The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-02 00:00:00

ing the employment of the poor in Ireland. He thought
it fair to state, that since the debate on the Bill of the
Noble Lord the Member for Lynn, he (Mr. Collett) had
made inquiries, and he could state, that in the island
of Anglesea, where the potato crop had failed
to as great an extent as in Ireland, the formation of a
railway had induced a state of prosperity unexampled
in that island. The Holyhead Railway Company bad
employed from 3,400 to 4,000 labourers, out of which
number 2,500 were Welshmen. 700 Irishmen,
and about 300 Englishmen. They had only ex
pended about 100,000/. The same fact was
seen in some of the Irish railways. If they looked
at the railway frcm Maryborough through Thurles to
Mallow, they would find that a state of prosperity
resulted from the expenditure of cnpital by :that
line, within ten miles on each side of the railway.
On the Dundalk and on the Carlow Railways the
same thing was to be seen. On the latter linen
there was not one Englishman employed, excerft
pere aps, an overseer. The Right Hon. Gentleman tsie
Secretary for Ireland told them a few nights ago that ale
prosperity of Ireland next year depended on the Is
bourers being employed during the next six weeks in
agricultural operations. He did not state, however,
that draining would commence on a large scale in
the months of April or May. Now, he (Mr'
Collett) could state that the baronies of Irelan' were
ready to expend half a million on railways, and to em-
pley all the able-bodied labourers in the country. The
only mode in which Government proposed to employ
them was drainage, but he hart no great confidence in
that. If, therefore, only thirty thousand persons
were to be employed from May to September,
he thought it would be the means of eon'
ferring incalculable advantages on the country
He considered that her Majesty's Government had not
taken the proper steps in reference to this question.
They ought not to have trusted to mere anonymous
authority on this question ; and he, for one, would hate
been ready to afford them all the information which
he
possessed.
WAYS AND MEANS.
The order of the day haying been moved,
Sir DE LACY EVANS postponed until Friday or
Monday the two motions of which he had given notice ;
the first having reference to the pay and 'promotion of
certain general officers, and the second for copies of any
representations that had been made of the inconvenient
consequences resulting from an inequality in respect to
ration stoppages from troops serving in the colonies.
Sir H. DOUGLAS also postponed until Monday his
motion relating to the case of medical officers not in'
eluded in the warrant of July, 1846, for an improved re•
tirement to a limited number of medical officers.

POOR RELIEF (IRELAND) BILL.
Mr. P. SCROPE, on the motion that the House do go
into Committee upon this measure, said he would trespass
upon the attention of the House with a few observations.
The rent of Ireland last year amounted to 15,000.00011
and yet upon the average the poor-rates only amounted
to lid. in the pound. Under these circumstances, 11°
thought some information ought to be given to the coup'
try upon the subject. In the union of Castle Bar the case
was still stronger. There the per centage did not
amount to more than fourpence-halfpenny in the pound,
and the guardians having collected that amount, Aut
the doors upon the starving poor and refused to collect
any more.
Mr. LABOUCIIERE would not accept the invitation
of the Hon. Member to enter now upon a discussion of the
poor-law, because the House would have ample °pre"
tunity on a future occasion to enter fully into that sub)
He must, confess he never entertained the opinion tbs
whatever poor-law should have been introduced into
Ireland could have ever met the emergencies of the Pis;
sent period, and it was altogether a miscalculationths
they could have framed a poor•law which could entireli
relieve the distress of that country in its present (Arena'
stances.