Lords Sitting of 17 May 1822

DISTRESS IN IRELAND.
The Earl of Darnleyadverted to what he had said on Wednesday, respecting the distressed state of a part of Ireland, and wished to know whether the noble earl was now prepared to give the date of the first communication from the government of Ireland respecting an apprehended scarcity in that country.
The Earl of Liverpoolsaid, he had no hesitation in giving the information requested. The marquis Wellesley in the course of a few days after he had taken upon him, the government of Ireland, had resorted to measures for the purpose of obtaining information as to the state of Ireland, both politically and with regard to the supply of food. It was found, that at that period there was a great abundance of articles of food, and at low prices, and no apprehensions were entertained of any scarcity. He thought it right here to observe that great delicacy and difficulty were necessarily involved in any question of interfering with regard to the supply of food; as such interference tended to do much mischief by interfering with individual speculations, and enhancing the price of articles of the first necessity. The only measure resorted to in this part of the empire with reference to such a subject, was the measure during the scarcity of 1800, of granting a bounty upon the importation of grain, and he believed all were now agreed that that measure did more harm than good, as the grain would have been sold at a cheaper rate, had the bounty not been given. He was fully aware that such a state of distress, under peculiar circumstances might exist, as to render it absolutely necessary for government to interfere; but still it was highly essential that such interference should only take place when it became unavoidable. It was in this view of the subject that the state of Ireland was
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looked to; and though it was desirable to avoid all interference on the part of government as long as possible, yet a strict watch was kept as to the state of that part of Ireland where distress was beginning to appear. It was found that only one article of food, that of potatoes, had failed, and that much distress had in consequence arisen in the county of Clare; but it was found at the same time that the oats were used for the purposes of illicit distillation, and that there was actually an exportation of grain going on from that county. The distress, however, was at length found to be of that character and extent, that government interfered at the commencement of April, by cautiously sending a supply of food, and afterwards a supply of potatoes for seed. But whilst he felt that the government could not delay sending a supply for the relief of the distress that existed, he had looked to other sources as a much more eligible mode of relief; and he had with that view encouraged as much as possible the subscription which had been set on foot, and which had been so liberally supported, for the relief of the distress in Ireland.
The Marquis of Lansdownagreed with the noble earl in his general principles, with regard to the inexpediency of the interference of government, in the supply of the markets; but it should be recollected that there was a distinction between the case of a general scarcity, and that of the partial failure of a particular article of food. In the present instance, the distress had arisen, not from any general scarcity, for on the contrary, there was an abundance of grain; but from the failure of one article of food, that of potatoes, and that too in the garden of the peasant, and upon which he depended for subsistence. Though, undoubtedly it would be highly inexpedient to interfere with the markets in the case of a general scarcity, yet, under the special circumstance of the partial failure of one article of food, it became absolutely necessary to extend relief; and, therefore it was, that he rejoiced in the liberality of those individuals who had so promptly entered into a subscription for the relief of that distress. He highly approved also of the bill brought into the other House, for affording employment to the poor of Ireland. The fact was, that the poor peasants, whose potatoes had failed, had been compelled to resort for subsistence, to the

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consumption of their pigs and cows, and were left without the means of paying any rent. The landlords, who depended upon their rents, were thus compelled to suspend all the works they were carrying on; the labourers employed in those works were in consequence discharged; and thus the distress was continually increasing. He trusted, that as in the beginning of the session their standing orders had been suspended, for the purpose of passing coercive measures with regard to Ireland, there would be no hesitation in now adopting a similar course with reference to a measure for relieving the poor of that country, by affording them the means of employment.