The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-27 00:00:00

mint promised a bill to settle the land question, but it had
altogether failed, not from the opposition of the Irish •
members on his (Sir Colman O'Loghlen's) side of
the house, but those who sat behind the Trea-
sury bench. The great curse of Ireland was absen-
teeism, and, with the greatest respect for Her Majesty, he
thought that if Her Majesty and the Royal Family would
stay for a short time in that country she would more
effectually put down the effects of that system than regi-
ments of soldiers and police.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER acknow-
ledged that the social state of Ireland, with the Habeas
Corpus suspended, was not satisfactory, but the responsi-
bility could not be traced to the conduct of the present
Government or of their predecessors ; it was due to an
unprecedented external influence, the extent of which
could not be known at present. The opinions he had ex-
pressed in the speech to his constituents, referred to by Sir
C. O'Loghlen, were unchanged as to Irish emigration and
the possibility of applying a remedy; but, remembering
that the emigration was greatest from Uulster, it was diffi-
cult to believe that the land question could be the cause of
it. But the Government, he maintained, Lad shown their
appreciation of the importance of that question by bringing
in two large measures, which, though members supposed
peculiarly to represent landlords, were ready to deal with
them in a conciliatory spirit, were criticised in a bold and
captious tore by those who professed to speak for the
tenants, and who suddenly discovered that the compensa-
tion on which they had insisted for years was "all moon-
shine." The question of Irish University Education, he
admitted, must be met, and he hoped that by a wise for-
bearance a settlement might be made conducive to the
public interest. To Sir C. O'Loghlen's complaint that he
had not spoken on the Established Church he retorted that
debates consisting chiefly of historical retrospects and re-
presentations of the Irish Church as a badge of conquest,
which ought therefore to be abolished, would not conduce
to a state of feeling favourable to a settlement, and he ex-
pressed strong doubts whether Ireland—whose misfortune
was that much had been destroyed and little had been
created- would be benefited by persisting in a policy of
indiscriminate pulling down. Desiring to see Ireland
thriving and prosperous, he looked for that result to a
combination of tle circumstances which produced good
government elsewhere—a desire to act justly on the part
of the governors, and a willingness on the part of the
governed to look with forbearance and gratitude on the acts
of those whem they believed anxious to befriend them.
By an improvement of her agriculture and the introduc-
tion of manufactures and the combination of various in-
dustries he hoped that the state of Ireland would be im-
proved ; but ho admitted that material causes alone would
not bring this about, and that the Government must be
inspired by the spirit of justice and complete impartiality.
Sir J. GRAY, in interpreting Mr. Disraeli's speech as a
declaration that the Government declined to deal next year
either with the Church or the land question, expressed his
disappointment with their decision, and denied that the
Irish Liberals opposed Lord Naas's Land Bills, or had
repudiated their claim for " compensation."
Lord C. HAMILTON, on the contrary, insisted that it
was the representatives of the tenant interest who had
prevented those bills passing this year.
Mr. Pim, Mr. Monsell, and Mr. O'Beirne followed in a

. .
similar strain, dilating on the grievances of Ireland, and
predicting that the refusal of the Government to deal
with the Church and the land questions would greatly
increase discontent there. An imputation made by Mr.
O'Beirne on the sincerity of the Government called up
Lord NAAS, who asserted emphatically that they had
seriously and earnestly desired to pass the two land bills,
and had been prevented pressing them forward by the pre-
occupation of all available time by the Reform Bill. On
the general question, Lord Naas, while acknowledging
that, owing to the peculiar circumstances of the session,
Irish legislation had not been very important, expressed a
confident hope that it would soon be possible to deal with
these vexed questions ; and with the patriotic assistance
of both sides the University question would not be found
very difficult of settlement.
Mr -H.-D. SEYMOUR called attention to the condition
of the Abyssinian captives, and moved an address praying
her Majesty to take steps to recover them, by force of arms
if necessary. He discussed at length the various objections
to sending an expedition for their rescue, its expense, its
risk, and the danger of precipitating the death of the cap-
tives, contending that the proper course was to forward an
ultimatum demanding their release within a certain time,
and to follow it up if unsuccessful by the despatch of an
armed force, which he showed could with little difficulty
reach the vital point of King Theodore's power.
Sir H. RAWLINSON maintained that to bear longer
with the indignity King Theodore had put upon us would
be an act of suicidal cowardice, and that we had no alter-
native but to take some strong steps at once to liberate the
captives. The advance of a well appointed force from the
coast to Abyssinia, though arduous, was not by any means
impossible, and as to the expense, it would be nothing as
compared with the loss to our reputation and prestige in
the East if we left our captives longer in their present
wretched state. The danger of precipitating their death
was, ho showed, very :.light, they were quite willing to
risk it, and he strongly recommended that if an expedition
were sent wo should not entangle ourselves in foreign co-

operation.
Mr. LAYARD stated that, having been formerly
strongly opposed to an expedition, he hadonow come to the
opinion that there was no other means left of rescuing the
captives.
Lord STANLEY said the matter had been under the at-
tention of the Government ever since they came into office,
and after mature consideration they decided to attempt the
release of the captives by friendly means, which he de-
scribed, but these had now failed finally. In deciding what
should be done next, though he entirely agreed that to leave
the captives to their fate would seriously damage our pres-
tige, it could not be concealed that to obtain their release
by force would be a most arduous task, so great were
the difficulties of country, climate, transport, &c. To
throw a British army into an unknown country without
an inquiry into the means of feeding and moving it would
bo madness, and courting not only political discredit, but
a military disaster. Sir S. Northcoto had telegraphed to
the Bombay Government to send over officers to consult
with Colonel Merowether and to make these inquiries,
and, though admitting that it was impossible to leave the
captives in Abyssinia, ho declined to give any pledge as to
what the Government would do until the result of these
inquiries was known.
Colonel SYKES strongly opposed the notion of an ex-
pedition, which, he contended, would be full of difficul-
ties, and would lead to great loss of life.
Mr. AYRTON took the same view, and recommended
the employment of some of the African traders as nego-

tiators.
The motion was then withdrawn.
The remaining business was disposed of, and the House
adjourned at half-past 1 o'clock.

METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS•

The usual weekly meeting of the members of this
board was held yesterday at their offices in Spring-
gardens, Sir John Thwaites in the chair.

FINANCE.

The cash statement showed the following sumsin
he hands of the treasurer up to the 23d inst., viz. :

—ln the London and Westminster Bank, £247,091
9s. 3d. ; in the Bank of England, £239,718 19s. 4d.;
total, £486,810 Bs. 7d. Cheques not presented,
£65,005 84. 7d. ; and mortgage debt sinking fund,
£27,176 19s. 7d. New Three per Cent. Annuities.

On the recommendation of the Works and Ge-
neral Purposes Committee cheques were ordered to
be drawn to the amount of £32,981 12s. 3d., and
another cheque for £750 on general account, in
favour of Messrs. Dyson and Co., for Parliamentary