The History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847 Part 32

Although several of the leading Irish Liberal members sustained Smith O'Brien on this occasion, they did not approve of his persisting in his refusal to serve on the Committee, as there was no principle vindicated by his persistence or his imprisonment; his first refusal and the discussion upon it having effected all that could be usefully done in the case.

Whilst Smith O'Brien was yet in prison, the following case was submitted to Mr. Anstey on his behalf:

"1. Whether there is any, and what inherent power or privilege in the House of Commons to imprison its members for constructive contempt of its authority?

"2. Whether there is any and what prescriptive power or privilege in said House to imprison its members for such contempt?

"3. Whether the refusal to serve on the Committee in question can be construed into a contempt of the authority of the house?

"4. Whether, a.s.suming the commitment or detainer to have been unlawful, Mr. Smith O'Brien has any and what legal remedy, and against whom?

"5. Whether the House of Commons has any, and what right, to insist on his paying into the fee fund of the House any, and what fees--either by way of preliminary condition to his discharge out of the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms or otherwise?"

Mr. Anstey's opinion was in the following terms:

"I am of opinion that the commitment and imprisonment of Mr. Smith O'Brien, by order of the House of Commons for the constructive contempt set forth in the vote and proceedings of the House, and the other papers which have been laid before me, are, _in every respect, illegal_. The House, in my opinion, has no power to enforce its orders by any such penalty, except under the authority of the statute or common law, and no such authority can be shown to justify the commitment and imprisonment complained of. I am further of opinion that, even supposing the House to possess such authority, still the informality of the proceedings in the present case has been such as to vitiate them _ab initio_, and to render null and void everything that has been done under the colour of such authority."

Mr. Anstey further maintained that the Speaker's Warrant, under which Smith O'Brien was arrested, was informal and invalid, that the House had no general authority of commitment for non-attendance on "calls"--that such authority for not attending _select_ committees was never claimed until the previous session; that "the Committee to which Railway Group No. 11 had been referred" was unduly appointed under the Standing Orders, and that Mr. O'Brien had his right of action against the Speaker and the Sergeant-at-Arms.

(NOTE C.)--TREASURY MINUTE, _dated August 31st, 1846_.

My Lords have before them the Act 10 Vict., cap. 107,--"To facilitate the employment of the labouring poor for a limited period in distressed districts in Ireland," and proceed to consider the revised instructions which the provisions of this Act and the experience which has been acquired from the operations for the relief of the people suffering from the failure of the potato crop in Ireland, since the month of November last, render it desirable should be issued to the Board of Works, and to Commissary-General Sir R. Routh, who is in charge of the duties lately executed by the Relief Commission.

"No authority can, from the present date, be given for the execution of any new works under the 9th Vict., cap. 1; and such works as may hereafter be required for the relief of distress must be presented and sanctioned according to the provisions of the 10th Vict., cap. 107."

The Board of Works were instructed by the Treasury Minute, dated the 21st ultimo, to bring to an early close all the works under the 9th Vict., cap. 2, which were not required for the relief of urgent distress; and the Board were informed, that if the parties interested desired that works so discontinued should afterwards be recommenced and completed, it was open to them to take the usual steps to provide for that object, either by obtaining loans secured by grand jury presentment, or by other means.

Their Lordships desire that the Board of Works will report to what extent works have been discontinued under these instructions, on the ground of their not being really required for the purpose of giving relief, and that it may be understood, in accordance with the pa.s.sage above adverted to in the Minute of the 21st July, that if it should become necessary to recommence any such works, the renewal of them must be provided for either in the manner above referred to, or under the 10th Vict., cap. 107.

With a view to give every practicable a.s.sistance to the presentment sessions, the Board of Works should be prepared with plans and estimates of those works in each district in which relief is likely to be required, on which the dest.i.tute poor might with the greatest public advantage be employed; and an officer of the Board should be in attendance at the sessions, to furnish every explanation that may be called for.

In order to prevent labourers from being induced to leave their proper employments and to congregate on the relief works, in the hope of getting regularly paid money wages in return for a smaller quantum of work than they have been accustomed to give, the following rules ought, in their Lordships' opinion, to be strictly observed:--

No person should be employed on any relief works who can obtain employment on other public works, or in farming or other private operations in the neighbourhood.

The wages given to persons employed on relief works should, in every case, be at least 2d. a day less than the average rate of wages in the district.

And the persons employed on relief works should, to the utmost possible extent, be paid in proportion to the work actually done by them.

Their Lordships suggest for the consideration of the Lord Lieutenant, that it may be advisable that in every case in which it may be determined to a.s.semble extraordinary sessions, for tin presentment of works under the 10th Vict, cap. 107, instructions should also be issued to the lieutenant of the county, to rea.s.semble the relief committees of the districts in which such works are proposed to be carried on, making such changes in the individuals composing the committees as circ.u.mstances may require; or, if no relief committees have yet been organized in the districts in question, to appoint new committees in accordance with the rules prescribed by the relief commission.

Their Lordships also suggest that, in order to obviate inconveniences which have been experienced during the late relief operations, the following alterations should be made in the instructions under which the local relief committees have hitherto acted:--

First, with regard to the a.s.sistance given by the relief committees in the proper appropriation of the relief provided under the 10th Viet.

cap. 107, by means of public works:--

That tickets should not hereafter be issued by the relief committees ent.i.tling persons to employment on such public works. That, instead thereof, the relief committees should furnish (according to a form to be supplied to them for that purpose) the officers in charge of the works on the part of the Board of Works, with lists of persons requiring relief, noting them in the order in which they are considered to be ent.i.tled to priority, either on account of their large families or from any other cause; that the committees should revise these lists from time to time, as occasion may require, and that the officers of the Board of Works, from the information contained in these lists, or acquired by them from other sources, should themselves furnish tickets ent.i.tling persons to employment on the relief works, for certain limited periods, according to the circ.u.mstances of each case.

Secondly, as regards the functions performed by the relief committees, independently of the relief works carried on under the provisions of Acts of Parliament.

Their lordships consider that donations in aid of private subscriptions may be made, when necessary, as heretofore, from the public funds placed for that purpose at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant; and that these donations may continue to be, as a general rule, in the proportion of from one-third to one-half of the amount of the private subscriptions, according to the extent of the dest.i.tution and the means of the subscribers.

But their lordships are of opinion, that, in consideration of the a.s.sistance so to be given from the public purse, the proceedings of the relief committees in the appropriation of the funds administered by them should be subjected to any degree of control on the part of the Government that may be considered desirable; for which purpose their accounts and correspondence should, at all times, be open to the inspection of Government officers appointed for the purpose, and any further explanations that may be required on any particular point should be immediately furnished.

In order to keep in check, as far as possible, the social evils incident to an extensive system of relief, it is indispensably necessary that the relief committees should not sell the meal or other food provided by them, except in small quant.i.ties to persons who are known to have no other means of procuring food; that the price at which the meal is sold should, as nearly as possible, be the same as the market prices which prevail in the neighbourhood; that the committees should not give a higher rate of wages, nor exact a smaller quantum of work, in any works carried on by them from funds at their own disposal, than is the case in respect to the works carried on under the superintendence of the Board of Works, and that works should be carried on by them only to the extent to which private employment is proved not to be available.

The serious attention of every person who will have to take a part in the measures of relief rendered necessary by the new and more complete failure of the potato crop should be particularly called to this important fact, that the limitations and precautions which have been prescribed to the Government boards and officers in carrying out the relief operations, with the object of rendering the necessary interference with the labour and provision markets productive of the smallest possible disturbance of the ordinary course of trade and industry, will be rendered nugatory if the same prudence and reserve are not practised by the relief committees in the administration of the funds placed at their disposal by private or public benevolence; and their Lordships therefore feel it to be their duty earnestly to request that every person concerned will, to the extent of the influence possessed by him, endeavour to secure such a restriction of the measures of relief to cases of real dest.i.tution, and such a just consideration for the interests of merchants and dealers, in the free exercise of whose callings the public welfare is so deeply concerned, that instead of the habitual dependence upon charitable aid which might otherwise be apprehended from the extensive measures of relief in progress, every description of trade and industry may be stimulated by them, and the bonds of society may become more firmly knit, by the benevolent and intelligent cooperation of the different orders and ranks of which it is composed, to avert a common calamity, and to prepare for recommencing the ordinary occupations of social life with advantages which are at present only imperfectly enjoyed in some parts of Ireland.

The limited grant fund, provided by the 10th Vic., cap. 109, ent.i.tled, "an Act to authorise a further issue of money in aid of public works of acknowledged utility in poor districts in Ireland," is, according to the terms of the Act, applicable only to the case of unimproved districts, like parts of the Counties Kerry, Galway, Mayo, and Donegal, where, although roads and other works would be productive of more than usual public advantage, the districts are too poor to bear the whole expense of them; and the Act therefore directs that in cases in which the repayment of loans to the amount of at least a moiety of the estimated expense of such works shall have been secured, and such further contributions shall have been made as the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall think fit to require from the individuals princ.i.p.ally interested in the projected works, such aid shall be afforded from this fund in the shape of grants, as the occasion may appear to require.

The applications which may be received for grants under this Act will have to be carefully examined and inquired into by the Commissioners of Public Works, who will recommend for sanction those works which appear to them to combine the greatest permanent utility with the relief of urgent distress, taking care that the proprietors specially interested are required to contribute in addition to their share of the general a.s.sessment for the repayment of half the expense of the works, sums proportioned in some degree to the special benefits they will derive from them.

My Lords have considered with the careful attention which the importance of the subject demands the measures proper to be taken, with a view to continue the late commissariat operations to the extent which may be absolutely necessary for the purpose of providing supplies of food for sale in districts to which the ordinary operations of the provision trade cannot be expected to extend, the strictest regard being at the same time paid to the pledge which has been given, not to interfere in any case in which there is a reasonable expectation that the market will be supplied by mercantile enterprise; and they will proceed to state the course which appears to them to be the best adapted to secure the important object in view.

Their Lordships have already given directions that no portion of the stock of meal remaining in store in the different depots should be sold merely for the sake of disposing of it, of which depots they will relieve Commissary-General Coffin, who will remain on full pay, with a view to his being employed hereafter, as the occasion may require.

It has been fully established by the experience of the late operations, that the ports on the northern, eastern, and southern coasts, from Londonderry to Cork, and those parts of the interior which are ordinarily supplied from them, may safely be left to the foresight and enterprise of private merchants; and it will only be necessary to the government, so far as this part of Ireland is concerned, to take effectual precautions that the supplies introduced by private traders from abroad are properly protected, both while they are in transit and when they are stored for future consumption; and for this purpose their Lordships rely upon the Lord Lieutenant making every necessary arrangement in communication with the Commander of the Forces in Ireland, and the Inspector-General of the Constabulary Force.

Acting on this principle, their Lordships have directed that the supplies of food now in store should be concentrated without delay at the following depots:--

In the interior--Longford, Banagher.

On the coast--Limerick, Galway, Westport, Sligo.

And Commissary-General Hewetson has been instructed to take immediate steps for the transfer of the quant.i.ty remaining in store in the depot at Cork to Limerick, in the charge.

Subordinate depots will be established, under the charge of the constabulary, at other places on the western coast, as the necessity for taking such a step may become apparent.

Their Lordships desire that it may be fully understood that even at those places at which government depots will be established for the sale of food, _the depots will not be opened while food can be obtained by the people from private dealers at reasonable prices_; and that even when the depots are opened, _the meal will, if possible, be sold at such prices as will allow of the private trader selling at the same price with a reasonable profit_.

The Relief Commission ceased on the 15th ultimo, since which period Commissary-General Sir Randolph Routh has continued to transact such business as required immediate attention; and, considering the experience which has been acquired by that officer, and his well-proved ability for the task, their Lordships are of opinion that the duties confided to the Relief Commission during the late operations may with great public advantage be entrusted to Sir Randolph Routh, acting under the authority of the Lord Lieutenant, and in constant communication with this Board.

Their Lordships have taken steps to procure the early arrival in this country, from the stations where they are employed abroad, of a sufficient number of well qualified commissariat officers, not only to take charge of the depots which it has been determined to retain, but also, under the orders of Sir Randolph Routh, to communicate with the local relief committees, and to afford, through him, to Her Majesty's Government, correct information as to the state of the districts in which they will be stationed.

Measures have also been taken for strengthening the Board of Works, to enable it to meet the coming emergency, on which subject a separate communication will this day be made to the Board of Works, and his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant.

Transmit a copy of this Minute to Mr. Redington, and request that he will move the Lord Lieutenant, if he shall concur therein, to give the necessary directions in regard to such of the arrangements as more immediately depend upon his Excellency for carrying them into effect.

Also transmit a copy to the Commissioners of Public Works, and to Commissary-General Sir Randolph Routh, for their information and guidance.