
all who require relicf were there to be relieved; and we
consider it morally, indeed physically, impossible so to pro-
vide for such a multitude, or even to attempt it with safety.
The expense of erecting and fitting up the necessary
buildings would come to about 4,000,000/., and allowing for
the maintenance of each person 24d. only a day, that being
the expense of the Mendacity Establishment of Dublin,°
and at other similar establishments in Ireland, the cost of
supporting the whole 2,385,000 for thirty weeks annually
would be something more than 5,000,000/. a year ; whereas
the gross rental of Ireland (exclusive of towns is
public
esti-
mated at less than 10,000,000/. a year ; the net income of
the landlords
is
only
nabtoulets4s,tohoaon,o6o,oolo.o,oool. ;
We do not, however, think that such an amount of i)bc re-
venue
ex-
penses as we have mentioned would, in point of fact, be
incurred ; on the contrary, our conviction is, that the able-
bodied in general, and their families, would endure, any
misery rather than make a workhouse their domicile. Now
if we thought that employment could be had, provided due
efforts were made to procure it, the general repugnance to
a workhouse would be a reason for recommending that
mode of relief, for assistance. could be afforded through it to
the few that might from time to time. fall into distress, and
yet no temptation be offered. to idleness or improvidence ;
but we see that the labouring class are eager for work, that
work there is not for them, and that they are therefore, and
not from any fault of their own, in permanent want.
This is a frightful prospect ; and many will turn
away from it in disgust, if not in despair. But the
1 Commissioners see in the untried resources of Ireland,

managed by a Board of Directors, and superintended
by the Legislature, the means of relieving, and finally
of the labouring popula-

--",t-

Ut removing me
tion. For this purpose they recommend the appu..-
ment of a Board of Poor Law Commissioners, and
Assistant-Commissioners, with the same paY.'ers
in
Ireland as Parliament has vested in that body in
England : that this Board shall commence its
labours by dividing Ireland into districts; to be placed
under the controul of local Boards that these dis-
tricts shall be all measured and valued, and that the
Commissioners shall be empowered to levy a rate
upon each district, proportionate to its valuation. The
money thus raised is to be expended in supporting the
indigent, and in reclaiming the waste lands. As it
may be impossible to collect the tax thus levied upon
the land, in time to defray the expenses of the new
system, provision is to be made for borrowing it
from the State—the debt being converted into shares
purchasable by private individuals. Vagrancy is to
be put down with a strong hand ; and encouragement
given to those who may desire to emigrate.
With respect to the other remedies, we must await
another occasion for detailing them. Meanwhile we call
upon the Irish Press to exert itself in the cause of the
poor—to establish its claims to those legislative indul-
gences it considers as manifestly its due. If we have
declined to vie with it in abuse, the cause is not to be
found in our indifference to the welfare of Ireland.
When the Irish Press evinces a more lively interest in
the advancement of the welfare of the Irish people
than does The Sun—then, and then only, will we ad-
mit that our claim to the notice of the people of Ire-
land is not equal to that of her local journals.

A public dinner was given to Mr. O'CONNELL on
Monday last, by the Reformers of Nottingham, greatly
to the annoyance of the small knot of Tories in that
town, who showed their uncontrollable spleen by issu-
ing a variety of placards against the lion. and Learned
Gentleman, which, however, had no other effect, than
that of encreasing, if possible, the enthusiasm of his
welcome. Never were such an unfortunate, predes-
tined race, as these same Tories. Every fresh effort
they make to redeem themselves in public opinion, has
just the contrary effect. When, for instance, they
formally announce their anxiety for the reformation of
all abuses in Church and State, not a soul believes
them ; and when, in order to prove the sincerity of
their zeal on this point, they propose the wholesale de-
struction of the Irish Corporations, they are laughed
to scorn, as men fit only to become the patients of Dr.
WARBURTON in Bedlam. Equally unlucky are they
in their hypocritical attacks on Mr. O'CONNELL. It
was but the other day that they had made sure of being
able to 'convict him at the bar of public opinion, with,
reference to the Carlow affair ; but with their usual for-
tune, they just reversed the case, and instead of
convicting him of peculation, convicted themselves
of conspiracy. Sir RONALD FERGUSSON, allud-
ing to this circumstance at the Nottingham dinner,
well observed, " he thought it his duty, having been
a member of the Carlow Committee of Inquiry, to state
that a more unfounded calumny never proceeded from
the lips of man, than the aspersion which it had been
sought to cast upon the Member for Dublin, in regard
to that transaction. He would tell them, honestly and
shortly, that his mind was made up, and that his tho-
rough conviction was, that it was one of the foulest
conspiracies that ever was concocted by a dying fac-
tion. He had the names of several persons, some of
whom moved in the highest, and some in the lowest
circles, who were implicated in this conspiracy. He
had the names of some individuals, he repeated, who
were employed to get up evidence with the hellish de-
sign of traducing a great patriot's reputation." In his
own speech, which preceded Sir RONALD FERGU-
SON'S, Mr. O'CONNELL made no allusion to this
Tory conspiracy against him—thinking, no doubt, that
the faction being already in articulo mortis, were no
longer worth powder and shot. He was, however, ex-
plicit and communicative on the subject of his con-
nection with the Ministry--a connection which, let the
Conservatives say what they will, is equally honour-
able to both parties—observing, " I am a Radical,
but I want to rally the Radicals round the standard of
the Whigs, for I am thoroughly convinced that a set
of men does not exist, more thoroughly determined to
work out, quietly but peacefully, the principle of Re-
form in every department of the State, than his MA-
JESTY'S present Ministry. I believe them to be
wise ; I know them to be good. Every measure which
they have adopted has been carefully digested, and
carried maturely into effect. They are the sincere
friends of Reform. This is my thorough conviction."
Yes, and it is this very conviction on Mr. O'Corr-
NELL'S mind that so infuriates the Tories. They see
that he supports Ministers, not from caprice, but prin-
ciple ; and that the league between the two is only to
be broken by some gross dereliction on the part of Go-
vernment, of which at present the Tories, with all their
foresight, cannot see the slightest chance. Hence, we
repeat, the hatred which these men bear to the very
mention of Mr. O'CoNNELL's name. Yet they trem-
ble at his power, even while they profess to set it at
nought: They cannot but feel that while his vast
moral influence continues unimpaired, there is no hope
for them ; but that they must be still doomed to
wither in " the cold shade" of Opposition,—they
who have all their lives been in the habit of
basking in the sunshine of the Treasury Bench.
What makes their prospect, if possible, still worse,
is the moderation and sagacity that characterize all Mr.
O'CoNNEL l.'s views. The utmost malice of party
spirit cannot now object to him, that he is either a le-
veller or a revolutionist. He asks nothing, he says,
but justice for Ireland ; and !though .a stanch Radical,
is willing to make every sacrifice in which principle
and consistency are not involved, to support a Minis-
try which has shewn such a sincere desire to promote
the people's welfare. He is no longer the hot-headed
Repealer, on whom the Tories so confidently specu-
lated, as being unable from his Ultra-Radical views,
to coalesce with any Whig Administration. He has
disappointed them cruelly in this, as in every other re-
spect, and will consequently, we need hardly add, be
never forgiven by them. Luckily, however, for his
own peace of mind, he, prefers their hatred to their for-
giveness, and long may he continue to revel in the full
fruition of the former !

Of the Parisian Journals only three were published
on Monday, in consequence of the celebration of the
Easter festival. We have, therefore, no intelligence
of any moment from the French Capital. In its
sitting of the 4th instant, the Chamber of De-
puties received, with murmurs of disapproba-
tion, a project of law submitted to it by the Minister
of Finance, for placing the manufacture of Beet-root
Sugar under the surveillance of the excise officers, and
making the sugar so manufactured liable to a certain
amount of duty.
PARIS, APRIL 3.—The Moniteur du Comnierce, which
now takes for its principle title La Paix, was seized yester-
day, for not having complied with the formalities which the
law prescribes when a journal alters its title.
The Emancipateur de Flandres and L' Artois, informs us
that its number of the 20th of March has given occasion
to a prosecution, by the tribunal of Douai, on an accusa-
tion of attempting to excite hatred and contempt of the
Government.

The Liberal do Nord has the following article :—" We
are informed that the Societe du Commerce, composed of
about 300 tradesmen of the city, and which directed its at-
tention to the manufacturing interests of the place, has

just received orders from the high authorities immediately
to dissolve itself, with a threat of the application of the law
against associations. We shall wait for positive informa-
tion respecting a fact of such serious importance, before we
attempt to appreciate its causes or its consequences."