Bad / Cruel government
Bad government was the major cause of the famine, Ireland was treated as a colony not as an equal and used for the benefit of England. During the famine laws and legislation were passed which favoured their interest over Irelands. They adopted a policy of lazes fare, free trade and non-interference. Ireland was not the only land effected by potato blight but every other country managed to save its population. Why did it not happen in Ireland? Some countries closed their ports to exports and imported substitute foods, some from Ireland. The Irish party proposed these same measures plus many other positive suggestions. Why did the English government not adopt them? O’Connell asked them to leave the oats, to tax absentee landlords, use the proceeds of the forests and to put people to work on productive schemes. Not one of these proposals was adopted. The government failed the people by not providing the means or measures to save them from starvation. They used the famine to solve the problem as they saw it of overpopulation and poverty. They had felt their power challenged by the repeal movement and the sheer numbers that rallied around it. English officials were also frightened of the vast numbers of Ireland’s population. They allowed the famine to occur because they saw an opportunity to reduce the population, to punish Ireland, and bring it back under its control. Prior to the famine mass emigration was proposed as a remedy to the Irish question of poverty and population control. The idea had been abandoned because the logistics of moving so many people to British North America were thought to be too great. They took advantage of the potato blight to implement policies to achieve their aims and settle the Irish problem permanently.
In a address to the house of commons Lord George Bentinck said that” never before was there an instance of a Christian government allowing so many people to perish without interfering. The time will come when we shall know what the amount of mortality’s been when the public and the world will be able to estimate, at its proper value your management of affairs in Ireland”http://www.wolfetonesofficialsite.com/famine.htm
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