The Sun.
London, England, 1823-10-16 00:00:00

PARR LIAM ENTARY vApEtt

7--- .
REPORT from the SELECT COMMITTEE on the 'EM-
- . . ! PLONMENT of the 'POOR in IRELAND.'
[Ordered, by the House of Commons, to be printed, 16th'
July', 1823.1
• The SE excl. COMMPETEE appointed. to inquire into the
Condition of the babouring.Poor,. ire that part el the United
Kingdom called Ireland, with, a view to, facilitate. the applica-
tion of the I? and; of private Individuals and Aeiociations, for
their Employmenein neethl and productive Labour, and to
report their Observations- and Opinion thereupon to the House;
and who were empowered to report the Minutes of the Evidence
taken befoie thein ;-a-have, pursuant to tbeOider of the House,
inqUired into tire matter to them referred,and have agreed upon
the following Report
In exeetiting the defies impend upon • them by the order of
the Ilduse your Committee have adverted to the course follow-
ed by a C:mimittee appointed in 1019; for the purpose of '
sideriog the same :abject, anti have.directecl their attention to
the state of the 'relit:tiring elassee in lid:lntl, and the meens'of
employing those &sees in useful and productive labour: rot.
lewingthe eeample of the Committee of 1019. they. have not-
felt that.they have exceeded the lhotts of their duty, in inquire'
inginto the elibrte already made to . promote' the. empleyment
of the peasantry. in examining various suggestions for the im-
provement of the condition of he ,people, And:je ceneidekivg
the impedinieins, which check tellll._ restrain the tievelOpe-
merit of industry in Irelapd. -'these inqUiries have been'
facilieated, :hi consequence' Of time events of the last year;
during that period:, a preseure ,of dietrese ' v:holly. unexam.
pled was felt in Ireland,, Which directettl,ilie attention of
his Majesty's Governnient, .orPerlianietit, and .of the Bd.
tisk .Public, to the condition 'of the Irish Peal:it:try, ;and
which led to the appropriation of large sums, voted by.
the Legislature; and subscribed by individuals, for the purpose
ofenifigating: if not of averting,. that famine and disease which
hadextendetto eo alarming a.degree in, many distriete in Tree
land. The expenditure: of the large Runts placed, at, the ells-
posal af Government' end' of Charitable Societies; 'necessarily:
produced a•clost investigation' into, the condition ottliepepple
of Irelattd, the clauses of their distress, and Ate bese.meens of
relieving diem e and as the result of th.etie inquiries fueniehes
impertantlefortnetion upon the subject more' hitmeitiately be-
' fore-our Cainmittee, they :have .feh. it .iheir duty to refor to the.
Patient Niel: before Parliament. tietirig the, preamt ,eicesion, re,
ipecting the tipproprhitiolieit the
,publiegrante, and to.ee.aminel
the individuals' connicteel'aithehe
.principal charitablertMticid,
tion; foe the reliiif of distress in. Ireland.. :In taking %hie conreee ,
the object of your Cammittee has ;been •to obtaiq
judge ofi the
nature and the extent and the causes of the calamity, which,
durinf the year 1820, afilieted a econsidereble portiOneof
,the
16141; ninta Of lielend.
In the early part of the nit:nth-of May, 1022, a politic meet•
ing mai held in elie,Citrof London; for the purposie of .raieing
subseripthins for the relief of the distrese, in relittide Alt onee
niittee of Getederhen wa'S IPointed 'Air the; purpose of distils
butitiethe sums sabserilie , tints' carrying 'on• cierreepandentee.
About the same period considerable grants mere made by Par=
Bement, and disposed olin like manner, by, the .Government of
Ireland. The district% in which the distrese was found to be
most urgent were the fallowing : .
~ .e.• .
Population. Aireble Contetits, ...
:,, • , Cork . . ... ~ • 702,000 - ..,,, ' , 1,048,800 •
,
. . , Kerry . ..., 205 000 . . ,to 617
s l'"0 ,
Limerick . :. 214,000 ' , 306,750 •
Galway . . . 286,000 , . ,;,, 989,950
- Mayo , .'. 297,000 . , .eeee.-790,800 . .
Sligo . . . .. 127,000 . , ...., 247,150
. .. , : Leitrim . . . 105,000 . . .... 255,950
. • Roscommon ' . 207,000 . .. ~ 346,650 •
Clare . . . .: 209,000 . ~.......:476,200
- TiPperary (part] 353,000 . . , 454,950 ; ' ' •
Cork city . . 100,000 .. . . * --Limerick city . 60,000 . . .
. Oalway town . *l,npn . „ ,
. ,
It would thus appear,. that I* 41st seta - - , , - •, - -• i 2,907,000 '• , - .6;644,650,
districte virert equal
in extent to one-half of-the superficial Contents of all Ireland:-
end although your- Committee have .not'infficient 'means of .:
Judging whet. were the actual moaners of people receiving re.
lief, yet if the returns made by ...Mr. Ic..illally, the' enginevr inn;
ploy med by GOvernent, with respect to the eourity-Of fettre•
ibte accurate, and that the ntimbere stated .by that 'gelid:Man',
bo assumed, as the baitis of . calculatione it would :appear That
considerably more. than one-half of the, entire
,population .of
the distressed districts depended upon charitable'aeseitance for
-their support. . The suing distributed through the.eity"of 'Lone
don Committee , amounted to nearly 300,1)001.. hod. furreillte
M co-operation eans in co-opetion with Qo'Verrnnent to
end'
t
necessary, relief till the month Of •Aitgust ; end it is worthy
of observation, that the cessation .of remittances wag net the
act of the Committee ,in London,, but was called for and re-
commended by their correepondentain Ireland, trim. in many
instances held beat Unexpended, and. it the 'disposal of the
.denoreeeonsiderabla sums, the necessity of distributing- which
seemed to them to bevc,ceand. 'lt is satisfactory, to think that
"the sums so liberally" *tribute(' appears to have been granted
On rational principles, and Oben been thirty And justly,ap,
propriated by the individuals and atiociationt in Ireland, to.
whose discretion they Were confided. It ifl'allo satisfactory to
find that the most lively feelings of gratitude seem to have been
excited by thief benevolent interposition; which it isto be;heped.
• will tend to, loins the two party of the Empire by the . stroog
ties of sympathy and obligetion.
„ ..
The nature of the late distress in Ireland was 'PeCtll, iar. In
the district` to, which yotar Committee have already adverted,.
tile. pouttoe crop, which, fornishee the general food of the,
peasantry had failed ; but there was no want of food of another
description for the support of Inimati life: On the contrary,
the crops of grain had been -far from deficient, and the i prices
of corn and of oatmeal were very moderate. The export of
grain from ports within the distressed districts of Ireland:
was considerable, during the entire period from May to Au.
goat, infinitely %exceeding the imPeats . during that period ;
and those districts in . die south and, west. presented .the re-
markable example of possessing a Surplus of food, while
the inhabitants were suffering from actual want. The,
meritorious patience of, the peakants7, under the pressure of,
Want, is here not undeserving of attention and of praise.
The calamity of 1022 may therefore be said to have proceeded,
leas'frorn the want of food itselfetbanfronetlitt want of adequate
means of purchasing it ; ,or in other words from the want of pro-•
fitable employment. In some districts, ea at Clonakeltyl Cork),
whcrethe pottitoacrop failed, but where some, part of the popu-
lation was employed in manufectiering indusery, no individual
'engaged in the linen trade is eaid to linvebad occasion to receive
relief. This peculiarity in the diameter of the late distrest '
In Ireland appears . to your. Committee to have arisbn from
the entire dependence of the: peasantry, Upon the lOod raised
by themselves. When the produce of the 'peasant's potatoe
groond fails, thee' are' Unaccustomed to have ' recourse to '
markets -and indeed- they, seem. rarely, tn' have the Means of
purchasing. The potatue crop is also very variable and tiocer.
tain ; nor can the sniplus of one harvest be reserved to supply
any deficiency in a sebeequent year. Prom the weight and
bulk of potatoes there are great difficolties in the way of itnne.
port, and these difficulties prodUce great disproportion berwee_p
the prices in one district and those in a district immediately ad-
joining.
The 'individuals employed by Government td execute the
task confided to them, seem or have proceeded-upon just
principle, and with a :wise caution. Feeling the internale-
Table objections incidental to any steam of gratuitous re-
lief, the Government Engineers, the local associations, and
the • London Committee, • , endeavoured , to. make labour the"
medinta through!' which alone , their aseistance was to be
given ; and where from lees correct• vied this reitolution
was deviated from,
_the most immediate ill consequences ap.
'pear to have ensued. Your Cominittee cannot. too :strongly
state their- approbation of this principle; -relief pu rely g mot itoos
can seldom in any case be given without considerable risk and
inconvenience ; but in Ireland, where it is more peculiarly Un-
portant to discourage habiti of pnuperiirm and of indolence,
and where it is the v
obvious polic to eiteite UM independent
spirit of industry, and to induce ty he peasantry to. telyupon
themselves and. their owa exertion% foe-their support, it tie ob.
• vious that gratuitous relief can never be giveo withoot leading
tthheerceofonr,ei
i,titoi
now
intinetry Which are essentially necessary to the Improvement of
Itt°poln'n()tshteilrnoillilleawbouttir,c;lia inneocitube"uct"rep'. -ressAnaYll gthYnosetlie)rer itoenisieof:
Santry to t lepeed upon the 'interposition of ••others rather than
oefv. :1: e
hieltit:::lienngticY:teesn,d. intended which whie.lll.ead:i the pea,:
your Committee have the satisfaction to think, that the re.
lief given in 1822 was nOt only effectual for its object! but
wisely and eeonomically administered e and in confirmation of
,