The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-02 00:00:00

to show that the state of that country still continued such as
to require a renewal of the measure ; that the spirit of insu-
bOrdination existing there was such as to require additional
powers to be given for the support of the government, and that
the ordinary powers of the law were no longer sufficient to
preserve the public peace. Wishing to trouble their lordships
as short a time as he possibly could in introducing this mea-
sure, he should proceed
.at once to show, in the first place,
what measures had been taken by the government under the
act ; in the second place, to point out the manner in which the
powers given under the act had been applied ; and, lastly, to
show what the state of Ireland was at the present moment.
Under the provisions of the act, four districts of the county of
Kilkenny were brought within its operation, by proclamation,
on the 6th of April, 1833. The second place where it was
brought into operation was in the King's County. Four ba-
ronies in that county were proclaimed on the 14th of April,
1834. It was next brought into operation in the county of
Westmeath, where four baronies were proclaimed on the 4th
of May, 1834. And lastly, the barony of Longford and Lei-
trim, in the county of Galway, were proclaimed, in consequence
of an unanimous application of the magistrates of the dis-
turbed districts, on the 26th of May, 1834. These were the
only four districts in which it had been found necessary, by the
Government of Ireland, to bring the act into operation. He
felt that it was only an act of justice towards the noble lord at
the head of the Government in Ireland, as well as towards tl:,e
government itself, that they had shown, in exercising the, ex_
traordinary powers given to them by this act, great forbearance
and moderation, mixed with great firmness. (Hear.) 'They
had never applied ill but in cases where the applicatitm of it
was clearly and undoubtedly necessary ; and where it was
found necessary, from the state of the districts to v,yhich he had
alluded, that it should be applied, it was done in a manner as
little severe as possible. As he had stated, the act was first
brought into operation in the county of Kilkenny, on the 6th
of April, 1833. He had before him a statement of the crimes
in that district from the Ist of April, 1832, to the Ist of April,
1833 ; and also from the Ist of 461, 1833, to the Ist of April,
1834. In the former of these periods—that was from the Ist
of April, 1832, to the Ist of April, 1833—the outrages com-
mitted amounted to 1,590. That was previous to the act com-
ing into operation. The county was proclaimed on the 6th of
April, 1833, by the Privy Council, and the provisions of the
act came into operation on the 10th. In the period from the
4th of April, 1833, to the Ist of April, 1834, which was after
it came into operation, the number of outrages amounted
only to 331, which was a diminution of 1,259, as compared
with the former period. This showed the salutary effects
of the act in that district, and must be satisfactory to their
lordships. ( Hear, hear.) This account was given by Mr.
Green, a resident magistrate in Kilkenny, in a letter to Lord
Wellesley, dated April 19, 1834. Mr. Green said in his letter
that he is of opinion " that notwithstanding this diminution of
the amount of crime, the operation of the act cannot be safely
suspended ; and that were the act to expire, the winter would
be one of continued outrage." In a subsequent communica-
tion from Mr. Green, dated May 13, 1834, and written by him
in answer to certain queries addressed to him by the govern-
ment, he says " agitation had not been attempted in the county
or city since the proclamation ; and he added, that " the pro-
visions of the bill had been exercised without imposing the
slightest restraint or hardship on the people by day or night,
when pursuing their honest and ordinary calling; and he added
that "his orders on this head had been strictly obeyed." This
must also be highly satisfactory to their lordships to hear. The
same intelligent gentleman, in a subsequent letter, dated the
4th of June, 1833, and addressed to Sir. Wm. Gossett, stated
that " only one person was in confinement on the 4th of June
under the Coercion Act, but that the greatest hnxiety pre-
vailed among all classes, as the time for the expiring of the
act drew near, to have it renewed." This showed, in the first
place, that the act had been aipli.;N:l in districts where it
was required ; secondly, that it nad had a salutary effect ;
thirdly, that the manner in which the extraordinary powers
given by it were employed, was lenient ; and, lastly, that
the people in the districts where it was applied depended
on a renewal of the act. Mr. Green added, in an-
other letter to Sir William Gosset, dated June 15,
1834, when speaking of the effect of the act as to ex-
pense : " Notwithstanding the proclamation of the coun-
ty, the constabulary force of the county has been dimi-
nished by two chief constables, and sixty peace preserva-
tion police ; that of the city by ten policemen ; being a
saving of expense to the amount of 1,4801. The next of the
proclaimed districts was King's County. In it five baronies
were proclaimed on the 14th of April last. During the month
of March preceding, the number of crimes reported amounted
to 73, 23 being for attacks on houses, 14 for illegal meetings,
10 for appearing in arms, and seven for administering unlawful
oaths. Of these crimes, 54 were of an insurrectionary cha-
racter. During the month of April, the total amount of crimes
reported is 8-4 being previous to the proclamation. Thus, in
the month of March the total amount of general crime was 73;
while in April it was only 8, being a diminution, in the month
subsequent to the proclamation, of 65 ; and the amount of
crime of an insurrectionary character was, in the month of
March, 54, and in the month of April only eight, being a
diminution of 46. This showed both the necessity of
applying the act in this district, and the salutary effect
which ensued from it. He was sorry, however, to say,
that the diminution in the amount of crime did not con-
tinue ; for he found in May there was a general increase
of crime from 8, the number in the preceding month, to 29.
But of these only five were of a political character. From
this it appeared that the amount of general crime in March
was 73, while in May it was 29, being a diminution of 44, and
the amount of crimes of a political nature in the former pe-
riod was 54, while in the latter period it was only 5, being a
diminution of 49. Then with regard to the baronies which
were proclaimed in the county of Westmeath. It appel.!..red
they were proclaimed on the 4th of May. The crimes reported
during the month of April preceding were 21, while the
amount during the month of May, when it was a proclaimed
district, was only 3, being a diminution of 'l9. The last of
the proclaimed districts were the baronies of Longford and
Leitrim, in the county of Galway. They were proclaimed in
consequence of the unanimous resolution of twenty-three ma-
gistrates, on the 26th of May, 1834, and it appeared that
from the Ist of April to the 25th of May, twenty-two out-
rages were committed in those baronies, some of them of a
very serious nature. ( Hear, hear.) But no account had been
received since the proclamation, the month not being yet com-
pleted. He was unwilling to take up so much of their
lordships' attention, by reading those statements ; but
it was necessary that their lordships and the pub-
lic should be satisfied of the necessity of renew-
ing this act, and he therefore claimed their indulgence.
( Hear, hear.) He would read a statement of the state of
Ireland, which he had extracted from papers, for which he
should move an address to his Majesty, to lay them on their
lordships' table. The noble earl then read the following
statements :
STATE OF IRELAND DURING THE MONTH OF
MAY, 1834,
Showing the total number of crimes, of every description,
committed during that period : also distinguishing those of
a political or insurrectionary character ; and showing the in-
crease or decrease as compared with the preceding month
and the corresponding month of last year.
PROVINCE OF LEINSTER.
Crimes of every description—
Committed in April, 1834
May, 1834
Increase in May 325
23 Committed in May, 1883
May, 1834
Increase in 1834 325
Crimes of an insurrectionary nature—
Committed in April, 1834
May, 1834
Decrease in May
2 5
Committed in May, 1833
143
May, 1834
Decrease in 1834
26 The principal decrease since the month of April being
in—Attacks on houses (decrease)
Burnings, &c.
14
Illegal Notices

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28 crimes being reported, and of these only one being of political character.
Limerick and Waterford show a diminution of one-half in
the number of political offences since April. •
Tipperary is in much the same state as it has been in for the
last year, the number and nature of the political offences vary-
ing a little. The scene of them is described as changing;
some baronies, which were disturbed, having become tran-
quil ; and in others which were quiet crimes having become more
frequent.

PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT.
Crimes of every description—.
Committed in April 1834
May, 1844
Increase in May
Committed in Ma;y, 1833
l'tfay 1834
Increase in 1834
84
Crimes of a political nature__ i; Committed in April 1834
May, 1834
Decrease in May
5 • ;
Committed in May, 1833
May, 1834
Increase in 1834
—2B
Leitrim, Mayo, and Clare, with the exception of two baro.
ties, are described as being in a tranquil state.
Galway is described as being considerably disturbed, and
the crimes of a political nature, though showing a decrease of
5 since April, are more numerous than in any other county in
Ireland, 43 being reported during the month of May. No
great change in this county since last year.
Both Roscommon and Sligo show an increase in the month
of May in the former county, crimes of a political nature
having increased from 10 in the month of April to 14 in the
month of May, and in the latter from 14 to 29 ; both counties
also exhibiting a considerable increase in crimes of this de-
scription over the corresponding month of last year.
PROVINCE OF CLSTER%
Crimes of every description—
Committed in April, 1834 ......... . ................. 430
May, 1834
488
Increase in May
Committed in May, 1833 58
251
May, 1834 4BB
Increasein 1834
Of this increase, one-half consists of cases of assault, ur.
connected with Ribbonisin.
Crimes of a political nature_
Committed in April, 1834 66
May 1834 6O
Decrease in May,,
Committed in Ma 6
May,
183,3
May,, 33 1834 6O
Increase in 1834 27
Attacks upon houses form the principal item of increase
since last year.
The counties of Antrim, Down, Tyrone, Londonderry,
Fermanagh, appear quite tranquil ; in the three former no
political
in the outrages being reported during thO month of May,
ast only
and two l
Donegal and Armag 3,
h are in an improving state, insurrec-
tionary offences having decreased since April ; in the former
from 24 to 8, in the latter from 16 to 8.
Monaghan alone shows an increase in these crimes, the num.
ber in April being 16, in May 24 ; the increase being in at-
tacks upon houses.
Assault and larcencies form the chief items of the great
increase in crimes of every description since last year.
General statement of political and insurrectionary offences
during the months of May, 1833 and 1834 :-
1833. 1834. Decrease. Increase.
Province of Leinster 143 117 26 0
Munster 27 28 0 1
Connaught 72 100 0 28
Ulster 33 60 0 27

Total Ireland 275 305 30
The total amount of crimes reported officially in Ireland,
from the Ist of January, to the 31st of May, 1834 :
Ulster 2,083
Leinster 1,866
Connaught 3,038
Munster BB2

7869
Of these 3,296 are cases of assault unco, netted with Rib.
bonism.

Those reported of an insurrectionary, &c., character,
amount to, in

Ulster ...
Leinster
Connaught
Alunster

300
963
478
212

153
In Ulster little more than one-seventh, in Connaught less
than one-seventh; in Munster one quarter, appear differences
of an insurrectionary character, while in Leinster upwards of
ne-half are of that nature.
By a comparison with the reports for the corresponding pe-
riod in the last year, it appears that in the first five months of
the present year, there has, in the provinces of Ulster, Con-
naught, and Munster, been an increase of crime on the ag-
gregate, and in the province of Leinster a decrease to the foI
lowing extent, viz....—
Increase. Decrease.
Ulster
Connaught 603 Leinster 1,30
200
Munster 424

Flaking 1, 2:Z7
aking a decrease on the whole of 79
in regard to the opinion of the authorities in Ireland as to the renewal of the act, he had a letter addressed by his Majesty's
Lord-Lieutenant in Ireland to the Secretary of State for Ire-
land, dated 18th of April. His Excellency stated, that he
enclosed the replies of the Inspectors-General of the provinces
to queries addressed to them in regard to the renewal of the
Coercion Act, and that from them it would be seen that they
were unanimously in favour of a renewal. He added, that it
was almost superfluous to say, that he approved of the opi-
nions stated by them, and that he anxiously desired to see the
act renewed. The queries addressed to the inspectors-general
were simply : Ist, Whether there was any necessity for the
renewal of the Coercion Act ? and 2dly, Whether in their
opinion any alteration was required in it ? The answer of the
Inspector-General of the province of Ulster was to the effect,
that that province had, previous to the Coercion Act, been
unsettled and lawless, that the greatest advantage had been de-
rived from the act, and more especially from that clause which
prevented nocturnal meetings, which he thought had done more
to restore tranquillity than any other part of the bill. The
next answer was from Mr. Warburton, the Inspector-General
of Connaught, who stated that his opinion was that the act
should unquestionably be renewed; that it was to the noctur-
nal meetings that most of the disturbances were to be attri-
buted, and that the part of the act which prevented them was
the best in it. He was satisfied that if the county of Kil-
kenny had not been proclaimed, the disturbances which had
been so prevalent in it would have been spread over all the
neighbouring counties, where they could not have been so
easily repressed. He thought that the act ought to be re-
newed, and that it required no amendment. The next answer
was from the Inspector-General of Munster, who stated, that
from the moment of the introduction of the bill into Parlia-
ment it was of good in that province, from the moral influence
which it had over the people. While the well-affected ac-
quired confidence and security from it, the turbulent were
overawed and disheartened ; and he thought that Ireland
would be in a much worse state if it were not renewed. The
next document to which he would refer was a statement made
by Inspector-General Harvey. He said, " The baronies of
Garrycastle, Eglish Ballybrit, and Ballobay, are under the
nightly dominion of an illegal anti-social.union or combination,
in which his Majesty's peaceable subjects are exposed to acts of
violence, robbery, savage threats, personal injury, reckless
cruelty, and inhumanity, such as are unknown in more civilized
countries, and which it is obviously impossible for the authori-
ties effectually to suppress without being armed with powers
which, in countries where the law is habitually respected,
might be deemed an infringement of the liberty of the peace-
able subject, but which are here indispensibly required for the
purpose of maintaining him in the possession of that liberty,
and of affording him that protection in his person and his pro-
perty, which all who submit to the laws have an undoubted
right to require from the Government by which they are ad-
ministered. It is for these objects that -I
respectfully solicit
for the civil authorities within the baronies in question the
temporary possession of those powers, which can only be con-
ferred upon them by the bill passed in April, 1833. By the
exercise of these powers alone, in the present state of certain
parts of this district, can the Government, in my opinion, ef-
fectually afford to his Majesty's peaceable subjects that pro-
tection which they have a right to claim, or restrain and
punish the authors of those excesses by which social or-
der is disturbed, and law and authority set at defiance."
(Hear, hear.) The noble earl then proceeded to say
that he had now described the general state of Ireland, and
the particular state of those districts which had been
proclaimed, with the opinions of the magistrates and other
authorities in the four provinces of Ireland as to the necessity
of renewing the act of 1833. When he considered what was
the nature of the statements which he had made, he thought
he might anticipate their lordships' unanimous concurrence in
the opinion which had been given by various officers, that the
renewal of this act was absolutely necessary, and that, in fact,
the powers which it afforded could not be dispensed with.
(Hear, hear.) It would be a question, however, whether they
might safely withdraw any part of the extraordinary and severe
powers of this act. He deeply lamented the necessity of ap-
plying to their lordships and to Parliament to grant powers of
this nature, but it could not be said that those powers were
disproportioned to the extent of the evils which afflicted Ire-
land, and which were so alarming at the time when be first
called on their lordships to adopt this measure. The question
would now be whether the act should be renewed in its pre_
sent state, or whether any part of those powers should be dis-
pensed with. He could assure their lordships that this question
had been examined with the most anxious attention by his Ma-
jesty's government, with a view of relaxing in some measure
the
cometseveriy of those powers, and he was happy to say that they had to the conclusion, qonfirrned by the opinions of the Lord Lieutenant and other official authorities of Ireland, and
that a part of this act might be also
-
also by a communication with some of the most efficient ma-
gistrates in the country,
pensed with. He alluded to that part which gave the Lorl
in
certain places to trial by courtmartial. Their Lieutenant the power of subjecting offences committed under
the act
extraordinary nature; and ;'hat, although it
lord-
ships would recollect that it was stated last session, that that
power
ewnasexpof an
edient to enact it, yet it should not be continued
for a longer period than the siate of Ireland absolutely ro-
quired. That part of fne act called forth the greatest oppo-
'..l-5 Considered the most objectionable; and i
Wast47tbaenredfore, with great satisfaction that he proposed to
their lordships the omission of the courtmartial clauses
in the act of which he was about to move the renewal.
He had stated to their lordships that they had sufficient
groUnds; and the opinions of the best authorities, for the

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