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

reflectidrs vihich were consolatory in proposing this measure. '
He would not make a sweeping accusation against the Irish
peop'e generally. This Bill was only reqeirest for certain dis-
tricts in Ireland. They had been accused of bringing the
measure forward abruptly and prematurely. He might be
permitted to state that ter nearly five years the Government
had conducted the affairs of the country in difficult times, and
in adverse circumstances; and they had never had recourse to
extraordinary powers. Until that moment they had dis-
charged their duty relying on the execution of the existing
law. In more than one instance they had relinquished the
existing laws. They had not felt it their duty to apply to Par-
liament for the renewal of the enactment with respect to Ire-
land of an aggressive character. On some occasions they had
removed some which were of an aggressive character. Let
them, for instance, look to the Unlawful Oaths Bill. There
were provisions in that Bill liable to be abused, and they
were removed. With respect to the Arms Bill—the
clause requiring blacksmiths to be licensed had been withdrawn.
He must also be permitted to remind the House, that the vari-
ous measures which had been brought forward by the Govern-
ment in the course of the last two years had been received in a
spirit of unfriendly feeling by the great majority of the people
of Ireland. He knew that a great difference existed as to the
practical effect of those measures, which were intended as peace
offerings. He would more particularly refer to the Bequest
Bill, which afforded great facilities for the endow-
ment of the Roman Catholic clergy, and for providing
for religious houses and sites for chapels.—(Hear, hear.)
He would also refer particularly to the Bill which
he had the honour to propose with reference to the provision
for the education of Roman Catholics in the College of Alay-
nooth, which gave great offence, and which, he was sorry to
say, gave great offence to his supporters on his own side of the
House. That measure he, in unison with his colleagues in
office, thought it his duty to bring forward. The bringing for-
ward of those Bills was, to his mind, a conclusive proof that
the Government entertained no hostile feelings whatever to the
Irish people.—( Hear.) The Board of Education in Ireland
had also been made more effectual during the last year, and
there were at the present momentbetween 400,000 and 500,000
receiving a good education under the superintendence of that
board. Provision had also been made for the thorough educa-
tion of the children of the middle and higher classes. Then.
again, the Government had introduced a Bill for the purpose
of regulating the laws relating to landlords and tenants. That
Bill was one of extreme difficulty, and the other House of
Parliament considered that, in the state in which it was tendered
to them, not sufficiently matured, and they therefore did not
extend to it their sanction. During the recess the Govern-
ment had bestowed much consideration upon the question of
providing a better law for the tenants of Ireland. They had
done all in their power for the purpose of co-operating with the
Commission over which Lord Devon had presided, and of which
four Members of the House formed a constituent part, and he
was authorised to say that either he or some other Members of
_ .

the Government would have the honour very shortly of intro-
ducing a measure founded upon the recommendations of thw
board Then he must observe that with reference to this mea.
sure, painful as it was, and unconstitutional as he admitted i
to be, he for one, foreseeing the necessity of the introduction of
some such measure in the early part of the present session, be
felt that it was a matter of primary importance that provision
should however be first made for the physical wants of the
people of Ireland, so far as those wants could be relieved by the
Government ; and he certainly could not be a party to the
introduction of this measure unless it had also obtained the
sanction of his colleagues, and unless some measure had beer
previously introduced, for the purpose of affording the people
of that country food at the cheapest possible rate. Now, he
must also be allowed to observe that the effect of the measures
of last season were already perceptible in Ireland. He was re-
joiced to be enabled to state that the admission of maize, free
of duty, had already produced the most beneficial effects on
Ireland.--( Hear, hear.) The demand for that article of food
was very great. It was cheaper than oatmeal ; it was supersed-
ing oatmeal ; and the effect of its introduction into Ireland, he
confidently believed, would have the effect, if not in agreat, at
least in some measure, of superseding the use of the potato
among the people of that country, and gradually, but surely, as
he hoped, of giving the people a better means of subsistence
than they at present possessed. The Government had else
brought forward measures for the purpose of encouraging public
works in Ireland; and the demand for loans was great, and
the effects, he believed, most beneficial to the people of Ireland
And the beneficial effects would be still further increased by a
judicious expenditure of the moneys lent by the Government.
The moral effect, and the social improvement, produced by the
encouragement of public works in Ireland were most palpable.
The people isho lived in those districts where those works
were carried on, would have better and more permanent em-
ployment, and they would in a short time be enabled to attain
the independent position of the working classes of this country.
Then he might ask, what would be the effects of the education
of 400,000 or 500,000 children by the officers of the Govern-
ment ? On all these grounds he was therefore confident in his
anticipations, that the future position of Ireland would be a
most prosperous one. The effect of their social improvement
would be recognised by the Legislature, and the Legislature
would with great confidence bring forward measures for a
people who had fortunately become much happier and
elevated than they now were. There could be
no doubt that in a few years the Legislature would be
guided by a more calculating and kindly spirit with regard to
Ireland. In the mean time they had to deal with a case of ur-
gent and pressing necessity, to which he could scarcely find any
parallel case in the history of these kingdoms. He had before
said, and he then wished to state, in the most distinct manner,
that he did not stand there to impugn the character of the Irish
people generally. Quite the contrary. He had the pleasure
of stating that in the 32 counties of Ireland—in the majority of
these he believed that it would be found, by statistical ac-
counts, that life and property were as secure as in any
portion of Great Britain.—(Hear, hear.) He was happy to
say that, in at least 18, out of those 32 counties, crime had con-
siderably decreased within the last year.—(Cheers.) He thought
it would not be necessary to detain the House by going into a
specific detail of the amount of decrease of crime, or of the
names of the particular counties. Suffice it to say, that in 18 out
of the 32, there had been a considerable decrease of crime within
the last year, 1845.—(11r. O'Connell, " County Tyrone" ?)
In the County Tyrone, there had been a very large decrease of
crime.—(Hear, hear.) The crime in Tyrone, according to the
reports of the Constabulary force, had decreased in the last year
from 108 to 40. He would go still further, and say, that if it
were not for the present state of five of the counties of Ireland,
he could not conscientiously propose this Bill.—(Hear, hear.)
He would state at once the names of those five counties, al-
though he was afraid he shonld have to trespass upon the indul-
gence of the House for a short time—el-leer, hear)—for in
proposing a measure of so unconstitutional a character—( Hear,
hear)—he felt it to be his bounden duty to bring before the House
the grounds on which he proposed it.—( Hear, hear.) Now
the five counties to which he had alluded were, Tipperary,
Clare, Roscommon, Limerick, and Meath. In those five
counties crime had increased to a considerable extent.
There were also five other counties in which crime had
been fearfully progressing during the last year, and the names
of those counties were Cavan, Fermanagh, King's County,
Longford, and Westmeath ; so that it appeared that at present
there were, out of the 32 counties of Ireland, ten in which un-
lawful doings and crimes of the most frightful character were
being regularly carried on. In the county of Cavan, crime
had increased within the last year from 44 to 109, in Roscom-
mon from 264 to 716, Limerick from 321 to 460, and Tipperary
from 908 to 992. But he thought he could present this matter
to the House in a light which appeared to him to be most con-
clusive, and which would show that crime was raging in dis-
tricts of Ireland to a most alarming extent.—( Hear.) By the
last return which had been made to the Government, it ap-
peered that the whole population of Ireland was 8,175,000, and
the population of the five counties to which he had store par-
ticularly referred, viz. Tipperary, Clare, Roscommon, Limerick,
and Leitrim, was 1,412,000. The population of those five coun-
ties therefore, was a little more than one-sixth of the whole of
Ireland. Now the crimes to which he would direct the atten-
tion of the House were of a most insurrectionary character ;
they comprised crimes of murder, and the destruction of pro-
perty. He had made a selection of those particular crimes.
The crimes had been arranged as follows—homicides, violence
to the person, aggravated assault, assaults endangering life, in-
cendiarism, killing or maiming cattle, demanding and robbery of
arms, appearing armed, administering unlawful oaths, sending
threatening notices, malicious injury to property, and firing
into dwelling-houses. Now the number of homicides com-
mitted in 1845 throughout the whole of Ireland was 92, and
the whole of those committed in the five counties to which he had
more particularly directed their attention was 47, being one-
third of the homicides committed in the whole of Ireland.
Assaults in those five counties 190, and in the whole of Ireland
350, being two-fifths of the whole number. Assaults endan-
gering life 110 in those five counties, and in the whole of Ire-
land 127. Incendiarism in those five counties 139, and in the
rest of Ireland 329, being two-sevenths of the whole number.
Killing or maiming cattle in those counties 108, in the rest of
Ireland 164, being two-fifths of the whole. Demanding and
robbing of arms in the five counties referred to—and this was
a crime of the most malicious and fearful kind-420, and in the
rest of Ireland 131, being four-fifths of the aggregate. Appear-
ing armed in those counties 66, and in the rest of Ireland 25,
being two-thirds of the whole. Administering unlawful oaths
in the same districts 193, and in the rest of Ireland only 33,
being six-sevenths of the whole. Threatening notices in the
same 1,( 43, and in the rest of Ireland only 901, being eleven-
twentieths of the whole number of crimes of a similar number
committed in Ireland during the year 1845. Malicious injury
to property 104 in the five counties, and 306 in the rest of
Ireland. Now he would observe that one crime particularly
had been greatly on the increase during the last eighteen
months. The dreadful crime of firing into dwelling-houses at
night, for the purpose of wounding promiscuously any member
of a family, had been, during that period, in those five coun-
ties to which he had called their attention, 93, and in the rest
of Ireland only 45 —( Hear, hear )—being seven-tenths
of the whole number. He had in his possession
reports which showed the state of these five counties
during the months of January and February of the present
year. The number of homicides in that period, it appeared,
was 8 ; robberies of arms, 18 ; setting fire to dwelling-houses,
69; sending threatening notices, 69 ' • and malicious injury to
property, 14. And in Limerick (exclusive of the city of that
county ), 3 murders, 12 incendiaries, 25 robberies of arms, 50
threatening notices, and 18 attacks on property. In the
county of Clare there had been 1 murder, 7 incendiaries, 20
robberies of arms, and 17 threatening notices. And in the
county of Roscommon within the same period (the last two
months), there had been 1 murder, 3 incendiaries, 31 robberies
of arms, 6 threatening notices, and 42 administrations of un-
lawful oaths. Now, it was his painful duty to bring under
their immediate notice some more facts relating to the dis-
turbed portions of Ireland. It would be impossible for him to
give the House anything like general statements, but it ap-
peared that these crimes were not of a sectarian or political
character. Roman Catholics and Protestants, Orangemen and
Repealers, had alike become the victims of the lawless men of
the disturbed counties. And he must also state that the crimes
which he bad mentioned were by no means new is the par-
ticular districts to which he had alluded. Unhappily, they had
prevailed for several years past; and it now remained for the
Legislature to exert itself, for the purpose of eradicating the
species of crime to which he had referred. It was true, that
much had been done, but all their efforts had, as yet, signally
failed. Crime, of the species referred to, had
been more, during the last eighteen months, than
during many years previously. He implored the
House to consider seriously the disgrace to which those crimes
subjected the people of these realms. They were crimes dis-
graceful to this country, this age, and the Government under
civil
polity. Ours was said to be a refined age and a civilised coun-
try, and yet crimes were daily committed in the 'later country
which were a disgrace to any country on the face of the earth.
In order to illustrate what he had before stated, he would read
to the House a number of cases, which he had prepared and
classified according to the principies he had just stated. The
first class to which he would refer were cases of murder, or in-
juries inflicted upon person in consequence of themselves
or their relatioes having taken, or refusing to give up,
land. He would refer first to Tipperary. On the 24th of
May the friends of the deceased wife of a party who ocraipied a
few acres of land in Tipperary wished to obtain poiseision of
the property. Notice had been served by the ruffiahs to give
up possession of the property. Notice not being attended to,
the unfortunate man was waylaid while returning front Done-
gal to his own home, and brutally murdered. Another person,
quite unconnected with either party, was also knocked down ;
his head was fractured, and he died from the effects'of the
injury received. In another case in the same neighbourhood,
four men, with their faces blackened and otherwise disguised,
entered the house of a person occupying land, and presented
pistols to the heads of the peaceable inmates, and asked them
why they did not obey the summons which had been sent, and
after committing gross acts of barbarity they went away. •He
avoid also allude to another cue, which alio took plus in

Tipperary on the 18th of January, in the year 1845. l'h
name of the party murdered was Mr. Samuel Smith.
He was discovered lying upon the road with his head fractured
and other very severe injuries. It was the opinion of mechseal
own that he had not fallen from his horse, and that his death
could not have been ascribed to any effects of such an accident..
The only reason that could be assigned for the commission el
such an art of atrocity, was that it was understood that he was
bout to discharge two of his tenants. He would allude to
county Clare. On the 31st of,October last, Mr. Peter Clerk was
:hot at by two men, while riding round a domain which he had
just purchased. Now it was considered by Hon. Members op-
posite, and in that opinion he (Sir James Graham) fully coin-
cided, that absenteeism wet a great evil. They wished to encou-
rage resident landlords, but how could they expect in such a
state of things that any gentleman would go down to reside
upon such an estate, or expend his money in labour
in improving his estates. This gentleman was, it appears
going to settle some disturbances among the tenants on his
estate. He had not left his own premises when he was shot at
,
and fatally wounded by two ruffians. He would now refer to
the case of Mr. Lynch, in the county of Limerick; it appeared
'hat he was a middle man, and for some offence which he had
given to his tenants, he also, in the month of January, 1846,
was fired at and killed. In the county of Clare, on the 7th of
February, 1845, seven men, disguised as usual, entered the
houses of James Mallony and others, and fractured the skull
of one of the inmates, and also inflicted very severe wounds
and injuries upon others of the party. It appeared in all these
outrages that not one of the ordinary feelings of social life
seemed to have the least influence upon the conduct of these
ruffians. The only reason assigned for this outrage was that
in the year 1843 some lands were divided by an
order of the Court of Chancery, upon which there
were upwards of three hundred tenants, and that one or
two of that number were deprived of their land. He would
read another case, which occurred in the county of Limerick.
Seven men in the usual disguise, and armed, entered the house
of a man of the name of Lawrence Lee ; they rushed at him
and beat him down. This was a ease of cruel barbarity.
When the man was upon the ground, his wife threw herself
von him, in order to protect him from their violence. One
of the fellows placed the gun close to his legs, while his wife
attempted to shelter him. Regardless, however, of the position
of the wife, they discharged the gun, the shot of which narrowly
escaped the woman, and shattered the head of the unfortunate
man. The murderers then retired. The only reason for this
brutal outrage was because he had paid his rent, contrary to
the wishes of these parties. On Jan. 21, 1841, Mr. Walker
was also fired at and otherwise brutally attacked, the only
complaint, it appears, being that he held about three acres of
land, known by the name of Coobrah, the name of which was
several times repeated by the assassins while on their mur-
derous occupation, Ile would now call the attention of the
House to an ober class of outrage—that of magistrates in the
execution of their duty. Mr. APCleod had been selected by
the Government to suppress some disturbances on the borders
of Leitram. He was returning home, and when in the act of
desiring the driver of his car to get down and open the gate,
he was fired at by an assassin, who had concealed himself for
that purpose, and expired immediately. There must be in
these cases some horrible confederacy, for it appeared, with re-
ference to the latter case, that notice of this murder was
posted at the town of Enniskillin two days before
the murder was committed.—( Hear.) There was also
the case of Mr. Boothe, who, when returning home
,n company with some portion of his family, were fired at by
some persons ; and although he was within two hundreds yards
of the village, and numbers of persons were passing by the spot
en their journey from divine service, riot one of them offered
'o render the least assistance, either to the wounded man, or in
attempting to secure the murderer, notwithstanding the offer
of a large sum of money by the wounded gentleman if they
would capture the assassin. There was another case to which
he would call the attention of the House. Not only were these
atrocities committed, in cases of the possession of land ; they
took cognizance, and interfered with the most minute cir-
cumstances of life—the case of masters and servants. If anything
should transpire which they considered demanded their
interference, immediately threatening notices were sent ;
and unless these notices were attended to, summary ven-
geance would be taken by those secret and organised
bands. As tending to illustrate the interference in the case of
master and servant, he would instance the case of a person
in Tipperary, who was about to be superseded in a situation
by another party. His master, on the 4th of May, 1845, was
fired at and died in a few days from the effects of his wounds.
There was no other offence alleged against him. Another
ease of a similar kind was that of a discharged steward of
the Rev. Mr. Batson, who was shot through the lungs in con-
sequence of not obeying the order of these tyrannical maraud-
ers to leave his employment. He would not have referred to
a case alluded to by 'the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn,
had he not made special allusion to it. It was a meat atro-
cious case. It was an outrage committed on a woman who was
pregnant, and who was shot at in open day in the county of
Tyrone. She was the wife of a woodranger who made himself
obnoxious to these assassins. On going along the road
with her child, she was fired at. The child was seriously
wounded in the brain, and the mother died a few days after-
wards in consequence of the injuries she received. (An Hon:
Member on the Opposition benches here asked the Right
Hon. Baronet if this occurred in the day time.) Yes, it was
in the day time. Here was another case which occurred in
Tipperary on the 17th of January, 1848. It was that of a man
of the name of Murphy, who was fired at in a most barbarous
manner. The Noble Lord, the Member for Lynn, also
alluded to another case. These tyrants, it appeared, wished
the mistress of an establishment to dismiss her servant, and in
consequence of her not complying with their desires the ser-
vant was barbarously attacked, and his life was placed in *he
most imminent peril. He now begged to refer to the effect that
this organised system of outrage had upon the social condition
of the people of Ireland. In November 26th, 1845, the
secretary of a company called the Mining Company of Ireland
gave notice in the county of Tipperary that the works would
be suspended in consequence of the outrages which had been
committed, and in consequence of the threatening notices which
had been served upon the workmen. Now the tendency
of capital was to flow into Ireland, and it was his
opinion that the real remedy for the grievances of
that country was the application of capital, and
yet unless those crimes were put. down no capital would flow
there, no increase would take place in the means of employ-
ment, and crime, murder, and rapine would continue to per-
vade the land. He would not apologise to the House for going
into those details, for circumstances made it imperative on
him to do so, and it was evident that the state of crime was
such as to require extraordinary means to be adopted for its
suppression. He would now give a few specimens of crime
which had been committed on parties wishing to give evidence
to bring parties to justice. In December, 1845, a man,
named John Ryan, was subjected to the most barbarous usage
from this cause, and shortly after died in consequence of the
wounds he had received, So great, however, was the reign
of terror, and such fear prevailed for the safety of his friends,
that he .tared not disclose the names of those who he well know
were concerned in the outrage. Now, here was a man struck
down by assassins. Two persons were taken into custod charged
with the crime ,but in consequence of the terrorism which existed
the injured man would not give evidence against them, and
preferred to die before he would disclose their names.—(Don
Caleb Powell asked how Sir James Graham could know what
his thoughts were. )—The dying man gave that explanation at
the time. He (Sir James Graham) did not, however, believe
that in these five counties the great body of the people were
tainted. He believed that the conspiracy extended but to a
small portion of the community; but that portion, though
small, was well organised, and the rest of the eommunity were
kept in a state of terrorism by them. In Galway, a person
came there to give evidence in a civil bill case, and in conse-
quence of some expressions made use of by him, the relative
of defendant maltreated him in a most shameful manner. An-
other case occurred in Tipperary on the =26th of June,
when a man was murdered. The friends of the murdered
man prosecuted the supposed murderer, and in consequence
a party of 12 or 15 men grievously assaulted them, and a man
of the name of Egan, who was cognizant of this circumstance,
denied that he had any knowledge of the parties when the
police came to investigate the case. He would trouble the
House with only one more case of this description...lt was im-
possible to deny that fear of giving evidence existed to a very
great extent. On the 12th of February last a man of the name
of Gleeson, who had a large family of five sons, was attacked
by a party of 12 men, one of whom fired a shot which wounded
him. After a struggle, they subsequently forced the room
where the sons lay, and treated one of them as they had the
father. Now, although this outrage was notorious over the
country, not one informed the police of the circumstance ;
and if this had been done, there is but little doubt
that the criminals would have been brought to justice.
He would next read a report which he had received from a
resident magistrate, who stated that he believed the system of
terror to be so great in that district, that if even Old Gleeson
had been murdered, not one of his family could be induced to
come forward and prosecute the murderers. He would not de-
tain the House by entering further into details, but there were
i one or two cases which he should mention as illustrative of
the system. By a report be had received on the Bth of De-
cember, it appeared that a party of police constables were out
on patrol, and were fired at from an adjacent wood; they re-
turned the fire, but one of them was badly wounded. This
took place at eleven o'clock in the evening. Now he stated
this ease in order to show that the most atrocious crimes were
committed w ithout the least possible provocation. He would
next read a notice of rather a novel description, which had
been served upon a farmer in the county of Clare
upon the 24th of the present month. The notice was
to the effect, that unless the party on whom
it was served used his interest to procure for the party threat-
ening a farm, which had been recently held by certain parties
who had been transported, it was presumed through the infor-
tnation of him (the threatened), the forfeiture of his life would
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course. It was tried at the last Clare Assizes. It appeared
that the commander of at l
on the Shannon, was in the
habit of purchasing milk from a woman who attended the ves-
sel. He complained to her on one or two occasions that the
milk was bad, and he should discontinue it. He did so, and
thereupon this woman told him that he would be sorry for it.
In a short time after, upon the arrival of the steamer at the
quay, after all the passengers had left, this man came ashore
and was seized upon by four or five men, who beat hine severely,
and fractured his skull.
Mr. O'CONNELL—Was that by day ?
Sir JAMES GRAHAM—It does not appear, by the re-
turn, at what period of the day it took place.
Mr. O'CONNELL—But the parties were tried and con-
victed, were they not ?
Sir J. GRAHAM said they were, at the last Clare Assizes.
He then proceeded to state that he had already presented to
the House petitions from the high sheriff and a majority of
the grand jury of the county of Leitrim, praying for the sup- ,
pression of this species of outrage. He would, next wish to
refer to the addresses he had received from the five counties he
had been speaking of, all of which prayed for the suppression of
crimes. He held in his hand an address from the magistrates
of the county of Tipperary, which had been presented by the
Lord Lieutenant—by Lord Doaoughmore. He had another
from the county of Roscommon, and from several other
counties, to the same effect ; but he would not
weary the House by going into them all, but, amongst
them, was one from Limerick, containing resolutions adopted
at a meeting presided over by Lord Guillimore and presented
by Sir Lucius O'Brien. .But now, having stated the unhappy
condition of these five coun' ics in reference to the amount of
crime committed in them. he would next proceed to state the
heads of the Bill which had been sent down from the House of
Lords, as a measure intended to aid the Government in the
suppression of crime in Ireland. He did not mean to enter
into any discussion of the merits of the clauses at present, but
when the second reading should come un, he' would then be
prepared to defend each clause at length. The first clause was
to the effect that the Lord-Lieutenant should have the power
to proclaim any district, and to send down an additional
stipendiary magistrate and police force at the expense of
that district, though in ordinary rases it was intended that
the police force should be paid out of the public funds.
It might be said that the power given to the Lord Lieutenant
was arbitrary in levying the payment of the additional con-
stabulary force off the proclaimed district. Now, it might be
remembered that, under the provisions of thegenitral Con-
stabulary Act, the Lord Lieutenant had the power, to increase
the salaries of the constables, and had also the unlimited power
to create as many stipendiary magistrates, at unlimited salaries.
as he deemed actually necessary. With respect to the clauses
that empowered the arrest of persons found without their
houses in proclaimed districts after the legal time, he would
refer them to the language of the Hon. and Learned Member
for Cork (Mr. O'Connell) when a similar measure was before
the Howe in 1633.—(11ear, hear.) That Honourabis

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