The Statesman. — London, England, 1821-05-10 00:00:00

~■ F - I ~ d no Member was totally Inaudible, and was once o twice o bliged to sit dot% n. He at length observed. t h a t though the Evidence given by the person who byd lost left the Bar, afforded very little etiColifllgr• sett to proceed in this Inquiry, yet be was deterteln advto nave Mr. Arrowstnith, of Johnson's-court, Th o e. s eeeet, Mr. Duckinore, of 2, Gough-square. 'oter, and Mr. Henry Cooper, called to the Bar isrthwitb. s; . After a few words across the Table, ' leers put by the SPEAKER, and carried unani iitally, that Mr. Arrows:lshii, Mr. Shackell, and li r . Cooper, do attend at the Bar forthwith. y it ocreDDlOS OF TIIE COMMISSIONERS OF IN tauißY INTO ENGLISII COURTS OF JUSTICE. die J. NEWPORT roar to bring forward his motion ions t hi s subject, but from the confusion caused by embers standing ap, and quitting the House at the eonclitsion of the last question. )1e was for a consider. able time inaudible in the Gallery. The Right Hon. Member proceeded to explain the circumstances which woa d hi m to bring Ibis question before the House, and pointed out in strong terms the very great delay which had taken place since the appaiutment of the Commlssioners, which was in 1615. Those Com-' rnissioners, five in number (two of whom were Mas ters in Chancery) had since their appointusent received a salary o f 121101. a year each, making in all a sum o f 30001. exclusive of allowances to Secretaries; and other incidental espences. There was also an addi dotal sum doe this year of 6,000/. making in all about 40,000/. The Commissioners had during that nom made bat t oir Reports, two on the Court of Chancery, and two on the Courts of King's Bench aid Cunituon Pleas. With respect to the Reports on the Court of Chancery, the Lord Chancellor, after approving some of the recommendations, was of *pion (after a tape of five years from the period of the Report befog made), that it ought to undergo the most grave and seriona inquiry. As to the Reports of the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, the Chief Justices of those Courts had written to the Secretary of State for the Dome Department, inform ing him that thoftports had never been submitted to their consideration, or officially made known to The excuse made by the Commissioners was. that they experienced great delay and obstruction in the different offices to übich their inquiries led them. Ibis, he contended, was no excuse, for the Com missioners bad and ought to have exercised the power of obliging the parties to produce the necessary nents. The Honourable Baronet, allar some tater observations, said, it was his intention to OA a set of Resolutions in substance as follows : —ell That it appeared from the returns laid before the House, that five Commissioners had been ap pointed on the 9th of Feb. 1615, (in consequence of as Address presented in July, 1614), to inquire into English Courts of J n sti e That those Commissioners, two of whom were Masters in Chancery, had received a conpensation of 12001. a-year each from the period of their appointment, amounting iu all to 30,000 f cello stet of allowances to St.erttaries .Ind other inciden!al ex penses--that, in addition to this, there was a further charge of 6,000/. due this year, makiux altogether a charge to the public of upwards of 40,000/." 'I he Hoe. Baronet went on to state the stature of the other Resolution?, namely, that the Commissioners had made four Reports (specifying their dates), and that the Lord Chancellor, after approving of certain re commendations relative to the Court of Chancery. had (five years after the Report was made) declared the Report required further consideration—'hat the Chief J us tices of the Court of King's Bench and Common Pleas bad written to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, slating that the Reports upon their respective Courts had nut beets suloni:ted to, or made officially known to them, nough the said Reports were delivered by the Commissioners on the sth of Jan. 1919, and the 3d of July, 1619, into time office of the Secretary of State for the II • Department. That this House viewed with extreme .egret the slow progres. of the Conentissioners, in an inquiry attended with such a heavy expense to the pubic, which tlelay arose in consequence of obstruction turown in their way by certain public officers, whose deprtutents they found it necessary to examine;.—and that, above all, the House regretted and co nsidered as hi g hly censurable, the manner in which the Reports upon the Court of King's Bench and Common Plus had been withheld from the consideration of the Chief J ustices of those Courts. Ott the first Resolution being put, The ATTORN EV-G EN ERA!, rose and defended the Commissioners from the charge made against them, and concluded by moving the previousquestion. Mr. ABERCROM BY said that the gravamen of time charge appleti to the conduce of the Government. and a more serious ch..rge could not be well brought, than that which was ahmitted. .1 he ll .cernment was very faithful in distill ating the public money, but ltopaias were taken to forward the reports to those penes whose duty It was to uct upon therm. Mr. B. H.t, t 11l RST th.fentled the conduct of the Commissioners of time Inquiry. ile admitted that the 'Spence was considerable. hut was there any novelty in that ?—(i ri aof hear, hear, and laughter!) With respect to Ireland, there was good ground fur insti tuting an inquiry; t:tit the English inquiry by no means justilieil t r e ; ence of the undertaking.. Mr. BARING sap, that it wouhl appear from what had fallen from the other sic:e, that there was no Person attached se. the Government to take cognisance of the Reports in question. as it not the duty of Government th;st t u hket .if that Commission was carried lido execution t He regretted that his Right Hon. Friend bat ever made his motion for the in quiry; it was now clear that no reform of abuses of Courts of Justice would ever take place where the officers of act*, Count were examined, and where the result of their examination guided the Commissioners. Having already expended a sum of 4 0.000/, in this hopelesb inquiry. it would be well if the country were altogether relieved from se useless aad so extravagant a species of Reform. Mr. Serjeant NSLOW contended that the officers of the Courts were, above all others, the pima' moat Proper to have been examined. Mr. WARNE denbul, tbat it was areetasty Masters in Chancery on t, 'rho previous question etch of the Resolutions. OW which conveyed a the Court of E turn% and contained a tt you ,s with mom: attests oluxhif with l o w to N A the As the ri pt Pu t positer• --tie it %MI r aftir are re . ) aledgte fog ! sii" pes t. " Lb* 011 P be B& W ni 0f.% ors that ytto letter °` Min b" . ref Sh iniii I OW It. W.° rod 110 1 10 1 .0 , . 4. I had neglected to lay the Reports before the Judges. On this Mr. B. BATHURST moved a negative, and the ilcu:e divided— • AN. For the Resolution, 56—Against it, 72—Majority against it 16. Upon our re-admission to the Gallery we found Mr. JAMES presenting a petition from the Mer chants, Bankers, Traders, and other inhabitants of the town of Carlisle, praying for Parliamentary Re form. The Honourable Member feared that if re• trenchment and economy were not speedily substituted for extravagance and waste, the Government would be changed by violence. Mr. CU RIVEN bore testimony to the respectability of the signatures affixed to the petition.—Ordered to he printed. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. Lord J. RUSSELL said, that in rising to bring forward the subject of which he had given notice, it was impossible not to feel the manner in which a some what similar motion had been recently disposed of to be a source of some discouragement. Yet the resolu tions which he intended to propose to the House, would come from him with confidence of receiving a very powerful support. If it was true that all Go vernments depended upon opinion, the Government of this country must now depend upon most strict and rigid opinion. The eyes of the whole country were upon them, watching them with the glance of scrn tiny, and examining all their actions with microscopic minuteness. And of all questions the most difficult' for them to approach were those relating to the Con- stitation ; because that most particulsrly attracted the attention of the people to the manner in which those who professed to be their Representatives guarded their rights, and preserved their interests. The manner in which he should bring this great Constitutional ques tion forsrard to-night, was not to inquire whether or no they were the Representatives of the people, and whether the opinions of the House did or did not coin cide with the opinions of the people. lie was not going to inquire whether the minority of that House were su;mported by time majority of the country, or the majority of the House by the minority out of doors. Yet, although he should not enter into these qnestions, he retained his known principles anti couvietions upon them. In principle he was a reformer, and what he*, meant by that was, that he considered time House of Commons as its name implied, ought to he the repre sentative of the people ; but as it was at present con stituted he believed it not to be so. His object would now be to shev that such abuses anti innovations had crept into it with time, that whether or not they al felled its resolutions and opinions at preset.t, they must inevitably, at some future period, hose the effect Of destroying it altogether. Amid if he could skew this to he the cane, he called on the (louse to stop these innovations without considering whethi r the v had any influence upon its Lacs ost feeling or not, to prevent the evils to which lie had alluded. The first amongst these innovations were bribery and coo ruption. He believed that there could nut be two opinions in the House as to the existence of the prac tice of bribery to a very great extent. When he brought forward a former measure, he stated that it was at that time a common practice, and a matter of every day's o,rlinary conversation. The Noble Lord who was considered to be the leader of the majorities of that House beard the statement and could not deny it. It nas well known that in the county of Cornwall this practice had takes) the deepest root. In that county a regular system of what was called borough patrunare WAS established, and must he productive of the wor-o effects to the morals of the people as well as to their constitutional rights. Another consequence of time s)steni Hoist he, that time Executive Go vernment wools! Imecume corrupt and enfeebled by be ing obliged to conciliate time favour of these borough Molders ur borough-patrons. The Government, lie thou;ist, looked with greater anxiety fur time support of Ilmormoig Ii Members than that of County Members. Ira vote was sold like a quantity of wool. or like any other commodity, the consequence must be felt in every deparmru nt from the lowest to the highest. The No ble s ord then took au historical review of the several laws fur preventiog corruption. Time first was the tri ennial Art, the preamble to which stated, that several eo:up:Altos had been jos:ly made of undue Eire ions; land it went on to enact, that any one giving money to influence a return to Parliament should he punished. the next was an Act passed in the reign of George 11. which annexed a certain punishment to time giving or taking of a bribe. There was an exception in time Act in favour of those who should detect their accous pliers, in conseqnence of whica it bad been known that several persons who mere elected, in o der to save them selves prosecuted those whom they had h ibe I. Ile considered that all boroughs in this situation were•in capable of exercising their franchise independently. 'ben a few i arsons of excessive poverty came in con tact with pets oms of excessive wealth, it was almost Impossible to prevent corruption ; and if it was natal+ *us that a seat in that House could be purchased for three. four or 7,000/. it became proper to catmint lie tight of voting which secured it. Upon this sui , ject he begged to refer the House to the case of the Ito rough of Stockbridge. In the year 1659, co rapt practices were discovered in that Borougn ; but the uebstes did not proceed to any great length. lo tie year 103, a Resolution was passed sta ing that the tttatu just then made had been influenced by corrup tion; and a Bill was brought in to disfranchipe the Borough, and transfer the elective franchise to lia ffugstoke. The Bill was read a third time bet was never passed. The next case to which he would teer the Goose was that of the Borough of Aldboromiols ; eorrtpt practices being discovered in that liorougo, the Writ for a Member was suspended ; but aftereturds On a penitential Petition from the town, if was rest(ztl. Proceedings somewhat similar had taken plare 4 in 1696, with respect to Bishops Castle; and the (louse would here observe that he had mentioned places where it was suspected were even now not entirely free from those practices. In the year 1701 mach in quiry took place respecting the conduct of one Shep herd, who lead attempted to bribe the &lectors of **lobe , and lichester ; a Committee o f I n q u iry was tappointeml.of which Sir Foltvaid Seymour was Chair- Sen. Upoh the Report of the Committee, the House 'resolved that the charge against Shepherd wilt. est:4- '460,4. Several persons were punished in 'wise- Aid Shepherd himself was sent to the Tower oceastott Sir Edward Seymour received 'the_ the Hulse tor' his zealous conduct its tilt .tee, la the year 17611 s .use ioviry place respecting the Borough 'of Ilindon, but upon this he did not think it wai necessary for him to enlarge. Now in the several eases of establish ed corruption, although he approved of the mea sures of 1771, relating to the cues of Shorehans, Cricklade, and Aylesbury, and those lately %Wing to Grampound, he thought those measures did not effectually correct the evil ; fur at every General Elee time fifty or sixty Boroughs were guilty of these prac lice,. The Act, called the Grenville Act did ant, he thou; ht, afford any effectual remedy; for ti Act enabled the parties complaining and complained of to make up their differences, so that the House might possibly be kept iu ignorance of many eases of gross corruption. This was strongly exempli fi ed in the case of tiratopontul. Sir 31asseh Lopez haggled about the price, and refused to pay the sum demanded for a compromise; while others equally guilty with him were content so purchase their safety, by adding to their guilt. it was for this reason that he had inter fered in favour of Sir M. Lopez, who he thought, had acted as be had, because it appeared to him justified by etample. Upon this part of the subject he could not say he was prepared with a distinct remedy: but he should propose the appointment of a Committee to consider it. The next part of the subject referred to the extension of the right of voting. The objection generally made to that extension was, that it innovated upon the Constitution. This argument could not possibly hold. Bribery itself, the grievance was an innovation. The increase of large towns might be called an innovation. Large Peace Establishments Acre innovation' ; but they had been justified on account of the increase of the manufacturing districts.—(Hear, hear.)—lle therefore tweed nothing that had not been already adopted in principle. He wished conciliation to he adopted instead of coercion. l lie conceived he had carried a great step, by carrying the Bill for transferring the franchise from Grampound to Leeds, because this transfer abolished the urgueletit of virtual representation, and admitted that Leeds and the other unrepresented towns had something to com plain of, and consequently something to gain. Ile would shortly refer to the means by whirl* there un retires. nted towns were generally governed. Mate (+ester, for instance, was only a part of Sall ; and Sltiningliam was constitutionally but a village, and neHlter of them had any municipality. '1 hey hail no representation to lead their political opinion ; and they, therefore, took those of the Hunt, or the I:niglit that tirst of. red himself to their notice. Mom these dis tricts were in a state of irt itation, the person sent to ally their discontents was Oiiver the Spy. He was made their virtual Representative ; the arbiter of peace or war. Some might probably think that t xcitement of this nature was highly or..per, and that measures of coercion were highly a cessAry ; hut all measur4 s of coercion were use less. Multiplied punishments and large standing armies only increased the discontent they were intended Ito allay. Nothing remained to complete the present measures of coercion but a Censorship on the press, and he trusted they had yet strength enough left to resist any attempt to impose on it. He implored the House to try the effect of other measures, and to see whether eoncilation would not ensure the respect and the love of the people. The measure be should new propose was, hr contended, strictly constitutional. Ile was not then to defend the constitution of other countries, but to shew that according to the English Constitution the people had a right through that House to carry their grievances to the Throne. As to the method of carrying his proposal into effect lee would speak very shortly. — The number of Members in that House was already large enough, and hr therefore Ilia not propose any thing which tronl.l lead to an increase of that number. His plan went to displace some of the smaller Boroughs, but not such of those as had their Charters for services, unless gross corruption in those Boroughs was distinctly proved. The question of compensation might be discussed in a future stage of the proceeding. Ile was not unfriend ly to it ; and certainly there was a precedent fur it in the artich s of the Irish Union, which provided a compen sation for the places which were deprived by the Union of the right to send Members. He would now introduce the general principle of the Resolutions he intended to sulturit to the House. The basis of them was certainly an extension of the elective franchise, a measure he thought dictated alike by sound policy and by judg ment. The Noble Lord here referred to the ancient state of Spain and Italy, to spew that a contracted fran diise endangered the Constitution, and depraved the people. This was what he called upon the House to be ware of. The object of all Governments ought to be the possession of the affection of the people, without which no Onverntnent could exist in safety. The Government asked the people to hear the burdens wOh safety, and the House ought therefore to add another link to that chain which bound the Crown, the A ristut racy, and the Commons together. He was aware of the difficulty at tending this questien He knew some eoehl healarused thinkirglie weans° far, and that others woahl ridicule him thinking he had not gone far enough, hut as he rag cootie-lone that lie was doing his duty, he pitied the for mer and despised the latter. The Noble Lord con cluded by moving four Resolutions. The first declared that well-founded complaints bad been made to the House of the practice of bribery and corruption in many instatiees.connected with the return of Members to the to the great scandal of that House, and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. The second declared, that to strengthen the connection between the Commons aw l time p e ople, it was expedient to give the right of sending Members to certain large towns not at present represented. The third was for the appointment of a Committee to consider of the propriety of extending the present elective franchise; and the fourth was for a Committee to inquire into the mode of esturniag Members in the Boroughs complained of. Mr. WHITNIORE, in rising to second the motion of ; the Noble lord, assured the House that it was not his intention to trespass much upon their att'entitifi.' He was an enemy to Radical Mores, whether in' &Ship, o f Annual Par li aments aseiloitsesat Soltropil itt that milder forum ef it illicit prepaid to give thireight : of reties to inbanitaat betiosioltidoes, boons* is op.. peered to him to aim at list seta overthrow of 641 , stitution, which had raised this country top Soh of glory unexampled ancield sea ntoderu : hi Clue elements of " . - • fabric of Radical Reform, that instead of tunesiie any part of the suponttecture of the constitntiete. it was calculated to throw the whole superstructure dove. While he objected to Radical Reform, because it won id tend to make that Houie purely and entirely droners. tical, lie was a friend however to a moderate aid tional Reform, and he supported the resolutions of the Noble Lord, because he thought they were calculated to attain that object; end diat his plan would be found capable of a safe and easpiliocutios. The SPEAKER having the hit Reeolntion; there was a toed try of si Strange ;s withdraw;" and the tiallery was sourly cleared for a division, whoa Mr. B. BATHURST rose, and spoke against the motion at considerable length, but from the noise which prevailed in the House, and the low tone of voice in which the Hon. Member spoke, we were unable to collect any of his observations. lie concluded with moving the previous question. Mr. BARIUM expressed himself in favour of the original motion, and defended the character of the Borough of Stockbridge, which be described to be as free from corruption at present as any Borough or County in England. The House then divided, as follows: — For the original motion 124—For the previous (pm tion 135—Majority 31. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at two o'clock this morning. 311NORITY OT FITTT-SIN. FOR SIR J. NRWPORT. Lord Althor,l, lion. G. B'nnet, R. Bernal, J. Hirelt, Sir F. Blake, J. li. B.trhatu, ern., T. Barrett, J Cart. r, Sir W. Cirspigny, J. C. Cutwen, Coloraft, 1. Coneati • nnn. N. Colimn. Col. Ilavire, Lord Ebrington, Lissa Folkestone, B. tioskel, It. tionlon, P. Orenfell, Sir tit. ' tinier, .1. C. linithottse, lion. J. Bowe, lion.(.'. tintrhin ann. W.James, Sir J. Nlarkititoalt. J.Maberir, J. Martin, .1. B. Monek, l.ord Milton, M. Ntilhank, Sir J. Newport, W. Newman, W. Ortle, J. O'(:allaghan, C. F. Painte , , G. Phillip*, T. Parr*, Lord W. Russell, Lord J. Puese,), ,C. Ittintholl S. Rice, W. Smith, J. Smith, J. Smyr`s, I Lora J. Stewart, J. Stetr,rt, night lion. O. 'Elem. - , Niarquis Taristork, Al 1. Wood, W. Wrwill, Sir K. con, J. A. IV:urn, C. W. Wynn, W. li. Whitbread,. Williatna. TELLEne—A. Raring, J. Macdonald. It appears by letters of the 10th March, received recently fr Perottnlnten, that the proeeedin fat which took place there an the 6th were not decidedly cr a revolutionary charaatt The arrival of a vi 1.0 from Bahia, with the intelligence of a change that Ind been effected in that city, led to the immediate ascent. Ming, in the manner before stated, of all Ow cit.'', military, and ecclesiastical superiors, to delil.erate on the a.•eption of a simi;ar proceeding; but their de:i• 10-ration led only to the inure moderate expedient of i's aildrets to the hing, praying him to accord to the in - habit:Lan; of Perthintlinto that furtn of constitution whi , h should receive the sanction of the Cortes of Po- toga), with such ineilitications as should render it with propriety applicable to the people of Brazil. EMUS AN i A Ti) A retes.—A person in the neigh bourhood Of Cove received on Sunday last a lett r 41 from his son (pia Plymouth, who sailed with Mr. Par ker for the Cape of Good !lope. The writer give.; nowt melancholy account of that expedition: be state, that on their arrival, they found the settlement des tined for them to he a portion of land which had been aband med by a Dutch tiserchant, and so barren and wild that any attempt to cultivate or reclaim it would be utterly hopeles.. lie says that most of the ;nen who accompanied Mr. Parker from this had deserted him, and that Mr. Ingram's men had conducted them selves leery badly. Mr. Parker, the writer states, ii about to e home to represent his grievances. and to try and procure redress and indemnification for the expenses he has incurred in this fruitless expedition. .--(f!ork Ahreamtilo . (Vironerle.) FES! tLE ',Mu:Plot rv.—Sunday, during the absence of the family, the house of Mr. Watkins, Back-strew, Ilurslydoo ii, was entered by four ruffians, by means el pickloi k keys, who broke open a room and stole bank notes, gold and silver coins, watches, plate. te.c. worth in the whole about 200/. Baying carefully packed up their booty they descended to the yard, intending to escape over some hack premises, but were observed by a young woman, names) Sarah Cleare, servant to Mr. Parke-, bricklayer, adjoining, who challenged them. The men paid no attention, but jumped into the garden in which she was standing, and attempted to rush past her into a shed through which their passage lay; she, however, seized two of them by the throats, and called for help, but they broke away and knocked her down.—She pur sued tin m again, came up with the fellow who carried the plunder, and grasped him by the collar; he made a violent endeavour to get loose, and kicked and thumped the plot wonian niost brutally, but she held him. net stitlistainlinz, till Mr. Harvey, the parish constant, came to her itssistance, and lodged the fellow in St. John's wateblionse. The prisoner underwent an exami nation yesterday before Alderman J. J. Smith, and was fully rommitte.i, • Et.niaMENT.—Tuesdav night the aeightourhood of the Angel Inn, St. Clement's, was a scene of much confusion fur a few minutes, owing to the following cir cumstance :—About nine o'clock, and a short time after the arrival of the Salisbury stage coach, a post-chaiSe-. with four horses and two postillions, drove like light ning into the inn-yard, and next minute, a middle-aged lath., dressed in a funeral travelling pelisse, and a young gentleman wrapped in a fashionable roinelaire, sprung i from the same, and enquired very earnestly. if a young gentleman and lady hail arrived there by the coach from Salisbury ? The driver, front the description, was ter• twin the parties were the same who left the coach i% Piccadilly is a hackney chariot ; and on this intelligent* the lady and the gentleman (who was her Ms,) immedi arch. set off to Bow-street, to request the assistance of the"Magistricy. It appears the young fuglilves are' scarcely of age; the gentleman is All stiventnoests son of Mars, and the lady the youngest of a most distiOgoisbed tastily near Salisbury, and will be entitled is an Ina-. 21 11 *tense fortune when she comes of age. The Mowery glace in consequence of a letter fooled on tbatollet Ong lady two hours after her. departure t The. . iii lest no time in following ;loft AIMS they iravetled at the extraordinary fa& of IS milli how. b to came came to town first. At nine o'clock gesiamlar. orning the police had gained some scent sad . *fk. immedt -4 at ly set oft in permit et tbe f+tieel. , Smoestme Sous aa.—A tienessas, who bidlbhoda IS wears a confidential clerk in the basking bap 1 . it Sir, Jamei Waite and Co. cOmmit ted • +Weide oti . Tne ivi e a dg by ma morning gas his throat with * razor. •R r t be committed the act before a kroisiteg *OS lei ~ ~ T 4¢ lily ‘04.1M“.•••••••%•••• was Plat allsi neratkitl. is klishel. *Wiest a - 41ketsion, lOW titner.• afs censors os Ole 4' l" this witbbeidlag Ot dits of ceusare oa fita oilebift MID Cauutattivi 'exampled in aneleai sod e"nodern:hi t,iry teithatiseewmasitied the act bon., 6 46611611. Own p.m' euu of insecurity were so mixed up %itli ihr l his bed. • w, _ y I *1 ly It 17 n. ~ N ~nr ;tIY lee? lave tees ces ••s e'er call- *per at he with 1?- rice I Ilv. 'where to go. tiers - 7 ,7) 4'