1(>11( oF 'I E-II. DAY.

THE ONLY REFORNI FOR 1S37.

To the ru:c of leeislatinn for 1837 there promises to be one impor- tant exception. The question of Poor-laws for Ireland has at length attained thet degree of ripeness which s'osely precedes some prac- tienl measure. Some sort of Irish P will, in all human probability, be passed this session. If we know that, as to other tratters of Reform, a majority of the Lords have predetermined ta rejeet every proposal made by a majerity of the Commons, still we may be equally sure that this, by far the greatest of Reforms fee helms), will go beyond a mere proposal by one House for rejection by the other. This c meideration imparts some degree of Lope and pleasantness to an otherwise gloomy prospect. The session will not have been wasted, if' it should produce no other reftemi than thnt of extending the poor man's charter" of Eng-

hind to the land of hunger and dietei boom. Deeply as we sym- pathiee with LYNDHURST'S " aliens- in their hostility to an e-teldishment for the church of a small minority.—anxiously as we desire that the eivil.zing institutioa of kcal self-government slisuld be extended to the semi-barbarous people oh

we arc fully convinced, that neither the total abolitien of a foreign church-establishment, nor the most perfect municipal law, nor be; together, would have half so much effect in t:anquillizing ao I improving that wretched country, as a Poor-iew similar to tire of England. In Ireland, the want of a Pour-law is the root

all evil. Mr. BEAUMONT'S " discovery " of the " peint of Irish

boneur," applies only to the Catholic gentry and clergy; it has scarce any relation to the great multitude, whose life consists of

di ie., hs in-Imes. Certainly the Union will be but a mockery', ot enustice to Ireland, so long as the Irish shall be distin- e shed faim the Scotch and the Etreish, by being taxed in any

s: .ee ter the support of a religion w Midi is not theirs, or so long a. l :Amid elmll want the Scotch and English institution of Mimi- c: Self-government ; but, also, there i:1 be nothing like justice

tI Iseland or real union until that Enelish law shall be extended ti p /rehttel, which provides support for all the destitute, and which, Ill aefere, compels the rich to lake thought for the poor. What Ire- hum requires more than any thine, is a law which shall Punish the

owerfttl few for the misery of the helpless many—which shall inees-e a line upon the ruling, class tor utterly neglecting the great bulk of the people, as if the). were not of the human kind.

The misery of Ireland has been the work of her landlords, bath residents and absentees, in their greedy pursuit of rent. Their

nioxim has been, Rent, rent, rent, though the people perish. la

°eller to obtain Os rent a great surplus of production over what keeps the producers, the landlords of Ireland have called into °eller to obtain Os rent a great surplus of production over what keeps the producers, the landlords of Ireland have called into heieg, a superobundant populatien, who, in their scramble Se. existence, bill against each other for the use of land, till the share ed produce retained by the tenant is nut more than eneuele fuel in many cases mat enough, to support life. With- out a Po: r-law, the most excessive competition for land, which is the grand curse of Ireland,' is really advantegeous to

the landlord. For want of a Pour-law, the misery of the many is all gain to a few. For Ireland, without a Poor-law, there is no hope of social improvement. In Ireland, with a Poor-law, all will

ecene right by degrees. But why should we dwell on a principle which is now more or less understood and admitted by politicians of every coheir Upon any thiug that deserves the name of' principle or season, there exists not an opponent of Pour-laws for Irehttel. The question is ripe for legislation. Let us therefore confine our attention to two practical matters—tirst, the means of giving effect to the principle; and secondly, the not itnprobable ieiltience of this ne-party eubjea on the state of parties. As to the first point, our readere will remember that we have never undervalued the practical difficulty of extending the Eng- lish Poo-law to I felaud. The difficulty is great inched, but not,

as it appears to us, by any means insurtneuntable. There is one grand difficulty while) takes two different shapes, and which, ia

one or other of its forms, or in bath together, has been the only

bar ti an object which almost everybody but Mr. O'CONNELL professes to desire. That difficulty is the vast number of the destitute in In:la:A. end the excessive degree of their destitution. Thus, the very useeeey of the call for an Irish Pow-law, stands its the way of the mush-required legislation. We must b:eak out of this most vieettis circle. Let us begin by truly estimating the difficulty which it is our object to overcome.

A rate for the support of millions of half-starved wretches, would absorb the whsle rent of Ireland. This is the first shape of the difficulty. Here we have the Irish-landlord interest ar- rayed, not on printe:ee, but for the sake of their pockets, ie oppc- sition to a reel Po w-law for Ireland. But, in the next place, supposing that a Lind for maintaining the destitute in Ireland,

' We blame onr.w!ves for not having noticed Leore the very able exposition i,fthiu subject in %I r. e c.. NS'S pamphlet ; which contains, teke it ler all in all, the clearest awl 'west convincing argument that we have teer seen in favour of extending the Eafilish Pour-law to Ireland. Mr. Rr.v.% ss,:ts secre- tary to the Com mis•iens it liopl:ry in both countries, has hail pciumh mcoppor-

neeses a itc.t (piston on the subject. Ile supports his opinion by hits and reasoning. which /ewe not bten, !recut's, they eaanut be, controyerteei

• l ee relewelsome pereonal rein tubs by which alulle they have been inet by Mr. irt .oN,F.1.1., Ale 1..14 g I for nothing, except is they show th It the ease mete ont 1r, Mr liiirASS is ntiatnSiVer.15;r. Sic W01114 strongly tecommend tins patopiret to all Members of Parliourent, whose conscience furbide thou to . open mu most importa.it question without obtaining thr but ',visible infive ;nation ou the subject.

were presented to us by the Americans front their overflowing treasury, still, so utter is the wretchedness of the Irish poor, that the lowest conceivable scale of legal support, whether in their own wigwams or in workhouses, would be luxury to those poor savages; and hence a reasonable fear, that by offering them a better subsistence upon charity than they can obtain by any means of their own, we should teach them to rely altogether upon public support, and should thus plunge them into a state of help- less dependence and pauperism. This is the second, and by far the worst shape of the difficulty.

With those who have no sympathy for the Irish landlords, the first form of this difficulty will have but little weight : in its other form—in the shape of a premium upon pauperism—it must be regarded by every reflecting mind as an obstacle, the removal of which is an indispensable preparatory step to a useful Poor-law in Ireland. From whatever source a fund for the support of mil- lions of paupers was derived, the application of the fund—the ex- penditure of so much money in that way—would produce a state of things, not worse, let us admit, than the present, but quite as .ad, though of a different sort. The aim of a Poor-law, in short— namely, a great and permanent improvement in the condition of the bulk of the people—would not be accomplished if the English Poor-law were applied to Ireland without first improving the con- dition of the mass,— without first raising the Irish poor to the English level, so that, like the English, they should prefer inde- pendence and self-reliance to support from the public. They have Dot been accustomed to rely on public support : the danger is that ,we should give them so bad a habit. The poor devils (we pray pardon for a term which really expresses deep compassion and sympathy) are willing enough to work : their pitiable cry is only for employment. Our difficulty, then, is quite plain : it consists of a great actual superabundance of labourers in proportion to em- ployment. As a measure of preparation for Poor-laws in Ireland, we must either increase the amount of employment or diminish the number of labourers. By whichever of these means, or whe- ther by one or both, "the First Step to a Poor-law for Ireland,"t is the production of something like the English proportion be- sween employment and labour. This accomplished, the only ob- stacle to an English Poor law would be removed. If, by means of the English proportion between employment and labour, Irish wages were raised to the English level, the English Poor-law might be fully extended to Ireland, without harm to any one, and with benefit to all ; without imposing an enormous tax upon rent, without offering a bounty upon dependence and pauperism; and yet with the two great uses of a Poor-law—the prevention of the degrading spectacle of utter destitution, and the imposition of a fine in terrorem upon reckless landlords or pauper-breeders. The immediate object, then, is to raise wages in Ireland by means of bringing about the English proportion between employment and labour.

This is the declared object of the suggestions made by the Com- missioners of Inquiry in their final Report. They propose two methods of operating upon the proportion between employment and labour,—first, that of Public Works, by which employment shall be increased ; secondly, that of Systematic Emigration, by -which the number of labourers shall be diminished. With a view to recalling the attention of our readers to these two important

points, we cannot do better than reprint the explanation of the

views of the Commissioners, a hich we gave when their Report was published in April last.

" The immediate cause of that mass of pauperism, the greatness of which forbids the sudden extension of the English Poor-law to Ireland, is a vast excess

a labourers in proportion to employment, or, in other words, deficiency of en,- ployment in proportion to labourers ; and the manifest object of the remedial measures proposed by the Commissioners, is to level this disproportion. These measures may be divided into two classes,—first, such as tend to increase the quantity of employmeat rand, secondly, such as tend to diminish the number of labourers. We sbail notice each class separately. "First, with a view to increasing the quantity of employment, it is proposed that Government should undertake very extensive works which require agri- cultural labour, such as reclaiming of waste lands, fencing, draining, &e. For an account of the machinery of Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Commissioners, Courts, and Bosnia, by which these wanks are to be conducted, we must refer to our abridgment of the Report. How the Tories must lick their lips on be- holding this vast field for jobbing ! But then, if the Tories were in a condition to cultivate the fertile ground, no such measure would have been proposed for the benefit of Ireland. However, jobbing or no jobbing, (and since Reform of Parliament it is possible that great public works should be carried on without jobbing,) Ireland is to be made, aa it were, a great Government estate. This measure, though wholly opposed to the uow current 'principle' of laissez lions fait e, appears to be justihed by circumstances.' its to the improvement of Ireland, public officers will take the place of her ignorant, lazy, selfish land- owners; and though some errors will doubtless be committed, for want of that keen view which arises from private interest,—though some jobbing also will probably happen,—still there is every reason to hope that the grand object of the plan may be accomplished, viz, a very large increase of employment for the labouring class. It is far Letter that Ireland should be made a Government estate for some time, than that she should continue always the abode of such wretchedness as these Commissioners have brought to light. And let us ob- serve, that, however repugnant this plan may be to the principle of laissez nose faire, (in .respect, that is, to the works undertaken,) yet, as regards the labourers who are to perform those works, (the bulk of the people, in short, whose advantage is the aim,) there is nothing in the plan at all open to objec- tion. There will be more employment, but no charity ; better wages, but no scale; more labour, but no compulsion. The market in which to dispose of labour will be enlarged, but will remain entirely free. In SO far, the relief to be given by treating Ireland as a Government estate, is infinitely preferable to a workhouse system. But the efficacy of the proposed measure must slppend altogether upon the extent to which the other class of measures shall be pursued.

This expression forms the title of a pamphlet by Mr. WARD' M. P. for St. Alban',, of which we have just received an early copy, but too late fur be- stowing on it this week the attention which it richly merits. " For, secondly, employment being increased by a comprehensive system of national improvement, it is recommended that the number of labourers should be diminished by means of Emigration. With one hand the rallies are to be raised ; with the other the hills are to be lowered, so as to , :oduce in time a perfect level,—that is, a due proportion between labourers and employment. But ' national improvement' must have a limit both as to extent and as to time: a time must come, and shortly too, if the plan he vigorously carried into effect, when there shall be no more room for public works. In proportion as this mode of relief shall be made effective, so will its power be worn out. The main resource, then, after all, is in keeping down the number of labourers to a level with whatever may be the demand for labour ; and for this end, Emigra- tion is the only means,—unless, indeed, the Tories should have their way, and treat us to another Irish Rebellion and Massacre. The Commissioners prefer Emigration. Fearing, as we suppose, to offend a vulgar prejudice, they say, indeed, that they 4 do not look to Emigration as an object to be permanently pursued upon any extensive scale, nor by any means as the main relief for the evils of Ireland ;' but these, their mere words, are flatly contradicted by their suggestions. They recommend (and in Italics too) " that ALL poor persons who cannot find the means of support at home, and who are willing to lice by their labour abroad, shall be furnished with the means of doing so. The amount of emigration, then, is to depend, not on the pleasure of Government, but on the will of the Irish peasantry. All who apply for it are to have a free passage to some prosperous colony. Be they ten, or fifty, or a hundred thou. sand per annum, still there is a free passage for even the last applicant. It fol. lows, that the extent of the second class of measures will be sufficient to give efficacy to the first. Whatever portion of unemployed labourers do not find employment, at satisfactory wages, through works of national improvement, will be furnished with the means of obtaining employment, with still higher wages, in the Colonies; and thus, supposing the recommendation of the Com- missioners fully carried into effect, there most occur such a proportion between labourers and employment in Ireland, as will raise wages to what maybe termed the rate of civilized society. It is a great, bold, noble scheme, not unworthy of the enlightened intellect and high moral courage which have presided over the Commission of Inquiry. Carried out in the spirit of its projectors, it will so improve the condition, both moral and physical, of the bulk of the Irish people, as to qualify them for receiving the great charter of the poor of Eng- land, to which the Act of Union properly entitles them, and which, after Catho- lic Emancipation, Reform of Parliament, and Irish Municipal Reform, is nearly all they want in order that Ireland should become, like Yorkshire, part mid parcel of the really United Kingdom."

The Commissioners' plan for increasing the quantity of em- ployment in Iieland has so many opponents, and the objections to it, provided that their plan for diminishing the number of labour- ers would be sufficient for its object, are so strong, that the mea- sure of extensive public works will not, probably, be proposed by anybody. For, happily, this unpopular measure is not, after all, necessary. The object—the due proportion between employment and labour—may be attained by Emigration alone. The Emigra- tion must no doubt be greater, without public works, than with them; but what of that, provided there may be enough of Emi- gration ? Let us suppose for a moment, that, in the language of the Commissioners, " all poor persons who could not find the mans of support at home, and who were willing to live by their labour abroad, should be furnished with the means of doing so,"— what more could be desired ? Amongst the poor of Ireland, Emigration is extremely popular. Every year, ter s of thousaads of the Irish poor manage, by hook or by crook, to find their way to the United States and the Canadas, where their labour is highly prized and richly rewarded : and such has been the effect of favourable reports made by these emigrants as to their Colonial condition, that hundreds of thousands would remove every year if the cost of passage were provided for them. Nay, more than a hundred thousand persons have emigrated from Great Britain and Ireland in the brief space of twelve months ; and this without any sort of aid from Government. If Government had the means of giving a passage cost free to "all" who should ask for the boon, there would be no limit to Emigration from Ireland but that of sufficiency. Precisely to the extent in which the removal of people was desirable, would be the amount of Emigration. It follows that the power of beneficially extending the English Poor-law to Ireland, depends on the existence of a sufficient Emi- gration Fund. And such was the deliberate opinion of the Commissioners. In order to raise funds for Emigration from Ireland, they proposed to levy a tax upon England and Scotland as well as Ireland. The view which we took of this proposal at the time, turns out to have keen prophetic.

For diminishing the number of labourers—for affirrding a passage cost free to all applicants for emigration—the necessaty funds are to be raised from three different sources,—one. fourth by a national rate upon the whole of Ireland; one. fourth by a rate upon the lands from which the -emigrants shall remove; and the remainder, being half, out of the general funds of the empire, that is, by taxes in Ireland, Scotland, awl England. If there were no other means of raising a sufficient Endgration Fund, we should be dispesed, for the sake of the great object in view, to approve of this recommendation of the Commis- sioners, and. to go a lung way with them in the reasons which they give for the proposed apportionment of the burden. But we are humbly of opinion that this part of their Report will not be acted upon ; and for this reason, that an ample Emigration Fund may be readily obtained without any sort of taxation. Last year, the Government of the United States obtained, by the ale of waste land, nearly two millions and a half sterling ; and their income from that source doting the present year is estimated at four millions sterling, or more than the whole Government expenditure of the Union. From th:s source, our own Go- vernment, which has but recently and very imperfectly adopted the Americus plan of selling waste land instead of giving it away, obtained last year about 300,0001. We have a far inure extensive colonial frontier than the United States ; and if their plan of selling waste land were skktly adopted throughout our Colonies, the whole of the purchase-money being further employed as an Emigration Fund,—so that the greater the amount of emigration, the more land would be sold, and the greater would become the Emigration Fund,—in that case, we do believe, that funds for emigration, amply sufficient for the purposes of Ireland, might be provided, without taxing either the owners of trials land, or Ireland in the lump, or the empire at large. But as to this point the public will soon obtain information on which to deride with safety. For the present, therefore, we would ouly draw the serious attention of Irish landlords and of his Majesty's Ministers to the following notice of motion in the House of Coms mons, which has been given by Mr. WARD--• Select Committee to inquire into the different modes in which Waste Land has been and is at present disposed of in the British Colonies, and in the United States of North America, with a view to ascertain the mode which would be most beneficial in future, both to the Colonies and to the Mother Country, and which might be brought more pe- culiarly to bear upon the present state of Ireland as connected with the question of Poor. laws."

Well, the Committee was appointed ;* it was composed of men of all parties and of first-rate intelligence ; it examined the whole subject with uncommon skill and care; and it has reported to the

House—unanimously—" that it would be perfectly practicable to raise, upon the security of future Land Sales, the funds necessary

to set on foot a plan of Systematic Emigration, upon a scale

sufficiently large to meet the exigencies of the Colonies and of the Mother Country." Thus, then, the suggestion of the Commis-

sioners, so far as respects the raising of funds for Emigration, has been entirely superseded. A legislative authority declares that ample funds for Irish Emigration may be raised without taxing either Great Britain or Ireland. And why not, when the United States raise, yearly, by the sale of waste lands, more than the whole expenditure of their Federal Government? This is Mr. WARD'S "First Step to a Poor-law for Ireland." The only objec- tion to sufficient Emigration from Ireland—namely, the cost of such a measure—has been removed. The only obstacle to a real Poor-law for Ireland—namely, a great actual superabundance of labourers—may be overcome, and without raising up any other difficulty. What more could be desired ? The careful attention which we have for years bestowed on this subject, has been labour in vain, if we have not made it ap- pear that a real Poor-law for Ireland depends on Systematic Emi- gration; and further, that means of Systematic Emigration, amply sufficient for the end in view, are at the disposal of Par- liament. On the latter point, we shall have to say something more next week, when examining Mr. WARD'S pamphlet. Mean- while, let us see how the above conclusions bear on the probable or possible party influence of this no-party question.

Ministers are about to propose some sort of Poor-law for Ireland. What sort, however, of a Poor-law for Ireland they contemplate, is involved in mystery. Still we have some means of conjec- turing their probable intentions, The proposal of a real Poor-law for Ireland, without the aid, as a preparatory measure, of Syste- matic Emigration, would be a proposal for immediate rejection by the Irish-landlord interest in both Houses. During the re- cess, Ministers have paid no attention whatever to the means of Systematic Emigration pointed out by Mr. WARD'S Committee. We may therefore infer that they do not intend to propose a real Poor-law for Ireland. And the conjecture is much strengthened by the recent proceedings of Mr. O'CONNELL with respect to this question. But just a year since, he publicly declared that he bad doubted and hesitated, but that at length he had made up his mind on the subject ; and then he gave the toast of "a Poor-law for Ireland." He will recollect with what satisfaction the avowal of that new opinion of his was hailed by the Reformers of Great Britain. It raised him cent. per cent. in the esteem of intelligent and influential Saxons, and was received by the masses in Eng- land and Scotland with enthusiastic welcome. He now declaims against a Poor-law for Ireland ! Mr. O'CONNELL will understand our motive for having abstained from all notice of his mere declama- lim. We have been confident that this great man, w hose very nature may be termed patriotic, would not persevere in his opposition to the most useful of reforms for that country to whose advantage his whole life has been devoted. Nay, we have never believed that he seriously wished to prevent a Poor-law for Ireland. His recent course, we believe, has been directed by considerations of tempo- rary expediency. We suspect, and are not singular in the notion, that his well-founded attachment to Lord MULGRAVE'S Govern- ment has induced him to act as an instrument of Ministers—or rather, of the Irish-landlord interest, which is too well represented in the Cabinet—in aiding to " stave off" the demand for a real Poor-law in Ireland. It follows, in our humble opinion, flint Ministers at present contemplate proposing, not a real Poor-law for Ireland, but just such a nominal Poor-law, or mockery of a Poor-law, as would deserve to be compared with Lord COTTEN- HAM'S last year's proposal of what he called "a Reform" in the law of Appeal. The Whig Chancellor's mere sham of an im- provement was scouted by lawyers and laymen of all parties ; 'but did not the proposal of such a mockery tend to injure, by dis- Paraging, the Government from which it emanated ? The ques- tion of a Poor-law for Ireland is not one of party. The public feeling upon the subject is so strong, that it will surely be repre- sented in parliament; and no party considerations would induce a majority of the House of Commons to accept the mockery of an Irish Poor-law from the Whigs, if a real and effectual mea- sure were proposed by the Tories. The best Irish Poor-law bill, conic from what quarter it may, will be supported by the country, and must be supported by the press. Lord MELBOURNE and Lord MORPETH do not forget, we trust, that "a good Poor-law for Ireland" is one of those "popular measures" which the Tory organs of the press have taught us to expect from their party during the session of 1837. Two Tories of very superior ability— Mr. WILLIAM GLADSTONE and Mr. FRANCIS BARING (Thetford) —were active members of the Committee of inquiry respecting Colonial Funds for Irish Emigration ; and, having made themselves thoroughly conversant with the subject, are well qualified to put 4' Thanks, by the way, to Mr. O'CotneEl.r, and Laid MI:ivounstit, who, between them, overcame certain bitter objections to this inquiry entertained Within the back settlements of the Colonial Office. LYNDHURST or PEEL in the way of" the First Step to a Poor-law for Ireland." By these remarks, we desire only to warn Lord MELBOURNE, Lord MULGRAVE, Lord MORPETH, and also Mr. O'Connzer., of a danger which is real and urgent. If they do not take good care, the Tories may steal a march upon them with respect to this question of a Poor-law for Ireland. What a triumph it would be for PEEL, if be should supersede the Whig measure by a better plan of his own ! And what a mortification for the Reformers, if the honour of bestowing a good Poor-law on Ireland should fall to the Tories ! If neither Whigs nor Tories should bring forth a good Irish Poor-law bill, then will those Reformers who are neither Whigs nor Tories, have a fine opportunity of dis- tinction. This no-party question, then—and just because it is not a party question—may exert a most important influence on the state of parties. The best Irish Poor-law bill is the one that will pass. If it should come from the Independent Reformers, they would be set up as a party; if from the Whigs, it would coun- teract the debilitating effects of their submission to a series of de- feats by LYNDHURST and his Lords ; if from the Tories, there is no saying whither it might lead them. This prize is uniting for those who shall unite the fullest comprehension of the subject with the greatest promptitude of action. Though we should not like to bet on the Whigs, we heartily pray that they may win.