§ MR. P. SCROPEbegged to ask the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the attention of Her Majesty's Govern- 913 ment had been called to the extraordinary distress which was said, according to the local accounts, to prevail in the town of Mallow, in the county of Cork? There was a population in that town of between 10,000 and 12,000, out of which number no less than 6,000 were in such a state of destitution as to be altogether in want of food. This was within the district comprised in the labours of the relief committee of Mallow; and it was stated in the accounts which he had received, that in this same district the relief committee had been able to collect only 400l. or 500l., towards which, with the exception of 50l. given by the hon. Member for Mallow (Sir C. Norreys), the landlords in the district had subscribed under 50l. altogether. There were instances of landlords in that locality, who drew from it rents to the amount of 10,000l. or 12,000l., subscribing 3l., 5l., and 7l. only, and of some who refused altogether to subscribe. And this was not a singular case; for he had presented a petition the other day from the county of Limerick, in which it was stated similar distress prevailed, and that there was a similar absence of contributions on the part of the large body of landlords. Under these circumstances, he begged to ask the right hon. Gentleman, first, whether his attention had been called to the existing distress in Mallow; and next, whether Her Majesty's Government had taken into consideration the precedent of 1783, when, as was clear from the returns obtained by the hon. Member for Aberdeen—there being at that period a similar calamity to that which now afflicted Ireland, extending over the west coast of Scotland—Parliament passed a short Act, enforcing relief from proprietors in the district by a compulsory assessment upon their property to the extent of 14 per cent upon their rental? He would not enter into an argument to show the applicability of this precedent. But, seeing that the Government had not introduced any measure for compelling the landlords of Ireland, as the landlords of Scotland were forced in that instance, to afford relief, he wished to know from the right hon. Baronet whether it was intended to follow that example; in other words, whether Government would allow the summer to elapse, leaving the misery of Ireland to be relieved by the voluntary contributions of landlords who had so clearly failed to do their duty, or whether they would not, by compulsory means, enforce the performance of duties which common huma- 914 nity, if not the law of the land, required from them?
§ SIR JAMES GRAHAMsaid, his attention had not been specifically called to the case of Mallow, as the hon. Gentleman had not given him notice of the questions he had put; but, fortunately, the representative of Mallow had been attending to his duties in Parliament, and probably the hon. Baronet would be able to give the hon. Gentleman a more accurate description of the state of Mallow than he was able to give. With regard to the destitution in that neighbourhood, a Commission was sitting day by day in Dublin, for the purpose of receiving communications relating to local distress; immediately upon the receipt of any such representation, inquiries were instituted upon the spot, and any assistance which could be given to the local contributions was accorded by the Government. There had been no direct communication with the Government here upon the subject. With regard to the second question put by the hon. Gentlemen, whether it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to act upon the precedent brought under their notice, when destitution of a similar kind prevailed on the west coast of Scotland, he (Sir J. Graham) had already stated to the House, that in the present year, and under present circumstances, it was not the intention of Her Majesty's Government to propose a land-tax in Ireland to meet the prevailing distress. It was not their intention to introduce measures of that description at the present moment. What might be their future policy, was much too great a question to enter upon now.