THE parliamentary proceedings respecting Ireland were of little importance this year; but many points were touched upon which tended more and more to display the strange state of society in that country, and the anomalies of its government.

Early in the session, Mr Feb. 2. Whitbread inquired of Sir Arthur Wellesley, whether, while he was fighting the battles of his country on the continent, he had still continued to hold the appointment and salary of Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland? Sir Arthur replied, it undoubtedly was the wish of the noble personage now at the head of the Irish government, that no one should be appointed to that situation during his absence; and during the two months he was absent, he certainly received part of the salary of that office. But then there was some part of the time for which he did not receive the full pay attached to his military situation, and every man who considered the nature of that situation, must be aware that it was liable to very heavy increase of

expences, which he did not feel himself in a condition to afford. MrWhitbread then said, he should feel it his duty, on a future day, to submit a resolution to the House, that the office of chief secretary for Ireland was an efficient office.

Accordingly, a few days afterwards, Mr Whitbread Feb. 6. rose to make his promised motion. "During the last campaign," he said, "a most extraordinary circumstance had taken place, both here and in Ireland. The chief secretary for Ireland, and the under secretary * of state for the war department, both gallant and distinguished officers, had been employed in the military service of their coun try, and suffered at the same time to retain their civil employments. In either capacity, he admitted that the country could not be better served; but he contended that no office ought to be held by any person when absence rendered it impossible for him to execute its duties, and it could not be maintained that these officers could be absent from their civil offices

without material injury to the public service. Concerning General Stewart, he had received an answer from Lord Castlereagh, which was perfectly satisfactory, that from the moment he quitted Portsmouth he had declined receiving any of the emoluments arising from his secretaryship; on this, therefore, he should only observe, that he thought the noble lord ought to have filled up the appointment during the absence of his relative. The answer respecting the other gallant officer was not equally satisfactory; and that officer was too much alive to true glory to wish that any injurious precedent should be established by any circumstance connected with his individual interest. He might appeal to the chair, respecting the duties and emoluments of the chief secretaryship: for it had been held by the distinguished person in the chair, whose mind had ever been more fixed on the duties than the emoluments of the offices. It was to him that the public was indebted for having the duties defined, and the emoluments brought forward to public inspection. Though the emoluments were considerable, he did not mean to say that they were greater than the situation merited; but he must insist that if no duties were performed, the public ought not to be called upon to pay. Sir Arthur Wellesley had said, he was not richer from his salary; this he believed, as he did not suppose that any person accepted an office with a view to pecuniary gains, but rather as an object of honourable ambition. The resolution which he was about to submit would, he trusted, be placed in the journals, and prevent any person hereafter, whatever his abilities might be, from filling two incompatible places." He then mo.

ved a resolution, that the office of chief secretary for Ireland is an efficient office of the highest responsibility, which ought not to be held by any person absent from the realm, and that the emolument of it ought not to be paid to any person unable to perform the duties.

Sir Arthur replied, that when he was first appointed to the secretaryship, it was clearly understood that that appointment should not exclude him from accepting any military employment. Under these circumstances he had been employed, both on the expedition against Copenhagen, and in that to Portugal, and in both cases it had been clearly understood also, that he relinquished all claim to the civil office, if a successor were appointed. He had retained the office solely at the desire of the lord lieutenant, who thought that he could assist him effectually, as he had already done by the regulations which he had suggested. Mr Whitbread's resolution went to declare, that a certain efficient government ought at all times to exist in Ireland: he would ask the House before they voted such an abstract proposition, to inquire whether there had not been an efficient government there during his absence; he would ask the honourable mover himself, whether any public business had been detained for four-and-twenty hours, or whether all the affairs of the government had not gone on without interruption. Had not the regulations which he had arranged for the various departments of the state been carried into effect, and the public service been thereby promoted without intermission ?—The salary he allowed to be large; but it was given, not so much for performing the duties, as to enable him to maintain the situation and charac

ter that belonged to it. When he went abroad, the lord lieutenant, who was desirous that he should retain the office, told him, that if he did not return within a certain time a successor would be appointed: it was uncertain whether he should ever return; but when he did, as no súccessor had been appointed, he certainly considered himself entitled to the emoluments of the office, and as, whether absent or present, the expences of the establishment had been defrayed by him, he had taken the salary. The example of his gallant friend, General Stewart, he most certainly approved; but he had not thought it right to return the emoluments which he had received, because he would not have it supposed that he shrunk from the discussion of any act of his in that House. He had now trespassed too much upon their attention; and would only as sure them, that he should, in no future instance, consent to hold his of fice in the event of his being appointed to a military command. Then he bowed to the chair and withdrew. Mr Perceval repeated, that if any inconvenience had been felt, a successor would have been appointed, and declared, that if blame was imputable any where, it was not to Sir Arthur, but to his majesty's ministers; and he moved the previous question, which was carried without a division. The object of the motion, however, was effected.

Before the present interruption of commerce, Ireland used to receive its supply of flax-seed from America and the Baltic; there had been a considerable failure in this important article, and to remedy this Mr Foster proposed to allow a bounty per bushel upon all seed grown in Ire land, to be disbursed under the direc

tion of the linen board, for which purpose he March 22. moved for a grant of 20,000l. It was objected to by Mr. Barry, upon the ground, that the climate was not calculated for producing seed,-otherwise, he argued, it would never have been the practice to import it; by Mr Horner, who said, that as a temporary measure it was nugatory, and as a permanent one bad. If the American embargo were taken off, the Irish would immediately be plentifully supplied as before, and would of course revert to their usual mode of traffic, while he supposed the grant was to be continued as an annual burthen upon the people. Mr Parnell also opposed it, and deprecated boun ties altogether, as originating in a mis taken policy. Besides, this gentleman said, if any branch of Lrish trade could bear interruption with less injury than another, it was the linen trade, because the manufacturers were also agriculturists, and could consequently convert their lands and labourers to other uses. On the other hand, the measure was supported by Sir John Newport and Mr Grattan. The country, they argued, depended on the staple manufacture, that manufacture depended on the seed, and to secure a supply of that seed, a bounty was necessary; if they had no linen they had no trade. The embargo and the orders in council might be rescinded, but the same circumstances might again occur, and the manufacturers of Ireland ought not to depend upon the caprice of another country. As to the objection from the unfitness of the climate, Mr Foster said, experiments had been tried and not the smallest doubt existed, but that seed might be grown there. The bounty was to extend to 15,000 bushels, and unless the

seed were perfectly sound, the party furnishing it would subject themselves to penalties.-The grant accordingly was voted.

The Irish chancellor was opposed with more success upon the malt and spirit-bill. Sir John March 21. Newport moved that the consideration should be adjourned to that day six months. "The principle of increasing the malt tax," he said, "was radically wrong. How often had it been stated in that House, that it was a most desirable thing to tranquillize Ireland, yet if ever there was one measure more calculated than another to prevent that desirable object, it was this, which would drive the people back again from beer to the use of spirits. Men who got drunk upon beer could sleep off the effects, but spirits set them mad. If the augmentation was imposed, the people would apply themselves to spirits, and it would cost more than any little increase of revenue to support a military force adequate to restrain their violence. It happened to be a thin House when the discussion took place, so thin, indeed, that Mr Foster's original motion was to postpone the consideration of the subject on that account; but Sir J. Newport prest his amendment, and succeeded in throwing out the measure by a majority of 43 against 30. The existing regulations respecting Irish distilleries gave a bounty of 8 per cent. to stills of 1000 gallons contents, and of 16 per cent. to those of 1500; they imposed also a fine of 501. upon the parish in which any private still should be detected. Mr Foster proposed to relieve May 24. the parish from the burden for the first offence; but to double it for the second; and

as unlicensed distilleries could only be put down by the establishment of small stills, he thought the best means of encouraging these would be, by giving a part of each fine as a bounty to them instead of to the informer. Some cogent arguments were adduced against the system of survey upon which his bill proceeded. This system, it was argued, was the origin of the illicit trade, and while it continued, so long would that trade continue to flourish. The commissioners of inquiry had recommended the license system, under which a distiller had only to take out a license, and pay for it according to the numberof gallons which it was presumed he could make in a year, by which means he was left at liberty to work without the vexatious interference of the excise officers, and the revenue was sure of being very considerable. The commissioners also reported, that in one country the fines imposed for illicit distillation amounted, in one year, to 80,000l., but that only 6001. had been collected, and that the expence which it cost the public to make the seizures for which these fines were to be levied was 50,000l., so that the whole benefit of the system was that of the excise officers, and no stop was put to the illicit practice. The only remedy was to set up legal stills over the whole country, by suffering them to work with small capitals and without the vexatious oppression of the powers granted to revenue officers; for so soon as large distillers were established, it would be so much their interest to prevent the illicit trade, that they would soon clear the country of it. The policy of this method of proceeding had been fully established in Scotland. Before 1786 the system of collecting spirit duties there was exactly the

same as it now is in Ireland, and, in consequence, the whole country was supplied by illicit distillation. In that year the license system was adopted, and it was proved in the evidence given before a committee of the House, that in the first year 18,000l. was collected, whereas 18s. had never been collected before; that the licensed distillers detected and punished the illegal ones, and that the increased demand for grain soon contributed to the general improvement of the agri. culture of Scotland, and altogether changed the face of the country.

But in addition to the evils inherent in, and inseparable from, the system of survey in a country so barbarous as Ireland, it was argued, the bounty on large stills rendered it impossible for any small ones to be worked. The large still paid less by a shilling a gallon than the small one, though it had already great and manifest advantages, the expence of working being diminished in proportion to the size. The notion of encouraging small stills, by giving them a share in the fines, was mere folly and delusion; for what man could be fool enough to contend against the bounty on the large ones, upon the speculation of such a profit! The best way to prevent breach of laws, is to take away the temptation for breaking them. The farmers encourage illegal stills, because they get a high price for their corn from them, and as small stills cannot be set up in competition with the bounty, if these were destroyed, their market would be destroyed also. Enable small stills to flourish, and the inducement to illegal practices is taken away. Farther, the opponents of the bill urged, it was false that large stills were advantageous to the tillage of Ireland; they could

VOL. II. PART I.

only be worked by persons of large capital in seaport towns, where there was a supply of sea-coal; and by the bounty which favoured them, to the exclusion of others, the whole interior was deprived of the demand for grain which distilleries would occasion if they could be established there: in fact, there were none in those parts of Ireland where tillage flourished most, in Waterford, Clonmel, and the county of Kilkenny. Sir J. Newport, therefore, moved that the bounty should be repealed; but it was negatived by a majority of 78 to 21. Mr French moved an amendment to prevent the double fine upon the parishes; and in support of this, it was represented, that the collusion of revenue officers was punished by a fine of 101. only, or by rendering them incapable of retaining their office, while the fine upon the parishes was 501. at present, and to be doubled by the present bill. Even this penalty for collusion, inadequate as it was, was not inforced, for $75 applications were made at the quarter session, to fine the county of Cavan for illicit stills, while not one prosecution was instituted against a revenue officer; and the fines laid upon that county were so great that it would be impossible to levy them. In an swer to this, it was contended, that the power of fining could not be taken away while the evil was so great. The revenue was materially injured by illicit stills, and the morals of the people corrupted. There were instances of town lands being fined three times over for the same still. Severe enactments were required, and unless informers were rewarded, no discoveries would be made. The severity of the law was partly the fault of those gentlemen who did not exert themselves to put these stills down.

X