The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-09-28
SLAVERY IN THE BRITISH ISLES-PHl-
LANTHROPY AT HOME, AND THAT KEPT
In BOXES READY FOR EXPLOITATION.

I
IN BOXES READY FOR EXPECTATION
II q state Of society exists in any country which
~owinaiy confers rights and yet by its actual opera
tons, reduces large part Of the population 10 the
verge Of starvatonkeeps il an an unfalling conse-
qusuce in q state Of extreme ignorance, and quite
sarves another pari-we may well conclude that the
liberty there enjoyed must be- so far as that part Of
society is concerned, a sounding name. The words
liberty, philanthropy, justice, mercy are on the
lips but degradation, extreme poverty, and desoa.
ton in the track of the actual administration Of Its
Affairs. We have said, in our article on Mr.. Web
sters speech on Boston Common, that multitude
nous and decisive proofs could be brought from Bri
fish journals Of the highest celebrity" of the exqu
site suffering Of the poor in the British Isles. We
will now furnish proof from tory journal of the
most elevated character for intellectual power the
London Quartery.s
We premise that some time before the period Of
this publication, the Wings, then in power, had a
cro,chst in their heads, founded Mathus's theo-
ry Of population of aboIishng all poor laws in Eng
land, by process not very gradual; and of conpu-
ing to refuse Ireland poor law. The latter had
never had poor law, and the reviewer sketches thus
after an elaborate comparative argument conpie-
bending many detals-the condition of her poor, as
il was then, and had been for three quarters of a
ceutury-a condition which we pronounce one of the
worst practical slavery
ave have shown what the moral and physical
condition of the Irish poor is at present, in the ab
ssnce Of poor law. We ask the Right Honorable
Chancellor of the Exchequer, any hing make it
seerse? Show us, we say, in any Of the civilized
st~t If tha oil If xvh (osx hava
ed from official documenS,) provide by legal
documents against the desttulon of their poor
q picture of physical wretchedness half as fright
full a. that of Ireland, and will listen with
composure to he paradoxical argument which
il intended to prove that law to save the poor
from dying of want, is injury to the poor them
sevesthat to secure food, clothing, and shelter to
the starving, the naked, and the houscess is to ag-
gravate their misery! Show us in any country
Cursed with poor law, state of moral feeling at all
comparable to that existing in Ireand-where the
best symPathies Of human nature are perverted to
the keeping up mass of disgusting and wasteful
mendicancy, covering the whole country with filth
disease, and wretchedness as with leprosy, and to
the encouragement of outrages of the most savage
charactcr--whcrc even the commission of murder
Is recognised title to popular sympathy, gratitude
and professionalism, Mr.. Rice, and no, ill then
shall begin to doubt that legal security against
destitution is essential element Of social organi-
xaton that ought to accompany the establishment of
a right to property of any descripton,-but above
all, Of land-the common gift of God to the people
He has brought into existence its surface
"If ever the will Of the Creator was manifested in
his works. il is in Ireland where the soil teens with
natural fertility only needing the labor of its ample
and industriously inclined population to produce
abundance OF every kind OF comfort for all. Gods
will, We say, Is manifest. He has filled the earth
with righteousness that the people he has planted
there might enjoy it in return for their labor How
has man perverted his obvious intenton' A third
Of Tie rich soil lies yet uneuihrat.d the r~,t sa "1Y
tIled hy S1,:.. ssurpea, naked, beggariu and dis
eonsnsd people, the bulk Of the produce Of uiose indus
Try, eh As ill., noept If to other lands 10 be sold for
h< exeiusire ben.ft Of handful Of men, phom The lo,p
iWvta csh the unconditional ownership Of this fair Dor
ho~ Of God's earth, and ruth the pouer they so choose
Of sbsoltsy STARRING all its inhabitants! And tins law
we unwnely expect this unhappy population to cher
ish, venerate, and implicitly obey
"Shame shame we repeat on that State which
Of oil the civilized world shall be the last TO recog
mise the claim Of the orphan and the widow, the
SICK the aged, and the crippled, on the charity of
their wealthy neighbors-the right Of every peaca-
BILE and obedient member Of society to the means of
sxhtence-the duty which every Government owes
the meanest Of its subectsto afford that security to
the lives Of the many which il lavshes on the pro.
perry Of the few Shame the past Govcrnme nt
Of Ireland Shame those loud disclaimers upon
her wronSs, and prohered champions of her rights
who have hitherto either openly opposed or cunning
~ delayed and frustrated, that simportsnt measure
Of simple justice the denial Of which renders Ireland
. peeioeie u companion and horror to the civilized
porLd.n
Professor Durbin's late work presents a picture
bu, few shades lighter Of the condition of Ireland
than that drawn by the Quarterly Review. If this
IL not practical slavery, in what elements shall we
look for IL
Dec. ls3S-art. Foreign Poor Laws-lrish
Poverty. Page 80.