The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-01 00:00:00

-1)60R -IN IRELAND.

Mr. YOUNG wished to call the attention of the
1 House to a return which had been moved for in the
month of February last, stating the amount of privet*
subscriptions made in Ireland for the relief of the poor,
and giving a detail of names and amounts. He had re-
ceived very mAny letters from Ireland of the report
which must be made, in answer to that motion.
—(hear, hear.) It was a report which would do
great injustice to all parties ; it would gratify
the ambition of the rich and ostentatious, who wished
to have their charity appear before the public ; while
those less able to contribute, or more modest, would
be passed over entirely. lie did not think it was a
return which ought to have been moved for, or if moved
for, that ought to have been allowed by the House,
considering the great personal injustice it would inflict
necessarily on individuals.
Lord HARRY VANE agreed with what had fallen
from the lion. Gentleman opposite, and thought that
before the returns were furnished to the House steps
ought to be taken to prevent their ever being published.
It the Hon. Gentleman opposite would give notice that
immediately after the recess he would move that these
returns should not be presented to the House, he (Lard
H. Vane) would second him.

Sir G. -GREY begged to correct the misimpression
that the returns would be made with a view to gratify
the ostentatious, but rather to show, by the example
of some exceptions in Ireland, how a good landlord ought
to discharge • his duties. He might state at the same
time that as regarded the whole amount of private
charity, that might be found in the papers already be-
fore the House, and he did nbt think it would be neces-
sary to give it in a separate form. He believed, however,
that it was perfectly legitimate for the House to order a
return of the amount of private charity in Ireland; but,
of course, if it were intended to specify the sums against
the names' of the individuals as owners or occupiers, he
could not concede that it would be either proper or
prudent.
Mr. YOUNG said he objected to the document only
so far as it was intended to show the private charity of
the Irish landlords.

Mr. POULETT SCROPE said if there might be ex-
ceptions, no one could yet doubt that the Irish landlords,
generally, had neglected the poor. He had a mass of
letters and documents which could immediately
prove the contrary—were it disputed. He could
not help referring to a report made by a Com-
mission of Inquiry, issued in 1834, about the
time when the cholera was raging in Skibbereen.
That document stated that the subscriptions in aid of
the suffering poor had nearly all been from the towns-
people, and little or nothing had been subscribed by the
landlords. One of these proprietors, with a rental of
4,0001. a year, had given nothing ; another, with 1,5001.
a year, had withdrawn his subscription from the dispen-
sary. The subscriptions made amounted to 471.55., and
nearly all had been received from the town. They had
written to the non-resident landlords, none of whom had
given any answer whatever except four, and these
had given 11/. ss. out of a combined rental of 6,000/.
a year. These circumstances naturally made an impres-
sion on the public mind, under which they bad thought
necessary to provide for the poor by a compulsory impo-
sition on the landlords, and he trusted he might see that
fully settled before the end of the present session, which
would be the only means of ultimately setting these dis •
cussions and causes of discontent at rest. _

Mr. S. O'BRIEN thought the Hon. Gentleman who
had just sat down had lost sight of a necessary distinc-
tion between his own remarks and those of the Mem-
ber for the Dublin University. The Hon. Member
fur the University rose to vindicate universal character,
and, upon his resuming his seat, up got the Hon.
Member for Stroud, and made a general charge against
the Irish proprietors, stating that he had a mass of
documents and correspondence to prove that they had
neglected their duties. Yet the Hon. Gentleman ended
with a hope that these discussions might be set at
rest. Why, there never would be an end of them if
Honourable Gentlemen, without any connexion with
that country, or local knowledge of it and the
people, continually busied themselves in its affairs.
It old stories and old charges were to be raked up in this
way, the landlords of Ireland would be discouraged, and
it would be one way to cause the great experiment
they were about to make to fail—the poor would
be embittered against the rich, and the poor-laws
would work most ineffectually. He sincerely thanked
the Noble Lord the Member for Durham (Lord H.
Vane) for the observations he had made. He hoped
his Hon. Friend would not interfere withs be presen-
tation of the return, as the atilt Baronet.
&tie ,Secretary of blibte,for sho.i sea. ; ;