The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-23 00:00:00

SUN.

LONDON,

racteristic of a noble and august body ? Let this be
remembered—M. TESTS is not the French Govern-
ment—M. DE BEATMLLLON is not the French Press
—and the Duke DE CuossnuL PEASLIN (whether
guilty or innocent) is not the French Peerage.

The Irish Relief Commissioners have published
their fifth, and probably their penultimate report.

From this document we are informed on the best au-

thority of the extraordinary extent of the operations
carried on for the relief of the distress in the sister
kin ;c1 m ; and we are enabled to form some estimate
of the fearful amount of the destitution that required

sic 1 gigantic aid. The efficiency and beneficial re-
• ult of the system adopted have long since been es-
I abl shed on the most incontrovertible evidence. It

was impossible to deny the advantages of a course
that banished famine from the land, and supplied a

sufficiency of plain and wholesome food to millions
who would otherwise have fallen victims by a linger-

ing and painful death. The extraordinary number of
claimants who had recourse to the assistance thus

afforded, amounting to more than one-third of
the entire population, proved the extent and
universality of the calamity by which all
parts of the kingdom was affected, and also
the impossibility of the evil being adequately
met by any less comprehensive and decided course.
The statement of the Commissioners, " that no in-

direct method of affording relief could have been
of avail, nor could any measure, short of distributing
food to the multitude, have prevented the effect of

absolute famine widely extended," will, therefore,
command a prompt and ready assent, and the states-
manlike and judicious measures of her MAJESTY'S
Government will be fully appreciated. These mea-
sures have necessarily occasioned a heavy expendi-
ture, but three millions of people cannot be fed with-
out a proportionate outlay, and the success of the
great experiment, the preservation of the lives of so
many of our Irish brethren, their extrication from
the wretchedness and misery by which they were
surrounded, would far more than compensate for the

increase to our national burdens, even were we never

to obtain the repayment of one shilling of
our advances. 'We have shown huw truly

we regard, how deeply we feel for our fellow.
subjects in that country, when we so readily
interposed ourselves between the famine and its vic-
tims, and at a season of commercial distress and
inactivity—when the great bulk of our own people
were obliged to submit to a great reduction in their
ordinary comforts, occasioned by the double action of
increased prices and diminished means—unhesitat-
ingly shared our resources with our still more needy
brethren. Surely such conduct should satisfy the
rescued people of the true character of the feeling of
the Saxon towards them, and be far more convincing
than all the diatribes of the M'HALES and LAFFANS,
and their brawling coadjutors, who, for their own
unworthy purposes, strive to propagate dissension and
strife between those who should be united in the most
amicable relations.

" The greatest number of electoral divisions under

the operation of the Act, since the last report,
has been 1,826, and the largest amount of
gratuitous relief (which attained its maximum at
that period) supported 2,920,792 persons per day,
and the number to whom sold 99,920." This enor-
mous number had, " up to the Ist of August been re-
duced to 2,467,989 gratuitous, and 52,387 sold,"
showing a decrease of nearly 453,000 in the nu, ber
obtaining eleemosynary relief, and of more than
47,500 in those who paid for the rations obtained,
" The cost of each ration, including establishment and
expenses, averaged 2d." If we contrast this with the
expenses of maintaining prisoners and paupers in
either country, it will at once be seen with what eco-
nomy and prudence the relief funds were managed,
and it will explain the reasons why " the amount of
the expenditure on this vast measure has been less
than was at fir-t anticipated."
In a system of such magnitude, and of so novel a
character, it would be unreasonable to expect that
some abuses should not be perpetrated in Ireland,
especially, where a system of jobbing in the county
funds, by road-making, and other improper
practices, has too long been a matter of

painful notoriety. These abuses were unhap-
pily too numerous, and were, of course, depre-
cated in the strongest terms by the Commissioners,
whose circulars, instructions, and regulations, were
pointed at the evil with a view to its suppression. It
will be in the recollection of our readers what intense
indignation was excited amongst the Irish Members
thereat—with what energy Sir H. WnisloN BARRON
and other Members repelled what they were pleased
to term the unfounded accusations, and demanded a
Parliamentary inquiry as to the grounds on which
they had been founded. In vain they were assured
that it was by no means intended to have a universal
application, that no imputation could be justly cast
on relief committees in general for the delinquency
or negligence of some few. They would not be
appeased or contented with the assurances of the
Premier and of other Ministers, but required that an
opportunity should be afforded of vindicating
themselves from the aspersions cast upon their
honour, and thrice the battle was renewed by the
chivalrous Member for Waterford. Those indignant
feelings will probably be assuaged by the amende
honorable contained in the present report—an ex-
planation which would, doubtless, have been earlier
supplied, if the Commissioners could have supposed
that their stringent and well-merited censure could
have caused such anger. They now explain, as any
cool and dispassionate person would have collected
from the former documents, that the occasion for the
complaint was far from universal, and that they had
the zealous co-operation of the greater number of the
committees.

The Commissioners also pay a compliment to the
exertions of their inspecting officers, who (they say)
have carried on a most difficult and arduous service
with a degree of temper, energy, and intelligence
highly creditable to them.
The termination of all advances must necessarily
take place in the course of next month, under the
provisions of the Act of Parliament ; indeed, unless
it were intended that the Irish people should be per-
manently maintained from the Imperial Exchequer, it
could not be further protracted. The intervening perioa
will be the time when there is the greatest demand
for labour, and when the produce of the soil will
afford an abundant supply for all the people. The
casting of so many persons suddenly on their own
resources must, however, occasion, even under the
most favourable circumstances, much distress and
difficulty, and will require all the energy, benevo-
lence, and public-spirited expenditure that can be
applied to meet the emergency. We trust
that the landlords of Ireland will not be found
wanting to themselves. A new duty is imposed upon
them. They must henceforward provide for the
wants of the people, who have now a vested right to
a maintenance out of the land on which they were
born, and to which they belong; and the owners of
the soil may be well assured that their own future
prosperity will, in a great degree, depend on the
efficiency and fidelity with which they discharge that
duty. They must no longer look on with spiritless
apathy -while their burdens are borne by others.
They must help themselves, and when they have
manifested an anxiety to do so, they may be certain
that British sympathy and British aid will not be
withheld. They must support their poor either in
unproductive indolence or in works of utility. A
wise, a reasonable man will not require to be told
which course is most for his private advantage, or by
which, the future welfare of his country will be
attained.

The Levant mail brings intelligence from Con-
stantinople of the 6th inst.
The Journal de Constantinople has the following on
the Greek question :
" By the French packet boat, the Pericles, which
arrived on Thursday last, we have received news from
Athens relative to the Turco-Greek difference. The
question does not yet appear to be completely resolved.
It is known that the first letter of M. Coletti, which was
sent hero by the Vulcano, not having been considered
sufficient, the departure of M. Muisurus fur Athens was
delayed, and it is known also that the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, H. E. A'ali Effendi, had in his reply pointed out
this circumstance to the chief of the Hellenic Cabinet.
M. Coletti was simply required to authorise the Minister
of Foreign Affairs to transmit the expression of his re-
grets to M. Mussurus. The Minister of Foreign Affairs
I.arned on Thursday, by the Pericles, the answer of M.
Coletti to this communication; and, if we are well in-
lormed, this reply leaves the seine obstacles to the return
of M. Mussurus in existence. The delays which have
just occurred are much to be regretted. Tho Porte has
given proof of gnu forbettrituce, and even the form in