As the winter approaches, the cry of famine is once more being raised in Ireland.
The potato crop appears to have failed entirely, and the grain, beaten down by storms and rain, has not ripened, but lays rotting in the fields where it was planted.
The cry of famine is heard from Ireland with more or less regularity every year, and therefore some people are inclined to doubt whether this is a genuine complaint, but from all one hears it would appear to be only too true.
Mr. John E. Redmund, member of Parliament for Waterford, Ireland, has stated that the present harvest is the worst since 1879, and that there is every reason to fear that a large portion of the Irish population will soon be on the verge of starvation.
To help these unfortunates, sixty-four of the Irish members joined in a petition to ask the Government to call an extra meeting of Parliament to vote money for the relief of the famine sufferers.
The Queen has the right to call the British Parliament into session at any time she deems it necessary, but for a long time it has been the custom for it to assemble in February and remain in session until August.
In reply to the petition from the Irish members, the Government stated that there did not seem to be any necessity for summoning a special parliament to deal with the Irish troubles, as, if the worst fears for Ireland were realized, the Government had power to use funds to relieve the people without waiting for the consent of Parliament.
The Irish members, in addition to asking for a special session of Parliament, entreated the Government to lower the rents of the Irish tenants.
The petition stated that, in consequence of the poor crops, it was hopeless to expect the tenants to pay their full rentals, and to avoid the suffering and bad feeling that arises from evictions, or turning out the people who are behind in their rents, it was begged that the Government would lower the rents by law.