The Press. — London, England, 1856-04-05 00:00:00

318 itself upon this question, but to wait until certain bills came under its consideration, and until it was in fuller possession of all the facts. He moved the previous question. Mr. WILSON entered very fully into the grounds upon which the Trea.mry acted in increasing the salaries of county-court judges. The principle fixed on was the amount of work devolving on each. In the selec tions made there could be no favoritism. The whole matter was arranged by numbers, and the names of the claimants were not even known. Sir J. PAKINOTON suggested to Mr. Roebuck whether, after the speech of Sir George Grey, it was necessary to divide the house. The most important of the two questions to which Mr. Roebuck's speech was addressed was the expediency of equalising the salaries of the County -court judges, and he was glad to hear from Sir George Grey that the Govet n ment approved their equalisation. The other ques tion related to the amount of the uniform salary, and if the motion were pressed to a division he should v ota in favour of the salary proposed by Mr. Roebuck. After a short explanation by Sir G. GREY, and some remarks in support of the motion by Sir G. PEI:HELL and Mr. MAI.INS, Mr. GLADSTONE said it appeared to him that it might be a great question whether, on a reconstruc tion of the duties of the office of the County-court judges, with the addition of other functions, there ought not to be an alteration of their salaries ; but, with the knowledge that fit men could be sound to occupy that otfice, and who sought to occupy it, at even 1,2001. a year, it was a question which, in his opinion, ought to be kept open for discussion. Mr. DISRAELI thought there was nothing more objectionable than that the feelings of the house relative to the appropriation of the public money should be left to be collected by such a desultory debate. In the present state of our finances he did not think it wise for the house to pledge itself as to the amount of salary to be paid to public servants. Mr. ROEBUCK then withdrew his motion. FACTORIES BILL. Colonel W. PATTEN, on Wednesday, in moving the second reading of the Factories Bill, restated its ob ject—namely, to remedy certain alleged grievances and oppressions to which owners of factories were subjected under the law as it. stood, by placing the gearing and shafting of mill-machinery upon the same footing as the machinery itself, and thus to re lease proprietors of factories from a strict compliance with the letter of the law relating to the fencing c f their machinery in all cases where it was substac tially complied with. Mr. Column moved, as an amendment, that the bill be read a second time that, day six months. The hon. and learned gentleman contended that the result of the repeal of the existing law would be a large in• crease 3f accidents to factory operatives. Lord J. MANNERS seconded the amendment, and warned the house that this bill was only the first step in that course of retrograde legislation which the Millowners' Association was endeavouring to bring about. M. M. GIBSON supported the second reading of the bill, contending that it was impossible to fence all mill-gearing, and, of course, impossible to comply with the law as recently laid down by the Court of Queen's Bench. Sir G. GREY said if the existing law could be enforced it should not be interfered with; but it appeared there was not only an uncertainty as to the law itself, but it was also asserted that it was im possible literally to comply with it. It was clear that according to the law as laid down by the Court of Queen's Benlb all mill-gearing should be fenced, but it, was equally certain that some portions of that gearing could not be fenced. He would not object to the second reading of the bill if Colonel NV. Patten would agree that the law should be altered only so far as related to that portion of the mill gearing which was unlikely to lead to danger if un fenced. Lord STANLEY said he would, on the part of his hon. and gallant friend, at once agree to the pro posed modification. Mr. HARDY slid Sir G. Grey's proposition would leave the question as it :vas before. The whole question between the millowners and the inspectors was as to the horizontal shafts. The difficulty of deciding what was " secure fencing " was the very reason why inspectors were appointed. The law was said to he uncertain ; but the Court of Queen's Bench had determined that it was definite and clear. If not, a short bill might require the use of specific safeguards. Mr. MUNTZ thought the wisest plan was to let the law rest as it was, but to make an exception with re spect to horizontal drums and shafts. Mr. CHEETHANt and Mr. BROTHERON having spoken in support of the bill, Colonel DONNE moved that the debate be ad journed. Upon a division this motion was negatived by a large majority ; but, as it now wanted only a few THE PRESS. minutes to six o'clock, the debate, according to a rule of the house, stood adjourned. The adjourned debate on the second reading of this bill was resumed on Thursday, but the opposi tion to the measure being withdrawn, upon the understanding that certain amendments would be introduced in committee, the bill was read a second time. MEDICAL PROFESSION BILL. Upon the order for going into committee on this bill on'kVednesday, _ Lord ROBERT 6RosvENon called attention to the peculiar position in which this bill stood, notice having been given of nearly a hundred amendments —some of them going to the whole principle of the measure—at so late a period that there had not been time to consider them. He recommended Mr. Headlam (who had charge of the bill) not to force on a discussion, but to postpone the committee. . . Mr. HEADLAM declined to accede to this proposal, on account of the inconveniences that would result from delay, and because there was not the slightest hope that delay would lead to an approximation of the discordant opinions respecting the constitution of the medical council, the majority of the members of which, the Government now proposed, should be nominated by the Crown. This was the most im portant of the amendments, the rest were merely verbal. An animated discussion then ensued, when Mr. WALpoLE moved by way of amendment that the order for committing the bill he postponed to Wed nesday next. Atter some further discussion the amendment was carried by a majority of 116 to 81. . Mr. HEADLAM then said that the Government had thrown him over, and he should now leave the bill on their hands ; a charge which Sir G. Grey, on behalf of the Government, declined to accept. 7ATION. Mr. SCOTT moved on Thursday for the appoint ment of a select committee to consider how far, and in what direction, recent legislation and the substi tution of other punishments for transportation. had influenced the existing amount of crime. Adverting to the alarming increase of crime, he urged the ne cessity of ascertaining whether this increase was due to legislation or to other causes. It'this inquiry were deemed too wide, the amendment of which notice had been given by Sir G. Grey, to inquire into the operation of the act 16 and 17 Victoria, would, in his opinion, make it vastly too narrow. In support of his motion he referred to statistics to show that crime went on at a more rapid rate in this country th ►n the population, urging that such a condition of things called upon the house to look carefully into the causes. He contended that the new ticket-of leave system which had been adopted, like the aban donment of transportation, against high and sound authority, had failed, there being various impedi ments to the absorption of the liberated convicts into the labouring population. Finally, he urged that the system of transportation might, under proper pre cautions, be revived with beneficial results alike to the mother country and to several of the colonial dependencies. The subject, he insisted, had never been investigated in the wide and comprehensive spirit which its importance demanded. Mr. L. DAVIES seconded the motion, and, pointing nut the immense increase in the amount of crime committed in the country, proved by late statistical returns, insisted that the ticket-of-leave system was a total failure. Sir GEORGE GREY, admitting the importance of the question, recommended that the investigation should be limited, in the first instance, to the con sequences of the ticket-of-leave system, a topic which, with its collateral relationships, would be found sufficiently extensive. He considered Mr. Scott's motion of the increase of crime as not exactly warranted by documentary evidence, and proceeded to reply to some of his observations, entering into a variety of details to show that the working of the ticket•of-leave system did not deserve to be stigma tised as a failure, and to prove that transportation still existed in full force as far as regards Western Australia, where convict labour was in great demand. The right hon. baronet concluded by moving : That a select committee be appointed to inquire into the operation of the act pith and 17 of Victoria, chap. 99, entitled An Act to substitute, in certaiu cases, other punishment in lieu of transportation. Sir J. PARINGTOX thought the terms of the original motion rather too wide, and after the speech of Sir G. Grey he suggested to Mr. Scott whether he would not be content with the proposed amendment. He felt convinced that the terms of the act of 1859 should be revised and reconsidered, and this object, he understood, would be within the limits of the inquiry. Sir John entered into details respecting the principle upon which he supposed limited trans portation was now carried out by the Government, and as to the periods for which convicts were sen tenced to penal servitude, which, in his opinion, were too short, and did not bear a due proportion to the old punishment. Imprisonment for four years was much less formidable than expatriation for SATURDAY, seven, and to this mistaken forbearance he was in•. clined to attribute the late increase of crime. With respect to the ticket•of-leave system, it could not be said to have failed, and he thought the wisest and most prudent course was nat to abandon it under the present system of penal servitude. AIR. LABOUCHERE declared that the Government would cordially co-operate in the proposed investiga tion, and gladly adopt any improvement of which the existing system of punishment might be found sus ceptible. Atter some further remarks from Mr. Adderley, Mr. Baines, Mr. Newdegate, Mr. SCOTT withdrew his motion, and that of Sir G. Grey was adopted in the following form : That a select committee be appointed to inquire into the provisions and operations of the act 16 and 17 Victoria, c. 91, entitled " An Act to substitute, in certain cases, other puu.sliment in lieu of transportation." REFORM OF THE CORPORATION OF LONDON. Sir G. GREY, on Tuesday, moved for leave ' to in troduce a bill for the reform of the City Corporation. The measure was based upon the report of the com missioners of 1853, and was intended, as the hon. secretary declared, not to retrench the authority or the dignity of the corporation, but to render it prac tically more fit to exercise the functions which it was designed to fulfil. For this purpose it was proposed to remodel the constitution of the civic assembly of the metropolis, so as to render it conformable to the general system created by the Municipal Corporations Act, retaining at the same time many of the distinc tive features which it at present possessed. Sir George Grey then entered into a lengthened detail of the scheme, the main provisions of which were to leave the boundaries of the City and the mode of ad mission unchanged, and to abolish certain customs (including all privileges of trade in the City reserved to freemen, as well as rights of metage and street tolls). With respect to the coal duties, the bill would not correspond with the recommendation of the com missioners, who had proposed that these duties should be transferred to the bands of a metropolitan board of works ; but the Government had come to the conclusion that the eightpenny and penny duties should be allows d to expire, and that the fourpenny duty should be kept alive only until the charges upon it had been paid off. The conservancy of the Thames it was proposed to place unde: a Government board, the City police it was intended to leave as it now stood, while the magisterial functions of the alder men and Lord Mayor were to be considerably modi fied, by taking from the aldermen the right of nomi nating the candidates for the mayoralty from their own body, and by creating new police courts, pre sided over by stipendi try magistrates. In conclusion, Sir George Grey expressed a hope that the result of this measure would be to give greater efficiency to the corporation of the city of London, that it would realise the expectations of the commissioners, and that these changes in its constitution would augment its means of public usefulness. After some observations by Sir J. Duke, Mr. W. Williams, and Mr. Masterman, leave was given to introduce the bill. CRIMINAL MON OF TRUST PROPERTY. The ATTORNEY GENERAL wooed, on Thursday, for leave to bring in a bill to amend the law relating to the criminal appropriation of u•ust property held by persons as trustees and bailees. Trustees who administered property assigned for specific purposes were at pre sent only civilly responsible, however grossly they might misappropriate the fund ; and it was designed by the present measure to render such offenders liable also to criminal penalties. After a few words from Mr. WALPOLE, who called his learned friend's attention to the necessity of taking care that the criminal responsibil►ty imposed by the bill should not remove the civil liability to replace funds which had been misappropriated where it now existed. Leave was given. VACCINATION BILL. Mr. COWPER, on Monday, in moving the second reading of this bill, explained the provisions of the existing law, and stated that that law having been found defective, and further provisions being required in order to make its machinery work properly, this bill repealed the existing acts and consolidated their enactments with the new provisions, under which the system of vaccination in this country would be more complete and satisfactory. He specified the causes to which he ascribed the imperfect action of the ex isting law and the mode in which it was proposed to remedy it, justifying the qualified compulsion under that law, with the principle of which the bill did not interfere. Mr. HENLEY thought some of the details of the bill, especially the introduction of two co nflicting . authorities—the Poor Law Board and the Board 01 Health—extremely objectionable. Dr. MICHELL spoke at much length against the bill,. contending that, while vaccination was no pro tection against the smallpox, it imported hereditary and other diseases into pure blood. After a few words from Mr. Brady, Mr. Barrow, and Mr. Miall, the bill was read a second time. U