The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-05-05 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-MONDAY.

Major BF REsFORD, on behalf of his relative, the Mar-
quis of Waterford, corrected some grossly exaggerated
statements of Mr. J. O'Connell respecting the expulsion
of tenants.
Mr. O'CONNELL, jun. made the amende honourable,
and Mr. O'CONNELL, son. bore testimony to the good
qualities of the Marquis as a resident landlord.
Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN openly declared that he would not
obey an order of the House to attend upon the railway
committee group No. 11—an avowal which created quite
a sensation.
In reply to a question from Mr. C. Powell, Sir JAMES
GRAUAM said, that it was perfectly true that an infernal
machine had been used at Sheffield, and that property be-
longing to three ladies of small means had been injured.
The government was in communication with the authori-
.ties of that town in order to put a stop to these dastardly
acts. (It appears that they arose out of disputes between
the masters and workmen.)
The debate on the Protection-of-life (Ireland) Bill was
then resumed, the Premier at considerable length defend-
ing the measure and indicating the motives of himself and
colleagues in bringing it forward currently with the new
corn bill. He refused to consider the question whether
the administration would acquire more popularity by
abandoning this bill than by proceeding with it; forpopu-
brit}, would be gained at too costly a sacrifice if it were
.attended by greater danger to the life and property of her
Majesty's loyal subjects. He did not contest the right to
oppose the first stage of such a measure ; he was only con-
sidering whether the government would have been justified
in letting a bill of such importance as the present lie upon
the table without further notice. As to the injurious sur-
mise that government had interpose,' this measure for the
purpose of getting rid of their measure on the Corn-laws,
it was enough for him to say at present that the lapse of
time, and many intervening events, had confirmed the im-
pressions on which he had originally proposed the final
and permanent adjustment of the Corn Laws. Events
bad proved to him that the restrictions, which he once
believed to be only impolitic, were now absolutely unjust ;
and his colleagues and himself were perfectly prepared to
certify by any public act the sincerity of their convictions
on that point. He then proceeded to an explanation of
the reasons which bad induced the government to propose
tveneasuta of this harsh character towards Ireland, and to
controvert the statistics of Mr. Hawes. He did not know
where Mr. Hawes had got his returns ; but from those in
his possession, which he read to the House, it appeared
that there had been in the last twelve months a great in-
crease in the amount of the various crimes against life
and property in certain districts in Ireland. Having in de
out a strong case, in the character and frequency of the
crimes endangering the life of the subject and the peace of
the country, for the adoption of measures of extraordinary
precaution, he next proceeded to show that special com-
missions were of little or no use, unless you were prepa-
red to produce evidence which would insure conviction.
He then grappled with the point, " Would this bill be effi-
cacious for its object ?" and in so doing admitted that, if
it would not be so, it was not to be justified by the fre-
quency of its repetition. He had hpen trAri that 4,
tog it now upon the douse he was disregarding the wishes
of the representatives of Ireland. He had been much
surprised at that assertion, for he found that in 1835 the
representatives of Ireland had consented to a measure si-
milar to the present, and had allowed it to remain on the
statute books for five years, without the slightest remon-
strance. He then proceeded to justify in detail the vari-
ous clauses of the bill, and to show that they were even
more necessary for the protection of the poor than for the
protection of the rich. He believed that when the bll
was once passed, the knowledge of its existence would al-
'most operate as a cure of the present disorders. It would
be delusive to propose this measure as a panacea for the
disorders and grievances of Ireland, and he therefore at
once admitted that it was an unmitigated evil and no re-
medy for them. He refused to discuss, on the present
occasion, the various measures which had been proposed
for the permanent relief of Ireland, for each of them de-
served a separate discussion. With regard to the intro-
duction of the principle of the English Poor Law into Ire-
land, he observed that there were many reasons which
ought to induce the House to pause before it adopted in
Ireland the principle that the unemployed poor had a
right to relief from the land. They ought not hastily to
grant the poor of Ireland such an indefeasible claim with-
out looking at all the social relations of that country, for
they might be holding out a permanent incentive to indo-
.lence, instead of affording a temporary relief to unem-
ployed and destitute industry. In no country was the
maintenance of the great principles of property of more
importance than it was in Ireland ; but he must confess
that the manner in which great numbers of the tenantry
were evicted in that country struck him with the deepest
and most anxious regret. He would tell the members and
landlords of Ireland that he thought they relied too much
on the assistance of the executive government, and tco
little upon themselves; and that it was in their power to
do more good for Ireland by their own exertions than any
government could do for them. If they would only meet
together at.d consider the condition of their country, the
obligations of property, and the consequence of a harsh
exercise of the powers which property gave them, they
might with a little liberality and forbearance confer ines-
timable blessings on their country. He called upon them
to follow the example of Lord G. Hill, who had converted
18,000 acres of waste land into a valuable property, and
who, by a constant attention to his duties as a landlord,

hid conciliated to himself the good-will of those whO

stood to him in the relation of tenants. By such conduct
they would draw together the relations of rich and poor,
and would insure a confidence in the impartial adminis-
tration of justice, which could not be accomplished by any
direct efforts of legislation. There were obligations on
property which laws could not instil or control, but which
were essential to the good order and maintenance of so-
ciety. In conclusion, he gave the Irish members a gentle
hint for the public inconvenience which was accruing from
their continued prolongation of this debate.