The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-28 00:00:00

ciationg, are of opinion, a law might be passed which, without
being in any degree a departure from the principles ea the ion-
stitution, would enable tire Executive Government to put in
force the administration of justice more speedily, and at a less
expense, than can be done at present. But before they proceed
to stete the provisions of such a law, they beg to remark, that.
although it is quite true, as has bi en stated by the Chief Justice
of the King's Bench, in his charge to the Grand Jury of the
Queen's County, that the ordinary an, regular laws have been
found sufficient to put down the various Whitebay Associations
which have from time to time existed, t is equally true, that in
every instance every Assnciaticn has made itself complete etas-
ter of the county where it has been formed, and committed all
kinds of crimes and enormities with impunity for a cons•derable
period before the enforcement of the powers of the law has pro-
duced a remedy. The practice of having recourse to a Special
Commission, as the means of carryi.g into effect a vigorous aes-
plication of the rigours of the law, has lei to this; and while
this practice is the sole remedy which is had recourse to, the
same result will necessarily occur, because the expense which
amends the sending down of a Special Commission, and the dif.
ficulty of making out a case for it to act upon, must lead to post-
poning the appointment of it until a long time after an illegal
conspiracy has commenced its operations In point of fact,
although the law has in general proved sufficiently strong and
effectual for the ultimate suppression of Whiteboy Aseociations,
it has not been effectual iu affording protection to the public
against being exposed to the crimes and atrocities of those con.
spiracies for a considerable period previous to their being com-
pletely repressed."

And what remedy did the Committee recommend for this state
of things? But before he stated that remedy he would refer to
the evidence of Mr. Barrington, and to the evidence of a moat
unsuspected witness, the evidence of a Roman Catholic Clergy-
man Mr. Barrington was asked—

" Can you stale what means are taken be these gangs to pro,
pagate these systems, as you have given the Cominiticie to u .der:
stand that there is a willingness on the part of the peasantry to
commit crime do not wish the Committee to underst.ind any
such thing: I believe the greater number join through terror
Ind necessity, from the kind of houses they inhabit, and the re-
tired situation in which they are placed. The parties to the mur-
der of Mr. Blood went to the houses of 'natty poor farmers to
compel them to go with them. Seine of these farmers tol.t me
that they were delighted to hear of their execution ; they said so
secretly, knowing I would not disclose it . they fieluetitly made
them join when thee went out at night. Captain it, ck (the man
Dillane, who I have alluded to) toldine that he has beeo obliged
to threaten to fire at his own men to make them ati,ck a home.
" What are the means by which they exercise these stems
of intimidation over the lower orders? By goit g to their houses
at night, and swearing them to join, and be ready whenever they
may be called on to take arms or to attack houses. If the} rtfuse,
or their wives and families should in any way prevent them, they
were formerly carded, but latter:y wounded or flogged, or some
other punishment indicted on them.
" Is punishment nearly certain to follow' the non-execution of
what is ordered to be done P Most certain!.;
conse-
quence is, the whole peasantry of a county, ~ot and the
iving any means
of resistance, are obliged to join. When this system .7`ornmen,ce's
the whole county is soon in a flame, if it is nofdiscovereL: .and in.
stantly checked."
That, he said, proved that though the system might, in the
first instance, perhaps, be checked by the vigilance of the Ma-
gistrates, yet when the system was established, it went beyond
the control of all the ordinary powers of the law. What,
too, was the evidence of Mr. O'Connor ? Mr. O'Connor's eri.
deuce was tide--

" Do they endeavour by force and by intimidation to obtain
what they wish to have clone P—They generally first serve a no.
tice, and if that is not obeyed, violence foliows : this notice is
accompanied generally with a picture of a coffin, or some em-
blem of death, and they write, that if they do not do What they
require within a certain time, to prepare their coffin.
" Has this been done indiscriminately on Catholic farmers as
well as on Protestants?--I believe, if there is any preference
given, the Catholics get more notices : the Whitefeet are most
liberal people, for they make no distinction between Catholic and
Protestant.

" Are not the punishments they inflict in case of di.-obedience
to their orders o the greatest atrocity, as,a_ssination, &c. ?—Yes,
generally beating, which sometimes ends in death.
" How does it happen that these violence, make so much pro-
gress ; is it because the laws are not sufficient to put them down
that they are not checked P-1 cannot account for it otherwise
than by saying the people are afraid to give information ; they
bear with the injury for fear they should be Murdered if they
give information.
" The dread of punishment for giving inforrnatiori Prefaili it
such an extent as to render the laws inoperative? -Not entirely
inoperative,bccause they have been executed in many insl'aneei.:
" But inoperative in the first instane a until the system giVned
a great height, and has established itself generally ?—Yes, it
established its empire over the whole county."
Now, that was the evidence of a Roman Catholic Clergyrda4
—of a man thoroughly well acquainted with the feelings and
thoughts, and the motives to action, of those men of whom he
was speaking. And what was the remedy which the Committee
he had already referred to had recommended ? What step did
it recommend the Government to take to stop these evils ?
The Committee recommended one of the principles of the Bill
then before the House—it recommended that so much of the In-
surrection Act should be taken out of it, and passed into a new
Act, as forbade people to be abroad at night ; and gave the ma-
gistrates and police a right to institute domiciliary Visits, which'
would be an effectual check to the outrages committeet at night.
The recommendation of the Committee was to go bey&ti the
present law; and the report of the Committee grounded its re--
commendation on the necessity of protecting witnesses and giv-
ing protection to the lives and properties of the people. lobes
proceeding hereceived from
~
vrouLdnrje_fertotoactchoeuln,ttsa.w which t
hacch heoun adtshwhiccah.
he had
ceived witbia tne last three or four days. The Right Hohl:
tsentleman then quoted several cases of recent outrage, parti-
cularly one of which the widow of Mr. Marum, who was
murdered, was the victim—of a murder committed at Mo-
naghan—and a case in Kilkenny, as late as February '"2.—to
show the present lawless state of Ireland. The Right Hon.
Gentleman further quoted a letter he had received from Major
Brown, stating that he had been obliged to send out a strong
party of police against a body of Whitefeet, under a man of
the name of Kios, when a sub-constable bad been shot. Ano.
ther case had occurred at Cavan, within a few days, when the
revenue police had been fired at by a large party of men. He
would also refer to a letter, dated the ‘2oth of February, front
the agent for the Inland Steam Ccmpany, relative to the boats
which had been sunk on the Royal Canal. Several barges,
also engaged in the iron trade, and intended to convey goods
of that description to Dublin, and thence to Liverpool, were
stopped on their course from the Shannon to Dublin, and the
persons who navigated were compelled to abandon them, be-
cause their lives were threatened if they continued any longer
on board. The consequence of this outrage was, that property
to the amount of 10,0004 remained in the boats exposed to de.
predation, and hourly deteriorating in value. It was in vain to
offer double wages, the system of intimidation was too powerful.
There were no less than five or six hkindrid nien who received •
constant employment and liberal wages from the Corn..
pany, and much service had been done to that part of the
country, not only by the opportunities afforded to the labouring
classes, but by the establishment of inland navigation. By
the present system, however, their effoits for the improvement -

of the country were defeated, the whole business of that ex-
tensive line of navigation was paralysed; and so effectual had
been the exertions of lawless turbulence, that no matter how
gross the misconduct of any labourer, it was impossible to
punish him without a certainty of causing the destruction of
some lives. Such was the statement made by GOO of the
most influential and wealthy merchants and traders of Dublin,
He would now advert to a point on which he wished to dwell

at some length—the necessity of employing some strong

powers. What those precise powers ought to be, it was not
❑ow the proper time to discuss, nor did it seem necessary to
enter into the details of the Bill, which had met with such un-

precedented opposition on its first reading- -(1-lear)—but some

strong powers there should be to check the career of outrage.
—(Hear, hear.) The Committee cf last year had recommended
the enforcement of the Insurrection Act, and the principi; of

domiciliary visits was recognised by it to the fullest extent. If
the disturbers of the peace were to be kept in check, if men

were to be confined lo their houses, domiciliary visits, he
would assert, were absolutely necessary for that purpose. The

tribunal proposed at present by Government, was certainly dif-
ferent from that pointed out by the Committee, but it was not
without its recommendations. The Committee advised that the
offences should be tried by the Magistrates at Quarter-Sessions,
and that they should have the power of continuing the Court
from week to week for the due admini:Aration of the law. But if
a strong opposition was made to the In,urroction Act as harsh
and odious, surely the evils would be aggravated by referring
offenders for trial to the local Magistrates, who were open to so
many objections, who were so generally accused of deciding
with a view to gratify their private ends, of consulting their
individual interests alone, and in short, of constant malad-
ministration in their office. Whether such charges were true
or not, was not for him to say, but the evil caused by so gene-
ral an impression was nearly equal to any mischief that could
result from the reality. lie could conceive no situation more
painful or injurious than that of the Members who had formed

such a local tribunal spending the remainder of their lives
among persons who believed them to have made au arbitrary,
cruel, and oppressive use of their power. The Government,
therefore, set aside the local tribunals as infinitely more
detrimental, and infinitely snore vexatious than courts.
martial. It was not necessary for him to repel the charge brought
against military tribunals by the Hon. Member for the city
:if London—a charge wholly without foundation, and con.
tradicted by all who had experience on the subject. The
Hon. Member had asserted that military tribunals were in
general harsh and oppressive; but the accusation was nega-
tived by the people of Ireland themselves. How often had not
some Honourable Gentlemen, when they wished to cry down
the police, declared that the people looked to the presence of
the army as a control and beneficial superintendence over the
police ?—(Cheers.) How often had they not asserted that the
peasantry looked up to the soldier as a friend, and the officer as
a protector ?—(Cheers.) Had it not been said that the retired
officers were favourite magistrates ? But the Member for the
city of London objected to the present measure as a most un.
constitutional one; he admitted it. The Bill was demanded
only on the ground that there existed a stern, rigid, arbitrary
❑ecessity, which allowed no alternative—which imperiously
claimed powers beyond the law, for the purpose of securing
life and property to the subject. The objection made to the
Bill formed, in his eyes, Its greatest recommendation, because
its utter variance with the Constitution rendered it totally im-
possible that it could ever be drawn into a precedent unless
such times as the present should recur to justify its adoption.—
(Loud cheers.) The proposal of appointing gentlemen of the
Bar for the trial of the offenders, was one at which he looked
with much jealousy. Ought the Judges of the land—men

whose characters should be beyond all stain, who should never
be exhibited in situations at variance with the duties of their
office, and who should live within the letter and spirit of the
law—ought they to be disgraced by setting them to try criminal
offences without a Jury ? As to the other suggestion, that
barristers might try persons, he regarded it as a dangerous
scheme. Barristers, it would be said, were anxious far prefer.
ment ; the suspicion of such a motive would cast a slur over
their proceedings—they would be supposed to decide according
to the wishes of Government, and to view every question as
a political one. That they
would not be governed by such
motives he was perfectly assured; but there would, it was
evident, be room for much clamour.—(Hear.) Besides, he
was confirmed in his opinion by the known political bias of the
gentlemen who occupied the most prominent position at the
Irish bar. If they Farted from the liVr at all, it was better to