The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-31 00:00:00

WAR IN THE SUTLEJ.

The Duke of WELLINGTON gave notice that he
would, on Thursday next, move a vote of thanks to Sir
Henry Smith, for the action that was fought on the 28th
of January on the banks of the Sutlej.
Upon the motion of the same NOBLE DUKE the House
went into Committee on the Mutiny Bill, and the
Marine Mutiny Bill, and the reports were brought up.
NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE brought up the
report of the Committee on the New Houses of Parlia-
ment. He had, by an order of the Committee, pre-
sented this report of the progress made in the new
Houses of Parliament, because, in order to carry out the
recommendations therein contained, it would be neces-
sary to move an address to the Crown on this
subject. The address would be in the hands of their
Lordships to-morrow morning, and if his noble
relative connected with the Woods and Forests
wished for some little delay, no reason existed why a
postponement should not take place ; but if no objection
existed, then, in accordance with the notice already given,
he should more that the address be adopted. To-morrow
he thought would be a convenient day for Noble Loris.
THE OUT-PENSIONERS SERVICES (CHELSEA
AND GREENWICH) BILL.
This Bill was then read a third time and passed.
EVICTION OF TENANTRY IN IRELAND.

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY rose to say a
few words on the motion which be bud formerly made
about returns relating to the eviction of tenantry in the
counties of Roscommon and Galway. When lie read
those accounts in the public newspapers, he felt it his
duty to bring the matter before Parliament, in order to
learn if such really had any existence and were not
ad captandum statements. Since the matter had first
occupied his attention he had made inquiries, and he
was sorry to say that in the counties of Roscommon and
Galway these ejectments had taken place to a very great
extent. There was no doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Ger-
rard were the parties on whose estates these ejectments
had taken place, and' that 76 families, or 300 persons,
had been turned out from their houses, and deprived of
any temporary covering they might have put up for
themselves in the adjoining ditches. His object in seek-
, ing for these returns was, to give publicity to these pro-
ceedings. The landed proprietors had a right to
manage their estates in any way they thought proper,
but not to bring about such improper scenes as these.
—(Hear, hear.) If they wanted to get rid of their
tenantry they might encourage emigration, or
take such other steps as would induce them to remove.
But in these cases he found that, year after year, these
parties offered to pay their rents, but the money was
refused, and from 300 to 400 persons turned out of
their village. He knew little of the south
of Ireland, but ho was glad to say that
no such scenes as these occurred in the north.

There was something radically wrong in the manner in
which the agents of landlords conducted themselves to-
wards the peasantry, or else he was satiitied these
things would not take place. There was nothing that
had occurred in Russia which could exceed in atrocity
the wholesale evictions of the Gerard family. That these
evictions had taken place he was well satisfied, and he
had received a letter from a Mr. Andrew Hamill, of Bal-
linasloe, which corroborated the statement, This gen-
tleman had written a similar letter to Mr. O'Connell, a
copy of which he had forwarded to him (the Marquis of
Londonderry), but which he would not read, as he did not
wish to have any thing in connexion with Mr. O'Connell.
From the returns he had received, he was led to believe
that in the counties of Down, Alullingar, and Antrim,
there was no distress, and no want of employment, and
therefore it would not be necessary to have the Relief
Commission extend their powers to those counties.
The Noble Marquis then moved that returns be
laid upon the table of the House, stating the num-
ber of evictions that had taken place in Ireland in
the years 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845, in each barony
respectively, and the total number evicted in Ireland
during those years.
The Earl ST. GERMANS said that he had not re-
ceived the information with which his Noble Friend the
Secretary for Ireland promised to furnish him,
relative to the subject on which the Noble Mar-
quis had spoken, and he therefore requested
their Lordships to permit him to abstain
from entering upon any discussion upon the subject.
With regard to what the Noble Marquis had said of the
distress in Ireland, he had not seen the document to
which the Noble Marquis had referred, from the Secre-
tary of the Relief Board, but he apprehended that that
communication only referred to the particular counties
alluded to by the Noble Marquis. He hoped that the
Noble Marquis's anticipations would be realised ; and
that those counties would be exempted from the distress
at present prevailing. He had no objection to the pro-
duction of communications on the subject of evictions,
but he much doubted whether the House had the power
of calling for that information, as the clerks of the
peace were not Government Officers ; and unless some
mode of remuneration were assured to them for their
trouble, he doubted whether they would otherwise com-
ply with the wishes of the House.
Lord MONTEAGLE said that undoubtedly they would be
obliged to comply, for with respect to that class of officers, al •
though they (the clerks of the peace) and the ether county
officers were not nominated by the Crown, that made no
earthly difference. The House was accustomed to make those
orders on the clerks of the peace in all parts of the country,
and they were beund to give the information required. He
( Lord Monteagle) had sat on a Committee to inquire into the
duties of clerks of the peace in Ireland, and it was ascertained
that many of them were in the receipt of three and four thou-
sand per annum, arising from a vast accumulation of fees.
Parliament, in consequence, passed a bill regulating their emo-
luments, that regulation being on the supposition that they per-
formed the duties which that House might devolve upon them ;
and no later than last year one of the clerks of the peace in
a county in England had been called to the bar of that House be-
cause he had refused to give the information required of him.
There was one question which he would allude to, and that was
the existence of famine in Ireland. It was quite certain that
there were parts of Ireland in which distress existed of the most
alarming character, and that no individual whatever could
doubt the existence at the present moment of distress of the
most unparalleled and alarming nature, occurring at a period
of the year earlier than any distress of the kind had ever before
been known, and existing over a wider district of Ireland than
was ever subjected to its pressure, even at a later period—
that any person could doubt or hesitate to admit that alarming
fact, was sine of the greatest miracles that had ever existed
since the rapidity of communic(tion was what it was.
In the county of Clare, he had information of the inhabitants in
one agricultural village, who made their daily meals of food
which was so noxious and fostid that they had to keep open their
windows and deers. It was therefore no wonder that such a
state of things as disease and pestilence prevailed. This was
not a party question, for he was persuaded there was not a mein-
ber of their Lordship's House who did not sympathise with this
suffering, and was anxious to afford relief. To neglect mea-
sures to meet the distress would only be to keep alive the agi-
tation and excitement for the repeal of the union.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said that there was no doubt
that the clerks of the peace in Ireland were public officers, and
could give the information sought for by the Noble Marquis.
With respect to the distress that prevailed in Ireland, he was
satisfied it was very great. In November last he thought it was
not so, but since then he had been convinced he was wrong,
and that those who then considered the evil great were in the
right.
The Marquis of CLAN RICARDE said there was no doubt
respecting the facts as represented by the Noble Marquis, and if
there was any case which should weigh with their Lordships
more than another, to show the state of the law, and the laxity
of managing estates, this was that one. The land had been
gradually let to a number of tenants, of which one held a much
larger proportion than the others, and, he having left, the pro-
prietors came upon the remainder for the rents of the whole.
This led to litigation and expense, which ended in the
eviction of all these parties. He was satisfied that
extreme distress existed in particular districts of the
country, and that something should be done to meet it.
That distress prevailed in Ireland to an extent amounting
almost to famine there could be no doubt, and he was glad to
perceive the measures that were taken to alleviate it, for he
believed them to be the hest that the Government could
possibly adopt. But the Government should not relax in their
endeavours, lest that distress should spread to an extent of
which they could form no idea; and he ventured to say, that
by July next, it would be still worse, if the most active mea-
sures should not be kept up.
Lord MALMESBURY said, he regretted the manner in
which this question of the distress in Ireland had been con-
nected with an important measure now before Parliament.
But he did not think that distress could have been deemed a
sufficient reason for the changes that had taken place in the
opinions of Hon. Members of her Majesty's Government.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said, that after the
satisfactory manner in which the Noble Lord had answered
his question, and the promise he had given to procure the
requisite information, he would withdraw his motion. It was
the absolute duty of landlords in Ireland to look themselves
into the condition of the tenants upon their estates ; they
would thus avoid being dependent on the generosity of Eng-
land. He trusted these things would turn out better than
most Noble Lords anticipated. The Noble Marquis then with-
drew his motion.