7 JANUARY 1843, Page 5

The endeavour to blow the coals of Irish Poor-law disturb-

ance, as a help to the Repeal agitation, does not seem to answer. The chief Repealer has overshot his' mark ; for he has declared against any poor-law at all ; which others appear unprepared for. Generally speaking, the expediency of a poor-law is admitted, but the details of the present measure are objected to. One writer, in the Tory paper the Dublin Evening Mail, who calls upon Mr. O'CONNELL to convert his weapon against the details instead of the principle of the law, offers a very striking proof of the need for some measure of the kind. It was said that it would supersede charity, and many say that it actually does so. The writer in question avers that the dependence on charity hal grown into a miserable trade : in a neighbourhood where work could always be had, peoWe came to him by the score, and received charity ; and they passed on to exact a fresh contribution from the really poor ; no one refusing, because there was no legal provision for the destitute. This writer is as determined as any in his dislike of the " details" of the measure ; to which the main objections seem to be, that workhouse-regulations are uncongenial to the Irish people, and that the machinery of the law is expensive. The writer already mentioned says, that the trading mendicants have been the first to ater toe workhouses ; and they have reissued in the character of Martyrs, with new claims to charity. It is not surprising that the 'less disciplined reasoners of Ireland should follow those of Eng- land in reprobating workhouse life because it is not so agreeable as the usual modes of existence, for which it is but a temporary sub- stitute when the others fail ; as if sailors escaping in a storm were to object to the long-boat that it was not the ship ! The expense is a more serious consideration for indigent Ireland. The people say they cannot support the rates. Yet they boast that, somehow or Other, they supported the 2,300,000 paupers yearly between the potato-crops ; and whether they call the contribution charity or poor-rate it must be forthcoming. If Ireland really cannot support the burden of its own poor—which is likely enough—the fact can be better ascertained when the burden is put in the definite form of poor-rates. If it prove so, the evil will be distinctly seen, and it lutist then be met by further measures. Emigration would suggest itself as the next proceeding ; which is one way of bringing English capital to bear on the poor Irish population ; for they meet in the Colonies, with an ample field for their combined exertion. It will be seen that the question has not advanced since the Poor-law was first promulgated. The Irish politicians have con- tributed little or nothing to elucidate the subject : if they have facts or arguments, they seem to want the knack of putting them in a portable and available shape. There appears to be a fatal notion among them that Mr. O'Costinu.'s style is one of argument! At the time of Catholic Emancipation, O'Coriztst i. embodied a feeling ; but the Poor-law has less to do with feeling than sense, for all engaged in the discussion may be presumed equally to desire the substantial benefit of the people, without mental reservations or party preferences—they are not at issue on a point of feeling, but on a mode of practice. The objectors to the existing practice of the Irish Poor-law allege certain grievances, but do not en- lighten us as to remedies. It is only perceived that a poor-law, however necessary in Ireland—nay, the more because it is so neces- sary—is very difficult of application. What would the objectors have instead ? Mr. O'Coassis. is the only one who has proposed a set remedy : are they content with that