The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-28 00:00:00

ct Lid

LONDON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1846,

It was on Friday our painful duty to record the
serious disturbances that have recently taken place at
Youghal and Kilkenny. The circumstances con-
nected with these riots differ materially. Great ne-
glect appears fairly chargeable against the parties
having the management of the relief funds in the
former town. Hunger, it is truly said, will break
through stone walls, and a starving multitude will be
little inclined to make allowances for negligence or
procrastination, by which themselves and families are
deprived of food, and subjected to the pangs of hun-
ger. It should be the especial care of the authorities
that the people should not be driven into the commis-
sion of acts of violence, which, if once commenced,
will inevitably proceed to a formidable extent,
and will not stop at the attainment of that
which, in the first instance, would have
been satisfactory, and the earlier conces-
sion of which would have prevented the out-
break. It is peculiarly objectionable when relief is
afforded, not on account of the miseries and sufferings
of the people, but in obedience to clamour and
violence—when it has its origin, in motives, not of
compassion or humanity, but of fear and intimidation.
The people who find the peaceable relation of their
wants treated with contumely and neglect, who per-
ceive that a far different result awaits a riotous and
illegal demonstration, will be easily led to believe that
there is a peculiar virtue in the latter method. They
will readily be induced to enter into illegal combina-
tions and organised confederacies, having for their
object the regulation, extent, and manner of the em-
ployment to be afforded, and a dictation to those by
whom, or under whose orders they are to be set to
work, which if not promptly and vigorously repressed
may lead to the greatest mischief.
It appears that on Tuesday, the 15th instant, a
meeting was held of the tradesmen and labourers o'
the town of Youghal and its vicinity. A working
man presided. They assembled in the most peaceable
and orderly manner, for the purpose not of
intimidation, but of making their distresses
known to the Government. They earnestly, but
respectfully, called on the magistrates and
gentry to procure employment for them under
the late Act, and to lay their claims before
the Lord-Lieutenant with the least possible
delay, as their wants were severe and awfully
urgent. A vote of thanks was unanimously
passed to the relief committee and the town com-
missioners, for the employment they had afforded,
and soliciting their co-operation with the autho-
rities. In fact, it was evident, not merely from
the language used, but from the manner and
demeanour of the assembled multitude, that
nothing but the dire necessity under which they
were labouring could have induced them to' take
such a step. At the close of the proceedings one of
the Roman Catholic clergymen of the district ad-
dressed them ; he stated the measures of relief con-
templated ; he enforced, in the most earnest manner,
the necessity of their being patient and peace-
able, and concluded with an assurance that he
had no doubt but that in a few days the
Lord-Lieutenant's proclamation ordering the hold
ing of the session would appear. It might
reasonably be supposed that immediate attention
would have been paid to the humble representatives
of a meeting so constituted and so conducted, to
which such fair promises were made. This expecta-
tion was rendered still more probable, by the fact
that the relief committee of the town had actually at
their disposal a suns of no less than 4001. remain-
ing unexpended, which would have met the
emergency, until permanent means could have
been adopted under the provisions of the
Labour-rate Act. This hope, however, was
not realised, the authorities relapsed into a state of
torpor, and no efficient means were had recourse to
for the relief of the existing distress, or the providing
of work for the famishing people. Accordingly, on
Monday last, a second meeting took place, but under
very different circumstances from that of the former
Tuesday. The people, maddened and driven to
desperation by the constrained apathy of those on
whom they were dependent for food, met in a tumul-
tuous and disorderly manner ; immense numbers
flocked in from the adjoinining parishes, with
hunger and starvation depicted on their countenances;
they were no longer calmed by the promises held out
to them by a meeting of the assembled magistrates
and influential gentlemen connected with the locality ;
they had already experienced their illusory nature,
and the little reliance that could be placed upon them.
Indeed, for a few hours they dispersed, so as to give
the magistrates an opportunity of at once determining
on the steps to be taken, and announcing publicly how
soon they might hope for assistance. The oppor-
tunity was, unfortunately, thrown away—the golden
moment elapsed without anything having been de-
finitively settled or decided on. Towards evening an
indiscriminate attack was made on the bakers' shops
in the town; they were all plundered, the stocks of
bread torn out by hundreds of famishing wretches,
who devoured their booty with a greediness propor-
tioned to their previous destitution. One poor man,
who had eaten a twopenny loaf, fainted from
the effects of such an unusual abundance, and when
recovered, declared that he had not tasted food

for twenty-four hours previously. They appear to
have acted with some degree of organisation. They
raised the drawbridge, to prevent the military from

proceeding to Dungarvan, where it was said that si

. ...
milar scenes were taking place, and threw the handles,
by which it could be lowered, into the river. Through-

out the night the surrounding country was illuminated

by bonfires lighted up on the several hills, and de-
tachments of the people were stationed at the various
thoroughfares to prevent corn from being brought
into the town. During the night and the following

day (Tuesday) the town continued in the same
fearful state,—the people in forcible occupation, the

shops closed, and all business suspended. At length
on Tuesday night the relief committee did what they
ought to have done many days before, they issued a

placard, stating that they will now give immediate

employment and sell food at a reduced price. Such

have been the fearful results of the supineness and

neglect exhibited, such the mischievous precedent
that has been established. We sincerely trust
that it will act as a warning throughout the

entire county ; that there may no longer be
any postponement of the employment so impera-
tively demanded, so immediately necessary. The
authorities must be cautious how they tamper with
the pressing necessities of the people.
In Kilkenny also, on Monday, there was a similar
disturbance. There the parties appear to have at-

tempted to dictate to their employers, objecting to the
nature of the work provide 3, and the remuneration

,herefor.

The bakers' shops also were plundered,

but a very trifling resistance ; the courageous demon-
stration made by a single constable appears to have