The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-12 00:00:00

A PLAN for the USEFUL EMPLOY-

MENT of the PEOPLE.
(From the Kilkenny Journal.)
We are not at liberty at present to publish the name
of the gentleman who has furnished us with the annexed
suggestions, but his position in society is one which
renders him peculiarly interested in the well-being of
the country. We commend his plan to attentive consi
deration, and purpose on a future day to return to the
subject, and offer some observations of our own in con-
nexion with it :

SUGGESTIONS for the IMMEDIATE and GENE-
RAL EMPLOYMENT of the LABOURING
CLASSES on USEFUL and REPRODUCTIVE

WORKS.

It is proposed that special sessions shall continue to
present in each electoral district such gross sums as may
be necessary for the employment of the people ; that
when so presented, same shall be assessed and charged
on each ratepayer, according to the Poor•law valuation,
thus :

• Name—A. B.
District—Gowran.
Valuation —4Ol.
First instalment—lL
Proportion of gross assessment-101.
That upon an account with the above form being made
out and placed in the hands of the proper officer, every
landlord shall, within a limited number of days, be at
liberty to pay the proportion thereof charged to him or
his tenants (viz., the first instalment or one-tenth), and
upon payment thereof, shall receive from the officer cer-
tain dockets or cheques, each of which shall be estimated
at the value of a man's daily hire, and which shall in
amount be equivalent to the gross assessment charged to
him and his tenants, as in the case above supposed
(which is an extreme case, the gross assessments being
one-fourth of the valuation)—the payment of 11. entitles
the party to 2UO tickotc or cheques.
In like manner, the tenant, in case the landlord shall
omit to avail himself of the advantage thus afforded him,
shall, at the expiration of the time limited, be at liberty
to pay the amount so appearing charged to him, and
receive the amount of dockets to which the landlord
would be entitled, that is, on payment of the tenth he
shall become entitled to the amount of labour, equal to
the gross assessment.
That such landlord and ratepayer, on presenting such
cheques or dockets to the secretaries of relief committees,
shall be furnished with men sufficient to execute his or
their immediate work, or having procured sufficient
hands in his own neighbourhood, whose names appear on
the relief registry, he shall be at liberty to pay them
with these egues or dockets, which, on being presented
to the proper officer, will entitle the party holding them
to a cash payment for the same.
It is proposed that the relief committees shall continue
as at present. That the rate of wages should be regu-
lated by the magistrates in each locality.
That public works on roads, and unproductive employ-
ment, shall be continued only so far as to afford employ-
ment to those to whom the above plan will not extend.
The entire assessment being a charge on the estate of
the landlord, it is but reasonable that he should have the
alternative of availing himself of the entire labour
created thereby, for which an ample field will be afforded
him. And as an inducement to the tenant to assist the
landlord with payment of the gross assessment, by the
payment of the instalment, he shall receive a sufficient
equivalent in increased labour placed at his disposal.
Both landlord and tenant will be interested in endea-
vouring to engross and employ all the hands on the
labour register of the relief district, and by taking them
from the public works, render the continuance of such,
and the expensive machinery attendant thereon, wholly
unnecessary.

By this means the public tax will be put in progress
of easy collection, Lands will be improved by draining
and subsoiling, increased production will follow by the
better cultivation of the land, and instead of a necessity
continuing for employment on unproductive works, roads,
&c., they will be carried on only to a limited extent, and
at reduced expense to the public.
As, however, all Public Works to be henceforth exe-
cuted are intended to be of a useful and reproductive
character, ample provision will be made for all unem-
ployed labour on the labour registry beyond that re-
quired for private individual purposes in the manner
proposed. And where, of necessity, unproductive works
must be resorted to, for the employment of the people,
where no others of a beneficial or remunerative charac-
ter can be found, landlord and tenant will be stimulated
to afford employment, and by withdrawing the men from
the labour registry, diminish the means of executing
such works and the taxation consequent thereon. And
thus, by creating a spirit of competition in the labour
market, between the three distinct classes, Landlord,
Tenant, and the Board of Works, affording a tenfold
remuneration to the two first classes, a prospect of rea-
sonable remuneration to all, a demand for labour, will,
it is hoped, be created sufficient to engage all the unem-
ployed labourers of the country, in works of a useful
and productive character.

RAILWAY ALTERATIONS IN
BIRMINGHAM FOR 1847.
(From the Birmingham Advertiser, Jan. 7.)
Few persons in Birmingham have considered the altera-
tions, much less calculated the results, which will be
effected by the several projected railways that arein-
tended to pass through the borough. Treating on the
very important matters connected with the gigantic
schemes about to commence, either in a commercial,
financial, or social point of view, would be a work that
would perplex and bewilder our most gifted philosophers
and political economists. We will give a cursory notice
from memory, not pretending to official correctness, of
the several lines of railway affecting Birmingham, with
their connecting branches, which were authorised to
be constructed last session—the lines on whose stage
the memorable and yet to he renewed " battle of
the gauges" was so determinedly contested :—the Lon-
don and Birmingham Extension, the Birmigham, Wol-
verhampton, and Stour Valley, the Oxford Junction,
and the Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Dudley
Railways. These great undertakings, which will during
the present month be simultaneously commenced, when
completed, will connect this vast district of coal, iron,
and hardware with all parts of England. Birmingham
will then form, in a still more complete sense, the " mid-
land metropolis " of railways—the centre to which all
lines, east, west, north, and south, directly or indirectly
tend. For the completion of the two principal lines
which pass through the heart of the town—the Birming-
ham Extension and the Oxford Junction—our enter-
prising, and eminent townsmen, Messrs. Branson and
Gwyther, are the contractors. They commence with
the Oxford Junction at Adderley-street, up to which
point, we believe, Messrs. Grissell and Peto have entered
into a contract with the directors. From Adderley-
street to Milk-street, across Oxford-street, Meriden-
street, &c., there will be half a mile of viaduct. The
elevation of the arches will be from 55 feet to 35 feet
in the clear, the highest of them being over Oxford-
street. The tunnelling of this line commences at Park.
street, running under Shut-lane (at which point it
actually crosses the tunnel of the London and Birming-
ham Extension), and under Carr's-lane Chapel, crossing
High-street, and proceeding in its course to Monmouth.
street, which is the limit of Messrs. Branson and Gwy-
ther's contract. The London and Birmingham Exten-
sion commences at the present North-Western terminus
crosses the canal by the proof-house, through part of