The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17, 1866.

r_PILIRD EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, 7 O'CLOCK.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS-THIS EVENING.

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack ai
four o'clock.

There was a full attendance of peers, but no business
was transacted until 20 minutes to five o'clock.
SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT

IN IRELAND.

The Bill for the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act
in Ireland was brought up from the House of Commons,
with the usual prayer for its assent by their lordships..
Earl RUSSELL, in moving that the bill be read a
first time, said that her Majesty's Government had not
adopted the extreme course involved in this bill without
due consideration of the circumstances which existed in
Ireland up to the present time. They had been compelled
to resort to the introduction of the bill solely by the ne-
cessity of the case. It had been discovered that a power-
ful conspiracy had arisen in Ireland, the object of which
was to subvert the Government of this country in Ireland;
and the acts of the conspirators had been so notorious as to
show that they wanted to exhibit their strength and not
to seek concealment of their object. It was indispensably
necessary that immediate action should be taken by the
Government, and, accordingly, proceedings with which
their lordships were familiar had been adopted to suppress
the movement, but these had been ineffectual. Had it not
been for the civil war in America the present disturbed state
of Ireland would not have arisen. At the end of that war
a million of dollars were subscribed at one time with the
view of invading Canada, and afterwards with the view
of invading Ireland. The object of this Fenian movement
was to take possession of property in Ireland, to upset
both Churches in that country ; it was, in fact, a
movement directed against vested rights and religion.
(Hear, hear.) Of course it was the object of the origi-
nators of this movement to procure as much support as
they could on behalf of their object, and for that purpose
they had established an organised system throughout Ire-
land and the United States, whore a sympathy with the
movement was felt. All these facts had come to the know-
ledge of the Lord Lieutenant and the Executive, and at-
tempts had been made to arrest the progress of the movement,
but it had been found that these attempts had been inade-
quate. As a proof of the extent to which the movement
had extended, the noble lord referred to the attempts which
had been made to tamper with -her Majesty's soldiers,
which, to their credit, had been unsuccessful.
Under these circumstances, there was no course
left open to the Government in order to prevent dis-
order, the devastation of property, and the other effects
that would follow on the progress of such a movement,
even if it were temporarily successful, but to adopt the
most stringent measures which had been sanctioned
by precedent in times of emergency. (Hear, hear.)
The emisssaries of the Fenians from America had been so
numerous, that the Lord Lieutenant said he could not be
held responsible for the safety of Ireland without he was
armed with the powers sought by the bill, and the Govern-
ment felt that the time had arrived when they could ask
the Legislature to give its assent to the bill, which un-
doubtedly was one of great power. If Government were to
allow the proceedings to go on, and if they were to allow
the military measures to go on, Government would be in-
curring a very great responsibility in not asking for
power to put an end to such a state of things. The prin-
cipal emissaries in the Fenian conspiracy were men from
America to whose employment the termination of the
civil war had put an end. The suspension of the Habeas
Corpus Act would enable the Lord-Lieutenant to lay
his fingers on those men, and thus they would be
placed with those who had already had their trial by the
ordinary tribunals of the country. It might be said that
the Government was asking for this very stringent mea-
sure without having measures of a remedial nature to back
them up ; but he thought that in putting down this con-
spiracy the Government were taking the highest and best
remedial measures in their power. (Hear.) The object of
passing the bill, in fine, was to preserve the peace in Ire-
land, and to maintain the authority of the Queen in that
country. (Hear, hear.) He now moved that the bill be
read a first time.

The motion was then agreed to.
The LORD CHANCELLOR, the standing orders hav-
ing been suspended, put the second reading of the bill.
The Earl of DERBY said he did not rise for the pur-
pose of offering any opposition to the motion, because he
supposed that the state of matters in Ireland had altered
very materially since the opening of Parliament. He
should abstain from all lengthy remarks, but he could not
certainly coincide in the observation that the Fenian con-
spiracy was solely the result of the termination of
the civil war in America. Tho time might
come when further explanation might be called
for, but at the present time all that was to
be done was to assent to that measurro which
nearly 370 members of the Houso of Commons had
approved. There had been an insignificant minority of
six in the other house, and he did hope that there would
not be even one member in that house hesitate in the cause
of order, but that power would be given to the Govern-
ment which they by their bill now asked for.
The bill then passed through its other stages.
TELEGRAPH (IRELAND) BILL.

Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY moved and obtained
leave to bring in a bill giving the Lord-Lieutenant power
over the telegraph lines in Ireland.

The house then adjourned during pleasure.
It was understood that their lordships will re-assemble
to-night at 11 o'clock to give the royal assent to the bill.

HOUSE OF COIVIMONS—THis DAT.

The SPEAKER took the chair at 12 o'clock, at which
hour there was a very full attendance of members.
SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT IN

IRELAND.

Sir G. GREY said he rose with deep and sincere regret
to move for leave to introduce a bill for the above object,
and in doing so he was fully impressed with the feeling
that the power was one which no Government ought to
hastily and lightly ask for. (Hear, hear.) He made the
motion with the deep sense of the power it placed in their
hands, but after exhausting every power known to the
existing law, the Government now asked for the authority
given by the bill to crush out a wicked and wide-spread
conspiracy, and to afford protection to the loyal and faith-
ful subjects of her Majesty in that part of her kingdom.
Some might be of opinion that the application was made
too late, others that it was made too soon. The Fenian
organisation had been known to exist in 1862,
but it was not until the termination of the
war in America that the movement fornied a shape and
extent at once dangerous and widespread. The natives of
Ireland who had enrolled themselves in the service of
America, having nothing on hand at the close of the war,
organised themselves, in conjunction with the disaffected
in Ireland, into a conspiracy, the avowed object of which
was to subvert the authority of the Queen, and to sepa-
rate Ireland from the other parts of the kingdom, and
to declare there the existence of a republic. The Govern-
ment had closely watched the action of 'these parties, and
it was not until they could strike a blow with overwhelming
effect that they thought it their duty to apply to Parlia-
ment for the powers now sought. (Hear, hear.) The
first seizure that took place was that of a paper
published in Ireland called the Irish People, in which
sedition was published in the most open and daring
manner, and so well was the nature of those articles known
that he would not insult the house by reading from it.
(Ileac, hear.) A man named Stephens had been one of the
great moving powers of the conspiracy, and up to the pre-
sent he, it was to be regretted, was still at large. The
members of the conspiracy who had been captured, had
been brought to trial, and every one of them
had been convicted. But that was not all. It had
become known that sums of money have been discovered,
the object of which was to corrupt the, loyal part of the
population, and large quantities of arms and ammunition had
also been brought to light. The emissaries from America
had succeeded in enlisting supporters in different parts of
the country, but it was with deep regret that in nearly
every regiment in Ireland these people had in-
sinuated themselves with a view of seducing the
soldiery from their loyalty. It was to be 'regretted, as
unfortunately was the case, that some of the soldiers had
lent a too ready ear to these solicitations, and were new
awaiting their trial; but he felt satisfied and convinced
that the house and country might depend upon the loyalty
of the army as a whole. (Loud cries of " Hear, hear.")
Then, again, it had been said that the Government, fear-
ing the extent of the Fenian conspiracy, had abstained from
sending Irish soldiers to that country, but he could answer
the house that the Commander-in-Chief had not departed,
in one instance, from the roster in sending English and
Scotch soldiers only to Ireland. (Hear, hoar.) It had
been for some time necessary to search various ships arriv-
ing in Ireland from America, and in several of them large
quantities of arms had been discovered, and fortunately pre-
vented from reaching the destinations for which they were
intended. (Hear, hear.) During the Fenian trials no less
than 36 leaders of the conspiracy had been condemned to
penal servitude, and others sentenced to long terms of
imprisonment, and it was hoped that the movement would
have been stopped ; but the contrary had been the result,
the danger had gone on increasing, and the Government
had been compelled to proclaim in Sligo, Carlow, and
Tralee. If the remedy was sharp, the disease, it
must be confessed, was strong. (Hear, hear.) The
number of emissaries from America was known pretty
well to the Government. (Hear, hear.) There were 340
in the provinces and 160 in Dublin, making in all about
500, but the number was being constantly augmented
by fresh arrivals from America. The Government had
also discovered three manufactories of pikes, bullets, and
cartridges in Dublin, but it was too apparent other depots
still remained undiscovered, because there would be no I
use for bullets without there were muskets and rifles to put 7
them in. (Hear, hear.) The audacity with which the 1

conspiracy was conducted was astonishing, because emis-
saries from America had actually been surprised in
sketching our forts and other means of defiance
to the Queen's authority. (Hear, hear.) The most
dangerous feature, however, of the conspiracy was
the attempt to seduce the troops. He would not
go into that part of the case on that occasion, further than
to say that at present it only existed to a limited extent—
(hear, hoar)—but what he had to ask the house was whe-
ther these emissaries from America were to be allowed to
go on distilling their poison. He felt that the mea-
sure asked for was but too much required, because
the Government were in receipt of communica-
tions from the Lord Lieutenant, in which it was
stated that he could not be responsible for the safety of the
country, and without the power which the act would give
him he could not undertake to avert the serious mischief
which threatened Ireland. (Hear.) The most disastrous
consequences would result if the movement was to go on
unchecked. Capital would be debarred from entering the
country, and other nations would inevitably benefit by it
which could not but be fraught with disaster to the
loyal portion of the population. (Hear, hear.) Govern-
ment had shown their estimation of the responsibility rest-
ing on them by making the proposal ho had made to the
house, and it was for the house to say whether or no they
would give them the power. (Hear, hear.) He hoped the
house would be of opinion that he had made out his case
—(hear, hear) —because the strengthening the hands
of the Government by this measure would be to
enable them to c.ush out this enormous mass
of sedition. (Hear, hear.) He proposed only to
limit the operation .of the Act to six mouths, and under
these cireumstances he moved for leave to bring in the bill
The hon. baronet resumed his seat amidst loud cries of
"Hear, hear," from both sides of the house.
Mr. DISRAELI did not rise to offer any opposition to
the course proposed by Government. He only wished to
express his opinion that there had been too much delay
already. (Hear.) He could not but think that there had
been too much hastiness shown last session in repealing
an act of Parliament which would doubtless have been
found of great service in the present emergency. He
alluded to the repeal of the _Rapparee Act. The house
had been told that this conspiracy had been fostered and
extended by emissaries from America ; but if the Act of
George 111., to which he had already referred, had not
been repealed, these dangers could never have occurred,
because theprovisions of that bill brought the ppople whom
t was now sought to bring within the hold of justice
within its scope and operation. (Hear, hear.) The duty
of the house was to him perfectly clear, and admitted of no
misunderstanding. (Hear.) He should pursue the same
course as he had done in 1848, when the home Government
had to ask for similar powers as those now asked for.
(Hear, hear.) He should give his strongest support to the
Government. (Hear, hear.) But while he did did this he
thought it was but right to take the speediest steps
for the introduction of remedial measures. (Hear, hear.)
This state of affairs was not produced by grievances of an
internal, agrarian, domestic, or religious grounds. (Hear,
hear.) It aimed much higher—(hear, hear)—it aimed at
the throne of England, and the greatness of the kingdom.
(Loud cheers.) He should give his complete support to
the Government, and. he hoped the house would give
its consent to the motion unanimously, at the same time
he pressed upon the importance of promptitude of action.
This was no fancied conspiracy ; it was a conspiracy the
great object of which was to deprive her Majesty of one
of the most valuable possessions of the British Crown.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. BRIGHT said he never, during the twenty years
he had sat in Parliament, rose to speak with so strong a
sense of shame and humiliation as he did on the
present occasion. During the whole of the time he had
been in Parliament nothing had ever been done for the
people of Ireland except upon emergencies, and all her
demands had been treated with insult and contempt. He
asked the house if that was not the fact. Nothing had
been done for the last five-and-twenty years for Ireland
which could be called statesmanship. (Hear, hear.)
There had been arms' bills and coercive acts every
session (hear, hear) —bat when were measures whose
great aim and object was the improvement of the generous
and true-hearted people of Ireland. He challenged the
house to point out where he was wrong in his observations.
He contended that were the heartburnings and party
fights for office between the two great opposing
sections in that house to be laid aside, and measures
for the improvement of Ireland adopted in their place,
then Ireland could be made a strength and not a weak-
ness. (Hear, hear.) Ireland had always been neglected
and treated with contempt, and was it to be wondered at
that under such circumstances she should attempt to
gain that to which she had a perfect right, viz.,
equality with England. (Hear, hear.) The country
had been oppressed and illtreated for years, and
the whole had been brought about by neglect and
mismanagement. Ho did not intend to oppose the propo-
sition of the Government, because under the circumstances
the course about to be pursued was the only merciful course
for Ireland. (Hear, hear.) He, however, maintained that
the present condition of Ireland was a blot on the Crown
and a scandal on tho civilisation of the country.
Mr. ROEBUCK wished to know what had induced the
hon. member for Birmingham to deliver the speech he
had just delivered himself of. Was it for the pur-
pose of smoothing or Conciliating the present condition
—(hear, hear)—because if such had been his intention
he (Mr. Roebuck) must say he had missedhis mark. (Loud
cries of "Hear, hear.") The hon. member had taken the
opportunity to find fault with everything that had been
done for Ireland for the last twenty years, but
he did not agree with him in such a statement.
Every matter brought forward for the amelioration
of the condition of Ireland had always been most atten-
tively and carefully considered—(hear, hear)—but one
thing the hon. member for Birmingham had not done
he shad not in one instance placed his finger on one
thing that been done detrimental to Ireland—
(hear, hear)—neither had he made known in one
particular what he considered ought to have been
done. (Hear, hear.) It was all very well to be an admir-
able declaimer, and to lament over the miseries of Ireland,
but he wanted to know what they were. (Hear, hear.)
One of her great grievances was the Irish Church—
(hear, hear)—but did they not think that the Church
of England was as great a grievance to the Roman
Catholics. Ho thought the state of Ireland would
not be at all improved by the speech of the honourable
member for Birmingham, but quite the contrary.
Mr. HORSMAN condemned the speech of the hon.
member above him (Mr. Bright), but it appeared to him
after the most minute attention that the hon. member had
forgotten to say whether he disapproved of or agreed
with Fenianism. There was one thing of which he felt
perfectly convinced—that the Fenians would place a high
value on the speech of the hon. member for Birmingham.
He could only imagine his motive for delivering it on the
present occasion was because he had prepared it for the
motion of the hon. member opposite (The O'Donoghue)
on the Address, and had then been precluded from
delivering himself of it, and therefore he was
unwilling that so much eloquence should •be
lost. (Hear, hear.) The hon. member for Birmingham
seemed to him to be

" One of those patriots to be walled alone,
Friends of every country but their own."
He (Mr. Horsman) could not think the people of Ireland
would look upon the hon. member for Birmingham as a
benefactor in the past, or a safe guide for the future.
Mr. DILLON thanked the hon. member for Birmingham
for the speech he had just delivered, which he looked upon
as the truest, noblest, and most generous address it had
ever been his good fortune to hear. He was opposed to
the bill now sought by the Government.
Mr. J. S. MILL hoped the Government would use the
enormous powers given by the bill cautiously, and that
they would not go to sleep again for the next 15 years,
but that they would direct their energies to the improve-
ment of the condition of the country.
After a few words from Mr. MOORS and Mr. CONOLLY,
Sir G. GREY said he could not but say a more Fenian
speech than that delivered by the hon. member for Bir-

mingham he had never heard. (Hear, hear.) Ho con-
demned the Fenians in Ireland as a body of lawless ma-
rauders, banded together for the appropriation of property
of every kind. (Hear, hear, and No, no.) Hon. members
might say, " No, no," but he contended that life and pro-
perty were the chief causes of assault in Ireland. (Hear,
hear.) He denied that the Roman Catholic clergy were
to be looked upon, According to the member for

---
Sheffield, as the abetters of conspiracy ; he emphatically
denied such an assertion ; on the contrary, he (Sir G. Grey)
was of opinion that the peace of Ireland, up to the present
time, had probably been preserved by the Catholic clergy.
(Hear, hear.)
The O'DONOUGHUE thanked the hon. member for
Birmingham for his speech, and said if the tenour of it was

acted upon it would go far to put down Fenianism. (Hear,
hear.) lie thought if the Government had determined to

thoroughly investigate into the matters that had brought
the Fenian movement and say so the greatest good would re-
sult. (Hear, hear.) He could not agree in that which had been

said, viz., that robbery and murder were the great aim and
object of the disaffected in Ireland. (Hear, hear.) Co-
ercion was not what was wanted in Ireland—(hear, hear)
—it would only create panic and intensify disaffection, and

produce exactly the opposite result that the Government

desired to bring about. One of the greatest triumphs for
Stephens would bo the action of the Government that day.
(Cries of " No, no.") He said " Yes, yes ;" and further that
when the news arrived in America they would come to tLo

conclusion that the matter was much more important than
it really was. They would say "We must subscribe, we
must get our ships ready, for the movement must be im-
portant when the G.wernment of the Queen comes forward

in the British House of Commons and proposes to suspend
the Constitution. He could only deeply icgrat that the

Government had been so precipitous as to introduce this

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
time, he thought, had now arrived when the house ought
to come to a decision on the bill now before it, but before
it did so he thought it was right he should refer

shortly to some of the observations adddressed to

the house during the debate.

With respect to the

act referred to by the hon. member for Buckinghamshire as
being repealed just at the time it was wanted. NOW that

act was passed for a different object to that which the hon.
member now states it would apply to. He (the Chancellor
of the Exchequer) did not think the Government would
have been justified in putting in action an act passed for
vagrants and vagabonds against those whom it was now
sought to restrain ; and with respect to the want of fore-
sight of which the Government had been accused of in
that respect, it should be borne in mind that the bill for the
repeal of the act had been moved in the House of Lords by
the Earl of Donoughmore, a very distinguished member of
the party opposite. (Hear, hear.) With respect to the
speech of the hon. member for Birmingham he could not but
say he had listened to it with feelings of pain and regret,
and he could not but think that on the present occasion it
was entirely out "of place. (Hear, hear.) The re-
presentatives from' Ireland have not protested
against the passing of the bill. He contended they
bad the unanimous feelir•g of the house in their favour,
because the members for Tipperary and Tralee had not ex-
pressed their disapprobation of the bill because they ap-
proved of Feniani6m, but because they thought it would
irritate rather than allay the present state of feeling, and
because they considered it unnecessary. The Government
had waited until the last moment before they took the step
they were now asking the house to assent to. They did not
propose the measure because there was a danger of the
separation of Ireland, bectiuse the loyalty of the majority
of Irishmen was too well known to the Sovereign who
now occupied the throne to give rise to such a sup-
position. (Hear, hear.) They brought in the bill to
act against those who had been misled. (Hear, hear.)
That was their duty of to-day, and to the duty
of the day let them for the present confine themselves.
(Hear, hear.) He felt that before the clock chimed again
(4 o'clock) the bill would have passed from that house to
another place for it to give its judgment, and such a pro-
ceeding would show that the House of Commons was equa
to the emergency, and was not slow to guard even mis-
guided people against themselves.
The SPEAKER then put the question that leave be
given to bring in the bill,

The "ayes" answered in a very numerous and emphatic
manner, but on the " noes" being called for The O'Donoghue
objected to the motion, and a division took place, when
there appeared—

For the introduction of tho bill 364
Against it 6
Majority --358
Tho announcement of the numbers was received with
loud cheers.

The bill was then brought in and read a first time,

Sir G. GREY moved the suspension of the standing
orders, when the bill was read a second time, committed,
and read a third time, and passed without further opposi-
tion.

CATTLE DISEASES BILL.
On the bringing in of the report of the committee on
this bill, _ _ _

Sir J. FERGUSON moved the insertion of the follow-
ing additional clause :—The powers of each cattle
plague board shall extend over the whole of the
county for which it is appointed, and over all burghs situa-
ated therein, excepting cities and burghs which have to
elect members to Parliament, and whereof the population
within the Parliamentary boundaries of any such burghs
exceeds 20,000.

After a short discussion the house divided, when there
appeared—

For tho clause
Against it
Majority against the clause —46

Some further verbal amendments having been mado to
some of the other clauses of the bill, it was ordered to be
read a third time.

The house than adjourned.