The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-05 00:00:00

rI
I'4 0111.11,14i

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1847.

Upon the advisability of affording encouragement
o the formation of railways in Ireland there is no
dissentience whatever, Men of every shade of poli-
tical opinion are unanimous on this point. If there
were a comparable unison of thought upon the other
schemes for the regeneration of Ireland, the trepida-
tion of the starving peasantry as to their future con-
dition would be marvellously abated. A desire has
long been entertained throughout the United King-
dom to witness the introduction of the railway system
on a comprehensive scale into the different counties
of the sister island. We ourselves have advocated
the construction of lines there, and more especially
in the localities likely to afford additional outlets and
inlets to foreign speculation. The Government has
repeatedly avowed its acquiescence in the arguments
advanced in favour of this gigantic innovation ; and
from the highest to the lowest, from the most nervous
to the most reckless, from the most enthusiastic Free-
trader to the most purblind Protectionist, from the
First Lord of the Treasury to the Leaders of the Op-
position, the advantages certain to accrue to Ireland
from this systematic introduction of railways have
been recognised and, in some manner or other,
expressed.
Persuaded, doubtless because steam power is the
great instrument of civilization in this age, that
therefore its influence upon an impoverished and de-
based multitude should be fostered by the Legisla-
ture, Lord GEORGE BENTINCIL has laid before Parlia-
ment a Bill for the application of this vast instrument
to the ills and necessities of Ireland. We are fully
prepared to accord to the Noble Lord the Member
for Lynn those commendations, as to his patriotic
motives, uttered by the Prime Minister. We
will even go so far as to confess that the proposition
of Lord GEORGE was produced with many felicitous
embellishments, and that the scheme, upon the merits
of which the Noble Lord was peculiarly verbose, had
evidently been compiled with no little industry.
Those embellishments, however, were in truth so
air-blown and frivolous, that they irresistibly asso-
ciated the Noble Lord in our mind with those "little
wanton boys that swim on bladders," mentioned by
SUAKSPERE. They only sustain Lord G. BRNTINCK
upon the surface of his argument for an instant—they
are pierced by the most casual remark of the Premier
—and the consequence is, the utter downfal of the
Noble Lord's proposals and of his logic into the
bargain.
To strip away all the blossoms and leaves of the
speech delivered last night in the Lower House,
what, in point of fact, is the bare stalk of the pro-
position ? Why, it is literally this—that Government
should perform an act of unparalleled munificence to
one portion of the empire, to the detriment and drain-
age of the rest—that within the next four years
sixteen millions of money should be advanced from
the revenue for the construction of certain lines of
railroad in Ireland. But that the miseries which
this plan is intended to diminish are of so terrible a
character, and that the recommendation is given with
a credulous and benevolent seriousness, we should be
almost tempted to smile at an idea so extravagant and
Quixotic. Granted that railways are calculated to
enhance the comforts and extend the prosperity of a
country ; granted that Ireland is peculiarly well
situated for the development of her re-
sources by a rapid mode of locomotion; that
her millions would obtain profitable employment,
that her agriculturists would be stimulated to fresh
exertions, that her manufacturing industry would be
awake Led, that her merchants would be excited to
greater enterprise, that the commerce of the old and
new world would be diverted from many of its

ancient channels, and would flow through the land,

fructifying and enriching it in its progreso•

granted all ' this ; but— we still submit it
to any candid man whether the scheme pro-
posed .by the Noble Lord the representative of
Lynn be either practicable or sane. By carrying

that scheme into effect what would be the inevitable

consequences ? All individual enterprise in Irish
railways would be infallibly destroyed—an enormous
drain would come upon the Exchequer, and through
that upon the pockets of the English people
—the food of the indigent labourers of Devonshire
would be indirectly stinted to fatten the miscellaneous

"navies" of Connaught—the labours of husbandry
would be materially interfered with at the very
moment when they hare become most essential—the
Irish would be, more than ever, the paupers and
dependents of the empire—the efforts of the
landlords would be wonderfully diminished—
and beyond all, under the apparent guise of genero-
sity towards Ireland, the whole unemployed vaga-
bondage of the kingdom would be allured to the

sister island to fatten upon the rich dainties showered

upon the country by the Legislature. In an argu-
ment, published in the last number of Tait's Maga-
zine, Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL maintains that a
vast multitude of labourers would flock from
England and Scotland on the carrying out of the
plans for the reclamation of waste lands in Ireland.
Supposing this anticipation to be correct, how much

more probable is the immigration of multitudes to

Ireland on the bringing of such an arrangement as
that of Lord G. BIINTINCK into operation! In ex-

pressing his dkinclination to uphold the proposals of

his Noble Friend the Member for Lynn, Lord JOHN

RUSSELL spoke with a circumspection, a lenity, and a

wisdom befitting the Minister of this great empire.

He saw at once that the virtual effect of that proposa

would be another way of complicating present diffi-

culties, of affording fresh multitudes the alms of out-
door assistance, and of employing a whole nation in

something tantamount to oakum-picking.

We took occasion last week to invite the attention
of our readers to the almost exhausted condition to
which the once flourishing and profitable British
whale fisheries have been reduced, and alluded to
the scheme which has been propounded by Mr. EN..
'many for resuscitating this valuable trade in all its
pristine strength. Whilst we lamented over the de-
cline which this important branch of maritime com-
merce has, for many years past, suffered, in conse-
quence of the misdirected efforts of our merchants, '
we, at the same time, observed upon the far different
results which had flowed from American enterprise,
so that, at this moment, they have not less than
20,000 seamen employed in their various whaling
expeditions. As we have before remarked, the causes