The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-15 00:00:00

The calculation of the comparative consumption fo tea and sugar among the different classes was authentic, and proved in a remarkable mar ner that the pressure of these indirect taxes was not borne by the working but by the higher classes. With regard to future prospects, the right hon. gentleman observed : As far as I can understand the state of our finances, we shaa have a deficiency next year for this simple reason— that we have been living this year upon a largo amount of income tax which we shall not have next year. The amount to be raised from tea and sugar is not an amount which will at all meet the danger at hand. Next year, when we meet, we shall have an opportunity of expressing our opinions upon this important subject, and for the pre sent 1 shall content myself with saying that I offer no op poaition to the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The resolutions were then agreed to. The Probates and Letters of Administration Bill was read a third time and passed. The Joint-stock Companies Act Amendment Bill passed through committee. The house then went into committee upon the Customs Acts, when certain formal resolutions were agreed to whereon to found a bill. The Probates and Letters of Administration (Ire land) Bill was committed pro forma. The house adjourned at five p.m. HOUSE OF LORDS-THURSDAY. The Bishop of ST. DAVID'S, on the motion that the house resolve itself into committee on the Burial Act Amendment Bill, took occasion to repel the attacks which had been made upon him in the matter of the Swansea cemetery. After considerable discussion the several clauses were agreed to, and the house resumed. THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES. The Earl of CLARENDON, in reply to the Marquis of Clanricarde, made a statement with regard to the position of affairs in the Danubian principalities. The noble lord said that the firman of the Sultan having been interpreted by Vogorides as not strictly applicable to Moldavia, great delay and discussion took place, and repeated references were made to Constantinople, " where unhappily there was not much greater unanimity than in the Principalities." The noble lord, having eulogised the conduct of Sir Henry Bulwer, proceeded to explain that the Porte ultimately decided that the firman applied to Mol davia as well as to Wallachia : Whether there was a timely comp• Acation of this deci• --no the of the President of sion to the Kaimakan upon t_ part - ...moment 01 the Commission, who was also the Turkish Commissioner, or whether be misunderstood or neglected it, I cannot undertake to say, because charges and countercharges have been made with respect to the matter. The fact, at all events, is that the Kaimakan proceeded to complete the elections in accordance with an electoral list which he himself had prepared. The representatives of France, Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia, however, acting upon in structions which they had received from their several Governments, protested against a Divan so constituted, which they declared could not be looked upon as a faithful reflex of the opinions of the people. The noble earl then briefly referred to the rupture of diplomatic relations between the Porte and the four powers, and to the opportune arrival at Osborne of the Emperor of the French : An opportunity was thus afforded to us of reviewing a state of things which had suddenly assumed a very com plicated aspect, and which might have led to events of a magnitude altogether disproportioned to the cause to which they owed their origin. Having considered that state of things, we came to the conclusion that, although there had been no scrutiny at the elections in Moldavia, and although no evidence had been obtained which in England would have been deemed sufficienZly strong to justify us in declaring such elections to be void, yet that there was prima-facie proof of their irregularity of a nature which would warrant us in recommending that they should be annulled. We felt that it was for the interest of the Porte that there should be no doubt thrown upon those elections which would lead to the conclusion that they could not result in procuring a faithful representation of the people. We were, tuoreover, of opinion that the inten tions of those powers who were parties to the Treaty of Paris would not be fulfilled if such a representation was not secured, and that no English Uoverum'nt could sup port elections the questionable character of which we could not altogether deny. We felt, therefore, that we should be fully justified in recommending the Sultan to annul those elections and to revise the electoral list. THE PRESS, AUGUST 15, 1857. HOUSE OF COMMONS-THURSDAY. DIVORCE DILL. The house at the early sitting went again into committee upon the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill, resuming the consideration of the important 25th clause, which enacts that a wife may petition for a dissolution of her marriage on the ground that her husband had been guilty of incestuous adultery, or bigamy, or adultery coupled with cruelty, or adultery coupled with desertion. Lord J. MANNERS proposed to add another ground, " adultery committed in the conjugal residence." The ATTORNEY-GENERAL opposed the amendment, and in a discussion of considet able interest, the tone of which was occasionally warm, the amendment was supported by Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Drummond, Mr. Hugessen, Mr. Napier, and Mr. Ayrton. Mr. HENLEY urged the inconsistency of the Attor ney General's objection with the fact that the clause itself contained two causes of divorce at the suit of the wife which was altogether new. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL reasserted that the bill embodied substantially the principle of the existing law, and said that to admit this new ground of divorce was beyond his limited function in taking charge of the bill. After some further debate, Lord PALMERSTON, remarking that the proposal to multiply the grounds of divorce came with an ill grace from those who maintained the indissolubility of marriage, and that the amendment would give rise to opportunities and means of collusion between parties, consented nevertheless, on the part of the Government, to waive objection to it. On resuming at six o'clock, The Militia Bill was read a first time, and Mr. J. WILSON obtained leave to bring in the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill, which was subsequently brought in and read a first time. DIVORCE BILL. The 25th clause of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill was then again brought under discussion, and occupied the house for many hours. The ques tion chiefly at issue related to the conditions upon which a married woman was to be allowed to obtain divorce a vinculo matrimonii. The ATTORNEY GENERAL, returning to the charge, suggested with regard to granting a divorce for bigamy the addition of the words " with adultery." After a long and nice discussion the amendment was agreed to. Certain other offences, such as "rape," &c., were in• eluded. _ . Mr. WIGRAM moved to insert the words " being proved by conviction." The ATTORNEY-GENERAL opposed this amend ment, which was negatived upon a division by 103 to 68. _ Mr. DRUMMOND proposed to make cruelty alone a ground of the dissolution of marriage ; but this proposal was resisted both by Sir G. GREY and Mr. GLADSTONE, because it would introduce a new prin ciple into the bill, and a new category of divorce. The motion was negatived. Mr. HENLEY moved the cmission of the words "desertion without reasonable excuse," suggesting the difficulty of defining the term " desertion." The ATTORNEY-GENERAL observed that where a husband ceased to live with his wife without the in tention of returning he would have deserted her, and the court would collect from the facts whether there was an animus descrendi. The amendment was ultimately withdrawn. Mr. BUTT moved to include among the grounds entitling a wife to petition for a divorce " adultery coupled with aggravated ill-treatment of such a nature as ought in the opinion of the court to entitle her to such divorce." . Upon a division the amendment was negatived by 137 to 41. Mr. Cox moved that the Chairman report progress, and Mr. GLADSTONE seconded the motion. Lord PALDIEILSTON said be congratulated the oppo nents of the bill upon their ingenuity in having expended ten hours upon three lines of the clause, and took the opportunity to inform the house that they should sit "day by day, and night by night," until the bill be concluded. He should have resisted the motion for reporting progress if it were not out of consideration for the professional engagements of the Attorney-General, whose presence was required at an early hour in the House of Lords. " Out of consideration to him, therefore, and not at all out of consideration to the opponents of the bill (said the noble lord) I shall not oppose the motion for ad journment." Mr. GLADSTONE : This is not the first time that my noble friend has given me occasion to perceive that he emancipates himself from certain rules which are ordinarily incumbent upon mem bers of this house. I repeat it—this is nut the first occa sion on which my noble friend has emancipated himself from those rules which are ordinarily incumbent upon members of this house, and on which, confident in his RIGHT OF VOTING FOR IRISH REPRESENTATIVE PEERS. On the motion of Lord MONTEAGLE, the following resolution was agreed to : That the standing order of the 3rd of Jtily, respecting the reference to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal cf claims of rights of voting at the election of Representative Peers of Ireland be further considered, in order to its being amended by extending such standing order to the case of parties who claim the right of voting by virtue of peerages under which votes have been given and adulated at the election for such Representative Peers o: Ireland. Some other business was then despatched, after which their lordships adjourned. 793 majority,l he assumes to himself the liberty of using lan guage to other members of this house which I will venture to say is entirely without precedent—yes, without prece dent, so far as my recollection of twenty•five years in Par liament can go—in the conduct of former leaders of this house. It is the first time that I have beard the leader of this house rise in his place, atter ten hours' discussion upon a single subject, and find fault with those who have been endeavouring to repair the grievous and manifold errors of his bill, as if they had been interposing obstruc tions ; and it is the first time that I have heard the leader of this house on consenting that the chairman should report progress take care to inform those from whom he differed, and on whom he is laying a physical burden as great as their powers will hear, that he consents to it, for sooth, out of deference to the Attorney General, but in no degree out of consideration to the members of this Lord PALMERSTON disclaimed any intended dis courtesy, observing that he meant to say " the argu ments " or " the wishes of his opponents." The motion was then agreed to. The Judgments Bill was read a second time. The order for the committal of the Parochial Schoolmasters (Scotland) Bill was discharged, and leave was given to bring in another bill. The Lords' amendments of the Fraudulent Trus tees Bill were considered. The Charitable Trusts Act Continuants Bill was read a second time. MUTINY (EAST INDIA) BILL. Mr. V. Stunt obtained leave to bring in a bill for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers atd sol. deers in the service of the East India Company, and for regulating in such service the payment of regi. mental debts and the distribution of the effe*s of officers and soldiers dying in the service. The Smoke Nuisance (Scotland) Abatement Sill was read a third time and passed. The Crowded Dwellings Prevention Bill was eon. mitted pro forma. The Probates and Letters of Administration . (Ireland) Bill passed through committee, with a few amendments. Other bills were forwarded a stage. The house adjourned at ten minutes to two o'clock. NOTICES OF MOTION. THURSDAY. Mr. CRAWFORD—that, early in the ensuing session, he would draw the attention of the house to the subject of railways in India, the nature and conditions of the existing contracts be tween the East India Company and the several railway compa nies, and the mode in which those contracts are at present being carried out. Mr. W. EWART—that next session be should move for leave to introduce a bill to enable juries in England and Ireland to return verdicts of " Not Proven." Sir F. KELLY—that, in the next session, Le should move for leave to bring in a bill to amend the law relating to the election of members to serve in Parliament; also for leave to bring in a bill to extend to certain classes of her Mixiesty's aubjeous the right of voting iu the election of members to serve in Psi lisment Also for leave to bring in a bill for the registration and security of titles, and for the facilitating the conveyance of land. r fortign 10 Colonial jnittligenst. FRANCE AND TURKEY. THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES. Lord Paimerston's explanation in the House of Commons has been received by the French papers as satisfactory evidence of the influence of the Imperial visit to Osborne. The Patrie observes : The great authority of the Emperor's words has easily triumphed over every misuncierstending. If we are rightly informed, a decisive observation of the Emperor's was made during the discussion, namely, that the Paris Con. ference was not dissolved, and that its jurisdiction ex. tended to all possible questions that might grow out of the great interests which the conference was called upon to regulate. The Constitutionnel, in a semi-official article, stating that the difficulties existing at Constantinople would appear to be on the point of receiving " a solution agreeable to the demands made by the tour powers," proceeds to remark : We have no doubt that England will advise the Porte to defer to the representatives of the four powers, and to consider the Moldavian elections as null. We do not know what will be the conduct of Austria in this new position. We are not yet aware of the effect produced at Constantinople by the news of so important an incident. Whatever may he the determination of Austria, it is to be hoped that the Porte will no longer oppose fresh elections in Moldavia. In that event, matters would be accom plished in the following manner :—Fresh electoral lists would he drawn up according to the interpretation of lie. charost, which lays down the nature and limits of electoral rights; a month would be granted for claims before the publication of the lists. A private despatch which we have received from Constantinople informs us that the Ministers of France, Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia, who were to have left on Tuesday, had riot glutted the capital. This circumstance strengthens our hopes, and permits us to anticipate that the happy result of the conferences at Osborne is already known at Constantinople, and has already worked its fruits. The Presse publishes two diplomatic documents. The first is a communication from Redschid Paoli& to the English and Austrian Ambassadors, offering