The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-27 00:00:00

Dart of the observations addressed to the House by the
ion. and Learned Memher, he thought it would t.c
tut right to state to the House the course to be adopted
)y the Government. On receiving the report of the
C'ommiliSe of Inquiry into the circumstances connected
with the administregion.of the poor-law, he (Sir George
Grey) had addressed to the Poor-law Commissioners a
letter, calling upon them to state what might have been
the course followed by them in conducting the business
of their office. He had received a full report upon that
subject, and that report had been referred to the opinion
of the law officers of the Crown, to ascertain how tar the
practice of the Commissioners might be in conformity
with the law under which they held their powers.
The result of that reference was, that the
opinion given was not such as to leave her
Majesty's Government in doubt as to the legality of the
acts, or the validity of the law under which they were
performed. Ile was surprised that the Honoureble
Gentleman should have proposed to delay by a long in-
quiry the measures to be adopted with regard to Ire-
land, when he himself had approved of them.—(Hear,
hear.) The Noble Lord at the head of the Government
had stated the course he was to pursue upon this point,
and had asked and obtained leave to bring in a Bill upon
this subject. That Bill would shortly be in the hands
of Honourable Members, and would be under consiJera-
tion upon the Bth of March, the day fur which the dis-
cussion on the subject was fixed.
Mr. HUME wished to call attention to another im-
portant document. He wished to call attention not to
the evidence, but to the report of the Committee
ap-
pointed to inquire into the subject of the Andover
Union. That report showed completely that every act of
the Commissioners since the year 1341 was illegal,
When the Committee were asked to condemn the con-
duct of the Commissioners, their reply was that th. 2 con-
duct of the Commissioners was not referred to them by
the House. The Commissioners had carried on their
business in private rooms without having a secretary
present to record it. The proceedings were noted down
on slips of paper, instead of being recorded in books,
and that was an additional reason why Government
should take up the question. It was rather too bad, when
an inquiry had been instituted into a particular matter,
that Government should decline to take any notice of
its results.

Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIENs tilted that, a 3 an indivi-
dual he bulievtd, after having carefully examined the
working of the two Poor-law Bills in England and Ire-
land, it would be a benefit to Ireland if the English
Poor-law were taken clause by clause, and applied to Ire-
land, and any Hon. Member who would bring forward
such a measure should receive his cordial support.
Mr. SUNNI/ wished to know when the House were
likely to have in their hands the Bill for the reconstitu-
tion of the Pour-law Board for Ireland, and whether
it was intended to bring the measure of the Irish
Poor-law under discussion at the same time a; the
Landed Property (Ireland) Bill, which was to be brought
forward on the Bth of March.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL, before he answered the ques-
tion of the Hon. Member fur the University of
would make a remark upon what had fallen from the
Honourable Member for Montrose. That Hon. Member
seemed to suppose that the reports of the District
Asylums Committee and the Andover Union Com-
mittee were left unheeded and ncglt eted by the Gov, ru-
ment, who stood by as though they were not
concerned in the matters referred to in those re-
Forts. lie would ask, then, whether any higher
authority could be appealed to, for knee lug whether
the Cemaii,sioncis did their business in a legal
manner or not, than the Attorney General, at least
so long as the administration of the poor-law was
under the managemeat of Government ? Oa that
appeal the only answer they got was, that
the Commissioners could b., asked fer any further ex-
planation. It was true that there hail been tt serias of
letters its tha newspapers, signed by Mr. M. D. Hill, in
which alit ;aims were matle that the Commissioners did
their huairess ; but all these allegations were
founded on an anonymous case, which was itself leandeal
upon nothing, and it was a Lula hard that such grave im-
putations as these should be thrown out against the,
Poor-las, Commissiontra on the aiisertions of this
arsong gentleman. For his own part, he could cot help
being of (minion that it the Cermni,soners had thus
violated the law to such ar. extent they must have been
conscious oF the fact. So much fix the legality part of
the affair, With respect to the delay in bringing fora and
the measure, the liouse knew as well as ha did, that,
what with the measure.; for the in trodueticn of cum
the Sugar Distilleries Bill, the disettAion oh the .Neble
Lord'a proposition of railaays for Ireland—that while
carrying yorward the measures for the relief of that
country, it was utterly impossible with the few days at
the command of Government to bring the Poor-law- 8111
under the notice of the House, and he would have
been highly imprudent if he had forced it forward.
With respect to the alteration of the poor-law in Ire-
land, he hoped that they should be enabled to lay on
the table papers containing information relative to the
administration of the poor. law in Ireland. He would have
wished to go pro forma into Committee upon
the Poor law (Ireland) Bill, but it would be too late to do
it ; but on Monday evening he should move that it be
committed. He would then propose a Bill fur the loans
fur Ireland.