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

fered every sacrifice and privation, to mitigate the
evils by which they are surrounded.— ( Hear, hear.)
I applauded the conduct of those who, like the Noble Lord
(Lord Clen'ents) resisted the temptations of a resi-
dence abroad, and although their attempts to be-
nefit the people were not successful, still the failure
does not take from them the credit due to them.
The Right Honourable B.rowet then continued to say—
They were deserving of the greatest possible amount of praise
for the exertions which they had used, situated as they were in
such critical circumstances. With respect to the Govern-
meat, he was quite content to give them the fullest discretion
in carrying out those measures which they considered necessary,
in order to meet the existing distress of Ireland ; and he was
ale) quite content to give them indemnity for the line of policy
which they had adopted towards Ireland. He believed that
any attempt to regulate the discretion of the Government, by
any legislative details, would be futile ; he thought, therefore;
that the fullest discretion should be allowed to them.
He would not, at present enter into . any discussion
on the more permanent measures proposed for Ireland ;
by far the meat important cf them were not yet before the.
House. He considered that a Bill which should enable the
nominal possessors of estates to sell their property were of
more importance, as bearing upon the permanent condition of
Ireland, than any which had yet been brought under the con-
sideration of the House by her Majesty's Government, and he
thought that they would only prejudice the discussion of an
important measure by Hon. Members explaining to the House
their respective views upon the subject.—( Hear, hear. )
With respect to the proposed cultivation of the waste lands, he
hoped the Noble Lord at the head of the Government would
pause before he proceeded to invest the public money in the
cultivation of the soil. The Honourable Member for
Wycombe, had stated that the, quantity of waste grounds
to be cultivated amounted to 4,600,C00 acres,
and the proposed grant of 1,000,001. would I.e of little or no
avail for the purposes contemplated by the Act. He wished to
call tl.e attention of the Noble Lord to that concluding portion
of his speech in which, addressing the Irish Members, he told
them to endeavour to help themselves. 'The Noble Lord
should act upon his own advice; but the Government of
which the Noble Lord was at the head, hould teach the
landed proprietors to act independently of the aid of Govern-
ment.—( Cheers. ) Let them be just towards Ireland; but he
would have the Government remember that they were only
encumbering Ireland and paralysing her services if they
taught her to depend too much upon the assistance of England.
The cultivation of her soil must depend upon the energies of
the people themselves, and not upon any assistance which
the Government could offer.—( Cheers.) Let the House con-
sider for a moment the expenses of superintendence of works
performed by the Government, and how imperfect those works
were done by Government agents. Such works could only be
properly performed by the enterprise of the people of Ireland
themselves, who would expect to reap some return for the out-
lays and trouble which it required, and who would watch over
the expenditure of every penny.--(Cheers.) That was the
way in which the permanent improvement of the land was to
be obtained. Let them facilitate as much as possible the
drainage of land of the proprietors—but that was a measure
equally affecting England as well as Ireland. But
the Government must not • attempt the cultivation
of the bogs and waste lauds of Ireland. The
Government might depend upon it that if those lands, when
reclaimed, were to be profitable, private enterprise should be
employed for the purpose of making them profitable; but if
they were not to be profitable, then it was only throwing away
the money of the State for the Government to interfere.—
( Loud cheers.) His remedy was to give the Government
indemnity and a discretionary power. He wished not to be
considered as actuated by any feelings of hostility towards the
Government, nor by any feelings of party, but it was not in
the power of Members of that House properly to perform
their duty, unless they frankly avowed their opinions.
—( Hear, hear.) He hoped, therefore, that the Noble
Lord would well consider his' steps before he
entered upon any such task as he had proposed to himself.
He was quite sure that the Noble Lord bad plenty of other
duties to perform than that of undertaking to become the im-
prover of Irish bogs.—(Laughter.) If he attempted that, it
would only involve him in the greatest of difficulties. He
would merely express a hope, with reference to the poor-laws,
that when the subject should be brought before the House, the
fullest and most ample consideration would be afforded to it.
He hoped for the sake of Ireland, that the present debates
would not be edjeurned beyond to-night.
Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN, as a Member connected
with both countries, begged to state that he most cor-
dially agreed in the opinions which had been expressed by the
Right Hon. Baronet who had last addressed the House, with
reference to the conduct of those officers who, under the most
trying and difficult circumstances, had been appointed to the
onerous duties of carrying out the provisions of the measures
proposed by her Majesty's Government to meet the existing
distress of Ireland. The Right Hon. Baronet who had just
sat down bad given the Noble Lord some wholesome advice
upon the subject of waste lands, and he wished to add to that
advice that it was not the Irish Members who first suggested
this subject to the Government.—( Hear, hear.) If this
Bill were passed, with the blessing of God, he believed
their chances of the next harvest in Ireland were as good as
e'er they were, but nothing could bedone withcat theefforts and
exertions of the Irish landlords, and in resuming his seat he
must again exhort them to be more persevering than they had
hitherto been.—( Hear, hear.)
The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be
committed on Thursday.