The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-17 00:00:00

TEI E SIJ N,

at al n ise anal he must pretest- against, any meesure.
the' el e led ha ,e the effect of rendelieg the whole c f (he
people of I; eland paupers. -
Mr, O'CONNELL—That is just exactly what the
people of Ireland require.
Sir J. GRAHAM—The anxiety of the-Government
had been directed in the first. instance to pro-
vide works upon which the people might labour for
the purchase of food, and thus obtain an
independent subsistence. But where from the nature of •
the country, or trout the position of Its inhabitants, it
would be too long to wait until this labour obtained its
return, facilities had -been provided which would enable
the people to purchase food- before the wages were due, but
this was only where diStress was urgent and imminent. !
Mr.o'CONNELL— That is exactly what the Irish
Members wish and what the Irish people want.
Mr. WAKLEY—The Government. (night to remem-
ber that wages could not relieve a ant* until they had
been earned ; and it was the'want of food which occa-
sioned famine and pestilence. Now, he wished to know
why the Irish and the English labourer were trt ated in
a different way under the same Government ? Now,
under the pc or-law in this country, if any number
:of the labouring population fell into 'sick-
ness and distress, a maintenance and all requisite
necessaries were . provided for them at once.
If a poor man were to die of starvation in this country,
after having made application for relief to the proper 1
officers appointed to administer it, of what offence would
those officers be guilty at law ? Why, if they had
a ithheld the relief they would he guilty of the crime of
murder ; but in Ireland it appeared that hundreds and
thousands of destitute people might die of starvation,
without any parties being answerable for it. He was not
astonished that Irish -Members could not be quiet under
such circumstances. If he were an Irish Member, there
should be no peace in 'an English Parliament
while such a state of things lasted in Irelai d,
and so far from condemning the spirit evinced
the other night . by - the lion. Member for
Limerick, he admired the course the Hon. Member took
upon that occasion. It was now apparent from the
official returns, that throughout Ireland the most dread-
ful distress prevailed •, and from whom did this in-
formation come ? Why, it had come from the
medicel officers of the various poor-law diStricts in
Ireland, vidio bad opportunities not only of obtaining
information from the infirmaries and dispen•
series in the county, but :were well acquainted
with the state of the poor in the various
districts in which they practised. Now the Right
Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Govern-
Hn stood better a ith the people of England in re-
spect of this subject than any other Member of the
Howe. In the first week of November, foreseeing what
was likely to arise, what did the Right Hon. Baronet
propose ? Why he proposed that the ports of the
country Should be opened ; and because he could not
carry such a proposal he resigned his office-in the Go-
vernment. Stich conduct was in the highest degree com-
mendable, and he fur one envied the feelings the Right
Honourable Bassinet must experience. at that moment.
The public expected that when the Noble Lord the
Member for - the city of London had an opportunity
of forinieg an Administration, he would have
clone so; and would have acted upon the principles*
hich he propounded iu his letter to, his constituents
Instead, however,'of doing so, after some petty squabble,
the NobleT Lord abandoned the prospect of 'forming an
Administration, and the predictions which the Bight
lion. Bari net made at the close of the last ear had since
been fulfilled. Now, lie should like to ask the Hon. an
Learned Recorder for Dublin, whether he was satisfied
that the ace -nuts with regard to the- deplorable con-
dition of the people Of Ireland the Right Hon. Baronet
had given to the time were not xaggerated.—(Hear.)
He should propeSe that the prior law shoul.d be at once
amended in prefi retice to their passing any fever Bills.
If that were not done, or if it were not distinctly stated
eh), a different rule of conduct was to be observed by
the Imperial Pat !lament, to the poor of the one country
and of the other ; until that statement were made,
he for one (although he acknowledged that
what the Government was doing with respect to
supelying the Irish poor with fever hospi a's was very
right and proper), t,..ught that one paramount duty was
being neglected, namely, that the law should be made
to provale for the poor of Ireland. - It was
admitted by nearly every. one who had furnished
these statistics that the cause of fever was to belfound in
the deficiency of food or in the bad quality of it. He:
had stated on a •pevious night that prevention was
better than cure, and he considered it the Government's
bounden duty to adopt such measures as would for the
time coming render the sister country less; liable to the
visitations of famine and consequently of fever.
Sir ROBERT PEEL hoed that the House would •
not get up a debate which must necessarily postpone the
consideration of the meaeure, which had been
agreed 'upon as to occupy their aaention for the
whole of that evening. The tariff had provided for
the remission of duty on most of the articles of sub-
sistence as soon as it had received the sanction of the
House; and when the resolutions which he had bad the
honour of- proposing to the House should be reported,
an order would be made for an immediate reduction
Of the corn in bond to the terms of the tariffs He
would remind the Hon. Members that the more haste
that was used to pass this measure, the sooner
would they be able to supply the poorer of
of her Majesty's subjects in that country with food,
arid therefore it was that he deprecated any debate
which could in any degree interfere with the passing
of these resolutions. The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Wak-
ley) would remember the difficulty which had been ex-
perienced by the Noble Lord opposite in passing his
Irish Poor-law Bill, on account of the many qualifica-
tions and tests of distress which that Bill proposed, and
many of those who he believed felt the deepest interest
in the welfare of Ireland, offered that measure their
most strenuous opposition, thinking, as they did, that,
such an Act was calculated to lower the condition of
the Irish people. He would strongly advise the House •
not to lay down any specific rules on the subject of dis-
t tress, or the mode in which relief should be adminis-
tered., :They might depend on it that if they attempted
to apply a general principle for the relief of distress,
they would find its working utterly impossible. Why
in the ease of a district in which were many rich landed
proprietors living together, Government surely had a
perfect right to call upon them to co-operate, but on the
other hand, in remote and in poor districts, it would be
,bsolutely necessary for Government to have the power
of granting partial relief. He did not think that they
should be burdened with qualifications. Let the House
trust to the Government, in order to defeat those' who
'might he inclined to take advantage of these qualications.
. He-trusted that the Parliament would look at the ques-
den in this light, and allow the Government to come
down to this House and ask for a dis-
- crctionary power. (Hear, hear.) This :was. a
Scourse which had been pursued oh former occasions,
and thobeneficiel results that followed fully justified
it.—(Hear.) In*s'act it was a matter which recreired' so
much tact and local knowledee that to lay 'down any le-
gislative measure upoei the subject would be to set a very

. . -
dangerous precedent.—(Bear," hear.), Tut aboie all he
would beg of the Eton. Member to bear in mind the fact
that the postponement of this measure would have the
most injurious tif,ets upon the demand and the supply
of food.—(Hear. hear.) . , .
Chiptain JONES, amid cries of "Oh, oh," said
he was .not going to make a speech. He merely
meant to say, that if the House imagined
that the people of Ireland were in that state of distress
that had been. .represented, he begged to say he
did not • believe it %vita so. When he left

Ireland in -January last he. was. aware that the nura-
her of parsons in the poor-house was considerably smaller
than it was before,' and he was certain that it was this
5-e r fully five per cent. under shat it was last year.
Mr. SAIITH O'BRIEN said he could not understand
how the impt,rtation of butterfrom Holtand,or theimporte•
:ion of bacon fraire America, or the postponement of those
importations could affect the question before the House,
respecting the distressed state of the people of Ireland. He
did• not intend to offer any ebservations to the. House
upon the questions • now before •it ; but he would enter
his, protest against it being said that the consideration of
the tariff by this House was- a matter of greater im-
portance than the present state of Ireland.
Lord G.'BENTINCK—(Amid cries of " Oh ! oh.")
Said he was not going to address observations to
House upon thts question ; but he. would say
that it was most gratifying' to, him to observe that an
almost total abolition of the duty upon auctions and
glass was proposed. The proposed reduction upon these
items amounted to over 52J3001., which he was much
pleased to hear. The duty that had-been received upon
'auctions and upon glass amounted to over o
which 600,0001, was paid upon glass, and 300,0001.- upon
auctions.. But 'the question he now had to ask
had reference to: the further consideration •of the
reduction of the customs
.dutiesit was this, whe-
ther similar results had follow(d from the reductions
that.had taken place in the redifetions of the custom's
duties between the year 1842 and the present time? and
also whether any reductions in the salaries of the offi-
cers of the customs had taken place in pruportiou?
Sir R. PEEL stated, in reply, that perhaps the House
would recollect, when he proposed the total reduction
of the auction and glass duties, he gave as a reason for
such prudent reduction, not only the immense
advantage to be derived from the non-interference of the.
Excise with these articles, but also the encouragemeW-
certain to be given to the full scope of the exertions of all
persons engaged in the mannfacture of glass.—(Hear,)
His Noble Friend had asked him also if there had
been a concurrent reduction in the number, and
amount of salaries of Custom-house Officers, since
the abolition of duty on auctions and glass. Now by
was bound to tell his Noble Friend that there had not
been than corresponding ndeetien, nor was it 'possible
that there could as yet be any such reduction.—(Hear.)
The entries were required for two prposes. They vier,
requited. for statistical •purposes,- and were found
'of great - importance.. en - account._ of the knowledee
they furnished of the quantity •of foreign goods"
brought, into
•country. When, in 1842, it vests
.said GoVerriment could not ascertain the amount
of feud brought into the country under the traiff
th,en propOsed, he promised that every exertion would•
he mAle fast cure this object. -For this end therefore the
entries at the custom-house were 'required. Another
rte9ol,- whylisle eastern-no:eta survQi dance was necessary
wise the taking of the precaution that, under the pretext
of. being
.ditty free, no goods that wsre liable to pay
eustoms, were adulated ssiti,out beieg subjected to the
daty. For this eurpose there was an exttolinici.e., and
an entry necessary; lie admitted at once that the in-
: creasecb,feeepx pa
greatint !eu,
bt dutyauisue
trust
anal
sntoroatbd bee e
admitted
I ecqcuma , e Lt.:haat:hp ece thereincreaseof
thadhe
'reduction in the customs.- The decrease in the customs
hod thus reduced an increase of the. trade of.the country,
51. d had thus given
_them equivalent advantages. He
held in his hand an account of the shipa,with theircargoes
that hal ei;Wrtal the principal ports of the United King-
doin durirg the last few years, in illustration of this;
acid So desirous was he of affording information on this
poitit,' that he would have wa ol4eotioh to -wove that the