The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-29 00:00:00

the Noble Lord, the Member for Lynn, for having, at
a: early period of the session, propounded a measure to
tend over four years of legislation, calculated to pro-
mote the interests of the people of Ireland. The last
sentence of the speech of the Noble Lord, was the one
that gave him the greatest pain, viz. that this measure
1%1 only part of a comprehensive scheme of that nature,
and hewould, if possible, endeavour to convince the people
of_ this country what course the Government proposed
1.? adopt for raising the condition of Ireland. The
Noble Lord had alluded to the state of Ireland,
1.1;! resulting from centuries of English oppression,
the real oppression and the real injustice
"as the Irish Church ; the legislation upon
that subject had tended to make serfs of the
Catholics, and to turn the Protestants into
oppressors.—(Hear, hear.) The sum proposed to be
e,apended was not for the purpose of alleviating the
%tress of that country, for the Noble Lord had ob-
jected to the measure of the Noble Lord the Member
,or Lynn, on the ground that railways were not calcu-
lated to relieve the distress of the people of Ireland.
fhe distress of the people of England ought then to be
looked at in a case where an advance was propose.l to
ue made which was admitted not to be required for the
purpose of immediate relief. He stated it advisedly,
at in this country the potato crop would prove a mise-
rable failure, the spring crops would be considerably
below the average, and the crops of America were not
calculated to be at all of an abundant nature. Was it,
_then, for the Government, with such a prospect before
them, with empty granaries staring in their faces, to
Iluander what little money they had in hane ? Was it
tot their duty to keep the money by them,
t 2 provide for the necessity which would un-
doubtedly come upon them? Then the railways pro-
Posed to be assisted were said to be of a most valuable
nature, and likely to yield ample returns; if so, why
then did not the speculators, who had already it ap-
peared half-finished them, complete them? The Bill
Proposed to take a large sum out of the savings of the
People of England to assist speculators in Ireland with
rl view of regenerating the people of that country. It
was a wild and absurd chimera, one of the wildest that
aver entered into the head of the leader of any Govern-
bleat. Let the Noble Lord attend to the legitimate
concerns of the people of Ireland, and not yield to the
rapacity of people on the other side of the channel.
There was something very peculiar about railroads in
Leland, if they were so good why were they not
geished? But really now were these railroads such as
the Noble Lord, or any other lion. ,Member would
wish to invest his money in? During the mania
Patriotism in railroads rose to a great height,
the panic came, and shares which pointed to a fortune
fell down to the lowest depths of disappointment. What
was the last resort of these speculating individuals? The
acrifortunate Chancellor of the Exchequer. He really
did not see why the House should be called upon to pay
LIP the calls, or make good the losses which any of her
Majesty's faithful subjects might have sustained through
*teessive speculation. He thought that it was now the
ttone for the House to step in and prevent this first step
ccing taken in a course. so ruinous as that proposed by
the present measure. It was a rule which nothing could
controvert, that the Governor of a country could not ex-
Pend the public money in any commercial speculation
with half the advantage that the people could do for
themselves.
The moment the state became a money
ender, it became a money loser. Unfortunately there
'as a very large Exchequer to draw upon, but de-
Pend upon it the time would come when the
Chancellor of the Exchequer would be called
bpon to render a very strict account of his doings, and
One of the severest ordeals through which that Chan-
cellor would have to pass, would be to account to the
mercantile interest of this country how it was that he
tiered to lay his hands upon the hard-earued savings of
the people of this country, in order to make amends for
Past centuries of misrule.—(Hear, hear.)
Lord G. BESTINCK, thought that the proposed
measure was a step in the right direction. The loan to
Le advanced by this Bill differed in its terms from those
troPesed in the measure which he had the honour to
ring forward. In his Bill, he proposed to lend the
money at 31. Gs. fal. per cent. interest, whereas, by the
Present measure, the loan would be made upon 5 per
tent. ; and the Government having borrowed the money
In 3i per cent., would, by lending it out again at 5
Per cent., clear 10,0001, in the shape of in-
terest, by the transaction. The proposal which
-be intended to submit to the House for
allowing other railway companies to share in the loan,
he was dissuaded from pressing so strongly as he would
done in consequence of the statement made by the
Noble Lord at the head of the Government that the pro-
Posed Bill was only a portion of a more general and
comprehensive scheme for affording assistance to other
railways in Ireland.—(Bear, hear.) The Noble Lord
leen proceeded to set forth the securities which could I
°e offered, the advantages to be derived from, and the
claims of the Midland Great Western Railway, the
Waterford and Limerick Railway, and other lines, to
the same assistance as was proposed to be given to the
railways named in the present Bill. He was quite pre-
Pared to defend the policy of the Government in this
Circumstance ; and he was ready to go before the people
Of England and show that this Bill was not one intended
to feed the rapacity of Irish landowners, but one ealcu-
,Med to improve the condition of the people of :Ireland
without the imposition of any burden or tax upon the
,People of England. lie most sincerely hoped that the
Government would be prepared to bring in a measure
to to assist the railways, which he had called the attand
Learned
of the House, and he hoped the H
a.earned Member for Galway would support the claims
of the Midland Great Western Railway to the assistance
V the Government.—(hear, hear.) The Hon. and
-Learned Member for Bath had spoken of the fear which
there was that the potato crop would prove a miserable
failure. He believed that in that statement the Hon.
tied Learned Member would find himself mistaken; for
from every account which he had received from Ireland
the crops were in a most healthy and promising state,
aid he had no doubt, trusting to the statement, " that
'While earth lasted seed time and harvest should con
ti
nue,' that the potato and other crops of the country
'would prove to be exactly the reverse of the predictions
of the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath. It had been
laid that the proposed measure would tend to lock up
the money and derange the financial condition of the
country. It could be proved, however, that the effect
:)f expending money in railroads was the reverse of lock-
ing up money. The money already expended in railways
44 the United Kingdom, was 96,000,0001., and the gross
revenue
from them was, from passengers, 5,000,0001.;
front goods, 3,000,0001.; but taking into account the
charges previously made, these sums represented a con-
siderably larger amount el' revenue than at first sight ap-
Peered. The actual saving to the country by the railway
Zstem in the item of " travelling expenses " of the Poor-
ly Commissioners, was upwards of 5,000/. since their
a_c_cession to office; and the time saved in the travelling
°I the Commissioners was three years and eight weeks,
out of the twelve years they had been in office. In the
.1).0e town of Leicester alone, the completion of the
It
Railway, saved to the town 60,000/. a year.
was nonsense to tell him that capital invested
1n railways was money thrown away—money
locked up, and could never be used again. The
Vol of 160,000/. had been spent in aid of
l• Soyer's soup scheme, and he hoped the
country would next year contrast the advantages
derived from that service with the advantage to be de-
lived from the advancement of the present 160,000/. to
°e advanced in support of Irish railways. Another re-
commendation in favour of the proposal was, that it in
volved no expense for the support of a staff of officers.
At the present moment the country was paying nearly
100,0001. a year as the salaries of the clerks and officers
engaged in superintending the execution of public works
in Ireland. That expenditure was justified on the ground
that it afforded employment to the people. Now,
not that a strong argument in favour of the 'presentwas
Bill ? Here were they advancing money to be employed
in the execution of public works wanted ; involving
the country in the expense of maintaining a
staff of officers to see that the works were properly
e&seated. They were told that railways could not in-
crease the supply of food to Ireland. He, for one, did
not think so. At present the counties penetrated by the
Great Southern and Western, they depended main
structiolyn of
for
their fuel upon burnt cow dung. The con
the railway would so reduce the price of coal, that the
"NI, dung would be applied to the improving the land in-
stead of used for the purposes of fuel. He urged the
louse, therefore, to pass this Bill. It would lead to the
Introduction of British capital into Ireland, and in doing
that, they were taking a decided step towards putting an
end to the existing unfortunate and lamentable state of
'co sister kingdom. Mr. Labouchere did not intend to
follow the Noble Lord, or enter into details ; but there
were one or two points in the Noble Lord's speech
a_which he could not pass over without notice. No one
in that House, he believed, denied the advantages of
tailways ; and no doubt they would be productive of
treat good in Ireland. But if they were to be encou-
raged;, in the extravagant manner proposed by the Nubia
Lord, they m would involve this country in ruin
without
attaining
the great object they must all have in view.
what was that object ? Why the alleviating the dis-
tresses of the people while suffering from the effects of
4,11 unforeseen calamity, and it could be no remorse upon
the Government that they had taken the means that
they thought were best calculated to mitigate the suffer-
ings of the people. At all events, whatever the Noble
'",j)rd might say to the contrary, he believed the people
this country did not begrudge the money that
had been expended in the execution of public works for
laue purpose of affording the people employment. He
eld in p
his hand the last report of the Relief Commit-
tee to be presented to-morrow, and from that report he
/law that, at the present moment, no less then 2,600,000
ople in Ireland were receiving daily rating. lie felt,
therefore that had the Government not taken the steps
they have done, not only Ireland, but the whole of
°gland and Scotland, would have been involved in the
had accused frightful distress and suffering. The Noble Lord
accused the Government with promoting useless
public works in Ireland, for the purpose of exercising
its patronage ; but he, as a Member of the Govern-
ment, felt called upon to deny that statement in the
te
lro,st positive terms.--(Rear, hear.) lie would not de-
in the House further than to express a hope that
he House would pass this measure. lie would not pre-
tend to sa that it would be the means of relieving all
the distress under which Ireland was suffering; but he
would say that it was calculate.' to go far towards re-
ducing the distress, and it was that conviction which in-
duced him to entreat the House to pass this measure
„without further delay. He did not agree with the Hon.
and Learned Member, that this country derived no ad-
vantage from its connexion with Ireland; but, even sup-
Posing that were the case, was it right that rich and
afil tient England should forsake her fellow brethren in
Ireland when they were suffering from extreme distress
and suffering.—(tlear, hear.)
Mr. LEFROY said he should give his most decided
_support, to the measure of the Government, and he only
rgretted that the sum to b! advanced for Irish railways
wasez_r .not larger. Still he must thank the Government
" having introduced the measure, and for the hope they