The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-01 00:00:00

GRANT FOR EDUCATION.

Mr. HINDLEY asked the Noble Lord at the head of
the Government if he was prepared to state the amount
he intended to propose for the educational grant in the
miscellaneous estimates,a©d whether he intended to bring
specially befbre the notice of the House the Minutes of
the Council of Education, laid on the table the sth day of
February, or leave them to be incidentally discussed on
the vote for education being proposed in the Committee
of Supply.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL replied that the vote would
be the same as that taken last year, but with regard to
the application of the sum he could only say that they
did not intend to propose any new resolution upon the
subject.
In reply to a question from Mr. SHAW,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said he intended to appoint
the Committee of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Bill imme-
diately after the Committee of Ways and Means.
THE DISTRESS IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND.

Mr. BAILEY hoped he would have the indulgence of
the House for a few moments to some statements which
had been made in that House in consequence of a question
put by the Honourable Member for Fife, relating to the
distress on the west coast of Scotland. On
that occasion reference had been made to a
report by the Sheriff's-Substitute of Fort.Willam,
into which certain charges had been introduced against
proprietors in that district, that they had been neglect-
ing their tenants. Among the others was one against
Mr. M'Donald, of Glengarrie, where it was stated that
that proprietor had 15') bolls of meal for the relief of the
poor, but the store house had been locked up since
Christmas, and not a pound could be got oat for love or
money. lie had got a letter lately from Mr. M'Donald,
in which he stated, in November last, he had sent
from his private resources 201. in money, 100 bolls of
meal, and 100 bolls of Indian corn, besides rice and
biscuits. That was sent for the purpose of being dis-
pensed; his factor had instructions to that effect, and a
letter from that factor last week stated that he had
complie,►, and he was desired to continue to do so.
Mr. M'Donald, was a man of the highest honour, and he
(Mr. Bailey) stated this upon his credit. He regretted
to state that the Blue Book which had been published
contained charges, and had been published previous to
time being given for answers from the proprietors. It
had been reported concerning Mrs. Sherrant
by Sir E. Coffin, not only that she had neglected her
tenants generally, but that two persons had died of
starvation on her estates. Now, she had made inquiry,
and the result was, that two persons had died of natural
causes, the one being an old woman between eighty and
ninety years of age, and her daughter, who died of con-
sumption, being, while they lived, within two or three
miles of a meal store, opened by Mrs. M'Kenzie, and out
of which she had ordered that relief should be given to
the destitute! He had taken the opportunity of doing
what he believed to be but justice to these proprietors.
Mr. E. ELLICE gave the fullest credit to the Go-
vernment for the course they had adopted, and he
should not be doing justice to the Government if he
did not take the earlest opportunity of saying that the
Government had done all that was in the power of any
Government to do to ward off the effects of
this terrible calamity---(Hear, hear). Ho thought
that, however laudable the intentions of the
Government were, the merit of rendering these intentions
perfectly effective was merely due to those gallant
officers who had the charge of carrying out the measures
of the Government.

Sir GEORGE GREY did not think that the charge
made by the Hon. Member was quite borne out by the
facts as stated in the blue books.

Mr. COLLETT was unwilling to take up the time
of the House, but he thought it his duty to mention cer-
tain facts which had come to his own knowledge respect-
ing the employment of the poor in Ireland. He thought
it lair to state, that since the debate on the Bill of the
Noble Lord the Member for Lynn, he (Mr. Collett) had
made inquiries, and he could state, that in the island
of Anglesea, where the potato crop had failed,
to as great an extent as in Ireland the formation of a
railway had induced a state of prosperity unexampled
in that island. The Holyhead Railway Company had
employed from 3,400 to 4,000 labourers, out of which
number 2,500 were Welshmen, 700 Irishmen,
and about 300 Englishmen. They had only ex-
pended about 100,0001. The same fact was
seen in some of the Irish railways. If they looked
at the railway from Maryborough through Thurles to
Mallow, they would find that a state of prosperity
resulted from the expenditure of capital by that
line, within ten miles on each side of the railway.
On the Dundalk line and on the Carlow Railway the
same thing was to be seen. On the latter line
there was not one Englishman employed, except,
perhaps, an overseer. The Right Hon. Gentleman the
Secretary for Ireland told them a few nights ago that he
prosperity of Ireland next year depended on the la
bourers being employed during the next six weeks in
agricultural operations. He did not state, however,
that draining would commence on a large scale in
the months of April or May. Now, he (Mr.
Collett) could state that the baronies of Ireland ware
ready to expend half a million on railways, and to em-
ploy all the able-bodied labourers in the country. The
only mode in which Government proposed to employ
them was drainage, but he had no great confidence in
that. If, therefore, only thirty thousand persons
were to be employed from May to September,
he thought it would be the means of con-
ferring incalculable advantages on the country,
He considered that her Majesty a Government had not
taken the proper steps in reference to this question.
They ought not to have trusted to mere anonymous
authority on this question ; and he, for one, would have
been ready to afford them all the information which he
possessed.
ARMY ESTIMATES.

On the motion for going into Committee on the Army
Estimates,
Sir DE LACY ENANS rose, and was
(LEFT SPEAKING.)