The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1847.

and forced upon Ireland measures of permanent relief and pro-
vision for th • people—which would increase the evil—would
be anverse to the opinion, and condemned by the judgment of
the educated and intellectual classes of Ireland, and on whom
the burden of taxation was about to ;all. Nothing could be
more fatal than the passing by a British Parliament of a mea-
ures
ofif poor-law relief condemned by the principal representa-
tivesthe country. He trusted, -although the question was
not then before their Lordships, he might be permitted, in no.
spirit of hostility, but rather with the view of making sonic
suggestion, as he thought there were suggestions to be made
on points which should be regarded with the gravest con-
sideration—he would suggest to their Lordships on three or
four provisions much which ought to be borne in mind, and
which it appeared to him was not borne in mind in providing
a permanent poor-law for Ireland. They were about to frame
a poor-law for that country. They were about for the first
time to confer an absolute right of relief unless some alteration
had been made in the first clause of the Bill as it was
now submitted to Parliament. By the Bill as it stood at pre-
sent, hoards of guardians of the different unions of Ireland
were not only authorised and empowered, but authorised and
required to make some provision for all persons permanently
disabled, infirm, and so forth, either within or without the
workhouse, as it might seem to them fit. The present law gave
to the board of guardians permission to relieve but in the
workhouse only. The Bill they were about to introduce re-
quired the guardians to relieve either within or without the
workhouse. He thought ho was not wrong in what, he said
with regard to the aged, to the permanently disabled, the
aged and infirm. They ought to confer the right of relief on
them, but they ought not at present to go further. He believed
on his part, that although many heavy burdens were borne by
the resources of Ireland, the provision was not a judicious one.
They were, however, going further, for it appeared that a pro-
vision was to be made for the able-bodied, either within
or in certain cases without the doors of the workhouse.
They were authorising the Poor-law Commissioners
to require the board of guardians in certain cases
to provide for the able-bodied out of the workhouse. The
provision might be a neees_ary one, but it was one from which
he completely dissented. It might be one for which there was
the greatest possible occasion, but it was a power which had a
tendency more than any other to extend and increase indefinitely
not only the pressure of the poor-rate itself, but also had a ten-
dency to create a desire in the minds of the Irish people to
desert their labour.—(Hear, hear. The point to which he
wished to call their Lordships' attention was this, they were
about to lay every burden upon the land of Ireland—they were
about to require the land of Ireland to support the great body
•f destitute persons. It was not unworthy of their Lordships'
consideration, and he trusted that it might not be lest sight of
by the Government, whether this provision under which a
limited amount of relief was now granted, and which might
have been found wise and effective enough with regard to the
present constitution of boards of guardians, might be found
equally wise and safe when they came to grant a more ex-
tended and a greater measure ; and he was sure that they
would find and impose on Ireland the full amount of burden
which England was called upon to bear, and they were bound
in fairness and candour to see that the property affected by
the measure was justly applied, and to grant a protection to it
at least equal to the protection granted in England. There
were two other points. Ho was not about to discuss them
then, but he trusted that he was not improperly occupying
their Lordships time by making some suggestions.—( Hear,
hear.) The condition of things, with regard to the poor.law
in England and Ireland, was different, because society in Ire-
land was very much divided into very high and very low, and
that fact formed a most important consideration. With refer-
ence to the formation of boards of guardians, the boards of
guardians in England, tite middling farmers were almost gene-
rally the persons called upon to officiate, but that was the very
class which was most deficient in Ireland, and from which it
would be impossible to form boards of guardians. The tenure
of the power devolved in Ireland in a great measure on very
much lower and poorer classes than it did in England—on
classes little above the labourers themselves. It might be
well for their Lordships to consider that, if this were the case, '
there should be interposed between the guardians of that class
of persons and property some security that it shou:d not be
wasted, and that there should not be less security in Ireland
between the guardians and property than could be obtaioed
in England from the present system, and yet the law as it now
stood limited the amount of er officio guardians to the number
ordinarily allowed in England. Those upon whom the pres-
sure of tbe Irish poor-law would fall in the first instance would
be the landlord rather than the occupier. It might be said
that the landlord was the proper person to bear it, and was the
Person upon whom the pressure ought to be made to fall ; and
therefore it would be better, when they were about to make a
provision for out-door relief, to provide able-bodied persons
from the funds of the parish, that those persons on whose pro-
Pert>, the taxation would fall should have a preponderating
voice in the framing of that taxation ; and if they should have
the board constituted of small farmers, paying one-third of the
amount of taxation, while two-thirds fell upon the landlords,
he was afraid that in many cases there would be a great temp-
tation to an improper extension of the rate, and the
ic mis-
management would be greater as the amount of parochial rates
Yied upon themselves became smaller. The great object they
oad in view was to raise this class of farmers to he themselves
employers of labour. They ought to compel them to
te employtell labour ; for to tell him that the landlord
could supply labour to the extent required was
him that his property would be confiscated, and therefore
erePtoyment should be provided by the farmer. If they
relieved the fanner from this obligation they would induce
the
to throw their labourers out of work, and trust to the
chance of obtaining labour at a cheaper rate out of those sup-
Ported by the poor-rates. No measure could be more indis-
Peosable than this, for where the sates fell directly on the far-
merhim himself, the pressure was the most wholesome and only
°ate mode to prevent the improvident expenditure which a
different
system of poor-laws would introduce into Ireland.
Whatever might be said against the Irish landlord, he (Lord
Stanley) was satisfied that there was more justice and more
od sense in England than to make a provision by which, he
believed, that the farmer could impose duties and burdens
which could not be borne by the landlords of England ; and
to say that they should have no voice in the assessing of rates ;
that they should have them assessed on those who were the
Persons to pay by small farmers, who were altogether exempt
from Payments—who had not the means of employing labour—
who had not the inducement to employ labour, but who voted
for the relief of persons from burdened estates, which would
be in a great measure confiscated by him. He (Lord Stanley)
was satisfied that in England, where this class of farmers were
more respectable is point of property—he did not say of cha-
racter— that if they had the control, and only one-third of the
payment fell upon them, much dissatisfaction would be caused.
There were two other points, which, as he was on his legs, he
would venture to suggest to the consideration of her Majesty'
Government, acid there was one which he considere as ell
important, if they meant really to Fut a check upon
expenditure, and that was the question as to whetherthe rates.
should be levied upon the townlands or the districtseleeTral
He knew that proposals had been made to throw
coming
burden of
taxation on the townlands. He considered that
because they were too small, some of them
as
forty or fifty acres, and an assessment on so smallga asscaloew
was
impossible. On the other hand, he was rather inclinedts:
re
think that the electoral division, as they were at
nt
individual
stituted, did not err on the side of being too small;)
theyse con-
toe large to give scope, or sufficient scope, to were
responsibility for the management of property—rather for the
prevention than the payment of rates. He was sure that if they
still further taxed the liability of proprietors,' and from the
electoral divisions threw the burden of taxation upon the unions
of Ireland, instead of the electoral divisions, frora that moment
landed
there was an end to all inducement to the proprietors
to
take the smallest part or interest in the
management of their
own property. He felt in some degree interested on this ques-
tion. Their Lordships must make all due allowance for that
matter in the weight they attached to his observations; but
when he said that he was an Irish proprietor, he said that it
was contingent upon the decision
come to upon this matter
he t
bhe?
would
e
whether he should or should not continue
u mere point to which, if they would forgive eo' fie had one
it
h.
urge upon the consideration of the House, hnir
was one of sufficient importance to be introduced at this early
period, although it would be discussed when they came to con-
eider -
the provisions of the more permanent measure. It
e;
this—a declaration—a legislative declaration—which in Eng
land would appear to be uncalled for, because he believed that
the public sense of every board of guardians would have carries!
it into effect. Under the provision made it was stated that
no man could be allowed to be destitute or entitled to relief
when, at the time, he was the occupier, or in possession of
land. He did not mean, when he said land, sufficient for a
garden, about a quarter or half of an acre ; but when he made
the following observation, he should have the concurrence of
nine out of ten men acquainted with Ireland. It would be the
ruin of the country if they at once sanctioned the union in one
person, the two characters of pauper and land occupier. There
were a great many small occupiers in Ireland, who were quite
in as much distress as other classes, and the board of guardians
mould say that he should have relief, so that half of the year
he would be a land occupier and the other half a psuaer, de-
teriorating in value the parish from which he derived his relief.
Unless all these considerations were taken into consideration,
no measure could be introduced at all calculated to reduce the
distress of the country, without leaving behind it evils worse
than those it was intended to cure.—( Hear, hear.)
The Earl of MOUNTCASHEL complained that the effect
of this measure would be to impose a burden on certain of the
classes in Ireland which they were altogether unable to bear.
The number of rate-payers who would be registered amounted
to 195,017, but out of this number not more than 50 or 51
would be able to pay. The Noble and Learned Lord ( Lord
Brougham), whom he did not then see in his place (Lord
Brougham here returned to his seat)—Oh, the Noble Lord
was present—the Noble and Learned Lord, in his tirade
against the Irish people, said that labour on the roads had di-
minished the number of agricultural labourers. The fact was
tot;a t a portion of the Irish farmers had never been in the habit
them with ayinig their labourers in money ; they paid
labourers sea* patch of potato ground. They could now pay the
wit neither, and, therefore, they were compelled to
resort to the roads. The Noble and Learned Lord had re-
marked that the Irish poor were not ashamed to beg, and,
• therefore, they cared not to be employed. Ile (Lord Mount-
eashel) would instance the case of the Irish labourer in Eng-
land and in London. When in this country they em
ployed
in em loved
in English labour, and paid with English. money, they were- as
anxious as the labourers of any country to be at work. He
only wished that the Noble Lord resided in Ireland—(Great
feigned diemay)—he would thenl
laughter, much increased Lord Brougham's gesture of
have been better able to de-
scribe the feelings and habits
of the Irish people.
Earl FITZWILLIAAI said that it svas not for the purpose
of adding anything to what had fallen
posite (Lord Stanley) that he rose at feee the Noble Lord op-
at time to address a
few observations to the House,
thought that every one
would agree with him that they ought to be grateful to the
Noble Lord, and it was principally for the purpose of recording
his acquiescence in the views advanced by the Noble Lord with
reference to a measure not yet before their Lordships, he
(Earl Fittwilliam) wished to say one word in exemplification
eat
of what he had before stated with regard to the relief com-
mittees, and the power vested in the persona elected to form the
board of guardians. He was of opinion that there ought
to be provisions introduced in the measure, limiting these
powers. When he was in Ireland last, he attended the
sittings of the relief committee, and the first person who
came forward for relief was a man in possession of some 31 or
40 acres of land. He must do the committee the justice to
say, that they almost generally acquiesced in the propriety of
not admitting that person to relief; and that was after a touch-
ing appeal being made by the priest, who stated that the man
was in as great distress as any person who could apply to them.
lie (Earl Fitawilliam) had no doubt of the truth of that state-
ment. He was grateful to the Noble Lord for the explanation
lie had given; and his only object in rising was, that no doubt
might exist as to his opinion on this subject.
Lord AIONTEAGLE wished, with his Npble Friend who
had last spoken, to return his thanks to the Noble Lord
opposite fer the course he had pursued. It was most im-
portant that they, as Irish proprietors, as well as Members of
the Imperial Parliament, should be ready to make any per-
sonal sacrifices, and any pressure to which they might be sub-
jected, if such sacrifices or the endurance of such pressure could
be found beneficial to Ireland. But he powerfully wished to
draw hi •
s Noble Friend's attention to one or two points in the
present Bill. The first of these did not so much arise out of
the Bill itself, as out of the constitution of the bo' ird of coin-
Missioners in whom these extraordinary powers were to be
Vsasrted. That board was constituted of five member-namely,
John Burgoyne, Mr. Twisleton, the head of the' board
of works, the head of the constabulary, and the
head of the commissariat. Now, to any one acquainted
with Ireland, or who had passed half-hourt in
"e office of either theseoffiei a
al departments,
was something araohnting to a farce to think that thes'e,

gentlemen, having superadded to their present the additional
duties of this Bill, could undertake the business which would
be imposed upon them. The late Mr. Drummond, than whom
no man was more able to cope with the work of the country—
if they were to tell the late Mr. Drummond that he was to
undertake the whole of the administration of the poor-
law in Ireland, to administer to twenty-two thousand and
twenty electoral divisions, he (Lord Monteagle) would be bound
to say that Mr. Drumtnond would have said, " I will not under-
take this duty." Then, as respected the head of the constabulary
for Ireland, why the House admitted last session that the con-
stabulary was in itself a great organised army, and could they
believe that the head of this great force could attend to the
duty they were casting upon him? A better selection than Sir
John llureoyne could not be made, or better fitted to inspire
more confidence in the Irish people with respect to the future
administration of this law. But with the exception of Sir
John Burgoyne and Sir Randolph Routh they had no man on
whom they could depend for the well working of this Bill. He
wished also to refer to a matter connected with the constitu-
tion of the Bill. The letter of Sir George Grey and the Act,
itself admitted the fact of large contributions being expected
in aid of the funds, and the privilege of such contributors no-
minating certain persons to the attention of the relief com-
mittee. It was true that by the admission of this patronage
they might calculate on the assistance of some who would have
otherwise remained neuter, but still it was reasonable that the
persons Rho contributed somewhat liberally should have in some
degree the power of distributing the funds they had created. There
had been much discussion in Ireland on this point, and the
general opinion was that the subscribers of twenty guineas
and upwards should become c.e-ogieio members of the fund
committees. 'With reference to the principle of enforcing
a rate with the wants of each electoral division, he thought
that such a principle was calculated to throw Ireland into
a state of irretrievable contusion ; they would require to issue
warrant upon warrant, and thus they would be adding
difficulties to what was in the first instance far more easy.
A Noble Lord had drawn a contrast between the people of
Ireland and of Scotland. He described the latter as a proud
and independent people, who would rather die than submit to
beg. He recognised in that speech the characteristic of the
country. He (Lord Monteagle) would at once admit the
superiority of the Scottish people, but he would ask, what
had been the effect of out-doer relief on proud and inde-
pendent Scotland, where the people were so independent that
they would rather die than beg for food ? They had the re-
sults before them. The House would remember that, ac-
cording to the hypothesis of the Noble Lord, they were an
inferior race on whom they were to try this new experiment,
and, therefore, if with a country like Scotland the measure had
failed, what security had they for calculating on Ireland ?
He was about to read from the report of the Poor-law Com-
missioners, and there, in a letter from a mutual friend of his
own and the Noble Lord's, he meant Sir George Sinclair, that
gentlemen stated, as the result of the first year's experience of
the poor-law in Caithness, that the rate exceeded 800/. per
annum, and that incendiaries were busily at work, inciting the
paupers not to take sixpence per day for their labour, which
was a larger amount than they had ever before earned, and he
concluded that, in a few years, unless some plan were adopted
to prevent the spread of the evil, the greater part of the landed
rental would be absorbed for the mere maintenance of the
paupers in the district. Here were the Scottish peasantry so
proud, so independent, so unwilling to beg from individuals,
reduced to beg from the public. He (Lard Monteagle)
would throw no impediment in the way of this Bill; but
he hoped the measure would not be pressed until :their
Lordships had well considered its provisions.
Lord BROUGHAM was apprehensive lest, by giving a
right to a claim of out-door relief, it would destroy the very
foundation of industry in the country, because many persons
who would be ashamed to beg would not be ashamed to go and
claim relief at their parish.
Lord CAMPBELL would not institute a comparison be-
tween the poor of any country ; he thought that, all over the
world, people would rather be idle than work. The offer of
gratuitous relief was, he believed, universally demoralising. He
hoped, however, that the results of passing this measure would
not be so dangerouts as the Noble Lord (Lord Monteagle) had
supposed. He did not think that the applications to the poor-
law guardians would be so frequent as seemed to haunt the
imagination of his Noble Friend.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, in reply, said that he
begged their Lordships to remember that when he introduced
this measure, he stated, in the strongest terms, that he con-
ceived the measure to be objectionable—as a permanent mea-
sure, utterly objectionable. Principles like those contained in
the Bill often crept into the Government without its
being at first aware of the evil. The measure was
called for only for a short time, and under the most distressing
circumstances, such as he was not prepared to contemplate
without making some effort to relieve. He was quite prepared
to admit that many abuses had arisen under the late Poor Re-
lief Act, but he believed, that if that measure had not been
passed by the Legislature, there would have been, by this
time, at least half a million of persons who would
have perished for want, and of whose existence
their Lordships, the other House, and the Govern-
ment, would have been accountable. It could not
be denied that a considerable amount of good had been effected
under that measure ; those works which had been considered
as useless and unproductive were only exceptional cases, and
not the rule. He quite concurred in many of the observations
which fell from the Noble Lord opposite (Lord Stanley). He
thought, however, that questions referring to the better secu-
rity of property, and the improved constitution of the
boards of union guardians would require the most serious
consideration of their Lordships previous to the introduction of
a poor-law for Ireland. He thought also tl.at it would be a
great benefit to reduce the number of small tenements, and he
should be happy if, by the passing of a measure to that effect,
the tenants were driven from their small and precarious hold-
ings to a more certain and safer mode of obtaining their exist-
ence. lie thought that under all the circumstances of the case
the present Bill was the best that could be introduced, and he
hoped that their Lordships would not refuse their sanction to
the second reading of the Bill.
The Bill was then read a second time.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 15.
WOLVERHAMPTON RATES BILL.
On the motion of Mr. BROTHERTON, this Bill was
read a second time.
WOLVERHAMPTON GAS BILL.

•
On the motioß of the same lIoN. MEMBER, this 13i11
was also read a second time.
On the motion of an IIoN. MEMBER, the Sheffield
.llsrlcets Bill was read a second time.
BATLWAYS IN IRELAND.—ADJOURNED
DE BATE.

The Marquis of GRANBY (in continuation from our
Third Edition) said—He would take a passage from
the Spectator of last week, and he supposed
that gentleman could not suspect it to be a paper likely
to be unduly influenced by his Noble Friend or his
party. It said that it was not only the magnificent pro-
mises which could be seen in the proposition of
the Noble Lord, or in the elaborately lucid
speech of the proposer it was the specific
nature of the object at which he I.: Tied, and the
explicit account of the way in which the plan was ex-
pected to work. In all these respects the plan stood in
formidable opposition and contrast to the plan of the
Ministry. It was like the substance placed op-
posite to the shadow. They had there laid
down all the Noble Lord's data—they might be dis-
puted, they might be falsified, but, then, they were
challenging scrutiny. Three Chancellors of the Ex-
chequer had got up one after the other, and not one of
hem had attempted to deny any important fact or state-
ment of the Noble Lord's.—(Hear, hear.) His Noble
Friend had said in his speech that there would be
600,0001. or 700,0001. put into the Treasury from the
increase of the Customs and Excise under the
operation of the Bill ; and could they say that
that was no advantage to the people of England?
The measure would, therefore, put 600,0001. or 700,0001.
into the Treasury.—(Hear, hear.) An endeavour had
been made the other evening by the Right lion. Gentle-
man the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to prove that the
data of the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn was false.
He had asserted that the scheme, instead of employing
112,000 men, would only find employment for
45,000. It was not his (the lAarquii of
Granby's) intention to go into these calcu-
lations at any length, as the Right Hon. Gentle-
man's statement had been most ably exposed by
the Hoe. Member for Newark and the Right
Hon. Member for Sunderland (Mr. Hudson).
They had shown that instead of calculating for
four millions of money, he should have taken
six millions, and that he had committed a
great mistake in setting down the earthwork at ouly
25 per cent. of the whole cost. Now, he would call the
attention of the House to one Irish line, which was the
most favourable to the present plan, in proof of the
incorrectness of the statement of the Right Hon.
Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer—
it was the line from Dublin to Mullingar
and Athlone. The earthwork and labour of that line
cost 3.600/. a mile. Now, it was said that a million of
money would employ 45,000 persons ; if so, a 1,000/.
would find employment for 45, or 3,600/. for 162 persons.
Therefore, according ta the Right Hon. Gentleman's
own principle, a mile of the railway in question would
employ 162 persons. Now this was an unfavourable
specimen of what the Bill would do ; inasmuch as, while
this line cost 9,000/. a mile, and 3,6001. a mile for earth-
work and labour, 3,600/. per mile had been paid for the
grand canal, making the actual cost but 6,4ool—(Hear.)
It had been attempted to be denied that the Noble Lord had
no right to assume that 500,000 persons would derive em-
ployment from his plan; but he could not understand that
because men were employed in earthworks, that their
families, who might not be employed in other ways, would
be benefited. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said
that the really destitute would not be relieved. How
could they create any great work of improvement, any
great reproductive work, and not employ able-bodied
men ? Why, it was impossible. If 112,000 men were
employed, would not they be of benefit ? The Right
Hon. Gentleman had also said that the contractors would
Rot take all the labourers from the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the railways.—(Hear, hear.) Ile be-
lieved that all the labourers would not be taken
from the immediate:neighbourhood, but no doubt a large
number would. The Right Hon. Gentleman had stated
that alleaktthoroecerkoa,riklra,onadfdros went eastwards, while all the dis-
tress was in the west. Was that the fact ? Were
Tttohheuruerlaneot railways from Waterford to Limerick, from
distressomthWer
western parts atpearrfotsrdoftothCa ooruku,oftrroymioCothrke
theall
conclusion to comentot,h.
all railways of Ireland ? He feared also that
Supposing he was was not in the west of Ireland.
were
ocorrect in his second statement, that
labourers from those districts turti c
thatt
s eastward,inth ewy
whichhawt wasl7 ads
distress
ta thek take
at
theirua rnadl
would be taking the labourersW e
fromll , but
ag
an abundance of labour ?said this
agriculture. Ile ad-
mitted at once that this
evil, but when he reflectewd ould be a great and serious
that two millions of people
were nearly dying of
starvation from the want
of employment, he could
not help thinking that
with all their aid and
be a sufficient number lersistance, there would
He did not think that there wast any danger
for
tilling the land.
hands to cultivate the land ; but tleseanft?r of a want of
Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that ight Hoe. the
e Irishman
was incompetent, either from his physical
energies, or
his industrial habits, for the labour required
on
'Why, they found that the Irish peasant wea superior railways.
the Englishman, and he would read to the House the se-
veral proportions of the two countries. He found thatthe
average height of the Englishman was sixty-eight
inches, and the Irishman seventy; the average weight
of till Englishman 1511b5., of the Irishman 1551b5.; the
L. average strength of the Englishman 403, and of the
Irishman 432.—(11ear, hear.) He thought, therefore,
I that there existed no physical reason why the Irishman
ehottld not be employed oA nilyram a Noble Lord

then proceeded to read extracts, showing that, as re-
garded his industrious habits, the Irishman was not
second to the English labourer. There might have
been cases of idleness and inattention, but as a people.
he could assure the House that no men had performed
their duty better. The Right Hon. Gentleman the
late Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Goulburn), had
stated that he was quite inclined to bow to the opinion
of his Right Hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland.
The Right Hon. Gentleman hs stated that enterprise
and capital had succeeded in forming railways in
England, and he wished to know why the same capital
and enterprise should not have been succeesful in form-
ing raialways in Ireland? Why, the Right Hon. Gentle-
man might, perhaps, know, that the climate of Italy and
the south of France was favourable to the cultivation of
the vine. No capital in England, without the aid of
forcing houses, could ever bring the vine to per-
fection ; nor could they without the aid of English
capital and enterprise ever form railways in Ireland, or
ever make them available for the relief of the people.
There was one of the best lines in the country—that
from Limerick to Ennis. At one end of the line there
was a population of 60,000, and 12,000 at the other, and
serving a population of from 100,000 to 400,000, and
which was calculated to take in the accommodation of a
hundred miles of river. He had received a letter this
morning from a gentleman in Ireland, and it confirmed
all the views that he (the Marquis of Granby) had ad-
vanced. The Bill of his Noble Friend would confer the
greatest benefits on the people of Ireland without any
cost to this country. Ile hoped, however, they would
not look to the results that would follow the mere ex-
penditure of the mpney, but to the increased prosperity
of the country, and the various other concomitant ad-
vantages which would arise—by which not only the
present distress would be alleviated, but the foundation
laid of permanent good.—(Hear, bear.) He begged to
thank the House for the patience with which they had
heard him.

Mr. BROWNE said that the 20th clause of the Bill pro-
vided that one-third of the stock should be advanced by the
shareholders, and that the Government should advance the re-
mainder on the security of the undertaking. Now this was a
mercantile speculation, and he doubted if the result would be
any thing but disastrous. All railroads in Ireland were at
present at a discount except three ; and, under such circum-
stances, he did not think that the scheme could be considered
very favourable. It was said that the circulation of paper-
money would not derange the monetary affairs of the country,
but if any one looked at the history of the finances of this coun-
try, he would come to a different conclusion. Many applica-
tions for the reduction of duties in various articles had been
made to the Government, but if the revenue was burdened in
the way proposed, there could be no attention paid to these ap-
plications. He trusted the Chancellor of the Exchequer would
anstain the national faith, but if that were to be done, all use-
less and unnecessary expenditure must be avoided.—(Hear.)
Colonel MUIR trusted he should notlbe misunderstood on
such observations he should think it right to make, or that in
anything he should say he should be supposed to be averse to
the extension of railway communication in Ireland. On the
contrary, he was of opinion that no means could be morefai sly
or effectually applied to develope the resources of that country.
He considered, howeser, that the measure was exorbitant and
unreasonable in itself, that its benefits to Ireland were ques-
tionable, and that its effects would be injurious not only to the
public interests, but to the credit and commercial character of
the United Kingdom. It was not his intention to refer to the va-
rious objections which had been:made to:the measure by speakers
in the former part of the debate, but there was one to which he
begged to call the attention of the House, which was the fla-
grant immorality of the measure. There was no one more
convinced than he was of the purity, the patriotism, and the
philanthropy of the Noble Lord who introduced the Bill, but
that was not what they had now to consider, and he had no he-
sitation in calling it an extensive scheme for the encourage-
ment of railway gambling under the auspices of the State. He
trusted that in makieg that ..atercent ke should not be consi-
dered guilty of misrepresentation or exaggeration. What was
the definition of gambling ? Was it not Malting money on
creditless adventures in the hope of realising large profits? Well,
if that were a correct definition, he could not believe that any
impartial man would designate the measure for the encourage-
ment of Irish railways in another way than an insecure and
creditless adventure. They had only to look to the prostrate
condition of railway stock in that country to be convinced of
this. He did not know what the Noble Lord the Member for
Lynn would say to this, but it was the only criter:on by which
the matter could be tested, and, in his mind• the verdict was
conclusive. Now the whole scope of the argument in favour of
the measure was, that the credit merely of the State was lent
to execute these undertakings, and that the invest-
ments would be repaid ; bat he very much doubted
whether such expectations would be ever realised. He
did not doubt but, by the prosered plan, a certain
value would be given to the shares in tne various lines to which
the Government advances were to ha extended, but this would
be but temporary, and they world soon subside into the same
state as they were before. The wi. a were convinced of this
from the first, and the imprudent would be convinced by the
sad experience they would have of the sad reality. It was only,
therefore, through the influence of some delusion that what
they now, in their lucid moments, considered valueless, should
be thought valuable from Government assistance. He
considered he was speaking most justly in designating
the scheme as one that held out encouragement to
a system of gambling.—( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord on
the eloquent and lucid speech in which he brought forward
the measure, stated that one benefit to be conferred by it
would be that the Irish landlords who had shares in these
undertakings would sell them in order to improve their estates
with the proceeds, but the Noble Load told then in the same
breath that the way to improve Ireland was to construct rail-
ways. He hoped the House would not give its sanction to
such a great act of public profligacy. It was not a year since
the House resounded with denunciations of the pernicious
spirit which then pervaded the country with respect to railway
gambling. That spirit was now lying dormant, and he hoped
they would not give their sanction to the proposal of the Noble
Lord the Member for Lynn, and resuscitate its slumbering
energies to work the same evils.
Mr. Alderman THOMPSON was rather surprised to hear
the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down designate the
Bill of the Noble Lord as a measure for the encouragement
of immorality in Ireland.—( Hear, hear.) It was much to be
regretted that the Hon. Member had not been in the House
for some time past, otherwise he might have stopped the pass-
ing of many railway Bills.—( Laughter.) His Noble Friend
beside him, reminded him that with respect to some of the
railways in Ireland, both Houses of Parliament suspended the
standing orders, that their passing might be facilitated.
In his opinion, the present was the very time that the Govern-
meat ought to assist Ireland. The Hon. Gentelman had in-
sten led America. But let him ask the Hon. Gentleman, were
rot the large canals, public roads, and other great works, for
de most part performed by the Government ? He believed
that the objections raised to this measure might be divided into
two. In she first place it was said that railways wore properly
private enterprise, with which Government should not inter-
fere ; and in the second place, that it would derange
the financial system as laid down by the Govern-
ment. With regard to the first objection, several
cases had been cited where Government had come forward
for public works, not only in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
but even in the colonies. The principle laid down by the
Noble Lord had been already approved of by a Select Committee
of that House. That Committee had been appointed to con-
sider this subject. Of that Committee some of her Majesty's
Government were members. In page 7 of that report, among
the remedial measures proposed for the improvement of
Ireland, was the promotion of public works, and
the Committee expressed their desire of ceiling the
attention of the House seriously to the question.
A Bill was introduced for that purpose. He himself had been
consulted on the Bill, and the honour was even done him of
employing his name in it. He must allude to what had been
said as to there being less aistress in the north of Ireland than
in any other part of the country at the present time. Now it
was owing to the employment that was found for able-bodied
labourers on those railways that that distress did
not exist. It had been also said that the Irish
would not he employed on those railways ; but
were there not hundreds of them employed on railways at pre-
sent it this country 7 With regard to the financial part of the
question, he was ready to admit that the country was labouring
under some financial diffieulty, which affected unquestionably
the Government securities. The Bill of his Noble Friend the
Member for Lynn did not propose to increase the taxation, and
before Government was required to do so there would be ad-
vanced a sufficient sum to proceed with. Four millions had
been advanced for East India railways, for the liability of the
Indian Government was confirmed by the Government of
this country. Was it not right railways should be promoted in
Ireland as well as in India? He regretted that the Noble
Lord did not feel it his duty to adopt the Bill even in a
modified shape.
Mr. F. FRENCH said he was anxious to say a few words
in explanation of some statements which were made by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to Ire-
land, but before he could do so, he desired to
bear his testimony to the laborious research of the
Noble Member for Lynn, and his admiration of the lucid and
clear method in which he placed his opinions before the House.
Ireland owed him a deep debt of gratitude; he had been the
first statesman who had the courage to come forward and lift
the veil under which the country had so long withered ; and
his example should be followed by those who would in future
attempt to govern the country. He felt it his duty to repel all
charges which reflected on the character of Ireland, and he
cared not whether those charges proceeded from those to
whom he was politically opposed or otherwise, for,
come they whence they might, as long as he
possessed a seat in that House, he would raise his
voice in defence of the country. The first circumstance to
which he would allude, was the statement made by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer that the Grand Canal owed a sum
of 100,000/. which had never been repaid. Now the facts of
that case were these:—The sum originally lent was 47,0001.
The Grand Canal, when that sum was lent, had an income of
50,0001., and they had a clear profit of 300/. a mile. They
were anxious to extend the line to Ballinasloe, and had there
been proper security taken, there would not have been even a
sixpence of the money lost. But the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer of the day took a security upon a line not
made, and which was to run through a country
which was wholly and entirely bog. The consequence was
compromise,twh beenehhgnardleeantt
ctiht
eylately
money
offered Cork, which
pon ohf bad security.
eoeoaunOr/ni.
tuyfao.l
annually
y theTr
ahteewdoh
eoxal whole
that that portion did not pay either principal or interest, and
debt. The fault lay completely with the Chancellor of the
alE2xoooc hequteor
stwtaoteomretnhtree which
hundred was
thousandm ade was
pounds.in
is sum t to
theis
reportedsum of
never to have been paid. This was a like case with the former' •
and he would ask the House if proper security had been taken
in this instance? Was it likely that the city of Cork would
not have paid the debt?—( Hear, hear.) There was also
the sum of one hundred thousand pounds lent to build
two bridges in Limerick, and the only security
taken was the tolls upon the bridges.—( Hear.) Let the House
consider whether a place like Limerick would be able to repay
such a sum merely from the tolls arising from two bridges ?
This had been done during the Chancellorship of a Noble Lord
who did not then possess a seat in the I-louse—he meant Lord
Monteag e.The landlords of Ireland had endeavoured to
avail themselves of the money granted last -year by way of
loans for the drainage of their estates. But they were pro •
vented, for it had been decided by the Lord Chancellor that
tenants for life could not avail themselves of the provisions of
the Bill. —( Hear.) He could noth support the Bill of the Noble
Lord for the reasons which he p
would accordingly give his vote in favour of the amendment.
Mr. NEWDEGATE said he would support the measure of
the Noble Member for
Lynn, which he considered well calcu-
lated to meet the exigenel ss of Iredai n
• Member for Ports Ireland.—( Hear, hear.) He
had been surprised at the Right
Ports-
mouth, and the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, stating thrt these railways never would repay the
capital, on account of being merely local concerns. He
rde-
nied that they were such, especially t Ines
hose great proposed
to intersect Ireland in the leading directions. It was well
known to every gentleman in the House, at all conversant with
works of this kind, that there could be no better investment
than through lines of railway, which not only took up all the
traffic of the districts through which they passed, but accommo-
dated the terminal traffic of the principal parts of the kingdom.
—( Hear, hear.) A great deal had likewise been said, in the
I progress of this discussion, about the principles of
political
economy; and of their violation by the present Bill. But Rib

it not absurd to talk of political economy in the present state of
Ireland, when the people were starving? The circumstances
of England and Ireland were altogether different. During
the last eleven years there had Bills passed for 7,200 miles
of railway in England,.of which die-third, or 2,600 miles, had
been completed, leaving yet te make 4,600 miles. In the
same tims Bills for Ireland had passed for the con-
struction of 1,523 miles, of which but 123 miles
had been :completed, leaving yet unconstructed 1,400
miles. By this it would appear, that while England had con-
structed one-third of the lines for which Acts had been ob-
tained, Ireland had constructed but one-twelfth, and of this
one-twelfth they had been told that the great proportion of
capital had been subscribed by England. If this were so, and
if such a small proportion of the Irish railways had been made,
the result cuuld only be attributed to the deplorable condition
of Ireland during the last few years. I'o talk therefore
of applying the principles of political economy under
such circumstances wa: perfectly absurd.—( Hear, hear.)
The people of Ireland required employment, and the
plan of the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn was expressly
adapted for the purpose. There was a vast amount of capital
in this country which at present could only be employed in
Government securities, and he saw no better mode of employ-
ing it than by the carrying out of the works contemplated by
the present Bill. He admitted that there were evident signs of
a coming financial difficulty and a commercial crisis ; but that
was in connexion with the present monetary system, and the
altered circumstances of the country, occasioned by the abro-
gation of the. protective system last year. The commercial
difficulty which he apprehended would, therefore, arise out
of the present monetary system, and the excess of imports
over exports, occasioned by the legislation of last year; but
because there was a probability of such a crisis, were the peo-
ple of Ireland to be left to starve ? Was no provi.
sion to be made for them?—( Hear, hear.) He submitted
that there must, and that the Bill now under the consideration
of the House was well adapted for the purpose. The Hun.
Member then proceeded to show how the present monetary
system operated against the extension of railway and other
public works, and in support of the views he advanced, read a
long extract from a letter which he said he had received from
an esteemed friend, in illustration of the injurious effects of the
currency measures of Sir Robert Peel. He believed that
the real difficulty existed in the monetary system. Why four
millions annually was only a part of the means adopted to
meet the emergency of the war, when the expenditure of the
country was 73,000,000/. Was there then any real impossibility
to meet the exigencies of Ireland ? In 1843 the income-tax
was ten per cent., while now it was only three per cent. The
whole of the tax proposed now was less than nine per cent.
Could they refuse to raise less than one-half ? He believed
there was no difficulty, and if there was a difficulty, it arose
from the monetary system. The difficulty, if one there was,
arose from speculations in foreign railways, and when the crisis
has come, and when the bullion migkt be assorted, the specu-
lation in foreign railways kept capital short. He asked
whether it was wise to restrict one department whereby
the exchanges were regulated, when the other
department was confessedly employed to restrict the
enterprise of commercial capital ? He saw the Member
for the city of London smile, but he only spoke
on the authority of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and if
there were no difficulty there was no necessity for restricting
this accommodation.—( Hear, hear.) If these opinions were
erroneous he alone was responsible for them ; but he would
turn to another point. He believed that in 1835 the drains
for gold on the Bank began, and with the commencement of
that drain all the difficulty arose.—(Hear, hear.) He
must confess that he felt considerable surprise at the spirit in
which the Government had met the proposal of his Hen.
Friend.

his vote
oteJ. 00r:CthoeNpNreEseLnL
t feltoccasion. considerable
He
felt t h difficultyat tin
he r giving
i vi nwa
was
one great benefit in the Noble Lord's proposal, and that
was, that it promised immediate employment.---( Hear, hear.)
But the Irish Members felt themselves in this difficulty,
that while the Noble Lord at the head of the Government
promised immediate employment, yet the plan of the
Noble Lord the Member for Lynn (Lord George Bentinck)
promised something commensurate with the distress new ex-
sating in Ireland. He was quite ready to allow that the Go-
vernment and the people, both within and out of the House, had
evinced the warmest sympathy for the people of Ireland, and
he did hope that the Government would have taken up this
plan, and even if it were modified, that they would have car-
ried it out. France had adopted some such plan, and it has been
discovered that in their taking possession of the railways in
that country they had found their account. Not only had the
Government or that country realised all they expected, but had
obtained a dividerd out the returns. The plan of the Noble Lord
the Member for Lyan seemed to give the only chance of getting
the relief that was necessary, and for that reason he would give
his humble vote for the motion of the Noble Lord opposite.
He deeply regretted that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should
have felt it his duty to advance a position that the officials in
Ireland hrd not done their duty. He deeply regretted this,
because that R;ght Hon. Gentleman had stated to the House,
when something more than 300,0001. had been advanced for a
wide street in Dublin, that nothing of this sum had been
repaid. This was entirely a mistake, and he would take the
paper which had been given in a return of the moneys carried
from the English to the Irish Exchequer, and the contrary.
appeared t
!,the Irish that thei
shEx
eh
e remittancesgne r fromw
theßy ExchequertEhantglipahaperit
7,000
a, aOO2l
~
period,w that was from whilst the remittancesmh
fromte pie
Irelanderd n
fduring
the the
union till last year was 26,000,0001., making the
difference in favour of the Irish Exchequer of 19,000,0001.
IVas this any proof that the advantage had been all on the side
of Ireland ? Then there was a question respecting
the expenditure o: 500,0001. on the part of Eng-
land for the improvement of Dublin, but the same
principle held good in this as in the other case.
By the financial returns it would appear that 3,600,0001. were
advanced for the support of the Irish police. Now, if this
were solely and purely an Irish loan it would be proper that
Ireland should pay all of it, but it must be recollected that the
constabulary of Ireland did the duty of soldiers, and if this
police force did not exist the army would have to be extended by
some 7,000 or 8,000 men. Still the sum was in the course of
repayment. With regard to the roads and bridges there had
been upwards of 600,000/. advanced t Ireland on that ac-
count, of which all had been repaid with the exception of
24,0001. He must now go into other matters. In the Scotch
fisheries upwards of 1,400,00/. had been expended by the
public exchequer since 1809, while the amount advanced to Irish
fisheries since 1800 only amounted to 300,000/. Now, he found
that although large sums of money had been advanced to Le-
land, the treaty of union had been violated by this country in
its fiscal provisions and other of its provisions. He did not in
tend to go into minute details upon the point, but the House
might rely upon the figures he was about to quote ; indeed they
could be proved by Parliamentary returns. Since the union
Great Britain had been relieved from taxation to the extent ot
47,100,0(01, while Ireland had only been relieved to the ex-
tent of 2,670,000!. The taxes imposed on England since the union
amounted to 40,120,0001., and the imposition upon Ireland
relief
thf
rsolmo
whereas Ireland had experienced an excess of taxation aMount-
,oootaaa/.tienTnhveerreftohree
aEmnag England had
mhpaedsehdandf an excess
4o:
amount-
ing to 2,800,000/., a sum greater in amount than the relict
given. On these grounds alone Ireland was entitled to a large
measure of relief in her present emergency ; but the relic'
would be useless if the House did not follow it up with 'mea-
sures to raise the general condidition of the people.
It was their bounden duty to do so in stric'
honesty to their own interests. At all events, it
they did not do so, they would leave themselves
open to a recurrence of the terrible calamity which threatened
to drain the coffers of the country. The condition of the
people must be raised, and then Ireland would be in a position
to repay the debt. But, even supposing Ireland should be
unable to repay the whole of the debt, if their condition were
improved they would be able to repay this country in the shape
of an increased revenue. Out of thirty millions paid to the
revenue of the United Kingdom Ireland only contributed
seven. Now this was by no means proportionate when it was
remembered that the population was as eight to eighteen.—
( Hear, hear.) The truth was the people of Ireland
were too poor, and could not afford to purchase excisable
and customs-paying articles in proportion to England. There
was, besides, a large quantity of foreign manufactures consument
in Ireland, upon which the duty was paid in this country, whic
were estimated at the value of 380,000/. per annum, and some
60,0001. or 70,0001. derived from Crown lands, for which Ire-
land was not given credit. The people of Ireland were taxed
at the same rate as the people of this country, but they were for
poor to be punctual to the same extent. He might men-
tiont a simple hypothetical case, as an illustration of th:
position of the people of Ireland. Supposing a local rate to
one penny in the pound were levied upon meat, the poor mar
purchased his two pounds and paid his twopence, .while
the rich man bought his eighteen pounds and paid his one
shilling and sixpence There was excess of taxation here.
..
seafrac
Iraeslantdh.e ricNh,ewa,nd
what
tt wtha
The poor man, in proportion to his money. paid the
s
would be to endeavour to better her trade and condition, ant
thus enable her to contribute her proper share to thehe revenue.icepted
Mr. CORRY explained the course which
tions, namely, that before he took any other step
proposed.
wait the result of the Government measures already
e
n of rail.
exactly
He agreed with his Noble Friend that the eonstrucatso
when he was invited to join the Irish party in their
hdeelaihbneurah-,
t ahhee
.1 pdo t
di °et.
thought they would be ill adapted to relieve
considered that it
ways in Ireland would be productive of muchtheg
pordessebnuttdihse-
tress which prevailed in that country. He
of the famine,
Vent
did not
and he was glad to see that her Majesty's Gover
was the duty of the State to arrest the progress
nme
already expended nine millions for that p P
ose'which was pro-
assent, therefore, to the great additional outlay
favourable a view o
posed by this Bill. He did not take so hesitate to come forward to meet the emergeneyH,e Tcohuelyd hnaot;
next harvest, as the scarcity of
failure of the potato crop again
year's crop, and the anticipated
expectation. He, there-
were not such as to warrant such an
tehxep
State should be hus-
fore, thought that the resources o
the calamity as to suppose that it woultheterameeindatefewrithtthhies
things much worse than the presentht find, at the expiration o'
expend all this money, they to!
withdrawal of the expenditure then
the four years, that the
dependent on it in as helpless
would leave the people who were
banded, and kept to await the possible
Beoenstidineus,ateivoennoiffatshteaytedioe
hat it would beget a feeling of dependence.
thought, moreover, t
country, and that a great pottiou of the
else, contributed to depress tilt
which, more than anything
energies of the Irish people.l g The scheme was a dazzling -
rcgoensationiekreealts of the speculator instead o
it
ould be a
just measure tt
a condition as that whichthin it was intended to relieve.
plriet
td'of theli hands of the
those for whose benefit
o v e r n considerm e
ntt hientelrlfoeurHes one
interference
ef
Ifs should, there-
second reading of the Bill.
fore, vote against the it was
siunrwteenodue
Sir WILLIAM CLAY opposed the Bill. He was not
pmt
hooes
naple,eyeb
wits,
loteuhinedf didgtoh
ian
companiesat
disposed to take so
did
rateto
ofradway 3,y
• st, the principles of political economy
did its duty in advising such expenditure.
intoolat lse
did not set
why interest was so much
Governmenyttw.s
railwayshigher.
h
was
ga dtomeasure, snre, he could not assent it
tlheorucgehnth.e wwhaseno
believed that
snch a doctrine, for hemany of the measures
formerly adopted, and now advocated, partook of the same
that thono
nature. He thought, however,oh the House shoulo
not legislate for speculators, they should take care that a goon
system of railways should be constructed to develope the re-
sources of the country.
haaoslaillset. d that n oGt
the
They ought, however, to follow, not pre.
cede, the development of commerce, as they did in this country,
It was also said that railways would not afford immediate retie
f
to the distressed labourers; but the point of fact was, that the
with; Commons
us
earthworks to be executed would afford a very considerable
amount of labour ; and he was informed that the Dublin ant.
Cashel Railway had been willing to have made the whole ot
their earth- works, from one end of the lisle to the other, but
the presentments were refused, and the money was expender:
upon public works, when it might have been more profitable
expended.—(Hear, hear.) It was to the future which he moat
looked to. They should not alone examine the present
pressing calamity, foe it was necessary that they
should endeavour to restore a sound social system.
which would not be until there was a perfect
security for the investment of capital, either in commerce,
manufacture, or agriculture. A system of railways would be
most beneficial to Ireland, as it would be
a means of dove
loping the application of capital. He therefore consideret
that the question of a system of railway extension was wet
worthy of the anxious consideration of the House ; and he
hoped that the Government would devise some which
plan would
involve the principle of the Noble Lord.
Mr. SHAW said that he did not mean to enter into the
particular merits of the measure before the House. His feel..
ings would lead him one way, but his
judgment and reason left
him another. Considering the statement which he heardas
pt:oesbe be advanced
rmarket
e_ t

to the result of the measure upon the present Government,
he would not be a party, by any vote, to overturn that Go-
vernment, or lead to the formation of a new one.—( Hear. )
He was in favour of a combined system of railways in Ireland,
under the management of the State. This might expose him
to some unpopularity in Ireland, but he considered it was an
advisable suggestion, and he hoped to see the Government
before long promoting works of this kind. He regretted that
he could not vote for the second reading of this Bill, because
he believed it would impede the Government in those
measures which they had brought forward so beneficiently for
the pnrpose of immediately relieving the distresses of Ireland.
great and deep calamity,
the h e
w e sincerelyifare thanked e
f the
Ireland
at Noble
per iLordd fno r
she
he interestnas
ainheet felt i n
d by
a
natural leaders. He had spoken out like a country gentleman
of England ; but, however he might admire the courage of the
Noble Lord to assume the Government if it were offered
to him, he could not, consistently with hie duty, vote for the
second reading of the Bill.
Sir W. MOLESWORTH said the argument of the lion.
Member for Kilkenny (Mr. J. O'Connell) was this Let
there be the largest possible expenditure of money—spend
without measure, spend without stint—give ns all the money
you possibly can." Other Irish Members adopted a similar
argument. Now he sincerely pitied them, and meant no dis•
respect to them by saying so. Words could not express, minds
could not conceive, the scenes they had witnessed in Ireland—
famine, death, worse than death, the agony of impending death
from famine, from the actual want of food. He did nut
wonder, therefore, that they were glad to adopt any measure
which was at all likely to alleviate the distresses of their coun-
trymen—even the measure of the Noble Lord ; but it was the
duty of English Members to exercise their calm judgment on
the question. He believed that the people of England
were ready, to make any sacrifice to save the
people of Ireland from starvation, and with that view a mea-
sure had been already passed for affording immediate relief to
the destitute poor of that country. When myriads are suffer-
ing from hunger it was impossible to scan too narrowly a mea-
sure which was required in actual operation without delay ;
yet that measure alone would involve the expenditure of mil-
lions of money, which the people of this country would be
compelled to pay. But the adoption of measures were neces-
sary for the purpose of placing the burdens of Irish distress on
the shoulders of those who ought to bear it. Now, he objected
to the scheme of the Noble Lord because it would not accom-
plish either of those two objects. He objected to it, likewise,
because, looking at it in its most favourable light, it would not
accomplish its object for which he said he brought it forward—
namely, the relief of the'destitcze poor. No more than one-
third would be employed in the payment of wages—that labour
must be chiefly performed by skilled and able-bodied men, so that
a considerable number would be imported from this country. Then
railways would not be made through the destitute and ill-popu-
lated parts of the country, but through the north and the west ;
consequently labour would be created in those places where
there was less need of it; and even there the destitute poor
would suffer, because the labonr could only be performed by
the vigorous part of the people, and they alone would obtain
employment. Thus coalition and riots would ensue. It would
only benefit those in the immediate neighbourhood of the rail-
ways, and that benefit would be inconsiderable compared
with the amount which would be spent. The landlords through
whose property the line would pass would be the first
gainers; secondly, the shareholders, whose shares would be-
come as profitable as the best English securities; and, lastly,
the mortgagees, who would take a considerable portion of the
money. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had, he thought,
characterised the Bill as a " Bill for the benefit of destitute
shareholders." Most English railways were constructed with
capital raised on their intrinsic merits; but if Government
were in a position to furnish money to shareholders to construct
lines which their intrinsic merits could not raise, he
saw no reason why the money should not be devoted
to the construction of English instead of Irish railways.
Every farthing spent in making bad railways in Ireland
would be so much deducted from the making of good railways
in England. He begged the Noble Lord and his party to con-
sider that, however much they were bound to afford relief to
Ireland, they were bound to do justice to their constituents,
and not to vote for the spending of money on such an useless
project as the one before the House. The Government had
ever found great want of enterprise and energy amongst those who
were in a position to carry out works likely to be beneficial to
the country ; there was a want of self-reliance among the
people.—( Hear, hear.) It was strange that they had
read of an abundant harvest —of fields covered with
grain—yet when but a portion of that crop was deficient they
were plunged at once into all the evils of a famine, without
any means of support. A stronger poor-law, which would
compel the owners of the soil of that country to relieve their
own poor, was required ; and until such a measure was passed
he considered that little good would accrue to Ireland.
Mr. DISRAELI said, that in occupying the attention of the
House he hoped to address himself to the immediate subject
under consideration, and should not attempt, like some
other Hon. Members, to diverge to other topics—
no doubt of paramount importance, but, whether right '
or wrong, just or unjust, were not the question they
had now to consider.—( Rear, hear.) The impression which
had been made en the House by the address of the lion. Mem-
her the Recorder for Dublin, rendered it necessary that he
(Mr. Disraeli) should advert to the feeling which he had ex-
pressed, and the position in which they, on that side of the
House, were placed. The Right lion. Gentleman had ex-
pressed himself, that while he gave the Noble Lord the Member
for Lynn great credit for the sentiments he had expressed, and
the measure he had introduced, still he felt it his duty to vote
contrary to it.—(Hear, hear.) He told them that because
the Government depended on this vote he must record his
suffrage contrary to the proposition of the Noble Lord the
Member for Lynn.—( Hear, hear.) This was the position of
the Right Hon. Member, and this led them to the consideration
of the circumstances of the question now before them.
He could easily understand why a member from a party con-
nexion might not only be induced to be silent on a particular
question or vote against a particular measure that they might
think abstractedly beneficial to the country, if by so doing he
expected that party to ride into power. He could understand
a Member so situated supporting his friends even when the
policy might be considered antagonistic to the welfare of the
country. That, however, was not the position of the Right
Hon. Gentleman the Member for the University of Dublin.
He still was, and he (Mr. Disraeli) hoped he would remain
with the political p.:xty he orieinally began with, though
fighting against considerable odds. He would now address
himself to the consideration of the present position which the
party with whom he acted occupied. This measure had sug-
gested itself to his Noble Erie ' the Member for Lynn some
considerable time ago. It ha(' seen long matured, and well
digested, and so constituted, as .1 be peculiarly adapted to the
circumstances of Ireland, and for the elevation of the condition
of the people of that country. In the Queen's Speech the pro-
position for immediate relief for the people of Ireland was
mooted ; and on the first day of the session his Noble Friend
pressed on the Noble Lord at the head of her Majesty's
Government this measure; but as the Government, it was
stated, had prepared measures for the emergency,
though his Noble Friend had matured for many
months this scheme of railways ;or Ireland, he
did not further press it then. What had since then been the
conduct of the Noble Lord ? It would have been easy for his
Noble Friend, and those with whom he acted, more than
once to have opposed the measures of the Govern-
ment. But considering the extraordinary circumstances under
which her Majesty's Ministers came into power, and the exist-
ing emergency of the country, they thought it would be un-
worthy of them in the circumstances of the Government to
oppose it in any petty spirit.—(Hear, hear.) It would have
did was to consider whether the gentle-
beenm easy for them to have opposed the Labour Act, but in-
steadeten ofe
with this,iye
ability,
and zeal in the circumstances under
which they were placed. They (the protectionists) believed
that they had done so, that they had acted with ability, energy,
and zeal, and that in their candid opinion no body
of men, under the circumstances, could have acted better in
tey
these respects.—( Hear, hear.) But the Noble Lord on the
occasion he (Mr. Disraeli) had referred to, on the opening of
a ce ie g l
te h
energy, places
of her Majesty's Government, had
l
d
the session, said he was ready to support the measure of her
Majesty's Government ; but that if he found them defective in
their details, if they did noi; sufficiently meet the case, he would
be prepared to br:ng forward another measure, not in an an •
tagonistic, but in an ancillary spirit.—( Hear, hear.) These
were not the words of lip rhe:oric, but every one knew, whether
from public explanations or from private conversation, that
this was the case. But now they were told that the exist-
ence of the Government depended on the rejection of the
present measure ; to that he (Mr. Disraeli) would answer,
why did not the Noble Lord at the head of the Government,
when his Noble Friend made the exposition of his plan to the
House, why did he not then state this to be the case ? That
was the time for him to say that he could not accept the
measure, and that, if it was carried, he would divest himself of
the responsibility of carrying it out, and threw it on those who
supported it and the Noble Lord who brought it in. That would
have been the proper course to take. But when he allowed
the Bill to be laid on the table of the House, and when he
had given his leave to introduce it, then his Noble Friend, as a
man of honour, was bound to carry it through to its last stage,
and to say that whatever might be the result no conclusion
could be drawn reflecting on his conduct or character
in what he had done.—( Hear, hear.) This was the
real view of the case. Tne Noble Lord the Member
for Lynn having made an exposition of his plan, and the Noble
Lord at the head of the Government having given his quasi • sanction to its introduction, they were not to be told that the
Ministry was in danger as an inducement to abandon the
scheme. If an adverse vote against the Government threat-
ened its existence, it was what mten had been done before
without any serious result. He saw Hon. Gentlemen on both
sides of the House, who, when they entered Parliament, were
told that the Government would not last, as they were going
out on the Irish question. (Hear, hear.) They
did not, however, go out then. Two years after the
leader of the most powerful opposition that had ever ex-
isted in this country declared that Ireland was his greatest
difficulty. That party succeeded to power, and tod them and
the country that they were the only party that could govern
Ireland. But the question now before the House was not the
government of Ireland, the question of the last ten years, but
it was, how they were to feed the Irish people.—( Hear.) And
this was the best time to discuss this question, when no passions
or prejudices were raised up with its consideration. If the ques-
tion was whether Popery should be increased or diminished,
whether municipal powers should be extended or abolished,
it might admit of some hesitation and discussion; but when
they found a country like ItAand, with a population the
densest in Europe, as it regarded arable land denser than
China, and while the capital of that country was only twenty
shillings or thirty shillings a head—while that of sterile Scot-
land was sixteen pounds a head, the present measure became
one of paramount importance. (Hear, hear.) That
was the result that had been drawn by the people of
England during the last four or five years. lie believed that
it was the conviction now of the great body of the people of
this country, without reference to creed, class, or party, that
no hallucination has been greater than the supposition that
this was a political panacea which could cure the griefs of Ire-
land. The Noble Lord, in his general address on the subject of
Ireland some time ago, stated that the state of Ireland was a
famine of the 13th century with the population of the 19th.
No doubt that was a striking and picturesque description, but
he must say that it was a fallacious one. In the famines of the
middle ages, and the feudal famines, they understood their
causes and their consequences, but he believed that the famine
in Ireland might find a parallel in countries and times less re-
mote, and he was sorry to say in the dominions of her Majesty.
There was another portion of her Majesty's dominions 'where
the population was almost as dense, where poverty was almost
as intense, and where the people were dependent upon the
lowest sources of human subsistence. It was India that he al-
luded to, and when the rice failed, as when the potato failed in
Ireland, they found the state of affairs very similar. It was a
visitation of Providence, for these calamities always came from
the Most Divine. That truth none could dispute ;
but would it do for that House to forget to use the sorry phrase
of a visitation of Providence to conceal its own remissness in
that respect, because what had occurred had been foretold by
great statesmen, and by men of most experience in Ireland.
Lord
i
Lord Wellesley told them, twenty-five years age, that
gradual degeneration of the seed of the potato would
ould
ulti-
mately destroy Ireland unless they arrested its course._
They
would find, in the dispatches and public papers of
in Ireland,
then, was, in fact, the inevitableM
r.
Drum-
mond, the same opinion, and anythinof goccurringof
by those who knew Ireland beasdt,
and
Government measures to
an opinion upon it. They h
and it was not for him to criticise
those Government
alleviate this state of
affairsaffairs,
he was their supporter, and, as he
hoped he should
whenever; he did support, the earnest sup-
porterbe! He would, however, venture to re-
of these measures.
of the Noble Member for Lynn was
d capable of forming
result
were ents long foreseen
mark, that the measure

in accordance with the general intention of the Government
system. The measure of the Government would alleviate, or
attempt to alleviate, the immediate distress. The Noble Lord
indicated means by which future renovation might be secured.
The measures of the Noble Lord were such as would se-
cure that employment desirable in early states of that
future renovation. All that was brought forward was projected
as a means of giving immediate employment to the people of
Ireland, but which at the same time was to a twofold effect—
to give a new character to the country, and so as to change
the very complexion of that long-deserted and unhappy land
by results similar to those which had recently occurred—from
the evils under which she was then suffering. He would not
dilate for a moment on the character of the
proposition which
the Noble Lord adverted to, and which proposed to itself two
objects, and principally because it was the most regarded,
although scarcely the most important consideratior, he confined
himself to its power of employing the people of Ireland. His
Noble Friend bad made a statement from data which he gave
without reserve to the House, and by which he calculated that
110,000 able-bodied labourers would be occupied under his
scheme, and who would represent a population ex-
ceeding 500,000 persons. Although it was not em-
ployment which could cure the evils of Ireland,
he was sure that there was no gentleman present but would
acknowledge that if they could secure such employment it
must be the means of alleviating the present pressure upon the
resources of this country. The proposition of his Noble Friend
had been met—he would not say by an able—but by an ex-
tremely zealous opposition. He did not mean to say that in an
offensive sense, for he was quite sure that Hon. Gentlemen
who made the opposition had made the best of their means in
doing so. The objection stated by the Hon. Member
of the Government who first rose on this subject was a critical
objection, founded upon the back of this Bill. He found that
the Bill was introduced, not by the lion. Member for Stam-
ford, but it was also introduced by the Hen. Member for
Sunderland, greatly interested in railways, and also by the Mil.
Member for Westmoreland, who was known to be one of the
greatest manufacturers of iron in England. It was the first
objection raised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer against
the present proposal. He was perfectly willing to admit that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer did net fora moment impute, even by
reference, any corrupt motive to his Noble Friend. There
were few gentlemen present who would dispute his proposi-
tion. They all knew the fascination of an engrossing pursuit
it did give a tone to the judgment, and it was not impossible
that men so interested would view the general affairs of the
world through the coloured prism, their usual acts. He was
not disposed to deny that his Hon. Friends the Members for Sun-
derland and Westmoreland might have viewed the circumstances
placed under their consideration with feelings resulting from one
engrossing idea. Still he must reply that it was not merely
creators of railways and manufacturers of iron, who had fol-
lowed the principle, for he found that three Chancellors of the
Exchequer rase each after the other, so that he was disposed
to view their financial opposition as arising from the same
feeling. The Hon. Member for Portsmouth who came for-
ward on this occasion in a gallant spirit, which all the sympa-
thetic reminiscences of official life could not step, and said
that the Member for Newark had made a decla-
matory speech, but no reply to the unanswerable
statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
If no answer had been given, they had adduced no proof
in the first instance. There had been many alterations made
by the Chancellor c f the Exchequer with regard to railways.
He was surprised that it should be so, but he was more sur-
prised that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should have an-
other Chancellor of the Exchequer ready to 'be his bail and
guarantee, and to tell the House that his speech was unan-
swerable. He would then detail the expenditure to the
House, and he would give an analysis of the expenses of the
several railways, and this he thought would decide the
question ; and he thought still further, that as to the accuracy of
this question, it was a bona fide report to those
who were interested in railways, and he was sure that the
Hoase would believe this. There was given in it an analysis
of the description of expenditure incurred upon a dear line in
England, and also upon a cheap one ; likewise upon all the
Belgian railways, and upon the Paris and Rouen—one of the
most complete lines in France. The total expenditure per mile
on the London and Birmingham Railway was 49,6501. Of this,
there were expended oa law, Parliamentary, engineering, and
direction, 2,1501., and on land and compensation 6,300/., giving
an average of 17 per cent. out of the 49,6501. Of items indi-
rectly connected with skilled labour, there was on the carry-
ing department 3,000/., and for the permanent way 5,6501,,
giving 26 per cent.; and on the items connected immediately
with labour, such as earthworks, and stations, and the like,
out of the 49,655 i. that was expended, 32,6304 or 62 per
rent.—(Cheers.) That was a dear railway, and he
would now take a cheap English one. The total ex-
penditure of the Grand Junction was 21,2004 per mile,
and the items unconnected with labour were 17 per
cent.; the items directly connected with skilled labour were
26 per cent.; while those connected with common labour
were 50 per cent.—(Hear, hear.) On the Belgian railways
the total expenditure per mile was 16,130,., and the
items connected with common labour per mile were 6 920/.,
or 43 per cent.—( Hear, hear.) On the Paris and Rouen
Railway the expenditure per mile was '.22,500/., and out of that
there was paid for common labour 12,570/., or 56 per cent.,
giving an average on the whole of these railways in England,
in Belgium, and in France of 57 per cent. expended on common
labour.--( Cheers.) He would now call the attention of the
House to the declaration of the Right Hon. Gentleman the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who estimated that the ex-
penditure on labour oh railways was only 25 per cent.
Now, if they took the Irish railroads at 16,0001. per mile,
and allowed 57 per cent. as the average expended on
labour, or 9,1201. per mile, which, over a period of four
years, was 2,2801. annually, and if they took the Chancellor
of the Exchequer's statement, that for every 1,0001. per mile
there were 45 men employed, it was clear that, according to
the Right Hon. Gentleman's data, there would he employed
for every 1,000/. expended per mile 102 persons for f cur- years
—( Hear, hear)—that would make, over 1,500 miles of railway,
153,000 labourers, instead of 110,000, as his Noble Friend had
calculated; and, supposing five persons dependent on each of
tqese labourers, that would make, according to the principle
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 765,000 people deriving
their means of subsistence from these works.—( Cheers.) Ile
begged to say that when his Noble Friend estimated the employ-
ment of the people at the rate of 60 per mile, he under-esti-
mated his case, for he had documents in his possession which
showed that the number was much larger. His Hon. Friend
the Member for Newark had referred to page 35 of the blue
book containing the proceedings of the Board of Works, and
he also would refer to that volume, in which they would find,
from the memorial of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, that 40.00
persons were, in October, 1846, employed on railroads in Ire-
land ; but in October, lel6, there were only 300 miles of
railroad under the operation of being formed. Now,
taking the number stated in that memorial to be em-
ployed on 300 miles, the same calculation, applied to 1,500
miles, would give employment to 200,0C9 persons.—( Hear. )
He concluded, however, that the estimate taken from the data
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the data taken lean
the lines of England, Belgium, and France, were extremely
within the limits, and, since he had come the house he had
found, in the Irish _Railway Gazette and annmere:al Ad-
vertiser, a statement to the effect that, on the works on the
main line of the Great Southern and Western Railway; 38
miles from Dublin, there were 8,600 men constantly em-
ployed on 47 miles, giving 183 men per mile.—( Hear.) So
much for the statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
that only one-fourth of the capital of a railway was invested
in labour.—( Hear, hear.) Why, according to the estimates
founded en the expenditure of the English, Belgian, and
French lines, they could nut have less than 3 000,000 e
expended on skilled labour in Ireland under the proposal of his
Noble Friend.—(Cheers.) And, suppose that the navigator
was a man who bad a wife and who had a family, not only
would they employ 102 persons per mile for 1,500
miles, but he would show that the estimate they had taken
of five persons maintained by each man's labour was as
much underrated as the general statement of the Noble
Lord. He thought the House must wish that this question
should be fairly put before them; and he would read for their
information a document full of knowledge of the subject
written in a straightforward spirit, and in the most perfect,
simplicity, and altogether so conclusive that he was sure they
would not regret the time occupied in reading it. It was a
letter dated February 8, 1847, from one who had much ac-
quaintance with the subject of railways, and great experience
of Ireland, and who had no knowledge of the Noble Lord to
whom the letter was addressed. He said—
" It is scarcely possible to overrate the benefits which would
result to Ireland from the passing of the Bill now brought into
Parliament by your Lordship. Allow me to trespass shortly
on your Lordship's time while I endeavour to refute two
of the principal objections which appear to be raised against
the measure, which I think the experience I have had in
that country will enable me to do. The first is,
that if railways in Ireland were at once undertaken upon a
large scale, English ' navvies' would be brought in by con-
tractors, and by superseding the labour of the country,
greatly decrease the relief thereby sought to be given to the
existing distress. For the greater part of the last five years
I have been living near Londonderry, executing very large
works, which are peculiarly adapted to the labourers of that
country, when once they are taught, and which a very few
weeks serve to accomplish, namely, the making of very large
embankments to reclaim land from the sea, and on the Lon-
donderry and Coleraine Railway. On commencing there I
found the difficulties almost insuperable, from the total unac-
quaintance of the people with the nature of such works; I for-
tunately persevered, and with beneficial results to them and to
myself. I brought over a few experienced gangers, who, in a
few weeks, instructed the more intelligent, who, in their turn,
taught ethers; and the men now employed are almost exclu-
sively Irish, and are quite capable of executing any works of
the sort. I have now about 1,000 men employed, and if the
company would furnish the means, I could at once greatly
increase the number, and in a month or six weeks from
this time I could take on between 3,000 and 4,000 more,
and to enable me to do this, I should not require additional
English labourers of any description. There are some works
in which it is the interest of contractors to employ high-priced
labour ; these works, from the nature of the country, are al-
most unknown on the Irish railways. I have, on the Coleraine
line, I believe, almost the only tunnel in Ireland, which is a
very difficult one, being nearly 1,000 yards in length, though
the solid basalt rock. To commence it, I brought over some
experienced men, and added the necessary number of local
labourers, who very soon became sufficiently expert to con-
tinue the works without such supervision and assistance.
All the Englishmen but three have returned to England,—
the works, with this exception, are carried en exclusively by
Irishmen, entirely to my satisfaction and to that of the resi-
dent engineer of the company. Many of those men are now
earning three shillings per day, and several men have left
me at different times to undertake sub-contracts in other
places, for which shey have become capable, after two or
three months' instruction, although previously totally unac-
customed to the work. The works, generally, on this line
are of a difficult description. On the Londonderry and En-
niskillen, fifteen miles of which are completed, there are still
45 miles to make, the works being of the ordinary description,
and upon which some thousands of Irish labourers could be
immediarely and beneficially employed. The number of Eng-
lishmen now employed by me does not exceed two and a half
per cent. on the whole, and these are principally engine;
drivers and mechanics. Another objection raised is, that the
counties through which the railways pass are not the mest dis-
tressed, and therefore the works on them wouldt.l believe
not relieve
those parts of the country which require it
that the comparatively small amount of distress, which
lately existed in the neighbourhood of Londonderry,
at improved wages,
os
till very
has arisen
'
chiefly, if not solely, from the employment,
on the works of the two railways
connected
thewai,tehe a
gt h
ea hat city.
fo
!
should add, that when I first went there
labour was Is. per day, but that
now, and for a long time
past, it is Is. 6d. p r , and in many instances higher.
I have always found y
that when I required an in-
crease of labourers the fact soon became known,
ime they came out of Con-
and in a very short t
naught
and the western coast. If all the able-bodied
men remain in those parts, the farmers will of course employ
them first, and thousands who can find no employment must
be fed by charity, or starve ; whereas, if the able-bodied men
came down to the railway works—which, from my own ex-
perience, I am convinced they would, if they were certain of
employment at good wages--they would afterwards return
with their earnings, and, in the meantime, the farmers would
absorb the whole or greater part of the remaining local labour,
and the entire community would be benefited, - Previously to
going to Ireland, I had, during several years, very large con-
tracts, both on the London and Birmingham and the Bristol
and Exeter Railways, exceeding in value 500,000/ , and
having frequently employed above 3,000 men at one time. 1
mention this fact to satisfy your Lordship that I am not igno-
rant of the comparative difference between works of this sort
ire Engitild 11114 Ireland. In then obseryttiene which I thus

venture respectfully to submit to your Lordship I feel satisfied
that Mr. Dargan, who has the largest contracts in Ireland,
and the other large contractors in that country, would fully
concur."
English labourers in Ireland were only engaged on the average
of 24 per cent. This statement was fully borne out by Mr.
Montgomery Martin, than whom no o e knew better
the state of Ireland. The miter of this letter, Mr.
Samuel Hemmirg, was one of the greatest contractors
in that country, and he (Mr. Disraeli) hoped that the House
would allow him to put the statement before them. It was a
sufficient answer to the so-called facts and shad wry objections
heard from the first, :gain from the second, ama again from
the last Chancellor of the Exchequer. 211 r. Hemming also
found that as more labourers were wanted, the peasantry came
even from Connaught, en the west coast, in search of work.
The farmer was benefited in an equal degree with the other
classes of society; in fact, it was the entire community that
this Bill proposed to henefit.—( Hear, hear.) If they
therefore on that side of the House could prove
that the measure would benefit the community, he
trusted the House would support it ; or if the night Hon.
the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Hon. Member who
supported him could prove that the Bill was adverse to the
interests of the country, he (Mr. Dis ash) was prepared to
vote against it.—( Hear, hear.) Ile thought the House would
agree with him that this document from Mr. Hemming was well
worthy of it; attention. He showed that the labour employed
was Irish labour ; he showed that the average was only as 2.1
per cent, of foreign labour; ha told them that they might em-
ploy thousands more on these public works ; he told them that
in two or three weelsis these men were ce.pable of making tunnels,
and that when he. wanted more labour they came from a dis-
tance to obtain it—from Connaught, on the western side of
the island. But he (Mr. Disraeli) was told that these navi-
gators were ".gay Lotharios"—that they had come from Eng-
land, where they had left their wives at home. He had
shown, however, that they were Irishmen, and that they had
their wives along with them. lle would read to the House
another document he had received that night. It was from a
gentleman well known to many of the Members around
him—he meant Sir Ilarrey Bruce. That gentleman, re-
marking on the Chancellor of the Exchequer —it was a
continuation of the criticism on his unanswerable speech—
(Loud laughter)—said that he sat on the Coleraine
and Londonderry Relief Committee, and he found that the
works going on in that district had greatly relieved the
pressure upon them. He stated that many of the labourers
upon the railways had wives, with families of from eight to
twelve children—(Laughter)—and it was considered a very
small family which did not number more than from three to
four. The labour was cheap, and the land, in many cases,
could be had for 6001. a mile. There was new data for the
Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he wished
to ascertain the proportion paid for labour to that for land.
—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman said that none
but unskilled labourers were employed on railways,but the fact
had been proved to be otherwise. It was said also that moneys
had already been advanced to widen the streets of a certain
corrupt corporation ; why what was it to them if that money
had never been returned? He had no doubt that the Govern-
ment of that day had had the support of two Membera from
that very corporation. Let the Government meet them with
facts and correct data, aed let those decide on the merits.
Let them not talk to him about the broad streets of Cork,
while they were considering the broad guage of Ireland. It
had been said that the measure of his Noble Friend would
,pnly make the half of Ireland rich.—(Hear, hear.) Why,
did any Government who were ever in officer or
did those who were now in office ever propose a measure cal-
culated to make one-half of Ireland rich ? If the Noble Lord
had succeeded in doing so much, he thought that he had really
done enough for one session.—( Cheers.) Multifarious as had
been the objections offered to the measure, it would be found
that they all ranged themselves nnder three great heads, and it
was a curious fact. that each of those great heads were repre-
sented by three Chancellors of the Exchequer. The first, the
real Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, that under the opera-
tion of this Bill there would be no commensurate employment
of labour. That objection he had disposed of. Another objec-
tion was represented by a second Chancellor, who represented
an objection grounded on the monetary system. The
third Chancellor represented the great principle of
non-interference with private enterprise. The first of
those objections had been disposed of ; he would now come
to the second objection—the monetary crisis, and the danger to
the State. He would deal with that objection as with the
other, not by abstract reasoning, but by an appeal to facts,
which he would lay before the Ilottse, and leave the House
to form its own judgment upon the subject. The re-
presentative of that objection referred the House to the situa-
tion of France and Belgium, and warned the House against
the danger of raising money by loan for railroad enterprise.
Now let the House refer to Belgium. In the year lelo the
Government of Belgium determined to create railways by vir-
tue of a grant from the State, and the State granted, in round
numbers, 6,000,000'., of which sum 2,700,0001. was instantly
raised by loan by the State, although its revenue did not at that
time exceed the sum of 3,Z 10,000/. This state, with a revenue
of 3,300,0001. determined to e: ease railways by a grant of pub-
lic money to the extent of 6,000,1,001., and at once com-
menced by a loan of 2,700,01 n., which sum was raised at
the rate of 5 per cent. interest, and that loan cost the country
51. 6s. Bd. as interest on each 100/. Two years after, in the
year 1842, Belgium raised a second loan oi. 1,0,10,0 as part
of the original grant of 6,00,00/. ; and in pursuance of the
first. loan of 2,700e,C0/., and at what rate of interest would the
House suppose that this second loan was contracted at the rate
of 4'. 17s. 4d. per cent. So that after two years, notwithstand-
ing the alleged depreciation of the Government securities they
actually rose in value 111 per. cent.. And these sums were
received when the whole annual revenue of the country was
3.300,0001. Look then next at France. In the year 1842
France had a floating debt of 17,50,000/., in consequence of
the fortifications of Paris, and it was under these circumstances
that the Minister proposed to the Chambers a grant of
12,000,0001. sterling for the construction of railways in France,
so that there was a debt of 19,000,0001 to be addo to the
floating debt of 17,500,00 e/. ; of this sum 18,000,00/. was
raised by loan, and the balance of 1,0,1-0,000/. was raised by a
royal bond, similar to the Exchequer-bills of this country.
In the year 1841 the proceeds of indirect taxation in France
was something like 23,8:;0,0,;0/., but what was the proceeds of
indirect taxation in the year 1846? Why, it amounted to
32,000,000/. or 33,600,W/. sterling, leaving a balance in
favour t.f the two years of 6,800,000'. Such, then, was the
consequence of the support which was given to industry by
the construction of these railways under circumstances in-
finitely more difficult than any the House had now to deal
with.—( Cheers. ) Framer. ac ually created a floating debt of
nearly 40,000,0001., which ha• been paid over and over again.
France had derived upwards of 4,5t' 1,000/. from the traffic of
her goods and merchandise urn these lines of railway, but
what, had she not gained in her revenue by indirect taxation
caused by an increased consumption of goods, and the stimulus
which was given to industry?—(Cheer.. ) This, then, was
that Belgium and France brought forward by the lion. Mem-
her for Portsmouth (Mr. F. Baring) in order to school his
Noble Friene ( Lord G. Beet hick). When he
(Mr. Baring) was Chancellor of the Exchequer,
could he refer to a reve•itie like that ? It was
enough to make his mouth water to hear it, These
Chancellors of the Exchequer seemed to think that the mea-
sure was to be dispreed of by the mere recklessness of an
official eve: detii.—( Cheers. ) But then it had been said that
the rates of fares were eoesidi rably lower on these French and
Belgian lines than they would be in Ireland. He held in his
hand the French tariff of railwaes, from which it appeared
that the first-class trains of France were as 166 to 144 on the
Ulster Railway ; the second:class as 125 to 100 on the Dublin
and Drogheda; the third-class as 92 and a fraction to 56
on the Ulster Railway. Why the fares in France were actually
higher than they were in Ireland. In France every railway
was leased to a company by the Government for forty years;
Government could have no supervision over it until the expira.
tion of that period. In the Bill just brought in by the officer
of her Majesty's Government it was proposed to exercise super-
vision at the end of every ten yiears, arid if the fares got too
high upon the Irish railways, the Government would have the
power to reduce them. Then it had been said by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer that only 25 men would be employed
upon each mile of railway, and this was one of the many as-
sertions made in the Right Hun. Member's unanswerable speech..
There was a gentlemae going about the City—a most respect-
able man—a friend of the Chancel'or of the Exchequer—
representing that he was the anonymous correspondent whom
the Chancellor of the Exchequer quoted the other night, and
that the statement of that Right Hon. Gentleman had given
him the greatest distress, because when he told the Right Hon.
Gentleman that there were only twenty-five men employed
upon a railway per mile, he meant permanently employed.—
(Hear and Laughter.) The truth was, this anonymous cor-
respondent represented that the Noble Lord who introduced the
measure had under-rated the number of men employed in the
construction of a railway. Another and another still succeeder',
and still he had a third Chancellor of the Exchequer to deal
with. He had dealt with the Chancellor of the Exchequer
who had called upon them not to believe this capital in labour;
he had dealt with the Chancellor of the Exchequer who
warned them, with France and Belgium before their
eyes, that borrowing this money would create a
financial crisis; and he came now to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, who, under no consideration, would
consent to interfere with private enterprise. Now, what was
private enterprise ? He thought it highly important that they
should come to some understanding upon that question. It
was a remarkable circumstance that every night they saw
statesmen who were preseet, or had been late advisers of the
Crown, rise end denounce all interference with private
enterprise, and yet every night they found them sup-
porting measures adverse to that principle. Therefore f
they could arrive a*,; a clear and distinct understanding
of the definition o 7 the meaning of the term private enternrise,
it might tend to throw a great light upon that subject. What
was meant by private enterprise? In this country it was
pretty well understood. It meant the operations and ex-
ertions of private individuals to bring about certain commer•
cial undertakings. Suppose any man wished to constructa
railway in this country, all he had to do was to calculate the
cost. Now he knew the cost of Parliamentary expenses, the
cost of land, and the rate of labour, and he therefore had
some data upon which to calculate the estimate,
while he had the same facilities of calculating profits; come
mercial enterprise in that sense could be carried out in this
country, but how different was it in Ireland. There the land
was encumbered almost beyond comprehension, and its pur-
chase might lead to public rancour and private animosity. The
capitalist had to employ labour at doubtful rates—labourersw
could not go to church or chapel without subjectingll the
the
em-
ployer to personal animosity. He knew very
moment he had commenced his
notices were served upon operations
and
tbtehweetshhropetraintefenriiopnmal
agents employed upon the works might
tbtehecaseusweeorre
trineiple had not
bneohl,incdomhemdegrecsi.al Tphlciaplital.iwitettlanttEs.cm:wligeihpl
made its way in Ireland,
tbuwtas not the place nor the time to.
such a state of thing
ascendancy,inquire. l t butin igbhet al4seatthhfauts wPittutmesitgaltistb tshueprreemraesy' noor
doubtPa Pap
principle upon which private enterprise was bilSed
root in Ireland, anti the question then arose
principles ought not to be brought into
commercial principle
Hear, hear.) That
pr
guide the commercial.—(
was the rattenale of the matter, and the way in
which he was prepared to meet the question
private enterprise in Ireland,would
because
operationl'd whethernu t
politicalt k ng
of non-interference of private enterprise. Bet he defy
an
them
he wanted anything to prove this, he
thereth e
wasto interfere
none ;
could finudtehrte.haetrux pihsratoitnogf
tiirngaitlhtwealspeech of a late Chancellor of the
de mhaa nd
beentold undertakenthe m that
IGreelnatnl
mExosetheol
by English capitalists. Well, that only proved to them that
they were profitable undertekiiigs, while it proved that the
reason why they were stopped at present was that
there were political principles connected with thorn
over which these capitalists could have no control.
If Ireland were to be redeerneel, or she were to feel the benefit,
there must be something more powerful t ban private enterprise.
If they trusted to private enterprise, Ireland would remain
where she was now three centuries to came.—(Bear, hear.)
The measure of his Noble Friend would supply to Ireland what
lie believed private enterprise could not supply. They had
been told that it was a party measure ; but he thought the
course of the debate had shown that it was not a party mea-
sure. The course of the debate had shown that most of them
in that House agreed that it would be an advantage to have
railways in Ireland.—( Hear, hear.) Although they
were prepay d to show the House that it could
stimulate and employ a large amount of labour in_
Ireland, that it would open up the immense coal field of
Mally, he thought it ought to be admitted that it was important
to the Irish people that the measure should be carried. Rail.
ways in Ireland would create new fields of industry, new
warketa, new residents, and would give au impetus' to tradql

and previde a new character and a new face for Ireland. THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, FEBRUARY 16.
He had now only to thank the House, in conclusion, for the THERMOMETER, Lowest, 36; Highest, 52 ; Noon, 44
patience with which they had listened to him—and whatever
might be the result of the measure, and after what had fallen BAROMETER, 29 82.—WIND NV., rain.
from Hon. Members in the course of the debate he no longer
expected it would now be carried —he was per-
suaded that ultimately it must be successful.—
(Loud cheers.) lie honoured those gentlemen who
sacrificed conviction to party, but he thought if any
Irish Member wished well to his country, he could not refuse
to give his sanction to this measure, which no polittcal agitator,
whether he were repealer or imperialist, who had the love and
benefit f his countr at heart could objectmeasure
for the relief of Ireland half, so comprehensoive,N or half so
practical, had ever yet been prepared by any one, and he could
only say, whatever might be its result, that it had been brought
forward in perfect good faith, without any aim or intention of
doing injury to the Government, although they did aspire to
the hope of its benefiting a nation.—(Cheers.)
On the motion of Mr. B. OSBORNE, the debate was
adjourned till to-morrow.
On the motion of Mr. C. O'BRIEN, copies of the follow-
ing correspondence were ordered :—Copy of Colonel Jones's
letter to Mr. Trevellian, dated the 28th day of November, 1846,
referred to in Mr. Trevellian's letter of the 2d day of Decem-
ber,_lBl6. Copy of Mr. Hornsby's letter to Samuel Gamble,
C.E- , referred to in Mr. Gamble's letter of the B.h day of
January, 1847, addressed to Lieutenant-Colonel Jones.
COTTON WOOL.
On the motion of Mr. BRIGHT, the following return was
o rdered :—Return of the quantity of cotton wool exported
from the British possessions in India i%each year during which
the accounts have been kept, stating the ports from which the
shipments were made, the quantity shipped at each port, and
the countries to which the cotton was exported, and the ship-
ments to each country.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at Half-past Twelve o'clock.

DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE QUEEN AND TO
TfiE PRINCE CONSORT.
Now ready, price 2s. 6d. bound.
THE HON. MISS MURRAY'S
RENIA/US ON EDUCATION IN 1647.
" We feel much indebted to the amiable writer of this most in-
structive volume, for directing attention to many dangerous errors
conneett4 with the individual training of children of all classes of
society, and fer the reme lies she has snggested."—Dany News.
Henry Colbarn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

DEDICATED BY EXPRESS PERMISSION TO HER MAJESTY
TILE QUEEN DOWAGER.
Now ready. in 3 vols., with Illustrations, 31s. 6d., bound,
MARY ANNE WELLINGTON,
TIIE SOLDIER'S
DAUGHTER, WIFE, AND WIDOW.
By the Rev. RICHARD COBBOLD, M.A.
Author of" The History of Margaret Catehpole."
" Thls interesting work, we have no doubt, will attain greater
popularity oven than Margaret Catchpolc.' "—Sunday Times.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

18 and 19, Southampton-street, Strand.
OLLIER has this day published the new
11 )tOVEL, illustrative of the Game-Laws, entitled,
THE I'OAC HER'S WIFE,
In two Volumes, post Bvo.
Orders received by all Booksellers and Librarians,

RAILWAY SHAIthS BY PUBLIC SALE.
MESSES. LAMOND and Co., RAILWAY
SHARE AUCTIONEERS, beg to thank their Friends
Ind the Public for their continued support and patronage, and
to announce that their Public Sales of Railway Shares, &c.,
take place every TUDSDAY and ',lunar, at One o'clock, at the
Hall of Commerce, Threadneedle-street, London, to which place,
thrones, containing instructions (with a reference), are rispectfully
requested to be addressed.
All Scrip and Share Certificates must be deposited, the day
Previous to their being offered ; and advices of results will be
lorwarded by the first post after the sale, and the proceeds linme-
ilately disposed et according to instructions.
Offlees. Hall of Commerce. Threadneedle-street, London.

litlt MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
The Nobtl‘ty, Gentry, Subscribers to the Opera, and the Public,
are respectfully informed, that this Theatre will OPEN for the
igEASON THIS EyENING, Feb. 16th, when will be performed
Denizetti's celebrated Opera of
LA FAVORITA,
Fernando, Signor Gardoni (his first appearance in this country);
Alfonso XI. (King of Castile), Signor saperchl (his first appearance) ;
Baldassari, Signor Bouche (his first appearance) ; Leonora, 31dIlc.
Satichloll ; Ines, Millie. Nascio (her first appearance in this country).
The " National Anthem" will be sung by Mdlles. Nasio, Solari,
Fagg,anl, and Sanchioli, Sknors Gardoni, douche. F. Lablache,
Superchi, and other Artistes of the establishment and Chorus.
After which a new and original grand Ballet, in five tableau; by
M. Paul Taglloni, entitled
CORILIA ; ou, LE CHEVALIER INCONSTANT.

Coruna, 3hille. C. Rosati (her first appearance); the Knight Hui-
debrand, M. Paul Taglioni ; Squire, M. Gouriet ; Bertha, 3fdlle.
Petit ; Page, Mdlle. konore; Duke, M. Gosselin ; Fralsondin, M.
Tenefra ; Fisherman, M. di klattia.
DANCES.—Second Tableau—Scene Dansante des Caprices, by
Mdlle. Rosati.

Third Tableau—Pas de la Nymphe des Esux et de Ses Compagnes,
by Wiles. Rosati, Montfort, Cassan, and the Corps de Ballet.
Fourth Tableau—Pas de hi Rosiere. by Mdlle. M. Taglioni (her first
appearance); Pas de Deux, by M. P. Taglioni and Mdlle. Rosati;
Deutche Rhein, Vain des Pages et des Demoiselles d'Honneur, by
the Corps de Ballet.

Fifth.Tableau—Pas, by M. d'Or and Mdlle. C. Baucourt ; Ballabile
des lialbardlers, by Mdme. Stephan, Wiles. Honore, Cassan, The-
venot, Benin, Julienne, L'Amoureux, and the Corps de Ballet; Pas
de i'lnconstance, by Mdlle. Rosati, Mdme. Stephan, and M. Taglioni.
boots open at Half-past Seven ; the Opera to commence at Eight.

TIILATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.
The rubito is relpectfully Informed, that, so late as ten minutes to
seven, last evening, the following certificate was sent to the
Theatre :

.4 I hereby certify that Miss Romer is unable, from sudden indis
position, to perform this evening.

" Feb. 15, 1447. " HENRY REECE, M.R.C. Surgeon.'
In coniequence of the above, the Theatre will be closed' this even•
ins and to-morrow.

THEATRY) ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Under the Manr.gement of Mr. 1.. Webster, soic Lessee.
THIS EVENING

Will be performed a now and original Comedy, called THE
SCHOOL FOR SCHEMING. Poincipal characters by Messrs. Far-
ren, Stuart, Buckstone, Howe, Selby, Brindal. Mrs. Glover, Mrs.
Humby, Mrs. Yarnold, Miss Fortescue, Miss Bennett, Miss Hey.
nolds, &c.
During the evening the Band will perform the Overture, " Lae
des Fees," " Plantagenet," " Rose," and " Helen" Polkas, &c.
To conclude with the Original Grand Fairy Extravaganza,
called the INVISIBLE PRINCE; or, the Island of Tranquil
Delights. Principal ciotracturs by Mr. James Bland, Miss P. Horton,
Mrs. L. S. Buckitvham, Miss Reynolds, and Miss Julia Bennett.

TIIRATRE ROYAL, LYCEUM.
Under the Management of Mrs. Keeley.
TUB EVENING

Will be performed a new Comic Drama, called ,VOO REWARD.
Characters by Me=srs. A. Wigan, Meadows, Emery, 11. Butler, Miss
Vlllars, and Miss Forster.
Atter which a new Farce, called TILE WIGWAM. Characters by
Messrs. Matthews, Oxberry, Keeley, Miss Arden, Miss Turner,
Miss Foster, and Miss Mary Keeley.
To be followed by the Farce of THE ETON BOY. Captain
Popham, Mr. Wigan ; Labster, Mr. Keeley; Miss Fanny Curry,
Miss Dickinson.
To conclude with the Farce of MRS. WHITE.

ROY:Ir, AD E GPM%
nder the dfrection of Madame Celeste
THIS EVENING

Will be performed the celebrated Drama, called THE GREEN
BUSHES; or, A Hundred Years Ago. Murtogh, Mr. 0. Smith ;
Dennis, Mr. Cullenford ; Jack Gong, Mr. Paul Bedford ; Grinnidge,
Mr. Wright ; Mame St. Anbert, Madame Celeste ; Geraldiae, Mrs.
Yates; Kelly O'Neil, Mrs. Fitzwilllam.
To conclude with the Fairy Spectacle, founded on the Ballet
of LA GISELLE, entitled THE PHANTOM DANCERS; or, the
Wills Bride. Principal characters by Mr. Wright, Mr. P. Bedford,
34r. 0. Smith, Mr. Cullen •ord, Madame Celeste, Miss Marian Taylor,
Miss Emma Ilardlng, Miss Ellen Chaplin, and Mrs. Laws.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE. OXFORG-STREET.
J. M. Mx-Wax, sole I,s.see And 3lanager.
THIS EVENING

Will be pftformed the new 31:Weal Romance, entitled
THE SEVEN MAIDS OF MUNI ; or, The Ghost's Tower.
Bertrand, Mr. Fisher ; D'Armincourt, Mr. Barker ; Bellejambe,
Mr. Delavanti; Adolphe, Mr. NV) nit; Gresdos, Campton ; Bristle-
Tech, Mr. AValton ; 'Wino, Mr. thinner; Seven Melds of Munich,
Misses Flower, Rourke, Honner, Mucks, Millar, L. Marshall, and
Laporte ; Miss Marshall ; V adame Groutz, Mrs Fosbroke.
Aftrr which, the Comedy of STOOPS TO CONQUER.
Principal characters by Messrs. Wynn, Cranhy, Vining, Compton,
Fisher, Cow.ll, Mrs. Stirling-, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Fosbroke.
In the coax eof the erening• Profess:or HEM !NG ant his ta-
t 'tired (7IIILDREN will go thronqh theft wonderful performances.
Previous to the Pantomime the Band will perform " The Ame-
rican Polka," introducing "Thu Ralroad Overture."
To conclude with the grand Comic Christmas Pantomime, en-
titled The ENCHANTED BEAUTIES of the GOLDEN CASTLE;
Sr. The One-eyed Genf. Harlequin, Mr. Bologna; Pantaloon, Mr.
Paulo ; Columbine, Miss Burbidge ; Sprite, Mr. IL Marsha!! ;
Clown, Mr. Fleamore.

lIIGLI WATER AT LONDON-B111)GE TIIIB DAY.
Morning .. 17 minutes after 2. Evening .. 42 minnics after 2,

States and elsewhere, the resources are ample
to meet the demands which have and will continue
to be made upon them by their European purchasers.
The deficiency of tonnage, and not insufficiency of
stock in the commodities required, is the chief draw-
back to their commercial prosperity. In a short time
the great canals will be freed from their icy thrald-
dom, when vast hoards of grain and bread-stuffs will
be rapidly accumulated in the sea-port towns for
transmission to Europe.
Congress has empowered the PRESIDENT to issue
twenty-three millions of Treasury notes. The pro-
ceeds arising from the sale of the public lands are
expressly mortgaged to pay the interest of six per
cent., and to redeem, at the expiration of twenty
years, the notes, or the stock into which they may be
converted.

The continuance of hostilities between the States
and Mexico embarrasses the PRESIDENT and Con-
gress as much as ever. The perplexity, both
of the war itself and its direct consequences,
political and commercial, is what every
patriot throughout the civilised world will rejoice
to learn the iniquitous invaders of Mexican indepen-
dence are now bitterly experiencing. In the Senate
the general feeling seems favourably to point to the
establishment of a speedy peace. A direct resolution
to this effect, moved by Mr. STEPHENS, and couched in
terms subversive of the grasping policyof Mr. POLK, was
only lost by twelve votes. On the other hand, the
Mexican Congress have rejected every overture for
peace whilst a single soldier or ship of the United
States remains in their territory or infests their
coast; and to this the majority of the Congress have
sworn under the solemnity of an oath.
Canada and the United States are raising handsome
subscriptions to testify their sympathy with the
distressed condition of Ireland and the Highlanders.
This spirit of charitable munificence, beyond the posi-
tive benefit of alleviating human misery, has the glo-
rious tendency of binding the nations of the earth
together ; teaching the afflicted that,:however dis-
tantly severed they may be by a vast expanse of the
ocean from the more favoured portions of the uni-
verse, the voice of distress is no sooner heard than
philanthropy spreads its wings to succour their
distresses.

Intelligence has been received from Lisbon of the
10th, and from Oporto of the 9th inst.
Count BOMFIX and his unfortunate companions have
been sent off to Angola. A guerilla of seventy men
had been dispersed at Thomar by the QUEEN'S troops ;
but, on the other hand, GALAXDA'S guerilla had sur-
prised and taken prisoners Major ILHARCO and
130 men at Alcacar do Sal, in thejAlemtejo.
Several small actions had taken place with various
success. SALDANHA'S head•quarters still continued
at Agueda, eleven leagues from Oporto. CABAL
was entrenched at Viana, closely watched by
DAB ANTAS, who is at Bdrcellos. Since M`DoNELL's
death several of his officers have joined the Junta. The
blockade of the Douro is very imperfectly maintained.
The British frigates America and Thetis are stationed
off the Bar, and the British war steamers Gladiator,
Polyphemus, and Bloodhound. and the brig•of-war
Nautilus, in the inner waters of the Douro. Eveything
was quiet at Oporto, which was abundantly supplied
with provisions.

Madrid journals of the Bth have arrived. They con.
tain no intelligence of importance. It was a holiday al
the Bolsa.

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday.
The correspondence between Lord NORMANBY and

FRENCH PLAYS. ST. ,TAM ES'S THEATRE.
lessee, Mr. John Mitchell.
THURSDAY EVENI.NG
Will be perform.• d Eugene Sue'spapular Play of LES MYSTER ES
Dv. ,I'AR S. Jaques Ferrand, M. - Lemaitre Itigoletto, Mdlle.
Feuquet.
Boxes, fig., Pit, 3s. €d. ,:Stllll.l, 35.; Gallery, 2s. Doors opened at
half-past Seves, and the perOirmances commence at Eight.
Private Boxes, Stalls, all may be engaged at Mitchell's
Library, 33, Bond-street; and at tho Box-office.

Lord PALMERSTON is published in all of them. The
Journal des Debats merely publishes the letters together
with the passage in M. Gunor's speech to which
they refer. The Epoque sneers at the Marquis of
NORMANDY-for " rushing into print," while the Presse,
which on this occasion would seem to be emulous of
out-Guizot-ing GUIZOT in disregard for truth, declares
that " since his arrival in France the Marquis of Non-
3IANBY has been the adversary of the Government, and
the friend of the enemies of the Government." The
Notional declares that after the publication of Lord
PALMERSTON'S flute to Lord NORMANDY, either M.
GUIZOT or Lord PALMERSTON must retire, if it
is desired that any terms should be kept between the
two Governments, inasmuch as Lord PALMERSTON'S
I_ • -

laconic note amounts, in fact, to a posting of M. Gui;o;
as a shameless liar (un effronte me-nteur). Notwithstand-
ing all the coquetting of M. Guizor with the
absolutist Powers, notwithstanding all the sacrifices
which the French Government has made to propitiate
them—sacrifices which have completely alienated from
the Government all the Liberal party of France and of
the rest of the Continent—it is no longer doubtful that
the northern Powers have joined Lord PALMERSTON in
his protest against the marriage. He has completely
turned M. GITIZOT'S position, and that not by making
sacrifices, but by persuading those Powers to adopt a
liberal course of policy. Since their junction with Eng-
land, Prussia has had a constitution granted, and
Austria has abolished feudal rights. This has greatly
increated the favour with which Lord PALmEnsToN is
regarded by the Liberal party in Franey, and certainly
his conduct has throughout these transactions been
marked by great ability. -
The Three per Cents. were done on Sunday in the Passage
of the Opera at 77f. 70c.
MA R.SRILLE,I, FED. 9.—Marseilles and Avignon, 830 f. ;
Northern, 615 f.
LYONS, FEE. 11.—Paris and Rouen, 878 f. 76c. ' • Avignon
and Marseilles, 822 f. 50c.; Northern, 608 f. 75c.; Paris and
Lyons, 488 f. 75c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THIS
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, FLBRUART 15.
Boulogne and Amiens, 1431—Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Cette
(Espelete), 'S, —Dutch Rhenish, 4%—ltaltan and Austrian, 21,i—
Luxembourg, 2—Northern of France, 12%—Paris and Strasbourg,
3)4—Roueu and Havre,263{ ex dly.

MR. COCHRANE and the ELECTORS

OF WESTMINSTER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—Is Mr. Cochrane the same person as "Don Juan de
Vega," or is he not ? If he be the same person, then the
violated hospitality and outraged kindness shown to him at
Brighton, Canterbury, Dover, and other places, will rise up
in judgment against him, awl serve as a warning to the
electors of Westminster not to confide in any such wander-
ing personator. If he be not Juan do Vega, thew why not
disown it? Let Mr. Cochrane beware, if he be the fraudulent
Spanish refugee that Juan de Vega pretended to be, that he
does not meet such an exposé as he well deserves, if identical
with that vagabond.—Yours, an Elector, J. C.
Feb. 16,1847.

NEW ZEALAND.
The barque Cecilia, Captain Pearce, with a full cargo of
contract Kauri spars, and a small quantity of copper ore,
arrived at Plymouth on the 13th inst., from Auckland, New
Zealand. The native chief Heki, who 'formerly disturbed
the northern colony, continues quiet, and appears likely to
remain so. In the south the vigorous measures of Governor
Grey have completely suppressed the rebellious efforts of
Ranghieta, whose brother was taken prisoner in Cook's
Straits, and has been executed, after an investigation which
proved his participation in the late disturbances on the river
Hutt. The course pursued by the new colonial Government
at Wellington gives entire satisfaction.

Her Majesty's brig Childers, 12, Commander John C. Pit-
man, arrived at Auckland from the Cape of Good Hope and
Hobart-tows. on the 18th of October. Her Majesty's frigate
Castor, 36, Captain Graham, arrived the same day from
Sydney. Her Majesty's steam frigate Driver, Captain Cour-
tenuy 0. Hayes, was signalled outside the harbour on the
20th, probably from Wellington. Her Majesty's frigate Cal-
liope, 26, Captain Edward Stanley, was at Wellington. The
Cecilia left on the 19th of October, and brings passengers
Captain Howett and lady, of the barque Mary Katherine,
stranded on the river Kaiapara, and Mr. Nattrass, from Nel-
son. The ship Haidee, Capt. Marshall, loading with spars,
was to sail for England direct on the Ist of November; and
the Madras, Captain Hillbery, via Valparaiso, on the 27th
of October.

EXCHEQUER BILLS.
AN ACCOUNT "of all EXCHEQUER BILLS raised, or
authorised to be raised, charged on the Aids or Supplies of
1847, unprovided for."
The Amount of Exchequer Bills authorised to be
raised, charged on the Supplies of 1847 £18,380,200
Deduct for Exchequer Bills paid off in Mon_!y in
1846, and provided for from surplus of Ways
and Means to the sth January, 1817

Amount to be provided for in the present
year

69,500

£18,310,700
J. PARKE:It.
Whitehall, Treasury Chambers, Feb. 12, 1846.

IRELAND. ,
GALWAY ELECTION.
GALWAY, FEE. 13.—" HALF-PAST ONE O'CLOCK.—The
following is an authenticated account of the state of the poll
nt this moment, taken from the official return :
"The Solicitor-General
"OTlaherty 137

" Majority for Monahan 26
"QUARTER TO Two o'cLocK.—The mail will start in
half an hour. The Solicitor-General has added one to his ma•
jority since the last return. The polling is not going on so
briskly as it had been up to one o'clock.

We are informed that official information was
yesterday received that the Emperor of Russia has prohi-
bited all further exportation of corn from his dominions.
The electric fluid foil a few days back on two
trees, near the road leading from Landerneau to Lesneven
(Finisterre), and reduced them to fragments. A carter who
was passing at the moment had two of his horses killed and
the other injured. -He himself lay for three hours nearly in-
sensible, but be has since recoverctd.

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1817

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
CITY, QUARTER TO THREE.
The sales of Cotton in the Liverpool market yesterday
were 2,500 to 3,000 bales, including 2,000 bales American at
6id. to 71id , and 250 bales of Surat at 3)-id. to 4%d. per lb.
The market closed heavily, and prices were without any par-
ticular alteration. Railway Shares were rather firm.
► The accounts from the United States, per Hibernia, have
set people quite in a ferment here, and some of the more
cautious hands, remembering the former American revul-
sions, predict violent fluctuations in the produce markets ere
long, attended by the usual consequences to those who have
bought high and may have to sell low. There is, at
any rate, very little fear of short commons while spe-
culators force up prices, and if sufficient supplies be secured
before prices fall, consumers here may have no reason to
complain. The danger in these cases generally is that the
losses incurred by the rashness of speculators check others
from entering into the business, and thus the supplies would
not steadily eontinue. The state of affairs generally in New
York, New Orleans, &c., was favourable in other respects,
and the money market was easy, while the exchange had
been steadier. The packet has some fair orders for goods, as
far as we can yet learn.
'We are happy to see that active steps are being taken
at Toronto to form a Joint-stock Forwarding Establishment.
It is to be called the Canada Steam Navigation Company.
It was stated, at a meeting held there, that the freight of a
barrel of flour between Toronto and Liverpool, was, and had
been for a long while back, two dollars per barrel; if this
Company succeeds, one half of this will be saved, and
thereby an increase on the price of wheat effected of
no less than one shilling currency per bushel ! The
public revenue from the canals was dependent on it also, and
consequently every tax-payer was directly interested. If
this company succeeds, the canals, even at a greatly reduced
rate of toll, will be profitable; but unless the forwarding by
the St. Lawrence is put at the lowest rate, the public works
will be a burden on the country. The speakers at the meet-
ing expressed themselves confident that the enterprise would
be heartily responded to throughout the province, and espe-
cially in Montreal and Quebec.
In a report of the business of the Champlain and St. Law-
rence Railroad it is stated that the mitt gain for 1816 was
10,2031.; the number of passengers having been 52,177,
and of goods 17:969 tons. The St. Lawrence and At-
lantic Railway is likely to require all its capital in this and
next year, and is to apply to the Legislature for power to
borrow money—a curious omission in the charter already
obtained.

The Stock Market has experienced a re-action again, and
the improvement of yesterday is lost. Consols for present
transfer have been marked 90% ; and for Time about %
per cent.. above those values. The New Three-and-a-Quarter
per Cents. have been 92% to 92%; and the Three per Cents.
91 to 91%. India Stock was at 249%. Exchequer-bills
have fallen very decidedly, viz. to Ss. premium, and it is
probable that the Bankof England is parting with more of its
Government Securities.

The Foreign investments are wholly neglected. Portu-
guese Four per Cents. realise 34% to 35. Spanish Three per
Cents. are 35%. Russian Bonds have been firm at 112.
Rail ay Shares have nominally been very steady, but evi
dently sales to any extent would lead to a depreciation, es
cept in special instances.
BRITISH FUNDS.

ONE CLOSING
O'CLOCK. PRICES.
Three per Cent. Reduced Annuities .. .. 91% 9114
Three per Cent. Consols Annuities .. .. 90% li 1,4 ii 90%
New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent. Anus. 92%34 %11,4 92%
Long Annuities, Expire Jan. 5, 1860 .. 9 11-19 9-16 9 9-16
India Stock .. . . .• ••, .. .. 249% 249%
India Bonds, 1,0001.. .• .. .. .• • • p
P 8 p
Ditto, under 1,0001. .. .. .. 14 14 South Sea Stock .. ..
Ditto, New Annuities
.. • • • • 89% 89%
Consols for Account .. . .. .. . 90% % 90%
Exchequer Bills. IN d. I%d.
1,0001... .... 3 pm. 4
5001. .. — .... 45 1 pm. 1
Ditto, Small •• •• 91 pm. 5
Ditto, Advertised •• • • 1— die. 5 n

ONE
O'CLOCK.

FOREIGN FUNDS.
Brazilian Bonds, 5 per Cent .. ••
Ditto, Small • •
Grenada, 1 per Cent .. • •
Portuguese Four per Cent • .
•
Ditto, Small .. ••
Russian Bends .. • •
Ditto, for the Account
Spanish Bonds, 5 per Cent
Ditto, Three per Cent .. • • • • 35 'A
Venezuela Bonds, 2 per Cent ..
Dividends on the above payable in London.
Dutch Two-and-a-halt per Cent ..
Ditto, 4 per Cent. Certificates

CLOSING
PRICES.
85%

.. .. 35 34%

.. .. .. 112

BUSINESS
PAID. DONE AT CLOSINO
ONE O'CLOCK. PRICES.

PRICES OF
RAILWAY SHARES.
• Amber., Notting., Beaton, and
Eastern Junction .. ~ • • 2%.. • • 2% %• •
Birmingham and Gloucester.. .. 100 .. • . ••.... • • .. 123 x.d.
Birmingham and Oxford Junction 5 .... 14% %••.. • • • 14%
Birming., Wolver., & Stour Valley 5 •• —8% •••• • • • • • 6%
Bristol and Exeter .. •• •7b .... 76% ...... .• . • 76%
Buckinghamshire .. 84s. .. • • 4 p. ex int... Up x.int.
Direct Northern Scrip •• .. 2% ...... 2%
Eastern Counties .. .. 20 .. 21% %ex dlv... 21% x.d.
Do. Perpet., 5 per Cent. No. 1.61. 13s. 4d. % p.. •• p
Ditto, York Extension '•. .. 4.••• 4% • • •• • • 4%
East Lancashire .. .. 14 •• • • • • .... • •
East Lincolnshire 4 .... ••
Edinburgh and Glasgow .. • • 50 •• • • 7634 ••••• • • • • •
Ditto, Half Shares .. .. 10 ...• •• .. • • •
Ditto, Quarter Shares 12% ..........
Great Northern (London & York
Do., do (Direct Northern Regd.) 3% ..........
Hull and Selby 50 .
Ditto, Ilalf Shares 23 .... 504 ex div.... 49% x.d.
Ipswich amd Bury SLEdmunds .. 14 .... .......
Ditto ditto, and Norwich .. 5 .... 334 • • ..... • ...
Lancaster and Carlisle .. 50 .... 63% • • ..... •.. 63%
Leeds an/I Bradford • • • • .. 35 ••••• • .. • • 79%
London and Blackwell .. 161. 13s. 4d. —•• .. ...... 834
Ditto, New, No. 2 • • • • 1 1 p
London, Brighton, and S Coast •• 50 .. . 5534 ........ 55%
London ani North-Western . .• 100 —.184 183% x div. 185
Ditto, Quarters • . •• .. 2 .... 22 ...... •• .. 22
Ditto ditto, New Shares .. .. 2 .... 14% .......• • • 14%
Ditto, 4111. Shares M. &B. •• 40 .. • • 7254 x d...... 72
London and South.Western•.4ll. 6s. 10d.• • 65
Ditto, New .. .. 22% •• • • ... 25%
Ditto, Tenths .. •. • . 5 ..... 51A
London and York Extension Scrip 2% •• • •
.. • • • • • • • 234
Manchester and Southampton 2 .... 154 .......... 1%
Midland .• •• •• ..100 .. • 129% x d1r..... 120
Ditto, New .. .. 30 .... . ....... 35% x d
Ditto, Half Shares .. •• .. 10 . 12% ....
North British .. .. 25 .... 34% • .•• .•
Ditto, Quarter Shares .. 24•• .. ..
Ditto, Extension .. • • • • %•• • • 1% '•'•• • • • ' •
Ditto, Thirds .. .. • • • . 1
North Staffordshire .. • • • • 5 .... ..........
Preston and Wyre .. • • •• 25 ..
Ditto, Half Shares (A) • • • .
Reading, Guildford, and Reigate 5- „
Scottish Central • • .. • . 15 „
Scottish Midland .. • • . 173.... „ „ ,
Shrewsbury and Birmingham .. 3 4
Ditto, Class B 4
.. • • •• • • I 4• • • • 1% • 1%
Shrewsbury and Hereford .. •• 2 ........ 1%
Shropshire Union .. .. • • .- 425..... •• ••
• 5i dip.
South Devon .. • • • • • • •• 40 .... 32% •• .. 32%
S.uth Wales .. • • •••• • • 10 _ „ „ 74
South Yorkshire, Doncaster, and
Goole • • • • • " • • 2 .... 2%14 .• • 2%
Swans. & Loughor & Cameron's.. 2 2%
Windsor, Staines, &S. Western.. 425. „
York and Newcastle .. • • -• 25 _ „ 36 36
Ditto, New. ••••• • • • • 5 11%3..%
Ditto, Extension • • • • •• 20
540 1111 •:
81681161
364 xd ...... • • 36% xd
FOREIGN RAILWAYS.
and W. Riding Exten... 10
York Ditto, ardriireofretrheniuceidlat.
rf6l 21
Dutch enish • • • • • • • • 7 .... 4% .
Great Indian Peninsular Is
.......
Italian and Austrian .. • • • • 4 .. • • 2% ........ ..... •
Luxembourg ......
Madrid and Valentia ......2 ....
..
Namur and Liege • . • • .. 8• 2......
......
Northern of France • • • • • • 8 •• • • 124%
Sombre and Meuse • • • • •• 12 „ 634
JOINT-STOCK
.BANKS.
British North American . • •• 50 „ 431, .
Provincial of Ireland • • • • .. 25
MINES.
Real del Monte, Unregistered „... 334

SHIPPING.--(THIS DAY)
fresh breeze and
—dACYrril.S..AWq.u'a Marine, Conellv •
:
een,
c moderateon a
LLOYD'S
L 0
NDONFEB
6V4tOu'rleans, and
hazy.
F.a.
w
e' 15.—Wind W., fresh.—Arrd. Red Rose,
DEAL,
.1
Britannia,‘FEß.rb 15.—Find —%.:Bi
el; da,
Bombay;
yVi
c;
hJames tor 1 I rN. Ne
CfiriniaN.
Hope, Wylie, ditto ;
sailedlesL-,Honduras;eßrr
opoui,,n de
ilesperni, Corsica; Minerva, Morrison,
Demerara; Citizen, Stafford, llavannah ; Meteor, Lawrence,
ASilnleggarpoo,reß;eAnilnbi;on, Gordon, Calcutta;
New Orleans; Albatross, Simpson, ditto • Mertoun, Hamil-
ton, ditto ; Ellen Brooks, Howe, Savannah ; Superior, ditto ;
Rhone, Harvey, Baltimore; Edwin, Wales, New York; Pit-
toma, Donaldson, St. Andrew's; Zanoni, Sim, St. John's,
New Brunswick; Corsair, Cumming. Newfoundland. Sld.
Lanercost, Hong Kong; Dulmatia, New Orleans. Off port,
Westmoreland and Indus.
13.—Wind S.—Sld. Ohio, Philadelphia.
BELFAST, Fisa.
Coast, FEB, 13.—Wind W.S.W.—Arrd. Elizabeth, Bal-
teahouse, St. John's, New Brunswick; Victoria, White, Pa-
tagonia; Sandwich, Chunn, St. John's, New Brunswick.
OFF CAPE CLEAR.—Jame! Christie, Berbice.
PLYMOUTH, ERB. 15.
, Wind W.—Arrd. Cecilia, Pearce,
New Zealand.
DEAL, FEB. Is.—The Sisters, Tippet, of and from Halifax
to St. John's, Newfoundland, was abandoned in a sinking state
on the 28th ult., in lat. 40 N., lon. 43 W. ; crew and pas-
sengers saved and brought here by the Winneganee.
LIN-Heroin., FEB. 15. The Venus (brig) sailed from
Cumberland, N.S., for this port, touched at Eastport and left
Sept. 11, and has not since been heard of. The Milo, Grace,
hence to Boston, was wrecked previous-to the-27th ult.;
crew and passengers saved. The Amelia (brig) from Prince
Edward's Island to this port, was destroyed by fire, Dec. 24,
off Charlotte Town. The Arabian, Hawkins, from New
Orleans, was in contact last night in the river, and lost bow-
sprit, cutwater, &c.
WHITBY, FEB. 15. The Hebden, Wetherell, of Scar-
borough, put in here to-day with loss of bowsprit, head, and
contactpcouitsne-,aatetr,anhcahvoinr,gwbbeeienhinsank.
with a light brig, nameun-
known, and afterwards, in coming up, got foul of the Per-
GLOUCESTER, FEB. 15.—Wind N.W.—Arrd. Jane Boyd,
Alexander, Valparaiso.
GUERNSEY, FEB. 13.—The Rose, from Newcastle, struck
on a sunken rock last night and sunk ; crew saved.
PLYMOUTH, FEB. 14. A great quantity of timber, ap-
parently cargoes of wrecked vessels, was passed near Cape
Finisterre and in Corunna Bay by the Transit (steamer)
arrived here.
GLOUCESTER, FEB. 15.—The Delta, Robinson, of and for
this port, from Newport, with coals, parted her chain and
drove onshore last night, between the English Stones and
British River, and sunk ; crew saved.
CARDIFF, FEB. 15.—The Mary Joseph, of Dungarvon
(wheat laden), is on shore near Scilly Island.
MaascPonT, FEB. 14.—1 t is blowing a heavy gale at
S.S.W. The Hero, Sullivan, from Belfast, came on shore
last night, but has been got off and into port to-day. The
Fox, Surrage, from Belfast, got on shore to the north of this
harbour, but will be got off without damage.
Hum, Fen. 15.—The Thalia, from Shields, got in contact
13th instant, with a large light ship, and is pulling into
Grimsby, with considerable damage--
CLAY, FEB. 15.—The Ovis, vi Sundeiland, came on shore
west aide of Blakeney Harbour this morning; is expected
off next tide.
WAIXFLEET, FEB. 15.—The Trio, of Chichester, was in
contact in Yarmouth Roads 13th inst. with a schooner, name
unknown, and was run on shore at Skegness leaky, but
s c hToho en
earg elnigthat.trLesloseyid,
he so
uthato
na
stemporary
,
destroyed in the October gales, would be placed as near the
since repaired and proceeded.
NOTICE TO MARINERS.—NEW LIGHT ON SAND
KEY.
st
oa
replace
eKp
lenye
eWt
the
thsgtha
tt
spot of the former light as possible about the 10th of Janu-
ary last. She will have a fixed light, 45 feet above the level
of the sea, and be seen, in clear weather, at from Six to
seven miles' distance. The lantern is four feet square, single
lamp, without reflectors.
The agent also states that the lighthouse at Cape Flanders
is in a state of forwardness.

lITILLBANK PRISON.
Copy of a Letter from the Secretary of State to Rick-
ham Escott, Esq., and of the Report, therein referred
to on the state otilliank Prison.
Whitehall, Feb. 6, 1847.
Sir,—l have received a document purporting to be a
report to her Majesty from you as a member of the re-
cent commission of inquiry into the state of Milbank
Prison.

I have to acquaint you that a report having been al-
ready presented from that commission, signed by the
majority of its members, I should not be justified, ac-
cording to the usual practice in such cases, in presenting
to her Majesty the document bearing your signature, as
a report made in pursuance of the commission.
In cases where a diffiTence of opinion exists among
members of a commission appointed by the Crown, the
ttifiest opportunity is atll.,rded to any member who differs
from his colleagues of stating his opinion, either in a
deem meLt appended to the report, or in some other form.
Having informed you that I should willingly receive
and lay before the I-Luse of Commons your opinion on
' the matters inquired into by the Milbank Commis-
sioners, and having, with a view to facilitate this
object, suggested the form of the document in which
your opinion could be .expressed, I had not anticipated
the possibility of any difficulty arising on the subject.
As, however, you have declined to conform to the
ordinary practice, and appear to attach importance
to the form which you have yourself adopted, I shall
retain the document in question in this office, as the
record of your opinion, although, for the reason which
I have stated, I shall be unable to submit it to her
Majesty.—I have,

(Signed)
Bickham Escott, Esq., M.P.
The undersigned, being one of three Commis-
sioners directed by your Majesty's letters patent dili-
gently to search and inquire into the conduct and ma-
nagement of your Majesty's prison at Millbank, and into
any abuses or grievances which may exist in the ma-
nagement of the said prison, and commanded by your
Majesty's said letters patent to report to your Majesty,
under their hands and seals, their several proceedings,
and \sista they shall find touching the same—humbly re-
ports to your Majesty,
1. That together with the Earl of Chichester and
Lord Seymour, the two othcr Commissioners, with whom
the undersigned was associated in this inquiry, he has
diligently inquired into the aforesaid matters.
2. That he has read a report on the aforesaid
matters which has been presented to your Majesty,
under the hands of the said Earl of Chichester and Lord
Seymour.
3. That in the report is the following statement :
" We have, however, determined to report the evidence
in full."
4. That he is informed, and believes, that such evi-
dence has been so reported by the said two Commis-
sioners ; yet that report, as aforesaid, has been printed
and delivered to Members of the House of Commons for
their perusal and consideration, without any report
whatever of the evidence given vied voce before your said
Commissioners.
5. That upon a patient hearing and due consideration
of the evidence given before the said Commissioners, and
the demeanor of the several witnesses, and a personal
inspection of the said prison, it appears-
6. That the pfison at Millbank, by stat. 6 and 7 Vic.,
c. 26, and by virtue of other statutes, and by orders of
one of your Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, is
a place of confinement for convicts under sentence or
order of transportation.
7. That the condition of the various apartments, wards,
offices, and furniture of the said prison is generally very
good, for order, cleanliness, purity of air, and their ap-
propriate uses.
8. That from this general statement must be excepted
the dark cells, which are unwholesome and improper
places for the confinement of prisoners.
9. That the diet of the prisoners, ordered by the Se-
cretary of State according to law, when not curtailed
by punishments inflicted by the officers of the prison, is
wholesome and ample.
10. That the health of the prisoners is generally good.
11. That there are faults in the discipline and order-
ing of the said prison, which require reformation.
12. That the rules for enforcing silence, and the se-
parate confinement of prisoners in the said prison, de-
mand further inquiry and great consideration at the
hands of your Majesty's advisers and your Parliament.
13. That unjust and cruel punishments have been in-
flicted on certain of the prisoners within the raid prison
by orders of the governor and the inspectors.
14. That such punishments have been unjust and
cruel, inasmuch as they have been inflicted without a full
hearing or due consideration of the evidence bearing on
the several cases, and have been disproportionate to the
offences charged against the prisoners.
15. That sufficient care has not been taken by the
chief officers of the said prison to guard against the in-
fliction of punishment in cases where it might be inju-
rious to health.

G. GREY.

16. That serious injury to the health of prisoners has
been the consequence of such punishments.
17. That such punishments inflicted on_ prisoners of
weakly constitutions have aggravated their infirmities
and accelerated their deaths.

18. That such consequences have not followed from
any proved malice, or wilfully evil design of the governor
or other officer of the said prison.
1 19. That the main defects in the personal character
of the governor of the said prison have been an insufficient
knowledge, or lack of observance of the first and ele-
mentary principles by which all judicial inquiries should
be governed, and a hasty, boisterous manner of issuing
orders and decisions, which has hurt the feelings of other
persons, and given offence, even when the orders them-
selves may have been just and lawful.
20. That the chief merits of the said governor consist
in a strict enforcing of order and discipline, per on
courage, and a spirit of improvement in much of the
management of the prison.
21. That it is probably no easy thing to find a man in
every qualification well fitted for the exercise of such an
authority as that of the governor of such a prison, on
whom a peremptory enforcing of strict rules, and prompt
decision, and stern firmness in the execution of all his
duties, should, if possible, be associated with equanimity
of temper and a mild demeanour.

22. That the conduct of the inspectors of the said
prison has not always manifested that attention to the
established principles of judicial inquiry which ought to
be required from all persons to whom the Legislature
has confided the power of punishment.
23. That much of the evidence given before the Com-
mission was irrelevant and unsatisfactory, from the dis-
ingenuous and evasive manner in which questions were
answered, and that the chaplain, the chief medical officer,
and the resident surgeon of the prison, have especially
incurred this censure.

24. That the charges which have been laid against the
governor and chief officers of the said prison have, in some
instances, been exaggerated accusations, and in some other
instances remain unproved. Yet enough has been proved
to show the necessity which existed for some impartial and
searching inquiry into the state of the prison; and to in
spire a confident hope that the evidence which has been
elicited by the Commission, and the facts which have
been thereby brought to light, may lead to great and
permanent improvements in the future management of
your Majesty's prisons.
All which is humbly submitted to your Majesty, under
the hand and seal of your Majesty's faithful subject and
servant, B. ESCOTT (L.S.)
February 1, 1847.

REASONS FOR MAKING RAIL-
WAYS IN IRELAND.
I. Because, the formation of railways in Ireland would not
only furnish employment to large numbers of persons, which
would relieve the present distress, but would furnish also
permanent employment in the maintenance and working of
the railways when completed.
11. Because, railways in Ireland are desirable for the
general convenience and advantage of the whole community
of the United Kingdom.
111. Because, railways when formed, would be property
of a profitable nature, created by labour otherwise unem-
ployed.
IV. Because, they can be constructed, and the people
thus fed, not only without even the temporary abstraction of
a single farthing from the public Treasury, or from the
millions which are annually added to the wealth of this
country, but may be made conducive to the increase of both.
V. Because, the money for making the railways might be
easily provided by the means of Exchequer notes of 14 each,
bearing no interest, and receivable in taxes and other Govern-
ment payments, without cost to the Exchequer, and without
disordering the national finances.
VI. Because, on the contrary, the circulation of such
Exchequer notes, by providing the wages of labour, would
increase the consumption of exciseable articles, and thereby
improve the national revenue.
VII. Because, the. nevap-,ity would thus be obviated of
borrowing money in the market at interest, and thus (at 3,?,-
per cent.), an annual burden of 560,000/. would be saved to
the country.
VIII. Because, the only unobjectionable way of distri-
butingour food to the able-bodied, being in returnfor
labour
(and on
(and not by way of charity), and money beingh
admitted
exists_
an
can
ba
el all
ehflaincidesurly been
employed
)o,
ednl,ya medium di tl
wages t hpraoildi
labourhthwerheienow
dimtapme.rious necessity for an additional quantity of such me-
IX.
bßecause,
requiredthis
o additionalsu ppl
supply
a quantity
deficiency
thatcirc ulexists,ating
issue thereof havecalgeronly p
no injurious effect
v
eupeounby ththeee mostxisting
currency; a danger
. cautious,
Because, whena
there isEaxscuhpepqouseer.d issue Exchequer-notes
o tes
in excess.
x
proposed would be
the instrument osf tphaeying the wages of labour, and would
supply the absence of the usual means of payment in
practice in Ireland, by barter of potatoes and other food, re-
cently destroyed to an extent far exceeding 15,000,0001.,
they would, in an especial manner, benefit the labouring
classes in Ireland, whose distresses, in the present extraor-
dinary exigence, they are intended to relieve.
Xi. Because, the money so provided would not withdraw
the means cf prosecuting other useful occupations, but
would, on the contrary, and especially at the present time,
tend to stimulate and assist the general industry of the
country.

BURNING IN EFFIGY.—On Thursday evening,
about half-past eight o'clock, considerable disturbance was
created in Canterbury by a large body of individuals assem-
bling in St. Margaret's-street, to witness the burning of an
effigy, which it was represented would take place in front of
Messrs. Neame and Greene's grocery establishment. This
singular exhibition bad been brought about in consequence
of Messrs. Neame and Greene refusing to conform to the rule
adopted by most of the tradesmen, in closing thtir shops at
eight o'clock, to afford their shopmen and others the oppor-
tunity of a little relaxation. 'flue display was the means of
bringing together nearly a thousand persons, some of whom
threw stones and broke several panes of glass in Messrs.
Neame and Greene's windows. Some persons implicated
have been committed to prison. —Canterbury Journal.
PROVISIONS F Rom Tull UNITED STATES.—The
Q. E. D. from New York, Shenandoah from Philadelphia,
and .Harmony and Rowland from New Orleans, which were
repotted at Liverpool on the 13th inst., bring 6,873 barrels
flour, 12,000 bushels wheat, 3,349 sacks Indian corn, 1,000
barrels Indian corn meal, and 400 barrels bread.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTERSALL'S—M*3III)am
Of the Liverpool Steeple-chase and Spring Handicaps, all
of which were speculated on in the course of the day, the
Chester Cup alone calls for any remark. The business done
on it was on a very moderate scale, and its only "features"
were the advance of Mickey Free (new at Mitchell-grove),
the re-appearance of Arthur, who was backed in one instance
at 3,000 to 90, and afterwards freely at 30 to 1; and the re-
tirement of Bedlam, against whom a gentleman, who may be
supposed to know something about him, betted 4,500 to 100,
following it up with 1,000 to 15, and finally cooling the
courage of his admirers by offering 10,000 to 150. The Derby
betting, if not heavy, was ofsorne importance, inasmuch as it
not only gave Epirote a further lift in the odds, but left Planet
in a more favourable position than he occupied on Thursday
last:—the first was backed for two or three hundred pounds,
at 11 to 1, and the other at 13 to 1, and the takers were
still for getting on ' • the favourite was backed for a hundred
or two at 15 to 2; Glentilt in two or three quarters at 1,000
to 45 and 22 to 1 ; Conyngham for two or three hundred
pounds, at '25 to 1; the Horn of Chase, who arrived with
Mickey Free, at Mitchell-grave (Forth's), on Friday last, at
30 to 1; Wanota freely at 40 to 1, and two or three others
in small sums. Very little was done on the Oaks, but
Nerissa had some friends, and was finally quoted at an im-
provement of four points. The prices subjoined are made up
to the close of the room :
LIVERPOOL STEEPLE CHASE.
9 to 1 agst Mr. Preston's Brunette—taken
12 to 1 agst Mr. J. Bowers's Saucepan—taken
12 to 1 agst Lord Strathmore's The Roarer—taken
13 to 1 agst Captain Gambier'sAvoca—taken
15 to 1 agst Mr. Neale's Red Lancer—taken
18 to 1 agst Mr. O'Higgin's Pioneer—taken
20 to 1 agst Mr. Watt, jun.'s St. Leger—taken
30 to 1 agst Mr. Courtenay's Matthew—taken
NEWMARKET HANDICAP.
10 to 1 agst Lord Orford's Footstool
15 to 1 agst Lord Stradbroke's Lynceus—taken
20 to 1 agst Mr. Jaques's Sir Martin
20 to 1 agst Mr. Wigram's Keshang
25 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Devil-me-care—taken
METROPOLITAN HANDICAP.
20 to I agst Mr. Stephenson's Sheraton—taken
40 to 1 agat Mr. G. L. Fox's Hannah Raise—taken
Brocardo was scratched this afternoon.
TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS STARES.
150 to 100 agst Kent's lot—taken twice
7 to 1 agat Sir R. Pigot's Conyngham—taken
CHESTER CUP.
22 to 1 agst Mr. Gully's Mendicant—taken •
25 to 1 agst Mr. B. Green's The Lamb—taken
30 to 1 agat Mr. Herbert's Antler—taken
30 to 1 agst Mr. Wilson's Punch
30 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Camera Obscura
83 to 1 agst Mr. Irwin's Mickey Free
40 to 1 agst Mr. Minor's Duke of Richmond—taken
1000 to 25 agst Mr. Hutchinson's Emigrant—taken
50 to 1 agst Mr. A. W. Hill's Intrepid—taken to 501
50 to 1 agst Mr. W. Scott's Sir Tatton Sykes
50 to 1 agst Lord E. Russell's Dulcet
66 to 1 agst Mr. O'Brien's Bedlam
1000 to 15 agst Mr. Collett's Pal—taken
1000 to 15 agst Mr. Meiklam's Inheritress—taken
70 to 1 agst Mr. G. L. Fox's Hannah Raine—taken
1000 to 10 agst Mr. Igoe's•Woodpecker
700 even on the field agst 27
3000 to 15 agst Mr. Haworth's Robin Burns—taken
DERBY.
5 to 1 agst Kent's lot—taken
15 to 2 agst Lord Eglinton's Van Tromp—taken
10 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Epirote--11 to 1 taken free/
12 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Planet—taken
22 to 1 agat Mr. Mostyn's Glentilt—taken
25 to 1 agst Sir R. Pigot's Conyngham—taken
30 to 1 agst Mr. Irwin's Horn of Chase—taken
35 to 1 agat Duke of Richmond's Red Hart
35 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Sister to Cobweb colt
35 to 1 agst Lord Caladon's Wanota
50 to 1 agst Mr. O'Brien's Bedlam
1000 to 20 agst Col. Anson's Bingham—taken
50 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Mr. Martin—taken
66 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Projectile
1500 even between Epirote and Planet
500 even between War Eagle and Sis to Cobweb colt
OAKS.
8 to 1 agst Mr. Jno. Day's The Farmer's Daughter
8 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Clementina
16 to 1 agst Sir J. Hawley's Miami—taken
16 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Nerisa—taken
20 to 1 agst Captain Harcourt's Ellerdale—taken.

We regret to announce the decease of the Countess
Dowager of Shrewsbury, whose serious- indisposition was
mentioned in this journal a few days Since, Hex Ladyship
Was the Widely of the .sth.

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