The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-19 00:00:00

se who were disposed to deny that it was a great inis:orinne
that so I b arke a propos t ion of the property of Irelarcl was Itele
however,ns who only occasiocails re.ided there
bell t. usted,
~ that this was an evil which vould adua
4—curied ; end, he might say. tha, there were two measures,
°bull Which Ae had been ie-opos;ed to that 14011.1., and the other
be
t 7 announced by her Alajesty's Government, as about to
tbestirnitted to the consideration of the Legislature, which he
of ent ould be a fair and legi
hit m ate means
t
counteracting the evils under whic Ireland was
b"..," suffering. One of these was the poor-law which
been lately discussed. This law—and it was one of the
trgest recommendations which, in his eyes, the measure
iin,"'Samhorised property, whether it was held by absentee
tbeelor.ds or resident proprietors, to contribute its fair share to
tojellef of the distress in Ireland. He would acknowledge
t.'ae Hon Member for Westmeath that, in the course of his
rience in Ireland, he had observed many and striking
'" of this kind, to which the Hon. Member had alluded,
4iistere the exertions of the resident proprietors to meet the
s ire" which existed in their neighbourhoeds, wee curbed
wse rendered abortive by the refusal of those landlords who
;ere not present to witness the destitution which existed, to
p cs,(te to the schemer which were originated for the
eitri4se of alleviating that misery and that distress. It
.ssts
h be no longer possible when this Bill
P.ssed,
F to refuse their assent to such measures as might be
t's'ed necesseiry for the relief of the evils which stir-
m.tt",`"idedthe There was another measure to which he
Coder equal force He believe d that many of the evils
to7r, which Ireland was suffering were attributable to the fact,
that9iat property was in the hands of absentee proprietors, but
dtt was in the hands of persons so eneurnt ered that it was
apluible for them properly to perform those duties which
eililved upon them.' He did trust, therefore, that the Bill
Ilisro the Noble Lord at the head of the Government would
e Y off r to the Legislature would facilitate the sale of
eprcurnhered estates, and thus benefit Ireland b 1 placing
ss°,,,i)er,tY in the bards of those persons who, havitig money
ibel'ed as the disposition to imoruve the. soil, would perfo
n' duty to their destitute and poorer neighbours.—( Hear,
tZr') While he agreed with the Hon. Member for Limerick
base t
that thearoseresoluti rumon thhe hads brought forward would
,e th inke
effect of counteracting, or remedying the evils which
toitted, but he could not concede to the Hon. Member. that
stil proprietors ought to be included among absentees,
tr° Possessing property in Ireland and England, spent the
11:01" portion of their t ime in the latter country.
pro,..n_eVer could consent to make. any difference. between the
tirletors of the two countries, and consider those as ab-
sentees who onlhad an occasional residence in Ireland, for he
a''red that many men who held property both in Ireland and
°l4„hind would feel it to be their duty to reside partly in one
es4,l"etrY and partly in the other, he could not therefore
"to consider them both as dabsentee proprietors. In
ssidering both these countrit s then as portions of the
;nliire he had to lock at their g neral interests. and doing so
ti: eould not agree to the proposition of the Hon. Member,
nt because a landlord resided part of the year out of Ire-
Yet 4 that he was to be considered as an absentee proprietor.
while saving this he was not at the same time quite
en"iited to the truth that every one who drew his subsistence
thatl the soil ought to do their duty by the country, and
shse it was not at all likely that. those who were
ft) nt from the county were elite to relieve the distress which
e 3; did not see, and with the details of which, of course, they
°,4 not be acquainted so well as others who were upon the
and woo had seen them. He would now read a passage
sr,: a pamphlet which was published about a hundred years
p;„"',lnd which produced a great sensation at the time it hap-
s cu. The author was Sir Thomas Prior, some of whose
ggestions were very striking at the present moment. That
Culensan said that there were many gentlemen who drew
4' 'Urns of money from the country why never contributed
300ing to the burdens of the State. Taking all these topes
to e presumed that there were not less than from -200,000'.
s ,0001. a year by these
who spent their money in foreign
i?notries, who left their own without assistance, and who never
linsong the people during the whole of their lives. He
ssr,`:el that the Legislature would take those persons under their
st",',Luesation, and "compel them to contribute to the burdens
sils`ne country, and that, as soon as possible, sorne remedy
tilauld be found. He then went on to state that in his opinion,
ebtbtSentee tax ought to be laid upon the landed proprietors
° lived cut of the country, but that a tax on the land itself
-'old be still mere important. Now, with this; under general
tel'ircurnstances, h could not agree, although he quite agi-eed
so'inecessity for making those who resided abroad do their duty
if the country, and he also quite agreed in the assertion, that
w he landlords were to be compelled, that a great change
ticruhl.take place—such a change as would speedily make a me-
ets
oe improvement in many parts ot Ireland. But the Hon.
priniternan said that a tax should be laid on the absentee pro-
se etors. Now, he thought that the word tax was not a proper
4UI to bew,
applied to such an imposition as that
be te,h was now devised ; fur if the imposition was to
6/ ',Tied on the proprietors of land in Ireland, he
-
Labouehere) conceived that it ought to be laid
11,,trilthe property of the country, on all the land.—( Hear,
*) But if such at a x were to be levied, it ought te he suc
j h
414unosition as would compel the sale of the encumbered
sattesp ; for he thought that it was a moat unwise, a moat un-
at„ a most constitutional principle to pass law upon, that
esiitarnan who possessed an estate in this country should be
to reside upon it. And if such a principle was in-
-15 to this country, it was equally inapplicable to Ire-
bniu,.• Stich a principle would be as inconsistent with the
wirs'ottluillal
.institutions of these two portions of. the state, as it
sa. be inconsistent with the social institutions of this coon-
Saud altogether inconsistent with the interests of the united
longer
He did not know that he need detain the House
on this Bill. He quite agreed with the Hon. Gentle-
tnkn the • •
°Pluton which he had expressed, that there
t tie belt duties
number of men at the present moment discharging
Chni
were in
to the country in a most admirable manner,
think thatTt Vi"
interested in the soil, but he did not
Prietors iiiwas desirable that a tax should he laid upon pro-
le order to compel them to discharge their duty which,
consequence of the possession of property, they owed to
theirc poor neighbours,
Which it was the duty This, he believed, was not a matter
of the Ministry to settle, for they had
none all that they could by i t •
tatin th f n reducing the measure for facili-
„ g esa e o encumbered
ine assertion of the estates. He could not assent to
Hon. Gentleman that such a Bill was ne-
ssary for the protection of Property in Ireland; and, be-
-1"iog that it would be inconsistent alike with the interests
t aq,this country and Ireland, if the Hun. Member pushed it to a
Sir n, he should certainly vote against it.
A...8R0K E thought that the amount of the tax ought
der expended on the property from whence the money was
Hriret:. Two years ago when this measure was before the
or Vie, he had recommended that a tax, not of. I o,_bot of 15
proprietors,cnt., should be levied on the propertftes (..?fabsentee
it, and spent in subsoiling, raining, encing,
ti,eBr:.ask houses and cottages for labourers, and other improve-
-0,,,Lt on the several estates, for the benefit of those who were
114:"d upon them. He thought that such a measure would
byre been far better than that which the Gov.eriiment had
be
forward for the relief of the poor, and if such a tax
b t° be imposed he would readily vote for it : nor would he
the fit all inclined to limit the amount.—( Hear, hear.) But.
Hitt
eewas one thing that he could not agree with in one point
tlitt speech cf the Hon. Member for Limerick, and
.that was,
14„1 no gentleman should be allowed to hold property in Eng-
iq Ireland at the same time, for such a rule would
tssiccrLect amount to practical repeal of the union. . Nor
!sr, `,e assent to the assertion that all the English proprietors
(Esser(
be considered as absentees, for the Duke of Devonshire,
L'itxwilliam, and Colonel Wyndham, who all possessed
isr"c Properties in Ireland, went over constantly and expended
ter: sums in the improvement of their estates. Such men hethes4 Could consent to consider as absentee proprietors. Bute
el Were the exceptions, for he knew and could name several
teat
drew large sums from the country who had never been
Ike their estates for thirty to thirty.five years together, but
sty ft; their money on the Continent or in England, without
list;,`uight of the duties which they had to discharge to the
rhvi,intrY who were resident in Ireland, Several of these in-
sea, dal, had been applied to in the present distress, and had
ist;crer 5/. or something of that sort. But this was not to be
to ered at, for it was impossible for them to see, and therefore
bieciceit the distress and destitution that now pervaded the
this Yet, after all, it was not the want of the money
'lse 'h°lll,l be expended on the estates so much as the depriva-
tes„:t a resident gentry. That was a necessity. which no
l'as Y, could supply, especially the want of the influence which
to be exercised over the minds of all classes by the
cal es of the higher classes. In Ireland, under the present
ttsi,f"Y, he knew several instances where those who. were
Lsb 7nt had distinguished themselves by their exertions in
sos,'`e'r of the poor, frequently to the loss of health, and in
sere cases to the loss of life itself. One instance he could
see ',where a lady had fallen a sacrifice to the benevolent
11::ptL.,", in behalf of her neighbours. Disapproving therefore
he should of the principle of the Hon. Member for Limerick,
ould yet, in the event of his dividing the House, vote for
beestutt as he said, because he agreed with him entirely, but
"'hie ,he believed that it would bt icg about something.
Wrightti be instrumental in the removal of a great evil.
kisses': BELLEW could not agree in the supposition that the
hiss ",eeisrn was the main cause of the evils to which Ireland
of a 'w subject, for the misery was suffered not from the want
th,Je:ident gentry—though he was very far from underrating
tere "tovfit—but it was the want of confidence in the expends-
court?' capital, and in the consequent want of enterprise in that
tis, "'Y. This, he thought, would be relieved by the introduc-
v,,ooand enforcement of a roper poor-law, for such alone
atebare the effect of causing the sale of encumbered es ates,
hisiwh°uld occasion a greater distribution of property than any
Ole now prevailed, and the whole benefit of ich would
kisltltZtelY come to the tillers of the soil. Something of this
Ise "ad beers formerly attempted, but it had failed. from the
trieioliar circumstances under which the country laboured.
esttere was the agent, the middle-man, the farmer, and the
th, ter, all demanding subsistence from the soil, and
drain
consequence was, that there was a continued
sil!tus upon the land, of which no one got any-
g like an adequate benefit. By the sale of estates,
dtch a poor-law would oblige, the whole of this evil would be
one away with. But far as he was therefore from ascribing
tutle present miseries to this one mischief of absenteeism, or
i„PPosing that any single remedy would suffice to place Ireland
ter'i.state of prosperity. for he believed that it would require a
of measures for that purpose, he yet was by no means
fritisiled to screen those who in this time of distress had re-
tie from doing their duty to their tenants. Unfortunately
drawisuew personally of several instances where individuals
sertl
.11og several thousand pounds a year had sent such a paltry
th,t twards the suhscriotions rased for the distressed poor.
their , the committees had been inclined to threaten to publish
irep letter, and their names. If an absentee tax were to be
lee,°ced it ought not, he should say, to be limited to
its hOr fifteen, or even twenty per cent. for in his opinion
frobl'u,td at least he fifty per cent. of the amounts drawn
that
,the estates in Ireland, none of which were ever spent in
teeisra ittrY. But he would repeat, that it was not abseil.
dene..that was at the root of the evil, but the want of confi-
etimsalin enterprise,
and, until that was removed, none of
.the
Arcs, e which Ireland produced would be spent for its un-
ornent, The Hon. Gentleman then read an extract from
24)001,1` °f Dr. Taylor's, to show that an aggregate of
,
was annually drawn from Ireland to be invested in
t,,, n „
glish Funds. While such an evil as this continued, no
ttrwlaZie ralisentee proprietors could ever occasion a propos-
Air. remedy,
'4O • O'CONNELL said the real cause of the present
It h0.(7'e' Ireland was the want of a resident land d proprietary.
Peed; "'Tressed her manufactures, and made her people de
try " Lit on agriculture. When that branch of indus-
With was depressed, the landed interest became depressed
over e't' and induced them to resort to a sysLern of
ie b„r°,l?ulating their land, in which they had
.been. encouragthfl
they'brtat. House. Manufacturies would revive in Ireland
nes fo.!" rich and wealthy customers to support them. It was
eve, i want of capital, because of th t there was sufficient
that tt the present depressed state of the country. But were
tt° ret"l'itat to be embarked in manufactures there would be
ths, iti!'n for it. This was self-evident, for how was it possible.
Irelandrish manufactsries could compete with English. Give
there
v; however, a resident landed proprietary, and then
tlov, insculd be customers and inducements for capitalists, who
do t rested their money in Government and othere securi-
tn reit,:
ortevive manufactories. With regard, therefore, to the
tneliem , his Hon. Friend, the Member for Limerick, he was
Peetoi,. ,t° support it. Ireland was a country which h +el most
ltbsees'r'Y suffered trom the evils of absenteeism. The word
Ise4oseelsrn itself hid its origin, as adopted in the English
owe 1!,5 With Ireland. It existed even when Ireland had its
the xt,*arnent, and why did it so exist ? Why. because
"settl Parliament st's s held in great subjection by
les". and all measures afor the improvement of Irish manu-
"tr' to lit ,*ere overuled by the same power. Gradually, how-
ter times, these restrictions were removed from Irish