The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-12 00:00:00

I rott6ings arliaincnt. HOUSE OF LORDS—MosnA.Y. Earl Sr. GERMANS, as Lord Steward of the House hold, read her Majesty's gracious answer to the Address of their lordships in reply to the Speech from the Throne. THE PRESS, DECEMBER 12,1857. feels more than I do that it is absolutely necessary to give future security to Englishmen in that country by punishing in the most exemplary manner all who should be convicted of having perpetrated those crimes. ( Hear, hear.) The crime of the soldier who attacks his officer is to my view the crime of parricide. The crime of a man who violates a woman is so horrible that for my part I should wish that in the legislation of all the world the punishment—the in exorable punishment—fur it were death. But could any one have contemplated the possibility of a crime so ex tensively committed in India—the crime of torturing and murdering children? There is something so revolting to human nature in such a crime that I cannot understand how any mercy could possibly be shown for so horrible an offence. (Hear, hear.) I would persecute with unre mitting and untiring zeal the perpetrators of those horrible crimes. God would not forgive us if we pardoned them ; but I do entreat your lordships, and the people of this country, and our countrymen in India to recollect that for punishment to produce real effect there must be discrimi nation. ( Hear.) To produce effect the punishment even of the greatest offences must appear to be inflicted after ample investigation from the judicial administrators of the law. (Hear, hear.) It mustjnot appear to be the result of the wild vengeance of a private individual. (Hear, hear.) If it be desired that our empire in India should be, as I trust it will, eternal, it can rest only upon mutual confidence between the governors and g ivertied, and I trust that in the hour of victory, if we should triumph, we shall be found as jealous of our honour as in the hour of difficulty; fur by acting on such a principle we shall, if so unfortunate as to fall, be accompanied in our fall by that which we have hitherto carried with us, and I hope ever will carry with us through this great contest, the sympathy and goodwill of European nations. (Hear, hear.) Lord GRANVILLE could not for a moment agree with the noble earl that the Arms Act was a grievance to Europeans, since the law sim ply required the Englishman to come forward and give notice to the magistrate of the arms be wanted to keep or carry, to enable him to do so legally. He vindicated the operation of the law restricting the Indian press from the censure which had been cast upon it, and stated that it was only owing to that law having been impartially enforced that Lord Canning and his ad ministration of the affairs of India had been so reck lessly attacked. Up to three weeks before that law came into operation there was scarcely a European in India who did not coincide with Lord Canning and sympathise with him. He quite agreed with the noble earl that no effort should be spared to secure the confidence of the natives, and he was sure that when history should pronounce its verdict upon these transactions in India its high eulogium would be passed upon Lord Canning for having resisted the pressure to put the Europeans and natives upon a different footing, a measure which would lead the whole mass of its population to regard the Government as a partisan and a violent hater of their race. Lord GREY, deprecating discussion generally upon Indian matters at this moment, said he cordially agreed with the impartial policy of the Arms Act, which he intimated had been resorted to from sheer necessity, and to prevent a trade which might, and there was no doubt would, have been carried on between the natives and some bad Europeans, had the latter been allowed to possess arms to any extent. It was a paramount necessity that the Go vernment should be so conducted as to secure the confidence of the natives in India, for the days of our empire there would be numbered if ever its vast population should know that our rule was inconsis tent with their interests. Lord AIALMESDURY defended the remarks made by Lord Ellenborough, and altogether disputed the policy advocated vy Lord Grey, that in such a crisis their lordships were to remain silent until the Go- vernment gave them permission to speak. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE expressed his approval both of the Arms Act and the restrictions on the Indian press. The free sale of arms to all persons and a free press were totally incompatible with carrying on properly a civil war of such magni tude as that in India. - - The Duke of ARGYLL deprecated further debate upon the subject at the present time, and defended Lord Canning, whose leniency had more tended to check the spread of mutiny than the most severe sentsnce had done at the outset. The motion was agreed to, and their lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS-MONDAY. Mr. A. RUSSELL took the oaths and his seat for Tavistock. Petitions were presented by Mr. BLACK, from the Committee of the Indian Christian Association, Edinburgh; and by General TuomrsoN, from the Baptist Congregation in Zion Chapel, Birmingham ; praying fur a thorough reform iu the government of On the motion of Mr. HAYTER, a new writ WAS ordered to be issued for the borough of Scarborough for the election of a member in the room of Earl Mu'grave, who had accepted the office of Steward of Hempholme. EXPLANATIONS. Earl GRANVILLE begged to correct an error into which the Earl of Derby fell on Thursday, when his lordship spoke of Major-General Hearsey having been reprimanded by the Governor-General for pro moting a sepoy for distinguished conduct in aiding the general in suppressing a mutiny without first consulting the authorities at Calcutta, and obtaining their approval of such promotion. The fact was simply that Lord Canning had communicated to General Hearsey that it was against existing regula tions for any officer to promote a sepoy without first consulting the authorities at Calcutta, but, so far from his having given General Hearsey any repri mand, he even confirmed the promotion. In refe rence also to the accusation that the Government had taken no step to disabuse the minds of the sepoys of the notion that they intended to interfere with their religion, it was quite without foundation, as the authorities in India lost no time in issuing a pro clamation on the subject, recalling the greased cart ridges, and giving the natives permission to use-their own ammunition. Lord Granville, in conclusion, referring to the anecdote told by Lord Derby of Mr. Vernon Smith and the eeninsular and Oriental Company, said that the whole story was utterly unfounded in fact. The Earl of DERBY, with reference to General Hearsey, contended that if the Governor-General, without inquiry into the facts of the case, told an officer without further comment that he had done that which he ought not to have done, it was something so like a reprimand that any offi cer in her Majesty's service would so receive it. Hie lordship also generally repeated the charge of the want of energy shown by the Government in not issuing their proclamation sooner. With regard to Mr. Vernon Smith and the Peninsular and Oriental Company, Lord Derby expressed his reliance upon his authority and his inability to explain the con tradiction between his facts and the statement made by Lord Granville. Earl GRANVILLE believed that the noble earl had been misled. His lordship also twitted the Earl of Derby on the similarity of tile arguments used by the noble earl and his colleague iu Opposition in another place. Lord DERBY thought the coincidence not at all extraordinary, inasmuch as it was his custom, whether in or out of office, to communicate freely with his colleagues in both houses. It was not pro bably the practice of those with whom Lord Granville was associated. (" Hear, hear," and a laugh.) The LORD CHANCELLOR read a message from her Majesty, announcing her gracious intention to confer a pension of 1,0001. a•year upon Major-General Havelock, which, on the motion of Lord GRANVILLE, was ordered to be taken into consideration on the following day. INDIA-ARMS AND PRESS ACT. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, in moving for a copy of the Arms Act lately passed by the Legislative Council of India, also a return of all licensed native and European Indian newspapers, and for copies of all letters o warning addressed to the editors of any sp lhts, said, the Arms Act, as be under stood it, adhered to the principle, recently attempted to be introduced into India, of placing Europeans and natives on the same footing; of equally disarm ing both, when our position in India at this moment was l►ke that of the Normans in Saxon England. We must be armed in order to protect ourselves, or, at least at times, be in a position to assume the appearance of an armed militia. His lordship then, after showing the vast difference which existed between the press of this country anti the European press of India, and the necessity which drove the latter to advocate the interests of the governing classes, stated the provisions of the law restricting both. Upon the European portions of Indian journalism he considered it to be in a high degree severe and restrictive. Its penalties were excessive, and ha thought that tha Government would have acted more wisely in establishing a censorship which would have prevented the appearance of any objec tionable articles, rather than in devising punishments which could not or ought not to be carried into effect when the mischief was done. The effect of the measure, if fully carried out, would be to deprive the English public of the India news, and, what was more to the purpose, prevent the Europeans in India from knowing what we thought of them here. In an eloquent peroration, the noble lord concluded by expressing his views upon the application of the punishment to be inflicted upon the rebels :- - • There is no one who can feel more deeply than I have the atrocity of the crimes committed in India. No one NEAPOLITAN ENGINEERS. Lord PALMERSTON, in reply to Mr. M. Milnes, made a statement which considerably modified that which he had made on the Friday previous. He said that the engineers in question, according to later intelligence, although not subjected to anything like torture, had been handcuffed and strapped when no such security was necessary : They had been confined at first and for three months in a dark, damp, gloomy cell, with attendant circumstances which made it particularly offensive and injurious to health. Their health had suffered, and it is quite true, though it was not stated to the chaplain, that one of them in a fit of despondency, occasioned by the treatment they were undergoing and the prospects before them, did attempt his life. There was also reason to think that on One of the interrogatories of a witness an attempt was made to falsify the evidence. It was corrected, and the statement was afterwarls made such as the witness de posed. 'There was nothing in their present treatment ma terially to complain of—they had been removed to a more spacious room, and were no longer handcuffed; but the Government were waiting further accounts. SIR HENRY HAVELOCK. Lord PALmERsToN brought up a message from the Queen on the subject of the eminent services of Sir Henry Havelock, and recommending provision to be made for enabling her Majesty to confer a pension of 1,0001. a year upon the distinguished officer. On the motion of the noble lord, the message was ordered to be taken into consideration the next day. BANK ISSUES INDEMNITY BILL. On the motion for the second reading, Mr. GLADSTONE objected to the manner in which one of the clauses was drawn up. He thought it wrong that unqualified indemnity should be given to financial transactions of which the house knew no thing. He wished also to know whether the profits arising from the relaxation would include the profits both of the additional issue and of the discounts? These profits should go to the Exchequer. Sir HENRY WILLOUGHBY spoke of the necessity of the house being accurately informed as to the truth or falsehood of the rumour that there was complicity in bringing about the juncture which led to the issue of the letter. The parties implicated are certain joint-stock banks and bill.brokers. Mr. CAYLEY attributed all the mischief which had occurred to the present currency system. That system ought either to be altered or carried out to its full extent. This course, however, its supporters would not venture to take. _ _ _ _ _ Mr. MAratis heartily approved of the issue of the letter, and expressed his regret that the relaxation had not been authorised at an earlier period. in his opinion Parliament ought not to have been allowed to separate last session without Ministers being armed with legal power to tn2et the crisis which was evidently approaching. He hoped the result would be to lead to an etfectaal correction of the existing vicious system. Mr. CROSSLEY was of opinion that the monopoly enjoyed by the Bank of England should be abolished. He would pay the Bank liberally for doing the banking business of the country, but the profits ought to be applied to the reduction of taxation. Mr. R. N. Prnwrs gave the utmost credit to the Bank Directors for the manner in which they had conducted operations during the crisis. He did not attribute the evils which had arisen to the Bank Act, but to the Russian and Indian wars, in combination with the proceedings of certain banks and bill brokers. _ _ . Mr. NEWDEGATE thought it essential that the in formation asked for by Sir Henry Willoughby should be given—namely, whether certain parties possessed of large resources had not acted in concert, so as to embarrass the Bank of England. Mr. BUCHANAN defended the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce from the charge of holding will and visionary doctrines on the subject of the currency. For himself, be thought the power of relaxing the Act of 1844 ought to be placed in the hands of the Bank Directors. This would be much safer than leaving the power in the hands of Ministers, who were not likely to interfere till much mischief had been done. _ _ Mr. KIRK remarked that two points had been clearly elucidated during the debate—namely, that the opinion of members was in favour of the converti bility of the bank -note, and next that the Act of 1844 ought to undergo amendment. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in answer to the suggestion of Sir Henry Willoughby, stated that he had no knowledge whatever of, or belief in, any conspiracy on the part of capitalists to embarrass the Bank of England, and that, so far as he could judge, there was no foundation for the rumour. With regard to Mr. Gladstone's question as to the appro priation of the profits arising from the authorised relaxation, he could state that as the matter is still in progress, be had not thought it necessary to come to any determination on the point. 1197