The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-02 00:00:00

MEASURES OF RELIEF.

Amidst a host of letters which appear day after day
in the public prints upon the all-engrossing topic of the
Labour-rate Act, as applicable to the present crisis, the
following extract from a communication, bearing the
signature of " A Member of the Legislature," and pub-
lished in the Mail of this evening, is, perhaps, worthy
of notice, as the writer starts some suggestions which
have at least the advantage of originality to distinguish
them from the general run of essays upon the same
subject :
" Tax Ireland on the principle of the Ist of Victoria,
via. by granting her as a gift one-half the sum required,
and charge Ireland with the other half. Expend these
moneys by improving the country and the land. Let it
be done by the parishes or townlands which pay the tax,
receiving the benefit of it, according very much to Mr.
Monsell's system. Aid railways which can give security,
and thus relieve the districts through which they will pass.
Cut down no more paltry hills; demoralise the labourers
no further • improve the land at present in tillage be-
fore you undertake the drainage of vast bogs and the
reclamation of mountains, which will consume years b,3
fore they give a return ; drain what you have in hand ;
liberate estates from entails ; pass an Act to determine
titles to estates, and no longer allow lawyers and attor-
neys to fatten, while, by quirks and chicane, they pre-
vent the transfer of property, and the advances of money
on good security. The repeal of the usury laws should
be considered; that Act has created hordes of great and
small blood-suckers, who are consuming the vitals of the
land. Tax all persons, having charges on the land, on
the same principle as the income-tax.
" Prevent, by a simple Act, the subdivision of land,
which is the foundation of the misery of Ireland. I re-
gret to say, I am convinced that, until the priests are
paid, you cannot effect this object. Their power and
their interest is hourly exercised to subdivide the land
for their own emolument. To what a condition has this
system brought the country 1 However unpalatable, this
is a truism. Stop perjury, as Lord Westmeath says, in
the courts, by appointing officers to take down evidence,
and prosecute when necessary.
" I should wish to see agricultural schools established,
by grand jury taxation, in every barony. I firmly be-
lieve they would be essentially reproductive, by instruct-
ing the farmers. Enable landowners, by loans, to do
more than merely drain—enable them to erect sound
dwellings and offices for the tenantry, which the late
Drainage Act does not comprehend, and thus improve
the habits of the people. Establish at once depots of
Indian corn all over the country as soon as possible—no
time is to be lost.
" So much for the present moment ; for the future I
respectfully recommend emigration. The potato, as a
food, I consider is lost ; it will take five years before a
substitute can be found, and generally used. We have,
therefore, to provide, to a great extent, food for the
people for five years. It would be truly advantageous
to expend a considerable portion of the taxation you aro
about to impose, and must inflict, on a comprehensive
system of emigration ; thus you relieve the land of its
superabundant population, and probably place the pea-
santry who emigrate in a far superior position than they
could ever expect at home. The expense of feeding
them for five years would be greater than finding them
the means of emigrating ;—a family can be located in a
colony for 451. ; you could not feed the same family for
that sum, under existing eireumstaneas."

A baronial sessions Was held in Bin on Monday last,
at which the Earl of Bosse presided, and delivered an
extremely sensible speech upon the working of the
Labour-rate Act, expressing his determination to see it
carried out both in the letter and spirit of its provisions.
His Lordship also took occasion to dissent from the
statements put forward by the gentry of Cork with re-
spect to the embarrassed position of the landed pro-
prietors. The Noble Earl's words are :
" There have been one or two meetings held in Cork
lately, at which there had been said, in my opinion, I
respectfully say, a great deal foolishly. I don't think
that the present position of the landed proprietors of
Ireland has one iota to do with the practical operation of
this Act. I can say, with respect to this barony and
county, that 20 or 30 years ago there was a larger
amount of encumbered property in it than there is at
present, and which has passed into other hands since
then. • • • • • • • • • .

I am sure that this barony is as well able to bear taxa-
tion as any other county or barony in Ireland. But we
should see the tendency to which this Act leads—use
should all exert ourselves to have some return of useful
public and productive work for tkis money which we will
thus expend. In certain districts in England the
Labour-rate Act was practically in force for a consider-
able time. The old English Poor Law, as it existed 15
years ago in several localities in that country, but par-
ticularly in Sussex, was made so as to be a Labour-
rate Act, similar to this: Act, but different from it
in this respect, that this Act is temporary in its na-
ture, whereas the other could be kept in force for any
number of years.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) And what
was the fact ? There was no parish in England where
it was in operation but was greatly impoverished by it ;
each year became worse and worse through its means ;
and in various places many persons were found to be in
a state of bankruptcy by its operations.—(Hear, hear.)
Now, I say that the result of the operation of the Labour-
rate Act in England bears sufficient testimony to the
course that we ought to pursue in reference to employ-
ing the funds raised for the employment of the people on
works of public utility, and, if that be not done, I verily
believe that many parishes in Ireland must very soon be
inevitably brought to the same condition as that parish
in England which I have given you as an illustration."
Of the reckless—but perhaps generous—manner in
which money is voted away without regard to the future,
the Mayo Constitution furnishes the following illustra-
tion, and this is by no means a solitary case
" Let us now sum up the confiscations that have taken
place in this country, and we venture to say that any-
thing so monstrous—so uncalled for—has not been per-
petrated in any other part of the kingdom :
Ordnance Valuation. Sums presented.
Carrea .439,156
Burrishoole ... 22,597
Murrisk
Clanmorris
Erris
Tyrawly 59,386
Gallen 34,158
Costello
Kilmain

£293,282 £403,466
"It will thus bo seen that the enormous sum of
403,466/. has been presented on this poor and wretched
county."

- STATE OF TRADE IN BELFAST.
re The Northern Whig has the following unsatisfactory
port—
" For some time the state of trade has been such,
that the mill-owners of Belfast have felt that they would
most probably be under the necessity of working short
time ; and we are sorry we have now to state that a re-

solution to that effect has been come to. It was pro-
posed to reduce the time one-half ; but, from an anxiety
for the workers, it was finally determined to work two-
thirds of the usual time ; this change to commence in
the beginning of November. It is with pain, for the
sake of the large body of workers concerned, that we
make this announcement ; but we believe the step taken
to be one of necessary caution. It is understood that
the Drogheda mill-owners, also, are, or will soon be, on
short time."