The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-15 00:00:00

THE STATE OF IRELAND.
TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD J. RUSSELL, &c.
My Lord,--The deep anxiety which must be felt by
every man who is connected with Ireland, by property
or residence, regarding the present disastrious condition
of her population, will be, I trust, a sufficient apology
for my adding one more to the number of those who
have addressed your Lordship on the subject of the
remedies which that condition requires.
But those who venture to propose remedies for a
disease are bound first to inquire into and determine the
•auses of evil
The records of Irish history—the statutes of Parlia-
ment—the reports of committees and commissioners—
all join in establishing this one undoubted fact—" That
every evil in the present condition of the people of Ire-
land is directly traceable to the system of letting lands
adopted by those proprietors on whom the forfeited
estates were originally conferred, and as continued by
their successors." The middle tenant system—the
joint tenantry—the cottier takes—the con-acre—the rack
renting ; all these practices, the names of which are un-
known and almost unintelligible to Englishmen, sprang
from the reckless conduct of these proprietors; and
hence arise all those evils which we now suffer—exces-
sive population in some districts—extended wastes in
other (almost contiguous) parts—bad cultivation—bad
housing—apathy, indolence, and idleness of the people—
want of
,employment—want of manufactures —in fact,
the absence of every element of prosperity. This state
of things prevails generally over more than three-fourths
of Ireland; and, if what I have here asserted requires
any confirmation, it is found in the fact, that, in the
north-eastern portion of the province of Ulster, in which
is situate the town of Belfast, where the relations of
landlord and tenant are established on more just prin-
ciples, a prosperous, happy, and well employed popula-
tion exhibit all the benefical fruits of industrious enter-

Such was the mischief created by those proprietors
on whom the state conferred those lands. They had
no feeling of moral responsibility fur the welfare of the
people, and no legal responsibility was created by the
laws of the country. Why?—because these landlords
were, themselves, both the Government and the legisla-
tors; they had supreme power in the Irish Parliament,
and worked together solely for their own selfish objects.
But the landlords of the present day will say, " We
are not to blame for this ; it was the landlords of former
generations who were the authors of the evil—we are
sufferers in common with the rest of the community."
Very true. But if we, the landlords of the present day,
have, by inheritance, the estates of our forefathers, and
enjoy the rights arid privileges attached to the posses-
sion of landed property, can we throw off the responsi-
bility attached to their misdeeds ? In justice we cannot.
I, for one, shrink not from the full acknowledgment of
the responsibility. But again, have the landlords of the
present day no account to settle ? I say they have ; if
not for misdeeds of their own, they have neglects of their
own to answer for. I admit that they cannot remedy
the misdeeds of their predecessors without the aid of the
Legislature. But, I ask, have they, the landlords of
Ireland, either as members of the Legislature, or in any.
other capacity, used any exertion to suggest or procure
the enactment of any measures fur the employment of
the people or the amelioration of their condition ? The
landlords plead that their hands are tied by entails, and
that they are oppressed by rent-charges and mortgages,
the owners of which are not made liable to taxation.
Rave they sought for any measure of relief ? They
have done nothing ; they have been apathetic, both as
regards their own interests and the interests of the people;
and now this awful calamity and responsibility comes
upon them, without any preparation to meet it.
I have shown what the landlords have to answer for.
I have no disposition to screen my own class from their
cue responsibility ; but they are not the sole delinquents.
I arraign the Imperial Parliaments, and the different
Governments which have been in power since the Union,
xith the commission of bad legislation and the neglect
of good. They knew, by the reports of their committees
Ind commissions, both the evils and the remedies ; and
if the landlords of Ireland neglected their duty, and the
Members for Ireland neglected theirs, it does not absolve
the Governments and the Legislature from participation
in the continuation of bad systems, and the neglect of
the remedies required to amend them.
I have now briefly stated the causes of our diseased
system. I next inquire from what defect in our treat-
ment was this diseased condition seffered to take root,
and progress as it has done ? I answer briefly—" Be-
cause nu legal responsibility was imposed on the property
of the country fcr the employment of the people." Then,
what is the remedy ? I answer as briefly—" Impose
this responsibility in its direct and simple form, throwing
aside the mischievous complications of advances from,
and debts to, the state, and the accumulating pressure
resulting from such a course."
To explain my meaning more fully, I would submit to
your Lordship's consideration some such measures as
the following :—I do not ask that the provisions for the
employment of the people should be combined with, or
form part of, the poor-law machinery, only so far as the
divisions into unions may be convenient for the purpose.
At pre ent, regulations have been adopted for the con-
struction of relief committees by the Government, to
whom the duty is entrusted of ascertaining the numbers
requiring employment, and in destitution for want of it.
I would propose that a committee of this description
should be formed in each union, and that powers should
be vested in the Uovernment to impose a tax on the
union to such an amount as might be necessary to give
employment (or else rations of food) to such of these
destitute persons as should not receive employment, or
be able to obtain it, by other means. I would pro-
pose that this should be combined with a clause, exempt-
ing from taxation any townland, or combination of
townlands, in one estate, which shall give employment
to its doe quota of the labourers returned by the
relief committee as in want of employment—the tax
to be levied, as under the poor-law, in certain propor-
tions from landlord and tenant, and on all descrip-
tions of real property. subjecting to such tax every
holder of laud, without exception, no matter how
small the extent; because it is expedient that, by all
classes being rendered liable to the pressure of taxa-
tion, they should be taught and compelled to do their
duties in their several spheres; the owners of lands and
the tenants of the higher class to give employment; and
the tenants of the working class, who may be small
holders of land, to be stimulated to support themselves
by increasing the production from the land in their oc-
cupation, and not to augment the taxation, of which
themselves would bear a part, by pressing for employ-
ment at the public cost.
By a measure of this nature, I would impose perma-
nently on the property of the country the responsibility
of the employment of the people; but, under the extra-
ordinary and unexpected pressure existing at the time,
I would propose that a temporary discretion should Ise
vested in the Government, in case the demands on any
particular union exceeded a certain amount on the
valuation; and, in case the Government should be satis-
fied that all due exertion had been made in the locality,
$o order a contribution, in aid, from the public funds, to
such extent as might be necessary, not to be chargeable
on the union. The State, being responsible for its
neglects, as well as the landlords, may be fairly expected
to contribute its quota; the principle of the ordinary re-
sponsibility of the property of ate country being first es-
tablished by a permanent law.
Tarious benefits would arise from such a law as this.
It would make it the interest of property and capital to
employ the people, and to make that employment repro-
ductive. It would force the co-operation of landlord and
tens* in the same object ; it would be a present expen-
diture for useful purposes, but create no future burden on
the country ; it would be a premium on residence, and
a tax upon absestteeism; it would promote the exten-
sion of manufactures, as well as the improvement of
agriculture ; and all these things it would do by the
strongest of all practical stimulants,—the self-interest of
those who possessed the power and means of employment,
because the greater the number of people they employed
the less wow(' be their tax.
opposite effects to those I eve e-
toria bas directly
pen rture,byfurnish-
lavish ex d.
But the Employment Act of the 9th and
10thh Vdic-
scribed. It enorutr.agatesex
penditure without the control of
inn the means o h
on in Irelan , execution; ae d
a s
ofit works,
profitable return can be expected, either to the
on rol ,ae
from ted
which IS 0
f the state money, without con-
thee pre se n t pdreistseuereeeoefratagxesattihoen
in-
duces the acceptance 0
fiche
must be produced in the
sidering the effects wt h
and curtailing the means of
state or to individuals. The pressure of distress I
believe it is
swamping
future improvement ; and,.
t never will or,
grasped in the hope that
aid by a discharged under
ifd..manded, that it will
bed
tstimulating enterprise, it
p
the Insolvent Act. mateso
rds the use of
es
creates apathy in all class ,
as regards
moot or to advance
their own means to give emplo)me
of proper Yt in many
cases,
their condition. Landlords, tenants,
Government money
classes, high and low, are looking for
nd some not
in one form or other ; not considering,
a e , and thus
expecting, that a day of reckoning is to come
b..
merchants, all
that: want of self-reliance and self action, w
tied and per-
great fault of the Irish character, is encouraged
petuated. The application of British money, in this way,
is no boon to Ireland ; but it would be a boon to expend
it in usetul public works, which would make a return of
ich is tile
profit to the state for the money applied—thus co-operat-
ing with individual exertion in the employment of the
people ; and, among
these public works which might be
undertaken, none would make a more a
n now
also
return than the occup :Lion andreclamation
ample
o r theo waste
s e useful
lying,
obtained
oso greato of
relieving
_ extent,over-populated un r
r
od u ct iv e
u
Ids ,
alike to the owners and to the state by which means
would be
t
localities.obte. imposed
But, if the duty of employing
property
haveon th
ae
rightproperty
t oe
claim
them a
snudecobfi
one
wer
as will remove all impedimenta to the fret
dt
other
yen:
eett
übhoeoef
et
thenoe people
come derived from the lands of Ireland ; and the
tenantry class have a right to claim such laws as will
ensure the full recompense for their labour and capital.
I shall briefly refer to some of these measures.
1. Ample and easy powers of charging the inheritance
of settled estates with money expended on every kind of
permanent improvements.
2. A power of charging mortgagees, annuitants, and
rentchargers with their proportion of all local taxation
paid by the landowner.
3. Ample powers to sell or exchange settled property,
subject to the uses of the trusts.
4, rower to the tenant to obtain value or compenea-

tion for his tenant-right, arising from the expenditure ot
labour and capital in improvements.
Space does not permit me to refer to various other
measures, of the improving and ameliorating character
pointed out in the Poor Inquiry and Land Commission
reports, which are entitled to the instant attention of the
Legislature.
If the measures of relief to the landlords of Ireland.
which I have referred to above, were
passed, I have no
doubt that the income of the country, called into action
by a Labour Employment Act, in conjunction with such
public works as the Government might undertake
would give ample employment to the whole population
requiring it.
In conclusion, my Lord, permit me to observe, that, in
seeking a legislative enactment, to compel the employ-
ment of the people by a compulsory tax on the property
of the country, lam seeking no innovation—l am asking
nothing inconsistent with the practice or spirit of the
British constitution. Your Lordship must know, better
than I do, from the records of history, that immediately
previous to the reign of Elizabeth the disorganiz ition of
society, and lawless outrage, from the want of employ-
ment, existed in England to a far more fearful extent
than at any late period of Irish history. What was dare
for England to restore her to quiet? The law of the
43d of Elizabeth was enacted, which rendered the pro-
perty of the country directly responsible to employ or
feed the people; there were no Government advances or
Government loans called for or offered—the direct re-
sponsibility was at once imposed; and England has since
reached to the highest state of good order and improve-
ment of any country in the world.
Trusting that I may be pardoned for this intrusion,
from the importance of the subjects referred to, I have
the honour to remain, with the highest respect, my Lord,
your obedient servant,
W. SHARMAN CRAWFORD.
Crawfortisburn, Ireland, ec, 7.
ItEL NV.
SPREAD OF DESTITUTION.—MORE DEATHS

FROM STARVATION.
DUBLIN, DEC. 12.—The reports from the country are
truly appalling. From an authentic source we learn that
between yesterday and this day, the trustees of the
Indian Relief Fund in this city have received one hun
dred and seventy letters, chiefly from Mayo, and several
of them from Lord Luean's,town of Castlebar. The ac-
counts of the state of destitution are utterly deplorable.
A magistrate, writing from the neighboarhood of Bally-
castle and Doonfeeny, Mayo, states that there have
been thirteen deaths from starvation within the last few
days. In those one hundred and seventy letters there
are accounts of forty-seven deaths from actual starvation.
There are evidences of utter destitution upon all sides.
The Dublin Evening Post says—
_

" The workhouses all through the country, with the
sole exception of Castlebar, are crowded to excess,
and, in many cases, a species of out-door relief is
humanely afforded by the guardians. The work-
house of Kilkenny, on Thursday morning, contained
1,391 inmates, upwards of a hundred more than
the allotted number. In addition, 1,800 persons are
daily obtaining a meal of stirabout and milk, which they
eat within the house, and then go away. Our corre-
spondent, a gentleman of the highest character, states
that he saw men, women, boys, and girls waiting in the
cold and rain for that meal, with scarcely a rag to cover
them. The guardians of the Kilkenny electoral division,
in order to provide this meal, are incurring an additional
expense of 131. 10s. per day ; they are thus taxing the
town division, which already pays nearly double the
rate applotted upon the rural districts of the union. The
same state of things exists in various other unions. The
Cashel workhouse, intended for 700, contains 873 in-
mates ; and in addition a pound of bread each is daily
given to an average of 520 persons,: who come to the
workhouse to receive relief. Is the letter of our Meath
correspondent, and other communications, a statement
of' destitution equally afflicting is described ,• and but
for the vast amount of employment afforded by the
public works, we do believe that the country, by this
time, would have been one terrible scene of starvation,
pestilence, and anarchy."
The provincial journals supply details of the most
afflicting kind.
The Cork Examiner gives the following in a report of
the meeting of the Skibbereen Relief Committee on
Tuesday :
" Doctor Donovan detailed some lamentable instances
of deali and sickness from hunger, and a want of pro-
tection against the inclemency of the weather, and stated
that he had no hesitation in saying that, before
the close of the spring, half the population of this por-
tion of Carbery would have been swept off the earth by
starvation!
" While the doctor was addressing the committee, an
application for a coffin, for a person who had been dead
for the previous four days, was handed into the chairman.
" Some of the gentlemen present remarked they were
not all surprised at this, for they had known numerous
instances in which dead bodies had to be kept over ground
for several days for want of coffins.
"To my own knowledge, the friends of •one poor
creature who died from want, were obliged to bury him
without a coffin. It is not an uncommon thing now in
the neighbourhood of Skibbereen, Bally,lehob, Skull,
Castlehaven, Castletownsend, &c., to meet ten or a dozen
funerals in the day. In fact, the mortality here is greater
than during the ravages of the cholera. The story is
the same all through the Carberies and the barony of
Bere and Bantry—starvation is everywhere.
" About two months ago, John O'Connell, Esq., of
Bantry, purchased 2,500 barrels of bread stuffs, which he
has since retailed to the poor at cost price, but his stock
is now exhausted, and the prices of provision having
reached such an enormous height, I am at a loss to
know what will become of the poor of that locality.
" I regret to have to add that another death from
starvation occurred here this morning. I suppose there
will be a coroner's inquest on the body. At the hour I
write the corpse lies about two miles from Skibbereen,
on the Cork road. Three young children surrounded
the remains of their wretched father on the spot where
his strength yielded to famine, and bewail his loss with
heart-piercing cries. Deceased was a stout, ably-built
man, apparently about 40 years of age."
The same journal contains the following :
" CROOKRASEN, DEC. 9.—To add to the misery of
the people, some of the landlords have already canted
their cattle for rent. lam sorry to add that the Rev. J.
Barrett, R.C.C., on Sunday last made a collection in the
chapel to purchase a bier to take the dead bodies to the
graveyard without coffins, as being hitherto tired of
making collections towards buying them. As to lar-
ceny, there is no limit to it ; sheep, corn, or anything
they can lay hands on, are carried away by the starving
people."
COUNTY OF CLA.IIE.--.Mr. J. 11111, of Miltown Malhay,
under date Dec. 6, writes to say—" Three deaths from
starvation have taken place in this village within the last
ten days; one a woman of the name of Mary Flaherty,
another a pour woman of the name of Ellen Doleby;
she died on the side of the road between Milltown and
for when they are brought into
Liskehone, during a dreadful storm of hail. It is now
no unusual sight to see three or four persons .faint from
exhaustion each day,
some house and restoratives are administered in the
form of food, they usually recover."
PRODUCTIVE WORKS.—THE LANDLORDS.
There are further evidences to-day of the disposition
of the landlords to adopt productive works and drainage.
At Demifore, Westmeath, Bailieborough, Cavan, and
Lower Kells, Meath, the circular of the Chief Secretary
has been adopted at the presentment sessions. There
are, however, exceptions.
In the county of Galway Lord Gort presided at a pre-
sentment sessions in Gort, on the 4th inst., when a reso-
lution was adopted to the effect that works of a repro-
ductive nature can alone enable the country to encounter
the still greater pressure of the ensuing year, and save it
from the dangers apprehended by this meeting, should
the present system of road-making be continued. A peti-
tion, to be presented on the assembling of Parliament, was
adopted, praying. that townlands may be adopted instead
of electoral divisions.
MPORTANT MEETING OF THE ROYAL AGRI-
CULTURAL SOCIETY.

This day the general half-yearly meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society was held at the Society's rooms
in Sackville-street ; Mr. J. L. W. Naper, V.P., in the

chair.
The Secretary having read the minutes of former
proceedings, and the report of the council for the half
year,
The Duke of LEINSTER moved that the report should
be received and adopted.
The Earl of CLANCARTY, in seconding the adoption of
the report, said he cordially responded to the opinion
unanimously expressed by the council, thtt one of their
fundamental rules, which had been recently rescinded,
should be restored to its original integrity. It was
essential to the society that the members should act
in perfect harmony—(Hear, hear)—and in order to
preserve that harmony which substantially existed
in i the council, he acquiesced in, rather than
approved of, the resolution, by which the 14th rule
would be restored in its original integrity. He
hoped the measure of restoring that rule would have the
effect of inducing Lord Downshire to return to them,
ruinshexpressed
society
coi
iset
the
y h ofeu
pp
the unanimity which
not and that his Noble Friend would not adhere to the
°P
joining a society ex-
cept resent. The Noble Earl
co
existed, and resumed his seat amidst the applause of the
meeting.
moved the
Mr. LAMBERT second resolution, which
was to the effect, that the 14th rule, which had been
partially rescinded, should be restored to its original in-
ni r° uponanu he
l ta
t e had
dt
tegrity.
Sir GEORGE HODSON, Bart., seconded the resolution,
which was unanimously adopted amid loud cheers.
The most perfect harmony prevailed on the subject.
NEW SOCIETY OF LANDLORDS.
The Eveniug Mail published the following in a second
edition last night:—
A most influential meeting, including men of all
parties, assembled to-day (Friday), to take into consi-
deration the propriety of adopting some energetic step
on the part of the landed interests of this country in
reference to the present alarming state of affairs. The
proceedings were strictly private, but we have reason to
think that they will lead to combined exertions on the.
Part of those whose interests are so deeply involved."
VICEREGAL COURT.—His Excellency the Lord-Lieu-
tenant, accompanied by the Ladies Ponsonby, the lion.
Gerald Fonsonby, and Mr. Corry Connellan, have at-