at country. Sir, said the Premier,
passing by the remote causes of these evils, and looking at the present
resources of Ireland, I think it would not be right that the whole
burthen should remain on Irish property. We shall, therefore, propose,
on a future day, that an arrangement shall be made by Parliament, by
which, in each succeeding year, when an instalment becomes due, the
payment of one-half of that instalment shall suffice, and that the other
half shall be remitted. We purpose, however, that the whole debt shall
be kept up until the half of it be paid; thus providing that one-half of
the whole charge shall fall upon the public. "I should state," he
continued, "that with regard to the financial part of the question, the
sums paid have been issued out of the Consolidated Fund, and that there
is not contemplated any new issue of Exchequer bills. At the same time
it must be considered, when I make this proposition to Parliament, that
it is placing a very considerable burthen on the finances of the
country; and that by placing that burthen upon its finances, I do feel
myself disabled from making some proposition, which otherwise I should
be called on to make, and which would involve further advances, but
which I think it is now hardly fair to the people of this country to
propose. When it is said--'Let the burthen be borne by the Consolidated
Fund, or by the Imperial Treasury, and the Imperial Exchequer,' I must
always recollect that these sums are not granted by Government or by
Parliament without the most serious consideration, and that they are
sums derived from the people of this country, by their payment of the
taxes upon soap, sugar, tea, and coffee; from the surplus of which we
are enabled to come to the assistance of Ireland. And, sir, while I feel
that there is a disposition in this country to do everything that is
liberal towards Ireland, in this respect, we must also consider the
difficulties and privations to which the people of England will be
subjected." These words of the First Minister were evidently spoken in a
spirit of kindness and compassion; still it is hard for an Irishman to
avoid feeling that they are degrading and offensive. Ireland is not
regarded as part and parcel of the United Kingdom in any part of the
quotation. He speaks of placing a serious burthen on the finances "of
this country," meaning England only. Again: the sums advanced are, he
feels, derived from the people "of this country,"