The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-19 00:00:00

TlFig SUN, l4 14t0011! EVENING-,_SAWITARY io, 1A47.

his seat on the Woolsack. The Duke of Cambridge
arrived nearly at the same time. The Duke of Wel-
linKton arrived at two o'clock, and was received by the
Duke of Cambridge' with, Why; Duke, you look quite
young." The Duke truly appeared in excellent health.
At a quarter past two o'clock the firing of cannon and
the heralds' trumpets announced the arrival of the royal
cortege at the Houses of Parliament.
After a short sojourn in the Robing-room, the Queen
and Prince Albert, accompanied by the officers of
State and of the Homehold, entered in the usual form.
Both her Majesty and her Royal Consort appeared in
excellent health and spirits. She wore a magnificent
tiara and stomacher of diamonds. As the foggy nature
of the weather bad by this time departed the coup d'ced
was magnificent in the extreme.
Having taken her seat on the throne, and commanded
the assembly to be seated, and the commons having
been summoned, the Lord Chancellor presented her
Majesty with the Speech.
Her Majesty then, in a clear, silvery voice read the
Royal Speech, which will be found in another column.
Alter the delivery of the Speech, the cortege left the
House almost in the manner in which it had entered.
The whole ceremony did not occupy twenty minutes.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert, on leaving the House,
were warmly cheered.

Acts of Parliattent had greatly improved.
the social and moral condition of the people
He would illustrate the relativa positions of the land-
lords and tenants of-Ireland, by some: analogies, which
would bring the thing home to the imaginations of
the Noble Lords whom he was addressing.—
Supposing it possible that by
some atmospherical
influence an insect were found to infect all the bags of
cotton which came into Manchester, so as to ruin the
trade which sustained the population of the county of Lan-
cashire. Had their Lordships then addressed the great
mill-owners of that country, in language like that which
had been addressed to the landlords of Ireland, they
would then have found congregated those parties who,
although they would have cheerfully borne the burden
for those who had been born and bred in their service.
Still their Lordships might expect that they would be
addressed in language similar to this:—" We are now
thrown:on our resources, and are made responsible, in
order to meet this great emergency, Yet we ex-
pect that some partial relief ought to be ex-
tended towards us by the Imperial Parliament.
To bring this analogy more home to their Lordships,
just let them suppose that last autumn there had been a
failure in the wheat and oat crops of this country, would
it have been right, or would it even have been expected,
that the landed interest alone should be called
upon to meet the calathity alone?—(Hear, hear.) He
made those remarks spontaneously ; they. had not been
suggested by any party; but in performing the task he
had undertaken, he thought he had right to express his
views and feelings upon these various topics. Whatever
might be the issue of this fearful calamity, it was, in
the meantime, the duty of all parties, from
the highest Minister of the Crown, down to the
lowest member of society to use every exertion, and
make every personal sacrifice if necessary, to arrest its
further progress.—(Hear, hear.) What would have
been the condition of England had there been
iso channel between this country and Ireland ?
(LEFT SPEAKING )

. _
with which the Speech of her Majesty would be
received, and that they would imitate the example
lately set them in Ireland, and for a time fOrbear from
all party disputes—(Hear, hear)—in order the better to
devote themselves to the considertion of Irish measures,
and devise means for the permanent improve-
ment of the country. (Hear, hear.) The
first paragraph of her Majesty's Speech expressed the
deep anxiety and concern for the dearth which at pre •
sent existed in Scotland and Ireland. He felt sure that
the House would join in that expression of feeeling. He
confessed that the circumstances of the latter country
appeared to him to be of so appalling a character,
and so beset with difficulties that he almost
feared to address himself to the subject.
But :ho felt confident that the mere allusion
to them would be sufficient to excite sympathy, and
wonld call forth the warmest efforts to relieve them.—
(Hear, hear.) Unfortunately the calamity of
fever and famine was no new occurrence
in Ireland. Last year it prevailed to a considerable ex-
tent, but it did not take place at such an early period of
the season, nor was it attended with such fatal effects.
This year disease had set in early in August, and so
complete had been the destruction of the potato crop,
that, with the exception of a few set in the early part of
the year, they had been almost all destroyed. He felt
how unable he was adequately to express in figures the
state of things as regarded that failure, but he believed
that the eleventh part of the arable part of
the country, or about 1,200,000 acres, were
occupied with potato cultivation. This immense crop
had entirely failed ; and when it was taken into consi-
deration how many were dependent on it as their only
subsisteece, souse idea might be formed of the
distress which was the consequence of that failure.
There were so many dependent upon it that it was nearly
impossible to fill its place. He would not attempt to
describe the measure which the Government intended
to bring forward to meet this emergency. It would be
for them to state the extent of the employment they
had given, the facilities they had held out for the em-
ployment of the poor, and the contributions they had
given to resist local contributions. But, notwith-
standing
all they had done, he was afraid
that their efforts had not been sufficient to prevent
disease, or save the country from being reduced to a
most desperate state. He was glad to understand that
Government intended to do all they could; that they
were about to take off all duties which restricted the im-
portation of foreign grain—(Hear)-- and that they intended
to allow molasses and sugar to be used in distilleries to
save the grain hitherto used for that purpose.—(Hear.)
He was quite aware of the benefit which this measure
would produce to the country, but yet he could not
disguise from himself the fact that after all it would only
be of temporary utility, and that it would in no way affect
the permanent condition of the people of Ireland. He would
take the whole condition of tbatcountry into consideration,
and would hope that the Government would devise such
measures as would not only relieve the present distress,
but would also prevent it from becoming a permanent
evil. Having noticed the distress of that country, he
thought he should be doing an injustice—a great injus-
tice—to the people, if he did not at the same time notice
the singular patience with which the people of Ireland had
endured the extreme suffering to which they had been
subjected during the existence of this terrible calamity.
He thought it but right to make this remark because he
desired, as he trusted it would be shown, that the
sympathy of that House went entirely with
the people of Ireland, and that it would be
a recommendation to the Irish people still
further to bear up their fortitude against the distress
that had fallen upon them. There was another subject
on which he wished to say a few words. He alluded to
the destruction of the independence of Cracow, and ha
could not help expressing his extreme surprise that such
a violation of the sanctity of treaties should have
taken place, and he could not help looking upon it
as a manifest violation of the treaty of Vienna.—(Hear,
hear.) There was one topic in her 'Majesty's Speech
which he thought of peculiar importance to this country
—that was, the notice of the Health of Towns'
' Reports which had been made by her Ma-
jesty's Commissioners, and he trusted that those
reports would awaken the people of this country
to the importance of that subject, and that they would
lead to such measures as would mainly contribute to
that important object. In saying thus much, he ought
to express his gratitude to Mr. Chadwick and Dr.
Southwood Smith for their exertions and consideration
of this subject, and for the valuable reports they had made.
He would not trouble the House with any fur-
ther remarks ; but at once thank them for
the indulgence he had received. The Honoura-
Member concluded by moving " that an humble
Address be presented to her Majesty in return for her
Majesty's most gracious Speech from the throne.
The Address was then read, which was, as usual, an
echo of the Speech.
Mr. RICARDO rose to second the Address. He
said he did not anticipate that any opposition would be
offered to the Address, for the purpose of seconding
which he now had the honour to rise. He
believed that even if there were anything either
of commission or omission in the opinion of
any party, in this case they would be slow to
offer any obstruction to her Majesty's Government at a
moment when so large a portion of her Majesty's sub-
jects require the adoption of measures which would lead
to their immediate relief. He should not follow his
Hon. Friend through the details of Irish distress, because
he considered, after what he had said, if he alluded
to it at all, he should pay but a poor compliment
to his sincerity: He was sure that he expressed the
sentiments of every Member in the House when he
stated his firm conviction that when the measures to be
proposed by her Majesty's Government for the alleviation
of the existing distress came under consideration, that
they would approach the discussion of them with
minds unbiassed by party hostility or by party con-
siderations, and that they would be actuated by the
same motives, in order to obtain the same end—
devising a remedy for the present national calamity,
and taking mea .urea to prevent the recurrence of a
similar state of things in future.—(Cheers.) What
those measures might be, he had no means of
knowing ; indeed, if he did, it would be pre-
mature to discuss them then. But there was
one part of the Speech to which he wished to allude,
namely, the admission of foreign corn, and for giving
facilities for its admission.—(Hear, hear.) This he
believed was understood to be done by removing the
duties upon foreign corn, and by the relaxation of the
navigation laws as far as regarded that importation.
This subject had received universal discussion. He had
heard but two objections raised against it, one of which
was a most extraordinary reason, that no larger quan-
thy of corn could be admitted under a free importation
than under the present duty. Certainly, if they could
not get any in, they could not let any out.
The next reason was, that the compact which was
entered into between Parliament and the agricultural
interests would be materially interfered with. Now,
lie confessed he thought there was no party in that House
who would deem it wise to take upon itself the
responsibility of adding one farthing to the price
of food at the present moment, in order to sustain such
a punctilio as this. He did not apprehend that the agri-
culturists of 1847 would think less disinterestedly of
their country than the agriculturists and Parliament of
1800, when it would be borne in mind, not
only was corn admitted for the relief of the suffer-
ing people, but a bounty paid on its introduction.
Now, he did not consider that the state of the country
would be so bad as it was in 1800, for the measures
which would be taken by her Majesty's Government
would prevent their arriving at such a point of destitution.
But there was one point to which he would call particu-
lar attention—they were not alone in their misfortune.
The scarcity extended through the greater part of the
continent of Europe. France, Holland, and Belgium
had opened their ports and remitted their corn duties.
They were, therefore, put upon their defence, and it
would be utter madness in them if they should impose
upon themselves any restrictions which would prevent
them from obtaining a fair share of the produce
necessary to their support.—(Hear, hear.) Let them, for
argument's sake, take the average price of corn to be
70s. a quarter. Upon that they had at present to pay a
four-shilling duty, while, under the old corn-law,
they would have but one shilling. It was
obvious to every one that the seller would sooner take
his corn to a free and unrestricted market than ;to one
where he would have to pay a toll of four shillings, even
supposing that the toll were repaid by the price of corn.
They form their more intimate relations with corn-
growing countries, and from their means of trafficing
with them, from their insular position and supe-
rior means of internal transit, had certainly
an advantage in keeping the
.price of corn lower
than other countries. But, in order effectually
to do so, two things were necessary, the first
of which was to remit their corn duties,
and the second was to relax their navigation laws.
They had been in the habit of receiving two millions of
quarters of wheat from Ireland; they would not receive
any this year, but the probability was, that they would
have to export the same quantity, which would
make a deficit of four millions.—(Hear, hear.)
When they considered the success that had attended the
efforts which had been made to carry out a liberal system
of commerce, they had the strongest presumption for
believing that the best effects would follow from
an abrogation of the navigation laws, which
had hitherto operated so injuriously to - the
interests of not only the mother country, but their
colonial dependencies. When they considered the
extent of the British commerce—that it extended
through every quarter of the globe that their
merchants and sailors were toiling . everywhere in
the cause of humanity that their empire was
washed by every sea—that their commercial traders
were the best customers of the ,country, and their
manufacturers surpassed by none in energy and enter-
prise,—when they considered all. these things, and
the capital and resources,
themlnelraandl and ,
and when
o
other-
wise, which existedtok into consideration
i n
they all also the great
advantages that had already
attended
the old law, which had failed in the remission of
its operation in this
North American
them the
country, and had lost
colonies, besides creating irritation in the present de •
pendencies of the country, they had every encouragement
rect
to come forward in the
These& wasion one theoy therhad recently
matter in
taken.—(Cheers.)
the Speech to which be would refer. It was
that regarding the
admission of sugar for
and distillers. He did
the use of brewers
the attention of the House at any
not intend to occupy at
length on the subject present, as many opportunities
would be afforded for _
its full discussion in future, but he
must be permitted
to say that the proposition
would have the
best effects in liberating a
forthe
maintenance of
of grain
large amount
the people—(Rea
r+
bear)—while at the same
siderable reduction could be made
time he believed a con .
articles of luxury to the people.—
in the cost of some
He
H considered that the measure
(Hear, hear.)
act of bare justice to the
would be interest,
which
complained
of
the
agricultural

MPERIAL PA RI lAMENT.

(THIS EVENING.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.

The Lards re-assembled at Five o'clock.
We observed in the House, Lords Stanley, Brougham,
Lansdowne, Montford, Ilatherton (mover of the Address),
Carew, the Earl of Eglintoun, Marquis of Clanricarde,
the Earl St. Germains, the Earl of Clarendon, the Dukes
of Buckingham, Richmond, and Rutland, and several
other Peers.

SELECT VESTRIES.
The Marquis of LANDSDOWNE gave notice that it
was his intention, on an early day, to bring in a Bill for
the better regulation of Select Vestries.
THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then, in due form, pro-
ceeded to read her Majesty's Speech, which will be found
in another column.
At the close of the reading of the Speech,
Lord HATHERTON rose and said—My Lords, it is
now my duty to invite your Lordships'consideratioa to the
Address which I have the honour of proposing in reply
to the speech of her Most Gracious Majesty, which you
have just heard read. The condition of Ireland justly
forms a prominent topic in that speech, and I am sure
the important circumstances connected with it will
fully entitle me attempting any justification of it.—
(Hear, hear.) For the first time for a long period
of years Ireland appears no longer to be the arena of
political agitation. The question, therefore, which we
have now to consider is no longer a question of party
interest, or of party opposition, or of party policy, for
it has pleased the Almighty in his wisdom to
inflict upon that country a wide-spread famine,
unequalled, I believe, in past history, certainly not to be
paralleled in the history of modern times. It is truly
an overwhelming infliction, falling, unhappily, upon
many millions of the population of this kingdom.
The population of Ireland since the year 1792—
that is during the last 75 years—has exactly
doubled. The potato, during that period, has been an
article of food in common throughout the whale country;
and it is well known, that in every year that -has elapsed
since that period, donn to the present time, that the
potato has become more and more an article of exclusive
subsistence of a large portion of the Irish people; not
only, however, was it the principal article of subsistence
of the cottar and the peasant, but it has been the chief
article of subsistence of the small farmer; and not only
even was it the principal article of subsistence of the
small farmer, but I believe it has also formed the prin-
cipal article of subsistence of a large portion of the
population residing in the suburbs of large towns.
His Lordship then proceeded to say that potatoes formed
not only the sustenance of the people themselves, but
the sustenance also of the animals which they reared.
The value of the potato crop, it was estimated,
amounted annually to sixteen millions ; and when
their Lordships considered the immense amount
of sustenance which it afforded, some idea
might be formed of the awful misery consequent on its
failure. The failure of that crop had brought on a famine
that not only proved destructive to the poorer classes,
but threatened the existence of every man of every grade
in the community. The union workhouses were filled
to o‘erflowing, and so crowded had they become that
they were obliged to close the doors against
further admissions. He had also to state,
in reference to this, that many of these
houses were bordering on the brink of bankruptcy. By
the Labour-rate Act, passed at the close of last session,
presentment sessions were held in 293 baronies out of
the 326 baronies of Ireland. In some of these
the sessions were held once, in others twice,
and in a considerable number of them three times. It
was thought, when that Act was passed, that it would
meet the extent of distress then anticipated, and
it then received the approbation of all parties.
He was not aware that any person in authority at that
time foresaw the extent of the calamity, or denounced
the measure as inadequate. In this state of things
it became absolutely necessary for the Lord-Lieu-
tenant, in communication with the Government of this
couutry, to consider what was to be done for the
purpose of continuing to employ the people, and
to do it on a principle satisfactory to the landed
proprietors, and not ruinous to the country at
large. There were two - paths to be taken,
and one was, to assemble Parliament to devise other
measures ; and the other was, for the Lord-Lieutenant
to take on himself the direction and management of the
public money as he best could under the circumstances.
It was impossible for any GovernMent to have taken a
wiser course than the one which the present Govern-
ment did in not adopting the former alterna-
tive. There would have been the long delay before
Parliament assembled, and a long discussion
when it did. The Government had sufficient experience
in guarding against the greatest evil of all—which would
have been suspense—which would have been pending
during the proceedings of assembling Parliament, and
during the discussion little or nothing could be done by
the landed proprietors, and the landlords of course, in that
state of suspense, would only wait -to ascertain the
result of their deliberations. If the Lord Lieutenant
took on himself the exercise of a just discretion, and
determined, as far as possible, to accommodate the di-
rection of the existing Act of Parliament, by adopting
such an extension of its powers as would permit it to be
applied to the occupation of the people in private
and useful works, and to do so, under such
regulations as to insure to the public the benefit of any
money expended. Bat to do this it was by no means
operative, so as to admit of the employment of the public
money exclusively in drainage or the reclamation of waste
lands, for many of the landowners had no land
which required draining, and some of them had
already accomplished these works, and very little ad-
vancement was made under Mr. Labouchere'a Act. A
cvoeuryldnnatoutragluoanrde
ivte rwas
usuali
n d e
ecdo,mpl
thataintthewalsrismhaldandlaonrddsa
against the injustice of the double tax. A man who had
releused his lands from any charge, was not released from
his contribution to the baronial expenses. In this state
of things it was natural that they should cry out for
the area in which the present levies were made to be
extended to the electoral districts. He congratulated the
Noble Duke for his suggestions which he had made
some years ago when the Irish poor-law was
brought under consideration, and his objection to the
very serious mischief which would arise to every
area in the district being compelled to support
its own poor. He always regretted that his
valuable suggestions were not carried out.—(Hear.
There was also another Act under which authority was
given to grant 50,0001. for employment in public works,
such as fisheries, and other works of that description.
But it was so clogged with inconvenient provisions that
it could not be turned to present material advantage.
Ireland was consequently in this condition, that there
was at present a stop put to drainage in that country,
which was to be deplored, because it afforded the
means of giving beneficial employment to the
labouring classes, particularly in the summer months.
To show that this would occur he need only mention
that draining at certain periods could not be carried
on foroatshad to be sown in the land,as in next month for
instance, and drainage must then necessarily be suspended
The Labour-rate Act must then cease, because in many
ndweihsciteershiscatsrtyoi,t
exwthpoeeunrelddfobrteeh:impfpouorbsliiiicbtlhemeitoronefiyLnd .
erldotsbhjweipcost upon
us
Idwihthe
the
repeat
what
he t o devise
heasro:
as
e to
other
what modes
e
other
to
of employing the people of Ireland. It was not his in-
tentionmodes should be, nor would he wish to provoke just then
a discussion on that subject. He admitted its paramount
importance and the right of the public,
cdmeoueply
nt
interested as they were in the question to be
made acquainted with all that related to it
as soon as possible ; but it would be h du
ty
of e
of the Minister of the Crown, and he would,
it could conveniently be done, bring this
as soon as
s important ,
question under the consideration of the Parliament. other House of
Such was the statement which he
felt it his imperative duty to make to their Lordships,
and if he had omitted anything which he should have,
stated, there were so many of their Lordships so inti-
mately acquainted with all the affairs of Ireland, that
these omissions would be ample supplied. Besides, his
Hon. Friend the Noble Baron who was to second
the address, and who was so beneficially connected
with the barony of Wsxford, would be able
to atone for any inaccuracy of his. Well, it
was highly desirable that for this purpose one
should compare and examine the condition of society
and property in England and Ireland. Nothing
could be more disproportioned, nothing could
be more dispiriting. In England they had a
large proprietary ; they had residing among
them a vast monied interest—a monied interest not con-
fined to this metropolis, the most extraordinary place of
resort in the world—but an interest extending to every
port in the kingdom, and generally spread over the
whole surface. They had, besides, on the estates of
these landlords a thriving and substantial yeomanry ;
they had a long-established and desirable or-
ganization with the law under which they had
so long lived. There was scarcely a parish
in England in which there
were
not means found
admirably adapted to render assistance to the most
humble classes in any crisis of the country.
But how different was the condition ofthe
people in Ireland. '1 here were, no doubt, several wealthy
proprietors there, and with respect to the organisation
fact
that
of that country
, undoubtedly it was the
there was an aptitude for organisation for po-
litical purposes; yet it was unfortunately the
case, that for any practical or useful purpi ethere was a remarkable want of that virtue. t
was true, indeed, that for some years past several

abrogation. ioaf the prlection that it had hitherto
enjoyed. The success that had attended the new course
of policy pursued—the experience of an increase in the
Customs duties, at the same time that a large consump-
tion of necessary and useful articles, such as timber,
sugar, and brandy had taken place—encouraged them
to go steadily forward in the same track.—(Cheers).
He was convinced that other nations would not be slow
in following our example, but that they would prefer,
as it was so evidently to their interests, to buy
economically: rather than manufacture expensively;
that capital would quickly flow into the country, and
that we should have such a return in answer to our
proffers, that the world would speedily feel the benefit of
those measures, and that their result would be an in-
crease of plenty, prosperity, and peace. With those ob-
servations it only remained for him to second the
Address which the Speaker had in his hands.
The address having been read from the Chair,
Mr. S. O'BRIEN said that, however disinclined
he was to disturb the unanimity of the House
on .the present occasion, or in any respect to inter-
fere with that unanimity with which addresses in reply
to the speech of her Majesty should have, - he felt
that he should be wanting in duty to his countrymen
if he'• remained silent, and refrained from an appeal
to the House, in behalf of those whose suffer-
ings could neither be exaggerated nor described.
It was surely not necessary for him to remind the
House of the circumstances that had taken place during
the last three months in Ireland. If Hon. Gentlemen
would only look at the reports which were daily circu
lated through the newspapers of that country for the
last three months, they would know that those suffer-
ings were extreme, and that there was reason to appr,:-
-bend, that unless immediate measures be taken they
will not only continue, but be. very largely incr.( as A.
The latest newspaper which he had received from that
country contained an account of no less than eight in-
quests in the county of Mayo, in which verdicts had
been returned of death from absolute starvation ; and
also an account of a family who were found living upon
horse-flesh and carrion, the refuse of wild ducks and
other birds. He was not prepared to say that
her Majesty's Government were to be held en-
tirely guiltless of having produced such a fearful
state of things. He believed that it was in their power
to have prevented a single death taking place through
starvation. He did not accuse them of a wilful inten-

. . ,
-corn and grain at high prices. If then the failure . !_. ,- -.-
employed could not subsist on their present weg• 'I4H v77\..
was to become of those destitute persons who eror; a :'--?1,--.
able to work? He supposed that the Govern ..41'..'" 0::;1:-_,,c,-.!,-
sidered that the various relief committees wou M ' , .
o+6
the proper relief ; they were, however; interdic • ~\ . N,-,--
giving relief in money, and were only allowed, tp--?tiV7,--f
provisions at cost price to such persons
~1..4.1
might be considered proper objects of their attentioh:T,
._ „
The Committee should have done irore than sold
/ " •
food at the prime cost, because lie believed - they
were not prevented from assisting them -by grants
of food and money. Thy*, with respect to -
the . workhouse system experience, during the
past ought to have taught them that they could not rely
with any certainty, nor upon the voluntary relief .of the .
gentry. When their attention was called to the -
nature of the emergency last August, which
they might have anticipated, they might have
well known that they could not calculate .
with any certainty upon receiving the ample means
which were necessary for the resident gentry of
Ireland. 130 workhouses had been established
in Ireland under , the law recently passed
but they were not calculated to cont4in one hundreth
part of the indigent part of the population. The work -
houses in England here not calculated to maintain
more than ten per cent. of the population during the
worst seasons; but what was to beceme of the poor of
Ireland during sitnilas seasons with such crippled work-
house accommodrtion ? In many instances the work-
houses hal become so crowbed thot their doors had to
be shut to all new coolers, and so crowded were ebey
that fever had toroken out, and instead
therefore, if affording- relief . to the poor, they
had been the means of - effiictinm them with
fevers, %A hick too r.ften carried their. off. He
asked them why they had not interfered be-
fore now, and dispens-d more liberal relief.
This might have been done by making the local
authorities resopnsible for the maintenance of the
poor, more especially the infirm and destitute.
The local authorities would then have been able, through
their own means, to have provided ample supplies of
food, and they would not then have heard of the dread-
ful occurrences in Skibbereen, in which, as it ap-
peared to him, the poor were left to starve or
be sweft off the face of the earth.—(Hear, hear). He
lamented that he felt it his duty to make these
observations, and he considered that the facts re- •
quired some explanation at the hands of the Minister.
He, with others, felt that measures were not taken .
which might have prevented the scarcity which was
now so bitterly felt.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said, that although for many
years he had been in the habit of addressing the House,
yet, he confessed, that at no time had he risen
more impressed with the responsibility of his position,
or under a stronger impression how much he should
stand in need of the accustomed kindness of the House.

tion of doing so, but he thought that by the measures they
had introduced, or rather the neglect of those measures,
they had tended considerably to bring about that state
of things. He would recal to the recollection of the House
the plege given by the Noble Lord at the head of the
Government, at the close of the last session, that no inter-
ference on the part of the Government with food
should be allowed. To that fatal pledge he attributed
many of the disasters which had befallen that unhappy
country. The present Government should have followed
the example of their predecessors, and made a pledge
that, so far as the exertions of the Government
were concerned, they would do the utmost to
present any human being dying of starvation,
The Noble Lord had, no doubt, by this time discovered
that the capital of this country was not of such a nature
as could be immediately employed in obtaining resources
for a population of five millions of persons, the greater
portion of which were to be found in places where no
trade or commerce had as yet any existence. The
Government ought, therefore, to have been prepared
to augment the supply of corn, by ransacking
every port in the civilized world, and also to have in-
troduced every description of produce, and by the ap-
plication of that produce to the most remote parts of
the country, have mitigated the evils and prevented
those fearful disasters with which the public were
unhappily too well acquainted.—(Hear, hear.)
Then he wished to ask why should not the duty upon
the importation of corn have been abrogated months
ago, when the horrible state of the Irish people became
I known ? The Noble Lord had been bold enough
in dealing with other duties, or rather the chief
Secretary for Ireland had found no difficulty in legislat-
ing without Parliament. But why should not Parlia-
ment have been called together months ago, for the pur-
pose of carrying out the plan only now suggested, viz., of
removing the corn duties, and:suspending the navigation-
la ws, in order to alleviate the existing distress, and conse-
quently of permitting such an importation of grain, and
preventing the use of sugar in breweries and distilleries,
and of employing the navy, as they had only recently
been employed, in carrying supplies of food
to the extreme portions of the country, access
to which was difficult ? Then, with respect to the em-
ployment:of the people—and he regretted that he was
addressing an audience five-sixths of whom knew no-
thing about the subject the resident gentry and
the farmers, who bad received diminished rents
and profits, from the failure of the potato crops, and
who were consequently unable to give all the 'employ-
ment that was required, stepped nobly forward and did
their best to alleviate the distress, yet the Government
refused to tax the absentee landlords.—(Hear, hear.) In
such a state of things it was the duty of the
Government to provide a temporary remedy. They
passed at the end of last session a Bill which was called
the Labour-Rate Act, under which power was given to
the executive to undertake works recommended by the
Quarter Sessions, in order to give employment to the
people, and under this act they were employed in de-
stroying the roads, and in consigning the land to perpe-
tual barrenness—nothing was done for its proper culti-
vation. He did not blame the Government for passing
this Act, because they, no doubt, did so precipitately,
and without knowing the full extent of the sufferings of
the people ; but he could find no apology for the neglect
of the Government in not calling Parliament together
for the purposes to which he had referred, and of whose
conduct he could not speak in terms of praise.
general remonstrance reached the Government against
the expenditure of such large sums of money an object
injurious or worthless which they were for the most
part. The Hon. Gentleman instead of doing that,
which was his duty, took upon himself the functions
of the Legislature, and that withont consulting the
Irish representatives who were the proper organ for
legislative enactments. But the Hon. Gentleman had
taken the sole responsibility of establishing regulations
affecting the property of the country and its taxa
tion in a most material manner, and that through
a letter couched in language very obscure and
exceedingly difficult to understand. It appeared to him
that the Minister who set such a precedent—for, let them
remember, it was a precedent—was deserving of im-
peachment. He might stand alone in that opinion, but
he felt himself bound, notwithsianding, to express
it. He was bound to state, in addition, that the instru-
ment had remained a dead letter, and had thrown the
country into confusion; for, up to that moment, it was
his belief that a very small portion of the works
had been undertaken in accordance with that letter.
What they demanded was, that the employment of the
people should no longer be directed 'to works
of an entirely unproductive character ; at the
present moment hundreds and thousands of men
were employed in destroying roads when the
lands were left untilled (Hear, hear) the
consequence of which would be that the famine of
the next year would double that of the present
He complained that the provisions of the Act had not
bean carried into efficient effect, and that the Board of
Works did not carry out the powers which had been
reposed in them for the employment of the
people. In the county of Mayo, he knew that
the proprietors of land had taxed themsellves to
a great extent for the employment of the people, that
due effect to the funds so raised had not been given,
through the inefficiency of tho Board of Trade arrange-
ments, while the people were dying by thoushnds.
There was another consideration why Ireland
should know the measures to be proposed at the
earliest moment. Was the measure to be local or na-
tional ? On that question would depend the reception
which it would meet with in Ireland. If it were to be
a national measure, then should all be called on to con-
tribute to it equitably, without regard to class or party,
landowner, mortgagee, fundholder, and annuitant,
Whatever he, as a humble Member of the House, might
think of the measure or the character given to it,
would depend its efficacy as a means of relief
for the sufferings of the Irish people. It would
show to the millions of that country whether
the union was to be productive of benefit to Ireland, or
throw all the advantages in favour of England.—(Laugh-
ter.) By the encouragement of absentees to
spend the rents levied in Ireland out of the
country. There could be real union between
the two countries, unless the interests of Ire-
land were fully recognised and consulted, and he
trusted the measures of the Government would be
an instalment in that direction.—(Hear, hear).
If that were the case, then it it followed that the manu-
facturers of Ireland could flourish, and he would put a
case to their imagination in which the principle that
had been advocated could not hold. Suppose, in
the case of an invasion of any other national disaster,
that should deprive the people of employment, whose
food would be as scarce as employment, could they dare
to adopt such measures as those which were now re-
commended, and which would be equivalent to swamp-
ing the whole of the landed interest of Ireland. He did
not wish to offer to the present Government, for he
looked upon their attainment of office with the greatest
satisfaction, and had certainly greater sympathy with them
tha t with any other sect in the House. But he had at pre-
sent no faith in the plans which they had devised, and he
thought that they would not by any means, be likely to
satisfy his countrymen. There had been a committee
sitting in Dublin, whose business it was to investigate
the state of the country. He would not that night enter
into the details of that committee, but he did not hesitate
to say, that, for himself, if their recommendation
were adopted, he would hesitate to give in his
adhesion to the extension of the poor-law
to Ireland. But if the cry for help that was now making
from Ireland was to be met, not by relief, but by suchn
pamphlets as that which he held in his band (51,,,
Extract from Adam Smith's " Wealth of Nation
_)
nothing could allay the exasperaftinn of the people,
impending famine.
or avoid the dreadful calamity
_ou
The opinions which be entertainhede Ju
political economy, the duty of ovnarnthineeestu,bjaeendtsthoef
duty of the Legislature, wetrheisnodtutayt, ahllowaceeveeprt,abtloe
to that House; be felt it
state then, and so long as the Government of this
country administered the
_resources of Ireland and
her revenues, so long wouldhe continue to hold
the Government responsible for every death which
might occur through starvation—(Cries of " Oh, oh")
—if they did not adopt every measure which might be
probably and fairly expected of them.
Mr. P. SCROPE said that the Hon. Member who
had just sat down had alluded to the employment of the
able-bodied of the people of Ireland on public works in
that country, but had said nothing of the relief of that
large class of the population of that country,
the destitute, who were unable to work upon public
works. The wages which were given to those persons
employed on public works might have been sufficient
for their support when they bad potatoes as a means of
sustenance ; but now that the crop of that article was
destroyed it was not sufficient, seeing they bad to purcborse

—(Hear.) The ,Hon. Gentleman the Member for Li-
merick had in very strong language depicted the distress
at present existing in Ireland. He (Mr. Labouchere)
wished that it was in his power to say that he con-
sidered that the Hon. Gentleman had overcharged
the picture. There had been, no doubt, in.
some particular instances, great exaggeration,
Before Hon. Members could charge her Majesty's
Ministers as had been done by the Honourable
Member for Limerick (Mr. Smith O'Brien), they
ought to consider the ordinary condition of Ire-
land before this great calamity took place. What
was the usual state of that country? It was
no exaggeration to say, that the people were the worst
housed, the worst clothed, and the worst fed of any
people in lurope.—(Hear, hear.) He had in his
possession some facts which would throw considerable
light upon this question, which had been certified as
correct by one of the best authorities on the subject,
(LEFT SITTING.)