HC Deb 05 June 1834 vol 24 cc235-9
Mr. Montague L. Chapman

felt most anxious to ascertain what further information, besides that already laid on the Table, induced the Irish Secretary to persevere in continuing the application of the coercive measure, to a county which certainly that statement did not represent as being in any fearful or alarming state. To lead to this exposition on the part of the Secretary, it would be necessary for him to enter into some details. Some short time since a meeting of Magistrates numer- ously attended, was held at Mullingar. It was summoned together, in consequence of a resident Magistrate and gentleman of property in the county, having been most daringly fired at, and in consequence of this outrage, and the state of the county, the Magistrates present, naturally excited by the occurrence, applied to Government to proclaim the baronies in which the outrage had occurred, that of Moyarbel and that of Delvin. He would admit, for the sake of argument, that the Act was called for by the state of the other two baronies, however much at any other time he might be disposed to deny this, and disapprove altogether of the Act, and would refer to Delvin alone, and it so happened that many of the Magistrates connected more immediately with it, were, by different causes, unable to attend the meeting, and lay before the assembled Magistrates its real state and condition. Under these circumstances, the application was made, and the Government acceded to it, before entering into any of those inquiries which it ought to have instituted. It neither inquired what steps had been taken by the Magistrates resident in the barony—whether any exertions had been made by them to avert any necessity for having recourse to a measure which had been passed by the House, but as one to be resorted to in the last extremity; but hastily and unadvisedly, jumped at the demand of the Magistrates, and proclaimed the barony. He himself had made remonstrances of the strongest nature to the Irish Secretary, immediately upon hearing of the application, and before the Secretary could communicate those remonstrances to the Irish Government, the proclamation had been issued, and the barony included with the others. Moreover, a memorial, praying Government not to accede to the request of the Magistrates, as far as Delvin was concerned, was got up in the barony immediately after the meeting. It was signed by three Magistrates, the representatives of the largest fortunes in the district. It was signed by the Protestant rector and curate of one parish, by the Catholic clergymen, and by many of the persons most interested in securing the peace and tranquillity of the barony; and yet this memorial was answered by the statement that the act was done—that the barony had been proclaimed—that the thing was over—and that its in- habitants must submit with patience to the infliction of a measure which was passed by the House as applicable only to criminality of the very highest degree. Surely, he had a right to suspect that a part of the Irish Government must desire a re-enactment of the Coercion Act, and had taken advantage of this occasion to demonstrate its necessity. As to the crimes committed in the barony, by this paper it appears that since March, six crimes have been committed, and through those I would proceed in turn, chiefly for the purpose of showing how defective is the character of the species of information given to the Government. The first case reads very fearfully; nothing less than the levelling of a house, which would give an appearance of great disturbance to the barony, but when added to what, his information could enable him to add to it, namely, that the house was one of bad character, it really did appear to him that this first case—this head and front of the baronial offence—this pulling down of a brothel—was not a case of such extraordinary violence as to require the application of the Coercion Act. The second was a case of mere highway robbery; the individual who had committed it had been instantly apprehended, and would, no doubt, be punished; and yet this is one of the six cases made out to justify the Government. The third was, if possible, still more ridiculous; it read as if a quantity of hay had been burned maliciously, and yet, when examined into, it appeared that the whole value of the hay amounted to 7s. 6d., and, moreover, that the doubts as to its having been maliciously consumed were so great that its possessor, who was a great smoker, and was supposed to have destroyed it by accident, had never taken the necessary affidavit for burning presentment. Here there were three cases out of the six offered to the House as the Government apology, and he was sure the House must feel, that they were completely disposed of. Of the remaining three he would at once acknowledge that they were real offences, and such as could not be extenuated. Under these circumstances, he would ask the House to give him a Committee to inquire into the case. He would conclude with one fact, which spoke volumes, and gave a great additional reason for such an inquiry. He had been assured, that the only case of turbulence manifested at Castletown-del- vin, since the arrival of the troops, had been displayed by the police, who, on their return some short time since, late at night, from a fair in the neighbourhood, were captured, and held in custody in the guard-house. The bon. Member concluded by moving for a Committee to inquire into the circumstances which justified the application of the Coercion Act to the barony of Delvin, in the county of Westmeath.

Mr. Littleton

said, he should, at the outset make an admission to his hon. friend that the case of the Barony of Delvin was a weaker case for proclamation than many other cases; he had never concealed that opinion; but he did think that the Lord-lieutenant in Council exercised, nevertheless, a sound judgment in including it. The state of the county of Westmeath had been extremely bad for a long course of time; ever since he had been in office his attention had been forcibly attracted to the numerous outrages committed in it. He was, therefore, not surprised that the Magistrates should have been under the necessity of applying for a proclamation to place those Baronies under the provisions of the Coercion Act. On the 26th of April the Magistrates, who had been convened by previous advertisement, assembled, to the number of thirty-seven, at Mullingar; only eighteen in the whole county being absent; and when it was considered how many were necessarily prevented from attending by age, infirmity, or accident, it would be admitted, that there was, certainly, a very full attendance. They passed a resolution unanimously, without one dissentient voice, calling on the Lord-lieutenant to place three Baronies of the county under the provisions of the Coercion Act. Their representation was to the effect, that it was their unanimous and decided opinion, that the existing laws were not sufficient to meet the existing state of crime and outrage; and they therefore submitted to the Lord-lieutenant that the provisions of the Acts 3 and 4 of William 4th, c. 4th, might be put into operation in those parts where crime was most conspicuous; and for that purpose they suggested that it should be so in the Barony of Delvin, and the two other baronies in question. His hon. friend complained of the great haste which the Lord-lieutenant and Council evinced in following up that Representation, by immediately issuing a proclamation. He thought his hon. friend had been somewhat hasty in making this complaint; for, if he had fully inquired into the subject, he would have seen, that ten days had elapsed, after the receipt of this requisition, before the proclamation was issued—for the requisition bore date of the 26th of April, and the proclamation that of the 5th of May. The right hon. Gentleman alluded to the state of crime in the barony of Delvin; and, in contradiction to the statement which had been made of the small extent to which it prevailed, said, that he found there were not less than seventeen well-attested cases of outrage, some of them very bad. He referred to a letter from Mr. Smith, a Magistrate resident in the barony, in which that gentleman expressed his opinion, that no parish more deserved the proclamation than one of those the exemption of which was desired, which was in such a state that many persons had actually thrown up their holdings and quitted the district. Under these circumstances, he (Mr. Littleton) did not think that the House would be disposed to concur with his hon. friend in expressing an opinion that the Lord-lieutenant, in proclaiming the barony had acted wrongly, and therefore he should oppose the Motion.

The House divided—Ayes 14; Noes 30; Majority 16.

List of the AYES.
Aglionby, H. A. Ruthven, E. S.
Bellew, R. M. Talbot, J. H.
Evans, W. Walker, C. A.
Fitzsimon, N. Wallace, R.
Gillon, W. D. Warburton, H.
Hume, J.
Jacob, N. TELLERS.
Nagle, Sir R. Chapman, M. L.
Ruthven, E. O'Connor, F.