The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-28 00:00:00

his opinion, and every day's experience convinced him, that the
state of famine iti Irelar.d was a gross deiusien ; and the Noble
Lord added, that a greater delusten was never, in hi, opinion,
Palmed upon the country by any Gevernment. The
Noble Lord prunes vied to argue that because the
laet was that the laic,- of petatses teas 4... a stone, there wss
no pressure on the eestple ~1 chef ea:ultra. Now, Sir, 1 beg
. to exiaain in what ,he real d EisuLs lies. Ti. price of pota-
toes cantles be taken as a criterion 01 tiie stir 3 or thing' in
Ireland. I may observe, in pessing, t hat the price o. .4d. I•er
'atone is exactly d iuble what it is or. ordinary oeca‘ions ; and
_however trifling this may appear to the H u e end the Noble
Lord, the difference bet wsen 24. and 4d. is a qtiesiion of sense
10/ per cent. •o four roilliens a f per sons in Ir lsn.l. Then
the Noble Lord reterred to the small exports from Ireland, and
drew the inference from thence that no destitu•ien existed in
that country. I think it rather argurs that apprehensions of
famine were entertained. But, Sir, it may be said that this
view of this question might b • taken by the Noble Lord the
Member for Lynn, independent of the condittoo of Ireland.
But the actual sta e of that country has been confirmed by the
statements of of her Hon. Membsrs, alt h.,u.sh an Hon. :Mem-
ber of high authority-1 mean the Iteeorder of the Coy of
Dublin—has stated that there was gross exaggeration in those
statements.
Mr. SHAW—I said 'great exaggeration," not " gross."
Sir JA %IES GRA HANI—Wos "great" exaggeration.—
(Laughter. ) Now, I hope the House will bear with me while
• I read some extracts in reference to this sehjeet, which is in
the shape of evidence, and which is eeserving of attention, for
it really has now became a matter of great importance-a •F he
informstion which reached me in the month of Octeber last, in
reference to the state of Ireland, was of such a character as
confirmed me of the necessity that ex.sted 'for the introduction
Of this measure, althoogh that was not the only reason I had
for doing so. In the mantis of November last I received a
lett a
letter fromt the Secretary of the Agricultural S'ossieist A' Ire-
land,my private residence. which I shall now read. I
should premise by staring that the Aericultural Society of Ire-
land is an institution biaring, the same character as the Agri-
cultural Society of England, and numbers amongst its mem-
bers the Duke of Leinster, Lord Down-hire, Lot d Shannon, I
and many others of the most respectable nobility and gentry in
that country. That letter is to this effect. (Here the Right
Hon. Baronet read the letter, the substance of which was that
the writer enclosed extracts from the Dublin morning
Papers, containing accounts of the measures which
the Irish Agricultural Society had taken in refer-
ence to the state of the potato crop.) I received
several letters in answer, stating that the disease was
not spreading, but I subsequently received letters from
Most of the 120 associations, a•suring me that the disease was
increasing. I may state there is not a county its Ireland, that
is not more or less affected by the disease ; and my office is
filled with specimens of the diseased potato. The council of
the society have directed their labours to obtain information
on the subject, and to transmit the same to the entire society ;
and they are of opinion that enough has transpired to gratify
them in calling on the Government to take immediate steps
in the matter.—( Hear, hear.) Now, Sir, with that letter
came another from the colleague of the Hon. Gentleman,
bearing date 18th October, in which the Hon, Gentleman
stated that he was sorry it would not be in his power to attend
the council of the society, as he app-ehended the accounts that
Would be received from the different parts of the kingdom
Would confirm the failure; and that, therefore, the matter
should be brought at once under the notice of Government. 1
Will now refer to a representation made in the month of Oc-
tober last from the secretary of this society, anti such was the
urgency of the case that the secretary vr ote to me in the
letter I have just read to the House. I will now shortly state
to the House what is the more recent it-Jon-cation that the
Government has received. The Member for Lynn declared
that these statements were the grossest—mest palpaple deceits
ever palmed upon the country brassy Government. I will
now read a letter which I received fiorn a gentleman in the
county of Waterford, and dated the 19th of March. It is from
the commissary resident there to the commissary in the city
of Dublin. It stated that the price of potatoes
Was so high that they were no longer naed in
the poor-houses. They have been discontinued and
bread substituted. The price of potatoes is 6cl. per stone, and
therefore quite bevend the reach of the poor. A subsequent
letter, dated the 21st ot. March, stated that the p,oportion of
Potatoes destroyed in Waterford, was one-third or one-halt of
the whole crop. In every ca e where the potatoes had been
pitted, they had been found in such a state as to be fit only for
manure. Except in Wexford, where the crop is said to be in
a tolerable state of preservation, there is some reason for think-
ing that the same state of things exists throughout all the dis-
trict which this Gentleman is comet scary. I said to the
House, on a former occasion, that we were only in the begin-
ning of this most formidable calamity, and it is now proved
that the seed of the diseased potato is not to be relied on. A
crop of potatoes, landed in January, were exported, and is
every case the seed was found to be rotten. Even in the pits
of those persons who had sunk them deep, the potatoes were
smoking from decomposition. In a letter from a coast-guard,
' residing in the Isle of Man, to his officer, he repair •s that there
is a universal rot in the potato crop ; in fact they wove so bad
that they were shoveling them away, ins-ead of picking by
• the hand, according as the crop was dug out- Otte
Person, with a family of six children, stated to hint
that his crop had been reduced to one-third. Ireland was di-
vided into 2,00/ electoral divisions, and from the reports which
they had received, they found that, taking the average, more
than one-half of the potato crop was totally destroyed. In a
' letter which had been addressed from Colonel M'Arthur to the
. Commander of the forces, the following passage occurred :
" The difference in the price of the potatoes was one-third
More than it was at a corresponding period." The communi-
. tation is from Mr. Redmond, of Carrick-on-Suir ; it is dated
on the Ist of March, and states that the disease in potatoes pre-
vails in the largest extent ; that one person, had purchased
• . as many as 1,500 barrets of potatoes, and that, with the excep-
tion of a few barrels, they were all found to be in a putrid
state. At a meeting which was to be held on the Bth March
at Fermoy, at which Lord Mountcashel presided, this matter
of the loss of the potatoes was felt to beef the utmost import-
:it" ; and resolutions were unanimously passed expressing that
lae,t- One of those resolutions stated the potatoes were then
"'ling at 4id. per stone.
Mr. SHAW—That is a weight and a half.
Sir J. GRAHA :l—Yes; but what is the reason of this
Price? The slid. was not for sound potatoes—not for those
Which were free from taint, but. for those which were in a putrid
state, The consequence was that these were found to be as
dear as oatmeal or floor. Then comes a resolution that the
actual state of the potatoes was known to he such that the
riople were selling those potatoes for the purelase of oatmeal.
nn Lord Mountcashel's personal examination, both of the
Pits and barrels, it was found that in some places one-third
and one-half in others, were entirely destroyed.
' Those poor people were possessed of small cabins, and if they
Were obliged to go into the workhouse, they would have to
• Part with all their furniture, and the parties who had projected
the meeting, therefore, felt it their bounden duty to bring the
matter under the con-ideration of the Executive Government,
and the Poor-law Commissioners, in order that some mode
might bedefined for bringing so me relief, by giving them a supply
of cheap food, or giving them food gratuitously. It appeared,
from accurate statements, that the people in that district were
actually obliged to sub,ist on potatoes not fit to make starch of,
and which, of course, were not tit for the food of man.—( Hear,
bear.),.., And yet, after all this, the Right Honourable
Gentleman
•, , had said that the reports of the panic in Ire-
land were gross exaggerations.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
And now, for the purpose of ascertaining whether
those reports were a gross exaggeration, let us take other
Proofs. The Lord-Lieutenant on .Monday last received a de-
Putation from the city of Limerick—no small district, com-
Prising as it does an immense number of inhabitants. What
Was the representation made by that deputation to the Lord-
Lieutenant? I understand that that deputation consisted of
. ttte Mayor of Limerick, Sir David Roche, and other men of
*goal respectability and wealth. The Ileght Hon. Gentleman
Will, I think, admit that a more respectab e deputation could
a . toot have been composed out of the inhalittante af Limerick.
tThey state that the destitution of Limerick and the neigh-
' IsUurhood arises from a supply of bad potatoes. The state-
• meats were confirmed by L•ird Clare, who lived in the neigh-
• °ourhood, and that Neble Lord had excellent means of ascer-
taining the true state of the people in that district. Now this
. is the state of things in the south, and it w• 11 certainly be sot
. .' months before the new c: op is got In —( Hear, hear.) And
'et the Right Hon. the Recorder of the City of Dublin stated
That it was all a gi oss delusion.—( Hear, hear.) . Well nut'
tile Right Hon. Gentleman has made, in my °Pl'''"no, a most
.. , fearful admission. lie said this -that about th.,, time the
'ear destitution and dystntery, and in some cases famine. took
PlVace in Ireland. Believing that the le:isli people are suffering
4.°M disease and want, and that the people of this country are
• ' suffering too, but in a smallest -degree, he could not reconcile
his mind to provide for the, wants of the former by grants of
' ' • money from the eublie, puree, while it might he done by adopt-
,
' 'tlg the principle, c.if Adam Smith, and at' once reconcile the I
trade in corn to rules of nature and common sense. I say
that is the noble principle—and one which I did not lose sight
' ,:f 'their, the state of Ireland was presented to me ist ail its
Otitil magnitude—that was the moving power, the earnest and
t .. '°lding principle of the measure which we are now di=cussinia.
: 7-"( Heir;) But then the Hon. Member for the University of
''oblin - (Mr. Shaw) stated that we have betrayed
rte . piny by the conduct which we have - pursued.
ir have already stated ... that I cannot reiiroach
' Lift. Gentlemen with entertaining the opinions which I once
`qtattained. I have also expressed an opinion that those who
• bo.
- oppose our measures. Will soon find that we have not be-
lraYed them, and that,' in the whole course of our proceedings.
are have had due regard to their interests ; but the lion. Mem-
ber, for the University of Dublin has cast our horoscope—he
qas said that we area falling. Government. and, sitting bei.ind
lls, he kicks us, becau'e he thinks we are falling.—( Loud Op-
lasaition cheers.) lam free to confess that I hope the Hon.
°e tl
a ernan may, under a protective Government, obtain a
satisfactory settlement of the recto:delis pension.—( Laughter,
and cries of " Oh, oh.") Then he does not look to any place
Or Power, but perhaps he may look forward to hold, under a
trective Government, the Irish Secretaryship. I hope Ire-
_ d will improve under his benign sway.—(Cheers, and " t -h,
'h" from the protectionists.) At all events, we are now
aware what actuates his conduct towards us i but,. speaking for
' myself, I may say that his censure sits lightly on tee, and that
referred his open hostility to his smouldering resentment. He
t , eerreEl to the question of the operation of this measure as it
L affected tithes, upon which the .iohle Lord the Member for
Pin (Lord G. Bentinek) had more than once spoken. I am
ly'rrY to trespass on the House, hut I wish to refer to this
tint. The Hon. Member for Oxford stated, as his opinion,
4 this measure was inconsistent with the interests of tithe-
, ;liners. Nothing could be more accurate than his statement
that tithes varied in quantity, but that they varied in price
• no
11 respect to the Tithe Commutation Act, there could
It 130 doubt that that was a measure greyly in favour of the
affect
of Ireland. The present corn-laws either materially
,f,:t the price of the first article of necessity. or they do not
st.'" a it. If they do not affect it, 1 wish to know why there is
itini objection to the proposed alteration in the duty which is
teth'ended in the price of corn ? I do riot know on what ground
a corn-laws should be maintained, fir, in my opinion, they
c..l to paralyse the market—they set class in opposilion to
IL:Jo—they destroy the social bonds of the whole community,
14_ endanger even its very existence. But if they do affect
11,_°", and cause an artificial value in the cost of provisions,
R
as interfering with the grea question of the interests of
I;jet,consumer and receiver of wage-, I call upon sou tot to away
4 these imposts,and diminish the price of fuer! to the con-
l'tiaer.
Ith,atit, It cannot be denied that througimet the whole of the
N.rt storing districts the importation of goods from distant
emV).l the country has progressively incremeal. Manchester
ar,,,__Llverpool now draw their supp.y of agricultwal produce
,n(tio Ireland, Scotland, and the northern provinces of England,
the simultaneously with the increase of import has I.),en
. 16, i tact-eased demand. It may, pet haps, be thought
, (11:: the value of land in the neighbourhood of
het! towns would have ditninisi.ed, but the reverse is the
of ;11
and to substantiate my posi•iitii. I can refer to the opinion
late r' Wilson. In writing on tie corn laws he says—" Of
pass33'eans the faeile ies of steam navigat on hive enabled the
la aii:n° of Ireland to dispose of the produce of their industry
Places Profitable markets of Liverpool, Manchester, and other
viaian! and while we findhat this hss tended for furiesh pro-
Preci.! at Z. cheaper rate sate consumer, it. ha= ot at a',l Xi-
tawns7l the value of land in the nt.‘ighbourh oil of these la ge
are ~_
It. Now, Sir, there is only o,:e oft. er rdiit to whaill 1
trap:;ll ions to ~raw the attention of -the House, and that is the
alt,,,,.es.ant..flueston of the bearing of the price of corn upon
thriikin I have stated on a former occasion my reasons for not
tices g that high prices are conducive to 11 waoes, and low
li result in low waatas. No, the reverse is the case. I
6
Prices that low wag s produce high pricer., and that high
rat Produce low wages.—(Hea,, heer, sell (beers.) Thy
11311
Scot-
Weavers, I will refer to will I e the evidence of the Scot-
s, Who say that the only measure they desire is the