The Express. — London, England, 1853-03-08 00:00:00

I 1 -v4l - Se be 'Owed in those cirenenstanen to a person tonally sal were defenceless as the s at t he The diultlise ~,,,,e all ;b e t were felt in Australia at the preseat moment by ,b,p o wners were familiar to every gentleman; but this cantles were three yean ago felt in California en 41 n, th eratil state what wu there done by a British ()Moat :-. ccann Shepherd, of the Inconstant frigate, proceeded so :is Franeism by order of Admiral Horny, sod arrival [ ire October 4, 1549. when he wrote to the British Idea nia I ex p re ssiug his readiness to afford asthenia lo e'lls-t., i nterest., dc. At the earns time, he sent Si 0111111 ~ . ‘,.)01 a li the British ships in port, to ascertain their moo digs and wino, and to desire the masters to apply Gregg to ban fur such assistance as they might require. He worth 0 , to aly, .. By the 7th of October I had ascertained this o , o f ~, B r it is h vessels lying at this port, but four barques, on' by their crews, required the aid of hands to nevi ute them to Valpusiso, whde the remainder were either muyet dial:wird, chartered, or stationary, those ships u sed with Lacers, or crews hired at high wages fur being eal short v ly.titi. Having determined upon taking these four l• in hand, I caused them to be brought down, fitted for 7o7..nanited with 41 officers and men from the Inconstant, and t h e y were clear off the porton their way to Valparaisoby this 18th." lie only ineatiocied this to show that there were two Bides to this as to other questions. (Hear.) But, while the government did not intend to abolish the system of 'ohm gorier altogether, they did intend to brill in enactment@ es the subject, and to provide that if a positive lose fell on a sLipowner by there volunteering*, he would he entitled to c ompensation from the lunch; of the Admiralty. (Hear.) In till. way justice would be done both to the shipowner and to the seaman. (Hear, hear.) He would now turn to the go , scion of salvage. There were some who thought the nicht of salvage in regard to the Queen's service should be abolished. He was not at all sore that if they were to poll the neclastriters they would be of this opinion. On this 'abject Lord Tenterlen, a high authority on this question, said the law of Great Britain was more liberal than the law of gawps geberally on this subject. The Admiralty riga- Wiese laid it down that, before any officer could raise a 'palm fir salvage, he must have rendered really important service, or service accompanied with hazard, otherwise that claim was not to be attended to. (Hear, hear.) But there was a grievance cum cctcd with this subject; and that was the peremptory lien which the law gave upon a ship in such cues, and which enabled them to detam it at • vast cost in a distant port. (Hear, hear.) On this point he was anthorieed to state, on the part of the First Lord of the Admiralty, that arrangements were in preparation by which, in cases of this nature, the lien might be released, and the case transmitted to the judge of the Admiralty Court in London, instead of detaining the shi Lad reign port. (Hear, hear.) He might be told, as b e been by a deputation, that the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court was objected to, and that the Board of Trade would be preferred for the adjudication of such questions. Ile felt much obliged to those parties for the compliment they had paid to the department with which he was connected, but considering that the Ad miralty Court was presided over by such *man as Dr. Lathington, he must decline the honour; and he would my that atter the announcement which had been made by the law officers of the crown as to the intended reform of the ecclesiastical courts, there could be little doubt that if the Admiralty Court required amendment it would be very mite to be attended to. (Hear, hear.) He would come to the question of donations, and all he could say on this point was, that a bill was in preparation, and would be laid before the house, intended to remedy the grievances to which the shipowners, especially in Australia, were =- reLby the desertions caused by the gold discoveries. , hear.) lie would now come to the question of insular fees. There were, he believed, some erroneous impressions on the subject of consular fees. They were all regulated by act of parliament, in conformity with the re port of a committee on the subject. He found that the nuts' payments from the Consolidated Fund unmated ee 145,000/., and the fees to 27,000!. lie had been told that in one department a consul had received the large sum of 1,0011., but on inquiry at the Fo reign-office he found that one-tenth of that sum would have been nearer the truth. (Hear, hear.) It was true that the recent ameadments of the Marine Mer cantile Act had thrown many additional duties on consuls la harp , pa rt , and complaints had been made that • con ga sipal bis aims many times, and received many feu, where sue signature and one fee would be sufficient. His (Mr. Cardwell s) answer was, that the power rested with the Foreign-odice entirely, and Lord Clarendon entered readily into the spirit of the complaint, and, if he found it to be well-grounded, it should be redressed. Therefore he hoped the shipping interest would be satisfied that there was no indisposition on the part of the government to do what was just with respect to the subject of consuls' fees. There was another little matter, which he believed was now made much of by the shipping interest, and that was the right of sending home from Queen's ships invalids in mereheat vessels under the terms of the act of parlia ment, instead of contracting for theta. It was intended by the government to make an ant in favour of the mercantile marine, and to place • sailor in this re spect on the same footing as the soldier now stood. (Hear, bear.) Having adverted to the grievances known by the name of Admiralty grievances, ha cum to the ques tion of pilotage. The right hon. gentleman opposite had announced to the house the intentics of his government to propose a committee on this subject ; bat the experience of former parliaments with respect to committees and arm missions on the subject had not been such as to satisfy him (Mr. Cardwell) that the government ought to con ine itself exclusively to that mode of investigation. flo long ago as 1833, Bit B. Peel appointed a commission to investigate the subject of pilotage, and t h ough inquiry then was necessary into some parts at the one, ware there no parts, in respect to which they had now sufficient ineemation to enable them to act without being sub ject to the charge of temerity ? Let him ask the house to look to two or three of the principal ports in this courtesy ? What was the grievance, for instance, in the porte of London ? The right hon. gentleman opposite had justly treated with ridicule the idea that a person tromps tent to navigate a vessel down the river was inompetent to navigate it up the river. Now there might be some dif ferent@ between the navigation down and the navigation up, but he thought the man who would trust his ship to a person who was not skilful enough to navigate it both ways would be a very bold man. In site of all the ingre ssions arguments expended on the point, be meloilined that the employment of two persons for work which OM might do necessarily led to higher charges, to a want of uniformity in system, and, above all, to a want of IMF formity in regulation and control. (Hear, hers.) lbsgevsminent subecribed to the principle which OMB lelaiald down that pilotage was entirely • loath wilifer_ . mil sitenid therefore as much as possible be le ft Solon boles. Bat that was no reason why they ought net Ile NW= on the Trinity-house pilot, who steered • mud lien the river, the right of steering it back ; or, why Moak compel a meritorious Clique-port pilatorbe a shM teem Dammam to London, to travail lenkj u i po l noreturn & Maim' of I. charge of a veeseL The mieyed the two sots of pilots might be with y y interchanged. What, then, was to been alhi er : i l the ariadiction ? The vested _n as rights of the pilot, they ra see when they road the bill, would be carefully pre aimed both as regards the right to pilot and the piles'. had. With regard to the jurisdiction, the principle Mal had been laid down was that the jurisdiction should lee hal; end then he asked, was it not the great port of Leaden that sustained the commerce whieh eircu hied between the Thames and the Cinque Ports ; and eight sat Me litiediedes, therefore, to lie in London? It was thosAro proposal, reserving all the rights Kadding Aim to amalgamate the two belies end pines ism - under the OMNI to which the Lamina OM won widgeet He would now advert to the case es OWN the "y . _That was described by Loyd Lone. eddei di n s tg i the esamehniesen appointed by Sir K. Peel, in Be mods :—.. The conaisquence of the system has him to mimes she valve of the pilot's vessels from 1.2004 Is MM., their original met, to between 4,0001. and 5,00114 Mimes mom." The oommaisidosers then proceeded to se*, M hardens levied on the shipping interest—" The Vied Mad applies principally to Liverpool, where coasters ahem VII tens harden, or vesicle which have not been employed , la that trade for six months, are subject to pelotene, althsegh it appears that they were formerly exempt ; and it ahe applies to the ports of Ireland. In most other ports mutes are free, and as their masters are generally good *ls for the places which they frequent, we consider Met each 'nab should be placed on the same footing deseghout the United Kingdom, and be everywhere anmented from the obligation to employ a pilot." And, Au speaking of the hardship on steam companies of being eimpalsil to pay pilotage every time, they rooted :—" As this, however, is a question involving not merely the risk oiProperty to an immense amount, but still more the vela- Us lives ef huadreds who daily embark in this clam of vos eels, we cenceive that some regulation is absolutely Malt say, as well for the ports in which steam vessels, trading as "Wm, are now exempt, as in those in which they are at Present compelled to take a pilot ; and this how's the aon netessar), as steam navigation is so rapidly Increasing both in extent and importance." The house mould remem ber that ia 1849 the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Labenehere) rased a bill by which the pilotage authorities were talweleered to confer on masters and mates the Poser to pilot their vessels, after examination and as grant of a certificate of confidence. Bet se Issuttim had been sufficient to indium the pilotage asthmatics at Liverpool to enter on that question. True, they had made an over to exempt these parties from the Nam contribution with respect to pilotage as other people Sid, but the law officers of the crown gave it as their 'Man that regard being had to the provisions of the local ... 1 5 .. .( 'hey mad not consented to bring in • bill to amend the " sets in order to enable them to accomplish the object defeatso . The siovensount, therefore, in order to remedy I the kind, proposed by act to confer on th e Board of Trade the power of providing for the case, where no examination was entered on, and , consequantly, no certi te, ids Created by th e local authe ' irity. 'The government " 4 ",_ 4 , nothing so little as centraliaation in this matter ; ••1 milted to leave the power to be exercised by the meal authorities, and, as they thought there must be a maedy for an acknowledged grievance, they would ask 616 Teniding power to override these and all other similar j r° 4l Seta Llk order that the local bodies might be enabled to rake CallOtNioll4 to the mercantile marine. He now 6 Plweacked the ease of the Severn It appe ared that the fllKratom of B r i sto l had °shame . d the pas sing pusing of a bill tins; them the right to charge pilotage for every ship that alvtarated the Severn. Since the period when that bill seiwee. circumstances had very much altered, and Newport asibilitr cons id erable' 11tr.,:0 had Poets, some of them not inferior to groan up us the Severn, and those pints had by lac sct t o w h ich h e h ad alluded ,' a great tax imposed i t . ,th10t_.....11e cordially subscribed to the doctrine that tkr.7,;, Merin extended character was necessary into m o pilotage ; and he only dealt now with 1 " 11 of the greater and more salient objects. The out • emir quietism wee bow that inquiry would best be insti tuted ? After what had already bees does Is the way or inquiry through committees aid sesamieskins bie wee sot in favour°, prosecuting as investigation by either althea' 210418. Hew, then, wee inquiry to be ittedtuted ? By the sdk, Mudd, of those able offieen, whom the right bee, the member for Taunts* bad placed Is the department of the Board of Trade. The aellain a clause telling on every pilotage body fa ea bleobsee for complete information, which would Wes be beseght before the Board of Trade and laid be witseurlemeng. By these means he trusted that they set a temporary, bat a permanent inquiry, tx:fra evasion, self-meting, and stringent. There aim be a power given to the pilotage boils of staking needful reforms in the way of ellsbashisi freeteased exemptions and facilities in favour acs *yob s interest, but no restrictions could be V ana meades • - •• a safeguard, the sanction of the Queen in first obtained. With regard to the case of the Severs % %reed in saying that by the harmonious 'combination ring the several bodies a vast improvement and great measure of justice might be effected. He invited the house to give to the Queen in Council, that was to say, the Board of Trade, a new power, but not of a compulsory but of a mediatory character, and he should request Captain Beechey, of the Board of Trade, to go down to the Severn mid investigate the case, both in its physical and legal bearings. If nearly all of the different bodies agreed to that officer's recommendations, he did not anti cipate that any one particular body would be a recalci trant party in respect to what the majority considered fair and just. He asked them calmly and indulgently to con sider the proposals for substantive changes which he had placed before them. The right. hon. gentleman then re capitulated the several points upon which he had enlarged, and said he appealed to the committee in the hope that they would think, where the government had knowledge they had not shrunk from action, and that, when they had not, they bed candidly stated the limited information they pos owed, sod invited the committee to ink', the most judicious mom he obtaining more. He ought, however, to have stated that there would be a very early reduction of 25 per cent, on the pilotage of the port of London, while the pilut age of vessels tugged by steams would be raised. He had concluded this task which the indulging* of the committee had permitted him to discharge. It W2B 221011bitious in its character, and necessarily so from doe sates* of the subject; bat he trusted that the abeam be proposed, if the committee sanctioned them, would result lin practical good. At least be could tell the committee they were making no surrender to political pressure, and me abnormal conomions to the exigencies of a suffering into. rest. On the contrary, the time selected for this legislation was a time of comparative prosperity, and the government only asked the committee to reflect upon what were their own sincere convictions, believing the committee would come to the same. They were asked to take another step in the sewn, commenced by Hushisaon, and continued by Peel; and in the name of British enterprise he would defy competition from whatever quarter it might come, sin cerely believing that in proportion as we maintained nor place in the vanguard of commercial freedom, in the ease properties' we should maintain the pre-eminence we had earned both in mercantile prosperity and maritime policy. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman then moved • re solution that the chairman be instructed to ask leave to bring ins bill on the subject. Mr. HUME approved of the proposed reforms as far as they went ; but thought they might go further. He praised Mr. Cardwell for his statement, while he corrected some errors into which he believed him to have fallen. He was opposed to ell restrictions upon shipping, believing them to be the most mischievous of all our indirect taxation. And with regard to the management of the department, he was for sweeping awny the Trinity Board as "lumber," and placing its jurisdiction under government control. Mr. HENLEY gave a mild approval to most of the pro positions ; but he made some qualifications, and especially doubted whether any great saving would be effected with ----serration of the controlling power. with Mr. LABOUCHERE agreed, ....a very little qualifica tion, to all of the measures propose d; and took that oppor tunity of alluding to the prosperous state of the shipping interest, which he believed to be caused by, and not to be in spite of, the repeal of the navigation law'. His prin cipal disagreement with the government was with regard to the proposed alteration in reference to foreign seamen, not on the ground of any supposed injury to the British seaman, but because he had some apprehensions of the effect of destroying the national charae:er of our ships. Viscount CHELSEA adverted to restrictions imposed upon the pilots of the Cinque Ports, to which Lord A. PAGET responded by citing some of their pri vileges. He was, however, very glad that the government was rain/ to take that class under its protection. Mr. TLENER gave a qualified approval of the measure. Mr. HEADLAM considered that, as the British ship owner was thrown into competition with the foreigner, he should be relieved from all those burdens which pressed upon his class, and from which the foreigner was exempt ; and he hoped this point would not be omitted in the bill. Mr. DEEDES deprecated some of the proposed innova tions, and claimed at any rate compensation for existing in terests. Sir E. PECHELL contributed some criticism. Mr. ARCH. lIASTIE believed that the bill would give satisfaction to the shipping interest and the country. Mr. INGHAM pointed out some deficiencies in the bill, amidst a great bun of conversation, which some succeeding observations from Mr. Stapleton did Hot tend to diminish. . . Mr. HUDSON complainid that the bill did not propose to remove the unjust pressure of passing tolls upon the people of Sunderland. Mr. CARDWELL, in reply, remarked that he had no thing to do with fiscal or financial arrangements—his duty being simply confined to bringing forward measures for the objects he had stated, and explaining their general prin. eiple. He proposed inquiry as to the passing tolls, because it was but reasonable, when it was proposed to deal with the private revenues of particular ports, or the burdens on the public funds, that they should not proceed until alter a preliminary investigation. He had not felt it his duty to go into any detailed statement on the subject of the light (thee; but there would be an opportunity of doing so before long, when he hoped that those hoe. gentlemen, who now seemed to suppose that it was not intended to make any re daction in those dues, would be satisfied with the explana tion he should give. (Hear, hear.) Hon. gentlemen should however remember, that on the subject of taxation there was one principle of taxing whieb, according to Adam Smith, was the least objectionable—that was, taxing for services rendered. He slaked the committee to sae the measures is detail before them, before they pronounced an opinion, he M beileired. wire they did so, they would find that =impel the suggese{mss which had been made in the cause of the eveningited been rat. The resolution was than agreed to, and the house having resuased, the bill was ordered to be brought in. BLACKBURN ELECTION.—ADJO CRNBD THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING MARCH 8, 1853 nlit amide, the general evil . whisk it web th biselness of itarliament to deal with. (Hear, bear.) That last asset 'dente was prepared to support. There were eases which eould not be referred to committees. but with which perils- Ment might fitly deal. He was disposed to say that in every case where a report of an election committee stated that meimbem had bees returned by amass of bribery and correptpractiees, it would be desirable that a select cons , mitts. be appointed to inquire whether there was reason to believe that corrupt practices had extensively prevailed. He 'mild not bat believe that with r egar d t o boroughs which had been the subject of inquiry in the last few days, it would appear that suet was the ease. He had beard that, as regarded Bridgeaorth, • petition for such an inquiry would be presented, ant he had also beard that at Blackburn attempts had been made to at tack and insult thesis who pave evidence before the elec tion committee. If • petition was presented, asking the bowie to inquire into the existence of corrupt practises at an election, it would not be right to stud the writ down to that b trough—and that in the face of such a petition, stating that the election bad been corrupt. He did not mean to say that the same practices would be resorted to on a new election, or that such election would be as corrupt as the last, but there could ;be no doubt the same corrupt influence would prevail. With respect to the tenting of the writ, ho did think it should be suspended, as was done by the Grenville Act, by way of penalty or punishment on the borough. It was not right that the house should punish the borough in that manaer, as was formerly done ; but if any inquiry was pending . either be fore an election committee or • commission appo inted under the provisions of 15 & 16 Vic.' the writ ought not to is sue. At present he was satisfie d to accept the proposal of the hon. member for Wilshire, with souse alteration, with regard to the time of the notice. As it stood, a notice might be given at a late hour on Monday fright, and the writ might be moved at four o'clock on Tuesday. If the honourable gentleman would give seven days' notice, that would be sufficient for all parties concerned. He had ventured to state his opinion on those cases. He confessed that it was a matter of great difficulty. It was not a party matter, for no one could desire to see such prac tices continue. He was only anxious to see the house come to such • decision as not, on the one hand, to seem caprici ously to take the whole power into their own hands, but, on the other, to stand before the country as determined to check the torrent of corruption. (Cheers.) Mr. SOTHEItON (who was very indistinetly heard) was understood to say that his motion was copied from a resolu tion of the house in 1849. There would, be some inconve nience in adopting the amendment proposod by the noble lord. Take the case before them. The house had ap pointed election committees, which had received evidence on oath, and reported that members were not duly elected and bribery committed. If the motion of the hon. hart. the member for Westminster was agreed to, and the evidence printed, and he then proposed that a select committee be appointed with a view to inquiry and the issue of a com mission, that select committee would have power to send for persons and papers, but they could not take evidence on oeth ; and suppose they reported that there was no bribery, that would be a most inconvenient position, each being op posed to the other, and the house would have to decide between them. But even if that house assented to the issuing of a commission, would the other house, which must join in the address to the crown, agree else ? The decisions of election committees were intended to be final. If the house assented to the proposal of the noble lord, a select committee would be appointed on every one of the cases where a member was unseated, and they would virtually and effectually take from election committees the power of dealing with such eases, and bring them to the house to decide. He trusted the house would agree to the propeei tion which he now moved: " That in all cases when the seat of any member has been declared void by an election conmittee an the grounds of bribery or treating, no motion for the inning of a new writ shall be made without previous notice being given in the votes." Mr. BOUVEItIE seconded the amendment. Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT urged that in the present state of public opinion it was most desirable that the house should show itself is earnest in the matter ; and be believed that the proposition of Lord John Russell was calculated to effect the object. Sir F. KELLY, upon legal grounds, disagreed with the proposition of Lord John Russell, urging his arguments at some length upon a house that took no pains to conceal its Impatience. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, amidst very unceremo nious signs of opposition, pressed upon the house his own view of the case, and disputed that of Sir F. Kelly. Mr. I)EEDES, as chairrase of the committee, ob tained a batter audience. Re objected to both reso lution and amendment, and condemned the proposition of "Lind John Russell as being opposed to the rules of the house. Sir B. HALL supported the motion, and supported it with the greater satisfaction, after having heard the argu ments against it. Mr. Ker Seymer and Mr. Wortley said a few words, and Mr. Bright declared himself in favour of the printing of the evidence in the Blackburn case. Mr. SOTHERON would have no objection. Lord J. RUSSELL made some explanations in reference to his proposition. After a few words from Col. Boldero, Mr. Deedes, and Mr. Peacock, the motion was agreed to in the following form :—" That in all cases when the seat of any member has been declared void by an election committee on the ground of bribery or treating, no motion for the issuing of a new writ shall be made without seven days' previous notice being given in the votes." CHATHAM ELECTION. _ _ _ _ Mr. T. W. BRAMSTON, the chairman of the Chatham committee, brought up the following report from that com mittee':—" That Sir F. Smith is not duly elected to men as a burgess for the borough of Chatham. That the said election is a void election. That Jogeph Oreatheed was proved to have been bribed by being offered a situation of a letter-carrier in the General Post-office, obtained for his son by Sir F. Smith. It was proved that • large number of electors for the borough of Chatham are employed in her Majesty's docks, under the influence of the government of the time being ; and there appears to be no instance of a candidate being elected for the borough of Chatham who bad not the support of the government. (Great laughter.) Under these circumstances, it will be for the house to consider whether the right of returning a member be not withdrawn from the borough of Chatham. (Cheers.) Thero is good reason to believe that Stephen Mount, in giving his evidence before the committee, has been guilty of wilful and corrupt wrjury." Mr. 13ramston gave notice to move this day, "That the evidence laid before the Chatham committee be printed, and that the writ be sus pended until the 11th of April." BOROUGH OF BRIDGNORTH. Sir J. SHELLEY said he understood that a petition, numerously signed. was expected to arrive from this bo rough next day. His purpose would be answered by hom ily** seven days' Wise. The inhabitants of these too =ought at oar Ms to have an opportunity of repro their caetli •ue days would be sufficient for tint pODIPOOD. He had sit loos influenced in any way by ="goltivos. In tbe Immlmmesghs whoa, cases they had follflfithef MOO OW lido the house, the other as dr olhor. noose, to these horrible and meet eigmceflei loonotisso, Wit the duty of the house, if they Al pea wish to loss caste in the country, to show their laNDADlNSiltesift the mattes' to the bottom: (Hear.) He begged OD lODO . Datie• that to-morrow (this day) be should • item the of Bleckbura. present a petttion from men BRIDGNOUTH ELECTION PETITION. On the motion that the evidence be printed, Mr. PHINN said it would be no use to prosecute the persons bribed unless they were determined also to prose cute the bribers. (Cheers.) He thought that the evidence ought to be printed in all cues, in order that they might judge whether the government should instruct the Attar ney-Genual to prosecute the parties. (Cheers.) Sir H. WILLOUGHBY believed the house was on a false smut; for U they thought the evidence would dis close mg reason why they should suspend the writ for ilra they were grossly mistaken. (Cheers.> He thought thatres ill tite should be one even to the sitting members. It was allow% is the Brldgnorth case that glees bribery had pee -om elet a shadow of that was proved. It was said that id Meese had been opened for treating ; 23 of them had eadroly vanished. The only cue of bribery proved wee this payout or se old bill ; and on that question the asommitess was divided—the three government members voted see way, and the two opposition members the other. The an wee altogether different from that of Blackburn. Why Use ummittes had even allowed the sitting member a large poetise of his eats. (Cheers.) After •hw words from Mr. MALIN., the resolution was thee agreed to. The motion, that the writ be suspended, was withdrawn. Sir H. WILLOUGHBY gave notice that he should move for the writ to-morrow. CATHEDRAL APPOINTMENTS BILL. Mr. S. HERBERT moved that the bill be read a second time. Its object was similar to that of the bill which was passed at the time the last cathedral oomminion was issued. After a few words from Mr. 'UNLIT, the bill wu read a secood time. LAND IMPROVEMENT (IRELAND) BILL. This bill was recommitted. Mr. BROTEIERTON protested against entering upon an Irish debate after 12 o'clock. (Laughter and cheers.) Lord C. HAMILTON also expressed a hope the bill would not be pressed forward that night, After some amendments bad been agreed to, Mr. MAGUIRE moved that the chairman report progress. Sir 1. YOUNG said it wee hopeless to think of passing bills for the benefit of Ireland if the government was to be met with motions for a4lournment in this way. After a brief discus sion the amendment was agreed to, and, the house having resumed, the Chairman reported pro gress accordingly. SLAVE TRADE. The Slave Trade (New Granada) Bill and the Slave Trade (Sober in Arabia) were read a third time and passed. The Mutiny Bill and the Marine Mutiny Bill were read a third time and passed. The LORD ADVOCATE of Scotland obtained leave to bring iu a bill for empowering the sheriff and commis sary of Berwickshire to hold courts of dunes and for other purposes. Mr. FITZROY obtained leave to bring in a bill to in demnify such persons in the United Kingdom as have ' omitted to qualify themselves for offices and employments, and to extend the time limited fur these purposes re spectively. THE INDIA COMMITTEE. Mr. FRENCH moved that Mr. Kennedy and Mr.Bowyer be added to the committee on Indian &Giro. The SPEAKER a tid the house having already flail the number of the ccmmittee, no member could 1,0 added to it, until the house had agreed that the committee should be increased. The motion was therefore withdrawn. The other orders were then disposed of, and the LOU" adjourned at one o'clock. DEBATE. On the oaks of the day for ramming the adjourned debate on the waken " that the ininitea of evidence taken before this Ilialltbers Risottos Cesuaittse be laid before the house " Ur. 0017111111 N swoo—He mid be had on a former De mist pointed oat the inoismateme of suspending writs in all cams of bribery, mod though that question did not wise directly an a modes he printing evidence, he would state two reasons why he thought the house ought to be cautious in interfering in the present case. If be understood aright the purpose of the Grenville Act, and the several sets that had passed since to amend that act, it was that the house should not exercise its discretion in matters of contro verted elections, but should in all eases be guided by the de cision of the committee to whom the election petition was referred. In the last act for amending the Grenville Act, that which was now the law, it was enacted that the select 00111111litt•I appointed for the purpose should try the merits of the election petition, sad determine whether the sitting member, or any and what other person, had been duly re turned and elected, or whether the elution was void, and whether a new writ oughtto issue or not, and that their de termination should be final to the parties, and that the house should act upon it. Now, it was clear from the wording of that clause that it was intended the committee should form their judgment on the circumstances, and decide whether or not there were sufficient grounds for the suspension of the writ. (Hear, hear.) Previous to the Grenville Act, writs were frequently suspended by the house, and if they now decided that partial bribery was sufficient to justify the asepension of a writ, the evil effects which the Grenville Ad was intended to meet—that was, the giving to the dominant party in the hours the power of saying whothifeesrlain members should be excluded or not —would be revived. This was • dangerous principle to intention, and the deeper was far exceeding that which etwahlorhe from any must bribery that might occur in any bassegirl for it woo calculated to infringe on the consta- Minn mid the freedom of election. (Hear, hear) If the Deem should ague to print the evidence in the Blackburn meth* hoes* would probably further and suspend the writ. Therefore he thought this was the fitting opportu nity of putting it to the house whether they were prepared to suspend • writ in a ease where there was no report from the committee that such a system of extensive bribery had prevailed at the last election to justify it. Lord J. RUSSELL said he wanted to explain to the house what appeared to him the course that the house ought to take. lie thought it was incumbent on the house to con sider that course with the greatest deliberation and caution, and the right hoe. gentleman who' had just sat down was fully justified in the advice he had given the house, to be careful how they proceeded. At the same time a great error must be committed on one side or the other. The question now was, what course was to be pursued with regard to reports of election committees which stated that an election was carried by means of bribery, and the member unseated. With regard to some of them there could be no doubt, for they not only unseated the member, but also reported that corruption prevailed extensively, and then the house could have no difficulty in addressing the crown. (Hear, hear.) But there were other cases in which the number of persons reported to have boon bribed were very few, and it was a matter for oossideration whether in such cues the house should hike farther proc eedings. It was important not to lose sight of the fact, that a well-founded belief pre veiled, that bribery and corruption, to a very great extent, existed at the last general election. He put it to the house that they must consider whether they were satisfied with inquiry by means of commissions in cases where no other course could be taken, or whether they would make the remedy at all commensurate with the evil. I He would be loth to take any course which seemed to transfer from election committees to the house the judo• meat in these matters. (Hear, hear.) Any resolution which implied that the house was not satisfied with the de cision of election cemmittees, and wished to act as • court of appeal from them, would b., a great evil. (Hear, hear.) But it was one thing to say that an election committee had net performed their duty, but another to say , that it had performed its duty, and yet that it would Cite eVimeoti. TO CORRIMPON DINTS. a Memel Mir " The Empress," the oar ember* - Gentle," is pablithel every Teemley W • y to this lor pose. imtkieleestalatemead tee "The Ewer," tendon Leitrim pow, mot he et the Oen, 10. heeeirteetweet. V, Two o'etock ea the L) at Weirdos. NIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Dius Day—Marais& U1a............Atterm0• 1 11 . 19 . 18. fo.roatow—lloralai. 24. iat,. ...4.44m5a1. lII'. LONDON, TUESDAY. MARCH 8. THE members of the Committee on the Chatham Election have done their work thoroughly and well. They have unseated Sir FREDERICK SMITH, the Derbyite candidate for that dockyard borough; have declared the election void; have pronounced it proved that " JOSEPH GREATHEAD, an elector of Chatham," was bribed by a situation as letter-carrier in the General Post-office, obtained "by or through the influence of Sir FREDERICK SMITH; and further, they deliberately affirm it proved 1 hat a large number of the electors of the borough of Chatham are employed in her Majesty's dockyard, and other public departments, and that they are under the in fluence of the government for the time being, and that it appears there is no instance of a candidate being elected for the borough of Chatham who has not had the support of the government. That, under these circumstances, it will be for the house to determine whether the right of returning a member should not in future be withdrawn from the borough .f Chatham. That it is the opinion of the committee that there are strong grounds for believing that one Stephen Mount, in giving his evidence before the committee, was guilty of wil ful and corrupt perjury. In the course of yesterday the Hull Committee likewise presented their report, which declares both the Members unseated, and recommends that the issue of the writ should be suspended in order that a commission of inquiry may first take place into the malpractices shown to be prevalent there. The pub lic will observe that in each of these important eases the decision come to is, by the constitution of the Committee, placed beyond the reach of all political suspicion. In the Chatham case, the chair man was Mr. BRAMETON Member for Essex, and one of the most intelligent and high-minded men of the Tory party. As a partisan, his sym pathies, had they been allowed to interfere with his judgment, would have naturally led him to look with leniency on the errors of Sir FILEDEUICH SMITU. And the presence of two such colleague, as Alderman THOMPSON and Mr. NEWDEGATE must have rendered it impossible that any reasonable ground oidoulTO; hesitation as to the sitting member's culpability should have been overlooked in the final considera tion of the evidence. It is due to Mr. BRAMSTON to remember that this is not the first occasion on which, as Chairman of an Election Committee, he has shown himself above all political predilections by concurring in a sentence of invalidity against the return of a political friend. And the adjournment from Satur day last to yesterday, for the purpose of having the law of the case re-argued by counsel, as it was eventually by Serjeant IVRkNonAm on the one side and Serjeant KINGLAKE on the other, renders the decision all the more weighty and valuable, both as regarla tke ejected member and the discredited borough. It is plain that the voice of public opinion is at length beginning to prevail.. Government dock yards are, under any circumstances, bad enough. But when in addition to the economic evils those of political corruption are superadded, public disgust is only equalled by public indignation, for we dis cover by the anatomy of such systems as that of Chatham, that we aro robbed of our money in the building of Government ships only as a means of being robbed of our rights in the Legislature by the return of Government candidates. The wholedrift of the testimony tendered on both sides before the Chatham Committee serves to demonstrate the universality of Government influence over the electoral body. In point of fact, the main question which ultimately en gaged the attention of the Committee was, whether the candidate for a dockyard borough might not ask and obtain any number of places for his supporters, provided that they, acting upon the general under standing that he would do his beet to provide for them, volunteered, in the first instance, general pro mises of support. It is clear enough, we think, to every unbiassed mind that had the Committee decided otherwise than they have done, all legal prevention of bribery by Government candidates would be at an end. The Chatham Committee, however, have set the question at rest. They have not only ruled that situations in the public establishments can not with impunity be trucked for votes, but that any tampering or palterieg with such con siderations will subject the candidate to inexorable exposure and punishment, no matter what his posi tion or character in other respects. But however important this fact of the decision may seem, we own that we regard the inference drawn by the Com mittee, and their recommendation with respect to the future, as still more significant. They have declared that Chatham ought to be disfranchised, and they have doubtless been actuated in coming to this con , elusion by no mere consideration of the number of oases of actual bribery proved to have been committed at the last election. As compared with the constitu ency, the number of instances which were gone into was not perhaps very great; but on all hands it was admitted that the expec tations were plenteous though the realised promises may have been few. In a word a predominantly Conservative tribunal have been forced to admit that a dockyard constitu ency is a standin i t a r e b i. the rink of which must be forthwith exting _ _ _ We now turn to another side of the picture. The two sitting members for Hull were Liberals, so also wu the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. LA BOUCIIERE: his colleagues being, of course, equally balanced in political opinions. But they have not hesitated to displace both Mr. CLAY and Lord °ODE um, after three days' investigation. We alluded yesterday.to the lamentable prevalence and notoriety of corrupt practices at Hull. The giving of 30s. a head to hundreds of voters amounts, in point of fact, to a sort of head-money, or to systematic treating under another name. Nearly a fourth of the entire constituency are said to be in the habit of exacting this species of electoral largess. It is absolutely necessary that so great a scandal should be thoroughly sifted and exposed. And as it is manifest that this cannot be done before a Committee at Westminster, the proper remedy lies in a Commission of Inquiry like that of St. Albans. Mr. LABOUCHERE and his colleagues have accordingly reported in favour of that indispensable mode of in vestigation, and they have advised to suspend the issuing of any writ until it shall have been com pleted. It is quite possible that, as in the case of Brldgnorth, an attempt may be made to precipitate a new election, and the fatal example of Harwich will in every case be appealed to, for it is unfor tunately undeniable that in that, after a Committee had reported to the late Parliament that the constituency of Harwich was thoroughly steeped in corruption and that the election complained of was illegal and void, the House of Common., after suspending the trial for several months, suddenly came to the resolution that it might with propriety be issued, and issued it wu accordingly. Let us trust, however, that this is an example to be remem bered only to be avoided. The issuing of the writ for Harwich gladdened the heart of every Pall-mall Lo e b a b r oy of seats and every local vendor of votes who of it. It was regarded by them, we must say justly regarded, as a plain intimation that the House of Commons of 18.52 did not want to put down corruption. Mr. DUNCOMHE told them so in very plain terms at the time, and he told them the truth. The country will look with anxiety to every move that is made in the present House of Com mons on this subject; the votes of the members will be scrutinized with rigour, and the conduct of parties will be watched with jealousy. The question of the writs is the prelude and the preface to the coming question of Reform, and the public are in no manner to be trifled with regarding it. _ _ . The debate of las t night will be read with interest great in proportion to the importance of the motion adopted by the House of Commons. No writ can be moved for for any borough against which the sin of bribery has been proved unless seven days' previous notice has been given. This will make the scandal glaring and give time for consideration as to what should be done. But we must not suppose this to be enough. Present steps can only be preliminary to a full measure of Parliamentary Reform. To lessen the r number of members of the House of Commons by an arbitrary vote of the House itself is unconstitutional, and a thing only to be tolerated temporarily that greater good may be obtained. FRANCE. PARIS, MONDAY EVeNING There has been more speculation on the Bourse to-day, and much variation in the quotations. The Three per Cent. Rentes obtained an advance of 20c., while the Four-and-a-Half per Cents. and Bank Stock were quoted lower, the former 10c., and the latter if. 90c. below the prices of Saturday. The following are the latest prices received by telegraph to-day from the other continental Bourses: Amster dam—Two-and-a-Half per Cents., 651 ; Metallique Five per Cents., 811. Berlin—Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 1021; Three-and-a-Half ditto, 931 ; Bank Shares, 1091. Madrid—Threes, 431; Deferred ditto, 23 13-18; Redeemable Debt (2nd class), 6. Vienna—Metalliques, 941 ; New Loan, 105/ ; Lom bardo-Vcnctian Bonds, 101 ; exchange on London, 10.55; Bank Shares, 1,354. PARIS, SUNDAY EVENING. Thirteen months ago, a new institution with a sinister designation, was created in France by a dic tatorial decree. Officers employed by M. de Maupas, the Fouche of the restored empire, were instructed to roam about the country and make secret reports to the government of all they could see and hear. Since that time little indeed has been known of the police inspectors. Reports have occasionally reached Paris of these professional Paul Prys coming into rude collision with the prefects. Latterly it has been whispered that these eyes and cars of the go vernment saw and heard totally different things from the prefects, and the government, which had flattered itself that it might sit in the Tuileries and know privately the real state of feeling in every department of France, was dreadfully perplexed at receiving contradictory reports from the prefects and the inspectors. The institution introduced with so much parade on Jan. 30, 1852, is this day abolished, and instead of it departmental commissanes of police anger the orders of the prefects are appointed. Ano ther decree creates further new offices. The govern ment is to be empowered to appoint "high function aries" to travel in given circuits, and to study the state of public opinion and the wants of the country. None of these high functionaries are vet nominated. ' The recent creation of members of . the Senate in creases the number of that body to 144, and as the constitution limits the number to 150, the Emperor has only to create six more senators until death vacancies occur. of the fourteen new members many are so well known that it is unnecessary to say anything about them. MM. F. Benet, Bret, Chapuys, de Montlaville, de Thorigny, Baron de Varenocs, and de Snleau are old and devoted ser- 1 rants of Louis Napoleon either as ministers, prefects, or diplomatists. The Marquis de Boissy was some time since a largo iron manufacturer to the Cher. He was a peer of France under Louis Philippe, and an unsuccessful candidate at two elections for the legislative assembly. Ho has filled no office since 1848. At the present moment he is remarkable for the extraordinary brilliancy of his enamelled buttons and the eccentric embroidery which he sports at the Tuileries. Of M. Lavabit one of the government journals in geniously observes that after being elected in a deputy 1830 he never ceased to struggle for the great principles of 1789. The fact is that M. Lavabit was not long ago a zealous republican. The Duke de Trevisi is the son of Marshal Mortier, and was made a peer of France by Louis Philippe. M. Daviste was a member of the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies for the flasse-Pyrenees, and a member of the Council-General of his department. He accepted office as councillor of state immediately after the coup dad. General Lalaing d'Audenarde is an old soldier, and one of Louis Philippe'. peers of France. The Marquis de Gabriac has been the re presentative of France in various countries during the last fifteen years. He was lately French minister at Florence. Captain Doret was one of the naval officers who, in 1815, resolved at all risks to save Napoleon I. from the English cruisers and conduct him to the United States. He formed a plan for taking the Emperor across the Atlantic in a chasse morle, which he meant to work himself, disguised as a merchant seaman. The scheme tailed and was discovered, and Captain Doret was in consequence cashiered by Louis XVIII. The works of the Paris and Lyons Railway in the city of Lyons are suspended, owing to opposition on the part of the commission of military engineers, whose approbation is necessary for the execution of any works which by possibility may affect the de fences of a fortified town. It appears that the Lyons Company traccd their line without consulting the military authorities. The matter is now referred to a mixed commission, appointed partly by the Minister at War, and partly by the Minister of Public Works, and unless they make a favourable report the con struction of the Lyons Railway, on the present plan, cannot be proceeded with. A telegraphic despatch from Marseilles, dated yes• terday, March 5, states that the Leonidas packet, which left Constantinople on February 15, and was due on the 26th, had not yet made her appearance. The Piedmontese loan of two millions of francs, at three per cent., has been contracted for by Me;ers. Rothschild. It will be issued in Paris this week, and, as it is understood, at 69f., with six months for payment. Count Demonstiers, ex-member of the Legislative Assembly, is appointed minister plenipotentiary at Berlin, in the place of Baron de Varennes, appointed as senator. The military council of revision at Toulouse has confirmed the sentence of death passed by a court , martial upon eight insurgents of Bedarieux, although the government prosecutor himself argued that the proceedings had been irregular. It is said that the cure and the protestant clergyman of Bedariens came together to Paris, and obtained an audience with the Empress, who promised to use her influence with the Emperor in favour of these men. ITALY. EXTENSIVE CONFISCATIONS BY THE EN PEROR OF AUSTRIA. The Milan Gazette of the Ist makes known that the Austrian Emperor has not shrunk from the frightful act of immorality which recent advice. from Vienna had foreshadowed. The confiscation decree, although now first officially promulgated, was re solved on in the middle of last month. The intro duction to the decree states that by a "sovereign resolution of the 13th ult. the Emperor has deigned to order" that which follows, in consideration of the "manifest complicity " of the political emigrants of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom in the late troubles at Milan. Then follow the directive arti cles of the decree, which enjoin the sequestration from that date of the estates and chattels of all poli tical emigrants from the Lombardo-Venetian king dom, without excepting those who hold the permis sion of the Emperor to reside abroad. The Emperor thus concludes his decree: " My Minister of the In terior is charged with the execution of the present ordonnance, in concert with my Field Marshal Ra detzky, and I shall decree at another time respecting the disposal of the property struck with sequestra lion." With this document is published a notification by Radetzky, dated from his stronghold at Verona, and purporting to explain the order of his muter. It is there announced that the decree applies not only to revenues, but also to occasional sums payable to re fugees, which must now be paid to the government. Among other warnings, it is stated that notaries or others who shall aid any one, even if only by counsel, to evade the "law," will be lia ble to criminal prosecution. Persons refusing to be administrators of property sequestrated, will also incur punishment. Radetzky says that he ex pects that each and all will eagerly aid the agents of the government in the execution of this measure. It is remarked that Radetsky, although quoting the decree, does not support it with the imperial sig nature. From Turin of the 2nd, we learn that upon re ceiving the official notice of the confiscation, the Piedmontese ministers held a hasty sitting, and called several persons of consideration to their coun cil. . ..... The Patria, a conservative journal, states that it was then resolved to send to London for advice under the grave circumstances which had arisen. FLORENCE, Fes. 25. A few facts relative to this country, coming from one who has been for a long time a resident in Tuscany, and acquainted with the feelings of the people, may perhaps be acceptable to the readers of the Express. The distracted state of Tuscany, and Italy in general, is almost incredible. The two great evils from which Italy is now suffering, and which act as an incubus on this unhappy land, are the Austrians and the priests. It would be difficult to say which is the greatest bane. Depend upon it they will soon ruin this beautiful country if some means be not devised to get rid of both. In England Dr. Cahill may endeavour to persuade people that the Grand Duke acted very leniently to the Medial; but be assured that here all enlightened persons look upon it as a most tyrannical act, and done merely to please the priesthood, whose bigotry in Tuscany is greater than anywhere else. It is again the repetition of the Jesuit maxim, that the end justifies the means—any means to sustain a falling fabric. At Florence one hears nothing but execra tion at the name of Austria and the priesthood. No such feeling as religious belief exists amongst the people ; and numbers of Roman eatholica with whom I am in daily intercourse have commonly expressed their feelings to me against the Pope and his priests, who are the laughing-stock of Italy. This excess of bitter feeling against the ecclesiastics is surprising, and almost incredible. Many married men will not receive them in their houses, at least those who have any regard for their wives and daughters; but unfortunately there are many weak and bigoted women who are led astray by them, and by confession too frequently divulge the opinions of their husbands and brothers, and become thus the instruments of injustice. The attempt at assassination of the Emperor of Austria has caused quite a panic here, and more par ticularly with the Grand Duke and his party, in cluding the priests. The latter are in great fear that if anything occurs here they will all be expelled, and many have in their houses dresses of civilians, to facilitate their escape from the wrath of the people. In Lombardy, probably the feeling is not so great, as the priests there seem to be influenced by more gene rous feelings, and go hand in hand with the popular feeling of execration towards the Austrians. It is lamentable to look upon this once prosperous and contented part of Italy, and not to feel for the poor victims of grinding tyranny. To a small country like this, and in its present wretched state, with a population scarcely eqnal to London, you can conceive what a burden it must be to maintain 8,000 or 10,000 Austrian troops, besides its own regular army, which is being daily increased, to say nothing of maintaining an expensive Grand Duke and his government. You will have heard of the barbarous expulsion of the Ticiaese from Lombardy. In all probability there may be 15,000 to 18,000 natives of Ticino affected by this act, if not more. I have given the smallest number, but I have heard it stated at 12,000 families. This measure, to say the least of it, is most impolitic, and will sooner or later recoil on the Aus trian government of Milan with redoubled force, as many of those expelled are young men capable of bearing arms, and who will eventually assist the Lombards in liberating them from a most execrable yoke. , Yesterday mass was performed, and aTe Deum t sung at the Duomo, to render thanks for the miracu- I lone escape of the Emperor of Austria from the as , sassin's dagger. It was attended by the Grand Duke, the court, ministers, and diplomatic body, and , also the Austrian troops ; but as it was the heaviest day of rain we have yet bad, and dreadfully cold, the poor soldiers got a fearful ducking, the effects of i which will affect many of them. SWITZERLAND. Letters from Berne state that the note of the fede ral council to the Austrian government was sent on the 3rd to the Swiss minister at Vienna. The coun cil declares, after inquiry, that the Austrian charges against the canton of Ticino were unfounded. The measures adopted against the canton of Ticino as a reprisal for the expulsion of the Capuchins, are not justified, the more so as the canton declared it would pay an indemnity, the amount of which was conside rable, in proportion to its finances. After this Switzerland could hardly expect reprisals so severe, but has the satisfaction of reflecting that they were not called for by her conduct. The note further expresses the regret of the federal council at the course pursued by Austria,"and makes an appeal to the justice to which the Austrian government alludes to in its note. In conclusion, the federal council, although unwilling to imitate the example set by Austria, reserves to itself the right to adopt all mea sures which may appear necessary in the interest of Switzerland in general, and of Ticino in particular. GERMANY. PRUSSIA. BERLIN, Menem 3. A proclamation, announcing the demise of the reigning Grand Duke Augustus of Oldenburg, and the accession of his son Peter, promises on oath, "to maintain rigidly the constitution, and to govern in conformity with constitutional principles and the laws." This voluntary declaration is worthy of ac knowledgment, because it is not unusual for Ger man princes, on succeeding to the government, to re pudiate the pledges of their p . redecessors. The health of the new Grand Duchess ts, unfortunately, in an alarmingly precarious state. The new law for the organisation of towns and parishes, enacts " that only members of a Christian confession can be admitted to a communal office." Against this clause protests have been raised, on the plea that article 12 of the charter says, "The enjoy ment of civil rights is independent of religious con fession." The commission of the first chamber rejects this protest, and quotes article 4 of the charter, which says, "Public offices are equally open to all capable persons on fulfilment of the conditions pre scribed by the laws." Hence, it argues, the chambers are authorised to prescribe, in the laws which they make, conditions for eligibility to public offices. The chambers have, it is true, the right to impose conditions, but only such as are not contrary to the charter, which prescribes the limits of special legis lation. The reactionary party, however, is intent on nullifying the charter, and is well aware that the most effectual way of doing this is to overrule it by the most flagr ant contempt for logical reasoning. In Schleswig, too, the Jews, it seems, are to be de prived of their civil rights. A new form of oath has been published for the swearing in of citizens, who have to swear by the New Testament. Allegiance is sworn to the monarch merely as King of Den mark, and no longer as Duke of Schleswig, of whom there is no mention. In spite of the formal and official contradiction given by Austrian newspapers, it is indisputable, that a plot, in which the Hungarian military was implicated, had been formed with a view to seizing the fortresses of Comorn and Ofen, and that it was, when discovered, very near execution. No less than 500 persons were arrested at Peath on the 21st ult. The Austrian papers say a " row " was to have been got up! On Monday . last, when the Prussian go vernment received private information of the affair, the president of police hastily conferred with all the ministers, and there was quite a stir in the upper official regions, indicating some extraordinary news.. As a specimen of the rigidity of penal proceedings in Hungary, I may report that the ambulatory court martial has hanged a shepherd at Szolnok for having given, for two days and nights, shelter in his hut to a robber. What makes this the more shocking is that the Hungarians are a half Oriental people, and entertain, to a great degree, the Oriental notions about the sanctity of asylum claimed by the pursued stranger, and even the criminal. The Berlin police has just done a very clever thing. A Jew, occupying an old dilapidated house in an ob scure street, and suspected as a receiver of stolen goods, was secretly arrested in the night, and carried off to prison. His shop, however, was opened as usual the next morning ; a policeman disguised as a Jew was stationed in the back room, and several others of the force lay hid in the cellar. It was not long before customers began to make their appear ance. They were requested by the supposed Jew to accompany him to the cellar, whtre the proprietor of the shop was busy, and would discuss the bargain. They were there seized, gagged, and handcuffed, and kept till they could be conveyed at night unob served to prison. By this stratagem the police has succeeded in entrapping not only the chief profes dr ss lis ou al tile ram re- ier JO tilt ti z