The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-28 00:00:00

MR. SMITH OBRIEN.

Mr. ESTCOURT brought up a report from the Committee
on Group 11 of Railway Bills.
The Clerk read the report, which stated that at one o'clock,
this day, the Members comprising the Committee on Group
11 of Railway Bills were present in the Committee-room, and
that Mr. Smith O'Brien did not attend within one hour, the
time appointed.
The SPEAKER ealled on Mr. Smith O'Brien.

Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN rose and said—Sir, I presume that
the object of this House, in calling upon me, is to give me an
apportunity of making an explanation to this House. I
feel obliged for this opportunity, but I have already stated
my views and intentions fully and finally in the correspondence
which has passed between myself anti the Committee of Se-
lection. Ido not think it necessary to add anything to the
matters contained in those letters, nor am I desirous of with
drawing anything from the substance contained in those letters.
The Hon. Member here withdrew.
Mr. ESCOURT said that he wished to state the grounds
on which he should ask the support of the House to a motion
which he should make, and to state to the House that, con-
sidering those circumstances, and the motion he was about
to make, this as the most painful duty he ever had to perform.
He thought he would be justified in the eyes of the House in
making that statement, for so long as he held the situation which
he then held, which has been since the Committee of Selection
had been instituted by that House—this was the first and only
time he had ever been called on to perform a duty similar
to the present one. On the 12th of February last that House
framed certain resolutions, and amongst those resolutions was
one, the Committee of selection to form certain Committees
for the purpose of inquiry into the merits of railway Bills.
The Committee of Selection by a resolution of this House
were ordered to give ample notice to those Members whom
they might choose to select, which notice was not to be less
than fourteen days. The Committee accordingly thought
it would be expedient to frame such a resolution that
they might be able to give the notice required, and
before the Easter recess, it was given to the Hon. Gentleman,
who was one of those selected. He received notice that on the
07th of the present month, his attendance would be expected
so early as the 3d of April ; on that day he wrote
a letter to me, as Chairman of the Committee, and
in it he enclosed a copy of another letter, whick
was addressed to me, when a similar summons was
received by the Hon. Member, and the reason given for so
doing was, that he (Mr. Estcourt) might, by referring to it
know his reasons for refusing to comply with the
summons, stating that he had not seen any reasons
since. That letter was written to change his opinions.
He received that letter on the 3d of April, that was on a
Friday. The first sittings of Committees of Selection was not
until the Tuesday following, the 6th of April, and, of course,
he would take no measures on receipt of this letter
until he had an opportunity of submitting the same
to his colleagues the Members of the Committee of Selection.
On the 6th of April this Committee met, and then he (Mr.
Estcourt; laid before them the letter with the enclosures received
from the Hon. Members. The Committee of Selection found that
the Hon. Member objected to serve on Committees having no
relation to Ireland. And they also found that the Hon. Mem-
ber stated his reason for so objecting. He (Mr Estcourt)
believed that he could not better put the House in
possession of the grounds on which ,the Committee had acted
r than by reading part of the correspondence which had taken
place between himself and the Honourable Member.
But first he would draw the attentian of the House
to that particular part of the Honourable Member's
letter on which the Committee had acted. The Hon. Member
said that as long as he continued to serve in that House as'one
of the Irish Representatives he would not until Ireland
was placed upon a footing of political equality with
England, he could not think of devoting his time to
the business of this country. Then he went on to say that he
had no wish to interfere with the affairs of England or Scotland,
unless those affairs were in some way connected with his
own country. And he added, that he had abstained
while in that House from voting on questions of a merely local
nature from the same motives. The Committee of Selection
had instructed him again to write to the Hon. Member, stating
that no reason had been assigned which was in their opinion
sufficient to justify them in absolving the Hon. Member from
those duties which were imposed upon other Hon. Members.
He did write to the Hon. Member, informing him that the
Committee could not recognise such an excuse, and they would
not, therefore, be justified in exempting him from the perform-
ance of the duties which commenced on the 27th of April.
An addition was made to the letter, to the effect that the
Committee would be happy to make any arrangement to delay
the Hon. Member's attendance till a later period, if it would
be any accommodation to him' toy do so. That letter
he sent to the Honourable Member the next day,
and on the following day he received an acknow-
ledgement from the Honourable Member, in which the
Hon. Member stated that his objection to serving on these
Committees was founded on the relation which at
present existed between his own country and Great
Britain, and was in no way connected with his
personal convenience. The Hon. Member, therefore, stated
that his former communicatioa announced his final determina-
tion. He (Mr. Escourt) had not an opportunity of lay-
ing that letter before the Committee of Selection
till after the recess, and then the Committee felt a
sufficient excuse had not been given to justify the
non-attendance of the Honourable Member, and they
placed his name on the Committee appointed to consider
the merits of the Bills comprised in Group No. 11. In ac-
cordance with the resolutions of the House, Hon. Members were
required to moke a declaration that they were not in any way
intereeted in the Bills referred to them ; but the Hon. Members
for Limerick neglected to snake this declaration, and on Friday
last he (Mr. Estcourt) reported this fact to the House, in accoi d-
ance with a resolution agreed to by the Committee of Selection.