Politicians, in their
statements, are ever watchful to leave themselves loopholes for
retreat. The Prime Minister, in the discussion on Lord George's Bill,
"would not say that money should not be given, under any circumstances,
to make railways in Ireland, but," in his opinion, "it should be in a
different state of the country." What difference there was between the
state of Ireland on the 16th of February, 1847, when the Government
opposed and defeated an Irish Railway Bill, and on the 26th of April, of
the same year, when the Government brought in a Railway Bill of their
own, no one but the Government could see. It is not even a fair
statement of the case to name the 26th of April, the day on which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer brought in the Government Bill, because that
Bill must have been some time in preparation--probably in preparation
when they were opposing the generous and manly scheme of Lord George
Bentinck. Yet, with his little proposal for a loan of L620,000 to Irish
railways, he had the face to go down and tell the House that, "in the
present state of Ireland, it was impossible to deny that, by this
course, a great impetus must be given to employment, where the advances
could be safely made.
Pages:
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596