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Bright, John, 1811-1889

"Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, Volume 1"


I will now pay a few words regarding the province of Ulster. An hon.
Gentleman opposite, the Member for Londonderry, who made a not very
civil speech, so far as it regarded persons who entertain the same
opinions generally which I profess, seemed to allege that there was no
party so tyrannical as those who wished to carry this rate in aid, and
that no body of men on earth were so oppressed as the unfortunate
proprietors of Ulster. [Mr. Bateson: 'The farmers of Ulster'] I have
made a calculation, the result of which is, that, with the population of
Ulster, a 6_d_. rate would be 82,000_l_. a-year, or 164,000_l_. for the
two years during which they will be required to pay towards the support
of their fellow-countrymen in the south and west. If I were an Ulster
proprietor, I would not have raised my voice against such a proposition,
because it is not a state of things of an ordinary character, nor are
these proprietors called on to do that which nobody else has done before
them. Neither were they called upon before other sources had been
applied to. Had I been an Ulster proprietor, I would rather have left
this House than have taken the course they have pursued in denouncing
this measure.


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