The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-14 00:00:00

DISTURBANCES-IN CLARE.

Mr. O'BRIEN would call on his Majesty's Govern-
ment to say whether they were prepared to grant protec-
tion to person and to property, not merely in Clare, but
throughout the whole of Ireland, for the evils now preva-
lent in that county, if unchecked, would extend to every
other county in the kingdom where similar causes existed.
It was not his intention to enter into any minute details
of the numerous and flagrant violations of the laws which
had occurred in Clare during the last six months, for they
were already hut too well known to the House, however
they might appear in this civilized and eminently favoured
country. He should, therefore, content himself with
reading two brief extracts; one from a provincial news-
paper, the other from a private letter, written by it gen-
tleman of property in the counts., which would sufficiently
inform those who might still be ignorant of the pass to
which society had at length arrived in this part of the
sister kingdom.—(The newspaper extract, descriptive ge-
nerally of the panic which prevailed amongst the upper
classes, and the insubordination of the famishing peasantry,
has already appeared in this journal. )—The letter stved,
that the people were in the habit of occasionally assem-
bling in bodies to the number of 4,000 or 5,000, and
selecting 400 or 500 for the task of turning up all the
land that they happened to find under pasture, which of
course was speedily accomplished. It also set forth the
impossibility of procuring evidence, no matter how aggra-
vated might be the outrages committed. Officers of jus-
tire daily pissed the parties to their perpetration on the
highways at noon-day, without power to arrest them. They
cou'd even place their finger on those who to a moral cer-
tainty were known to have imbrued their hands in recent
murder, and yet legal evidence that would warrant their ap-
prehension it was impassible to obtain. He (the lion. Mem-
ber) did not accuse Government of supineness; on the con-
trary, he rather thought they had resorted to such measure*
as to the best of their judgment were calculated to check
the progress of these evils, and the Marquis of Angleses
sould not be too much applauded for the spirit which had
actuated his Excellency's present visit to the disturbed dis-
tricts, but it appeared to him that they had from the be-
ginning mistaken the mode in which they should meet an
exigency of so portentous a character. A single fact,
perhaps, would give the House a more correct notion of
the nature of the relation which subsisted between the
upper and lower ranks in the county of Clare than they
could receive from any description which he might lay
before them. The peasantry, in great force, a few days
ago, attacke 1 a gentleman's house which two policemen
were left to guard, and took possession of thirteen stand
of arms—yet, although the military arrived in half an
hour afterwards, not one of the domestics or menials of
the family could be induced to point out the road that the
perpetrators of the outrage had taken. Under such cir-
cumstances, the Magistracy felt themselves justified in call-
ing for the Insurrection Act six weeks since, and if their
application had been acceded to, he had no doubt that all
the bloodshed which had since taken place would have
been prevented. He did not, however, ask for it at pre-
sent, as he considered that it would now be ineffectual, but
he must here notice the opinion which was so prevalent
in Lonlim to the prejudice of the Clare landlords, to
whose griping avarice, as was alleged, many of these ex-
cesses were attributable. Now he did not believe that
the landlords in that county were more reprehensible
in this respect than the landlords of Ireland generally
and to his own knowledge many of those very land-
lonia had consented to take only half the rent which
in the desperate competition for land had been offered
them by the peasantry. He should himself recommend
the appointment pointment of a Select Committee who might be af•
forded
cor-
recte ifridetefi aenle farmers,
and
ornrtaus nity of examining landlords, but
intelli-
should thus tmheursitbseaead demeritsnabledt of
o come
the,
oea
body
under inculpation. For his own part, he attributed the
outrages so rite in Clare to the poverty of the people in
consequence of their numbers compared y
with th
f
employment. In addition to the excitement peeotimuce!letnlsly
tt
the utter destitution of the peasantry, their discontent, he
was way to adds bad been industriously increased by the

dissemination of political and religious diamensions.—
(Hear%) He should now ask Ministers what it was their
intention to do ? It occurred to hien that they shoUld
company instant measures of feir with measures of relief,
and they might hereafter consider how far emigration, ea_
loniiation of waste ittrifi, or a qualified system of poor
laws, might be practically eXpeilienr. With respect to one
of those plans, it was right he should mention that ayen-
tleman of property in Clare would be Willing to give a
large tract of waste less& fete ten years gratuitously, for
the purpose cf colonization by the Government. in con-
clusion, he should merely move, that there be laid before
the house a copy of the memorial presented to his Ex_
cehency the Lord-Lieutenant, from the Grand Jury of
Clare, relative to the disturbances which had taken place
in that county.
Op. the Itvottnn being secianded, and put froth the chair.
Mr. STANLEY was by no means prepared to deny
the extent of the grievances which the Lion. Gentleman had
noticed. He could not deny that the peasantry of Clare
Wert in a 'Aale of alarming insubordination ; neither did
he deny that infuriated attacks had in many instances been
made on person and property, and that evidence in such
cases was, as had been stated, very difficult to be obtained.
This system, he could not but admit, was still in full ope-
ration, having been unchecked by any efforts whisk had
been made to counteract it hitherto. The Hod. Gentleman
had indeed done (Government the justice to acknowledge
that they had not been remiss in their endeavours to obviate
tar l'emove those evils, but he appeared to think that it was
their duty at the very first incipient symptom of disturbance
to have had recourse to the Insurrection Act. Now, this
measure in effect amounted to a suspension of the Consti-
tution ; it was an extreme remedy which no Government
could feel itself justified in applying, except only in ex-
treme cases, where the necessity for such an enactment was
imperative, and where the danger was of alarming magni-
tude) and Mine !late urgency. He would not now un_
dertake to affirm that it might not be requisite eventually
to adopt the course suggested by the Hon. Gentleman;
but should this alternative be found indispensable here-
after, Government at all events, whether it might be a
merit or reproach, would enjoy the reflection that they had
not availed themselves of this dreadful measure until all
milder means had failed. As it was, they had made con.
siderable additions to the constabulary, and they had sent
down four stipendiary Magistrates, who, being uncon-
nected with the county, were of course free from local
prejudices, which there was reason to believe but too
often interfered with the due administration of jus-
tice. Indeed, Government hail some reason to com-
plain of the dereliction of duty latterly evinced by
a considerable portion of the gentry of Clare, who,. by
deserting their houses and flying for shelter to towns, left
a clear field for the parties to the perpetration of the out-
rages alluded to, and set no very laudable example to
their inferiors. The measures, however, already resorted
to not having had the desired effect, the Lord Lieutenant
was determined to satisfy himself by a personal inspection
of the districts where disturbances had become unfortu-
nately so prevalent, and Government were now waiting
with anxiety to ascertain the result of his Excellency's own
observations. Whether Ministers might deem it necessary
to apply for extraordinary power to suppress the turbulent
spirit, so generally manifested by the peasantry in this part
of Ireland, would now entirely depend on the report of the
Lord Lieutenant. A war subsisted un foubtedly between
the upper and lower classes, but it was not fur him to in-
quire at that moment to whose fault such a state of things
was chi, fly attributable. The Hon. Gentleman appeared
to think that rents were ton high, and in such an opinion
it was probable he would find numbers to agree with him.
He thought also that poverty and distress were the causes
of these frequent and frightful violations of the public
peace, and yet censured Government fur not having re-
sorted at the first blush to the extreme remedy of the
Insurrection Act. That violent and harsh mode of treat-
ment was now, however, in his opinion, insufficient for
the purpose, and he demanded what lie should con-
sider more vigorous measures. At the same time,
it would appear, from what had fallen from the
Hon. Member, that he was not aware of the
extent of application of which the Insurrection
Act was susceptible. It applied as well to offences which
were committed by day as to those which occurred at
night, and dispensed with the attendance of grand jury and
petit jury, the assistant .barrister and magistrates being
authorized summarily to pass sentence of transportation on
evidence being submitted to them. lie did not desire, on
this occasion, to enter at large into the distressing details
of these outrages ; but should it be necessary hereafter to
apply extraordinary remedies to the evils which all so
deeply deplored, he would be ready 'to lay before the
House the whole mass of information of which Govern-
ment was already in possession, and the Legislature might
then judge whether circumstances sufficiently called for
the application of the Insurrection Act. Neither emi-
gration, nor a colonization of waste lands, nor, above all,
the difficult and delicate policy of a modified system of
poor laws, would, in his opinion, relieve the distresses of
those who were now suffering under such a complication
of inflictions. The poverty of the people proceeded from
want of employment, and no system of poor laws short of
that which provided support for all who were out of em-
ployment would be efficacious, and the poor law system,
if introduced as a whole, would bring with it settlement,
and all the abuses incidental to it here. He would only
add that should extraordinary measures be deemed neces-
sary, Government would, without hesitation, have recourse
to them.

After one or two remarks from Major Mactiamaaa,
which were not heard in the gallery,
Mr. M. O'CONNELL must solicit the indulgence of
the House while he made a few observations on the motion
of the Hon. Member, since it related to a subject pecu.
liarly interesting to him as representative to those against
whom that Hon. Member had levelled his denunciation.
The causes of the evils that now prevailed in the county of
Clare were to be found on the surface of society,—the
fault lay wich the landed proprietors, on whom the effects
of their own system were now likely to recoil. All the
disturbances that had hitherto taken place, were so many
indications of a war of poverty against riches, and the
sources in which those outrages had originated could not
be mistaken. The county of Clare was a grazing county,
and a large p: rtion of the land available to agriculture was
appropriated to pasture : hence the deficiency of employ-
ment in comparison with the supply of labour. About
200,000/. was drawn from the county annually, while nut
one-fourth of that sum was spent there. The highest
penny of rent was generally demanded, aed it was a re-
markable fact in allusion to the excesses alluded to, that
they were always perpetrated to the loss of those who
squeezed the most from the poor, whilst the estates of his
Hon. Colleagues and others, who took but a fair rent,
were left unmolested and uninjured. Since the disfran.
chisement of the forty.shilling freeholders, the sufferings
of the lower classes had been materially aggravated, for
the strong arm of oppression had driven them forth from
their hearth. and homes, in order to make way for those
who could conduce to the parliamentary influence of the
landlord. In his opinion, the Insurrection Act, if applied
six weeks ago as a remedy, w have had but a temporary
effect, and must ultimately have led to exaggerated evils.
The lion. Gentleman then proceeded to animadvert on the
conduct of the Magistracy of Clare, as having contri-
buted to aggravate the dissatisfaction of the people. There
was one man among them, who was at the same time
chief eonst 'hie of the police, and a justice of the peace.
If any disturbance took place within his jurisdiction, this
justice constable, or constable justice, went out, and, com-
bining his two characters, arrested such persons as he
pleased, and then decided on their guilt or innocence. lie
hail been credibly informed that in more than one instance
lin the county of Clare, persons had been committed to
gaol upon informations which were never sworn ; and he
had likewise been informed, on equally good authority,
that more than once a magistrate of that county had de-
scended from the bench, to beat with his own hands per-
sons who were brought before him.—(Hear.) In another
district of the same county, there was a Magistrate who
examined witnesses in one room, and decided on their cre-
dibility in another, in which there presided behind the
Court an influence greater than the Court itself: in plain
English, that Magistrate stepped from his examination
room into a room behind it, well furnished with divinity,
in which, according to the decision of his lady, who had
heard nothing of the case, he decided on the fate of any
poor creatures who had the misfortune to be brought be-
fore hint. He asserted this on the authority of the Rev.
Malachi Duff (we believe), a gentleman of undoubted re-
spect thility. He contended at considerable length, that
the Magistrates of the county of Clare were not fit per
magistracy ; e
granted, a nd e
he
sons. to be intrusted with the power belonging to the
m
wascocuo nl
dfi pd
reonvt tthhaatt
po in t i f aCboenylomniititcoeeno.f
inaggutitr v
e
tradiction. He then proceeded to account for the manner
in which Clare, which had hitherto been almost a virgin
county,—for it had never been stained by insurrection
or rebellion, had fallen into its present state of disorgani-
zation. He attributed it to the conduct of Mr. Synge,
who had instituted certain schools in different parts of the
county, and had compelled, as far as he was able, the pea-
santry to mend their children to them for education. The
consequence had been, that the peasantry had errered into
combinations to resist his authority, and that they had at
last gone so far as to attack his house. It was now four
years since a memorial had been sent up to the Castle at
Dublin by the principal landholders of Clare, stating these
fact; to Government. The receipt of the natruvrial was

acknawledgd, but that was ail, for nothing Was done in
consequence of it. In that memorial, which he had no
doubt would be-found among the records of the Irish
office, and of which, at any rate, he could furnish a copy,
it was distinctly stated, that there hail 'commenced among
the peasantry, an organiiation which, if ..bt stopped by
the Government, must inevitably lead to very dattgerous
results. /'i'o interference had been used by the Govern-
ment, and the consequence was, that the spirit of insur-
n ction had proceeded unchecked, until it hail reached such
an extent, that neither life nor property were safe in the
county of Clare ; and now, at the eleventh hour, the
House of Commons was called upon to pass a law to put
down an ineuvrection, which, if Government had done its
duty by interfering four years ago, might have b-en
Chetkad without difficulty, and without any of that effu-
sion of blood which unfoi tunately bad since taken place.
The Hon. Gentleman next proceeded to observe, that
though he gave the Marquis of Anglesea every credit for
good intention of visiting Clare, much mischief hail
resulted from his visiting it at present. He had every
reason to believe that if the Noble Marquis had not gone
into Clare, the peasantry would have voluntarily surren-
dered their arms to those gentlemen whom they knew to
he their friends) and would have returned peaceably to
their allegiance. lie could speak of his owt, knowledge to
this fact, that the inhabitants of one parish had sent a
deputy to a Roman Catholicclergyman in Ennis, to inform
him that if he and Mr. Steele would meet them at a par-
ticular spot the next night, they would deliver up their
arms and return peaceably into the King's allegiance. He
likewise knew, that the example of that parish would have
been followed by six other parishes ; and he would under-
take to say, that after such an example had been set ti
the misguided peasantry, the people of Clam would, within
one month, have been as quiet as any other people on
on the face of the globe. It so happened, that in the in-
terval between the make of the proposal to the Roman Ca-
tholic clergyman at Ennis, and the time fixed for its ac-
complishment, the fact of Lord Anglesea's intention to
come to Clare was made known to the public. He (Mr.
O'C.) happened to be at the house of the Roman Catholic
clergyman when the deputy came to tell his Rev. Friend
that he could not undertake that the arms should be sur-
rendered up, as he had previously promised ; for the
people having heard that the Marquis of Anglesea was
coming down among them, had come to a resolution not
to give up their arms, until they saw something done for
their relief. He would only say that his Rev. Friend and
Mr. Steele had been anxiously engaged for the whole of
one day and one night in getting a partial delivery of arms
made. They were still continuing their exertions, and,
with the blessing of God, he trusted that they would ulti-
mately meet with complete success. Ile would not, how-
ever, have the House to suppose that because there was an
appearance of calm now, the gale had entirely subsided. It
was not for him, young and inexperienced as he was, to
point out to the House the best mode of availing themselves
of the present calm; but what he conceived would mainly
contribute to obtain the peace of Ireland, and to secure its
continuance when obtained, was to give the peasantry land
at a fair price,—to let the making and repairing of the
roads he given to the actual occupants of the soil, instead
of making jobs of them, as had been too long the case in
Clare,—to open some public works at the public expence,
and to encourage to the utmost its agriculture and manu-
factures. He thanked the House for the attention with
which they had listened to him, whilst trespassing so long
upon its indulgence.—(Cheers.) He was sure that if they
would only examine into the subject, they would find that
his statements were not in the slightest degree overehArged.
In conclusion, he expressed a hope that the measures
which the Right Hon. Secretary had taken for this paci-
fication of the county of Clare weuld be attended with
success, and would restore that county to that tranquillity,
for which it had hitherto been so honourably distinguished.
311.. RUTIIYEN hoped that the description which the
Hen. Member for Clare had given of the Magistracy in
the county which he represented so ably, would not be
taken as a description which belonged to the Magistrates
of Ireland generally. Certain he was that it did not be-
long to the Magistracy in the North of Ireland. He could
scarcely bring himself to believe that any Magistrate could
so far disgrace himself as to descend from the bench on
' which he was sitting, to beat with his own hand the poor
wretches who were brought before him. But if such
disgraceful conduct was exhibited by any Magistrate, that
House was not the tribunal before which his misconduct
should be brought. Application ought to be made to the
proper legal authority in Ireland, and sure be was, that if
such misconduct was proved to time satisfaction of the
Noble Personage who appointed the Magistracy, that
Magistrate would not long disgrace the commission of the
peace. The Hon. Member then proceeded to point out
what were, in his opinion, the most likely causes of, and
the most efficient remedies for, the distresses; of Ireland.
He thought that vigorous measures ought to be adopted to
put down an insurgent peasantry, because if such measuret
were not adopted, the insubordination of the district mighs
spread into other districts, and the tranquillity of the
whole country might thus he destroyed. Under such cir-
cumstances, he should be prepared to arm the Govern-
ment with the powers of an Insurrection Act, is case the
necessity for its enactment were clearly made out.
Colonel TRENCH complimented the Hon. Member
for Clare for the modest and able manner in which he bed
delivered his opinions upon this question. He must, how-
ever, remind that Hon. Member, that even admitting the
pretences for the outrages which haul been recently com-
mitted in Clare to be such as he haul stated, similar out-
rages had occurred in other parts of Ireland, where it was
not even asserted that ovh pretences had any existence.
He alributed the occurrence of these outrages to that
system of political agitation which was now so common
in Ireland ; and as a proof of his position, referred to the
violent language which had been used by several of the
agitators at their late meetings. He contended that the
same influence which haul produced these disastrous events
would, if it were not checked, produce before long events
still more disastrous. _ _ _

whom 11Ir .
the
lio STANLEYn.AI
es.
na
ber forth oa n of h
Clare
ee
had the
alluded Magistrates
w as a mtro.
Tumkins Brew. It was undeniable that he had once held
a situation in the police ; but be (Mr. Stanley) denied that
he had ever held the office of a Magistrate and of a police
constable together.—(Hear.) lie could assure the Hon.
Member for Clare that if he could prove such misconduct
as he had stated against Mr. Brew, or against any other
Magistrate, that Magistrate should not long be continued
in his Majesty's commission.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. D . BROWNE wished to be distinctly understood,
that there was no connection between the famine in the
west of Ireland and the insubordination in the county of
Clare. He merely rose for the purpose of snaking known
to the people of England, that the persons for whom an
appeal was now made to their charity were not in a state
of insurrection.—(Hear.)
Mr. BROWNLOW was inclined to attribute all such
insurrectionary movements, if that was to be the word,
as those which now existed in the county of Clare, to the
ryas
hear.)
En p
nnrl w,rn
aegaa(pei,st
eirint
htl
yternehed improving,—that
echmandrai increasing aar,
pressure of intolerable distress. He believed that there
was no people in the world more easily governed than the
people of Ireland, when they ware not driven mad by this-
tress.—(Hear.) He believed that great distress now ex-
isted in Clare, and that it arose from the heavy exactions
to which the people were exposed in the shape of rent.
What then was to be done? Was the Insurrection Act
the I),,st remedy for distress ? Would the sufferings of the
people be palliated by it ? Would they be fed,—would
they be employed by it?—(Hear.) He hoped that the
House would pause long before it consented to do the cruel
and unreasonable act of applying a severe measure of re-
pression to the distress of Ireland, instead of applying that
soothing measure of relief, which was better suited to the
nature of the case. He contended that the peasantry of
Ireland ought to have relief from the soil which they cul-
tivated. He declared himself an advocate for that mea-
snttiioldenmi
xngleids:et
quadrupled
elgratiuhteapettnlohedae:i
mea-
sure, which was now making great way in Ireland—he
meant a system of poor laws for that country.—(Hear,
presenthrmohei
of late
intritte t admitted
nlyiyi
as:a
eoltt
alert
rlitn
itssrh.:::lvalsaen,tolrre.f;tl
of Ireland were deteriorating, am:
populationl2wbrniveaeuttrsici3eihni,sn'ltoltkoafhtuotaidsiebel:the language of Dr. Doyle, in his late excellent
letter on the poor-laws, in a state of rapid transition from
wretchedness to ruin. He knew that in saying thus much
he laid kimself open to this observation--" You have great
wealth, you have large rentals, you have thousands of acres
belonging to absentee landlords, and you are perfectly able
to support your own poor :—but you do not support them,
you come begging to this country for the means of support-
ing them."—( Hear.) He knew that he laid himself open
to this observation, which no man felt the weight of
more strongly than he did. He did, however, hope that
on this occasion the benevolence of England would not be
implored in vain.
O'CONNOR DON made a few observations which were
wholly inaudible in the gallery.
Mr. O'CONNELL said that he did not wish to utter
more than one sentence upon this subject. That sentence
should be against the Insurrection Act ; for he well knew
that however effectual it might be for the moment, it al-
ways left a sting behind it which was sure to be roused
with increased acerbity on any new disturbance. He en-
tirely concurred with the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite
in the opinion, that the disturbances in Clare had nothing
to do with politict. indeed, tio,t appeAreci t 9 by ad-

mit'ed by every body but ibe G dlant Member (Colonel
Trench) near him. He had no hesitation, however, in
saving that the Gallant Member was altogether wrong.
The disturbances in Clare were att. ihutable to poverty
only, and that poverty arose from the produce of the
soil of the country being carried tiway by absentee land-
lords. He had never been a friend to poor laws, because
he had seen the inconveniences and the abuses of them ;
but he could not conceal from himself the absolute neces-
sity of a poor law for Ireland, unltss he could persuade
himself that the people of that country would starve in
quiet ; and that he was sure they neither would nor ought
to do. In his opinion the church and the absentees ooght
tt) contribute most largely to a poor-rate for Ireland. It
was not to be expected that a country poor could go on
much longer pay►ng the tenth of what little they had to
a church with which they had nothing to do, while they
voluntarily supported a church of their own. While he
was Member for the county of Clare, he laid made but
one application for a gentleman to be put in the commis-
sion of the peace. That gentleman wis a Mr. Bridge-
man, a person in all respects qualified to be a Magivrate ;
but the late Chancellor had not condescended even to re-
turn an answer to this application, while he knew that two
insolvents had been appointed Magistrates for the county:
and if the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite would inquire,
perhaps he would find that out of the four stipend;ary
gistrates, two had come under the operation of the Inseel
vent Act, though one of them, he believed, had not, to
use the technical phrase, been " clean white-washed."—
(" Hear," and laughter. )—However, he had risen only to
speak of the Insurrection Act. That Act, he was certain,
would be productive of no good,—it would be merely
turning the Magistrates into a court-martial, with all the
roughness and severity, but with none of the honour and
fairness, of a military court-martial.
Colonel TRENCH denied that he had attributed the in-
surrection in Clare to politics. Ile had alluded to other
parts of the country where the absence of poverty and tl:e
conduct of the landlords ought to have prevented insure ec-
! tion among the peasantry.

Mr. LEADER said, that whatever means might be
adopted for quelling the disturbances in Clare, yet the
principal object of their consideration ought to be what
measures would prevent those disturbances spreading into
other parts of the country. On the other side of the
Shannon there were 1,000 square miles destitute of their
natural protectors, who were absentees. Could it he de.
nied, then, that there was the utmost danger of the disturb-
ances of Clare extending to Limerick ? He thought not,
when the contiguity of the two counties, and the circum-
stances of them, were maturely considered. The re-
sources of Ireland used to consist in its linen trade, and in
the exportation of cattle, provisions, and corn. All that
now remained of these resources was the export iLion of
corn : and it appeared to him to he a subject of serious
consideration, that the labour of 8,000,000 persons should
be limited to the production of 300,000 or 400,000 quar-
ters of wheat. He felt that he should be wanting in his
duty as an Irish gentleman, and as a Member of that
ilouse, if he did not warn them that nothing would do
but to look for some ameliorating system which would
give the people support ; and as the absentees would
not come forward voluntarily to retrieve the fortunes of
the country, such an ameliorating system could be found
only in assessment upon a very extended scale. This was
net a matter in which Ireland only was concerned. Eng-
land was quite as much interested in it as Ireland was.
This, he was well aware, was the place on which the
battle of Ireland was to be fought,—and not at fails, and
with pikes and bludgeons. Let him then assure the
House, that he spoke the sentiments of numbers of Irish
gentlemen when he said, that if the House did not inter-
fere and ameliorate the condition of Ireland by legislation,
the Irish gentlemen had no hope that they should be able
to remain in the country with security, or to be ancillary
to the improvement of Ireland.
Mr. M. FITZGERALD said, that if the case of dis-
tress and of the disorganization of society in Clare was so
serious as it had been represented to be, he begged to call
the attention of the House to a matter still more serious,—
namely, how far the Government was prepared to arrest
the progress of this state of things to other parts of the
country. Ministers must and would, he was sure, do him
the justice t t say, that four months aeo he called upon
the Got ernment to arm themselves with force adequate to
the con ing danger ; for four months ago he hat foreseen
that danger. Would the Government now dare to tell
him—would they dare to tell Ireland, that within those
four months they had taken precautions adequate to the
emergency? Tl'e people of that part of the country in
which his property was situated wets quiet and tranquil at
present, and he trusted that they would remain so ; but
was he for that reason to be insensible to the dangers
which threatened other parts of the country ? He would
not now inquire into the causes of disturbances,—though
he was prepared to enter into the inquiry at any conve-
nient time, and when the inquiry was instituted, he did
not think there would be much difference of opinion with
regard to those causes. What, however, he wanted to
know was this,—had the Government used proper precau-
tions ? He was not called upon to enter into a defence of
the conduct of Irish landlords generally; it was sufficient
for him if he could justify his own conduct as a landlord :
but he must say, that no one had a right to stigmatize the
Irish landlords without knowing what they had had to
contend with for the last 35 years. It was notorious,
that in some parts of Ireland many gentlemen had been
for 35 years past in what was called a state of siege.
lie was not interested in praising or censuring the land-
lords of Clare ; he had nothing to do with their
conduct, of which he knew little ; but he must say that
no Government ought to excuse or tolerate open disorga-
nization and outrage, on the grounds that landlords had
not conducted themselves as well as they might have done.
It was the business of Government to uphold the laws.
If it were necessary for him to state it, he was ready to
state what he as an individual should be prepared to do
under the circumstances; but he objected altogether to
the Insurrection Act ; he objected to it twenty-five years
ago, and he objected to it now. lie objected to it prin-
cipally on the grounds which had been urged by the Hon.
Member for Waterford ; but he objected to it in this par-
ticular ease upon this other ground also—namely, that if
the gentlemen of Clare were, as they had been represented,
afraid to remain in their houses, they certainly were not
persons to whom the administration of such an act ought
I ought to be entrusted. lie protested against the having
recourse to the Insurrection Act, and upon this amongst
other grounds—that it was a law which was extremely
liable to be abused and perverted. In his opinion, when
any departure was made from the law and practice of the
Constitution of the country, it should depend upon the
respensibility of the Government, and not upon that of
the local Magistracy. It was much to be apprehended it
measures were not promptly taken by the Government
to put an end to the atrocities which were now being com-
mitted in the south -west of Ireland,that the evil would spread
to such an extent, and the system of disorganization would
become so general, that it would be extremely hard to
deal with it. He would therefore urge upon his Majesty's
Government the necessity of adopting some measures for
that purpose without delay. He did not concur with those
who thought that the distress or poverty of Ireland palli-
ated the enormities which had been lately committed in
some parts of Clare ; but he would contend, at the same
time, that the Government and the Legislature should
speedily set about devising measures for bettering the con-
dition of the people of that country. He was astonished
by the doctrine which, if he had not greatly misunderstood
the Hon. Member for Kilkenny, had been put forth that
night by that lion. Member—namely, that the agricultu-
ral exports of Ireland were productive of evil to that
country, and that the 300,000 quarters of wheat which
he stated was the amount exported from Ireland, would, if
retained there, provide food for the now destitute and starv-
ing population. The Hon. Member seemed to forget that
if a prohibition were laid upon the export of corn for Ire-
land, the amount which was now exported from it might
not be produced there. One of the sound and common
sense maxims of political economy might have reminded
the Hon. Member that such would be the effect of
placing a restricting upon the exporting the agricul
rural produce of Ireland. There was much improve-
ment required in the mode in which the peasantry were
treated in Ireland. The real interests of the landlords
of Ireland would be truly consulted and promoted
manyw in-
stancesould
state that he derived a return of 12 per cent. and upwards
by affording adequate settlements, upon fair and moderate
terms, to the peasantry upon their lands. Wherever
his
own mention
case
he capital was thus expended on land in Ireland, it invariably
gave
in proof
an abundant
of
oreturn.lce
in could,
and i
from capital so laiffout. It was quite true that in many
parts of Ireland, as had been stated by the Hon. Member
for Clare with regard to that county, the best lands were
devoted to pasture, and in such districts the people were
treated with more harshness than elsewhere. No pallia-
tion MIS to be found for the outrages which had been lately
committed by the peasantry in Ireland—the effects of such
outrageous proceedings recoiled upon the people themselves;
but he was sure that if the peasantry were treated in a
different manner from that in which they had been treated
hitherto, the pacification of the country would be the result.
Mr. LEADER in explanation said, that he had not
uttered a word against the exports of Ireland, and that, on
the contrary, he had always used his best exertions to pro-
mote and increase the exports of Ireland.
Mr. JAMES GRATTAN said, that the Right Hon.
Gentleman (the Member for Kerry) had touched upon a

variety of subjects., and had adverted to many of the ex-
isting grievances in Ireland, but he sat down without
pointing out any remedy for their removal. It appeared
to him that the Right Hon. Gentleman had drawn a very
exaggerated picture of the state of Ireland. The evil of
absentees was one of the great and leading evils that af-
flicted Ireland, and the only way to cure it was to intro-
duce a provision for the poor into that country. He did
not see how any one who had voted for the union of Ire-
land with this country could refuse to give his support to
such a measure as that. The question of the introduction
of the poor laws into Leland was one which had recently
made great progress, and he trusted that it would very
soon be carried. He hoped that the old and hacknied sys-
tem of governing Ireland by the Insurrection Act, which
had been so often tried, and which had so signally failed,
would not now be again resorted to. In reference to what
hail filen front the night Hon. the Member for Kerry
with respect to the exports of Ireland, he (Mr. Grattan)
must say, that he quite agreed with the opinion expressod
by the lion. Member for Newark, in his able work on
Ireland, that they should feed the people first, before they
permitted the export ition of agricultural produce from
that country.

Mr. HUNT said that all the Members from Ireland
agreed that distress existed in that country, and that poor_
laws should be introduc d there. Then why were they
not proposed ? There was a p riod when none would
have voted
.for them; now every Member from Ireland was
fur poor laws. Then, in God's name, why did not some
of them propose the measure ? He (Mr. Hunt) did not
see why the people of Ireland should not have poor laws.
Lord VALENTIA said, that whatever might be the
cause, distress existed in certain parts of Ireland, and
disturbances were the consequence ; and Government, he
thought, were bound to propose some remedy. With
respect to the introduction of poor laws into Ireland, he
thought they were totally impracticable there. The
residence of the gentry on the est acs would tend to re-
lieve the distress of Ireland. The county he represented
(Wexford) was in a very prosperous condition, and this,
he believed, was owing to the great number of resident
landlords.

Mr. O'BRIEN and Mr. STANLEY explained.
The motion WWI then agreed to.
On the motion of Mr. TENNYSON, the House resolved
itself into a Committee of Supply.