§ On the Motion that the House at its rising do adjourn till Monday next,
§ SIR B. HALLreferred to a notice which he had given the other evening, and said, that in pursuance of that notice he wished to put a question to his right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject. On the 10th of June, 1847, an Act of Parliament was passed, by which 500,000l. was authorised to be advanced to proprietors of land in Ireland, subject to certain regulations. He desired to call the attention of his right hon. Friend to two instances of misappropriation of this fund. The first case was that of Mr. O'Neil, who was described as of Dunowen Castle, in the county of Galway, and who, it appeared, had asked for an advance of money, which was assented to by the Treasury. An instalment of 500l. was subsequently issued on his representation that the people on his estate were in a very distressed condition, and that he could not employ them without assistance from the Government. On the 14th of December last, exactly six weeks after Mr. O'Neil had received this money, he wrote a letter to the Board, saying that it was impossible to commence his works until the spring; and the Board gave him till the spring accordingly. When the spring, however, arrived, they found that 1075 no improvements were made on Mr. O'Neil's property, and they discovered that he had misappropriated the money, and taken up a bill of his which had been overdue. The Board then wrote to Mr. O'Neil, and insisted on some improvements being made on account of this money, whereupon this gentleman, with modest assurance, asked for a second instalment of 500l. To this the Board objected, and a prosecution was threatened. What he wished to know was, whether any legal proceedings had been taken against this gentleman, and whether or not the works had been commenced? According to the Act, all labour was to be paid in the current coin of the realm; but with respect to Lord de Freyne, and the other gentlemen, whose names he would not mention, and whose cases he would not enter upon, as there were mitigatory circumstances connected with them, this part of the Act had not been complied with. The 29th Clause, enforcing this provision, was introduced by the Duke of Wellington. The noble Duke, in giving notice of his intention to move this clause, observed that it appeared to him they could not apply any effectual remedy for the evils of Ireland unless they enforced the necessity of paying the wages of labour in the current coin of the realm; he accordingly introduced a clause to that effect, and it was carried. Such was the state of the law, and now he would proceed to show how it had been violated by Lord de Freyne. That noble Lord received 3,000l. under the Act by six instalments of 500l. each; but instead of acting up to the spirit and intention of the Act, he paid to the labourers employed by this means 10 per cent in meal and goods, while 90 per cent was paid by checks on his agents, which checks were not cashed by those agents, but carried by them to the rent account of the noble Lord. The effect of this was to produce great wretchedness among the labourers, who had no money with which to procure necessaries. He had shown, he thought, enough to satisfy the House that the Act, so far as regarded payment in the current coin of the realm, had not been complied with; and he should be glad to hear from the Chancellor of the Exchequer what course had been taken in consequence of those proceedings. The noble Lord got his land improved by means of money procured from the public Treasury, and at the same time he got very good credit on his rent account.
The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHE- QUERregretted that he was not able to answer the whole of the question which had been put by his hon. Friend. It was necessary to make a reference to Ireland with respect to at least one of the cases, but for that there had not been sufficient time. The first case mentioned by the hon. Baronet—that of Mr. O'Neil—he believed had been very correctly stated. With regard to the application for a second instalment, to which reference had been made, he had distinctly to observe, that in no case was a second instalment granted till it was ascertained by an inspector, sent for the purpose, that the first instalment had been laid out in the terms of the Act. So soon as it was found that the money in this case had been misapplied, a second instalment was refused, and legal proceedings for the recovery of the money were raised against O'Neil. On receiving this intimation, O'Neil offered to commence the works and to provide the money for that purpose; and the great object of the Board of Works being to secure employment for the people, and not to expend money in-legal proceedings, they had not persevered in those proceedings. The hen. Baronet had asked whether or not the works had been commenced; but to that question he was unable to give an answer. He would make inquiry, however, into all the circumstances. With regard to the next case, that of Lord De Freyne, and what took place between him and his employés, the hon. Gentleman the Member for Roscommon would be able to give full information; but he was prepared to state that as soon as the circumstances complained of were brought to the knowledge of the Board, a communication was made to the noble Lord on the subject, and he was informed that the mode of paying the wages of his labourers was not in accordance with the Act. The Board had in this case, as in other cases, done their best to carry out the provisions of the measure, and they refused to pay any new instalments wherever it was shown that those given had not been applied strictly in the terms laid down by the law.
§ MR. FRENCHIf any departure from the provisions of the Act, which he very much doubted, had taken place at all, it had occurred without the knowledge and without the sanction of Lord de Freyne. The moment he learned it was alleged that the provisions of the 29th Section had not been complied with, directions were sent to the contractors that the orders of the Board 1077 of Works, no matter what they might be, must he strictly adhered to. The application was originally made under the 9th and 10th Vict., c. 101, in which no provision, such as that of the 29th Section, was. Under the impression that this application would be, as it should have been, immediately attended to, arrangements were made with the present contractors, Messrs. Kelly and D'Arcy, to carry on the proposed improvements; but, in consequence of objections on the part of the Commissioners to sanction works exclusively in moor or bog lands, it was deemed advisable that a new application should be made under the present Act. The printed form for this purpose was sent to the noble Lord, and signed by him, which was the only step he took in the matter, and the whole arrangements were left to he carried into effect by the contractors. The works now undertaken were carried on with great spirit. About 1,100 persons were daily employed. Lord de Freyne was resident in the country, and had every reason to believe that the arrangements were satisfactory to all parties. The first intimation he received in London to the contrary was a letter from Mr. Walker, dated the 25th of March, who stated that the provisions of the 29th Clause had not been complied with. This letter, which reached him in London, was immediately sent over to Mr. Kelly, and an explanation of the circumstances required; an answer was received from him, in which he contradicted every statement made by the Board of Works, as to the course pursued by the contractors, and forwarded an address, signed by every one of the labourers employed on the works, expressing their satisfaction with all the arrangements that had been made for them. Mr. Kelly, moreover, gave an account of the moneys received from the Board of Works, and the money paid out. So far from the Board of Works being in advance, the result was that the contractors on the works were spending in advance some 800l. or 900l., instead of spending, as had been said, the public money. Mr. Kelly's letter was as follows:—
§ "MR. H. KELLT TO MR. FRENCH.
§ "4th April, 1848.
§
"I beg to say, in reply to your letter which I received this day on my return from Ewett, that the statements contained in the letter from the Board are not right. The plan adopted in Lord de Freyne's drainage carried the law into effect, and was as follows:—
1078
The district, as you are aware, in which the drainage has been undertaken, is a very extensive one, comprising the greater part of the barony of Frenchpark. It was divided into two portions. The Artagh or south division, with the demesne, was given to me; the northern division, lying between Loughlynn and Frenchpark, to Mr. John D'Arcy. Immediately on our appointment we established an office in the town of Frenchpark, under the management of Mr. Thomas Dillon, a young man of considerable ability, and who has had a great deal of experience under the Board of Works in keeping accounts. Accordingly as the taskwork was executed it was surveyed by Mr. John Higgins, inspected by us, and if we approved we certified to Mr. Dillon the name of the person by whom it was done, and the amount earned. Mr. Dillon filled up a printed cheque for the sum so earned, to be paid by Mr. Joseph Gishin, which cheque was handed to the person. Some few of the people took the amount in money; the greater majority paid them into Lord de Freyne's office in rent. The persons so paying them had at their own request been permitted by his Lordships' agent, Mr. Carr, to defer payment of rent, and to convert their corn into meal, for the support of their families, and agreed, in the idle seasons before Christmas, and after May, to go to work, and pay their rents as they earned, which, as far as they went, Mr. Carr can state they honestly did so. Any tenant who had not sufficient corn to support his family, got from Mr. James Mager's mill meal, which he was at once paid for, and which the tenant settled for when his work was measured. The address which was forwarded to his Lordship fully shows the satisfaction of all those concerned. As to the cash payments which his Lordship wishes to have, it will, in my opinion, work mischievously, in having a difference in the mode of settlement for those works and for the other employment which he gives, which amounts to between 2,000l. and 3,000l. a year, and may be considered permanent, whilst this is but temporary.
All the arrangements I have made, I am happy to say, turned out for the benefit of the tenantry, for while those residing on other properties in the barony are now in a state of great destitution, his Lordship's tenantry are in possession of seed, oats, and potatoes, and are grateful for the opportunities given them. The prospect of a potato crop this year will bring matters more about, and I trust we have seen the worst. Independent of the employment given on the drainage, we are still extending relief to the destitute about Frenchpark, relieving daily at his Lordship's expense, about two hundred families.
§ "MR. JOHN D'ARCY TO MR. F. FRENCH.
§ "The tenants of Lord de Freyne's, employed by me in the drainage works, are unanimous in their gratitude for the encouragement given them. Allowing them to earn sufficient to meet their rents in the idle part of the year, and giving food to the poorest of them, has enabled them to hold and sow their lands. They have also declared to me that they are thankful for the manner in which the work has been set to them by task, which has enabled them to earn 16d. a day during the past winter and spring; and they earnestly request that the mode which has been adopted, and the arrangements which have been made with them, may not be altered."
1079§ ADDRESS OF THE PERSONS EMPLOYED TO LORD DE FREYNE.
§ "That, having heard a complaint has been made to your Lordship of the arrangements made in carrying out the drainage of your bogs,
§ "We, the persons employed in the Artagh district, consider it due to Mr. Hugh Kelly to declare, that we not only are grateful for the employment we have received, in a time of such general destitution, but that we consider all his arrangements satisfactory.
§ "That we approve of the work being executed by task, and the settlement of each portion of it when measured by the surveyor.
§ "That we consider it much to our advantage not being called on for rent, and our crops left at our disposal for the support of our families; and that, whether we receive the price of our work in silver, or by a cheque payable when presented, we intend, in either case, to appropriate the amount so earned in the payment of rent.
§ "We cannot conclude without conveying to your Lordship (as the most charitable and benevolent landlord) our blessing and that of our families; for you have not only put us in a position to be able to hold our houses and lands, but you have advanced to such of us as had not corn provisions from time to time.
§ "Dated this 4th day of April, 1848.
§ "[Signed by 1,097 persons.]
§ Notwithstanding all these circumstances, and the satisfaction of all parties employed, Lord de Freyne desired that the order of the Commissioners should be most strictly complied with; which has been done, and all payments made since the 7th of March, the date of the circular No. 7, by the contractors, has been in cash. There was not in England or Ireland one landlord more anxious than his noble relative to do every thing in his power for the benefit of his tenants, nor was there a tenantry in Ireland more contented, nor with better reason.