The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-24 00:00:00

FEVER IN IRELAND.

Mr. LABOUCHERE moved for leave to bring in a
Bill to amend and continue an Act of the last session of
Parliament for making provision, until the Ist day of
September, 1847, for the treatment of poor persons
afflicted with fever in Ireland. He explained brig fly that
the object of the Bill was to alter the present system of
making provisions for cases of fever in Ireland ; the
main alteration would be to throw a portion of the ex-
pense and management on the relief committees, instead
of, as at present, altogether on the local rates, and
under the supervision of the Poor-law Guardians. Ile
would postpone any observations he had to make till the
second readinc, of the Bill, till which time he hoped the
discussion would' be reserved.
Sir J. GRAHAM did not wish to discuss the pro-
visions of the Bill at present, only be rose to have some
further explanation. As he was led to understand the
measure, it transferred the whole management of these
cases of fever to the relief committees, and also charged
the expense of the mismanagement on the general fund,
instead of, as before, on the local rates.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said this was a correct view of the
manner in which the charge would be made. If any expense
of the prevailing destitution of Ireland was to be at all
charged on the general funds of the country, none could
be better charged than to check the pestilence pervading
the country.
Mr. SHAW inquired if the measure was to be tem-
porary or permanent ?
Mr. LABOUCHERE—OnIy temporary. It is pro-
posed to be in operation from next November till the
end of the next session.

Mr. lIUME complained of the principle of charging
this expense on the public funds. It was a most dan-
gerous practice, and ought to be cautiously acted on. If
they admitted this principle, he did not know of any
charge which they might not saddle upon the country.
The motion was then agreed to.
Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL wished to put a question
to the Secretary for Ireland. He wished to know if it
were the intention of the Government to introduce, or
assist the introduction of, into the Irish Poor-law Bill,
any provision to give additional facilities in the work-
houses for religious worship; and also, any provision for
obviating the recurrence of the disputes and interferences
on religious matters, which have been complained of
under the present law. If it were out of order in asking
the question at that time, he would defer it.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that the Government had no
objection to introduce such a clause as the Hon. Gentle-
man's question suggested into the Bill, if the Hon. Gen-
tleman could state with sufficient reason why they should
do so. It was the earnest desire of the Government that
the measure, in its working, should meet the approbation
of all parties.
ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.

Lord J. RUSSELL then moved that the House, at its
rising, should adjourn to Thursday next. Ile under-
stood that it was the intention of the Speaker to attend
in that House to-morrow, in order to meet those Hon.
Members who might desire to attend divine worship.
He asked the House to sit on Thursday at twelve o'clock
in the day ; but he understood that his Right Honoura
ble Friend did not intend to proceed on that day with the
Prisons' Bill or the Custody of Offenders' Bill.
Lord G. BENTINCK trusted that the Noble Lord
would not persevere with the Irish Poor Reliet Bill on
Thursday, inasmuch as it would inconvenience many
Hon. Members.
Lord J. RUSSELL hoped that they would be ena-
bled to get through Committee that night; but if not, he
trusted that the House would not object to the Thurs-
day morning sitting, in order to complete the clauses in
the Bill.
THE NATIONAL FAST.

Mr. MARK PHILIPS wished to ask one or two
questions of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary
for Ireland ; first, as to what would be the effect of this
fast. The number of working Irish, under the Labour
Act, was stated to be 700,000, if he were correct in
those numbers, he wished to know if they were paid at
the rate of Is. a day, and if, under the operation of this
fast, they were to refrain from working on that day, he
should like to know whether they were to be paid with-
out furnishing an equivalent in labour.
Mr. LABOUCHEItE said, that if 'his knowledge
were correct, they had had a fast in Ireland already
since the pressure of this distress, and in that case they
had agreed that, as the expence came off the country,
the labourers should work on that day.
Mr. MARK PHILIPS said that it would have ap-
peared to the working classes of this country a great
hardship if the poor peasantry of Ireland, who were
paid for their labour by the country, were allowed their
pay, and a rest from their labour, and the mechanics of
England were compelled to cease labour at the expense
of their wages. Had the Attorney- General been in his
place, he should have asked if any penalty attached to
the infringement of this command.
ALLOWANCE TO IRISH PAUPERS.

Lord GEORGE BENTINCK said that he had ob-
served in the Government paper—(Laughter)—he had
observed in that morning's Times, a statement that an
order had issued from the Irish Government, restricting
the rations of the paupers to half a pound, for persons
above nine years of age, and half that allowance for chil-
dren under that age.
Mr. LABOUCIIERE had not seen the document re-
ferred to by the Noble Lord, and the Irish Government
had not had any communication on the subject. When
such arrived, he should be happy to give every informa-
tion to the Noble Lord.
TIII NATIONAL FAST.

Mr. BRIGHT said that he should be the last man in
that House to throw ridicule on any matter connected
with religion, but with respect to this national fast that
was ordered for to-morrow, he knew that it would not
be attended to by nine-tenths of the population, and
would therefore be of no effect. He thought, instead of
the proclamation doing honour to the Deity, it only
showed the utter want of wisdom in those who framed
it, and was rather calculated to cherish past supersti-
tions, and encourage infidelity, than to advance the
cause of Christianity. Holding these opinions, he could
not allow the subject to pass without entering his solemn
protest against it, as unwarranted by the Holy Scrip-
tures and opposed to reason ani common sense.
Sir GEORGE GREY was firmly impressed with the
conviction that national fasts and seasons of humiliation
were sanctioned by the revealed Scriptures.
Mr. P. HO WARD said that he believed that this
was a principle in accordance with Holy Writ, and had
been ofte❑ ordered in circumstances of national distress.
The Church to which he belonged had cc.mmanded that
the miserere should be sung, and that more than usual
strictness should be observed in connexion with that
day.
POOR LAW (IRELAND) BILL.

The House then went into Committee.
On clause 9 being proposed,
Sir HENRY WINS CON BARRON proposed, as an
amendment, that parishes should be substituted for
electoral divisions, and where the parish exceeded 6,000
acres he proposed that the Poor-law Commissioners
should have power to divide it into two or more parishes.
Now he fully agreed in this opinion, and it would be
argued against his proposition by those who were in
favour of a union rate, that if they harrowed the
ground they would be giving a premium to landlords to
drive the poor into the towns. But he thought that this
was met in two ways ; firstly by the amendment of the
Noble Lord, which, under the 10th clause, proposed
that when the rate was more than 2s. 6d. on the year,
the landlord should be charged with the support of the
poor ; the second ground was an amendment which it
was his intention to move at a subsequent clause of the
Bill, the effect of which amendment was that wherever
the parishes were more than 6,000 acres in extent, the
poor-law guardians should have the power to divide it
into two unions, and that where the poor were resident
for more than three years on any estate, and then
migrated into the towns, that the guardians should be
enabled to compel them:to support those poor.
On the amendment being put from the chair,
Viscount SANDON said that he conceived that if this
Bill was to be of any service whatever, it must be ef-
fected by the giving a stimulus to tho several parties to
exert themselves for the general benefit of the people.
An English Member might not, perhaps, be the best
person in the world to give an opinion upon the subject,
but it did appear to him that the Bill would be totally
useless unless it provided this stimulus ; for they could
hardly intend to throw three millions of people on the
poor-rate—not to make them beggars exactly, but, at
any rate, to make them paupers. In his opinion, they
must render the taxation concurrent with the size of the
estates, and that some measures should be taken to render
those estates liable, which were now only in the possession
of nominal proprietors, for without this was done there
would the no security whatever for obtaining the sti-
mulus which was necessary for the redemption of the
country. Every man ought to snake a sacrifice of his
time, his comfort, his money and his exertions, for the
general benefit. If this Bill were to only act for a pre-
cent benefit it would, in his conception, be a great in-
jury ; and he trusted, therefore, that the areal division
proposed would not be adopted, for, if it were, it would
be productive of great inconvenience, and very likely go
far to defeat the whole operation of the Bill.
Mr. LABOUCHERE quite agreed with the Noble
Lord the Member for Liverpool that it would be a great
mistake to alter the areal division of Ireland. The
amendment of the Noble Lord quite met the difficulty
suggested by the Hon. Member for Waterford. He
also agreed in the opinion expressed by the Noble
Lord that the taxation should be commensurate
with the extent of the estates. On a former occa-
sion when this question had been raised by the
Hon. Member for Northamptonshire (Mr. Stafford
O'Brien), he had stated his views at large on this ques-
tion, and he need not again state them. The question
raised by the Hon. Member for Waterford, was simply
this—that the electorial divisions should be changed for
parochial divisions. That was a very material point,
and he quite agreed with his Noble Friend the Member
for Liverpool, that this would alter the whole of the
areal division of Ireland. He did not think that there
should be this division of interests between the different
parts of the country, for he did not see that any means
could be adopted for preventing the poor man from
going from one part of the country to another. What
was the case in England ? Why, that the landowner
in one parish had nothing whatever to do with the
condition of another, though it might be a neigh,