The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-08 00:00:00

IkPRiSONAIENT FOR DEBT.

Lord CAMPBELL presented petitions from different
parts of Gloucestershire, complaining of the law pre-
venting imprisonment for debt under 201., and praying
for its repeal. The Noble and Learned Lord readily
presented the petition, but could not consent to its prayer.
Lord COTTENHAM presented a petition from the
debtors of Lancashire, praying for the repeal of the im.
prisonment for debt.

Lord DENMAN presented a petition from 400 per-
sons, praying that some course should be adopted for
putting an end to the necessity of taking certain oaths
in cases of bankruptcy, and other cases, in order to ob
tain their release ; and as an instance of the s ff,ct of the
present law, they stated that one individual, whom they
knew to be an honourable man, was entirely presented
from obtaining his discharge, and almost reduced to
istP.rvation, in consequence of his religious scruples to
take the oaths required. lie trusted the subject would
receive the consideration of his Noble Friend on the
Woolsack.

IRISH CONSTABULARY.

The Marquis of NORMANBY then rose, pursuant
o notice, to move for returns of all the appointments as
head constable in the Irish constabulary, from the Ist
of May, 1838, to the present time ; distinguishing
whether made upon the recommendation of the
Inspector-General or not, and also a similar return of
all the promotions from head-constable to the higher
grades, in the same form, also distinguishing whether
made upon the recommendation of the Inspector-
General. When this subject was before the House on
a former occasion, the Noble Duke asked what had
become of the alleged understanding. The Noble
Duke asserted that none had ever existed ;
but, if there ever was any, he (the Marquis
of Normauby) was the first to break through it.
Now had this been the case he should not have felt jus-
tified in again calling their Lordships' attention to the
subject ; but he could not help thinking that the Noble
Duke must have been misinformed by some person or
other. or he would not have ventured to make such a
statement. What were the facts of the case? Why, the
constabulary force was divided into non-commissioned
and commissioned officers. The first were taken from
the peasantry and the last from the gentry. The only
appointments which were invested in tbe Lord-Lieutenant
were those appointments of officers, who bore a resem-
blance to Ensigns in the army. Now when he was in
office he told Colonel Macgregor that he would not
strictly exercise this privilege, but whenever Colonel
Macgregor wished to promote any deserving private, he
should be glad to take that gallant gentleman's recom-
mendation. With respect to all the appointments re-
lating to high constables, they, according to an under-
standing, rested entirely with Mr. Macgregor. The
Noble Duke must therefore be misinformed, or
he could not have made the statement to which
he had alluded. He still felt strongly that Mr.
Brownrigg had been harshly treated, inasmuch as
his recommendation had been slighted, while, on two
former occasions, the recommendation of the Inspector-
General had been adopted by the Lord-Lieutenant. He
had had no communication with Col. Macgregor or Mr.
Brownrigg, but he believed, from information he had re-
ceived, that the recommendation was re jected by the ad
vice of the late Lord- Lieutenant, Earl de Grey, which
was afterwards acted upon by Sir James Graham. For
his part he thought it highly improper of the Noble
Earl to give such a recommendation, and no less im-
proper for Sir James Graham to agree to it. The result
of the late debate on this subject bad produced a bad im-
pression in Ireland, for, at the last assizes for the County
of Armagh, a dinner was given by the High Sheriff to
the Grand Jury, at which there were many guests be-
sides three of the constabulary force. The usual toast
to the " glorious, pious, and immortal memory" was
given and drunk by one of these constabulary
officers standing up in his uniform, and cheer
ing it most lustily—notwithstanding it was strictly
prohibited by Colonel Macgregor and Colonel
Shaw Kennedy. This was the result of a debate
which had taken place in that House, and he felt
that the determination of the Government not to abide
by the former understanding was likely to prove most
mischievous. But he might be told that the future
measures of the Government would create a different
feeling in Ireland. Whenever those measures came up,
he should give them his most anxious and zealous sup-
port, no matter from what quarter they might emanate;
but he did not think they would have a tendency to alter
the present state of things. The fact was, the system
and principle of the Government was radically wrong.
Their present Chief Secretary was a stranger to Ire-
land, and most of their other officers of State were par-
tisans of the ascendancy principle. It was this that
they would find the cause of the present discontent in
Ireland. He did not mean to find fault with any
portions of the conduct of Mr. Sergeant Jackson, but it
was a remarkable circumstance that Mr. Sergeant Jack-
son had brought into the House of Commons a Bill for
the extinction of Maynooth. Happily a vacancy had
been found on the bench, or he believed that the Presi-
dent of the Board of Trade would not have been a soli-
tary instance of resignations to the present Govern-
ment. He did not wish to make any complaint of the
conduct of Mr. Sergeant Jackson since his elevation to
the bench, but he believed it would have been
a very awkward circumstance for him had he
remained a Member of the other House of Le-
gislature; if he had come with a Bill in one pocket
for the extinction of Maynooth, and the Government
Bill in the other, for its support. By the census of 1841
it was ascertained that there were only 28,000 persons
in all Ireland who were net natives of the country ; and
it was believed by competent authorities that at least
one-half of that number' were children born of Irish
parents, who had been only temporarily absent from the
country. Now it was well known that there were ge-
nerally not less than 60,000 individuals, natives and sub-
jects of the British empire resident at Paris. With the
character of Lord Heytesbury it was not his intention to
interfere ; but he might say, with all his knowledge of
strange countries, he knew, like most Englishmen, very
little of Ireland. He begged, therefore, to move for a
return of all the appointments which had been made in
the constabulary force of Ireland since the Ist of May,
1838, distinguishing those which had been made with
the knowledge of the Inspector-General, and those which
were not.

Lord STANLEY said that the Noble Marquis had
entered into much discursive statement upon 'this ques-
tion, with a view to show that her Majesty's Government
had made the appointments in Ireland from party or
personal motive. Now he would venture to assert that,
in all the appointments which had been made, a greater
liberality of policy, a greater freedom from theological
or political bias, had never been shown by any Govern-
ment. With the Noble Marquis's observations, or rather
style of observations, he had much fault to find, but to
the return he had no objection, with one exception—
that was,_ that the date of the report should be from the
Ist of May, 1836, instead of the Ist of May, 1838, for
he thought it but fair that the proceedings of both Go-
vernments should be compared with each other. The
Noble Marquis lost, in the year 1838, some two months
previous to the period at which be had fixed this return,
the services of Colonel Shaw Kennedy, mainly on the
ground that he did not attend to that officer's recommen-
dations in the filling up of the vacant offices. The:Act re.
v:sing the former Constabulary Act was introduced in
1836, and the number of the constabulary was then in-
creased from 5,000 to 8,000. On introducieg the Bill into
the lower House, the main reason for removing the
patronage from the hands of the local magistracy, and
placing it in the hands of Government, was declared to
be for the purpose of discouraging party influences.
But the power which the magistracy possessed had never
extended beyond the filling up of constables and sub-
constables. The power was, by the Act, nominally vested
in the Lord-Lieutenant, but peculiarly in the Inspector-
General. How had the practice been carried out by the
Noble Marquis ? He thought there were 140 offices to
be filled up from 5001. a year downwards. There were
also offices not immediately connected with the police,
there were fifty or sixty stipendiary magistrates ap-
pointed by Government. Let them see how the Noble
Marquis had acted. Of eighteen appointments to the
office of paymaster, and he (Lord Stanley) would not
say that Colonel Shaw Kennedy had not had an exagge-
rated view of the patronage to which he was entitled—
but of the eighteen appointments to the situation of pay-
master, he recommended six. To the vacant offices of sti-
pendiary magistrate he recommended only seven from
the sub-inspectors, not one of which recommendations
were adopted. Junior officers were placed over them,
and these appointments made the Inspector-General ap-
pear in one of two lights, either as not doing justice to
the officers, or as leaving a total blank in the administra-
tion of the affairs of the constabulary of the country.
And the result of the recommendations made by the In-
spector-General—(Hear, hear, and laughter)—was this,
that only two of these recommendations were adopted.
The Duke of WELLINGTON—Two only adopted
out of all the recommendations adopted?—(Laughter.)
The Marquis of NORMANBY—Oh, no.
Lord STANLEY—The Noble Marquis said, "Olt, no."
Ho (Lord Stanley) said that in the promotions made in
the years 1836 to 1839, only two officers had been
appointed at the instigation of Colonel Shaw Kennedy,
the others were all promoted by the Noble Marquis.
He would take the declaration of Lord Morpeth on the
23d of March, when the question upon this subject, after
the resienation of Colonel Shaw Kennedy, in consequence
of the Noble Marquis' refusing to accede to his recom-
mendations, was brought before the other House. The
Noble Lord said he was prepared to state that all the
appointments made since the period of the passing of the
Act were made by the Inspector-General, with the ex
ception of chief-constables alone, which his Excellency
This wag the statement made
retained in his own gift.
by the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in defenpe of the
Government. On that ground they lost the benefit
of Colonel Shaw Kennedy's- services.; -and yet the
Noble Marquis told them that they had violated
this very principle which he had afterwards en-
tered into with Colonel . Shaw Kennedy's suc-
cessor, Colonel Macgregor. The Noble Marquis did