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

own labour, and by ro.thing (.150. Th.- duty ~f Govrn-
ra.nt was not to iced the people, or to provide work
f()1. there, but. their duty was to remove all obstructions
out of the way of the people that might hinder them
„
tla• amine work, and that :night prevent them from
earning food. :\od who was it that was attacking
e..e)notnists ? Why, the diseiples of Mr.
Pitt. It was raid that Mr. Pitt was a disciple of that
great mail Adam smith, who ought never to be men-
tioned without respect. This was all a mistake,
for the tact was, that the only bad part of Adam
Smith's work, his " Chapter on Pittance," was
written after he came to London, - and knew
Mr. Pitt; and one of the worst things Mr. Pitt did
Was to prevent the utility to the world, which
would have been de'ived from the talents of a great
philosopher, by making him a commissioner of Cuetoms.
The cry in Ireland was, " Send us no more public works,
give us 20,000,0001. for Irish railways," in order that a
railway in the north might take the people away from the
cultivation of the fields in the middle. ‘• Raise the
price of shares in railways, and we (the shareholders)
shall immediately drip a great number of our
shares.—(Laughter.) The best pltn in the world
is to send millions after millions to Ireland
or
Public works " they had tried it—" for private? works"
;aey were goirg to try them. It was his duty to state,
for it was his real and his decided opinion, that it
Was no part of the duty of any Grivernment to pro-
vide food for the people under their care. It was the
perversion of the fact to supp-se that that was the ease,
and the consequence would be that. they vvoulit make the
Irish landlords and the Irish peasantry look to :he Go-
vernment next year ; the eons( quei.c would be that
they would look back to the year 1847 with feelings
Of envy and regret that their position at that time was
hot equal to what it was in that sctrce year. He
had read a most able pamphlet by Mr. Hines, with
Whom he did not upon every peint agree, for Mr. Holmes
was a repealer, but he was an honest repealer, and he told
them that no grants of money would ever stop their
cry for repeal. He (Lord Brougham) hoped and trusted
that they would not proceed one other step in the wrong
direction. What the right direction was it was for their
Lordships and the Government to say ; but let them not
be forced into the wrong direction by the threats of the
discontented, or coaxed by appeals to their huma-
nity ; for they must take care that they did
not lay the foundation for new &mantis by re-
leasing Irish proprietors and the Irish people from
the duties of their station by a mistaken relief from pre-
sent difficulties. He was sorry that his remarks on the
army of ten thousand employed under the Labour-rate
Act had given offence in certain quarters,—
(Hear.) It was supposed that his strictures referred
t.c.t, certain of the superior officers. He assured the
House that it was not so; he knew that many
of them were men of great humanity and abililty,
and
i he could only express his regret that he
ad been supposed to depreciate the value of their
services. What was to be done with this cruel case of
the people of Liverpool ? The case would soon be the
tattle with the people of Glasgow, of Greenock, of
Bristol, and of Manchester. Something must be
Bono in accordance with that principle of
Political economy to which he had referred—
that principle which every man admitted when
put to him calmly, but which they were all
too apt to overlook in the midst of party c.amour, or in
the presence of suffering and distress.
The Marquis of WESTMEATH said that his Noble
and Learned Friend had made a long statement, which,
if unanswered, would bring a very considerable degree
of odium on the presumed author of these calami-
h,ties, namely the Irish proprietors. But who was
." blame for the present state of Ireland ? who
but the English Government, which had sanctioned the
course of legislation which had been pursued towards Ire-
land. There existed the greatest difficulty in enforcing the
law in Ireland. He would give their Lordships
several instances of what had occurred upon his own
estates. In one case he let a fine piece of land
on lease to a tenant, the lease contained a provision that
pee ground should not b.. sub-let, it was, however,
t out in " conacre ;' he brought his action
against the tenant and obtained a verdict, but
subsequently the verdict was set aside on appeal
thate Court of Common Pleas, the judges considering
letting in conacre was not subletting. He had this
morning received.a letter from his agent in Ireland,
111 Which be stated that he had got twenty writs
Igainst the person for arrears of rent, hilt he
could not get any person to serve, although he had
otered a shilling in the pound and car-hire
the person who would serve them. Most of
e persons against whom the writs had been
obtained were gone to the public works, or to Scoeand,
and perhaps some of them to Liverpool, with his money
in their pockets, and taking the soup of that town for
!lothing. On the estate itself the windows of the
houses were filled with straw, and they had altogether
the appearance of a besieged city. This agent had en-
aeavoured to tempt them to pay their rents,
by bribing them with a promise of remitting in some
eases one-half of the amounts due, and in others one-
third, if they would only pay the remainder; but all the
temptations were of no avail. This was owing
to the laws of this country, which encouraged the
people in their fraud, and held out to them
an inducement to knavishness by allowing them to
go free of the punishment which they justly merited.
There was a piece of land in 'e eettneath which the law
Called his, but he did not derive any advantage
from it, and were the Government to come
forward and say " You mtbt pay for the surport of the
Poor on that land?" Be telt deep regret at the
statements put forward in the petition; but such a state
Of things did not warrant the repeated insinua-
tions—for they were direct charges—which were
hsade towards Irish landowners. No one—no Irishman
felt more grateful than he did for the relief which
s country had given to the poor of Ireland ;
but he apprehended that the Irish landlords were not to
blame, and, therefore, he considered such statements
Ought not to go forth without contradiction. He,
r one, did not want money from England.
Give the benefit of my estate, and I will do with-
out it." He regretted if he had spoken with
warmth, but he could not help it, as these sentiments
had been " boiling in his larca,t" for yesrs, and as he
Wished to show that the class to which he belonged were
not to blame.
Lord BROUGHAM explained that he had studiously
avoided making any charges of insinuations derogatory
to the Irish landowners. He admitted that the Irish
landlord had not the same power over his land as the
English landlord.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

ROUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 1.
The SPEAXER took the Chair at Four o'clock.
NEW MEMBER.

Mr. D. O'CoNNELL, jun., took the oaths and his seat
for Dundalk, having been introduced by his brother,
Mr. J. O'Connell.

RAILWAY BILLS.

Reports were brought up from the Examiner of several
Bills, and the following were read a second time
Bristol and Exeter Railway (Branch from Bleadon to
Wells, Glastonbury, and Street).
East Lincolnshire Railway (Deviation at Boston, and
Branch to Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Rail-
._ Wtay at Grimsby).
Pewi Lincolnshire Railway (Branch from Louth to
Lincoln).
Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston Direct, and Glasgow
Southern Terminal Railways Amalgamation.
,Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston Direct Railway.
Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway, and
Glasgow and Belfast Union Railway (No. 1).
Glasgow Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway (No. 4).
Itartlepool West Harbour and Dock (Dock Extension).
elianlePeol and Stockton Junction Railway.
Leeds Central Railway Station
London and North-Western Railway (Newport Pagnell,
toBce., Branch). e`e
'Won and North-Westein Railway (St. Alban's, Luton,
and Di-instable Branift).
leendon, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (London-
bridge, Station, Enlargement, and Arrang,•mt- tit).
London, Brighton, ana_South Coast Railway (Extension
to London-bridge.)
tendon-bridge Rail Way Termini General Enlargement.
London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (the li,nt
;_Railway to Maidstone, Canterbury, and Tunbridge).
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (Sup-
ply of Surplus Water to Manchester, Salford, and
• titoekport).
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (Station
Approach in Manchester).
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (Branch
from Ashton under-Lyne to Oldham).
AMALGAMATION OF RAILWAYS.
• On the motion for the second reading of the Bill for
the amalgamation of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lin-
colnshire Railway with the Midland Railway,
Mr. ELLICE said, that as this was the first Bill for
amalgamation introduced this session, he bogged to give
notice that to-morrow week he should ask a question of
the Noble Lord at the head of the Government whether it
Was the intention of the Ministry to bring in any Bill re-
specting the amalgamation of lines of railway ? He should
do this because he had last session the honour of being
chairman of the Committee appointed to consider the
amalgamation railways, and he therefore thought it his
duty to draw the attention of the House to great abuses
which had been found to exist. In one case, in conse-
quence of the notice of amalgamation of one line, from
Which it was ant cipated that only a revenue of three per
cent. would accrue, but for which an agreement was entered
into to pay the lessors ten per cent., the capital was so
raised in value that the proprietors were enabled to raise
the capital to 250 per cent. in value. The Committee
over which he pres.cled had accordingly made a report
to the House strongly drawing the attention of the Go.
rernment to the reports of several of the lines for which
Bills had been obtained, and express, d a hope that
SoMe measures would be taken in the present session
to remedy the evil. As it was now known that several
13, f the companies who obtained their Bills last session,
but
who had not put a spade into the ground, were
coming to the House for powers of amalgamation, he
trusted the Government would provide some means of
stopping the abuses to which he referred.
Mr. IIODGSON said, that in the case to which refe-
rence had been made, no doubt great mischief had en-
sued, but the evil had not extended to any of the direct
northward and southward lines. He trusted, however,
that the recommendation would be attended to by the
Government.
Mr. STRUTT quite agreed that this was a subject of
great importance, and a Bill was already in a very for-
ward
state or preparation. which would be introduced at
r, early a period as possible; but as his lion. Friend the
Member for Coventry had given notice of the question
he intended to propose to-morrow week, he would avail
hliaself of that opportunity to enter more fully into ex-
Planation of the intended provisions of the Bill.
Th Manchester and Lincolnshire Amalgamation Bill
was hell read a second time.
• SECOND READINGS.
.The following Bills were also read a second time:—