The Express. — London, England, 1849-07-19 00:00:00

make oar onlordsts thick that we cued no longer abmt oar eolosiil enn Mr. COBDEN trusted that the noble lord did not inner that le, as a man of bearer, could have contended that no stock of storks Was unaware. All he had erased spinet was the ever., and yet the noble lord had spoken u if he (Mr. Cobden) had lugged against stores entree. Mr. E. ELLICE observed that with ngsrd to out eelenial system we a ula sot ietrodnee great changes all at etre. To be male and beneficial such changes at some on by deities Mr. HUME complained of the ismer, amount set down Is this vote for hair ..ks. The committee that sat is 1828 found the sum then at down for barracks in the Vatted Itiegd&m to be 83,0001, and they strenuowly recommended that so move nimay should be rpent for that purpose. But, notwithstanding that catnips, the hoer would see that the sum increased every year. In DM 36 it was 65,0001. • in 1840, 89,000/ '• in 134 6 46, 160,0001. ; and for 184; 49 it was 163 0001. (Hear, hear.) 700,0001. bad been upeoded foe new terra hr err the peciud when the sommittee recommended a aeration of such extravagance. (Hear, beer.) There we, 137,0001. for building a single bantam at Bolton • indeed the whole country was studded with narks, ri f object was to make England one net garrison. Colonel ANBO:4, amid loud eries of " question," said that it was not his intention to touch on the generl principles which had born so ably diwussed by his noble Irked. All In should sty wca that le felt confident that when nest the Prime Mir ter toe parliament, some important alterations would have bent elf curd. (Hear. hear) There had bra relied however wine questions of detail 'unnamed with the *Meares to which as would be necessary that kip should make some allurion. The hon. member for Montrose had set dean the difference between the estimates of 1833 and the present atimins at 1,800,0001., it was actually 1.130,0001. But the house should bear in mind. that &lore 1835 new services had been imposed en hie department to the amount of 300,0001, and then there was the increase of 30,000 men, which parliament had auctioned. As to the increase for barracks, it might be mounted for in the same way : 11. a head for each soldier would glse3o,oool. At home our establishments oust less by 3,8001., but the alrial had increased—and whyf Blmpy Decease we hal iacraxed the another of oar aerobe. The vote wee then agreed to. • 71,330 J. to e replete the sea necessary for defraying ex penses and wages of snit/gen and labourers in the United Elnedom and the coloniee.—Agreed to. 162 418/ , to a mplece th e sum nessmary for ordnance stores, land and va services. Mr. HUME salted whether en large a suns as 120,0001. would b. taken ker small arms, pending experiments with a sew description o= make' Cohnel ANSON said it wu necessary to ham a large stack of p. museum guns. Str J. GRAHAM wi.hed to call the attention of the Chem teller of the Buhr gut r to the mode in which the strre so counts of the thr.. great departments of tine army, navy, sad ordnance were kept. The nab account was kept Ia In menceptionekle manner; but the method of limping . the store amount was most unsatisfactory, as wog every laeday for misappropriation sod abuse. He bed !limber, introducod the present nude of keeping the cash tax; on: when in °Sot, sad had intended to extend It to star. s ; bet now 15 emus had elapeed, and no improvement had taken Voce. He trusted that the Chan cellor at the Etc egoist would tarn his attention to the sub ject duriee the Mtn. The LHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER admitted that the changes iutrodued by the right hon. baronet had been great improve mute He proaised to tura his atten tion to the matter before next see ion of parliament. Mr. J. B. SMITH expressed a hope that the government would not go to the r opera of pervasion gnu until they saw whether they were not likely to he superseded by the mew invited's*. Tha OTteliis then speed to. Colonel ANSON said that on the next vote, No. 7, he ob served that the hon, baronet the member far Southwark had • notice on the paper for a reduction of the vote for works is Derma 4, the Mauritius, and the lonian Island.. He wished to inform the hon. baronet that he had deduct. d half althe amount from the vote for these services, and that the geveroment inteuied to sop all Walter expense that was not absolutely att."! Ty. Thermo of 236,4361., to complete the amount required for works, bedlam" and repairs iu our cola Sir W. HOLISWIJK 1H said—After whet has been stated by the bun. aid idler% cater, I will not make the motion of which 1 gave ao ice, bet still I feel called on to make some °canines, upon this satin. The maim I gave no tiro for was that this vote be reduced by the MCA of 19,1611, which it es proposed to expend en adman Mons at Bet mode, the Hamenius, aid die lonian Made. From 1828 to 18474 inconn ea have spent 183,1461 on ordnance stores at Berson& Last year w, evessioned certain new works at Bennada,whisth wear tinted tt son 60022, and we voted 11,2131. en mount of tae m ; this yen the vote proposed is he 4,948, ; d i. be awed to, 49,7311. would be required t I empiric , the works in pro. tees ; besides these works there are others in nos empla ion wl.i la, according to a tough estimate, will soft 60,000/. I p-opere that this vote for 80-- mud. shalt he asap nJed, fur the reasons rat din the extract from the rep rt of the onsaare committee, wh eh I will now reed : t• Earl Oen a wed to your committee that he con sidered Bermuda a most iseporrent station for the pr Ratio& of our trade end far the defense of our Wirt Inhere poises eions. 11. is, however, of opinion that no new wake should be commenced at Bermuda, because he has bees 114mnd that Lor l Dut donald, the eontiral on the station, sad Capt. Elliot, the go -ernor. nommen() an alteration in the system of deteui e. The plan sanctioned in the year 1824 Is said to be issulacient at the present time, mid it is suggested that a flotilla or steamer. would *Cord the most effective means of defence," sad the easisitt.• " recommend that before 120likralltil is leaked the goaroment should reconsider the actual of this suet dour, and the plan to be adopted." In the Mauritius 203,9491. have been expended on ordnance works from 1828 to 1847-8. The year before last we enm unwed mean Parthenon for the deform of P.,rt Louis which were anointed to oat 149,2911. This estimate hes bees reread, and now amounts to 158,54.51., to which most be added an additional sum of 68,0001, which will be required to complete the sea def. nes ; making in ell 216,8361 fur sea detente, eseltrive of land defences. I: is end that these works are very much wanted ; for it is stated that the Moorings is an More ant military station, and that in the last war before • • took possession of it seven millions worth of prizes were taken into ft. It it also maid that wi.h out these fortifications it would be difilault, is the erne of a war, to retain p asession of the Mauritius ; and if we were to low possession of it, it would be difilcolt to regain pases sion of it—in both c sees fur the same reason, because the intlitential portion of the pupula:ion are hostilo to as. Hens the alleged necessity tor net and land defences. Fcr the sea detonate we have voted 10,0001. in the course of the last two yeses, and it is propond to vote for them 5,0001 a year. A. they are to net 21b,8351., at least forty years will slime before they CAD he completed. It was the general opinion of the eouersittee, if we could on without them for so loot • period of time, we could do without them altogether. Now with regar.l rs the !onion Islands they wire placed under oar protection in 1816. Lord Bathurst said they would be valuable to us fir commercial pupa's, aid that they were to pay their ripener. Lord Lowdown, how ever, being a wiser and far-seeing statesman, said they would be bardiensosse, ex, crier, and of no use. Lord Lans downe we ri -ht; our 'sport trade to them hes not ex toned 120,0001. • year on the average; and though we have compelled them to pay heavy contribution., they have toot as at least 130,0001. a year for troops, &c . or about four n Mona and a half tines the peace Of that sum 456,0001 have bees for ordnance works. We might with drew all our troops Tomorrow without violating any treaty, and the lonian States would be delighted if we did W. pro. vided we relieved them from their heavy slithery contribu tions. I am *nab'e to state precisely how much the louden te a are indebted to us. A,return on this suhj et was ordered by the cheitman of the ordnance committee some months ago, but it harlot been made. From a return presented to parliament a me time ago, it appears that, from the In Nov , 1834, to 31. t Jan., 1842 they ought to have paid us for military cororihuoions 2.53,7501, or at the rate of 36,000 f. a year ; hewer r , they only paid us 131,5001., and were indebted to us 121,2701. Since then their debt h,s gone on Increasing, I toll oe at least in the mane proportion. I am informed Ont. since 1817, they have paid us 800,0001.; at the rate of 35,0001 a year ; they ought to have paid us 1,100,0001. ; therefore it is not tape aahle that they ewe us at the present moment 300,0001. on the whole account. In fact, if the honourable gentleman the Clerk of the Ordnance, instead of saying on a former oar- Mil= that the lonian Bates had paid 3400001 for ord nance works, bad said that they owed us 300,0001., he would have keen the truth. If the committee will refer to page 53 of the Ordnance Eitimoto a of this year, they will find again, under the three heads et " already voted," " &heady expended," and " require t ter completing works," a: Corte, the word nil; the proposed vote for this year being 9,2061. The question i. whether we shall agree to ten vote, the facts of the Cate being that in the coarse of the last tea years we have voted 100,5001. for them : piece tho commencement we have expoeded on them 346,0001. To complete them Sir J Burgoyne stated that !a addition to the vote of this year 37 0001. more would be required ; and even then 60.0002 additions' would be wanted to make Corfu a strong place. I will answer Val question by reading a few sentences from the report of the ordnance committee, is which they state, that " wording to Lord Grey's views, these works should 'sever have been undertaken; one of the great of j. ctions to the fortifications which have been con structed towards the sea is, th ttheyrenderotherfortifications on the land side necessary also; otherwise it may he that we have only constructed fortification against ourselves. If Corfu had been left undefended, it could never have been held against a great naval power; but as it is, being fortified, it bungles upon too, i• the event of a war, the inooavenient steetotit7 of maintaining a large garrison there. Then anon* have satisfied me that we ought to spend no more money on fortifLations ie the lonian Intends, and 1 for one will never ay sanction to another vote for that pupae*. Cot ANSON observed that the money expended is con tracting the mortification would be the means of reducing the expenditure, as a smaller intalter atriums andel be required than when they eateaded, as they formerly did, ever the entire Wand. Col. THOMPSON bunted to konw of what use We Cards He had been told it was for the defence of the Gulf of Waite, but he denied teat at the diatomite( 60 miles those fortification cou'd be of any advantage wbetever- The last military improvements had ceespletely lbws up the ancient theory that fortresses could have say asks further than within sight. He wished that gendsraws be ea sew nosy wombd sib what number of than liras aare AslWd s what advantages we derived frees tads, tbs. "hi ism their worth, sad what the expense of raskadatits SIM • Sir D. L. EVANS did sat agree with the hos, lone the imembet for Sosithmsk as to the healthy el essillying those WWI I bosom they well el post political isagaggia to this scanty. At the setae time he thought that some works to prams the towns from the predaury attacks of a naval foram would be amply sufficient, and that the sum of 486,0001. was far toe mach. lie would suggest to the goverasent the expediency of considering whetter it would sot be advisable to forego any arrears that might still remain due. Mr. HOME pressed on the government the neenalty ef establishing a repreeen•ative government in these islands. He melted to know whether the expenditure for the Mauri tius world be stopped. The Ant lien was 5,0001, and it involved all the rest. He objected to It until they bad all the reports betide them. Colonel ANSON said that there would be a further soul legation of the question before they expended any looney f2r the Mauritius. Mr. V. SMITH raid that the harm and the country were week Madam' to the hen. butmet, the member for South wark, fen having called the attentke of the committee to them voter, sad laving obtained hem the government an mum that their amention woad be directed to the rub. jest erdp nem emelem, sad the withdrawal of half the susest of the votes. At the wee Wm he was gm the hes. hems' did age Odle the wanamittee, bet regarded, end Wily, the anneweammett es the part of the govern. war, as a judiseden its set wain his sake. Mr. W. 1111.1$ wee glell to lei litie the sheaths of the house lel bees anal t. ilth pilot es sae epplylei to the Clerk of the Chime. Ile bed eserresised elude the lest three penal* melees ens thee MOIL had been po applied to satergeat servisso by the emspiedea of other works. He referred to the mos Odra 'lmpose Barracks, which it was aow found would mot WOOL berme the sum originally es timated. Sir J. GRAHAM said the attention of the Una bad been called to the evil, but not to the remedy suggested by the committee. Until 1836 there were balances which it wee in the power of the government to appropriate ; but under the improved mode of keeping the accounts, all the unexpended belawies were paid into the exchequer, a power being memsearily voted in the treasury of meeting easergensies by a special order. While the committee re eommealed that that power should be retained by the trea sury, thy went ea to cell attention to the absolute seem sky, mho* this power was exercised, of a *moment being gpwisd SD the estimates of the ensuing year, giving an ae enM of the exercise of that power by the treasury, to gether with the maces which had seemed to require it. The words at the end of the report were unfortunately prided. Instead et" works of which parliament has cog labilllew," it should be, " has no eagnimacis." The committee was meet anxious that parliament should have cognisance of such works; and they recommended that, in carrying out the present arrangement, in reference to works of which parliament h ed no cognisance, a statement should be hereafter made with the estimates of the ensuing year, and that the signature of the treoury should be annexed to that statement. In the estimates for the present year, l three sums were charged cipuently as estimates for future expenses, which really belonged to the past—thcse taller the heads of Hong Yong, Monte Video, and New Zee d. This was contrary to principle. The committee pointed oat the emir, end recommended that all them eases should henceforth be met by a sepplesaaatary estimate. If these recommendations were adopted, every check that was really retwasiry would b 3 obtaliad b 7 pahlaseat, while, at the •••• tiwas, • strict appropriadea r wader the provisions of the eppospiatios act, would be ehmentad ; sod is uufore• seas serpseits the executive craawassett would have that %tar so mxrl i z e w y hi oi c i l g s it w to itia • view le dm, eflick•cy of the The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the three hon. gentlemen who bad preoeded him had clearly sad correctly stated the difficulty. It wee one which did not apply to the ordnance estimates only. The right bon. mem berfor Northampton said vary truly that there were etses of mnergency, but that that plea war t be carried to a very improper extent. No doubt of it. till no one could deny that there were cues of emergency, in which parties on the spot must take upon themsAves to incur some expense. He might instance the invasion of the Cape of Good Hope by the Kaffirs, or an attack on any of our colonies by a neigh. boating power. It was absurd to say th at the governor of • oolooy, or the person responsible for the safety of her Majesty's subjects, was not to take upon him to do that which was absolutely necessary for the defence of the colony at the time. He agreed that the come of emergency ought to be confined to these of real and absolute necessity; but that such cars would sometimes inevitably occur, no man could deny. How, then, were they to be met? Heretofore, when balances were held over from one year to another, there was no difficulty whatever in paying off *me unfore. peen expenses. That system had very wisely, and, as con ducing more strictly to economy, been put an end to. No wally was now ever kept over beyond the conclusion of the financial year. (" Hear, hear," from Mr. Hume.) Well, that was quits right. (Mr. Home: "flake right.") But it did carry with it the inconvenience to which allusion had been made. If an unforeseen expenditure occurred, and must be defrayed, from what source could it be defrayed it no money was left in the shape of balances ? There were only two moles of doing it; either to vote a sum for unforeseen contingencies, on the same principle am a sum was annually voted for civil contiagencies, or to pursue the same enures which wee adopted at present—when application was made to the treasury to sanction an expenditure for • certain purpose, after communication with the department, to say let this emergency be paid for,and lot some other work be pet of in reference to the three items objected to by the right Iva. baronet, who had last spoken, he would observe that when the application was made to the treasury for pay meat for those services, it did not appear from the letter ad deemed to them that the money had been paid, but the". it wee • service where it um required to be paid. Tberefore, in cedar to bring it before the knowledge of sarliament, he had dithered an item for thine three services to be include in the estima'ea for this year, in order that peril , ment might have • knowledge of what had been done. Subse quently, he receiv, d a letter from the Board of Ordnance, re sulting trout what bad taken place in the committee; he then directed that the two items, fur Hong Kong and Monte Video, where the *apeman bad been paid, should be withdrawn from the estimate., ma this had been done. The other item re en.ined in the estimates, as it would be a re-psyment. But he entirely ogre.. d in the principle that a past expenditure ought to be provided for either by • supplementsl vote or • vote in excess Sir 3. OR IMAM said he entirely tip , -roved of the present mode of votiog the estimate, and should be extremely a wry to return to the practice of voting either army or ordnance extraordinaries (Hear, hear.) Admitting that there matt be eztraordidary items, still if the present form of estimate was strictly adhered to and earned into affect, the house wool Ibe perfectly cognisant of all the facts. Three esti mates were rightly and delib , Tately framed. There were five columns, the first containing the total esti mate for the work ; the second, the sum already vetted ; tie next, the sum already expended ; the neat, the amount required for the current year; and the last, the further amount new - teary for completing the work. If all these were accurately filled up, whatever might be the sum voted, and whatever the sum expended, even thotkeh there might be some anomalies in the postpone , ga . n t, acne expenditure sod anodise appropriation of the sum voted, the facts would be constantly before parliament Bat let at be ohs reed, everything depended on the fidelity and accuracy wi h which these colones were filled up. The Chanerilor of the Exchequer in hi. evidence before the com mittee admitted that the mode of preparing the estimates had failed in giving the information desired, Deceive it ap peered . that the columns had not beta filled up, or not filled up with sufficient serum, ; and hence the difficulty of drawing any accurate eunclusion as to the amounts. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had not the slightest cbtficulty in souring the right hon, baronet that hit attention h .d been directed to the matter, inasmuch us all the estimates were under the notice of the treasury. It was perfectly true that un'ess all the returns were accurately Clod up, the information was not worth a farthiog, If this were dune, a preens knowledge of all the estimates would be brought manually Were parliament. Mr. COBDEN observe' the the discussion had given oc casion for many sound principles to be enunciated ; and he thought hon. meoihers would be satisfied that the legislature had made very considerable progress in the declaration, at least, of sound principles with regard to our colonial govern ment. A mitts* had been brought forward for stopping the expenditure in the lenian Islands. 'These Wends stood in au exceptional state to all our other 'colonies and depen cies abroad. It was said they had come into our p dsession I atter •he late war, for political reason", and for the hen. fit of this country. But on referring to the debates in 1816, he found that very eminent authovities protected against our taking possesdoe of these Wands at all. (Hear, hrer ) The Mantels of Luo.downe. in meshing of this subject, add . . But to Trent to the lonian Hands. be did sot lee Of what ate they were to this country. They were hortlienconie and trepensiv., but of no o.e ; and here be should adroit to Wortley of the centre's which hod run to England the protection of thews quee ; the congress acted towards tin. count'' , u • roan dying without Wow, who left the prowidiig for a ant to one friend, far a doubts, to snotber, and the pat 'tient of hts debts to a third. They hod, In het, made Eng. land the midis:ire It utre under a temantent of b le kind • when , ewer an unavailable burthen wee to be bush It ma left . to Ws Lord (then Mr.) Brougham mid : Then, nabs. why were the sews or eight lonian bland meddled on tet! Productive of nothine else. they were elms hotly rich in pa tronage. There mud be governor; and aceretarles, and onmand n 1 rommiwariet. and pat admiral., and the whole ap p irate of patronage. And theme were the latent inducements to but tern till. country with their protect.on. . _ In proposing to stop this expenditure, the hon. baronet had understated the amount that would he saved; for in every such instance the expenditure went much b rind the es- timate. A sum in the estimates o 70,00 W. or 80.0001. was sure to amount to 50 per min , , more; therefore be by stopping . these works a taring of 150,0001. would probably beeffected. ( War. ) He hoped the commat at woad direct their attention to the very imp+ rf , e' data IM which the works had been begun. How was the house to posed against the great waste which inevitably arose the moment, we commenced fortifications abro-d ? The house would not remedy it, nor could any committee of the house. The entinreriog department had admitted that they were not formed on a prieriVe which was likely to remedy it. There was no rowdy but to stay their hands as much as pomade from astlottakiag any more of these fortifications. Hear, hear.) The vote was then mimed to. On the next vote, 49,8591. for the expenses of the scientific department of the Ordnance, _ _ Mr. HUMS asked wPat Weise were takes for snoolring the public witn the ordnance maps at a low rate of charge f Col. ANSON was understood to say that they were offered for sale through the Pete-. Hr. HASTIE eouilained of the trust expense of the ma mma survey, and sad that if the present rate wsa continued it would be likely to cost about 800,0001. Hs hoped that Bontlaad would soon be allowed to share in the buefi's of that sentry. Col. ANSON slid the sea taken this year wu a little iviiso Shan lost, Wog 6C,7801., ins ead of 60,0001. The THE EXPRr SS, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 19, 1849. vey of Scotland would proceed pari poras with that of the rut of Oho country. Mr. COBDBN said he was not sum that the best plea was adopted for selling the maps; it would, perhaps, be better If they were open to all the bocicvillers and stationers. (Hear, hear.) Ue cid pot think the public were rufficiently acquainted with the cheap rate at which they were offered -2.. per sheet. Gentlemen interested in particular localities might get an ',Act map of their estates for 21. a sheet; and if all booksellers end stationers had the opportunity of dis posing of these maps no doubt they would de so. Col. ANSON said that question bad been well considered, and the difficult, was in the increase of the entabliahment at Southampton which would be necessary for supplying maps to every person applying for them. They foun d it much more coovenient to supply them to regular agents, by whom they might be distributed to others. However, the subject wee one well worth consideration. Mr. HUME mid if the same principle was applied is in the distribution rf ramps—allowing a small discount to retry o • who s , ,ld them—there would be no difficulty at all. At precut there was considerable difficulty in obtain ing the maps, for if a bookseller was applied to, not getting any profit on them, be said he knew nothing at all about them. Mr. COBDEN did not mein that the ordnenee ought to open accounts with all the persons to whom mops w 4 re supplied; bat if they had a del tit or store in London, where country statioaen might bay the in referring to their own locality, it would be worth Mt it while to do so. The vote wee then agreed to. The next item was 86,6591. to complete the mat nem. eery for the non-elf stave service, military and civil. Major BLACKALL complained that the privilege given to Lieutenant colonels in the royal araliery and engineers of re tiring on fuil pay, was not extended to the officers of the line. Of the former, 31 had retired in one veer, while in the whole of the line, only 20 had so retired. He knew that 12 lieutenant-colonels of the artillery, and five of the engineers had declined to aoc.r; the boon offered them , of filling tip the vacancies; and this boon might have been suitably ex tended to old officer.) of the line. Mr. F. MAUDE said there were rearms fee the difference pointed out, which the honourable and gallant member had overlooked. The proposal of the filling up the vacancies item officers of the line, was one on which be was not pre pared to give an opinion. Mr. HUME called attention to the continued increase of the half-pay w0m2,0001. in 1828, to upwards of 41,0001. in 1849. Very soon they would have to vote as much for half pay as was formerly voted for the whole force. The expense of brevets he found stated at 20,0001. This he considered pore waste, owing to the wholesale system of promotion in army, navy, and ordnance. Col. ANSON gave a short explanation, but in so low a tune that he was inaudible in the gallery. Mr. HUME complained that by the present plan senior aims were promot:d merely because they were old t Moen. Such men ought to retire at once. Mr. COBDEN referred to the item for the governor of Monte Video. Lord J SIIB3BLL Ins understood to my .that there would be no further expenditure on that head. Mr. COBDEN hoped the late interference In the Rim Flom would be a warning to our merchants in foreign part. not again to call for gosernment interference as they had done in this case, and which had thrown upon them so peat an expense. Mr. HUME put a question respecting some hostile opera tions ou the coast of Africa. Lord J. ROVIELL'II answer was inaudible. C il. THOMPSON understood there had been n complete ramie in Africa, something like that of the French at Algiers. Because a governor, forsooth, got insulted, hun dreds sad thousands of black lives, and white lives too, were to be secrificed. (Hear.) Mr. HUME said the government ought to take the str.,ngest mode of marking its displeasure by instituting in quiry into the transaction, and recalling the governor if aeeesury. Unfortunately, when officers misbehaved they were protected instead of being punished. The vote was then agreed to, and the resolutions were ordered to be reported to the house. The house then resumer!, the report to be received on Friday. ADVANCE OF HONEY (ATHLONE TO GALWAY RAILWAY) BILL. The house went iwo committee on tub bill. The various clauses, as amended, having been agreed to, Sir H. WILLOUGHBY asked what security the go vern:stet had for the repayment of the advances unuer this bill ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sail that the govtrnmeat had the security not only of the whole line from Millie to Galway, hut of the canal and the other pro perty of the euntpanT, the whole of which they could take absolute possesson of, it at any time the interest ot the ad vance, and ultimately the advance itself, wee not duly re paid. (Hear, hear.) Sir J. GRAHAM said he bad given a very reluctant as sent to this measure, because it was otr , ngly represented that the exiinence even of the people through which the line passed would be endangered were the bit rejected. He would earnestly mow, from his right hoe. friend oppo site, at least an assuransi that this enormous advance of 500,0001. to one single railway, should not be made a pre cadent of. (Hear, hear ) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that having already d elu..ed to give such a pledge to another mamba of the house he could not very consistently mike the promise required by his right hon. friend. He could WWII his right ton. fiend of his thorough belief that this advance, made upon full md tangible security, would ope- Tee WA.: ben, ficially upon the district through which the line passed —a district not only distressed It but trading into districts pre- eminently miserable, and where the employ ment thus provided was essential to save the population from starvation. RELIEF OF DISTRESS (IRELAND) BILL. The bill was read a thrd time and paved. CUSTOMS ACTS. The report of the committee on these acts was received. DISEMBODIED MILITIA BILL. The house went into committee on this bill. Mr. HUME expressed his hope that by another sear effec tive ineaswe would be taken for putting en end to this very expensive suisinee. (Herr, beer,) From 1816 to the lac iest time, no 104 an amount than 8,725,1631. had been voted for the militia fore,. Certainly the amount had been gra dually reduced, but the question wu why should net the expenditure be discontinued altogether. Mr. FUR MAULE said that the militia force had be come a mere rkrieton, and as vacancies occurred they were not tilled up, so that the object cf the hon. gentleman was in course of attainment. Mr. lIUME did not understand why even the skeleton should be kept up. ENCLOSURE ACT (EXTENSION OF POWERS) BILL. _ _ _ ----- This bill elm read • meows time and ordered to be com• _ _ DRAINAGE OF LANDS BILL. This b;U was riad a mend time, and ordered to be cow witted. ADMINISTRATION OF JSLAND) B IUSTCE (VANCOUVER'S ILL. This was read a third time, and passed. NEW FOREST AND WALTHAM FOREST. Mr. HAY fRR obtained leave to bring in a bill to au thorisc her Majesty to appoint commissioners to inquire into the claims over the New Forest and Waltham Forest. The bill was sub.: quently brought in, and read a first time. COLLECTION OF RATES (DUBLIN) BILL. The report of the vomitus on this bill was received. WORKHOUSE LOANS (IRELAND) BILL. This bill was brought in, and read a first time. The howie adjourned at half-past 5. Cite erpreni. OUTGOING MAILS. The mane for ChM%ltar, Yalta, Greece, the laden blends, Pgypt, (beim India, and Clunv. en, lanthamptca, will be made up to morrow morning, the 20th of July. Mein tor ornuta Aorta Atuenea NM the United States will be made up to-morrow evening, t.e 20th July. The mails, rigs Marseilles, to the Meditemareaa, Egypt, (Xylem, India, Monet-lione.Sta, will be made upon the evening of July 24th. The mails for Viso. (Volt°, Lisboa, Madeira, Cadiz, and Gib, altar, will be made up oa the 97th of July. roe Wed tadia Ml.d , inUudiug Bermuda. Havana, Nassau, Elnutiuna, New Greene, and Menke, and excluding there for MAIM% $l. Junit-de-atearegna, New Granada, Chill, and Peril, wit se made on on the 2r.d of August. The inAlle for Madeira, the Brazils, and Bows Anna, will be made upon the 4th of Matta. NIGH W ATVS AT LONDON 1111.1DOIL s —Vanhkr. 57 WA. pen . AMMON. Ns. Ime 1 T. X...now —Mena. 12 WA. pail 1; Allsreenl, IS W. Imo 1. LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 19. Tim aim of the House of lArds in their recent mu tit 'bons of the bill for the amendment of the Irish Poor Law is not concealed. Lord STANLEY boldly avowed that his purpose was practically to rescind the act of 1847, by which, for the firsttime, the landed property rf Inland was made practically responsible for the en4tenance of the Irish poor. Up t 3 that pe riod there existed in that country but the shadow and s-mbl ince of a pot. law. There was an official re tinue and offi ial oath' , ; there were a certain num ber of half finish. d and not half-filled workhouses for the ag-d and the infirm : and there were a certain number of guardians, who, having nothing useful to do, occupied themselves, in many instances, with dnir.g what was mischievous. Bat relief—in any national a nee of the term—under the poor law, as originally framed in 1838, there was none. The able-b died man, no matter how destitute he might be, received no help. The struggling widow, who by bard and ill-paid toil strove to keep her children at home, instead of teaching them to live by mendicancy, when temporarily laid low by sickness, could obtain no legal aid. A rigid and inapplicable theory of exclusively in-door rigid bad been embo died in an act of parliament, and by vir tue of that statute, a troop of employes leafuly enabled to live at the public charge; but until 1 8 47, no attempt at enacting a law for the pro tection of the poor man's life in Ireland was seriously made by the legislature. And so thirge might have continued until now but for the startling calamity which in that year reduced one-thud of the entire population of the island to the verge of absclute starvation. The state, overtaken at last in its criminal course of neglect, was obliged to incur the hum diate re spomibility of medeavouring to save those multitudinous lives which, bad it done its duty . betimes, bad never been thus placed in jeopardy. Millions of money were voted out of the imperial treasury to meet the terrible emergeecy; but it was felt on all bands that as such as diet could not be repeated, such a liability must never be again in curred. Parliament was therefore called on without further delay to extend the principle and the practice of the English poor law to Ireland, and thereby , to warn the landlords of that country that if they did not henceforth employ the people in profitable labour, they meat be prepared is seasons of want to euppert them out of poor rates. Few had the hardihood in the representative branch of the legislature to oppose this just and humane, though tardy ensc'ment. In the landlords' peculiar chamber there was less affectation of acquiescence. Some even talked of resistance there. But the munificent acquit tance of past default made freely by the empire at large was too fresh in the minds of men ; and with sulky mutterings the bill was allowed to become law. No sooner, however, did it come into operation than the oligarchs began to repent of their having bad the decency to permit it to pass. A systematic course of frustration and attack was commenced in all directions. Defects in the framework of the system were magnified and exaggerated for the pur pose of bringing the principle itself into general dis repute. The greater part of last autumn and winter was consumed in public disc - regions regarding the various provisions of the deteattd law which gua ranteed the poor man's rig: t to live in the land where he was born, and where he was ready to work if any one would glee him work to do ; and finally, the present session opened amidst a perfect storm of reclamations against the evils of the system, and of importunities that government would forthwith proceed to remedy them. Select com mittees of inquiry in both houses were ap pointed. Witnesses without end were summoned and examined. Every thing that could be said or suggested was thoroughly Fitted and disguised. And finally ministers brought in and carried through the House of Commons, by majorities of 3to 1, a bill for the amendment in certain Ott tile of the law of 1847. Its price pal provisions do not require recapitu'a ' lion. To guard against excessive rates, a ninzinium I was introduced. We advocated the prineple, and only regret that the government having once I adopted it, did not adhere to it c ensistently. But no modific .tion was more bitterly opposed in every shape by the landlord party. No concession on the point appears to have mitigated in the least degree their inveterate hostility. In the same spirit, they endeavoured to frustrate the provision which was suggested for reeking the land liable to be sold for the rates wherewith it was chargeable; th- plain meaning of which in simply this—that when by col lusion between landlord and tenant, or by the dispos session of the latter, the rates assessed on a particular farm remain unpaid, the amount ought to be re assessed over the whole district, instead of being liquidated out of the prica of the fe:! Au honest and wise policy, truly. Yet, upon these points and upon the se grounds, Lords STANLEY, LUCAS, and MONTEAGLE, have persuaded the Ilonae of Lords so entirely to alter and mutilate the bill, that it must either be thrown out by the Commons or withdrawn by the government. We trust Vie latter will not be the course pursued by ministers. They certainly owe it to theme, lees and to the country to plane the (petition without dis guise upon its real merits. The re Is no danger of the Commons accepting on i's return to their chamber, the tattered shreds of the bill they sent up to the Lords. They are b eked by every f slog of consis• ency and ho nour to fling it oat withon• ceremony or delay. They are bound to show the peep's cf England and of Ire land who are leagued together against them, and what is the bond of their confederacy. To break down the Dish poor law —to reduce it from a reality to a sham, in the avowed object in view. Were that object accompl stied, one of two things must happen —either that the able-belied poor of Ireland wou'd be left to tne tender mercies of the it hereditary mas ters, or weetdted upon the me Tonal ceche quer. Tee last-named expedient is manifestly insufferable. The people of Great Britian will nem r sub mit to any such imposition. And what is meant by the alternative we ter well know. 'lo leave the destitution of Ireland te oui-t era tic conscience is pre ey much the same sort of humeni y as that 044 d to reenemend the legislature to leave the fete of the negro to the consi !mate care of the West India planer. The erns are more DC Ay identical than it MA'S squeamish pulitieiars to adm t ; and as the life of the labourer in Jamaica never wee safe until the legislature boldly interposed for his protection, so the Itfe of the lab iura. in Mayo never will be secure without a stringent and effective poor law. ONE of the results which m'ght have been hoped from the r volutions of 1818 wus the putting an end to the .cular rivalry which existed between the royal and imperial houses of Prussia and of Austria, and to the inealculah'e evis which that rivalry has occasioned to the German people. The first ten dencies of last yo ar were to remould the p ilitical di ' visions of Central Europe, to conni ct (Lumens, or the greater p it Con of them, under one federal hot d and chief, and to restore Austria to what al emed its na tural calling, in becoming the knitter and the re-or ganiser of the Selavotian race. The immense and utterly unintelligent armies, however, which it h.O been the a le purpose of those governments hithet to to keep up, have in this instance succeeded in perverting every natural tendency and suppressing every popular desire. And those foolish courts, which could not fores.e the storm, and which servilely shrunk under it, have been thus enabled to resume a task, for which they befime proved the mse:ves utterly unfit. The old policy of past c. ntuties, which one hoped to Pee Puperpea , d, thus return• in fuil force. Austria, obliged to have recourse to Russia to save her capital and I xietence, btu., by so doing, ceded to that pawtr alike the chsrac er or the preension to lead or to unite the S'avonic race. Austria is thus Creed buck upon Germany, and driven to re..ume that old quarrel with Pi assist which is, niter el', a mere quarrel of dynater, a quarrel with which Ger mans have really nothing to do, and on which they are called to waste their energies, spend their trea sure, and spill their blood for the houses of Lorraine and Hohenzollern. We have all alorg wished success to the efforts of Prussia, hesitatingly and anwi-ely as many of those efforts have been made ; for certainly rothing Icsa than a military power of the first order would be able to decend the nascent unity and independence of Germany azainst the intrigues and enmities that naturally beset it. Russia abhors the idea of this unity ; Austria dread- it equally; France is jealous; Eogland, in the narrow short-sightedness of its dir lo macy, opposes it. In despite a such hostility, joined to the still more formida"le enmity of the several parties amongst the Germans themselves, Prussia still pursues her aim. It is to her armies that the Germao dynastic.s owe their preservation. But for the reduction of Wes den all North Germany would have been in flame, and the houses of Saxony sod Hanover have ceased to reign. Pre mien armies have now overrun the Palati nate, and reduc d Baden. And however the leaser powers m cy dispute to Prussia the title of protec.or of the empire. she has exercised this function, and wielded that supremacy de facto. The Austrian court is, however, not supine. It is sorely galled by seeing Prussian armies dominating in the old Suahian territnries of the house of Hepshwg; and the project of remodelling the Baden army by Prussian officers annoys Austria more than the previous extension of the 7.ollverein to the Inn. The King of PRUSSIA has found powerful ear -1 iliaries in his scheme of constituting a federal and free empire in the eminent members of the Centre of the Frankfort parliament, who lat. ly met at G 'the. By joining his 'sue to theirs he may still, we are con fident, succeed in that moat arduous and necessary tack of European regeneration. Should he, however, prefer adhering to his Brand-Teufel ministry, stoop mg to fears of Russia, and allowing himself to,be re-absorbed in the old politics of the treaty of Vienna, the German people will only take up for themselves a scheme awl a moose that these powers will have thus, one by one, failed in, abandoned, or betrayed. We related on a former cruision the canter-efforts of Austria—her having gained over the Kings of SATONT and HAIOVER to back out of thtir en,,age ments to the Praseo-imparial constitution. England, too, has offered aid. The public will ba astonished to learn that Mr. FORBES, our envoy at Dresden, form ally protested against this plan of German unity as prejudicial to the future and eventual rights cf the English branch of the houses of Coburg in Saxony. This monstrous and absurd pretence of Mr. FORBES. borrowed from that policy of the first GEORGE which made England the mere cat's-paw for the interests of a Gamin house, has been wisely repudiated by Queen VICTORIA. But the objection had its effect on the King of SAXONY, or at least gave a pretext for his drawing back. Whilst Austria has thus half succeeded in regain ing Hanover and Saxony to the scheme of reducing Germany once more to the federal non-entity and absolution of 1813, it has propostd to the emote of Bavaria and Wvrtemburg a plan of a counter-empire with an Austrian protectorate. To support this, it would be necessary to dispense with Prussian troops in the south, and to re-establish Bavarian power, with out having further recourse to Prussian generals. Accordingly, Austria is said to have promised that, immediately after the conclusion of her treaty with Sardinia, a portion of the Italian army shall occupy the Voralberg, and aid in the re-orgauisation and strengthening of the armies of these two powers. The conclusion of this treaty would at the same time provide Austria with fends, or with the facility of raising a loan on the credit of the indemnity to be paid by Sardinia. Should the Austro-Russians at the same time be successful agaicst the Hungarians, the court of Violas hopes to raja, once more the old standard of the empire in Germany. And we may expect to see Prince MErrzainctr himself holding another levee of diplomatists at Johannisbe rg, pro scribing popular elections, enforcing the et neirship, furbishing up his military commiss ions and federal tri halals, and restoring the old perrugues and protocols of the defunct diet. LETTER FROM MR. COBDEN TO MR. ENSOR. London, July 13, ISM. beg to thank you for your k ndnese in for warding me a copy of your pamphlet. Having by the process of inquiry and reflection seen reason to change your views so far u to abandon the principle of protection, I have no doubt that by pursuing your investigations still farther, you will be brought to the conviction that a fixed duty upon corn is not only incompatible with free trade, but that, as a tax baring upon the first necessary of life, it is quite indefensible in a fiscal point of view. As to a duty upon corn being paid by the foreigner, and lot by the consumer, permit me to say, with all pos sib!e courtesy, that of all the strange conceits con cocted in the muddled alembic of protectionism, that appears to me to be by far the most extravagant. I put this MC: England and Holland both draw sup plies of wheat from Dantzic; if trade be free in these two importing countries, they will consume their corn at the same price; but if England put on a duty of five shillings a quarter, whilst the import into Holland is free, then we shall eat our wheat at sv. a quarter more than the Dutch. In either case both parties will pay the same price at Dantzic. Nobody can deny this proposition. Mr. Sanders, whose opinion is so much relied upon at the Somerset shire protection meeting, has admitted its soundness in a conversation with me. This is the whale case of the free-traders. What we contend for is, that the peopki of this country shell eat their bread at as cheap a price as the other nations of the world. The fallacy of the protectionists consists in their arguing exclusively upon the temporary effect of a duty here upon the price of wheat in a certain corn-exporting port abroad. Pcssibly a duty upon wheat in England might, for a time, tend to depress the price at Dantz;e, but that would not affect the English alone ; in all cases, as in the instance I have chad of the Dutch, those countries which were wise enough to abstain from putting any duty upon foreign corn would con sume their bread at a lower price than England. Not only would a fixed duty raise the price of foreign corn to the English consumer above the level of the world's market, but it would also enhance the value of all home-grown wheat to the same extent. If not, what becomes cf all the protestations of the protectionists about keeping up the pica of the farmers' produce ? I confess lamat a loos to under stand their loiic. But it is not the first time that the protectionist landowners have puzzled me. I could never comprehend the wisdom of their tectics in cry ing down the prospects of British agriculture. If the tenant-farmers believe their statements about the impending low prices of corn, they ought not to cultivate an acre of their land. I should like to b • presmt at the rent audits of some of these pro prietors, to hear how they reconcile presciot rents will the statements made by Mr. Stanley to his con stituents at Lynn on his return from the United States, that wheat would ba imported from the fertile and boundless valley of the Miteitsippi at 35r. a quarter, to say nothing of the far wilder predictions of other great protectionist authorities. The only way in which I can account for the large crop of wheat that is now ripening in our fields is that the farmers had too much sense at seed time to , pay any attention to the croakinos of their protec tionist leaders. They can cow see by the prices cur rent of New York that wheat is worth upwards of 40s. a quieter in that mark-it, and that it cannot be imported into this country at a profit. They may learn also, by consulting the merchants, that a great par: of the corn brought in during the spring, which was mainly an accumu:ation awaiting the expiry of the corn law in February last, has been sold at a Ices to the impor cm Instead of talking about Protection or fixed duti• a, I advise you, as a friend to agriculture, to try . to open the eyes of the farmers to the cheering prospect barn them. WI h a giod harvest, fair prices, and well employed customer ' they have only to disregard the foolish sayings and doings of the protectionists, and rily wholly upon their own energies, intelli gence. and capital to become, as a class, far more in depend nt and prosperous with free trade in corn than they have ever been under miscalled proti ction. I remaic, sir, your obedient serval t, RICHARD COBDEN. ' Thos. Eneor, Esq., Milborne Port. Vbe Court. PRIVY COUNCIL. The Queen held a privy council and court at one o'clock yrcerdsy, at her Maj.sty's marina residence, Os born.. Is:e of Wight. The privy council wee attended by hia Royal Highness the Prince Alb rt ; the Marquis of Lansdowne, L.r.t Pr adept ; Sor George OrFy, Secretary of State for the Home Departed. at ; Viscount Ps.merroin, 8 cretary of State for Foreign Affair' ; Hal Grey, E 4, er-tary of Suva for the Colonies ; Sir Francis Baring, First Lord of the A tmirelty ; Lard Campbell, Chancellor .f fb , . Duchy of L meat., ; the Marquis of Clanricarde, Postmast-y-G. neral ; and the Ear, Forte.cue, Lard Steward. At t..e council her Majesty appointed the sheriff for the county of Westmore land. The Hon. William Bathurst w s the Clerk of the C iunc.l i t Wai.irg. At the court M. Drouyn de Lbittre, the Frenik Ambassador, had bit first an hence of the Queen, And presented his credentials to her Majesty. His Excel lency was introduced by Viscount Pelintraaon, 0.C.8., her Majesty's Piincipal Secretary of State for Foreign Aida. liar Mikity gave audience to the Marqu's of Lansdowne. The French Atubassadr and the Cabin t MOlivere hit tae Waterloo-bridge terminus of the Lennon anu S , uttt Western Railway at five minutes be fore nine o'clock, yetrerday morn ing, were conveyed to O sport by a special train, crowd to East Cowes in the Fire Queen, and arrived at one o clo k at O.boroe, where a dejeuner was served to the di.tinguished circle. The Marquis of Lansdowne and Sr Gi! .age Grey remained at Osborne on a visit. The Fret ch Ambassador. Viscount Palmerton, Earl Grey, Sir I ,, ancie Baring, Lord Campbell, the Marquis of Clanneyde, Earl Fortescue ' and the Hon. William Bathers., left o.lv in. et halt-past three o'closk, embatk,d at Osborne pier on the Fire Queen steam venni. recrossed to O sport, and took their departure by a special trail on their worn to •owg. Mr. Beak (deputy chairman) and Sir Ina° Mor ley, dirtet we of the Midland It tilway, M. Barlow (en gineer). and Mr. Carter (solicitor), had an interview with the Cornmiri men of Railways yesterday, at their oft!. in the Board of Trade, respecting the working of the Sonia Yorkshire Railway. Me. Beckett D- nison, M.P., and Mr. Baiter, from Me South Yorkshire Beltway, were present at the interview. NEW SHERIFF FOR WRSTMORELAND.-A Supple ment to the Lome lun Casette of Tuesday anaounem that her Majesty is a fmmil was yererday pleased to appoint G-merge &tweed Wilson. Esq.. of Hevershant House, to be alma of the county of Westmorland. Tin POTATO CROP.—We have various accounts from the eonntry—from parts of the C. unty Wateriurd, from neural towns in this county—alt rrpr^•entine the mop as anamially healthy and luxuriant.—Core Evansiser. THE CITY ELECTION. Yea'erday a deputation from the eomnfttee of liberal electors, heeded by John Abel S with, B q., M.P., waited upon the Lull Mayor to learn hie intention* ?septet. logf_the approaching election for the City. Mr. BMI If said that as his lordsnip bad not puhlisbel any address to the electors, some ascension prevailrd as to whether it was his intention to become a candidate, the had felt it ri;ht to asoeviain what course his lordship would punts if elected, putieularly in reference to what appeared to them to be the paramount question of the day, be meant the crowning act of religious freedom, the removal of the Jewish disabilities. The LORD MAYOR said, in answer to the first ques tion, he had no hesitation in saying, that great as he felt the honour would be of representing this great city in par liament, it had not been onginelly sought by him. As soon as the vacancy had become known, he had been so licited by a number of influential gentlemen to become • candidate. He had accepted the invitation, and it was of Inures, now, no matter of doubt t r qu e sti c n , w h et h er ' he should act is conformity with the engagement into which he bad entered. In regard to the question of the removal of the political disabilities which still pressed upon his Jewish fellow subjects, he thought hit beet answer would be found in the recorded votes he had given in parliament. He had for twelve years represented a constituency pre.emi• neatly distinguished for their attachment to the great prin. tip's, of civil and religious liberty. Mr. SMITH assured the Lord Mayor that in fulfilling the I duty which had been devolved upon him by the committee to ask bin lordship's opinien upon too or three other sub jeets, it must not be taken as en indication of any d .übt on his or their part of the sincerity of his lordship's profeasions ; I much less must it be interpreted into any desire to interftre in the slightest degree with his entire freedom of motion, but merely to enable them to determine what steps they ought to take in the present emergency. They desired to learn from his lordship what ccuree it was bis it tuition to pursue in reference to free trade and to the extension of the fran chise, and also whether his lordship would be favourable to the amendment of the municipal institutions of the city in conformity with the improving spirit of the age ? The LORD MAYOR esid, that in ri gad to free trade, he must again refer to his past conduct as the rule of his future actions. He had always supported the leading principles of free trade, and should continue to support them. He had been subjected in 1841 to one of the most seven contests in Boston in consequence of the course he had thonekt proper to adopt on the question of the can laws. He had voted with Lord John Revell for a fixed duty, and he had afterwards voted for the repeal of the corn laws altogether. He had always voted in parliament for the extension of the franchise ; and yesterday he bad attended in his place in the House of Commons to support the third reading of a bill which would considerably enlarge the num ber of the municipal voters for the Cite. The electors might assent themselves that, if he were elected, he should take cars that hie position as an al Jarman should not in any re spect interfere with the discharge of his duties as their re presentative. The gentlemen of the deputation expressed themselves much gratified by the frank and explicit manner in which the Lord Mayor bad stated his opini ins up in the various topics of discussion. We derive the folliwing fnm the Standard: " A reguaition has been drawn up, and is now in cosine. of signature, to which is siren 'y appended a !vat of highly iefluential names, inviting Mr. Jam.* Parker, Q.C., a sound conservative, to stand f,r the City; and there is every reason to believe that that gentleman will heartily respond to the call." LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK. Yesterday the half-yearly meeting of the proprie tors of this bank was held at the hoerd.room, Lothbury, for the purpose of receiving the report of the directors and de claring a dividend. There was a large cumber of the pro prietors proem'. The chair was occupied by MOHAN CHAPMAN, Erb, The SECRETARY commenced the proceedings by reed hot the following report and statement of accounts " The direeton have to report that the net profits of the hank. during the last half-year, have amounted to 32,7291. 17s. 4d. Oat of these profits they now declare a dividend, at the rate of six per cent. per annum. After the payment of this dividend, there will remain the sum of 2,7291. 17s. 44. to be added to the surplus fund, which will then amount to 105.453/. 14s. 34. LONDON AND WILMIINNTR6 BANK, 30711 JUNZ, 18t9. To Pmprirtor for pied up eaphal .E1,000,000 0 0 To amount due by the bank tor depteite, circular notes, Sae. To req, or surplus fund To profits of the past lilt-Tair ..... 3,392,07 3 7 102,723 16 11 32,729 17 4 £4,528,310 17 10 By government stock. EacbrquirloMea sod India bonds By other rveurities, including bills dimonnted, loins to cu•tamere, So. By cash in hand .... 552;91 9 1 1:4,528,310 LT 10 Profit and TAMP, 30th June, 1119. To pimento( the dividend, now declared, at the rate of G per cent. per union on a capital of 1,000,000/., for the half-year enitimt 30th Juno, 1819 C 30,000 0 0 To balance of unappropriated profits 105,453 14 3 £153,453 14 3 By balance of unappropriated prubt., on 31st Decem ber, 1348 £102,723 16 11 By net profltsof the past half-year, alter defraying the total expense of management, paling th • income tax, sal making peovioan for all tad and doubtful debt.) t 135,433 14 Pp balance of unappropriatrrl profits L 103,433 14 1 After some dincu•sion the report wee kireed to; and an announcement was made that the dirid ud would be payable on Mmday next. Mr. HADDO moved a vote of thanks to the chairman and the directors for their exertions during the past ball yenr, which was unattiranumly carried. Votes of thanks were then pawed to J. W. Gillynt, Ems., the aeneral manager, and also to the malingers of the branch banks; and the nesting separated. THE DEER IN EPPING FOREST.- POAC NINO. A Court of Verderers for the foreetn of Waltham, Epping, and Heinelt, in the county of E , sex, assembled on Saturday at the George Inn, CbigweU, to receive the reports of the ' Reeves," or sub-rangers, relative to the present mate of there extensive forests. This ancient tribunal, which, like other feudal court., had fallen into desuetude, hu heen only rec ntly revived, owing to the wholesale encroachments that, from time to time, have been made upon the royal property. The present yerderers are Colonel Conyers, of Copt Hall, .1. Maitland, Eq., and George Palmer, jun., Esq. Tric Earl of Mornington is head ranger, and, velar n• ever demanded, s bound to furnish a fist buck to the royal table. • The court having been opened with the usual formalities, the sub-rangers made th-ir reports, from which it was quite evident that the forest laws have been most laxly adminis tered. There are, it seems, upwards of 1,000 head of deer in these vast solitudes, and the number would doubtless be much greater but for th e constant incursions of what are termed '• free foresters,' or poacher., who, acting upon the Malthu sian principle, take very effective means for the prevention of over population. Under these circumstances, the C9111111ii• slaters of Woods Forests resolved to put the law in force. In order to settle the question, one remarkable case of en croachment was selected, upon which formal proceedings were instituted. It was the eau of Attorney- General v. Hal lett," tried before the Barons of the Exchequer, which re sulted in the defendant's conviction in a nominal penalty of 1001., quite sufficient to establish the right of the crown. Having obtained this solemn decision, notices were issued from the Woods and Peewits department, announcing a determinati i n on the part of the commissioners to evict all parties who might, whether through design or ignorance of the law, have encroached upon any portion of the royal property; and it was further stated that the ranger, wr re directed to remove all fences or other erections which might have been put up within the (tree boundaries. These summary proceedings created no little alarm amongst the n ighbouring landowners and farmers, many of whom ven tured to tt held their o ern" upon the absurd principle that " possession is nine points of the law." In this state of affair., application was made, in the first instance, to Lord Moraingten, as head ranger, who referred the p seats to the Court of Verdeters ; but the appeal tothst quarter availed nothing, the verdere rs deciding that they had nothing whatever to de with the threatened proceedings, which emanated from the Woods and Pores!, department, and the parties were recommended to apply to the comma bi men for any information they might desire. The Verderers' Court is to mumble once every six weeks is future.—John Bull. SUICIDE . ON BlACagitialti-MUDGE.—Lest evening, about six o'clock, the numerous parties who were crossing over Blackfriai e-bridge were thrown into a painful state of excitement, owing to a man, apparently shout 40 years, but who was unktriwn, mounting the bridge end plunging he id foremost into the river. The unfortunate man was no , iced standing on one of the seats on the upper side of the bridge when before en-king the fatal leap. Bull, one of the ffiem on the Blau friars pi«r intrantly put off in a boat, and rowed towards the deceased, and having overtaken him. he put forth his hind intruding to lay hold of the hair of his head and pull him into his boat. The tide, however, was running down very rapidly, and the hair on the man's head being too short for Bull to bald, the boat was carried over the man, and he immediately disappeared . The drags were afterwards called into requisition, but although the river was searched for some distance the body was not found at seven o'clock last evening. THE SUBTEBRANISAN SURVEY OP THE SEWERS O F ran MITSOPOLIS —A report on the subterranean survey of the metropolitan sewers has just been presented to the com miesionen by Messrs. Aus•in and Smith, consulting engineer and assistant surveyor. The report states generally that the sewerage of the city of Westminster is in a rotten state, end contains a large amount of foul deposit; that in Seagrove sad Elton-squares the sewers abound with noxious matter, stop ping up the house drains, and mulling moat horribly; as also in Grosvenor, Hanover, and Berkeley-squares, and that even throughouttho New Paddington district, the neighbour hood of Hyde Park-garlens, and the costly , squares and streets adjacent, the sewers abound with the foulest =sit, from which this mat diluting t tit vi um is fossil M ow. ;S.V. t;