POSTSCRIPT.
SATURDAY.
The House of Commons met at noon yesterday, and, with an interval of two hours, sat till past midnight, transacting a great variety of business. At the early sitting of the House, the Estates Leasing (Ireland) Bill was passed; and the Judgments (Ireland) Bill was read a second time, and committed pro forma. These are measures to facilitate the transfer and cultivation of land by breaking down some of the complicated techni- calities whieb have grown up in Ireland.
In the afternoon sitting, a Committee of Supply afforded the usual op- portunity for multifarious discussion.
On the motion for going into Committee, Mr. JOHN O'Crosissm moved for a Select Committee to inquire into the fiscal relations between Great Britain and Ireland. He went into many statistical details, to show that the apparent exemption of Ireland from taxation arises, in the first place, from her poverty, which makes the same impost produce less revenue in Ireland than it does in Great Britain; and next, from the consciousness in Parliament that the utmost is already obtained from Ireland. Sir CHARLES WOOD controverted Mr. O'Connell's position; maintaining that Ireland does not even pay the interest of her original debt. The iuformation de- sired by Mr. O'Connell might be as well presented in returns as in the re- port of a Committee; and therefore he opposed the motion.—Motion with- drawn.
In Committee, Sir ROBERT PEEL moved the usual vote for the British Museum estimates; postponing discussion on the Museum, because the Commission which has been making extensive inquiries has not quite con- cluded its labours. The vote of 12,000/. for books and instruments to be used by the New Colleges in Ireland—carried by 106 to 28—gave rise to a discussion; in the course of which Lord JOHN RUSSELL stated that the Presidents of' the Colleges had prepared certain regulations which he thought likely to satisfy the Roman Catholics. Votes for the Houses of Parliament, excess of Commissariat expenditure, and excess of Ordnance expenditure, were passed; and the House resumed. A great number of measures were forwarded a stage; and the House adjourned till Monday.
In the Upper House, the Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the second reading of the Poor-Relief (Ireland) Bill, with a very rapid expla- nation of its provisions. Lord MONTEAGLE severely criticized the mea- sure. He described it as a trap to catch English capital, baited with fraud; since it would be impossible to adhere to the maximum which the bill pro- fessed to fix. It was utterly inadequate to meet the necessity of the case: they might as well try to cut down Irish rocks with penknives. Was that miserable attempt at legislation, that paltering with the misery of a suffering people, the resource shadowed forth in the memorable letter of Lord Clarendon to the Lord Mayor, when he came forward to give his assistance to the great scheme of one ..tho differed from him in politics, but to the soundness of whose views he paid a willing tribute? The best and roost practical atateSinatt of the day, who had effected the miracle of gaining the confidence and almost the per- sonal affection of all parties in Ireland, and had by his conduct saved the Lord- Lieutenancy from abolition for an indefinite period, gave them his plain opinion as to the nature of the measures for the regeneration or Ireland; and yet the Govern- ment were about to reject and disregard the principles upon which he acted and on which his opinion was founded. The bill, however, was read a second time.
The Royal assent was given to a great number of minor bills and rail- way bills.
Previous page
