The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-04-04

3. P. Kinard, Newberry.
Samuel Drouthitt, Greenville c. Il.
VIM. Moore, Abbeville c. H.
Julius Poppe, Anderson G. 81.
The Fcnians In Parliament.
In the British House of Lords, on
the 10th ult., an important discussion,
already briefly noticed by telegraph,
took place on the condition of Ire
land.
Earl Grey, in moving that the
House resolve itself into committee
to consider the state of Ireland, said:
Probably there never was plot more
utterly wild and hopeless than the
snian conspiracy, and yet even this
plot had been able to command the
active support of great many of the
lower classes in Ireland, and the sym
pathies of many more. This circum-
sstance shows, L think, the state of
mind which exists in that country,
hecause, as has been well remarked,
Ftfl6 agents of foreign conspiracy,
However well supplied they might be
With money, and however well organ
i8ed they might be, would have at
tempted in vain to enlist thousands
of followers in England or Scotland
for the purpose of overthrowing
the Government. In Ireland, how
ever, such efforts have unfortunately
met with certain amount of success.
We have been told that none of the
respectable classes, or at all events
only very few of them, have had
anything to do with the conspiracy,
or show any sympathy for it, and that
during the recent trials the conduct
of the jurymen has been all that could
be desired. My lords, I rejoice to
find that it is so, but observe that it
is stated by one who ought to know
the feelings of the Irish people, that
the Glasses from whcm jurymen were
-teaaken, were a, Wped at and opposed to
the conspiracs because they believed
1T to be directed against all property
and all existing social institutions,
and not because they were in ia
vor of the existing Government.
Then there is another fact which
seems to be generally admitted with
regard to Ireland-namely, that the
prevailing disafection in that country
is not produced by distress. Now,
we know it very often happens that
physical distress is the cause of po-
itical discomfort. It was the cause
of the Swing riots in 1880 and 1881 /;
and the Chartists riots few years
later were, think, clearly traceable
to the pressure of some portions Of
the population. It has, however,
been often pointed out that in Ire
land disafection does not exist in
those districts where there is the
greatest distress. For instance, there
was more disafeotion in the South
than in the poorest counties of the
West, and it was remarkable fact
a..aS during the great suffering in the
famine of 1847, political discomfort
was far less than it was eight or nine
years afterwards, when, from the high
prices caused by the Russian war, the
people were comparatively prosper
Gus. Indeed, this disafection in
Ireland is much more the cause than
the effect of distress. The feeling of
insecurity which exists in Ireland
prevents the influx of capital into the
country, and the development of
those resources with which, whatever
may be said to the contrary, she is
very richly endowed by nature. How
can you expect that men will embark
in great industrial undertakings when
every day at public meeting, speeches
are made which, if they mean any
thing, mean that those who deliver
them contemplate sooner OF later the
overthrow Of the existing institutions
of the country. It is, I think, per-
fectly clear that it is this feeling; of
insecurity which is the main cause
which prevents the industrial improve
ment Of Ireland. I believe that the
description which I have now given
of the state of things in Ireland-a
description founded on the concurrent
testimony of men of all parties-is an
accurate one, and I think none of
your lordships will venture to deny
the reality of the evils which I have
mentioned. Now, if disafection and
poverty are the chronic conditions Of
Ireland, it is impossible to account
FOR such fact except by attributing
AZ to tha. misgovernmept of that coun-
RH; aa6 indeed I believe it is uni
admitted that the evils Of
= 3 from misgovernment.
s. Y y
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