The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-07 00:00:00

FAMINE IN IRELAND.

Mr. O'CONNELL rose to call the attention of the House to
a letter which he hal received from a Catholic clergyman, de-
tailing the misery which existed in his parish. 'lhe reverend
gentleman detailed that in his whole district there were 1,222
comprisir g 7,332 individuals ; of these, 72 fa-
milies had six months' provisions, 16 had four, 181
had three, 43 had two-and-a-half, 213 hod two, 87 had
six, 2O) had four, '23 had three, 57 had ten, 32 had one,
and 309 were without any proviLion at all. He was sorry
the Hon. Member for Queen's County (Sir J. C. Cote),
than whom a better landlord did not exist, was absent,
because he %could he able to corrobate intelligence which ha
(Mr. O'Connell) had received from that part of Ireland, that
half of the pot atoe crop of his tenants had been utterly de-
stroyed, and that. they were compelled to subsist as they best
could, on the indifferent portion left, and on the charity of their
friends and neighbours.
PROTECTION TO LIFE AND PROPERTY IN
IRELAND.
Mr. ROSS presented a petition from Antrim, in favour of
the Government measure for affording better security to life
and property in Ireland.

SUPPLY.
Lord INGESTRE asked when the Government proposed
to move for a Committee of Supply ?
Sir R PEEL said the Government would be entirely
guided by the length to which the discussion on the Govern-
ment measures might extend this evening.
THE GOVERNMENT MEASURES._ADJOURNED
DEBATE.

The House then went into Committee on the Customs and
Corn Importation Acts.
Mr. W. 0. STANLEY rose to propose the following
amendment to the propositions of the Government :—" That
in lieu of the duties now payable on the importation of corn,
grain, meal, or flour, the product of foreign countries, there
shall be paid a fixed duty of ss. per quaver upon wheat, 23. tad.
on barley, and 24. on oats ; meal and flour in proportion."
lie said, although he represented a purely agricultural county
( Anelesey) he Lad not yet tOought proper to t. t:-parr on the
attention of the House ; and in now stating the grounds on
which he had thought proper to propreie this amendment, he
should not occupy much time. Before he did so he had paid
the utmost attention to the observations which had fallen from
Hon. Members on both sides of the Home, but their ob-
servations had not in the least shaken the opinicns
which he had always maintained. In his estimation the
propositions of the Government were just, and would con-
fer great benefit on the country. He would say, in the words
with which the Noble Lord the Member for the city of Lon-
don concluded his last address to the House—" I think the
interests of the country deeply involved in the immediate, com-
plete, and tranquil settlement of tnis questi n." He cordially
agreed in these sentiments. It was most important to the best
interests of the country, that the question of the corn-
laws should be set at rest, and that it should be
effected immediately, completely, and in a tranquil manner.
No person could say that the proposition of the Right Hon.
Baronet if passed into a law would be a tranquil settlement of
the question ; and with reference to an immediate settlement
of the question the recorded votes of that House had declared
that it should not be immediate. Neither is it a complete set-
tlement, and as a proof that it is not a tranquil settlement be
would refer the House to what had been stated by several
lion. Members in the course of the debate. The Hon.
Member for Durham (Mr. Bright) and the Hon. Member.
for Wolverhampton (Mr. Villiers) said they would agitate the
question, year after year, so long as the duty remained on
foreign corn. He would recal to the recollection of the House
the speeches of Hon. Members on the Opposition benches.
The Noble Lord the Member for Lynn (Lord G. Bentinck)
said that he would vote for the proposition of the Right Hon.
Baronet, because in the course of three years there must be a
general election, and that period would give them an
opportunity of re-organising their forces, and of raising
such a cry in the country as would compel this
Government to ieseind those measures if they should
des passed. No one, then, could think the present
a tranquil settlement; he therefore, proposed an alteration in
the proposition of Government, which he thought would be a
complete settlement of the question. He felt assured that the
country would be satisfied with a moderate fixed duty ; a duty
of that kind would improve the revenue and would not injure
the interests of the consumer. He had the authority of the
Noble Lord, the Member for the city of London, who had
stated that a fixed duty of five shillings would not raise the
price of foreign corn to the consumer more than one shilling.
The Right Honourable Baronet at the head of -the Govern-
ment had stated in his first proposition to the House, that the
principle which he recommended he was not about to confine
to any particular class or interest. Now, upon many other
important articles of manufacture, such as cotton, linen,
leather, and cheese, the Right Honourable Gentleman de-
clared it was his intention to reduce the duty ten
per cent. On that principle he (Mr. Stanley)
proposed that a moderate duty of 53. on wheat, 2s. 6i. on barley,
and is. on oats, per quarter, should be laid on these ar-
ticles. Another reason he had for proposing the duty was,
that, while it would not hurt the consumer, it would be of
great advantage to the agtieulturist. He appealed to the Right
lion. Gentleman, and begged to as's him why, in the face of all
lie had stated, and with the lower he possessed of ju iging of the
state of the country, as First Miuister, he felt justified in pro-
posing in the present instance a es. duty to be levied on home
consumption, while after the lapse of three years foreign corn
would be admitted free. It would be but justice to the agri-
culturists that when the duty on manufactured articles should
cease the duty on agriculture should cease also. That was the
reason he felt it his duty, though he calculated on very little
support, to introduce the present measure to the House, and call
upon Hon. Members to deal with it as it might be deemed wcr•
thv. The Hon. Members on the other side of the House deceived
themselves, and they should pause before they ventured en
such a step as to throw the country into a state of tumult and
agitation by a general election. They would have to array
their forces against the League, and such an operation would
be attended with some difficulty, for if their proposition
;sere carried out it would disarm their friends. He had no
wish to go into the comparative merits of a fixed duty on the
sliding scale, it would be quite sufficient for him to submit his
present proposition to the House. If he did so, he must ne-
cessarily go over ground that had often been traversed before,
and he certainly did think that it was for the interest of the
country that there should be a complete and final settlement of
this question.

The SPEAK ER having put the question,
Colonel WOOD said that he, like the Hon. Gentleman op-
posite, had not as yet taken any part in this debate, and he
would therefore now trespass on the attention of the House for
a very short time.—(Hear, hear.) He would venture to say
that the delay in the settlement of this question had caused
most serious results to the poorer classes and the country at
wholarge.eedrwitthhea
delay
ytainof etichteentsievtetlemmiellnetr
of the Right Honourable Baron, t's measure, did not
purchase one farthing-worth corn more than what would just
now, Heinw acsonasceqqunaeinne
keep his mill going. All parties connected with the agricul-
tural interest were also suffering most:seriously from this delay.
The small tenant farmers, about whom lion. Membeis pro-
fessed to take so much interest, sutfered the most seriously ;
and the large farmers next. Lady-clay was fast approaching,
and the small tenant farmers must prepare for the payment of
their rent on that day, by the disposal of the little
wheat which yet remained to them ; and he had
no hesitation in saying that they were now losing
throe to four shillings upon every quarter of wheat, by reason
of the present suspension of trade, and his firni belief was,
that upon the settlement of this question the price of
corn would either rise or fail to an awful ex-
tent. 'The present suspense in the corn trade was
productive of the most serious results to the small tenant-
farmers. And now for the large tenant-farmers. He believed
that in consequence of the present ministerial proposal the
duty on the importation of foreign corn had risen, and was up
to the present day 18s. per quarter.
ship loads of corn were arriving at every sea-port, and their
contents were immediately warehoused, and the consequence
would be that after this measure was disposed of, there would be
a larger accumulation of foreign corn in the warehouses. But
there was another class of society, who did not seem to have
been regarded in this debate by any lion. Member except the
Hon. Member for Finsbury. The House would be aware that
the measure had been brought forward lately twabolish the pre-
sent cruel law of removal to their natives parishes, and he
hoped that whilst this House mani'ested its anxiety to pass the
present measure, they would also have regard to the interest of
the lower classes, by assisting to their utmost in carrying out
the measure to which he had alluded. Let both measures go
hand in hand together, and whilst they toook care of themselves,
let the n take care of their poorer neighbours into the bargain,
by relieving them from the operation of the cruel law under
n.
d
sooti
aooen:i
heet
thk:feaei
oe:yd,:mrpn:reduction was:lnnalegi
eetoetni
present,
every
teo.friatsyrhfhhsni
hesitation
Aihvrye wifyeer
which they were now suffering. For his part he was totally
d
at
)
t
5,
eyei icltei tovomtiwaht
could
ahrhapei
tai anoi
ntdsrnBtent:t jhfflaaoosau6daetva sehdeyuet
vote
do.
effect
onfhsnist
ointeaai
eogne.fsrtl
ctftotirdooht causinga:
lopsranti
,ttoetooro e snhatnsotrel
object
oecif.ranfuAtt
rop:::Tes
shai
tt,
1,3e:11
eSi
calamity,
remembered
ugi mnsgttriyenuoth:,:t,
we(at ieirii:ozrr:
ncsoecefn,wf:::ipabhuhat
aainchddh\ehri
ves all
teltil,b(viaBh,tl
t
he
Act
e
l.
e
most calamitous harvest which he bad ever remembered the
people of England had to contend with—when a hide kiln-
dried corn would be most useful, but the then regulation of the
averages prevented its introduction. The ports opened on the
16th of November, and they remained open until the 18th of I
August, during which period the prices remained much the