The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-05 00:00:00

Prc#setionists)—and if Honourable Members would do
him the justice t look over the division list, they would
not find his name in favour of that measure.—(Cries
of " Heir, hear.") He knew the character of British
nereeverance. Voltsiro said of the people of this
country, that they were des yens fiers tt kardis, and
the agricultural classes might be able to overcome their
present difficultiea but free trade must be carried out.
Ho had received from abretel a letter from a friend who
could not drink British port, and who was in the habit
of getting over a cask of foreign wine. Weil, that wine
pajd 5/. duty, and his friend wanted to know how, with
free oak, ho was to pay for that German wine? Wed,
another friend received some Sicilian wine, which cost
22/. in that country, and for which he paid 15/. duty.—
(Hear, hear.) Let there be free trade entirely or not
at all.—Hear, hear.) If au Irish Member should prefer
his native wine, and bring over a gallon of whitey with
him—(A laugh)—to Liverpool, he was liable to a penalty
of 1001. Hero was fine trade in spirits:l The very
best whisky in the world was at this moment in the
Liverpool Custom-house, where it had been lying for 30
years.—(Much laughter, arising from the unctious tone '
and relish with which the Hon. Member indulged in this
reminiseeace.) If an Irish Member brought over a pun-
cheon of spirits, and left it at Liverpool while he came to
town for the session—(tt laugh) —tie foand on his return
tiett a quarter of it had leaflet away. He w3e willing to
pay the duty for the three-quarters left, but the Custom-
house officer made him pay fur the whole puncheon, " be-
cause it was free trade." He had had it from Sir John
Newport, that Lord Castlereagh once told hien at the time
of the Union, that he had get from Mr. Piet the gra Vest
boon that Ireland had ever received—viz., fie privi!e,;ar
f exporting her whisky to this country free. But
that intention had never been carried out, and Irish
whisky was taxed to protect the Wr st India interest.
—(Hear.) Yes, but let them not impose upon the Irish
people by talking of free trade.—(Hear, hear.) Lish
exports had diminished in every single arecle, even in
that of the whisky exported to foreign parts. Then
what was the state of the Irish reveauc? It lad gone
down more than one-half. In 1817 the revenue seas
7,000,0001., and now it had decreased to 3,968,000/.
What did Gentlemen mean to do in that case? They
were giving lecs.l governments to other parts of her
Majesty's dominions, and compelling them to attend
on the spot to their own affairs? but would those Gen-
tlemen who were most clamorous in behalf of these
places extend the tame privilerte to Ireland?—(Hear,
hear.) Would they tell Irish Me-nbers to go home and
mind their own business? No; on the contrary, they
kept them there for six months listening to long ha-
rangues about Ireland, and when they w cut back to
their respective neighbourhoods they found matters in
the same state in which they left them, and, indeed,
generally worse.—(Hear, hear.) Look at the corn ex-
ports from Ireland. The annual value of corn exported
used to be 2,000,0004 but now there was not more corn in
all Ireland than of the value of 14,000,000/. They bad
nothing to export, and the country was lying like
a lifeless block on ttte western waves, unassisted
by those who were bound to stretch out a
helping hand.—(Hear, hear.) In 1792 there was
exported 90,000,000 yards of linen, and now
they were told by the Hon. Member for Rochdale—as a
proof of prosperity—that Ireland exported last year
87,000,000 yards of linen. So much for the linen trade.
—(Hear.) They were told that it was their duty to
assist the poor-law by employing the people; but how
could they do so when they got nothing fir their produce
for the turnips, the carrots, the mangold wurzsl, &c.,
which the lecturers who were sent about the country
encouraged them to grow.—(Hear, hear.) .He knew an
individual who employed 3,000 persons in 1846, 4,000 in
1847, and who at present employed only 900. The
holders of the land were unable to employ the people,
who were accordingly to be found standing in the vil-
lages and by the road sides begging for work, The
question connected with the poor-law amounted to this
—not, whether the property of Ireland should support its
poverty, but whether tee little property remaining could
support the great mass of the people in idleness,—(Hear,
hear.) The workhouses were becomirg a pet to so-
ciety, and should b 3 levelled with the ground. Chil-
dren of the tenderest years were associated with
grown-up people of the worst character, and he had
no hesitation is saying that morality was sapped in
the union-houses cf Ireland. If ho was correctly in-
formed, there was an atrocious syttnn going or, by
which women were brought from one of the workhouses
of his country to supply houses of an improper descrip-
tion in England.—(Hear.) Ireland had, indeed, been
ruined by misgovernment, her trade had teen destroyed,
her debt enormously increased, an army was sent to
keep down her discontented people; and when Ireland
was beggared they reproached her with always asking
charity. He would tell then,, however, they wanted no
charity; they despised their charity; but give them the
means and the power, and tt ey could raise money in
Ireland as well as they could do in Leadenhall street.—
(Hear, and a laugh.) He would now give one word of
adv.ca to the lion. Gentleman opposite, the Member fir
the West Riding of Yorkshire. He would tell him that
the worst course a man could pursue was to attempt to
advance his cause by calumny and abuse.—(Hear, hear.)
He would advise him the next time he spoke about the
landlords of Ireland, net to allow himself to be libelled
by having put into bis mouth the most foul and
monstrous attaiks that ever were made upon any
body of men.—(Hear, hear) Ise was prostituting his
talents by going about in this way from post to pillar to
abuse the few remaining landlords who were endeavour-
ing to rescue Ireland from the misery in which it had
been placed by the policy of their predecessors.—(Bear,
hear.) If be thought he would propitiate the favour of
the party with whom he was now associated by slander-
ing the few propriet trs who were doing their duty in
Ireland, he would tell him that he was mistaken, for he
might depend upon it they would, in the end, cut his
throat just as (so we understood the Hon. Gentleman)
they would cut the throats of the Irish landlords.
—( hear, hear, and laughter.) The Hon. Member for
Manchester had spoken of the Irish landlords as being
universally despised, but he denied the truth of that as-
sertion. There might be landlords who had acted un-
justly and harshly, but was a whole body of gentlemen
to be condemned for the misconduct of a few ?—(Hear,
heat.) Tho HOD. Gentleman then read extracts from
several letters addressed by Protestant clergymen in
Ireland to a society established in Dublin, for the pur-
pose of showing the extreme distress to which they
had been reduced. Ono clergyman wrote to the
eft...et that he bad four children, but he hod
received no income for the last two years; an-
other expressed his gratitude for a donation of 51.
which he had received, and stated that he had only got
411. to live on, with his ten children; a third, also with
ten children, in addition to the two orphans of a brother
clergyman, who died of fever, had been long without
tasting animal food, though he hed had his tea, and
when he wrote had neither food nor money in his pits-
ar, hear.) What did they mean to do with
Ireland? When Lord Althorp was Minister, he (Mr.
Grattan) advised him to sell the ccuntry and get rid of
her. They were then told by Sir J. Yorke that she
ought to be sunk below the sea; and now they were Old
that they were beggars; but give them back their money,
give them back their absentees, end they would no longer
be open to that reproach. By a Parliamentary paper it
appeared that no less than 275,000/. of Crown rents and
quit rents had been taken away from Ire'and, and ex-
pended for the benefit of England, while a number of
Irish Protestant clergymen were left to linger in a state
of starvation. No less than 700 verdicts had been re-
turned of " Died by starvation," in the west of Ireland
within a very short period; and what had become of
their remains? The people were obliged to beat away
the dogs from eating the entrails of those miserable and
starving paupers. For such things as these the mem-
bers of the Government deserved not merely to be called
to the bar of that House, but they ought at once to be
brought to the block.
Mr. P. HOWARD had seen with satisfaction that
her Majesty's Ministers proposed to extend the now
contracted limits of the Irish constituency. Ho felt it
would be most satisfactory to the pe iple of this country
if the Noble Lord at the head of the Government
would take some step at this time of profound peace to
extend the limits of English representation. The people:by
their loyalty and orderly behaviour eese eetitled to the
elective franchise; and he was of opinion that house-
hold suffrage might be conceded to theme with perfect
safety, and that they would duly appreciate the mea-
sure. Should the Government not bring forward any
proposition of that nature, he begged t give notice
that he should take an early opportunity of endeavour-
ing to forward his own views on the subject.
Mr. BENNE r would not have troub!ed the House
but for several misrepresentations on the part of the
Hon. Mover of the Address (Mr. Villiers) respecting
the condition of the labouring classes of this country.
That Hon. Gentleman had stated that the labourers
even in the agricultural districts had never been better
off, either as regarded wages or employmetet, than they
were at this moment. He (Mr. Bennet) denied the
fact as to their having more wages; on the contrary,
their wages wero greatly reduced; and with respect to
employment, he was sorry to say teat a Et! e.t number
of able-bodied labourers in West Suffolk were altogether
out of work, while others received reduced wages, or
were employed only fur a portion of every week. 'rhea
wages were 75., and is some cases only 6s: a week. Bun
he repeated, great numbers of able-bodied men were
in the union houses, and in many unions these men had
become unmanageable. He begged to ale the Right
lion. Secretary for the Home Department whether he
had received any information as to the
military being
obliged to be called out to aid the civil power in the
unions of Rougham (as we understood) and of New-
market, in the county cf Suffolk?
Sir G. GREY was understood to say that no such
information had been communicated to the Home-
office.
Mr. BENNE r said that such disturbances had
occurred, and he thought the eircumstarsee would have
been communicated to the Right Hon. Baronet. With
respect to the ability of the English farmer to compete
with foreigners, no doubt he could do so if he were
placed on a level with the rest of the community by
having all those local taxes which now so peculiarly
pressed upon him repi aled. The malt-tax, also, which
operated as a burden equal to a charge from 31. to 41. an
acre, must be removed, in order to place the former in a
fair position. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by ex-
pressing his regret that the agricultural labourers had
not been mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, as
well as the owners and occupiers of land.
Colonel SIBTHDRP had felt extremely anxious to
speak the other evening, because he had had the honour
of seconding a resolution at one of the most important
public meetings that had ever been held in Lincolnshire.
There were from 15,000 to 20,000 men assembled at
that meeting. He had thought it fair to put a question
to one of the most earnest opponents cf the landed inte-
rest in that county—he meant Mr. John Nort an, mercer
and draper of the city of Lincoln. He asked that gen-
tleman," What sort of a meeting do you think we have
had to-day ? " His reply war, "An excellent one."
"Do you not think that you are dead beat? " his
answer was " Decidedly." "Did you ever Bee a more