The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-06 00:00:00

CORN-LAWS

The Earl of YARBOROUGH presented petitions from
Lincolnshire against any alteration in the corn• laws.
Lord BROWNLOW presented 52 petitions from places in
Yorkshire to the same pffect.
The Earl of DEVON presented several petitions to the
same effect, but the designations of the petitioners were not
heard in the gallery.

PRESBYTERIAN MARRIAGES.
The Marquis of NORMANBY wished to put a question to
his Noble Friend on the Woolsack with respect to Presbyterian
marriages. He wished to ask his Noble and Learned Friend
whether it was intended to re-appoint the Committee of last
session on this subject ?
Lord LYNDHURST said that the law Lords in that House
were divided in opinion upon a case which had come before the
House. As soon as they had come to a decision, he would move
for the re-appointment of the Committee.
IRISH LAND TENURE COMMISSION.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE wished to put some
questions to his Noble Friend opposite at the head of the Irish
Land Tenure Commission, which he did not think would re-
quire that lie should make any motion on the subject. There
was already prevalent in Ireland, and to a great extent in Eng-
land also, an opinion that the sufferings of the Irish were owing to
the exorbitant rents exacted by the landlords. The appoint-
ment of the Commission was calculated to aggravate the error;
for the Commissioners stated that although they had no power
to adjudicate between landlords and tenants yet they would
receive any information with respect to particular cases which
could illustrate the whole subject. He believed that most
pernicious notions. had been encouraged by the appointment of
the Commission, and by the conduct of the Commissioners so
far. Every man of sense must know that if the land-
lords were to give up all claim to rent,
and the tenants in possession were to have the
land in fee, there would be no diminution of the general
misery, and no increase of the national wealth. The Com-
mission had no power to alter the law of real property, and it
was, therefore, a mockery and delusion of the people. It had
kept up and propagated the notion that the landlords exacted
exorbitant rents, and gave rise to innumerable newspaper para-
graphs of a most pernicious tendency. For instance, a para-
graph went round the papers that a Noble Friend of his had
lowered his rents ten per cent," but, a fortnight afterwards the
papers said that they were sorry to learn that the statement
was untrue. Why were they sorry ? They ought rather to be
glad that there was no occasion to lower the rents.—( Hear.)
The cry about fixity of tenure had been the cause, or was
supposed to be the cause, of the appointment of the Commission.
The greatest objection he had to the Landlord and Tenant
Commission was that it was pleaded in bar of all other measures
for the improvement of Ireland. There never was a better
opportunity than the present for the Imperial Parliament to
turn its attention to Ireland with the view of affording employ-
ment to the great mass of the population. Never was there
a momentat which the Government could raise money with more
advantage than at the present time. The questions he had to
put were firstly, whether the Commission contempleted an
alteration of the law which would affect leases and covenants
entered into previous to the issuing of the Commission ;
secondly, whether they had prepared any report as to the
proportion of rent to the value of land. And thirdly, whether
they proposed to report the whole evidence taken before the
Commission.

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After The Earl of DEVON said their Lordships would see that it
ugive an answer
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the Commission had taken with respect to their inquiry, the
Noble Earl said it was their intention to report the
whole of the evidence taken before the Commission.
He could only answer that the whole of the cases inquired into
would be reported.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said that it was some-
what satisfactory to know that the cases upon which the re-
port would be founded would be reported also. An inquiry
into the tenure of land in Ireland, was really an inquiry into the
condition of the peasants; for there were very low labourers
who were not paid in part by the letting of land on a principle
analogous to that of the allotment system in this country. He
again asked was it intended to make any alteration in existing
covenants between landlords and tenants ?
The Earl of DEVON-1 must decline to answer so delicate
a question.