The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-11 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
ROUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 10.
Tht : LORD CUANCELLOE took his seat upon the
Wool sack at Five o'clock.
Es rl FITZHARDINGE presented a petition
frore - Bristol in favour of Jewish emancipation.
:Fad FITZWILLIAM presented several other
pet aions from various places with a similar prayer.
57he Bishop of SALISBURY presented a petition
from a the Archdeacon and clergy of Gloucester
aga inst the measure ; also a petition from the same
par ties complaining of the spiritual destitution pre-
vail ing in that diocese.
HALIFAX AND QUEBEC RAILWAY.
Earl FITZWILLIAM had a petition to present,
to -which he wished to draw the particular attention
of their Lordships. It was a petition for the grant of
a ?loan of money for the construction of a rail-
wa y from Halifax to Quebec. It would be re-
collected that at the time of the outbreak of the
re sellion in Canada, there was great difficulty
in transmitting army and ordnance stores into the
interior of Canada, and had there then existed a rail-
-wv.:er from Halifax to Quebec there would have been
eye ry facility for the transport of these stores. It was
a ls o important, as affording increased facilities for the
t ransmission of emigrants to their place of destination
in the interior of Canada from this port of disembarka-
tion, that every facility should he furnished
them of railway accommodation. The sum of
i 62,0001. was asked for as a loan, and in
return for the loan the petitioners would carry the
anail for nothing, and thus the sum now paid to the
American Government for conveying the mails would
"be saved.
Lord ASHBURTON considered that while the
United States were traversed in every direction by
railways and telegraphs, our American colonies, which
did not enjoy the same advantages, were placed
in an unfair position • therefore he trusted that
the Government would give every encourage-
ment for the construction of railways in
Canada and Nova Scotia. The Noble Lord presented
a petition from two townships in New Brunswick,
praying for aid to the British North American
1 railways.
Earl GREY assured their Lordships that the im-
portance of railways in Canada had not escaped the
attention of the Government. They considered it of
the greatest importance to establish a line of commu-
nication between Halifax and Quebec. The en-
gineering officers engaged in surveying the
country had, he was happy to say, suc-
ceeded in finding a practicable route, but
until their report was in the possession of
the Government he could not give any opinion as to
the propriety of assisting any particular company.
At the present moment there were most pressing
demands from every one of the colonies on the Govern-
ment for assistance in the construction of great
public works, but the circumstances of the country
did not permit of large advances being made for this
purpose. With regard to furnishing employment for
emigrants, he could say that although upwards
of a quarter of a million of persons emigrated
last year to New Brunswick, there was no lack
of employment in that colony, and the Government
had actually been obliged to send home for labourers
to be employed in the construction of certain public
works which were necessary for the public service.
Certainly many of the emigrants were in a destitute
condition, not because there was any lack of profitable
employment, but because they were unused to, and in-
capable of performing the work required by the
wants of the colony.
POOR-LAW (IRELAND).
Earl F 1 rz WILLIAM then rose to move for a
return of the several unions in Ireland of which the
boards of guardians have been dissolved, stating the
population, the extent of acres, and rateable value of
each such union. He had no doubt but that
the law was better administered in many in-
stances by paid guardians appointed by the
Government than by the local guardiars ; but
it was an anomaly in this country. to find
funds, the proceeds of local taxation, administered by
official, appointed by the Executive Government, and
it must be a matter of grave doubt whether a law
which authorised the substitution of paid officers ap-
pointed by the Crown for guardians elected by the
rate- payers was calculated to attain the object
which the Legislature had in view in passing
the law. The number of unions in Ireland was 130,
and thirteen boards of guardians had been dissolved,
but those thirteen unions comprehended a much
greater proportion of the total acreage of Ireland
than would appear by a comparison between 130 and
13. 'The principles of the poor-law established in
this country were; totally inapplicable to Ireland.
They would yet have to consider the whole question
of the principles to be adopted in legislatingr
Ireland.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE admitted that
the power of appointing paid gilardians exercised
by the Government was one which ought to be
watched with peculiar attention by the Legislature.
He had never shared in the enthusiastic hopes of
those who had considered the introduction of the poor-
law as a complete remedy of the evils of Ireland.
He had doubted the power even of Parliament to in-
troduce a measure of this nature which should be
perfect, but he considered, and he believed the great
majority of their Lordships had considered, that there
would be great difficulties in the way of finding
a local machinery for the working of the Bill, but
yet it was better to attempt to find that machinery
than to throw the whole power into the hands of the
Government. But still, where no such local ma-
chinery existed, or where it was manifestly incom-
petent to the performance of its duties, it
was necessary to give the Government the
power of interfering. The Government had so
interfered in thirteen instances, and he admitted
thist those instances comprehended the largest unions,
because in them the greatest difficulties existed. In
some instances the Government had found it neces-
sary to interfere, because the guardians refused to
perform their duties. In others the guardians had
deposed themselves, on account of the diffi-
culties in which they found themselves placed--
difficulties more easily to be overcome by
paid guardians than by themselves. He agreed
that this was a state of things that ought
not to continue, but the amount of poor-rate at pre-
sent collected would not have been collected but for the
appointment of paid paid guardians. The collection
of the poor-rate was a work of difficulty, and would
be so for some months to come at least.—(Hear, hear.)
He believed that it would always be a difficulty
unless acconpanied by collateral measures of relief;
and one of the wisest of those measures, was that
which their Lordships had adopted last year, of au-
thorising advances to be made to the landholders for
improvements. That measure was being rapidly
brought into operation, and on the part of the Irish
proprietors generally there had been exhibited the
greatest anxiety to avail themselves of this measure.
Up to the present moment the value of loans ap-
plied for by the Irish landowners, under the provi-
sions of that Act, was 2,460,000/. Of these, 896 ap-
plications had been sanctioned, and 1,068,2501.
had been advanced, and was now employed in
improving lands and in giving employment to
the population. Great assistance had also been
given to the schools in Ireland, which came in aid of
the poor-rate. There were 774 national schools in
Ireland, containing 94,000 children ; to those the
Government had distributed 655,000 rations, averag-
ing bid. a head. He had no objection at all to the
motion.
In answer to a question from a NOBLE Loan,
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE stated that the
loan to the Irish proprietors for improvements was
advanced by instalments
Lord MONTEAGLE—So that, as the law stood,
it was competent for the board of guardians, if they
were unanimous, to substitute a union rating for a
parochial rating. Now he had not made any objec-
tion to this so long as the guardians were elected,
because it was very unlikely that an Irish board of
guardians would be ever unanimous, or if they were,
and were unanimous in taxing themselves, no one had
any right to complain, but when three paid guardians
were substituted for twenty guardians elected by the
rate-payers and certain others sitting at the board
ex officio, it became a very different matter, and he
could not but view with great jealousy the power
thus given to guardians appointed by the Crown to alter
the whole system of rating, and substitute a union
for a parochial rating, if to them it should seem meet.
He could not sit down without stating how gratifying
it was to find that English gentlemen of the
highest rank had exposed themselves to all the perils
of infection, and to fatigues and dangers, in order
to aid in the efficient carrying out of this law.
Earl FITZWILLIAM replied, and the motion,
after a few words of explanation from the Marquis of
LANSDOWNE,
was agreed to.
D i PLOMATIC INTERCOURSE WITH ROME.
Lord STANLEY wished to know what course the
Government intended to pursue with regard to the
Bill for regulating diplomatic intercourse with Rome.
He wished to know, in the event of the Bill passing
the second reading, what day would be fixed for the
Committee.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE would move
the second reading on Thursday, and should then
go fully into the subject. No doubt there would be
eonsiderble discussion, and in the event of the House
consenting to the second reading of the Bill he
thought no delay should take place, and he had in-
tended to propose going into Committee on the Friday
should p
or Monday following ; and he would now state that
should the Bill be read a second time on Thursday,
he
heiri
iorrodpsehei
goingpesthen a
into Committee on the next
day (Friday).
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.
'Cho Ibefore. Four
o'clock.
The Marquis of KILDARE took the oaths and his
seat for the county of Kildare.