The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 22, 1847.

iatverma
iggeh tc"lo e ofd
eefioerine
nitn hn e
qwueas
iti
toyf, Ebnugtl a nhde, althoughd
that there was more than an average quantity, and indeed
sufficient to supply the deficiency of the potato crop.
With respect to the rise in price, whether in-
formation were obtained through the contiguity of the
southern countries to the coast of France, it was well
known by the farmers in those countries that the.
harvest in France was likely to prove very deficient; that
a dearth in .hat country was likely to Iccur, and that
there would consequently be a rise in price. It was,
therefore, anticipated that this rise would take place ;
notwithstanding that, however, the farmers had con•
tinued to send their corn to market, and they did not
hesitate to do this, although they had reason to ex-
pect a greater return for their grain.—(Laughter.)
A view had been taken by the friends of protection,
that at a period when the want of corn would be felt in
this country, the prices of corn in other nations
would be guided by the prices in the English
markets. Such appeared to be the case now, and it
was: to other toad more distant countries that
they looked to for the supply which was now
required. He had the sincere satisfaction of
expressing on the present occasion a full, a free, and
entire concurrence in the proposition of the Noble
Lord. He shared with him in the apprehension
that no great benefit would result from the suspension
of the duty, but if there was the smallest benefit
to be derived, he agreed with the Noble Lord in saying
that the) would be to blame if they withheld
the supply of corn for one moment. He thought
the time which the Noble Lord had determiued on tor
the remission of the duty was rather lengthened,
but they must, of course, believe that her Ma-
jesty's Ministers had exercised a sound discretion.
All he had to say was that for his part—and he believed
he spoke the sentiments of others on that side of
the House—that they did not anticipate any
great good from this concession. It had been
said by the Honourable and Learned Member for
Bath, that the Rip,ht Hon. Member for Tamworth
was entitled to the greatest praise with reference to
the famine in Ireland. All he had to observe
with reference to that observation of the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman was, that when the Right
Hon. Member for Tamworth had proposed any-
thing for the relief of the famine in Ireland, they,
on that side of the House had not opposed it.
One of the measures in regard to which the
Right Hon. Member for Tamworth had met oppo-
sition from them was the Coercion Bill. He did
not indeed know whether his Hon. and Learned Friend
considered that the passing of the Coercion Bill would
relieve the famine in Ireland, but he would beg leave to
remind the Hon. and Learned Member, and indeed all
Members in the House, that as regarded the famine in
Ireland, the Right Hon. Member of Tamworth had met
with no -opposition whatever to any measures that pro-
mised relief to that unfortunate country, for the agricul-
tural Members had over and over again expressed their
desire to consent to all suspension of the duty on corn, but
their overtures were rejected by the Right Hon. Member.
Ireland had, therefore, nothing to blame any agricultural
Members for, and the committee might rely upon it
those Members would never stand in the way of any
measure that was calculated in the slightest degree to
benefit Ireland.

r the Right lion the Chancellor of the Exchequer said
November, but he would uive him the benefit of the 31
days, and he would ask, ilL,w many lives had bo,n
lost in the interval ? They did not complain
of what the Government meant to do, but they
did complain that they did not that which they ought to
do. 'They ought to copy the example of an illustrious
individual whom they were very fond of copying, he
meant the King of the French. He had bought corn to
distribute throughout the country, but the Ministry of
this bountry had bought it only to place it in
their depots. lie would just mention the lite
led by an Irish gentleman at this period In the
morning the house was surrounded by a number of
persons, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, who presented
their tin pans at the dour, and they received the
broken meats that could be spared them. Another
batch came at dinner time, and soup was served
out to them. Such were the miseries which '
prevailed in the country, and he hoped that
means would soon be taken to remedy them.
The state of the country demanded their utmost exer-
tions in order to remove every obstacle to the introduc-
tion of food. The 4s. duty was one obstacle, and he
hoped that with regard to that, and all other im-
pediments, there would be a perfect unanimity and
co-operation between them, in order, as quickly as
possible, to relieve the wants of a suffering country.
Mr. P. SCROPE would readily give his support to
the proposal, but looking at the strong precautionary
measures that had generally been adopted in many parts
of Ireland, it was somewhat surprising that so much
destitution and so many deaths had occurred in that
country.—(Hear, hear.) Skibbereen exhibited a frightful
picture of disease and suffering, while in many less ex-
tensive places they heard of people dying by fives and
tens of thousands, and yet all this had occurred
in the face of the large precautionary measures which
were said to have been taken by the Government.—
(Hear.) With such precautionary measures before them,
he confessed he thought the prediction of the Hon.
Gentleman who had just resumed his seat still more
strange.—(Hear.) He entertained strong feelings upon
the subject. With a country like this, presided over
by a Government possessing such enormous power
—with such immense resources at its disposal—
considering the minuteness of the territory over which
they presided, and the facilities they had of communi -
eating from one place to another, he could not under-
stand how, after these precautionary measures
had been fully brought into operation, it could
be at all reasonable to expect, or how any person could
look forward to a large number of individuals dying
of famine in any part of Ireland.—(Hear, hear.)
He regretted that the agencies established by the
Government in Ireland had tailed in many instances, on
account of the imperfect organization which the Govern-
ment had adopted for the purpose of dispensing relief
to the people. The Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) had
stated that the Government had been unable to obtain
sufficient information to enable them to dispense relitf
in the proper districts, and in proper quantifies, but he
apprehended if they had acted more in unison
with the local authorities, that a more equitable and
desirable dispensation could have been made, and much
of the suffering and death that had taken place ob-
viated. lie called upon the Government to redeem the
pledge they had made—that their first duty
was to see that the people did not di.: from starva
tion. By fulfilling their pledge, the anticipation-
of the Right Honourable Gentleman the Chancellor
of the Exchequer that they might apprehend more
deaths from starvation would not be realked.

Mr. PHILIPS—He would make peace with the
Hon. Gentlemen at the other side of the House, if they
would send 100,0001. worth of corn to the country.
Mr. BRIGHT wished to Ithow whether these laws
were made to have reference to vessels laden with corn,
because he understood that as far as the United States
were concerned the insurances would be affected.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Corn
might be imported in vessels for home use free of duty.
Mr. BRIGHT—The Right Hon. Gentleman did not
seem to understand him (Mr. Bright). It was not a
question of duty. It was whether or not certain
vessels would be admitted into the ports. For
instance, would a vessel from Rutland or the United
States be admitted into the Mersey, and be allowed to
discharge her cargo there.
The CHANCELLOR. of the EXCHEQUER—She
would be allowed to discharge.
Mr. ROEBUCK.—WouId vessels laden with cotton
and corn be admitted into the ports?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER.—
A ship would be admitted to discharge her cargo only
with respect to corn.
Mr. BRIGHT was quite satisfied that unless the Ins-
pension were to be carried out to its full extent, the
measure would be of comparatively little service. It is
the opinion of those who are connected with the
shipping interest, that so far as the United
States at least are concerned, that the charge wou!d
be next to useless. When he saw them sending
large sums every week from the imperial Treasury
and that the Archbishop was directed to offer up prayers
for the aversion of famine, it did seem unwise to stop
short in the matter, and not carry out the measure to the
utmost extent.