The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-04 00:00:00

The HON. M?Ii7S/R also vowed that it be an instruc-
tion to the Commi,te, of Selection, to fix Tuetlay the 7th day
of this instant April, for holdu g the first sitting of the Com-
mittee o❑ the Chard Canal Ratlway kill, and of that on the
Bridgewater and Taunton Railway and Harbour. And that i
be an instruction to such Committees to hear any petitioners

laws which will hews and oppress the innocent without res•
straining, the gulls, and which, being restrictive of public 4 '
liberts, can. ot fail to augment national discontent." There I
was no doisbt that great, murders had been c tminitted, but the
question was would that Bill - have the effect of dereni-hing
them? He considered that it would not ; if he thought
otherwise he would vote for it.—( Ileac, hear. ) And he did
- i
solemnly declare. in the words of the resolution, that it would
augment considerably the crimes which it is intended to di•
M 1,611 Look to tin Bill itself, and see how little it is
applicable to the country or the crisis. The first feature of
the Bill is to give the Lord Lieutenant absolute power to pro-
claim ..
any part of the country he may please, without even
assigning a reason. No human evidence of the truth cf an
allegation of that proclamation is necessary to be received ; it is .
a matter completely arbitrary, sic solo sic jubeo proceeding.
The Lord Lieutenant had the rower of giving any sum of . .
money he pleased as compensation under the powers of the
present enactment—an unlimited power—not such as the
grand juries at present exercised. The next power he had,
was that of giving rewards to any extent he pleased ; and there
was no species of service or misconduct that he hid not the •
power to reward. The next power he had, was that of pa-
tronage. In a proclaimed district, he had the power of ap-
pointing as many stipendiary magistrates, chief constables,
head constables, and sub-constables, as he pleased, uncon- .
trolled or unchecked. Now, he ( Mr. O'Connell) did not
mean to accuse any Government in the observation he was
about to make, as, in doing so, he would only be accusing
what was human nature; but, he would ask, what was easier . .
than for a person, anxious of bring appointed, to have his
emissaries, and thus fabricate as many outrages as might
answer his purpose?—( Hear, hear.) Now he should observe •
on the mode in which the money was to be levied. The money .
was to be assessed by a person appointed by the Lord
j
Lieutenant, and no justice or judge of the land, or
rate-payer, had a power of control.—( Hear, hear.)
One ot the notions whish the Right Hon. Baronet seemed to .
entertain was that no grand jury had the power of levsing a • J
tax. They did, however, possess this power in an indirect way.
They were entirely at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant, ,•
who makes his taxing master travel about the country, in order
.
to find out localities where taxes matt be levied on the poor.
How will he improve the system ? The working man is as poor
as poor can be. When a rate is levied, he refuses to pay, because
he has not the means of meeting the oemand. The amount is then
levied on his goods, and, if necessary, the stipendiary magistrate
has the power of calling the military to his assistance, and thus
furnish him with irresistible power to make the levy, Look
what a wide difference there is between the poor man and his •
•
landlord; the tenant is ground to the earth by the enormous
burden of taxation imposed upon him. What security has he
against the proceedings of an arbitrary landlord ? He is exposed
every moment of his life to be levied upon for some tax.
This is a state of things which has long existed
in Ireland, and which ought no longer to be allowed
to find a place there. The next dense to which I
wish to draw the attention of the House is that which
renders any person except a traveller liable to a sentence of
transportation, it he be found out after dark in a public-house
in a prohibited district. This is rather an ambiguously worded
clause, and presents rather a curious anomaly, for it would j
appear that for a person to drink even water after dark in one ,
of these houses rendered him liable to the penalty of this Act.
Every room in the houses of prohibited districts would to ex-
posed
to the visits of the police, who will have power at all - .:
times to institute a search ; and the poor man will be powerless
to oppose these visits. This Bill is a new pl in of coercion, but
it would be found to be impossible in principle, and mischievous
in practice. He declined it to be his sincere belief, if the •
provisions of this Bill were carried into effect, that it would be
almost impossible to prevent. an insurrection from breaking out. •
—( Hear, hear.) The people of Ireland are weak, and yon
are strong, but you never can succeed in pacifying them by
any measure so unjust and impolitic as that now proposed. -
Make it their real interest to be contented, and you will i
tied them tractable and easily led. The Honourable ' s
and Learned Gentleman then alluded to the. Act. .4
41
ef Henry it., which gave right to the Crown of challenging an
indefinite number of the jury, contrary to common sense and l
justice. The next clause to which he would direct the atten- I
tion of the House was, that which made it transportation, unless •
the accused person can prove his innocence. By the statute of
1835, the prisoner was cleared by his name being omitted in a pre-
sentation
to the grand jury. By the statutes of 1834 and 1835, • i
the accused was bound to have his guilt proved before he
could be punished. By this statute the aceus. d is compelled
to prove his innocence or suffer transportation. He ( Mr.
O'Conne'l) had done more to allay the disturbances in Ireland •
than any other men, and those who best knew him would bear •
testimony to his efforts to allay an appearance of outrage. It
is true there were disturbances in Ireland, and only pro-
vise the proper means of suppressing them, and no one
would be found mere ready to co- operate than myself. 3
—( Hear, hear.) Now, these night clauses, it appeared to
him, were altogether useless. The greater number of murders
that were committed were perpetrated in the day time, , •
therefore, it would appear, that no precautions were
to be taken to prevent the commission of crustal
during the day. He confessed that nothing grieved him more
1
than the title which had been given to this Bill It was en-
titled
" A Bill for the Protection of Life," but how he would
ask could it protect life, if it stia left crime unpunished, un- :1
diminished, and unmitigated. What he called upon the House
to do, was to investigate the CAUSE'S of the outrages which had
been committed, and to endeavour to eradicate by removing ••
the causes. He would contend that the punishment which the
present law awarded to persons found armed after dark was
sufficiently severe. It was made a misdemeanour, and was
punished by imprisonment, fine, and by whipping, and he had ' .
I
known many men who would rather suffer transportation than
the punishment of whipping. The present law had been frond
effective in former times, and what had been done before -
might be done again. He wanted this House not to place
there awful powers, that the proposed Bill contained, is the
~
hands of any Government. The experiment of a Coercion .
Bill had been tried, and had proved to be ineffectual. It had
, not only been tried once or twice, but it has been applied several
times without having any beneficial effect. The Hon.
Gentleman then gave a review of the various Coercion Acts
which had been passed from the years 1831 to 1833. It had ill
proved unavailing, yet now they were required to pass a fee k
Coercion Bill. The first thing done after the passing of Lord
Stanley's Act was to vote a million sterling for the necessities
of the poor in Ireland. The Right Hon. Baronet opposites
if he remembered aright, had called this gift a " voluntary ex., '
periment." It was found to have a considerable effect in al-
laying 'S
their irritated feelings. The moment the present Go-
1
vernment came into power, they said that concession to Ire-
land
had gained its utmost limits. He did not now complain e
of their having said that—they had manfully and fearlessly
stated their intentions, and they had carried oat those inten-
tions. They had done a great duty—a great justice to Eng-
land; in the name of Heaven, then, he called upon them to
~
do their duty to Ireland.—( Hear, hear.) He was not now
about to state the cruelty and oppression practised by this coun-
try upon Irelane—he only said to that House, come forward •
and do something for Ireland, —( Hear, hear.) And if they
Wiiiild nobly and manfully set about it, they would fine that in•
stead of ceersive measures being required—for the evidence was
all the other way—that conciliatory measures alone could alter
the state of things in that unfortunate country. There was &great
difference between the present Ministry and the Whigs. See •
what had passed in Ireland at the period of the Whig Admi-
nistration. Instead of coercion being continued, it was done
away with, and mild conciliation spread its blessings around;
and the country, though it was not in a state of prosperity, was
less affi.cted, because the policy pursued towards it was humane. ,
—(Hear. hear.) He saw statements in the newspapers, at- 1
tached to which was the name of one illustrious person. He s
found those statements, with regard to Ireland, so much the ,
opposite to the fact, that he could not help thinking it meet, .;
hive beeeu a calumny upon his name to have it so appended.
This noble gentleman was made to say that the state of Ireland
was prosperous ; and, as a proof of it, he said that she had greet
exp. rt.!. That, indeed, was true, fur she was always exporting
to other countries that produce which she was not able to par-
take of herself.--( Hear, hear.) That was one way of proving -
the prosperity of Ireland, brit he (Mr. O'Connell) would state si
the true condition of the country. What was the tact? Why' j
there was not a more miserable people in the world.—( Heats ei
hear.) There were seven miliions of a purely agricultural pi): i
pulation, out of eight millions two hundred thousand, which •
was the whole population of the country, and what '
I was their condition? He would take the report" ' •
of the Commissioners, which had been appointed by the Legit.
lature at different periods, to prove the abject. want, sufferings
and misery of the people of Ireland. The Hon. and Learned
Member then proceeded to read the various reports, and the,
details created a considerable impression upon the feelings 0'
the House. The Hon. and, Learned Gentleman commented
as he went on. Wes this, he said, what the people of Ireland '
deserved ? The Government talked of murder, but was Oa
suffering like this murder—murder of the worst description,
from the slowness, but the no less certain result, of the opera'
tion.—( Hear, hear.) These reports proved the people of Ire'
land to be badly housed, badly clothed, arid badly fed. He re
membered the Right Hon. Baronet stating thnt the murders
in Ireland were blots upon the character of the countrs, and e
disgrace to civilization. But what was it caused theta ,
He did not ask them not to punish crime. Was it to cltet
murder that he addressed them ? Oh, no 1 What he asked
them was, to put an end to this misery which was proved te_ -
exist, and thereby put down crime.—(Hear, hear.) There,
was an Attorney-General. who said that the people of Ireland
were a patient, suffering people. The Government said the! •
He
wished to put an end to the misery in Ireland. •
knew they wished it ; but it was not by wishing such. c
think that it was to be done. It required the exertions Of i
the Government, to turn this state of thines into a state °
prosperity. The Hon. and Learned Member, after reaelirg
the various reports at great length, proceeded to say :—Sute
were the people the House had to deal wiih—such were tf.r
people they had to legislate for. But when they asked il'e
a change of their condition, when they 3474
for relief—when they asked them for bread, let it not be 0,..1„,,
that instead of food, they should be met with stones.—( Heal, )
hear.) He had occupied the House some time, but it or*,
necessary for him to state the cause of the disturbances '4O
rleraedlanthele.—opinlinondsooifngthtohsies
withwoo.uledrebebneyecoensdsarayll fsoursl.iheiiroe;
:01(
partiality. With regard to the distress in that cseue,ey, esbni
was well known to be the worst of all her crime, what es:..l.
a Lord Chief Justice of Ireland ? It was said by I"—ti
that so great was the distress of enat county that he 97
su
There tuhoeni.ieaonpdleLoefarnEendglGanedntilLie
anielannotthheirntgprinikceeYe'daenditdoe:noofttaie;
portion of the extract, in which was stated a list of the nuaas
holf2adot,eonoaonts evicted in each year of five years in the district b
tnamed,en tenants
evictedwh i which
igave,n t
h heat
shortsaid,
period
oenormous
year.num erj
was it then to be wondered at, he would ask, that murders e, I
should have followed ? And how many murders were the CO"; -.
sequence of that eviction—how rainy of the evicted died
1101
premature death? These were plain facts which he was ribi.
laying before the Government, and which he contended ea•es
bited the real sources of the crime complained of. And ad),
he would address himself to what he conceived was the reinvee
for this state of things, and what would be the real rneansp s e
which to dry up the sources of these crimes. He had ea be
several cases of great hardship to the tenant, and 1110" on ''','
would refer to a few more. He would contend for it, that floe s ,
the mode in which the law was administered in Ireland in
people of that country could have no confidence 0...
it. He would appeal to the Government itself, el'abijs
would ask, had they not appointed men to eo,
judicial and other offices who were well known to have fek et -
an active part against the political and religious feelingoes ,
the great majority of the Irish people?—( Hear, hear.) It bet
not upon him that these facts had made an impressio°,tbst f
upon the people of Ireland, and was it to be wondered at by -
they had made that impression? Did the Government 0' •
lieve that the people of Ireland were likely to have their 01 is
fidence in the law, or their resuect for the administratoraf eft
increased by the appoiromen to the judicial bench 0
Lefroy, or of sir. Jackson, or of Mr. Litton, or of Jr.e Is ,
ieneeee" 'I
father, or of Blackburn ?—( Hear, hear.) i\ot one 0' -030
That was not remarkable for the part he had taken liestt
the religious and political feelings of the people 7-4 hoe
hear.) Perhaps he had not done well to have mentioned i s.dnames, but he would mention no more of them. Ilat seale
would ask what did this House think was the impression
cen-ipt
upon the Irish people by the conduct of Mr. Ch au loot
Sugden. That getleman had said that unless the ee°Pn, ,
Ireland had full confidence in the law, it could not be lrebisl
tered effectually. Let him ask were the people ofd
likely to have their confidence in the law ina_:er„ti'
by the dismissal from the commission of the peace of be or:
four magistrates because of their political opinion.—( soft -
hear.) 3 hey had committed no crime or eff• nee of ant_Yeoes
*gaunt the law—they had done aothitig to disgrace the be eie
or derogatory to the conduct ut gentlemen, and he would asker
this Coercion Bill to be passed to the exclusion of tholosee
demon from the bench ofjoitiet 3—( Hear, hear.) lt '