§ MR. O'DONNELLasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether his attention has been called to a letter in the "Pall Mall Gazette" of Friday, 6th instant, on the "Horrors of an Emigrant Ship," signed Charlotte O'Brien, and detailing the life on board an emigrant ship from Ireland to America; whether he has noticed especially the following passage:—
But my business was with the women's quarters, and we went on there. Between two decks, better lighted than the men's quarters, was a large space, open from one side of the ship to the other From either side of a long central walk to the outer walls of the ship were slung two enormous hammocks, one suspended about three feet from the floor, the other above the lower one. What was going on in the two upper hammocks I could not see, but I presume they were the same as those below. I suppose each of these hammocks carry about one hundred persons. They were made of sailcloth. and, being suspended all around from hooks, were perfectly flat. Narrow strips of sailcloth divided this great bed into berths. These strips of cloth, when the mattresses were out, formed divisions about eight inches high; when the mattresses are in it must be almost one level. Now in these beds lie hundreds of men and women. Any man who comes with a woman. who is or calls herself his wife, sleeps by right in the midst of hundreds of young women, who are compelled to live in his presence day and night; if they remove their clothes it is under his eyes, if they lie down to rest it is beside him. It is a shame even to speak of these things: but to destroy such an evil it is necessary to face it;and, whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to take any steps to put an end to such a disgraceful treatment of the emigrant poor?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAIN, in reply, said, the Prime Minister had desired him to answer that Question and another of a similar nature which stood on the Paper in the name of the noble Viscount the Member for Barnstaple (Viscount Lymington). The circumstances to which reference was made in the first Question were brought to his attention some days before the letter was published in The Pall Mall Gazette by his right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and he at once made some preliminary inquiry into the matter. On the publication of the letter signed "Charlotte G. O'Brien" he communicated with the 28 managers of the five lines of British steamships which took Irish emigrants from Liverpool to Queenstown; and he had now received from all those managers a most emphatic and categorical denial that any such circumstances as were related in the article could possibly have taken place with regard to their lines of steamships. He had, however, thought the matter of so much importance that he had directed Captain Wilson, one of the principal officers of the Board of Trade, to visit Queenstown and Liverpool to make special inquiries into the matter; and Mr. Gray, the Assistant Secretary of the Marine Department of the Board of Trade, who was now at Liverpool, had been instructed to make further inquiry. He had asked Miss O'Brien to give him the name of the ship to which her letter referred, and also any other particulars which would enable him more carefully and thoroughly to investigate the matter. He hoped, under these circumstances, the House would think it right to suspend its judgment upon the statement made. As soon as possible, after its completion, the Correspondence would be placed on the Table.
§ MR. MACDONALDsaid, he had several times crossed the Atlantic; but he had never seen anything of the kind mentioned, although he had inspected the steerage. He would like to know, if the right hon. Gentleman had any information as to what line of steamships was referred to?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINsaid, the line referred to was not mentioned in the article in The Pall Mall Gazette; but he had written to Miss O'Brien for particulars.
§ MR. O'DONNELLasked, if any inquiry would be made as to American lines touching at Queenstown?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINsaid, he was not aware that any American line carried Irish emigrants from Queenstown or Liverpool.