The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-09 00:00:00

sak •.°

hut he cou'd not say that there was any intention 11".
present of eltering the Rundale system.
HOLYHEAD HARBOUR.
Mr. J. R. COLLETT gave notice of his intention
of asking th:• Government to-morrow night a question
respecting the improvement of Holyhead harbour as tt
packet stati,...n.
FIYANCIAL STATEMENT.
Lord J. RUSSLLL gave notice that upon this Sll-
- he would make a financial statement to tho
Hou.,e in the CAntuittee of Ways and Means.
QUEEN'S LETTER.
Sir R. H. INGLIS wighed to know through what.
channel it was intended to distribute the money
col-
Leted under the authority of the
Queen's Letter?
Sir G GREY said that it was the intention of the
Government to place the funds so collected at the dis—
posal of the committee of the Bri,Jsh Association for
the Relief of Extreme Distress in the 114;tlands of Scot-
land and in Ireland. The committee of that 2-ssc'elatiall
consisted of persons of the highest character,
and he
thought that their mode ef distributing the funds pieced:at their disposal was of the m,,st superior nature.
RAILWAYS IN IRELAND.
Mr. 11. OSBORNE wished to know what amount of
iminey had heen granted to the Limerick and Waterford
Railway Company.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sat
no grant had at present been made to that companY•
The Government were prepared to advance money for
the (xt-.eution of the earth work upon Irish railway*
on the security of the baronies. The company referred
to by the Hon. Member had not yet completed their
arrangements with all their baronies, or the grant woule
have been made.

POOR RELIEF (IRELAND) BILL.
On the order of the day for going into Committee 09
thin Bill being read,
Mr. DANIEL O'CONNELL (the opening part of
whose speech was perfectly inaudible) said, that with
reference to the Labour-rate Act, which had been Pena
in the last session of Parliament, a considerable amount
of unjust obloquy had been thrown upon it. He thought
that there were few measures propounded for the relief
of Ireland equal to that measure. The Labour-rate
Bill had been of much use, especially in the western
parts of Ireland, and works had been performed under
it of a really useful nature. In other parts of Ireland,
he believed, it had not operated in so beneficial a mem'
nor. With respect to another Bill for the temporal
extension of the poor law, although he opposed it en-
principle, he should most certainly give it his
support. He was ready to give his support to,
any measure calculated to give an additions.
meal to the people of Ireland. A third Bill for the im-
mediate relief of the people of Ireland, he though a mot
unfortunate one. He was afraid the House was not st."
ficiently aware of the extent of the distress in Ireland•
or sulilcit ntly impressed with the horrors which the pea
pie endured. He would boldly state, that 25 per cent.
of the people were perishing through destitution.
He called upon the House, therefore, to act as the get'
nerosity of a great nation required. The responsibility
of 25 Fr cent. of the people rested upon the Govern'
meat. In one single village twenty• two coroners' in;
quests had been held upon the bodies of people who hae
died of starvation, and that number was daily increasing'.
The usual result of famine was pestilence, and had there
followed in its train. Typhus fever was already ravaging
the country; and out of the number of its victims not
more than one in ten survived. It was fast spreading
through the country, it would soon reach the higher
classes, and no human being in Ireland could Fos.
sibly, in a short time, escape its effects
two millions of human beings would perish
of the House did not come forward to relieve them'
It might be said, why did the landlords of Irelathnd
not relieve them? He would tell the House, e!
many of them had nobly bone their duty, wild
there were numerous others who had the wi;
but not the means of doing so.
was urgently necessary, therefore, for the House
to act liberally towards Ireland. The people were
starving and perishing in shoals, in hundreds, thousent
nay, even millions. lie assured the House he was
exaggerating the evil. He hoped, therefere, that the House would endeavour promptly and efficiently
to meet the case, and stave off the 0 a
of the suffering millions of Ireland. If bl
plan were adopted, and an unlimited and
rial power given to Government to disburse such
as may be necessary, subject and responsible t 1-no:
House, there might be some prospect of staying the
grass of the famine. But they must not be fettered
strict law, and the House muss generously confide in 11301
Government. He would also suggest the Pr.°Prietlfor
appointing domestic commissioners by a special Act__,
that purpose, whose duty would be to make out return]
specifying the name, income, &e., of every landl
with a fair and equitable system of taxation nge
property of the country. It was not an unusual Lew
for
diettoes
to have taxation in Ireland without representauroy.. cr_
the grand jury cess was an instance to the centra_atie-ric;
had to bear his testimony to the extraordinarrY.P
isn people
and unexampled resignation with which
were bearing their afflictions,
shuertehserebe
be an end to that ; and if rnea weal&
taken soon to give them adequate relief, they
as not pos-
break out into madness and despair. It w'
&Ito to levy rates et the present time. Much bad been
m notus t
said about loans to Ireland, and he begqed tO
. observe that after what had transpired, he thought
there would be no more reference to that subject.
butt
• They ought to use their powers now graciously and
magnificently to rescue the country. It might be asked,
• could the Irish do nothing for themselves ? They could
do nothing—little at least—and that only could be done
by the landlords of particular Cistricta Let the Clouse
remember the number of e3tetes that were in Chancery,
and the number of estates that belonged to persons to
1 that country. He solemnly protested his serious eon:
viction, that one-foul th of the people of Ireland would
perish unless they rescued them.
Sir B. HALL said that he was glad to hear that the
Hon. Member who had last spoken concurred in the
measures to be adopted by the House, but he thought
that before he asked for large grants for Ireland he ought
to consider the existence of distress in this country-
In St. Pancras alone, on Tuesday last, out of a popule;
tion of 130,000, 8,000 received out-door relief, and
2,000 in-door relief. The deaths also in the
bills of mortality had very much increased.
ou ly
Sir B. HALL could not refrain from saying a feld
words, but he did not wish to say anything that w
be offensive to the Irish landlords ; but when
they came down to that House and said that the country
was in a state of misery and destitution, and that dea.
and starvation were stalking through the land, end ta
moreover the whole of the responsibility for this mate
of
things was laid on this country, he could not forbear to
inquire how the landlords of Ireland had discharg d their
own responsibility. He believed thatlreland was not wit c.
out its resources. When he looked at the reports of 'a'
Otway, the Poor-law Commissioner, and he believed
_av
that the reports of that gentleman were universal l`'
accredited as of authority, he found that the main CA; 00
of the present distress in Ireland was owing to the non-
collection of the poor-rates, and if the Irish landlords
had seen this calamity approaching, and had taken no_
measures to prevent it, on them lay the responsibility of
the present crisis. In the union of Balling a rate for
12,0004 had been levied, and on the 4th January there_
were only 304 inmates in the workhouse, and yet So little
of the poor-rate had been collected that the guardians
bad come to a resolution that, unless money were itir
plied, or else borrowed on the security of the rate, they
would be under the necessity of shutting up the house.
The Hon. Gentleman then went on to read several extract*
from Mr. Otway's reports, showing the state of the unions
of Ballina, Ballinasloe, and Castlebar, showing that there
was great destitution, and that the poor rates could not
be collected. What would be said if any gentleman
in
the principality of \Vales were to pass out of his park
walls, and he saw immediately without them his
tenants and cottagers living in hovels, while be
knew that he had not paid his poor-rates ?—whi
he would be scouted by every one of reepectability.
In the case of the Castlebar union, they would find that
persons of large property and great influence were re-
fusing to pay their poor-rates. Well, what he said
was this, that the time had come when those gen-
tlemen ought to be made to contribute their portion
to the relief of the poor.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
He would take the liberty to allude to one other case---
that of Skibbereen. If any gentleman would read the
larger blue book ho would find that the property round
about that poorest and most wretched of the districts of
Ireland—Skibbereen—amounted to no less than 93,0004
Sir Randolph Routh states that the property in the im-
mediate district of Skibbereen amounted to 50,0001.,
and at the conclusion of his report he makes
this singular remark, which he would like to hear
answered by some of the Irish Members :
" With such property as this—with such resources
h
h
itraHuvhessapoeesur,
ireprehensible.
ene at
meeting
nbeutteleicetithese—oughtnel tighfaiarseecunmwitelestah;lbhsdi‘peadifieoeetsoramhtfesieetbudtleahttrtni:oodienprhl
landlords
rro:
d:rrei
tsesou.,
hxhlfiaatlsrtotryl
hye?
rasdo
om:fd; come
as
aewstetnorat
efshrtohneo no
tt
Palace-yard, where Lord Monteaglo presided.
That Noble Lord moved a resolution condemning
the clause in the Irish Destitute Relief Bill which
gave a discretionary power to give temporary
relief at the expense of the union. Now, he should like
to know at whose expense relief should be given?
They should pass a law by which they would
compel the Irish landlords to do their duty.
By a resolution which he held in his hand he perceived
that the Irish landlords bad no objection to the
distribution of out-door relief. That plan rather
met the approbation of the Irish. No doubt
it did ; but the landlords did not appear in
many respects to approve of a permanent Poor-
law Bill. That was what the House wished them to ap-
prove of, and what the House must make them approve
able how much
persons
much more
of. He thought it was pitiable and bad enough to see
relief,
wretchedthe ~-ed dtfl
andni
coming for relief ? One of the greatest benefits of their
legislation that session would be, if they were to pass
and
mabslee el
t( va nsgit to see butab
some law compelling the Irish proprietors to provide
for the able-bodied poor, and to give them maintenance ;
for if they found that they were compelled to do so, they
would give the poor work to save themselves. He found
a curious statement made by an Hon. Member for
Scotch district. That Honourable Member had told
him, that in the part of the district which he re•
presented there were, two or three weeks ago,
230 persons receiving relief ; and Oat of that number
there were only six Scotch, all the rest being Irish.
It was very easy for Hon. Members to demand from the
country support and maintenance for the Irish people,
but it was unfair and unjust for the landlords to turn
the people away and not maintain them.—.(Hear,
hear.) He should be very sorry, if in the
course of his observations, he bad stated any-
anything at all offensive to the Irish Members, but he
felt it his duty, representiug one of the largest conssitu-
encies in the empire, to state not only his own feelings,
but their opinions isles,