The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

was, by the demand of new works, made extremely diffi-
cult to Hale Board of Works, notwithstanding they
were reinforced by the addition of ten gentlemen, in
every way competent to its duties. After
these works were commenced, great complaints
were received, from the proprietors of land and country
gentlemen of Ireland, that the works had been found
quite useless, and that, in especial, the roads which had
been begun were not wanted. Ido not attach any great
force to these objections, the object being to afford
relief by providing a certain amount of labour, which
would show that industry was not entirely abandoned ;
and the productive nature of the work was a matter cf
secondary importance, as the object we had in view
was the preservation of the people in the first place
from loss of life by providing labour, and not by
an ill-judged and indiscriminate charity. The poor rates
in the last five years had increased from 4,000,0001. to
5,000,000/., being an increase of a million and upwards;
and I do not believe from the mode in which that mil-
lion had been expended that any great amount of
productive labour has been engaged, but that
that sum has been employed in the partial
,and inefficient relief of local distress.—(Hear.)
I do not, therefore, attach any great value to the ob-
jections thus made, but, at the same time, as it was most
desirable to obtain the co-operation of the landed gentry
of Ireland, and as it was desirable, if possible, to have
the works of a productive kind, the Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland, with the consent of the Cabinet, after the
case having been fully represented to them, sane
tioned a plan by which the sessions were allowed to
present for productive works instead of works of an
unproductive nature. This plan had not long been
adopted before a further desire was expressed fora town
land division, and the presentation of works fOr such
town lands. These town lands are of vorious dimen-
sions, some of them very small, not more than ten
acres, the general average of the whole town lands do
not, however, contain more than 350 acres. The ques-
tion for her Majesty's Government to consider was,
whether it would be possible to accede to this request, it
was quite obvious that if it were permitted to every per-
son, who was the proprietor or occupier of town lands,
only to make himself responsible for his own town land,
there would be no general interest in the welfare of the
community, or in providing for the destitute; and more
especially, the possessors of grazing land, or lands from
which clearances had been effected, would have only some
two or three destitute persons to provide for; while
hundreds of others who were possessing a demesne in
town lands would contribute more than their full
share. In the opinion of the Lord-Lieutenant, and
also of all persons who had paid any attention
to the subject, it was thought that this plan
could not be beneficially adopted. But, Sir, it was said
that although that plan could not be adopted, still there
was another scheme which might be adopted, and one
which would prevent the evil of those who were ready to
employ labourers, and to improve their estates, from
being obliged to maintain the tenants and labourers of
those who neglected their occupations and their duties.
The plan was one for allowing the town-land division to
take place, but obliging the proprietor and occupiers of
town-lands to employ a certainnumber of destitute, so as
to spend the whole of the amount of the assessment made
laid upon the barony. Upon this subject Ido not know
that anything better can be said upon this plan, than an
observation made upon it in a public letter written by
Mr. Smith O'Brien, M.P., in a letter to the proprietors of
a public journal. He said that he thought this plan
was much better than the one in actual operation.
The Noble Lord then read the opinion to which he re-
ferred. It supposed a, district of a county belonging to
two proprietors in which 100 persona resided—one of
who employed fifty independent labourers, whilst the
other did not ; therefore, in order to get rid of the main-
tenance of the other fifty, who would thus be thrown
for support upon the rates, he would be compelled to
discharge Ms workmen ; thus one hundred persons
would be thrown upon the land fur support,
as paupers : so that if he were compelled to employ
them in that capacity, they would not be subject to his
own control, and would not perform his labour in so
efficient a manner as the indepont labourer. They
would be paid out of the poor's rates, to which he would
only be called upon to contribute his share.
This was done previous to the passing of the Poor-
law in 1831, but was found to produce bad effects upon
the pOpulation—(Hear, hear)—paralyzing individual
enterprise, and having, generally, an injurious
operation. Now I conceive that these observations
of the Honourable Member for Limerick are pefectly
justifiable. An experience in England has proved
that the system works as he has described. The la-
bourers sent by the parish to labour occasionally on a
farm are unlike men who labour on their own account;
and, besides, they were found improvident men, and
every farmer conversant with the system would say that
he would rather give 10s. a week to a labourer
selected by himself; than ss. for one of those useless
men sent by the parish.—(Hear.) I think, therefore, that
the plans proposed in order to remedy the evil of having
so many pesons engaged in inoperative labour in Ireland.
were full of danger. I admit, and will presently state,
the great evils of the present system, but I think
we should incur still greater danger, if, with the
view of remedying those evils, we bad done that
which we conceive one of the most pernicious things that
could be desired if we had confounded labour with the
relief of tho poor—(Hear), as by making that relief some-
what more efficient we should have permanently insured
this great and important class to which those inde-
pendent labourers belonged.—(Cheers.) Sir, the land-
owners and proprietors who were in favour of
this alteration found great practical difficulty in
putting into effeet the instructions of the Lord
Lieutenant. They found that when they came to
an electoral district, and found two persons ready to
adopt the system ofreproductivo works, that three or four
utterly refused to become responsible, or to have any money
advanced by the Govern.... t for that purpose. They
found, therefore, that their operations, when so encum-
bered, were useless. This did not, however, though a
serious difficulty, diminish their exertions ; but their
operations, though very great and extensive, have not
led to such a complete substitute as the system of
establishing public works was generally expected.
But, Sir, as the plan went on the number of the dis-
tressed persons increased, and with the number of the
„distressed the difficulties of providing employment for
such a number also increased. I should say, in
the present place, that as the business of the
Board of Works went on the officers found
that they had also great difficulty of obtaining
trustworthy. and efficient persons to act under them. It
was found in the first place that the labourers were
frequently unwilling to undertake the tasks allotted to
them. At lenghth this difficulty pressed itself upon
engagedtvtohailos:fdulltyhatdist was impossible for any public board
i to such an extent that the belief pre-
vailed its duties and to carry out
the works. The number on the establishment
but the total number
increasing.boar I will not read their
names, of parsons
employedas
,
h officialsa has been
under gradually
this d is, at the present moment,
11,587 ; the number of superintendents is 185 ; the
amount expended for the payment of all in the debt
contracted is 2,410,366/. The number of labourers has
increased from 30,135 in September last to 440 687
in December. In the last week's account they were
stated at more than 480,000; and, at the present time, I
do not doubt but that the number amounts to half a
million. Ido not doubt but that great ability must be
engaged in the employment of this number of persons.
—(Hear, hear.) It is calculated that five persons gain
subsistence for every person that is employed. I
that that statement is correct ; but taking
it say
it at four persons, there will be upwards of
two millions of people supported by this plan.
The expense at the same time must be enormous, and
from an estimate I have here drawn up it appears
that the expense in the first week of December
was 140,0001., the second 156,000/., the third
158,000/., and the fourth 154,0001. S far
as we are acquaintet. with the past three weeks,
of January, the expense of the first week was 157.000/.;
on the 9th January it was 156,0 ; and, on the 16th,
172,0001.; making an amount of 595,000/. for
the month of December, and 485,0001. for the
first three weeks of January, ann it is calculated
that the expense of the whole of this month will be
between 700,000/. and 800,000/. It is impossible
that this expenditure could have taken place without
great concomitant evils attending it. There must be
great b
evils under any circumstances, but there have been
peculiar evils attending
it, arising out of the present
state of Ireland. For instance, there has been a diffi
culty in procuring sufficient labour for the unemployed.
Persons who have travelled through the country con-
tinually reported that there were large bodies of labourers
idling along the public roads, talking together, and doing
no work, and these reports led the Irish Government to
the determination that task work ought to be introduced.
Considerable difficulties, however, were experienced in af-
fecting that object. Much resistance was made to the intro-
duction of the system, but the Lord-Lieutenant remained
firm upon the point, and task work was substituted
for idleness. Many evils sprung up out of this system,
for those men who became accustomed to task work,
earned considerably more wages than any money wages
that had ever been paid in the market. Many of them
earned from Is. 4d. to is. 6d. and to ls. 10d.,
and sometimes more. The result was, there was a
strong competition to obtain employment upon the public
works, and farmers found a difficulty in procuring labour
to till their land at any sum. I lament to say, however,
that this evil was produced by the conduct of the farmers
themselves, for many of them who held twenty, thirty,
fifty, and even sixty-eight acres of land, removed
their sons and labourers from their usual occupation,
of tillage to place
them upon these public works, and
enable themselves to receive the increased pay which
that description of employment afforded over
what could be earned at husbandry. I will
now read part of a letter --from Colonel Jones to
Mr. Trevyl I
--an, dated the 19th of January last:—., We
are pressed by our officers for instructions as to how
they are to act ; those which they have received
to regulate their conduct are no longer applicable
in the altered state of things. They are
besieged for relief, and if they refused it, they were held
up as the stumbling-blocks in its way. In my opinion it
would be better to give food, than to be paying away
money, which would be considered as a useless expenditure.
The
The poor people are disabled from executing task-work
Their bo •
(Illy strength is gone, and they have not power
to exert themselves • th e works will consequently, be
left incomplete." Sir, of the
he
previously to the receipt of this letter was, that
t system had the •
become so vast, and dissatis-
faction and the want of food had so generally increased,
that it was desirable
by which so to attempt some temporary scheme
mitigated, ,and
of the evils which now meet us might be
d with so vast an expenditure of money
more relief might
the opinion of the advisers administered.
Sir, it is
e advisers of her Majesty,
that it will be desirable to form district
relief committees, Which committees shall be empowered
to receive subscriptions, to levy rates, and to receive
donations from the Government ; and that by this