Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser from Dublin, Dublin, Ireland • 4

THE JOURNAL TUESDAY APRIL 27 1847 who who died Why are the rich annually an alien number who to eight of died shortly that before so lest there should be any delusion in The young Gregory is following the grandfather rather than of his la and he has shown since he went 'f DUBLIN Printed and Published for the Proprietors at the Office 5 street close to the General Post otSce EDWARD DWYSI Tueari AV April IW Terms of Subscription to the Daily keeman payable in ad vance (published every Morning except Sunday) Yearly 514s Od Half yearly 21 12s Od Quarterly LI 6s BIRTHS On the 22d instant the lady of Major Knox 13th Light Dra goons of a son On the 21st instant in Mountpleasant avenue the lady of John Handcock Esq of a son In Grenville Street the lady of rancis Johnston Esq of a son In London the lady of Sir Claude de Crespigny Burt of a son and heir MARRIED On the 21st instant at Youghal Dominick Ronoyne Esq this citv to Kate eldest daughter of the late Pierce Power Esq of Kilgabril Clashmore county Waterford DEATHS On the 20th instant at his residence Annaviile No th Circular roa James Goldrisk Esq for many years Assistant Commissary General and brother in law to Lieutenant General Sir Joseph Carncross KC Royal Artillery On the 26tb instant at Blackha'l place William Classon second son of John lasson Esq 1 ever and diorhoea are making frightful ra vages labourers employed on the publio works have been nearly all dismissed they are in a starving state We try to relieve them from the remnant of our former contributions There is no hope of the relief act (so complex is its machinery) coming into operation for three weeks to come The land is generally tilled and cropped the exceptions are but few Several have emigrated viz small farmers and the sons and daughters of persons in middling circumstances rom Liselton Listowel county Kerry per Rev James Jalsh PP Total number of deaths from 1st of October 1846 to 1st of April 1847? 120 No of same known to be occasioned by famine Would say so Total No of deaths same period last year 25 The reverend gentleman says On the day before yesterday we had three bodies interred without coffins all died of perfect starvation There are about 74 acres of land at present tilled some more in progress and a great portion left idle for want ot seed rom the Parish of Mullaheran County Cavan per Rev Phillip O'Reilly PP Total number of deaths from 1st October 1846 to 1st April 1847? 225 Number of same known to be occasioned by famine 164 number of deaths for the same period last year? 42 rev gentleman The husband wife and three children ail dying at the same time when I visited them all dead the mother in another case just breathing her last and her child three months old died while attempting to take nour ishment from the breast of the mother many cases equally revolting the parish extensive population dense destitution commensurate no local subscriptions no gentry the small farmers on the public works could not sow their lands a total neglect on the part of the cottiers in cropping their gardens their prospects for the ensuing year truly melancholy few iso lated cases oi emigration "'rom the Parish of Lorha and Harrow Barony of Lower Ormond and County Tipperary per the Rev Cornelius PP number of deaths from 1st October 1846 to 1st April 1847 143 Number of same known to be occasioned by famine 100 Total number of deaths same period prior year About 40 The Bev Mr O'Brien observes On yesterday my assist ant Rev Mr Cleary on visiting a townland and hearing of a man being ill and having been shown the house he called at the door and a little child after some time opened the door He then asked where the father was? is sick He asked where is your mother She is sick Where are your brothers They are all dead sir and one is now dead in the corner This unhappy family consisted of seven on last week now they are only three and at the time I write per haps not two The land is partially tilled If the Public Works be stopped the i st May this parish will be another Skib bereen A great number have emigrated It has been said Lord John Russell is no friend to emigration but we can deny that since his legislation is causing them hourly to emi grate to a land from whose boundaries no traveller has yet returned description of the awful effects of the famine in Cork anti of the disease which accompanied it He warned the upper classes that unless they came forward and rendered effective assistance to relieve the people and arrest the progress of the pestilence they would themselves suffer from their hard heartedness and neglect of the starving poor He condemned the government in strong terms for the insuffi ciency of its relief measures and said that when they had not the courage or humanity to discharge their duty to the people they should give place to others who would On leaving Cork harbour a pleasing object met his eyes after the scenes of misery he had witnessed He meant the star spangled banner of America (loud cheers) floating from that noble vessel the Jamestown which had brought to this country the generous contributions of the American people for the relief of the famine stricken Irish (cheers) There could not be a more severe censure on the collnct of the government than the fact of that American veslflfesf war having come to this country on that noble errand Lord John Russells declaration that British ships of war could not be so employed (hear hear) The CHAIRMAN said the duty then devolved on him to put the question that the document read by Mr nell be entered on the minutes and that the thanks of the association be given to the worthy pious and men who notwithstanding the onerous and dangerous duties they had to discharge found time to com ply with the request of the association and had furnished them lamentable details (hear and cheers) The motion was then agreed to Mr JEREMIAH DUNNE handed in the renewed sub scriptions of 11 each from Michael Dunne Esq Ballymannis county and Bernard M'Garry Esq Baggot street who he said were as good Repealers as any in Ireland Air DUNNE read the following letter having handed In the subscriptions mentioned in it Mullingar April 25 1847 Dear Enclosed I send you 31 Repeal money from the honest Old Irelanders of Mullingar on whose co operation you may at all times depend We regret ex ceedingly that the only true and honest Leader of the Irish people should condescend to notice the vile calumnies that are uttered against him and his family The Irish bishops the Irish priests and Irish people know the honorable member for Kilkenny they appreciate his devotion and attachment to his country he may very well despise (the foul insinuations of his aud their enetnias Watty Cox in his day was apparently writing in favour of the rights of Irelmd John Giffard was an out and out democrat Cox and Giffard deceived the people and betrayed their friends We hope that the men of future times will not be obliged to consign to the same category with Cox and Giffard some of our modern journalists Should you think it worth doing send word to that fidgety featherless cackling old biped Broom that there is no English money in those 31 The money has been contributed by honest and good men who have contributed also to the six millions of which England annually robs Ireland I have the honor to remain dear Sir your obedient servant AIastebson To John Reilly Esq Mr DUNNE moved the marked thanks of the associa tion to the Rev Mr Masterson for the remittance for warded by him and also for his unvarying devotion to the cause of his country Mr seconded the motion Mr said he felt greatly obliged for the I flattering manner in which the rev gentleman had spoken of him in that letter It was an honour to have the good opinion of such men and he was proud to obtain their ap proval and confidence He could assure the rev gentleman that he did not pay attention to the attacks made on him but he could also assure him that the happiest period of his life would be when he saw even those who assailed him most come back to the association to work for the common good (hear hear) Allusion had been made to the money Eng land had robbed Ireland of but he would not at that late hour enter on the subject at length He might just observe that the Times seemed to have found a nest with rsgard to the bebt question That journal talked of the debt due by Ireland but it did not say a word of how that debt' rose up under the management of the English parlia ment or how England made Ireland a partner and respon sible for the debt of 240 millions while she kindly became responsible with Ireland for about 20 millions due by her at the same time The Standard had shown how unjust it 1 would he to tax Ireland the Dublin Evening Herald an ultra Protestant journal also had an excellent article on the subject aud as that was the first time they had been supported in Conservative quarters when they endeavoured to show how cruelly this country had been swindled by England he moved that the extracts from these papers in reference to the question be inserted on the minutes Some days before he brought under the notice of the association the remonstrances of the Cathoht sfcw ffV Thurles against the calumnies of the Board of Works That board acted as it liked in this country It had a nominal responsibility to the treasury but in reality it was an irresponsible body If the members of that board were taken together from first to last it would be difficult to find a set of bitterer bigots than they were The con sequence was that the persons whom they had appointed principally belonged to the Orange faction and went about through the country insu ting the Catholic Priests The Catholic clergy of Thurles bad complained of the insults tr nrl a Vs a I vmocu tu Hicuj tjuuiuiii Hurns uue i Lae omcer8 or t0 the Board of Works and accordingly he had been removed to Coleraine a place more congenial to his feelings but no reparation had been made to the Catholic clergy (hear hear) The attention of the government ought to be given to this They might be assured that the difficult problem of governing the people of this country rendered still more difficult by their own inadequate and unsuitable measures could never be solved until the Catholic clergv were treated with that respect to which they were entitled The honourable and learned gentleman tbeu stated that the proposed address to the Protestants of Ireland calling on them to join the association had been romthe parish of Oranmore and Ballymacourty county the people emphatically express it from their stand Newell zci: auk or stannina'' also to cover their future cruelties many pet schemes may Ireland I see by the newspapers and particularly Sir In the county which you represent and which I have also the honour of being connected with I mean Kilkenny that the potato as heretofore planted is beginning to promise a good crop It is stated in consequence that the cultivation of the potato is likely to be again attempted in this country fear that the success of the crop will be most precarious and that the experiment will be a hazardous one for the poor man to make But if the potato be restored so as to supply food throughout the country that is a subject well worthy of consideration If the potato do re appear and come into general consumption depend on it the landlords and government who have been so profuse of empty words expressive of sympathy for the sufferings of our people wiH be content to allow the whole social state of society in this country to relapse into its ordinary condition without effecting any real measures of permanent relief to raise the condition of the people and place them above the danger of a recurrence of the destitution and pestilence which now so unfortunately exist (hear hear) The social state of Ireland ought to be re constructed the relations be tween landlords and tenants should be looked to at once and ameliorated permanently and effectively ameliorated (hear hear) The landlord should be deprived of the power of keeping his miserable tenantry down to the wretched potato as the only article of food upon which he should subsist The landlords should be deprived of the power of draining from their tenants every shilling of profit which they de rivea irom tneir noldings leaving them nothing but tne potato to support them that power should be restricted We call on the ministry to take such steps as will prevent this country from falling back into the state in which it was sunk previous to the commencement of the famine But what is doing Plenty of complaints are pouring in from every part of the country from the newspapers Orange and Green as well as those of no colour at all such as the Whig papers which ought I think to be styled the Red from the blood which Whig policy has caused to flow (cheers) accounts bearing testimony to the miserable inefficiency of the measures adopted for the relief of the existing distress and yet no party is coming forward to say what is to be done what course ought to be adopted to check the pressing evil (hear hear) The voice of the country has not been raised to press on the government and parliament the necessity of immediatelv setting about the consideration of measures calculated to relieve the distress and permanently to improve the condition of Ireland (bear) We hare to be sure an emigration scheme put forward by the landlords of Ireland A letter has been addressed to me in the public papers by a gentleman whose merits are great and whom I should be sorry to see committing him self with so paltry so delusive nay in some manner so insulting a proposition as that which has for its object the driving out of this country a large mass of the population Mr Monsell is a gentleman of the very highest respectabi lity indeed it is needless for me to ay so in the enjoy ment of large possessions and most highly regarded in the neighbourhood in which he resides and whose sincerity of good intentions towards the people of Ireland there cannot be the least room to doubt (hear hear and cheers) He has not yet joined us in this hall he has not yet called out for the right of Ireland to make laws for herself but of this I am sure and I judge of him by his acts that he has the heart of an Irishman that he is thoroughly Irish in feeling and sentiment and that little more is wanted to make him come forward and join with us in our glorious struggle for the restoration of our country (loud cheering) I therefore acquit him of any participation in the foul in tentions of this emigration scheme (hear hear) He has been deluded by the flattering promises held out that some substantial good would emanate from it I give him my answer from this hall aud iu doing so I but express the opinions of the Right Rev Doctors Maginn and eeny (hear hear and cheers) I tell him he will see in the statements of these right reverend and illustrious prelates the true sentiments of the people of Ireland with regard to that scheme that most diabolical inhuman and unchris tian scheme a scheme propounded by certain landlords for the purpose of enabling them to clear their estates (hear hear) The name of my cousin is to the emigration document but I believe it is not necessary for me to acquit him of any design inimical to the people of Ireland (cheers) He has been deceived and dazzled as others have been He allowed himself to be deceived in associating himself with one man with whom he ought to have been more cautious of identifying himself I refer to Mr Gregory the member for Dublin Was there ever anything so unwise even for their own purpose as to have Mr name appended to that document if they supposed it would be taken as a token of good will and good intentions to the people of Ire land (hear hear) The name of Gregory is associated wifh some of the darkest names in the castle of Dublin The grandfather of this gentleman 1 am sorry to allude to the name at all as the newspapers have just announced the death of his estimable father who lost his life while attending to the distress of the people His memory is en titled to the deep respect of the Irish He has perished as some other members of the established church have perished in their self devotion and one of the latest of these victims has been the Rev Dr Traill of Schui) one of the pestilential districts That reverend gentleman fell a victim to fever caught in the discharge of his humane duties (hear) I am sorry I have to allude to the case of young Gregory at present at the very moment that his death appears in the papers but it is absolutely necessary to do the public mind course of his mented father into parliament a very determined zeal for the interest of Protestant ascendancy and against everything for the wel fare of the Irish people (hear hear) This gentleman has originated and carried through the house the clause in thenew poor law bill called the exterminating clause which refuses relief to any man who holds above a quarter acre of land the clause which enables a landlord to get rid of small farmers aud covering the land with bullocks instead of human beings (hear) When therefore we have Gregory of the exterminating clause at the head of this scheme it is damned from the very outset (cheers) I tell Mr Monsell of Tervoe so long as Mr name is appended to this document that circumstance is quite enough to convince us that this document was not drawn up with good intentions to the people of Ireland (hear) The third name is the name of Air Godley He is a strong Conservative and if we are to judge from some talented publication of his some years ago a very strong and a bigo ted anti Papist (hear hear) I do not impute to Air Godley bad intentions in assisting to draw up this plan He is not so notorious as Gregory in opposition to the peo ple on the contrary he has sometimes shown some good will towards the Irish people But in religion he is a sirong auti Catbolic and coupling his anti Catholic with anti popular feeliug the two names alone would be suffi cient to damn the project (hear hear and cheers) What does Air Alensell say to me He writes a very admirable and clever letter and says that one of the objects of the emigration scheme is to supply the Catholics with an ample endowment of their church in another country Now the Catholics and their respected clergy do not want and will not accept such endowment (hear hear) The bond of affection is so strong between the Catholics and their clergy that they never will consent to weaken it by allowing any state bonds to be drawn about them (cheers) He tells us that we ought to adopt the scheme and allow the Irish nation to follow one of the highest vocations of a great people to extend their race over remote regions and spread civilization (hear) Now if I did not know the ami able seutiments that are in the breast of Mr Alonsell I should be almost tempted to accuse bin' of a desire to in sult our misery (hear) At what time is it that a nation na naturally attempts to colonize It is only when the parent country is rich happy and prosperous that the overplus of the population extend their race and seek their fortune in another clime (hear hear) But here Air Alonsell seeks to draw a parable between a rich and a settled country throwing off the surplus of its young and ardent spirits to seek fortune in another clime and this impoverished wretched and exhausted country with no resource but to see the few Remaining strong men in the land the last rem nant of its capitalists seeking a home in a foreign land and leaving a poor and exhausted population (hear hear) Sir Air Alonsell should come here and assist us first in restoring prosperity to this the parent country and as soon as that glorious end is attained we will be ready to assist him in his emigration scheme in his attempt to people a distant clime with the population of Ireland The landlords of Ireland Air Alonsell says ought to be anxious for it for they had in their neighbourhood a dense and miserable But I ask Air Alonsell whose fault is it that the landlords of Ireland have in their neigh bourhood a deme and miserable population It is the fault of the landlords who deny the people security in their holdings it is the fault of the landlords who by their rack rents deny the people the fruition of the profits of their labour it is the fault of the landlords who grind the people down to the earth by extorting every penny they can possibly obtain from them and then evicting them when they are unable to produce them more Yes it is the fault of the landlords that that dense and miserable population of which Mr Alonsell speaks so emphatically is to be found crowding their estates Then I say let not Air Monsell address himself to us let him address himself to the land lords who have occasioned such a state of things but who will surely have to make reparation for the crime And as soon as we can see the people in the neighbourhood of those exterminating landlords happy and holding their land on a secure tenure and at a fair rent then and not until then can he expect us to help him in his emigra tioa scheme (loud cheers) He speaks of the people and uses the quotation the world is no friend of theirs nor the He is wrong there The law that is not friendly to the people of Ireland is the law made by the Eng glish parliament and it is not the law of the world that is against them but the law of England supported by the ty rant landlords (cheers) The law would be friendly to the people would redress their wrongs establish their rights and give them the means of living in the land of which they are sons if they bad their own parliament to make their laws (cheers) I again say to Mr Godley that before he comes to ask ns to assist him in working out his proposition he mnst assist us to restore the parliament which will never make a bad law for the people (cheers) See how power fully some of our right rev prelates have replied to this emigration scheme I will read an extract or two from their letters which cannot be considered an intrusion on the association though many of you may have seen them before The Right Reverend Doctor Maginn of Derry 8J8 wrting to the parties whose names are to the do cument: You gentlemen propose a plan and principle for my adhesion Petimus damusque vicissim You can have no objection to my submitting for your adhesion another plan conceived in my mind to be based on much more im partial comprehensive and equitable principles I there fore submit to your considerate attention the transportation of the criminals whoever they may be poor or rich transport if you will the whole Irish Catholic peasantry if they be the guilty party 1 If they be not the guilty but the proprietors of the soil who robbed them and pillaged them for centuries who forced them to make double quantities of brick and would not allow them even a wisp of straw who reduced them to a condition a thousand times worse than that of the negro slave who made the lot of the Israelite under the Egyptian Pharoah enviable who not satisfied with oppressing them defamed them imputed the poverty and ignorance which they themselves created to their miserable victims employed a hireling press to heap insult on injury to calumniate them that they might trample on them with who heard their wauiug ana were unmoved looked on their agony without remorse or pity but rather gloated over the writhings of them they racked and tortured why of course as friends to distributive justice not transport them the taskmasters to Canada and let them enjoy the good things you have provided for the innocent poor on the banks of the St Lawrence? Lest you should consider me partial in advis ing this in my mind equitable course the case between the Irish peasantry and their peers I will submit to any English jury or to ajury composed of men of every or any nation and will bow with resignation to their verdict on this sub ject even should I myself be among the first of the exiles You ask the government for nine millions to transport fif teen hundred thousand Catholics to Canada to reclaim there the waste lands If it be a love of or a sympathy for our Irish peasantry why not give up to them the waste lands of Ireland and ask the government for these nine millions to help to reclaim them The government proposed to re claim the waste lands and employ and place on them what you call the superabundant population Where are the petitions of your committee in favour of that important and beneficent measure Where your disinterestedness tell ing the government to take these waste lands of yours and so employ the surplus on them No the very proposal of this measure struck the greater part of your committee with horror To think of the like was forsooth an inva sion of the rights of property even to think of such a be nevolent scheme of providing for the people 1 It was shocking even to imagine that the serf by these means would be converted into a substantial yeoman or that he should have liberty to exist independently of the Irish pro prietor Employ the Catholic peasant anywhere say you but not in Ireland Join us in removing the carrion people from before our eyes beyond the seas or anywhere that we may forget the misery we created and banish the apprehension of retributive justice which God always reserves for the tyrants and oppressors of the people through the instrumentality of the oppressed The murderers would wish to hide their victims lest their mangled frames should rise in judgment against And the Right Rev Dr eeny Bishop of Killala says Aly opinion is that emigration would not afford any per manent remedy to the disastrous state of Ireland It would abstract a very considerable portion of its capital it would take away from Ireland its bone and sinew and would leave nothing behind but a huge inert mass of wretched infirm paupers incapable of cultivating the soil or of any enter prise calculated to infuse new vigor into the debilited frame of Irish society fit sab ects only for absorbing in work houses and in fever hospitals the remainder of the capital of the country Look to the enormous expense required for translating such a colony where will you procure it And if you could succeed in obtaining it how will you be able to repay it along with the heavy and enormous taxes to which your property and that of the country is already subject and with which it is most probable it will be more heavily assessed? Will not the tide of population which is now so fast ebbing after a few years begin to flow as high as ever and thus bring back the same evils to which you are now endeavouring to apply a remedy or rather a palliative Aluch better then would it be for you to endeavour to prevail on the government to relinquish its obstinate adherence to the desolating system of political emonomy and with united exertions to abet the efforts of the government to pass good and well digested laws for the reclamation of waste lands for establishing on equitable terms the relations between landlords and tenants and to suggest to them the propriety of applying the redundant revenues of the Irish establishment to purposes more useful and national than those to which they are at present applied There is ample room in Ireland for all its population and ample resources within it if developed to absorb the superfluous labour of the country and make it conducive to the social and political regeneration of I must say that the harsh terms used and deservedly used by the Right Rev Dr Maginn do not apply to such men as Mr Alonsell who is a sincere friend to the people but they do apply to the great bulk of those who encourage and support the emigra tion scheme the exterminating landlords of Ireland who have caused the greater part of the misery under which the people of Ireland are suffering (hear hear) The Right Rev Dr eeny alludes to the taxation on the country The landlords ask the government to give nine millions of money to transport the people out of their way that they may have room for sheep and oxen on the laud and they say the money will be repaid How Is it out of their own pockets No but they call for a tax on the whole income of the country (bear hear) They want to have a tax laid upon the incomes of professional men and man in business If anything were wanting utterly to break down the struggling business classes it is the income tax the landlords call for Let that tax be imposed and the people in business will be exposed to every species cf arrogance and also to much in justice They will have income commissioners going into their shops prying into their concerns making them swear to the amount of their profits and yet perhaps taxing them more from their own fancy than in accordance with the statement made to them they will expose the trades concerns to the prying eyes of inquisitive neighbours and refuse to him justice In fact such a tax would grind the struggling business class to the earth (hear hear) Now the injustice of the tax is this the man who makes a precarious income by professional pursuits or business who has on the profits of either to support a large family will have to pay fully as high in proportion as the man who has a landed estate and who will leave a permanent pro perty to his children The man who has 3001 a year in land will pay a certain per centage on it and if he died to morrow he would not leave his children destitute for this estate would go to them but in the case of the profes sional man or the man in business making 3001 a year one year with another he ill have to pay as high in propor tion as the estated man though if he died his profession or business died with him and he left his wife and children in beggary That is the income tax the landlords propose They would put a small tax on their own property and a heavy tax on the struggling professional man and on the struggling man in business It is a most unjust and iniqui tous proposition and such a tax would prove most disas trous But the proposition has been caught up by the English papers The Morning Chronicle is delighted with it Of course it is the plan holds out the prospect of another safeguard for England of another immunity to England after having plundered us for the last forty seven years The Morning Chronicle knows well how we have been plundered It knows well that we have been plundered of many millions of money and that if twenty or thirty mil lions were given back to Ireland now it would be only restitution money Even though that sum were giveu back it would not be all that is due to this country by England It is believed that the poor law and a property tax for Ireland would save the pocket of England and I fear that the advice of those who wish to subject Ireland to heavy taxation which will give no real relief will be attended to Mr Alonsell goes on to predict that the poor rates will not be able to be that the population must be removed by emigration because the rates will nut be sufficient to support them I quite agree with him in that but I say that the emigration of our eomanry who have yet some small portion of capital instead of lessening the burden will increase it for we will lose so many who would other wise be obliged to pay the rates The Evening Post has ably followed up the subject to which I alluded last week in a recent article calling on the government to look to the additional taxation falling on the people by rates I stated last week that the additional taxation which would fall upon the ratepayers at the next summer levy would amount to 3000001 (es we understood the honourable gentleman) Again I ak in name where does the government expect that ail this money is to come from? Even the ordinary rates of last year could not possibly be paid at present so great is the poverty of the country The col lectors are in arrears universally and yet we are to have 3000001 additional thrown npon the rate payers at the Spring levy alone The government is mad if it allows things to go on in this way I agree entirely with Air Monsell and indeed that is the only portion of his letter in which I concur that it will be impossible to collect these rates (hear hear) He says he investigate into the causes of the distress and misery of our peasantry I think this is the most unworthy part of his letter I say that he is guilty of any deliberate ill will towards the people on the contrary I believe he is most anxious to promote their welfare but I do say that to a man of his talent and education there could be no more fitting occupa tion at this crisis than a close and attentive and a search ing investigation into the causes that have led to this miserable condition of our people Indeed a lengthened investigation would be unnecessary for there can be no difficulty at all in finding out what these causes are We 1 have pointed them out a thousand times in thia Hall They resolution in an eloquent speech He gave a harrowing only see them who choose to confess them but I defy any man to put his hand to his heart and say with sincerity that he does not see patent and undeniable the real causes of the distress of the country fhear hear) Mr Monsell says that he will not stop to inquire into them Why should he not do so? That is the only means of coming at the real remedy of the evils with which Ireland is afflicted Those evils may be well summed up in a few words they result from the want of our home parliament for the people (cheers) Now let Air Alonsell follow me as closely as he likes and see if there is any insufficient link in the chain of reasoning by which I trace the misery of the country to a want of a domestic parliament The dis tress of the people is caused by their not having any other means of support besides the land They are therefore congregated in such a multitude on the land that they are obliged to bid one against another at an auction as it were for holding each spot of vacant ground The landlord's cupidity is thereby excited and accordingly at these auc tions if I may call them so the landlord accepts the most extravagant offer and lets his land to the highest bidder The tenant being in the power was obliged to give up every portion of that which ought to have been profit to meet his exorbitant rent Under these circutn stances the tenant had not the means of obtaining a proper subsistence and thus by the cupidity of his landlord he was driven down to the lowest article of food and the worst species of that article the lumper potato because it was the cheapest and the most easily obtained (hear) Had manufactures existed in the country the poor man not finding a holding on reasonable terms would have snapped his fingers in the face of the tyrant landlord and said If you deal fairly and honestly by me if you deal by me as man ought to deal by man if you have no human charity in your breast but the heart of a ravenous tiger seeking to drink my blood and the blood ot my wretched family I have your land I will go into the ma nufacturing districts get abundant labour at good wages and support my family in spite of jou (cheers) i there not manufactures in this county Because I customers of the county have gone out of it and 1 draw away six millions of its capital Because 1 parliament and a British government draw away every penny of urplus revenue from the country over and above I the trifling portion spent on the small establishments of the I government here The loss of that money which ought to i be circulating throughout the country and the loss of the I rich customers by absenteeism have caused the destruction of a home market for our manufactures It has caused our I manufactories to be closed it has thrown our artisans out cf employment it has prevented our surplus agricultural population from finding employment in manufacturing pur suits Why what has caused all this what has encou raged our rich proprietors to go away what has caused these exhausting drains of money from the country but the want of that parliament which would make those men stay at home and do their duty which would keep the money of Ireland circulating through the country making employ ment profitable and enterprize remunerative What I re peat has caused the miseries with which Irelaid is afflicted but the want of our native parliament in Dublin (cheers) Will Mr Monsell deny any part of my reasoning? Will he deny that an Irish parliament would keep the money of Ireland at home and bring back the rich absentees? Does he not know that if we had an Iris parliament sitting in College green the absentees would come back in order to look after their own interests? Does he not know that during the interval of the recess of parliament when there was no parliamentary duty to be performed the members would reside amongst their constituents and endeavour by consulting their interests to obtain their good will and thus ensure their own return to parliament at the next el iction (hear hear) Does he not know that if the six millions of money which is abstracted from the country by absentees were left here it would circulate throughout every part of the island like new blood Does he not know that if this money were left in Ireland it would confer incalcu lable benefits on the people for the tendency of capital is to invest itself with the view of profit If we had a proper state of things in Ireland if we had the power of govern ing ourselves the tenant would not be as he is now in tirely dependant for the means of subsistence on land The tenant would have other means of living besides land Agri culture would improve The wan's of the peopld engaged in manufactures would create a demand for agricultural produce We should have the manufacturing popula tion happy and contented We should have the agricul tural population happy and prosperous and ve should have the gentry friends with the people (cheers) The gentry would then have their rents regularly paid and peace and contentment would reign throughout the land I call then on Air Alonsell to join us in our en deavours to bring back to Ireland her parliament which alone can restore permanent prosperity to the country (hear hear) I know sir that 1 have anything more to notice in the letter of Air Monsell I trust one cannot always measure his expressions when speaking in public that nothing has dropped from me in the slightest measure disrespectful to him (hear hear) I should be sorry that I in any way offended him for among his class which is not over favourable to 'he people there is not one I believe more devoted to the interests of Irel nd I do believe that his adoption of the emigration scheme is like that of my cousin an entire nrstake (hear) 1 do believe that he will be among the first when he has bad more opportunity of mixing amonp his countrymen to lead on the people to their legislative rights But I call on Ai in nc vumv3 ilia unu uiidittuttr anu as ue icois iui me iriguiaui suneriugs us uts leuow uuuuirjiiieu i trample under foot the miserable frauds put forward by the exterminators to cover their past cruelties and great ba put forward to serve but they will bitterly disappoint those who place faith in them and Air Alonsell will find at last that there is no hope for Ireland but in a native parliament (cheers) I have now but a few words more to say and I request attention to them not here alone but throughout the country I ask what answer the country will eive to Lord John Russell's querv what is to be done When the noble lord brought forward his miserably deficient senemes altered by the committee into an address to the Pro or rener ror ireiana ue turtiea rouna io such or tne Irish members as were present and asked if the measures would not give satisfaction what we would propose? Why Sir such of us as were present declared that Repeal would be the obly great remedy (tremendous cheers) But many good steps may be taken in the mean time steps in which men of every shade of party and of every creed may concur steps which may meet the approval of all classes Throughout the country there is one common cry of dis tress the most gloomy anticipations are entertained for the welfare of Ireland but in no case is it said let us come together and take council for the good of the people (hear hear) Why if there were not English acts of par liamentin the way the country ought to send upitsrepre sentatives to Dublin (loud cries of hear hear) But there is one thing in the power of the constituencies to do and the approaching elections will enable them to use the power which they possess more efficiently if they think proper towards the end which I will mention The constituencies can say to their representatives You have tried what could be done in the English parliament for Ireland to little or no effect come back and meet in Dublin as a council of national (loud cheers) Why should we not have such a council There is no law that I can see against it The representatives of the Irish people could come back here and receive letters from every part of Ire land and oral testimony from clergymen and other persons of station who might come up to town (hear hear) If such a council was formed here the members might go over to parliament as a united Irish party not like the pre sent miserable Irish Party (hisses) Even before theclose of the present session the counc 1 which I speak of might go over to England and the English people might then be taught that public opinion inIreland was of some consequence There might bo an interposition by a dissolution of parlia ment You can meet that Let your constituencies re I 90ve and let the uon electors call upon the constituencies to make the resolution that no man be he a Whig in a yyhig constituency he Tory in a Tory constituency be a Conciliation Hall Repealer in a Repeal constituency shall be returned no matter what his other professions if he do not pledge bimself to attend a council of national distress in Dublin (cheers) They might attend here The cries of the Irish people as conveyed by letter or newspaper is too feeble to cross the English channel with much effect If the Irish members meet here preparatory to going to parliament they will hear viva voce the extent of the distress the measures necessary for its ameliora tion and the relief that England ought in justice be called on to give They can then act as a united body 1 can see no objection if it be legal as I believe it to be If it be illegal it would not be right to adopt this course but as yet I see nothing illegal in a meeting of the tree chosen repre sentatives of the people to take the opinions of the coun try on the measures that ought to be urged with the united voice of the Irish nation upon the reluctant ears of the English parliament and government (cheers! Of coursa I do not put that idea forward by any means pretending that he should interfere with ulterior measures by us We in this hall shall go on looking for the Repeal of the Union as firmly as ever (great cheering) Perhaps the Irish mem bers varying in opinion hitherto would by the distress and the urgent representations of the country come to an una nimous opinion uponjthat great question (cheers) We will not forego our agitation in the mean time and thus by bringing to bear on the minds of the Irish representatives the whole amount of popular opinion from all parts of the country they will it tney be men if they be real Irish men comeforward boldly at least to protest definitively against English legislation to join at last their fellow countrymen in that great struggle which can alone remedy the present prevent a recurrence of such distress for the restore us that prosperity which is our right and of which we were foully pluudered by Eng land the restoration of our own parliament to sit again in College green (great cheers) The honourable gentleman concluded by proposing the resnlution Mr (barrister) seconded the neuug macour ty ci per Timothy Newell RCC 110111 lBt April fal0wn to occasioned bythe famine fmm ea Yidoala men women and children have perished from the effects of want in this parish perwueu of deaths 8ame Period last year 20 occur! im11 GntJeman says instances have the members of families from the effecU of famine I have known some aanuues where five members perished others in which three many in which two I regret to have to state that fever is now nntortunately superadded to famine and dysentery here and numbers are suffering from it The evil is likely to te very aggravated from the want of a local fever 1 know instances of all the members of families and no one to attend them The food sup plied by relief committees suits not the condition of the sick so tne poor wretches are in an awful state of want and misery I spread) will be the meet dreadful ingredient in the viol of wrath that is bsing poured out upon tie poor The new relief act hm not as yet come into operation here and the gentry do not seem over solicitous to work it whilst on the other hand the labour rate act is so far set aside that very few comparatively of the destitute popula tion are deriving any alleviation of their want from it The land is tolerably well tilled (with the exception of what is held by the one or two acre tenants who had no seed to sow and were not able to procure It Potatoes have been sown to a greater extent than people expected but I am sorry to say that the starving poor have In manv instaTicM nicked un the seed under the pres sure of their hunger Emigration has taken place to a great extent from this parish and mostly of those classes of persons who were the most thriving industrious and well behaved in general As if the cup of misery of the poor were not sufficienly charged with gall and vinegar' some landlords here are serving their tenants with notices of ejectment so that lest famine should not kill its victims extermination by landlords will be added Want of space does not allow me to say more and I beg therefore to subscribe myself yours Timothy Newell RCC' rom the parish of Toomavara county Tipperary per Rev Meagher PP April 1847 Total number of deaths from 1st October 1846 to 1st April 1847 50 of same known to be occcasioned by the famine as Number of deaths Muring same period last year 20 The rev gentleman says No resident landlords no sub scription from landlords the people perishing since the public works ceased cruel and murdering delay in putting the relief system into operation in consequence of the inexplicable and cumbrous queries and crotchets with books to be filled up This crisis between the putting people off the works and delaying the relief finance committees and inspectors are satisfied is the most alarming that has occurred yet much land untilled for want of seed no landlord assisting emigration was great rom the Parish of Clare Abbey and Killone County Clare per dev Mr Gorman PP April 1847 Number of deaths from let October 1846 to let April 1847? 72 Number of same known to be occasioned by famine 36 Number of deaths during same period last year 12 reverend gentleman says M'Namara of Clare Village died under heartrending circumstances He was confined to his bed for the last two months rather from debility than any sickness every member of his family (eight) were also confined or rather stretched on damp straw They had consequently little communication with the neighbours who apprehended contagion Having no person employed in the public works they had no means of procuring any food unless what was supplied occasionally by one individual but not in sufficient quantities to sustain them The poor man died his wife and two children were lying in the same bed with the corpse until the neighbours who knew nothing of it for ten hours came in and removed them I brought Mr O'Brien MP to visit the seme it was literally a Skibbereen case Mr O'Brien did everything to relieve the family under the cir cumstances We have no arrangements to stay the famine on the con trary all the people with the exception of a fractional part are disemployed The rations given in outdoor relief is only 1 Jd for every adult maybe prepared to hear of a hundred cases similar to John M'Namaras in the course of a few months in the parish of Clare Abbey and Killone symptoms of mortality and emaciating 'hunger are more alarming now and during the past week than ever but the most murderous rule of all is this that any man known to have constant employment even though the wages may be the ordinary one of 8jd per day will get no relief lor any member of his family no matter what may be the number The law makes provision for this description of persons it entitles them to cheap food But the relief inspector when remonstrated with says that they can get only cooked food and when re quested to supply this cooked food he replies that he has no boiler ready a poor man in Ballynalligan became insane from want and attempted the life of his wife one fourth of our people are doomed to die of want this year thousands in every parish see nothing but certain death by starvation haunting them at every step rom the Parish of Cionrush and Inniscaltra County Galway per Rev Huleatt Vicar and Rev Cionrush and Iniscaltra April 1847 "Number of deaths from 1st October 1846 to 1st April 1847 95 Number of same occasioned by the famine? 80 Number of deaths same periods last year 23 rev gentlemen say athersand sons are interred in the same graves at the same time some so exhausted and dying while a bit of stirabout was preparing for them some falling on the public works carried to their huts by the people and dying immediately after nothing effectual to stay the pro gress of famine but the 1 Oth Vic cap 7 if fairly carried into operation A great deal of land unfilled in the possession of persons who have nothing to put in the soil The prospects for the coming year are extremely gloomy numbers having a little capital are fleeing from this slaughter house Some of our parishioners who died were protracting a miserable existence on half the rest carried eff by a quick process became victims in a few rom Parish of Menheer county Kerry per Rev John Llong PP Population 2500 23d April 1847 from 1st October 1846 to 1st April 1847 180 Exclusive of children of whose deaths there was no return kept but I would venture to say there could not be less than 4 0 of same known to be occasioned by famine? 106 Adults exclusive of children and I would say from their tender age that a higher proportion of them died by famine of deaths same period last year? 40 Adults besides children I mean by adults all those receive the rites of the church in the last sickness The reverend gentleman observes: the number died by the famine a whole family consisting of eight almost unknown to the people as they lived in a remote part of the parish Eight died by the ditches and four of them were buried without coffins three in one day The present state of the parish is awful and it is my firm conviction the arrangements now on foot will ra her aggravate than stay the famine inasmuch as that twenty per cent of the limited number on the public works are it is said to be knocked off on the 24th instant and the entire on the first of May and I am afraid nay I am certain from passing events that even the more destitute will not get any relief adequate to that which (though miserably poor and scanty) they could purchase for their hire were they continued on the public works while by the outdoor relief bill many cottiers having small plots of ground and many small farmers equally destitute will be precluded from any relief under the new arrangements so that there is no prospect before them but irremediable despair As to the extent of landfilled and being tilled tho farmers who were able to keep their seed corn have already tilled and are tilling more corn than ever they did before but the cottiers and small farmers have neither seed nor provisions and consequently their lands will remain untilled There are none as yet emigrated from this parish but numbers of the small farmers have given up their holdings either to their landlords or others for some pecuniary assistance to take them out of the country and are preparing themselves snouia mention ot tne died of hunger I administered the last rites them in my own house seven of whom Perhaps I ought also acquaint you the famine my parishioners were honest exemplary and reli giaus I am sorry to say now that theft snd robbery and nightly burglary are commencing to appear among them and of course the dismissal of the poor from the public works will increase these dreadful crimes The outdoor relief cannot be in opera tion in this parish for five "Parish of Clankeen county of Tipperary per Rev JVm Morris PP Bornsoleigh "April 26th 1847 of deaths from October 1st 1846 to 1st of April 1847 100 Adults I keep no registry of children I cannot say how many died from actual famine I would be inclined to say xot ose but I am quite certain diseases which led to death had in most cases their origin in insufficient and unwholesome food and exposure to the cold and rain during the winter on the public works' Number of deaths for the same period last year 25 The reverend gentleman observes ever and dysentery are on the increase with us The people wretchedly poor and from the necessity that exists of con verting all that can be earned into food all the other comforts of families are neglected People not able to come to chapel on Sunday in consequence of their clothes being worn out and no means of renewing them Under the labour act and the temporary relief act the people will be saved from starvation during the summer but there are a great many requisites necessary lor the poor besides food The land in general is cultivated in this parish A good deal of corn put down Very little potato planting A greater number leaving for America than been remembered for many years rom St Mary's Athlone county Ifestmeath per the Rev Kilroe PP Total number of deaths from 1st October 1846 to 1st April 184i? 122 Number of same known to be occasioned by famine 25 Total number of deaths nmr period last year 56 The reverend gentleman circumstance of the workhouse being in this parish the bomber of deaths re corded is considerably less than wa shouldotherwiee have to re port Many from this parish when in thffjowest state of ex haustion from famine or'disease were' admit ted and there died in a few days number that died establishment which at no time contained more than 800 amgunts to 405 from 1st October 1846 to 4s April 1847 It frequently occurred that persons aropieQi down dead on the streets or on ths roads returning from thublic works as testant and Catholic nos Repealers and he had been prevented by that circumstance from being able to lay the address before the meeting on that day Catholic emancipation opened places of honour and emolument to wealthy Catholics but when they obtained that they sat down silent and contented and did not exert themselves to benefit the great mass cf the people The address therefore would be most properly directed to those classes in order to stimulate them to exertion for their country They would then address the Protestant non Repealers showing them how some of their brethren were working actively in that hall and were amongst the best members of the association telling them that the organiza tion was not intended for any sectarian purpose and that whilst they would not permit any interference with their religion they were desirous for perfect equality for all reli gious denominations (hear hear) And in conclusion they would call upon Irishmen of all sects and parties Catholics Protestants Presbyterians and Whigs Con servatives and Radicals to join together to put an end to that Union which after being forty six years in operation had reduced the country to this miserable condition They would call on them to join together for the restoration of the Irish parliament or have their names handed down to posterity with disgrace (cheers) ilr KELCH said that he had just called at the provision depot in Townsend street where apiece of bread was put into his hands which together with a small quantity of stirabout was the rstion for a child under nine years of age The weight of the piece of bread was two ounce! (loud cries of oh oh) and he declared that he would ba no party to the giving of such miserable rations to the poor He understood that a deputation went to the com mittee on the subject but he did not yet know what was the result If the rations were not immediately increased he would bring the whole affair before the association next Week for he believed in his heart that if things were to be allowed to continue in their present state the parish of St Alark would soon be in as bad a state as Skibberreen He understood that the ration for a full grown person was only double that for a person under nine years which he thought was very deplorable (hear hear) Air Kelch produced the piece of bread to which he had alluded which was handed over to the clerk with direc tions to preserve it Air OHN CONNELL then announced the Rent for the week as TWENTY OUR POUNDS SIXTEEN SHIL LINGS AND THREEPENCE Air Doyle having been called to the chair Air JOHN CONNELL moved that the thanks ot the association be given to the late chairmanfr was the son of as tru an Irishman as ever lived and they had lot the father his virtue and patriotism were revived in the son The motion was seconded and carried by acclamation The meeting then separated Sunday Morning April 25 Sir I will feel most happy in supplying the association with the information required monthly Excuse this as I write in great haste Yours O'Brien' Killeedy county Limerick per Henry itzgibbon Sir I have kept no registry of the deaths in my parish It is therefore altogether impossible that I could furnish the in formation required I have at the same time to say that the number cf deaths has very much increased this year not so much arising from the want of the usual food but from the want of means to purchase food according to the demand for it As the new system of relief is likely to be in operation in about ten days we cannot expect an addition to the average mortality of past weeks The small farmers are not tilling the land save In lew instances having no capital for seed or support while tilling it and consequently all that can provide the means by selling out their small holdings are emigrating to rom the parishes of Kilchrist and Clondegad county of Clare per the Rev Timothy Breen number of deaths from this parish from the 1st of October 1846 to 1st of April 1847 352 Number of same who died destitute of any kind of food 20 known to have died of insufficiency of ftiod fever dysentery arising from same 176 Total number of deaths from 1st of October 1845 to Istof April 1846? 65 reverend gentleman observes Mr Hannon attended a poor man who lay sick in his bed for over two months living on water merely whitened with a little meal The scanty support derived to the family from the wages of one female his substitute in the employment allowing him no better nourishment Another poor man who induced by our earnest advice in public left the works for the purpose of tilling his land on finding after a few days that by the reduction of labourers on the works his name was struck off the lists by the returning officer and seeing that all his resources were then exhausted took to his bed in despair and got out of his mind so that when Mr Hannon was called on to prepare him his only replies to him were blasphemies and curses This poor man still lingers in the same deplorable condition In fact instances of a similar nature to these are numerous The new relief act for the gratuitous distribution of food is brought into operation in these parishes for the last three weeks but the support is so scanty and the unwillingness of the committee to extend its operation to many through fear of increasing taxation is so great the strict vigilance of the finance committee is so scrutinizing that very many are only trying to protract a miserable existence on one meal a day Add to this the delays accompanying the compliance with prescribed forms especially where there are no funds of any kind arising from either subscriptions or donations With the exception of two small proprietors who employ perhaps an aggregate of about sixty persons all the others are absentees and of these some are embarrassed others minors so that subscriptions were in vain sought for and as the great mass of the people are all of the one class there is rot the least chance of casual employment amongst the farmers Judge then of the grievance of collecting the whole of these famished wretches every day round the food depot for the purpose ot receiving each his miserable pound of meal Many have entreated to be left at home inorder that by remaining in bed they may be enabled the better to endure hunger One instance will suffice to show the wretched poverty of the people The houses of worship in both parishes are two wretched thatched hovels which were almost entirely stripped by the storms of last December and January A subscription was attempted to be raised in both parishes for the purpose of repairing the ravages of the storm and although the poor people are naturally religious yet after every possible exertion the sum total received for the pur poses up to the present moment is only 31 4s This sum only partially repaired one chapel the other still remains a wreck The poverty of the people on whom the priest de pends for his support has left him unable to ward the rains of heaven from his poor flock while they prostrate themselves in prayer during the celebration of the most tre mendous mysteries In compliance with our earnest exhortations and advice the poor people tilled almost all the land fitted for wheat before the 1 st of January and as four fifths and more of the soil of the parishes is not suited to the production ot wheat they were vigorously proceeding with the culture of oats barley up to the beginning of April when the vast numbers thrown out of employment by the reduction of the labourers on the works entirely pafalyzed their energies by throwing them on their own resources Many were after wards obliged to consume the seed they had reserved so that now taking the mountain districts of the parishes more than a third of the available soil will remaiu unfilled or in other words about a fourth of the soil of the entire parishes Stafford O'Brien Esq and Mr Stackpoole of Cragbrien have taken care that not a perch of land on their properties shall remain unfilled Other proprietors have oilered seed but on such security that their offer is generally unavailing Colonel Windham's property in his own immediate possession is unhappily very limited it is confined to Deer Island but no part of Deer Island is suffered to remain a waste The last named gentleman has fitted out a ship iu the Shannon and is prepared to enable any of his tenantry to emigrate entirely at his own expense Two numerous families of Deer Island are availing themselves his bounty AU the other tenants are too comfortable to require voluntary exile Through the rest of the parishes at least a fourth of the small cottiers would be anxious to emigrate but they have not the means Only those who have some interest in their farms and a share of stock can muster the necessary supplies by the sale of all their effects And even that interest is daily diminishing in value from the number of small holdings offered for sale and the decreasing anxiety for the purchase of land In fact numbers are now entreating their landlords to take their lands off their hands in order that they may be entitled to rations which are withheld because they possess some land with no other resources Some thing about thirty families are either gone or are preparing to go from these parishes but tis melancholy to have to add that these generally are the most industrious the most healthy often the most comfortable and the best conducted among their neighbours What will become of the mass of destitution and infirmity they leave behind Sir I have to move that that affecting document be in serted on the minutes and that the warmest thanks of the association be given to those who have enabled us to place it before the country I do hope that the government will at once consider the fearfully important matter to which it relates Those returns are from the most authentic and unimpeachable authorities and if the government was ready to take up the reports from their guinea a day men sent to insult the Catholic clergy I trust they will pay the Irish priests the poor compliment of attending to their reoorts If the government do not look to these things at once as sure as any supporter of theirs presents himself on any hustings in this country at the next election so sure will he be taunted with their criminal remissness (cheers) And 1 warn the government against allowing any of their sup porters to go to the hustings with this mass of 1 earful evidence against them unless they at once take prompt and comprehensive steps to mitigate the sufferings of the peo pie Their measures are most inadequate aud in conse quence the people are perishing in ah directions and we shall have the country one scene of pestilence and death if something be not done at once to remedy the evil Sir the government should consider the matter in time they have not a moment to lose It is my impression that even if the present harvest be good before it can be made available for the support of the people millions will have perished and how much worse will we be if the harvest chance to be bad I say Sir if something be not done I see nothing before the country but an entire cessation of the rights of property utter confusion and bloodshed I repeat therefore that the government should lose no time.