The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-09 00:00:00

lied on and ha A,
no doubt, tended greatly to that reduc-
tion of mortrAity to which he had referred. It was a
sincere sat'asfaction to him to be enabled to state also
that the rAeasures which had been adopted by the Go-
ye!nli2e-at had very materially lessened the amount of
lune in Ireland; and there was every reason to hope
that With the means which had been adopted for the ins
provement of the population the catalogue of crimes
would be still more sensibly diminished. In his baronies
in the county of Clare, no less than 11,000 persons had
been employed. Under and in the return which had been
lent to, the Government, the number of persons were
Made out to be very considerably less. The distribution of
'uncooked food bad been prohibited by Government, as
those to whorrk it had been given had in some instances
devoured it raw. These horrors were being gradually
teraoved by the operations of the Government, and
giving "say to a more healthy and less savage tone of
habitain the people. Upon the whole, he thought that
they might flatter themselves that the very extended
eVerations of the Government bad succeeded beyond
;Vh..itt might naturally have been expected. In the regu-
lations for the establishment of fever hospitals, and the
altered system to be pursued in the workhouse, the
greatest attention had been bestowed to the relief of
;Ps° who were in suffering; and he was happy to say
That the necessity for these operations were daily de-
er!"ing. He hoped that they should 13J enabled to
g their operations to a close in the harvest
:11 the present year, and that by that time all call or
demand for further interference on the part of the
government would cease. When the system of relief
4001 the public works broke down, they took to the
System of affording relief in food, and it had been at-
riaded with the best results. The relief committees had
ad eighteen months experiment of the plan of affording
relief to the poor, and as to the best mode of dispensing
relief. The Government had taken care that the repay-
tents should not press too heavily during the autumn, or
those to whom the loans had been made. They did not
intend to insist upon the immediate repayment& of loans
!lade on the security of the rates. They would, there.
'ore, be simply burdened with the payment of the loans
!wide last year, and but 27,0001. would have to be repaid
It the course of the interval between the summer and the
ellelling Spring Assizes, namely, grand cess and instal-
ment, 14,4001., and relief works, 12,500/ They must be
repared to aid those who could not obtain a subsistence
labouring at agriculture, and with this view 50,000/.
voted last year; for the improvement of the river
-o:yde, 40,0001. ; and for sea fisheries and piers,
10,'00014 620,000/. to the three railway companies, and
Ce", 0004 for the improvement of landed estates ; and
proposed to take a further vote of 120,0001. for the
amprovement of river drainage, and 250,000/. to be placed
" t the disposal of the Board of Works, in addition to the
Lutes already voted, which, with 60,000/. for other pur-
-I".`ses in connexion with 'these works, would make the
amount altogether 430,0001. He did not deny that mis-
takes had been made by the officers intrusted with the
losponsibility of dispensing relief, but when we consider
The risks to which they were certainly exposed, he
thought they had discharged their irksome task as well
as could be expected. From his Honourable Friend
tha Secretary for Ireland down to the clerks of the
beard of Works, the exertions used had been almost
eeperhuman.—(Hear.) Many of the officers had unfor-
tunately fallen the victims of disease in their anxiety
to carry out their duty to the utmost.
Ile was glad, however, to understand that the
appearance of thel crops in Ireland were
promising, in some parts they did not look well,
and he feared that the potato disease was still spreading
its ravages in many quarters ; but the grain crops were,
at any rate, promising. A letter received that morning
from Mr. Fisher, one of the officers of the public works,
stated that the crops in Donegal, Louth, Cavan, and
Meath, looked well. He would now state the whole of
the expense for the past year, ending with the harvest,
;tad the probable expense up to the Ist of March next.
The whole expenditure upon relief works up to August
would amount to 4,900,0001. ; for the relief works and
I°l' seep kitchens, &c., 2,200,000/. The grants were pro-
posed to be made one half as loans, and one half as grants.
_'•:?e absolute expenditure had been 2,5C0,000/., grants by
relief to Sir John Burgoyne's commission, 1,000,0001. ;
mail of the board of works, 310,000/. ; advance to
10:5 Relief Commissioners, 190,0001. ; estimated
'keg ""
the commissariat, 250,0001. making
fish-Zthes 4 250,000/. The probable expenditure of the
miles, piers, and drainage, until April, 1848, which
Dnek alBo be taken as a grant, 130,0001., making alto-
ee-auer 4 38
0,0001. without any intention of its being
out of
L.harnely, as a grant. The advances to be repaid
the rates were 2,500,0001., 1,200,0001. loans to
the relief commissioners, and advances to the public
3r48, charged upon the land, 250,000/., making the
thole expenditure, up to March, 9,350,000/.; 3,700,000/.
of which would be charged upon the rates. Early in
the session he estimated the probable expense for the
relief of the distress, for the year, at 10,000,0001., and
48 2,000,0001, had, at that time, been advanced, he pro-
tosed a loan of 8,000,0001., but as the expenditure
_ad been less than the estimate there was
" balance in hand of 650,0001. which he
treposed to reserve for any contingency that might arise.
00,0001. had been agreed to be advanced on the fisheries,
",ad he proposed to take a vote of 300,000/ more, making
14,1 together with the balance 1,200,0001. He now proposed
„,‘") take a vote of 300,0001. on the security of the rates.—
The vote was agreed to.
The House resumed, and
The CHAIRMAN reported progress.—Report to-
PUBLIC WORKS AND DRAINAGE BILL.
The House then went into Committee on this Bill,
and
a resolution exonerating the land and rates of
Ireland from the payment of one half of the amount
granted for the relief of the destitute was agreed to.
Sir
J. GRAHAM wished to know how the 14,000
persons
now lying in the hospitals of Ireland were
to be maintained. He understood that the Act passed
on the subject simply provided for the payment of the
salaries of the medical officers, and of management.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
expenses:a would be defrayed out of the rates, which in
any parts had been struck, and were in the course of
Collection.
Mr. B. OSBORNE said the various measures of the
Government had demoralised the people of Ireland. So
r
est was the pressure upon the farmers and gentry that
feared they would not get through another year like
4,
last, as in many places rents could not be collected,
and the rates were so heavy that they would not in many
places be able to collect them. He feared that there
a °Uld be a revolution during the winter. The success
leadhad attended the latiour of Sir John Burgoyne
lad far exceeded his (Mr. Osborne's) expectations. Un-
e:B the Government introduced a Bill to enable parties
t sell unencumbered estates little permanent good would
accrue to Ireland.
Mr. LABOUCHERE denied that the measures of the
tlevernment had demoralised the people ; in fact, the
v 3? contrary had been the result, as it appeared from
official authority that the convictions were 1,000 less in
June than in May, which was to be attributed to the
171 W which the Government had afforded to the people.
ales, the Government had acted as they had, an abso-
lute dissolution of society would have been the result.
"11'. CALLAGHAN concurred in the opinion which
hadb been expressed as to the able statement made by the
'gilt Hon. Baronet the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Great blame had been, in some quarters, thrown upon
the landlords of Ireland for not doing more then they
ad
hdone to alleviate the distress of the country. The
c,w—
era of property in Ireland were not, in his opinion,
however,, to blame, for they were, in the present con-
of the country, almost, if not entirely powerless,
their lands being, in most cases leased away from them.
v eLord G. BENTINCK did not think that if the Go•
ofrnTllt were to have to go through the whole process
adopt
eg the people of Ireland again, that they would
the same course they had taken, or that they
24141 consent to expend upwards of 9,000,0001. of public
money either in unproductive works, or in the shape of
7:llltileee, the greater proportion of which was not to be
ai& The only item of the expenditure that was
admitted to be really productive was that of 620,0001.
for the formation of railways in Ireland. And it was a
'auge circumstance, that that single item should be the
O'lr
nly one about which an outcry had been got up with
respect to the prodigality and uselessness of the grant.
Ile thought it a great mistake on the part of the Go-
vernment that they did not provide food for the people
of Ireland at an earlier period than they had done.
Lord J. RUSSELL said, the Noble Lord had not cor-
rectly understood his Right Hon. Friend, who did not
Bay, that if the calamity occurred over again the Go-
vernment would take exactly the same steps ; but that,
in the main, the Government had no cause to regret the
course they had taken. There were two general courses
of policy, either of which they might have followed. One
was the suggestion made by Hon. Members on that (the
Ministerial) side of the House, who said that it was im-
possible to relieve a famine of such a kind ; that all the
efforts of the Government could only aggravate the evil ;
and that all sound principles, and a due regard for the
Welfare of the people, called upon the Government not
to attempt to interfere. The Government did not think
tt wise or humane to adopt that view. The Noble
Lord, on the other hand, called upon the Government to
Undertake the whole duty of feeding the poor, to send
bleu-of-war to the United States, to ransack the
_whole
World for food, and to undertake the support of the
people of Ireland.
Lord G. BENTINCK disclaimed having called upon
the Government " to ransack the whole world for food."
Lord J. RUSSELL—The phrase was made use of by
an son. Member on the Noble Lord's side of the House.
The Noble Lord, at all events, called upon the Govern-
kent to send out men-of-war, and to undertake the im-
portation of food. The Government thought that was
llot Wise advice, and that, if they had followed it, a less
(ettity of food would have been imported than byquantityPerdug the ports wide and encouraging commerce.—
(liear, hear.) But, taking neither one extreme course
nor the other, the Government had endeavoured by their
measures to enable the people to supply themselves with
the means of existence. The Noble Lord had again
stated
that the Government ought rather to have looked
works of public utility than to unproductive employ-
ent• As to that he (Lord John Russell) did not think
that, by such a course, their object would have been
`ouswered. If their object had been to lay out money
ti give a good return and improve generally the condi-
-8„olof Ireland, there was much to be said in favour of
4;c11 a policy, and he would be one of the last persons to
gue against such a general principle; but when wholevilla
la ges and great numbers of the people were in abso-
h "I Want, no works of public utility to which they might
I:,_ve bad to go a distance of fifteen or twenty miles to
foodcould have provided them with that immediate
B"d which ought to have been within their reach. No
Z1,14,”31 of railway works, or others of a similar kind,
ccuLd. therefore, have remedied the evil with which the
Q„"ernment had to deal, and he believed that the late
koala
had come to the same conclusion. He
ii4l now refer to a let:lark that bad been made by the
o°. Gentleman the Member ter Cork. That :don.
ofelitleman had said most truly that he did not make any
tlet,„__ 44 !Marks for the sake of popularity; for he had
fined) uOtwithlitonding the pelicitotien of his 0117