The Sun. — London, England, 1859-03-04 00:00:00

Mr. RICARDO asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at what date the notice for the termination of the treaty of the 22d July, 1844, in reference to the Stade Dues between the United Kingdom and Hanover, according to the eighth artice of that treaty, was given toj the Hanoverian Government : Whether that notice was withdrawn or suspended ; if so, whether it had been renewed, and at what date the said treaty will actually terminate under the notice announced to the house as having been given by the Under Secretary of State ? Mr. S. FITZGERALD said that the treaty had not been renewed, because it was considered that it had not yet expi red. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS--(YEsTERDAT). The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. Earl GREY presented a petition from the English resi dents at Hong Kong, complaining of the prevalence of piracy in the Chinese seas, and the inefficient measures taken for its extinction by the authorities. It was further believed by the petitioners that the officials at that place participated in the profits of the unlawful trade. The Earl of CARNARVON said he thought the com plaints of the petitioners were much exaggerated, and he thought the noble lord was labouring- under some misap prehension. He had seen in the Colonial-office a very voluminous correspondence on the subject, and consequently it was very difficult to arrive at any satis factory opinion on the matter. After a few words from EarlquEY,the subject dropped. THE FOREIGN ARMAMENTS. Lord BROUGHAM said it had been stated that he expressed his satisfaction at the answer he had received from the noble earl (the Earl of Malmesbury) to the question he put the other night, relative to warlike preparations in a neighbouring country. What he „ a wa s that the answer he had received tallied exactly with the information he had received. He expressed no opinion on the subject whatever. EDUCATION IN INDIA. Lord ELLENBOROUGH asked the noble duke oppo site (Argyll) whether it would not be better to postpone the motion he had on the paper with respect to education in India. He thought it would be better if the whole subject was left in the hands of her Majesty's Government. The Duke of ARGYLL said he did not think a discus sion on this subject would increase any dang er in India. The Earl of DERBY said the attention o the Govern ment had been directed to the report received in this country from India on the subject of education. The Se cretary of State for India had called for a fuller report from the Indian authorities, and until that was received he thought it better that all discussion should be postponed. The motion was then postponed sine die, and their lord ships immediately afterwards adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY. The SPEAXER took the chair at four o'clock. PETITIONS. Petitions were presented praying for an iny, by com mittee of the house, into th e working of the quir public-house licensing act ; for placing letter-carriers and others em ployed in provincial post-offices on the same footing as those engaged in the metropolitan post-office ; for conducting the inquiry into the operation of Forbes Mackenzie's Act in Scotland by Royal commis sion, instead of by committee • f o r the removal of restrictions tending to impede British navigation ; against the renewal of the licence of the Hudson Bay Company ; for placing conveyancers in the Court of Pro bate and the Court for the Transfer of Estates on the same footing as the attorneys in other courts rm ; against the Luna tic Asylums Act; a inst the admission of lunatics into gaols ; against the legalising of marriage with a deceased wife's sister, on the ground that such would be opposed to Scripture and social welfare (chiefly from the clergy and from ladies) ; and against the immigration of coolies into the West Ind BRITISH MUSEUM. Mr. GREGORY gave notice of motion to inquire into the organisation of the British Museum. AMBASSADORS, CONSULS, &c. On the motion of Mr. WISE, returns were ordered of all the ambassadors, envoys, ministers, charge d' affaires, sec retaries of embassy and legation, paid and unpaid attaches, who have been appointed since the Ist day of January, 1856 ; stating- their salaries, the date of their appoint ment, their previous services in any department, and whether the paid and unpaid attaches have passed any examination on their first nomination or promotion, accord ing to the regulations approved by the Earl of Clarendon in 1856 ;—for return of all the consuls general, consuls, vice consuls, consular agents, consular assistants, inter preters, secretaries, and students who have been appointed since the Ist day of Jan., 1856; stating their salaries, the date of their appointment, their previous services in the con sular or any ether department, and whether they have passed any examination previously to entering the service, according to the regulations approved by the Earl of Clarendon in 1856 ; for return of all the Queen's foreign service messengers, extra foreiFn service messengers, and home service messen gers, appointed since the Ist day of January, 1850, as well as of those now attached to the establishment of the Foreign office, stating the date of appointment, the salaries, and pre vious employment in any department of her Majesty's ser vice. REGISTER OF TITLES TO LAND. Mr. CAIRD asked the Lord Advocate whether he in tended to bring forward a measure for improving the regis ters of titles to land ; and whether he intended to diminish the cost of registration and search in Scotland. The LORD ADVOCATE said, with reference to the first question, a bill was prepared, but he could not say when it would be introduced ; and with regard to the second, the Government was not in possession of full infor mation on the matter alluded to. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. Mr. MACKIE asked the Lord Advocate whether, under the Act 10 and 11 Vic., c. 47, relating to the service of heirs, Or under any other statute, or by any practice of the Scottish courts, the sheriff of the county, where any altera tion or amendment in the course of proceedings is necessary, has power to attach a condition to money payments to charitable institutions before pronouncing decree of service ? The LORD ADVOCATE declined giving an answer to the question. THE MINISTERIAL REFORM BILL. Mr. DODSON asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he would lay upon the table of the house the data upon which was founded the Government estimate, that the extension of the right of suffrage to £lO occupiers would:in crease the number of county voters in England and Wales by no less than 200,000. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the documents were already on the table. THE STADE DUES. THE NEW FOREIGN OFFICES. In reply to Mr. CoNINOHAM, Lord J. MANNERS said that as soon as the working drawings and estimates of cost of the Foreign-offices were ready the designs would be exhibited. FOREIGN TROOPS IN ITALY. Mr. HOItSMAN gave notice of his intention to ask the Government a question on this subject. THE INDIA LOAN BILL. In reply to Mr. BRIGHT, Lord STANLEY said he proposed to bring forward the second reading of the bill on Monday next. OATHS ADMINISTERED TO JEWS ON ADMIS. SION TO PARLIAMENT. Mr. T. DITNCOMBE moved—" That whereasthis house had, upon two previous occasions, resolved, that any per son professing the Jewish religion may henceforth, in taking the oath prescribed in an act to entitle him to sit and vote in this house, omit the words, and I make this decla ration upon the true faith of a Christian' "—that leave be given to bring in a bill to provide that the fore going resolution may be made a standing order. He con tended that, as matters at present stood, it was mostunsatis factory, as the standing order might be rescinded — not that he thought such would be likely, if the people were consulted. When the resolution was placed on the standing orders, no future Parliament would attempt to disturb it, and it would remain on their records as a memento of the religious toleration of the present day, as well as the intolerance of a former period. Mr. COX seconded the motion. Mr. NEWDEGATE moved as an amendment to Mr. T. Duncombe's motion—"Thatno resolution, under the provi sions of the act 21 and 22 Vic. c. 49, shall be moved in this house, unless at least one days notice of such resolution shall have been previously given in the votes. That this be a standing order of the house." He bowed to the decision of Parliament with reference to the resolution, but he felt bound to resist the present motion ; at the same time, he considered that they proceeded with that motion with too much haste. He would take the case of the hon. member for London (Baron Rotbwhild) who, at the time of his election, held the office of Consul-General of Austria. They were aware that this house was very jealous, and carefully guarded against the admission of an undue number of holders of office under their own Government and was it wise, therefore, to sanction the principle of admitting into Parlia ment persons who held offices under a foreign Government. It was true that Baron - Rothschild promptly and honourably resigned his office when he was admitted within the walls of the House of Commons; but ought they to trust to the honour of an individual in a matter of so much importance as the admission of a representative to the Legislature ? Mr. MALINS seconded the amendment, and begged to point out a difficulty that existed in the course proposed by the hon. member for Finsbury. Having come to the conclusion they had done, he thought all further discussion on the subject to which the motion referred should cease, as being . fruitless, a n d ca l culated to able position pending such dis place members of the Jewish persuasion who were returned, to Parliament in a disagree the on. member would not press h cessions, and he trusted his motion. Mr. BYNG supported the Government which cour se i t Mr. CONINGHAM as k ed . motion. n dealing with the question, would be necessary to p if it was proposed to proceedewil.th the motion. He would vote for the m otion, and he condemned the administration of all oaths, as being calculated t o extend hypocrisy and perj u. The ry CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQ UE R said that he was informed it would be neces sar y proceedinthet to matter by legislation, if the house were desirous to convert the resolution into a standing order. For his own part he very much regretted that any such_ ..propbeosietnioninas. that of the hon. member for Finsbury had ... troduced. He remembered what took place last year he would not • say the compact that had been entered into—but the representations that had been made which induced certain members who were opposed to the resolution not to offer any further resistance to the passing of the resolution. If they adopted the course proposed by the ho.a. member for Finsbury, they would revive the discussions that had taken place on previous • () ecabions, and lead, perhaps, to some differences with the „ uPPer House. Ho could not vote for the amendment, on the same ground as that on which he opposed the motion. After some further discussion, in which Sir G. GREY and other hon. members took part, Mr. WALPOLE suggested that the motion should be referred to a select committee, which was ultimately agreed to, and the motion and amendment were withdrawn, and a motion to that effect agreed to. THE TIMBER DUTIES. Mr. MITCHELL moved "that it was the opinion of the house that the duties on foreign and colonial wood should be repealed." The hon. gentleman said that in the present uncertain state of the house he would not propose the re peal of the timber duties this year ; he should only call on t h em to adopt the terms of his present resolution.. In 1841 the, duty on forei g n wood was 558' per load, and that on colonial 20s. Wood was one of the three great articles a c hange in the duties on which was proposed by th e no bl e lord the member for the City of London in 1841. He need not say that that proposal was unsuccessful. In 1842 Sir R. Peel brought in his celebrated budget, in which he pro pod $ A the dutiaM toreigu WAWr ohoul4 be reduced to 30s. in 1842, and to 255. in 1843. The duty on colonial timber he brought down at once to the merely nominal sum of Is. a load. On that occasion Sir Robert said that if there was an article on which a reduction of duty w nld be a benefit to the people, it was wood. The impost remained unaltered till 1845. Sir R. Peel then proposed that the duties should be reduced to 20s. in 1846, an i to 15s. in 1847. In 1850 the navigation laws were repeal , and ships were admitted free of duty. Of the principle o. hat measure he (Mr. Mitchell) cordially approved ; beta if they sub jected the shipowner to foreign competition, he had a right to buy his vessels in the cheapest market ; but in repealing the navigation laws they created the anomaly of admitting the manufactured article duty free, while they kept a heavy duty upon the raw material. In 1850 he (the hon. member) proposed that vessels should be allowed to be built in bond. The thea Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir C. Wood) pointed out the great difficulties which a system of drawbacks en tailed; but he promised to take the whole subject into con sideration. Accordingly in 1851 the right hon. baronet pro posed and carried a reduction of theduties from 15s. on hewn and 10s. on sawn timber, to 10s. and 7s. 6d.; at which rates the impost still remained. It would perhaps be desirable here to show the effect which these successive reductions had had upon the trade. Before 1843 the quantity of timber im ported was 1,110,000 loads. In that year it amounted to 1,317.645 loads; but in 1857 it reached 2,494,964 loads. It was quite true that last year it had somewhat fallen off, being 2,227,256 loads. The timber trade was always the last to feel a commercial crisis, and it was also the last to recover from it ; but he had no doubt that the small falling off in 1858 would be abundantly made up in the present year. It would be seen that colonial timber had expe rienced a considerable reduction in the amount of protec tion afforded to it ; but there had nevertheless been no fall ing off in the colonial trade. In 1857 the quantity of wood imported from our colonies exceeded the total quantity of our imports foreign and colonial, in 1842. (Hear, hear.) He (the hon. gentleman) objected to the continuance of the timber duties on four grounds. First, it was the only duty that existed on a raw material—at least, he knew of none of any importance. There were three great articles which entered into all our ma nufactures—coal, iron, and wood. Fortunately, we had the two former within our own shores; but, with the exception of oak, we were obliged to bring all our timber from abroad. That alone was a great disadvan tage to us, because we had to bear all the charges of impor tation. In addition to those, however, a further and arti ficial charge, amounting to 14 per cent., had been placed upon all the timber we used. The rudest hovel such as was erected in a brickfield to shelter the workmen would pay at least a pound in the shape of timber duty ; and the tax on a cottage of half-a-dozen rooms would amount to £3. (Hear, hear.) In the second place, it was a protective duty. He did not see any reason why we should tax our selves 14s. per load for the benefit of Canada ; for he be lieved that the Canadian Legislature was gradually raising its duties on English goods, so as to exclude them in favour of its own manufactures. Silk was the only article besides timber on which there was still a protective duty, but silk, it should be remembered, was an article of luxury. In the third place, the timber duty was most unequal and unjust. African oak, teak, and mahogany, and in fact all the higher classes of wood, paid no duty at all. Sir Robert Peel had removed tho tax on those descriptions in order to encourage the employment of carpenters ; but the result was that while the rich man's furniture paid nothing, the impost was levied upon the poor man's deal table. (Hear, hear.) One result of this arrangement had been to double the import of mahogany within the last ten years. In the fourth place, the timber duty operated most unjustly upon the shipping interest. The price of white oak at Dantzic was 80s. per load, and the import charges amounted to 225. more. The cost of fir at Dantzic was 405., and the import charges 20s. The house would thus perceive how serious was the disad vantage under which the English ship-builder laboured without having any artificial addition made to the cost of his material. [The hon. gentleman then read a statement showing the proportion which the timber duties bore to the cost of a vessel built of foreign wood, that proportion diminishing as the quality of the vessel improved.] He asked the house to consider whether it was proper perma nently to maintain a duty which admitted the manufac tured article duty free, and burdened the raw material with a duty ranging from 9to 3A per cent. f In no other case was raw material taxed and the manufactured article exempt. Wood was second only in importance to coal and iron. The produce of this duty was about £600,000 per annum ; and that circumstance had deterred him, from 1851 till now, from bringing the matter forward. Directly after the war he had felt that it would be inexpedient to ask for the remission of this duty ; but in 1860 a considerable reduction in our bur dens must take place, from the falling in of the terminable annuities. He, therefore, pressed the house to express its opinion that it was unjust and inexpedient to continue this duty. Mr. FENWICK seconded the resolution. It did not pledge the house as to the time when the duties should be repealed, but merely affirmed the general principle that they were unjust in themselves mid injurious in operation. The house had recognised the impolicy of taxing any raw mate rial ; and the principle was carried out in everything— cotton, wool, or silk—except wood. His constituency was more interested in shipping than any other. More ships were now built on the Wear than in all the rest of England put together. Two years ago the excess was 60 per cent. beyond the rest of the country. This tax was a positive in jury to the shipbuilders of that place. The duty on foreign timber was from 10 to 25 per cent. at the place of shipment. Ships built in the Baltic or Canada were permitted to be brought to this country duty free and sold, thus directly injuring the shipbuilding trade of this country. Suppose that this happened with cotton or wool : the whole of the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire would be up in arms against it, and Mr. Gibson would come down to the house with a skilfully prepared motion on the sub ject. (A laugh.) It was known that Canadian timber was inferior to that of the Baltic, but is consequence of the duty being only ls. a load on the former, it was more used here, especially for building purposes though it was well known to be a worse timber. The shipping interest had always looked on the good old Tories as their natural protectors ; but if the Government now opposed this resolution they would lose that character. (Hear. hear.) Sir S. NORTHCOTE said that when this motion first appeared in the paper, it had struck the Chancellor of the Exchequer and himself that it was one making an imme diate attack on an important part of the revenue of the country. But the mover and seconder said that the words of the motion did not necessarily imply that. He supposed they were to regard it as a mere abstract resolution, express ing the opinion of the house that at some future time, under circumstances which they did not at present foresee, it would be a very good thing if the duties on foreign and colonial timber were repealed. But it was impossible to treat the resolution of that house as if they were discussions in a debating society. (Hear, hear.) Of course, such a resolution if passed would be considered to have some effect ; the house and the country would look upon it as a pledge that, if not immediately, at a very early day, these duties would be taken off. In considering the finan cial arrangements of the year the rule they had invariably acted upon was, first to provide what was necessary to be granted to her Majesty, and then to go into committee of ways and means to consider how that supply should be raised. The natural course was that they should first see the estimates which were laid on the table, and then hear from the recognised authority on such matters, the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, what was the condition of the country, what was the relation of the revenue and expendi ture, and what were the most proper taxes for reduction and remission, if such could be granted. But here, at an early stage of the session, after only a single vote had been taken in committee of supply, before half the estimates were on the table, before they had the slightest idea of what was the financial condition of the country, and without refer ence to other claims for remission, they were asked to pledge themselves to this resolution. Last year these duties amounted to £561,000 ; and it was obvious that so large an amount could not be spared at a moment's notice. At all events, it was necessary that the Chancellor of the Exche quer, when he came to make his financial statement, should approach the subject with his hands unfettered by any re solution of that house. What would be the effect of passing such a resolution ? Naturally, all the other interests which thought they had a claim to the remission of duties, would get their friends to come down, and make a tolerably good muster, and say—of course without prejudice to anything —" Just let us declare that this or the other is a very bad tax." The result would be that nearly every existing tax might be condemned by resolution of that house. (Hear.) Besides that, how would it affect the trade of the country ? Consider the effect on the timber trade if to-morrow morn ing it went out that that house had adopted a resolution that those duties ought to be repealed. At present the tim ber trade was in a state of considerable agitation, and great efforts were being made to raise prices. The effect of passing this resolution would be to increase that agitation, and to a certain effect it would paralyse those engaged in the trade, who would not know on what footing they were to proceed. And if the resolution were passed, and no effect were given to it, those who had nu.de arrangements believing it would be carried into effect, would have afair right to complain that the house had acted so as to inflict on them serious injury. Then the mover and seconder of the resolution had taken it for granted that the reduction of those duties would have the effect of reducing the price of timber. It had been said, very truly, that since 1842 a large reduction had been made in the price of both foreign and colonial timber, and that in consequence a very large increase had taken place in the quantities imported. In 1842 the duty on foreign timber was reduced from 365. to 31s. ; and on colonial from lls. to a nominal duty of ls. The immediate effect of that was to produce a considerably increased importation. In Islo the price of duty-paid timber was somewhere about 83s. ; in 1844 it had fallen to 565. The next great change was in 1851, when Sir Charles Wood further reduced the duty on foreign timber from 15s. to 75. 6d., not reducing the duty on colonic because it was merely nominal. The effect of that had been perhaps to stimulate, to a certain extent, the importation of foreign timber • but prices were actually higher now than they were before that alteration ; and therefore the whole of the revenue sacrificed had gone, not into the pockets of the customers, but those of the growers or importers. In 1844 the price of Memel timber on board was 315., the duty being then 255., making a total of 665. ; but in 1858 the price on board was much higher, and the price to the consumer was rather higher. In 1868 the prices of Memel and Dantzic timber, the best fir, ranged from 655. to 70s. ; they were now from 755. to 80s., showing an in crease of 10s. The same with regard to Riga fir; it had risen from 655. to 755. The probability was that if they wore now to take off the duty on foreign timber, the same result would follow ; though the revenue would lose, the • price coentsumer would gain very little indeed. This country was not wholly depend en t on foreign timber, but partly on that of Canada at present we the took nearly equal quantities of each. Now ' ce was necessarily regulated, not by the price a t w hi e t here, but by the pri t e h e e wh m ic e h rch h a e n c t eu c l o d u g ld et a w fi h b e r n d h t e o h b r ri e n u ,, g o- h i t t it here ; because, though the reduction of duty could en able him to bring iptrilieeere whenttt a lower price, he would not sell it at a lower t r i t m a t tio of n e o e f le f n ore ia ri on Canada timber remained the he could get a higher ; and as long as the duty oue r tt in im g r same, its price must regulate that of all the timber sold in beenthetimber beenbe r had de - had ti cream,. • (). From that they might infer that colonial timber country. considerably could not be brought profitably to this country at a lower price than the present. Therefore, whether they took off the foreign duty or not was immaterial to the colonial producer; he would be obliged to demand the same price for his timber then as now; and if he did so, the foreign producer would also demand the same price for his timber as he did now. Therefore, though the foreign producer might gain consi • derably by the reduction of duty, the consumer would pro bably gain nothing. (Hear.) The quantity of foreign timber imported last year was 1,100,000 tons, and of colonial very nearly the same, 1,09 5 , 000 tons—the consumption of colo nial timber having, 1843, • since fallen off by 186 , 000 tons, and that of foreign having incre ased 454,000 tons. ieth The er case of the hon. mover broke down at this p oint—whether thethe reduction would really have the effect of benefiting the con- Buren/. ; and if so, the whole case he had fell t d made o the ground- It had also been said that some kinds of timber were already exempt from duty; but those were timbers which were largely used in shipbuilding. The duty was further condemned because it was a protective duty; but as three succeeding ministries had maintained these duties as they existed, it was to be presumed that there was some reason for doing so beyond the mere object of protection. Tho fact was, the difference in freight in favour of Baltic timber WO About Ha the load, while the difforouce of duty in favour of colonial was only 6s. 6d. Ho contended that no case had been made out for treating this duty apart from the general question of finance. Reference had been made to the reductions that would take place in 1860, but it was most objectionable to fetter the hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer a year beforehand. (Hear.) Mr. WILSON said that Sir R. Peel and Mr. Gladstone had long urged the impolicy of these duties, but he would never be a party to repealing a duty until he saw his way to the revenue being, made up. The hon. baronet opposite had resisted the motion, on the ground that the duty was paid by the foreign producer ; but he (Mr. Wilson) contended that the price of colonial timber was regulated b 4 that of foreign, not the foreign by the colonial. Such arguments were new to his ears for the last ten years. He should resist the mo tion, believing it impolitic to deal with fiscal questions in an isolated form. As our expenditure was increasing, and the income from certain taxes diminishing, he thought the re solution ought not to be entertained by the house. Mr. HUDSON bore testimony to the strong confidence felt by the shipowners in the present Government. They knew well that Ministers were disposed to do something for their relief, though they might not be able to do so. He had heard gentlemen on the other side express their convic tion that the shipping interest ought to be relieved as far as possible, but after the five years they had been in office, the s hipowners might well have lost all confidence in them. (Hear.) It was said that the repeal of this duty would not benefit the consumer. If so, why not impose taxes on raw cotton, silk, and wool ? A friend of his at Sunderland, most extensively engaged in the glass trade, had paid £1,400 for timber for packages alone for glass, the duty being £3OO. The glass manufacturers of France and Belgium had their timber for this purpose duty free—a decided disadvantage to the British glass manufacturer. He regretted that Go vernment did not support this measure. The paper duty did not press so heavily on the people of this country as the timber duties. He should support the motion of the hon. gentleman because he believed it to be just. Mr. LABOUCHERE said that he could never have made any promise that the timber duties should be repealed, because it was not in his power to perform any such promise. What he said was that the duty was objectionable, and that he hoped the time would soon arrive when it could be re pealed. He must express his surprise at the doctrines which had been enunciated by the hon. gentleman the Secretary to the Treasury. He regarded the duty on timber as one of a most mischievous character. With regard to the shipping interest there was no fear that British ship-builders would not be able to compete with those of foreign countries. So far was it from being true that the ship-building trade was being transferred to other countries in consequence of the withdrawal of protection that precisely the contrary took place. He thought the earliest opportunity should be taken to repeal the tax, but he would not vote for an abstract pro position for the repeal of any tax till he heard the financial statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. (Hear.) Lord H. VANE expressed surprise at the doctrine pro pounded by the financial secretary of the Treasury. The hon. gentleman remarked that there had been a rise in the price of timber when the duty was reduced, from which he argued that the consumer did not receive the benefit of the reduction. But it was natural to suppose that an increased demand for timber followed on the reduction of the duty, which would account for the rise of price. (Hear, hear.) The tax was most objectionable, and pressed heavily on the shipowner. He would suggest to the hon. member for Brid port that he should add to his motion the words, " as soon as the state of the revenue admitted." (Hear, hear.) . Mr. MITCHELL said he should respond to the appeal of the noble lord by agreeing to the addition of the words suggested. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER considered that the addition made the motion much more objectionable than before, for it pledged the house to the repeal of the duty as soon as the state of the revenue admitted it. He could not agree to the statement that this was the only mode in which a tax, supposed to be injurious to the public interest, could be brought before the house for considera tion, and that unless the house sanctioned a resolution of this character, it was impossible that the grievances of any class of the community could be brought before the house for consideration. There were means, such as by moving for papers, of bringing the whole merits of any fiscal ar rangement before the house, and if the house expressed an opinion on the subject, it would no doubt influencethe finan cial minister, if he had the means of giving it effect. But he could assure the house that at present the position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was of that nature that there need not be any scramble amongst the different interests of the community for the surplus he had in hand. (Laughter.) He therefore asked the house not to sanction motions of this kind, which had an injurious effect on the public mind, and led to a feverish anxiety amongst the different branches of trade affected by them. He thought his hon. friend had been misunderstood. He did not say that this tax on tim ber was not a bad tax, even though it was of a protectionist character ; but that there were many taxes on raw materials which were worse. He should be very glad to be able to repeal the duty on timber, but it was not in his power to hold out any expectation of that kind. In a short time— probably in a month—he should call the attention of the house to the financial condition of the country, and if any gentleman did not approve of the proposal then made, it would then be open to those who represented the timber trade or called for the remission of other taxes to bring their cases before the house, when they would no doubt receive impartial consideration. The motion, with the addition suggested by Lord H. Vane, was then put, when there appeared— For the motion Against it tourer lives under British law and has at all times access THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 4, 1859, colonies, aro almost entirely ruined. But, with the excep tion of Jamaica, there is as much sugar produced and ex ported from the rest of the islands as there was in 1831, before the Emancipation Act. I say, with the exception of Jamaica, and I cannot attribute the falling off in agricul tural prosperity of that island to the causes assigned by the right hon. gentleman. I believe the great, if not the sole cause, has been the unfortunate mismanagement of her own self-government, by which her finances have been ruined and her affairs confused. A wretched constitution has in duced jobbing and confusion, and resulted in most disas trous consequences. (Hear.) lam glad to find that the foundation has been laid, by the improvement of her con stitution, for a better state of things, and I trust that Ja maica will ere long resume her natural position at the head of the West India islands. Jamaica used to send to this country 1,500,000 cwt. of sugar ; now she sends not quite 500,000. But the void in her exportation has been filled up from another source. The Mauritius has taken the place of Jamaica, and now sends us about 1,500,000 cwt. In fact, wherever you find an adequate supply of labour, whe ther it be in the Mauritius, in Trinidad, Demerara, or Bar badoes, there you find the cultivation of sugar successfully , conducted, and the whole community in a state of pros perity. The lesson taught by this—and I hope it will be borne in mind not by us alone, but by the whole world—is, that the question whether free labour can compete in a tropical climate with slave labour depends upon the sufficiency with which that free labour is supplied ; and happily in our own colonies the experi ment has worked satisfactorily. My belief is, that by en couraging by all legitimate means the introduction of free labourers into your own sugar-producing possessions, you are doing far more to put down the slave trade and slavery than can be accomplished by all the squadrons you may fit out and all the treaties you can devise. I should look with the utmost alarm at the carrying out of the views of the well-intentioned but mistaken men who ask as a boon for the coloured races, above all people in the world, that you should check the supply of free labour for your own colonies. Successive Governments have carefully watched the whole system under which this immigration has been conducted, in order that the interests of humanity might not be neg lected, and that, as far as could be done under a highly artificial and complicated set of arrangements, the claims of the planter upon the coolie should be reconciled with the right of the latter to protection in his comparatively de fenceless position. One other point of great moment is whether free labourers can be taken from the coast of Africa and carried to our colonies. My own opinion is that any attempt to effect this on the part of England or any other country will only end in a revival of the slave trade in another form. (Hear, hear.) Another question of great importance is whether a supply of labour is obtainable from China. No doubt, if a system of Chinese immigration could be established under proper safeguards, it would be of great advantage to the West India islands. But there are difficulties in the way. One of them is the alleged impossibility of insuring by fair means the intro duction into our colonies of a due proportion of Chinese women. The attention of the late Government, and doubt less that of their successors, was turned to this point ; and Lord Elgin had special directions to make inquiries into it as far as his other and more pressing duties would permit. When one of the West India islands had expressed a wish to send out an agent to China to assist in promoting the same object, every facility was offered on the part of the British Government to the mission of that officer. I will only add, that if the hon. member who has made this motion will follow the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and confine the proposed inquiry to the subjects to which I have referred, I have little doubt that it will be attended with useful results. (Hear, hear.) Mr. F. CROSSLEY expressed the satisfaction that he felt at the speech of the Secretary for the Colonies. He had visited the slave states of South America and the plantations there. The planters were anxious to get his opinion on their "domestic institution," and they asked him if he did not think it was attended with advantage to themselves and their slaves. He endeavoured to show them it would be more to their advantage if they paid their labourers wages, instead of having to give large sums for them, and then have to hold the whip over them to make them work. He advised his hon. friend the member for Newport to accept the offer of the Government. Mr. C. FORTE SCUE, who rose amid cries of "divide," said he only wished to appeal to the hon. member for New port to take the advice tendered to him by the Secretary for the Colonies. He did not think that the public opinion of the country demanded this inquiry, and that the facts did not require it. Mr. C. EWING was sure that if there was sufficient labour in Jamaica they could beat Cuba out of the market. He did not think that differential duties would do them any good. Mr. BUXTON said he would accept the first proposition of the Secretary for the Colonies, and if he did not get the information he required he should bring the subject on again. The motion was then withdrawn. COUNTY COURTS ACT. Sir S. NORTHCOTE obtained leave to bring in a bill to repeal the 32d section of the County Courts Act, 9 and 10 Viet., chap. 95. The object of the bill, he said, was to abolish the offices of High Bailiff of Westminster and South wark. MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT BILL. On the order of the day for the third reading of this bill, Mr. B. HOPE said he was bound to enter his protest against this bill, and to give it an undying and undeviating opposition. cLaughter.) All the women of England were opposed to this bill. (More laughter.) It was said, when this bill was before the house on the last occasion, that the clergy of London were in favour of it. He had no answer to make to that statement at the time, but to-night he had an answer. He had presented apetition against it from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, and another from Sion College, and he had also presented one from the clergy of the important manufacturing town of Leeds. He was satisfied that, though the bill might pass that house, it would not become law. He moved that the bill be read a third time that day six months. The house divided — For the third reading Against it B9 to a British magistrate—l ask you to say whether humanity should bid me arrest that immigration. fling these human beings back to oppression and to famine—and why ?—be cause their labour benefits our fellow British subjects and saves a British colony from ruin. You object to the system of indentures to a master. Just hear the answer as it is supplied to me by the Immigration Commissioners —" It has, however, been objected that the Coolie, being paid for a certain timo under indenture, is in reality in a state of bondage. The answer is that, before the inden ture system was esablished, the Coolies abandoned their work and wandered about the country, and, in many instances in the West Indies, perished miserably from dis ease and want." Their condition was thus described in August, 1859, by Mr. Carberry, a stipendiary magistrate in British Guiana, whose sympathies are much more with the coolies than with the planters. "With the indentures," he says, " the immigrant becomes a useful and industrious member of society. His labour is alike profitable to him self and his master. Without it he too often becomes a wandering mendicant, a nuisance, and disgrace to the colony, and finishes his career in the public hospital ; in the interest, therefore, of the coolie himself the indenture sys tem is necessary." But it is said there has been great mor tality on board the immigrant vessels from Calcutta. Un doubtedly there was in the years 1856-57. But it is fair, while allowing this fact, first to remind the house that the rate of mortality was taken from selected vessels, and that it may be as much accounted for from causes that do not apply to coolie immigration alone. Take the very worst cases that occurred. In Calcutta ships the average mor tality was in the years 1856-57 a little more than 17 per cent. ; but in 1847, on board the vessels that carried the Irish immigrants to America by a far shorter voyage, the mortality was much the same—about 17 per cent. Imagine what advantages would have been lost to Ireland, Eng land, and America if, on account of that melancholy average, the Irish exodus had been stopped. I hold here recent reports of the mortality of coolies from in quiries instituted in India. The causes are most carefully analysed; remedies which will receive the most dili gent attention are suggested. The most searching of all the inquirers, Mr. Morant, who is the inspector of gaols and prisons, thus sums up :—" I am distinctly and decidedly of opinion that the great sickness and mortality of 1856-57 need not recur ; that whether exceptional or not, it can be prevented by proper care and attention, and that there is no need to prohibit the continuance of immigration on grounds either of humanity or policy." What he thus says is borne out by facts and figures; for I have here a return showing the average of mortality on board Calcutta vessels during the whole 11 years immigration has taken place. 94 ships have been sent from Calcutta to the West Indies, and the average mortality in these years had been but 6 1-sth per cent. ; while on board 311 vessels sent from Madras to the West Indies that average has been under 2 per cent.. and it will be satisfactory to the house to learn that in the last year there has been a marked decrease in mortality, both in Calcutta and Madras ships, for whereas in 18.57-58 the mortality in the first was 13 per cent., in 1858-59 it has been only 6 1-6th per cent. ; while in the Madras ships in 1858 59 the mortality has been a seventh part of 1 per cent. Stress has been laid on the Coolie im migrants in Jamaica. In most of the petitions that have been before me it is stated to be 50 per cent. What are the facts ? I find by the last return, August, 1858, that the total number of Coolie immigrants since the immigration began was 4,451, and that the number of those who had died, disappeared, or were unaccounted for during those 13 years was 1,597. lam told, in fact, that a number of these immigrants chose to re-emigrate to Jamaica to work at the railroad, and lost their lives by that climate ; but that was their own fault. But suppose they all died in Jamaica ; calculate that mortality, as taken for the 13 years, it gives, not a percentage of 50 per cent., but a percentage of only 2 1-6th per cent. But, taking it, as I think you ought, by calculating the average mortality of those who had returned to India during the 13 years, you only get about four per cent. And this is a specimen of the exag geration by which honest and well-meaning men have been deceived. As to the colonies generally, we find by returns that the average mortality among the Coolies in the Mauritius is a little more than three per cent. In British Guiana it is under four per cent. ; in Trinidad it is singu larly low, stated at not above one-half per cent.; in Grenada it is two and one-sixth per cent. I think there is here some mistake, and I estimate the mortality as under three per cent. I turn, then, to the second class of argument—viz., that which condemns the present system of immigration as unfair to the Creole. It is said that there is really no scarcity of hands to meet the habitual requirements of the labour-market in the West Indian colonies; that intnigration. is an attempt on the part of the planters to beat down the wages of the negroes. But surely it is a sufficient answer to tha assertion that the proprietors pay an extra sum to obtain elsewhere the labour which you say they can find more con veniently at home. Is that human nature ? Do men do so even in the West Indies ? Does Barbadoes do so ? No. Barbadoes sends for no immigrants, because Barbadoes has a sufficient population, and that population is eminently industrious. But does the absence of immigration keep up wages ? No. Wages in Barbadoes are lower than those in any of the colonies to which emigration has been ad mitted. Compare the average wages of Barbadoes even with those at Jamaica, where you say the planter wishes to drive so hard a bargain with the Creole. Wages at Bar bedews since emancipation have ranged at ls. 11d. per day to 10d. At Jamaica they have ranged from is. 6d. to Is. ; and in the colonies, where immigration is admitted freely, a man, be he Creole or Indian, can obtain by task-work at least 2s. a day. But is the immigrant a competitor for labour at less wages than are current;with the native ? No ; it is provided that the immigrant shall receive as a mini mum the current rate of wages paid to an unindentured labourer, and these wages cannot be low if, as we have seen, they enable the coolie to return home in a few years with what to him is affluence for the rest of his life. But it is said, "At all events, for this importation of labour the planters should pay exclusively ; the population should not be taxed for the labour that competes with their own." Sir, I grant at once that the planter should pay the greater por tion of this expense, that is a condition which both my pre decessors and myself have kept steadfastly in view. And, according to the Jamaica Act, the planters pay two-thirds ; but that is not all. The money applicable for the payment of the first immigration is the sum of £50,000 remaining on the imperial guaranteed loan of £lOO,OOO. The repayment of that loan is to be effected by an export duty, and an ex port duty falls on the producer, that is, the planter. But granted that a portion of the expense does fall on the general community, if the immigration conduces to its prosperity it may fairly be expected to contribute towards it. Increased civilisation is always followed by increased taxation; more money is required for schools, for religious worship, for public works; every individual in the country rises higher in the scale in proportion as it becomes more pros perous; is it, unjust to call on them to pay some thing towards what enriches and exalts the country ? Well, sir, then I venture to think there are really no grounds for this committee. So far as the West Indies are concerned there are no petitions from them demanding this inquiry, nor are there any special measures for their benefit proposed. So far as information is concerned, it is given to you every year in blue books as numerous and as bulky as the most passionate student of blue-books could desire. And we are now printing for Parliament papers upon nearly all the sub jects to which the hon. gentleman has referred. But it must not be supposed that we shrink from inquiry. And I make the hon. gentleman two proposals-Ist, Let him wait till the papers about to be printed for the use of members are on the table ; if he then wants more information let him specify the points ; if the Government cannot give them let him have his committee upon those ; or, 2dly, if he insist on a committee immediately I will grant it, provided he thus defines its inquiry—viz., To inquire into the present mode of conducting immigration into the West Indian colonies, and the best means of promoting that object. I think that is fair;, but if he take my advice he will wait for information before he decides on any commit tee at all. (Hear, hear.) Let me say in conclusion a few words to the friends of the Anti-Slavery Society. I have fought by their side in my youth, and now, when I think they have been misinformed, I still believe that our object is the same — namely, to give complete succe ss to the sublime experiment of negro emancipation. It becomes them above all men to do their best to bestow prosperity on the colonies in which slavery has been abolished. (Cheers.) Every hundredweight of sugar produced by the immigrant at Jamaica is a hundredweight withdrawn from the market of Cuban slaves. (Cheers.) Will slave States follow our example, unless capital flourish under it ? Can capital flourish unless it has the right to hire labour wherever la bour is willing to be hired ? (Cheers.) I warn them, that if in any indiscretion of over zeal on our part our Westllndian Colonies become vitally injured, it is wo who shall rivet the bonds of negro slavery wherever it yet desecrates a corner of the earth. (Cheers.) Mr. LABOUCHEILE said—l rejoice to say, especially at this time of night, that I do Rot feel the least disposi tion to trespass more than a few minutes on the attention of the house ; but having recently filled the situation which is now occupied by the right hon. gentleman, I feel it in cumbent on me to address a few words on the present occa sion. I think the house must have observed of recent years a great alteration in the triode in which colonial subjects have been treated within its walls. I, at least, can remem ber when no class of subjects was debated with more acri mony—indeed, it was often the favourite battlefield when domestic policy did not present any point particularly tempting for these conflicts. But a much better feeling has of late years arisen upon these questions. lam bound to acknowledge that during the two years I had the honour to be Secretary for the Colonies I received from gentlemen who were opposed to me in general policy nothing but counsel and assistance. I ie not recollect that a single hostile motion was made by any gentleman, and both from my sense of duty to the colonies, as well as the recollection of that circumstance, I trust I shall always endeavour to view colonial subjects entirely free from party bias. (Cheers.) On the present occasion I am glad to say that I am able to express an almost com plete coincidence of opinion with the right hon. gentleman. I agree in hoping that my hon. friend who has brought forward this motion with such ability, and in a manner so becoming his name and position, will not, on the present occasion,invite the house to undertake an inquiry into the general state of the West Indies, which I am sure is unne cessary, and may be mischievous. (Hear.) I think this house should be sparing of inquiries into the state of our colonies. (Hear.) I have never said, and I will never say, that this house sh o uld not keep a vigilant eyo u . ponthe British Colonies as well as upon every other great interest committed to it, but I do say that very sparing interference is wise. (Hear, hear.) This house may depend upon it that there is growing up in the colonies a jealousy not only of unnecessary interference on the part of the Executive, but on the part of the Legislature itself. They think justly that they aro able to manage their own concerns better than we can manage them for them. The house may depend upon it that they will best preserve the su premo authority in the last resort respected and revered, by exercising it only on the greatest and not on light and un necessary occasions. (Hear, hear.) That being the case, 1 ask what reason can be given as to the necessity of any in quiry into the general condition of the West Indies ? From my knowledge of the colonies, I have no hesitation in say ing that it would be adverse to the feeling of the British West Indies. (Hear, hear.) Jamaica has a great popular constitution—a great popular Legislature ; and I think they will. consider any inquiry into their affairs on the part of this house unnecessary. I see no good in such an inquiry —and, seeing much evil, I cannot but join with the right lion. gentleman in hoping that my hon. friend will not press that part of his motion on the present occasion. (Hear, hear.) The general picture of the West Indies at this moment is extremely gratifying. There can be no doubt they have struggled through that period of distress which long weighed on them. Some are in a state of great prosperity. They are all in a state of improve ment. With regard to their moral and social position, I hope the two races, black and white, are becoming amalga mated, and acting in greater harmony together. I know that black and white lawyers sit side by side as barristers in their courts of justice. I know that official situations are held by men of colour, and when I had the honour of hold ing the seals of the Colonial-office I always rejoiced to find a man of colour, of character and ability, to whom I could give an appointment. If those causes are left to operate I think the house may rely on an improved condition of the colonies, both socially and morally, being produced. (Hear, hear.) The general state of things with regard to the sugar trade is very curious and interesting. I believe it is the Maio); to say that the West Ladies, as sugar prpdaciAs • Majority against 56 SALE OF SPIRITS IN SCOTLAND. Viscount MELGUND moved for a select committee to inquire into the laws regulating the sale and consumption of exciseable liquors in Scotland. The subject of investiga tion was the operation of the Forbes Mackenzie Act, re specting which the noble lord entered into many details. The motion was seconded by Mr. CRAUFURD. Sir A. AGNEW moved, as an amendment, that the in quiry should be entrusted to a Royal commission, instead of a select committee of that house. The subject would, he thought, be treated with more impartiality by commissioners nominated by the Crown, whose investigations moreover could be prosecuted without interruption through any pro rogation or dissolution of Parliament. Mr. FINLAY seconded the amendment. Sir G. GREY supported the original motion, as did Mr. C. BRUCE. The LORD ADVOCATE stated that, in the opinion of the Government, the inquiry would be best conducted by a Royal commission. He hoped the house would consent to adopt that course. After some remarks by Sir E. COLEBROOK; Mr. WILSON contended that the inquiry by means of a commission would be attended with many inconveniences and enormous expense. Mr. HARDY showed cause for believing that, on the whole a commission was the best medium for the proposed investigation. The discussion was pursued by Mr. Baxter, Lord J. Stuart, Mr. E. Ellice, Lord Duncan, and others. The original motion was then negatived by consent, and the amendment, for appointing a commission, agreed to. THE WEST INDIES. Mr. BUXTON moved fora select committee to inquire into the condition of the West Indies, and the best means of promoting immigration into them. He denied that the distressed state of the islands could be attributed to the emancipation of the negroes. All the misfortunes of the planters could be traced to other sources. The supply of labour was, however, the question of chief importance, and on this point he urged the advisability of inquiry, with the view of discovering the quarter from whence and the means by which this supply could be best provided. The hon. member criticised the system of immigration as at present established, objecting to many of the arrangements now in force, and contending that the whole expense incurred in importing labourers should be defrayed by the planters. Sir E. B. LYTTON—Sir, let me, in the first instance. express my sense of the ability and the temperance with which the hon. gentleman has introduced his motion. The bearer of his father's name enters into the discussion of all questions that affect humanity with an hereditary title- deed to respect. It is clear that he will preserve that heirloom without a flaw. If I question his views I can equally hon our his sincerity. lam glad this subject is openly dis cussed. I take it first on its broadest ground. Sir, I should be dealing unfairly towards those friends of the Anti-Slavery Society whose petitions have been before me if I did not assume that on principle they are op posed to the whole system of labour immigration which I found established in the West India colonies. On my part, I so sympathise with zeal on behalf of the negro, even where I think those who entertain it misguided and mis informed on details, that I entreat beforehand forgiveness if inadvertently a single word should escape me that may seem to disparage the humanity that I hold in reverence: But I must say, frankly and firmly, that from that system of immigration I am convinced that no Minister responsible for the welfare of the West India colonies can depart. Let the house listen to facts and figures, and then say if I am wrong in the convictions I express. The hon. gentleman says that the prosperity of the colonies does not arise from immigration alone. No ; but where immigration has been continued prosperity has followed. Sir, the experiment of Coolie immigration was first tried in the Mauritius in 1835 or 1836 ; it was then commenced by the planters as private importers of labour. Abuses arose , the immigration was suspended in 1838. In 1843 the Government took it into their hands, and by the Government it has since been con- I ducted. Now hear the result. Since the experi ment there have been introduced into the colony 170,000 persons; out of these, in 1856, as many as 134,291 were still residents. The effect on the produce of the colony has been this :—The sugar crop i n 1844 was 70,000,0001 b. ;in 1855 it amountedio 238,480,0001 b. That has been the effect on the produce. What has been the effect on the immigrant population ? Three-fourths of those emigrants who returned to India at the end of three or five years brought back with them from 500 to 1,200 rupees each, and Sir G. Anderson, who had formerly been a distinguished judge in India, in 1850 reported his opinion in these words—" These immigrants, as a labouring popula tion, are perhaps nowhere in the world in such favourable circumstances. But I may be told that the Mauritius is a special and singular example. Is it so? Take next British Guiana ; there about 23,000 Coolies have been introduced ; they do not, as in the Mauritius, form the whole of the agri cultural population, but a considerable part of it, and the sugar crop, which in 1841 was little more than 34,000 hhds., was in 1855 55,366 hhds. While this was the increase to the wealth of the colony, what was the benefit to the immigrants? Judger by this instance : In a single ship which left British Guiana last year 277 Coolies paid into the hands of the authorities for transmission to Indiamore than £6,000. I will now show you what has been the increased prosperity of the colony of Trinidad by the results of immwr ation. I find in the despatch from the Governor dated' Sept. 26, 1858, that the population returned by the census of 1851 was 68,600 ; by immigration and the influx of strangers it is now raised to about 80,000. Well, the imports of Trinidad in 1855 were £554,534, in 1857 £800,830; the exports, in 1855 were £387,999, in 1857 they were £1,013,414; and the Governor in summing up the census of this pro gressive and amazing prosperity, says, " But it is to the stream of immigration which has flowed into the island during the years under review that it is mainly indebted for the progress it has achieved." Now compare this increase of produce in colonies caused by immigration with the decline of produce in Jamaica, where immigration has been suspended. In Jamaica the produce of sugar for three years after the apprenticeship was 1,812,204 cwt., and during the last three years it has fallen off to 1,244,373 cwt. Turn next to Trinidad. There about 10,000 Coolies have been introduced. There the wages are far inferior to those in British Guiana; there is an immense competition for labour, and yet in the last return Coolie ship from Trinidad 343 Coolies deposited with the inspector £5,389, and on their persons took more than £9OO. Now, then, I respect fully ask you who advocate the cause of humanity, who feel with me that humanity belongs exclusively to no ce C n h e i gm nese ~ ?lonr and to no country, who, if you advocate the cause of the must a k o d v y o o c a n t equally, e whether, whent he cause uws we find of the th Indi an that more or than 200,000 p ersons left countries in which labour was worth from 2d. to 3d. a-day, where impressment and forced laofbiiurengea)dst Bengal, "the where, as on as g w uni sttid by the .versallyp Lieutenant- th Governo r, —left, I say, those countries for British colonies, in which easy label r geoure4 ccoparative ammo, wkore. 14" Majority MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS BILL. This bill went through committee pro _forma. LAW OF PROPERTY AND TRUSTEES' RELIEF AMENDMENT ACT. • This bill was read a second time. MANOR COURTS, &c. (IRELAND) BILL. The house went into committee on this bill. Mr. COX, who had an amendment on the paper, moved that the chairman do report progress. The committee divided— For the motion 6 Against it Majority B9 Mr. COX said he had taken the division on the ground that no opposed motion should be taken after 12 o'clock. He denied that the bill did not relate solely to Ireland, and he and other English members were determined to oppose it. It was not known how many of the courts there were to be abolished or the number of persons to whom compensa tion was to be paid. If those two facts were stated in a schedule to the bill, he would not further oppose it. He moved as follows—Clause 1, lino 9, leave out from " act" to " courts," inclusive, in line 12, and insert " no seneschal or judge shall hereafter be appointed to any manor court in Ireland, and upon the death of any person at present holding the office of seneschal or judge of any manor court, or on his ceasing to hold such office by resignation, removal, or other wise, the manor court. of which such person was judge or seneschal shall be abolished, and no action or suit shall be commenced or prosecuted therein." Mr. WHITESIDE said this question was fully discussed on Wednesday. He urged the necessity of abolishing these courts, which had been condemned by every judge in Ireland, as well as by a committee of the house. These courts used to be held in public-houses, and the suitorswho brought most drink got the most verdicts. He had not set out a schedule, because a great many of the judges of these courts would not receive compensation, which the fact of putting them into a schedule would have admitted, and the provision that those which had had real business during a year would receive compensation would have been abused by the getting up of business for the purpose of getting into the schedule. Mr. J. D FITZGERALD thought that the member for Finsbury was perfectly justified in protecting the public finances. The way to abolish these courts was not to ap point new judges, and then they would fall to the ground of themselves. (Hear, hear.) Being unable to obtain any in formation from the Government as to the number of courts, ho had made inquiry himself, and found that there were numerous officers of these courts claiming to be in the re ceipt of £5O to £350 a year. The courts were not so wholly inefficient as Mr. Whiteside represented. The judge of the Antrim court stated that he had issued 10,000 processes in one year without having any appeal from his decisions. Mr. SPAIGHT referred to an instance where a judge of one of the manor courts could only speak Irish. (Laughter.) Mr. J. LOCKE wished for further information as to the amount of compensation likely to be claimed. There were all the ingredients in the bill of a very gross job indeed. Mr. Dodson, Mr. P. O'Brien, Mr. Macarthy, Mr. Pease, and Mr. Kirk, took part in the debate. The committee then divided : For Mr. Cox's Amendment l4 Against it The remaining clauses were agreed to with some verbal amendments. The house adjourned at a quarter to 2 o'clock. SPORTING INTELLPTENCE. TATTERSALL' S.--THURSDAY. The few investments made were scarcely worth quotation. For the Chester Cup 25 to 1 was taken about Royal Sove reign, 30 to 1 about Bankrupt, and the same odds, to a small amount, about Simpleton. Nothing was done on any other event. A QUATICS. ETON COLLEGE. The boating season commenced on the Ist of March, when the crews altogether made their first voyage to Sur ley Hall, under the command of their new captain, C. A. Wynne. Upon this occasion three new beautiful boats were launched—the Britannia, built by Goodman the Prince of Wales; and a new ten-oar, built by Tolladay. Thero are few Aqho remember seeing Eton visited by more old Etonians than were present on this interesting occasion. As is customary upon such occasions, all the captains of the respective boats, together with a largo number of old Etonians, chiefly from Oxford, were invited to an elegant breakfast at the residence of the Lower Master, the Rev. W. A. Carter. The boats are manned this season in the following order, viz.:— UPPER BoATs.—The Monarch —Wynne , ma., captain of the boats ; Grosvenor, Morrison, Lord Newry, Burr, Norman, Hankey, Lord Wallscourt, Le Merchant, Char rington—Hopwood, steerer. The Victory—Lubbock, second captain ; Rhodes, Wynne, mi., Eaton, ma., Chap man, Stanley, M'Clinteek, Elwes—Chapman, steerer. Tho Prince of Wales—Kekewich, captain ; Moore, Burton, Wood, Partington, Hall, Hobbs, Bradley—Walpole, steerer. LOWER BOATS.-The Britannia—Hoare, captain of the lower boats ; Rose, Barnett, Lord Boringdon, Glennie, Campbell, Wood, Lawes—Moore, steerer. The Dread nought Seholfield, captain ; Butterworth, Kinglake, Lubbock, Wynne, Chambers, Baker, Barne—Mr. Need - ham, stecrer. The Thetis—Htunfrey, captain ; Brown rigg, Bliley, Griffith, Egerton, Michel, Eaton, tni , Sparkes—Mr. Bertie, steerer. The St. George—G arne tt, captain ' • Dallas, Gosling, Br uce , H um b ers t on, W e lb y, Bruce, Parker--Vidal, steerer. The Defiance—Fraser, captain ; Lord Brabazon, Chapman, Tyssen, Amherst, Mr. Carington, Acland, mi., Reynolds, Garratt—Acland, ma 9 steerer. DR. CUMMING AND 1881.—Jews refuse to go to the restored New Jerusalem because they cannot leave their places in Parliament, and plead parliamentary privilege. Old Jerusalem and New Jerusalem break down. -2 : 411 / 3 491WaY Guide, Francis Bungay was indicted for publishing a wilful and malicious libel at Southampton, in Jul last, with intent to defame and injure John Ralph Engledue. The prosecutor, Capt. J. R. Engledue, is the superintendant of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, at Southampton, and a magistrate for the borough. He was formerly a lieutenant in the royal navy, and his name was re moved from the Navy List consequent on his de clining to accept a subordinate appointment, the custom usual in the royal navy. About June last he had a rencontre with the keeper of the tollgate near Lord Palmerston's lodge, on the Romsey and Southampton turnpike road. The gatekeeper hav ing seized the horse driven by Captain Engledue, the latter descended from his carriage, and in the struggle which ensued they both fell to the ground, and the fracas became the subject of an action in the local county court, held at Romsey, by Mr. Gale, the district judge. Lord Chelmsford added the name of Capt.Engledue to the commission of the peace for the borough of Southampton, together with that of Captain Tinling, R.N., a son-in-law of the Lord Chancellor. Immediately the appointment became known at Southampton a handbill was issued, of which the following is, literatim et verbatim, a copy : There have been large arrivals of French wheat and flour, and the former was in good demand ; but all other kinds of wheat were extremely dull, at barely last week's rates. Barley and oats were rather lower. Beans and peas were firm. CORK—MARCH 2. The following were the quotations this morning :—Red wheat, 21s to 22s Od; white, 22s 6d to 23a 6d; barley 12i 6d to 15s Od; oats, Hs 6d to 14s Od. DERBY SMITHFIELD-MARCH 1. The supply of fat beasts to-day was good, with a full attendance of buyers, and the last week's prices were fully maintained. The number of sheep was larger this week, and sold at higher rates. The show of pigs was numerous, and of good quality. Fat and store calves were more plentiful and well sold. Beef 6id to 7d Veal 7d to 71d Mutton ... 8d to fild Pork Lamb Od to —d Rough fat, 5s 3d per Stone. Hides, 4d to sd; calf skins, 51d to 6d. [ADVERTISEMENT.] SIGHT AND HEARING. SPEC.' TACLES.—POWERFUL TELESCOPES...-OPERA, RACE, AND PERSPECTIVE GLASSES. - Messrs. S. and B. Solomon, opticians, 39, Albermarle-Street, Piccadilly. Observe— opposite the York Hotel, W.—Opera, Race-course, Field, and general Out-door Day and Night Perspective Glasses, very small, for the waistcoat pocket, each containing 12 and 18 lenses, constructed of German glass. Will show dis tinctly a person to know them at two-and-a-half and three miles, and an object from eight to ten miles distant. Her Majesty's Coast Guards are making use of them as day and night glasses in preference to all others ; they are also pre ferred for deer-stalking by sportsmen, gentlemen, and gamekeepers. Telescopes 31 inches long, by which a per son may be clearly seen and known at 31 miles' and an object at 12 to 14 miles' distance; and with an extra astro nomical eye-piece, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings, and the double stars are distinctly seen. All the above can be had of larger and all sizes, with increasing powers, and are secured by her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent. The Royal Exhibition, 1851. A valuable, newly invented, very small, powerful Waistcoat-pocket Glass, the size of a walnut, by which a person can be seen and known one and a half mile distant. They answer every purpose on the Race-course and at the Opera houses. Country scenery and ships are clearly seen at four to six miles. They are invaluable for shooting, deer-stalking, yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, game keepers, and tourists. Price 30s.—Spectacle Lenses of the greatest transparent power. The great advantage derived from this invention is, that vision becoming impaired is preserved and strengthened, and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occupation —can see with those lenses of a much less magnifying power, and they do not require the frequent changes to the dangerous effects of further powerful assistance. Persons can be suited at the most remote part of the world by send ing one of the glasses out of their spectacles in a letter, and stating the distance from the eyes they can read small print with it, and those who have not made use of spectacles by stating theirage. Deafness.—New Discovery.--The Organic Vibrator, an extraordinarily powerful small newly-invented instrument for Deafness, entirely different from all others, surpasses anything of the kind that has been, or probably over can be, produced. Being of the same colour as the skin, is not perceptible. It enables deaf persons to hear distinctly at church and at public assembhes ; the unplea sant sensation of singing noises in the ears is entirely re moved, and it affords all the assistance that possibly could be desired.-39, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly. Observe—. opposite the York Hotel, W. BIRTHS. BELL.—On the 3d inst., at 21, Dorchester-place, Blandford square, the wife of the Rev. W. L. Bell, of a daughter. GRANTRAM.—On the 2d inst., at Canterbury, the wife of E. Grantham, Esq., Captain 98th Foot, of a son. MiLmax.—On the Ist inst., at Pinner-grove, the Lady Milman, of a daughter. PARRY.—On the Ist inst..,. at Upper Westbetune-terrace, Hyde-park, the wife of W. C. Jones Parry, Esq., barris ter-at-law, of a son. MARRIAGES DRURY—BOUSFIELD.--On the 3d inst., at St. Marylebone Church, James S. Drury, M.D., of 13, Radnor-place, Hyde-park, to Sophia Louisa, second daughter of the late W. C. Bousfield, Esq., barrister-at-law. HOWELL—AKERMAN.—On the 2d inst., at St. Mark's, Tollington-park, Henry Howell, Esq., of Aldersgate street, and Belmont -terrace, Tollington-park, to Sarah Frances, widow of the late R. S. Akerman, Esq., of Old street, Finsbury, and Kingston, Surrey. DEATHS. BoLDERO.—On the Ist inst., Henry Bolder°, Esq., of South Lodge, near Horsham, Sussex, aged 70. HANDEY.—On the 2d inst., at 144, High-street, Wapping/ James Handey, Esq., aged 72. HERATEv.—On the 17th ult., of bronchitis, after a short ill ness, T. K. Hervey, Esq., for many years editor of the Atheneum, aged 40. KILLIcx.—On the Ist inst., at Notting-hill, Mr. J. Kinick, aged 50. PHILLOTT.—On the 27th ult., at Teignmouth, W. Downes Phillott, Esq., formerly 20th Rege., aged 81. `VILKINSON.--On the 2d inst., at Bedford, C. Waking° , Esq., M.D., aged 60. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The 6'un Office, No. 1 12 } Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the cowl/ ° Middleeez, Friday, March 4, 1859, ASSIZ. 'ENCE. HOME CIRCUIT.—HERTFORD, March 3. Both courts proceeded to business this morning at ten o'clock, Mr. Justice Wightman presiding on the Civil Side, and Mr. Baron Martin in the Crown Court. There are only five causes entered for trial, one of which is a special jury case. Baron Martin, in charging the grand jury, took occasion to observe upon the number of charges of violence connected with the apprehension of parties engaged in the offence of night poaching, and said that it was much greater than he had ever seen when he visited the Northern Circuit. He said it 1 , appeared to him that the magistrates ought to give the gamekeepers instructions not to apprehend poachers, but to summon them, and then those des perate conflicts would be avoided. He considered that so great a number of these cases was rather a disgrace to the country, and he himself had great dout whether a gamekeeper was justified in endea vouring by force to take from a person found in the act of poaching the gun which was undoubtedly his property, but that question would not properly arise until the cases came on for trial. William Cannon, 24, a very respectable-looking man, pleaded guilty to no less than five indictments charging him with stealing horses. Baron Martin, in passing sentence, said that it appeared that the prisoner had stolen four horses within a very short period, and that he sold them immediately afterwards, and got the money. The governor of the gaol had been called to prove that he had conformed to the regulations of the prison since he had been in confinement, but he imagined that every prisoner would be compelled to do this, whether he was willing or not, and it did not ap pear to him to affect the case in the slightest man ner. It was a very bad offence, and he felt it his duty to order him to be kept in penal servitude for six. years. CIVIL SIDE. ',Before Mr. Justice Wightman and a Common Jury, THE QUEEN V. WILLIAM GOODWIN THE YOUNGER. This was an indictment against the defendant under the Municipal Corporations Act, for having wilfully and knowingly made a false statement on the occasion of the election of town councillors for the borough of St. Alban's, in November last, in re ference to his right to vote at that election. It appeared that upon the occasion of the election in question, Mr. Debenham, the then mayor of the borough, and three other gentlemen, retired from the office of town councillors, but offered themselves for re-election, and they were opposed by Mr. Simpson, an 'attorney in the town, and three others, and there was a very strong and animated contest. Among the list of burgesses was the name of Wm. Goodwin, the father of the defendant, who was en titled to vote, but it appeared he had left the town for more than four years, and on the day of election the defendant came before the mayor and assessors and tendered his vote in favour of Mr. Simpson and the other three gentlemen who stood with him, and in answer to the questions put to him he said that his name was William Goodwin, and that his qua- lification was the house for which his father ap peared to be qualified to vote. It appeared that at this time the defendant was only 18 years old, and was consequently not entitled, under any circum stances, to a vote, not being of full age ; and the case on the part of the prosecution was, that he had made the false statement well knowing that his father, and not himself, was the party entitled to vote. It appeared, however, in cross-examination, that the defendant had always lived in the house, and that all the rates had been paid as usual since the father had left. _ _ At the close of the case for the prosecution, Mr. Justice Wightman said he thought the jury would hardly, under the circumstances, convict the de fendant of having wilfully made a false statement with reference to the matter in question, when it appeared that his name really was William Good win, and that he lived on the premises for which he elaimed the right to vote. The jury therefore returned a verdict of not guilty. WESTERN CIRCUIT.—WINCHESTER, March 3 NISI PRIUS COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Crowder and a Common Jury. RICHARDSON V. STOREY. In this case, which was reported yesterday, the jury did not give their verdict until 12 o'clock at night, and they then found for the defendant. The cases tried to-day in this court have been of the most uninteresting nature. CROWN COURT. (Before Mr. Baron Watson.) PROSECUTION FOR LIBEL. " To the Inhabitants of Southampton. " An important question is before us. " Is Lord Chelmsford, or any other Lord Chancellor, to be permitted to subvert the magisterial bench to political purposes without a strong and emphatic public protest ? If so, the people of Southampton cannot possess the integrity of principle and determined will for which I believe they have the credit. " The recent appointments of violent political partisans, here and elsewhere, have been no less an outrage to public opinion than a mockery of that which every Englishman should be proud to defend, justice. " Qualification for an almost sacred office is evidently be neath Lord Chelmsford's consideration, as manifested by ono of the new names announced only to-day. The antecedents in connection with this name are well known to be of such a character as to entirely disqualify him from filling any judicial position. " To say nothing of his having been already twice dis graced by his sovereign for refusing to respond to his coun try's call, he has on various occasions displayed a violence of temper hardly to be surpassed, which has within the last few weeks, as seen by the accounts in the local papers, neces sitated his being tried before a neighbouring bench of magis trates, and convicted of one of the most outrageous assaults on as aged man ever committed. So great were the injuries the poor old man sustained that the offence only narrowly escaped being tried fO'r the greater crime of manslaughter. " That Southampton can permit such a man to retain, unopposed, judicial authority, I cannot believe. No 1 Such iniquity will not be tolerated. " JUSTITIA. Southampton, July 24, 1858." John Waterhouse, a bill distributor, was found delivering these bills, and committed for trial, but subsequently he was admitted to bail. A few days since he apologised to Captain Engledue for his share in the matter, gave up the names of those whom he understood had been concerned, and im plicated Bungay, who was apprehended and com mitted on Saturday last. Bungay had employed Waterhouse to deliver 400 of these handbills, stat ing that they had been sent to him for that pur pose. The prisoner, by the advice of counsel, pleaded guilty. Mr. Prideaux expressed, on behalf of the prisoner, his most unqualified regret that he had allowed himself to be made the medium—he was nothing more—of circulating a libel which no doubt must have been very painful to the feelings of the pro secutor, Capt. Engledue. Capt. Engledue was a gentleman who had for some years taken an active part on the Conservative side at Southampton, and the defendant being a man of strong political feel ing on the other side, was made the medium of cir culating this libel. He felt and believed at the time that he was doing nothing further than circulating a fair political squib, but he now felt that it was one calculated most painfully to reflect upon the prose cutor. It had been demanded on the other side that he should also give up the name of the author, The defendant was not in a position to give up the author's name, and if he were he possibly might feel that it would be scarcely consistent for him to do so. He (Mr. Prideaux) was prepared to relieve Capt. Engledue of all anxiety on that account with out the intervention of the defendant. The author being also a gentleman of strong political feeling, and having reason himself to feel aggrieved with some strong language which Capt. Engledue had on a previous occasion used at a meeting of governors of the infirmary at Southampton, felt it scarcely fair that lie should have to express his un qualified regret unless Capt. Engledue on his part would also express his regret that he had used the language he did at the meeting of governors of the infirmary. Capt. Engledue, in a manner which gave him great credit, expressed through Mr. Sl a d e his deep regret that he should have allowed himself to use such language. He was therefore instructed on behalf of Dr. Hearne, to express his sincere and unqualified sorrow and regret that, influenced by strong political feeling, and stimulated perhaps in some degree by a sense of the injury he felt he had received at the hands of Capt. Engledue, he had allowed himself in a moment of irritation to be the author of this libel. Mr. Slade apologised on the other side, but de- , o say that no political feeling, sired to be allo wed however stron, co l 'ld justify the publication of such a libel. His lordship direct ed the prisoner to be dis charged on enter ug in to recognisances to appear and receive judgalent w, ` l O/t called on. POLICE INT:1-7LLIC 'ENCE.—March 3. ___ ._..4-- WORSHIP-STRET T.— -George Avery, 62 years of age, formerly a Iterge nt in the G division of police, was charged Ivith attempting to commit suicide by cutting his _tin oa t with a razor. The unfortunate man sa yid that a series of misfor tunes had impelled hiim to t tttempt bis life. The immediate cause was havir ig been refused relief on application at a workhow le. He had a family of six children, and his wife had. left him in his old age. His sons and daugch 2rs were married, some residing in the country mid! others in London, but he felt quite abandoned. Mr. D'Eyncourt directed the prisoner to be re manded, that inquiries miA Tht be made, and his family informed of what had occurred. This is the third attempt )f a similar character made by the prisoner. CLERKENWELL.—Wm.; Richards, an omnibus driver, residing at 32, Radnor% -street, Chelsea, was charged with unlawfully using- : abusive and insult ing language towards George Jordan, whereby a breach of the peace might have 1 been occasioned. Mr. Beard, who appeared f or the prosecution, said the complainant was a tin iekeeper in the em ploy of the London General ( )mnibus Company, and on Monday, the 21st of Fel )., he was keeping time at the Star and Garter Kiugsland, when Richards was there touting and l annoying passen gers who were getting into t he company's omni buses. The complainant told h iim to desist, when the defendant became very abusive, and calledgthe complainant a ticket-of-leave n ian. This the de fendant had done on several o ecasions, and there fore he (Mr. Beard) hoped that an example would be made to prevent such annoy ance for the future. Witnesses having been calk d, who proved the above, Mr. Tyrwhitt said he would put a stop to such annoyance, and fined the defend cant 20s. and costs. The money was paid. COUNTRY MA.R MANCHESTER—MAT lex 3. At our corn exchange this mornir tg there was a fair attendance of the town and country trade, but the busi ness passing was limited, and no furthe r quotable alteration occurred in the value of either wheat .or flour. Oats and oatmeal also in limited request, but ho driers were very firm. The demand for Indian corn was ste tidy. English beans were the turn cheaper, while for Egyptian more money was asked. BIRMINGHAM—M.A.Bcn 3. Supply of English wheat large, which sold at a decline of 6d to is per qr. on the currencies of this day se'nnight. In barley no change. Oats quite as dear, but only taken in retail Beans dull, and cheaper. Peas neglected. ....,„&tag BOSTON-MARCH 2. The wheat trade slow to-day. Millerslare still looking for lower prices, and the farmers refuse to give vray. To effect sales a slight decline had to be submitted to. Oats were 6d and beans is per qr. less money. Barley and peas as before. Wheat 3ss to 39s Oats.. I White do 40s to 42s Beans, new 40s to 45s Barley ..... 28s to 40s I Peas .... 4os to 50s _ Averages for the week : Wheat 4,001 qrs., at 39s ld 8ar1ey......... 278 „ 3ss 8d Oats 665 ~ 23s Od Rye - If —s Od Beans 297 ~ 43s Od Peas .... 25 ~ 44s lld LOUTH—. There was a small supply of to-day, and a great degree of d a good inquiry for beans. Wheat ...388 to 41s Oats.... ..24s to 27s White do .—s to 46s Beans —s to —s Barley .36s to 40s Ditto, old .42s to 46s MARCH 2. 'all kinds of grain at market [lllness prevailed. There was STOCKTON-ON-TEES—Miuou 2. We had good supplies of all descriptions of grain to-day Sales slow. EDINBURGH GRAIN-MAR= 2. Supplies still large. Sales rather heavy, and prices much the same as last week. Wheat on the top Os 6d up average Os ld down. Barley on the top 2s Od up average Os 2d down. Oats on the top 2e Od up... .... ..... average Os 3d up. Beans on the top le Od down.... —average is 2d up. Averages per Imperial quarter. Wheat.... Barley . 1 11 3 0-12ths Oats 1 4 6 0-12ths Beans Total Supply and Sales. Wheat ...1383 qrs Sold 1101 qrs 8ar1ey........1491 qrs Sold 957 qrs Oats .3009 qrs Sold 1859 qrs Beans 7OO qrs Sold 644 qrs GLASGOW—MARcH 2.