Had the word come into popular use at the
time, there is little doubt that M. Soyer's undertaking to feed the
starving Irish would have been called a _fiasco_.[252]
Philanthropists of a stamp different from M. Soyer brought forward
schemes for the good of Ireland at this time. They related chiefly to
the reclamation of her waste lands. At the opening of Parliament in
1847, Lord John Russell, as we have seen, proposed to introduce a Bill
on this subject, one million being the first grant to be made for the
purpose. The plan on which the reclamation was to be carried out is
given in the resume of Lord John's speech at the opening of the session.
It was the very best of the Premier's measures for the permanent
improvement of Ireland; but, according to Mr. D'Israeli, it was faintly
proposed, and finally abandoned in deference to the expressed opinion of
Sir Robert Peel, who, at the time, governed from the Opposition benches.
This question of the reclamation of our waste lands had been often
before Parliament and the public previous to 1847. The committee
relating to the poor of Ireland in the year 1830 refer in their report
to no less than twelve preceding sessions in which the importance of
reclaiming the Irish wastes was strongly recommended, but the
publication of the "Industrial Resources of Ireland," by Dr.
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