The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

SHIPPING INTEREST.

Mr. BARCLAY presented a petition from a number
of owners of ships in Sunderland, representing the pro-
perty of 1,200 tons of shipping at Sunderland.
ORDERS OF THE DAY.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved the postponement of
the orders of the day till the notices of motion were dis-
posed of.—The motion was adopted.
THE SOLDIERY IN INDIA.

Dr. BOWRING rose to make an inquiry respecting
the conduct of the British army in India, of which
notice had been given at the latter end of last session,
and which had: been repeated on the first day of the
present, to his Hon. Friend the Secretary at War.
It referred to the reports of the hanging and murder-
ing by the British army in India, and originated in
consequence of a letter written by a soldier of the 80th
Regiment, which was inserted in a local paper of con-
siderable circulation, the Stamford Mercury. This state-
ment was reprinted by a well-known body—the Peace
Society. There was no doubt of the authenticity of the
letter, and that it had been written by a soldier in the
80th Regiment. It bore the post mark, and there was,
therefore, also no doubt but that it was put in in India,
and was countersigned by the Major. This member of
the British army goes into the most minute details, and
gives a full account of the atrocities of the British army,
in which he says he himself took part. No answer had
yet been given to the question, and in now calling
upon his Hon. Friend (Mr. Fox Malik) for an
explanation, he thought it but right to state
that the Society of Friends had made every in-
quiry into the circumstances reported in this statement.
The Hon. FOX MAULE wished to exonerate the
gentlemen to whom allusion had been made from any
blame. There was no doubt they had acted on a letter
from a private named Runn. An inquiry was
made on the subject, an investigation had been set on
foot, and he held a report in his hand from which it
appeared that Runn denied having written that letter,
and a statement to that effect had been forward to
Lord Gough.
M. HENLEY wished to ask the Chancellor of the
Exchequer whether the regulation with respect to sugar
was to apply to all persons brewing.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER pro-
posed to take off restrictions from all persons who were
engaged in brewing.
EXEMPTION FROM COMMITTEES.

The usual motions were then put, that the members
of the Government should be exempted from attendance
on the Committees of the House.
Sir CHARLES NAPIER said he wished to be ex-
empted from the duty of Committees, he being over
sixty years of age.—(Laughter.)
THE STATE OF IRELAND.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL—Sir, I feel that I never had
so much need of the indulgence of the Mouse as I have
on the present occasion, but I feel, at the same time,
that I never had so little need to ask that indul-
gence. I feel sure that this House, from the
temper which it has already displayed ; from
the sense which it has manifested of the calamity that
has occurred, and I fear calamities still impending; from
the sense of the danger that there would be from inter-
posing any party feeling in the discussion of this sub-
ject; from the kindly disposition with which I have been
already received by the House,—l feel sure, I say,
that on this occasion I need not ask for any such indul-
gence, but that it will be voluntarily bestowed upon me.
—(Cheers.) Sir, in considering the state of Ireland, I
will first proceed with laying down what is the order
in which I wish to discuss the subject. In the first
place, I propose to state generally the condi-
tion of those parts of the United Kingdom
in which this calamity has occurred ; secondly, to make
a general statement of what has occurred during the
recess of Parliament ; what has been done in conse-
quence of Acts of Parliament ; how far those measures
have succeeded ; how far I think that they have been
deficient, and then to state what we will proceed to do
for the general emergency.-(Hear, hear.) After having
made that statement, I shall the attention of the House
while I proceed to invite them to some consideration of
other measures which are calculated, in the opinion of
her Majesty's Government to improve the state of Ireland,
and to lay the foundation for her permanent welfare and
tranquillity. I shall then take the liberty of mentioning
some other subjects which, • although they have been
under consideration, have not received a full discussion.
And we propose, in conclusion, to ask the authority of
the House for the introduction of two Bills ; by one
of these Bills we propose to make valid certain Acts,
one under the authority of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ire-
land, and communicated in a letter to my Right Hon.
Friend who sits near me (Mr. Labouchere). The second
Bill is for the purpose of approving the present estimates
in regard to Ireland, in pursuance of the Treasury mi-
nute of the Ist of December last.—(Hear, hear.) In
proceeding to consider the present condition of that
country, I think it will be the safest course for me to
use guarded and careful information respecting the cala-
mity wLIQn litio um& tahca Ix-Oa:bath Alla rwr that puipoSe
I propose to take the results of the Commission of In-
quiry into the Poor-law, and to ask the House to infer
how great that calamity has been—representing an
almost total failure of the potato crop. Sir, in the first
report of that Poor-law Inquiry Commission, composed
cf gentlemen of considerable experience and autho-
rity in Irish affairs, it is represented that the great
propertion of the population is continually fluctuating
between the condition of paupers and independent la-
bourers.—(Hear, hear.) Scarcely one class of the
working population are permanently beyond the condi-
tion of pauperism. It is stated further that there are
few small resident gentry; that the clergy and laity exhi-
bit much variance with each other, and that these
again are at issue with the labouring population.
This state of feeling has occasioned great difficulty in
giving effect to the measures already passed to improve
the condition of Ireland, both in the construction and
working of the parochial boards and other bodies or-
ganised for that purpose. In the third report
of the same Commission, which, with the others,
go to form the general report of the Commissioners,
the following facts are given :—lt appears that in Great
Britain agriculture constitutes one-fourth of the business
of the people, whereas in Ireland it forms two-thirds.
In 1831 the number of persons engaged in agriculture in
Great Britain was 1,651,000; in Ireland it was 1,131,715.
At the same time while Great Britain had 34,360,000
acres in cultivation, Ireland had but 14,600,000.—(11ear,
hear.) Ireland had therefore in proportion to its extent
five agricultural labourers for Great Britain's one.
At the same time, while in Ireland the wages of
the labourer was from 6cl. to 9d. a day, it was
in Graat Britain from 2s. to 2s. 6d. (The Noble Lord
gave some other items in addition to these, as further
illustrative of the relative position of the two countries
in regard to agriculture, but he read them in such a low
and hurried tone as to be perfectly inaudible in the gallery.)
A great portion of them were not sufficiently provided
at any time with the commonest necessaries of life.
Their habitations were wretched hovels, in which se-
veral families slept upon straw, covered sometimes with
a blanket, sometimes without even that protection.
Their food was dry bread, and some of them were
obliged to stint themselves to one spare meal a-day, and
instances had been known of persons, driven by hunger,
being compelled to seek sustenance from wild roots.
Their employment was scarce and uncertain, some going
in search of employment to Great Britain during the
harvest time, some going on a similar errand in Ireland,
and many having only casual resources to fly to for the
support of their children." Such, therefore, Sir,
is the description given by the most undoubted autho-
rities of the state of tqe labouring classes in Ireland.
The state of Ireland may be imagined, when I say that
those who had not sufficient food are those who are best
off, and yet they had scarcely enough, and those who
had been before on the brink of famine, have perhaps
been unable to resist the calamity. Such has been,
unfortunately, the case during the present year,
hand apsd, uarlimngostthe visitationwithou tapaorfaallele,albaecmaittuyewithiocchcuirss,
ipnera-
very large population—a population of eight millions,
which has gradually increased to that amount, while the
famine is such as has not been known in modern times.
—(Hear, hear.) I should say it is like a famine of the
thirteenth century, so destructive and universal are
its effects. Such, Sir, being the general nature
of this case, I will state what was the course adopted
during the past year, from the sitting of Parliament to
the present time. When Parliament met last year it
was apprehended that tho potato crop, having been
much injured, there was about to be a great scarcity in
Ireland. That apprehension was not fully justi-
fied by the event.—(Hear.) It was impossible,
as I think, for any man exactly to see what the
extent of the misfortune would be ; but I also think,
that having had a very plentiful crop of potatoes in the
previous year, although there was no great quantity of
the potato much injured, yet the quantity of food in
Ireland was not very deficient.—(Hear.) However,
Parliament took means uery early in the session
for the supply of food for the destitute by means of giving
work on roads and public works. It was enacted by
Parliament that at the request of the sessions in a:barony,
parties should be empowered to advance money from
the Treasury in loans for the execution of these works.
Under this law the Government, on the 31st of August,
voted a sum of 1,373,0001. for the relief of distress, by
the creation of public works. There were presentments
made to the amount of 476,0001. for these works,
and out of this sum 290,0001. was actually expended,
Before the end of the last session of Parliament, on the

recommendation of the present Government, Parliament
passed a further Act, by which, on the one hand, the
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland was permitted to order
presentment sessions, and, on the other hand, in
order to check an extravagant expenditure, it was de-
termined that these sums should only be granted by
way of loan, and the money was to be repaid
to the Treasury. Sir, very soon after the session of
Parliament had closed, there was a great desire evinced
in many parts of Ireland, to have presentment sessions,
in order that public works begun, but more especially
those public works which had already been sanctioned
by Parliament, might be roceeded with. Some objec-
tions were urged, that tTese works would be better
deferred than because there would be a great demand
for labour, inasmuch as the harvest was coming in, and
therefore it would be advisable to defer the construction
,of the works at that time. But the operation of the law