The Sun. — London, England, 1860-05-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took kis seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. ROYAL ASSENT. The Royal assent was given by commission to the fol owing bills : Excheguer Bills (i 13,230,000). Municipal Corporation Mortgages. Inclosure. Marriages (England and Ireland). Dwellings for the Labouring Classes (Ireland). Pawnbrokers' Act Amendment. Customs. South Devon Railway. Caine Railway. Liverpool Corporation Water. Liskeard Water North 'London Railway. Liskeard and Caradon Railway. York Improvement. Leicester Cemetery. Chesterfield and Worksop Road. agnelstownand Wexford Railway. Shrewsbury and Welchpool Railway. Marple New Mills and Hayfield Junction Roads. Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway. Wellington Suspension Bridge. Brecon and Merthyr Tydvil Junction Railway. Croydon Gas. Grundy Fen Drainage and Improvement. Railwcy Clearing House (Ireland). Spalding Water. Glossop and Marpla Bridge-read. Edinburgh Railway Station Access. Brompton, Chatham, and Gillingham, &c. Water. Lower Kingsferry Road. Glasgow Corporation Water. Norwich Corporation Markets. Cannock Chase Railway. Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston and Eastern Junction Railway and Canal Company. Lincoln Heath and Market-Deeping Road. Commercial Docks Act Amendment. Mirfield Gas. North Staffordshir&Railway. Sheffield Cutlers' Company. Hedon Corporation and Borough Improvement. Firm Valley Railway. • Manchester Improvement. Great Northern and Western of Ireland Railway. Belfast and Ballymena Railway. Stockton and Darlington Railway. Great Southern of India Railway. Andover and Redbridge Railway. Midland Railway (Use of Railways in and near London). West Somerset Railway. Carrickfergus and Lame Railway. Dublin and Wicklow Railway. East India Coal Company. The Royal Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of St. Germans, and Viscount Sydney. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Daniel Stewart's Hospital Bill was read a second time. The following bills were read a third time and passed : the Everton Drainage; North British Insurance Com pany; Tewkesbury, and Upton •upon-Severn, and Malvern Junction Railway ; Sirhowey Tramroad, and Sheffield Water. HORSE RACING BILL. Lord REDESDALE stated that he had received a communication from the noble lord connected with the Jockey Club, and should therefore fix the second reading of his bill, regulating the weight to be carried by race horses, for the 7th of June. The Bankrupt Law (Scotland) Amendment Bill, the Public Improvements Bill, and the Common Lodging houses (Ireland) Bill were reported without amendments. CIVIL SERVICE IN INDIA. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE moved for a despatch from Mr. E. H. Lushington to the Commissioner of the Nuddea district, dated the 23d of October, 1859, re lating to the treatment of natives by European planters in India, and also for a report of Mr. Reed, to the Lieutenant-Governor referred to therein. The noble marquis also presented a petition from certain natives of India praying for their admission into higher offices of Government than are now open to them. The noble mar quis, in referring to the grievances of the petitioners, said it was the general wish in India that a Royal Commission might be sent out to inquire into the staterrent , set forth in the petition. Taking into consideration the fearful events which had occurred in India during the last few years, no one either here or in India could doubt the fact that timely information had been neglected, and hence the formidable character of the insurrection. He much regretted that the rules of their lordships' house prevented their printing the petition he had presented, because otherwise one part of the grievance would be remedied, for the petitioners considered that their wishes had not proper regard paid to them; the petitioners now humbly prayed for a reduction of public ex penditure in order to a corresponding reductionof taxation ; they earnestly wished that a more enlarged and improved system of education might be introduced throughout the various presidencies ; self-elected councils and a Royal Com mission, as he had already mentioned, to be sent out to India for inquiry. They wished their council to be represented by individuals not altogether connected with the Govern ment, but that one member at least for each presidency should be returned unconnected with Government afairs. The noble marquis called upon their lordships to give at tention to the statements of the petitioners to avert a recur rence of former evils. He ventured to say that there never had been a greater system of oppression and tyranny than that which was exercised over th-3 natives by the Euro peans ; and in now bringing their case under the considera tion of their lordships, he hoped their lordships would de mand for them the protection to which they were entitled. In matters of trade they were subjected by the factors to the greatest injustice, and in no distriets were acts of injustice exercised against them more than in the indigo districts. They had not the advantage of courts of hot there to seek redress of the wrongs to which they were subjected. Now, it could not be denied that those poor peasants were entitled to protection and redress. The nonfulfilment of contracts by those poor people was punished not only with flogging, but with the forfeiture of their lands, which were seized and taken possession of by their tyrannical employers. The noble lord here read a communication, stating that a factor had actually had recourse to flogging those poor peasants in his factory, and a native magistrate hearing of the out rage, caused an inquiry, and upon proof of the injustice, sentenced the offenders to fine and imprisonment. Well, but what did a higher European authority do in that case ? Why he set the men who inflicted the gross injuries com plained of at liberty, thus encouraging brutal outrage and gross injustice. The poor ryots refused to enter into con tracts to cultivate the land, as they had a right to do, if they felt the remuneration to be insufficient, and one of them was flogged by a European contractor, from factory to factory, until he was actually flogged to death; and what did their lordships suppose was the punishment in flicted upon the Englishman who was guilty of the murder of that poor man ? Why, no more than a fine of £3O. There was one Englishman there, Mr. Furlong, who had no less than 1,900 of those contracts which were pregnant with so much injustice and oppression. Thesystem of tyranny practised by the English Europeans over the pea sants in India was in as full operation' now as it had ever been. It was true that a riot had taken place there by the natives, who made a descent upon and destroyed a village ; but although that could not be justified, it should not be forgotten that the natives despaired of obtaining redress by appeal to tke courts of law. Their appeals for redress to the authorities were not successful ; and the Govern went were charged not only with conniving at the wrongs complained of, but actually with suppressing documents the production of which was necessary to the further ance of justice. The petition which he presented from certain natives, praying for a reform of the law courts, was one of great importance, and prayed their lordships to take the case of those poor ryots into their consideration, and obtain for them a redress of the wrongs inflicted upon them. They were bound to know what were the opinions of the Council of Indi a , an d of the Secretary of State for I n di a , i n relation to the grave offences committed against those poor peasants. He was not new going to say anything prejudi cial to Sir C. Trevelyan, in reference to the very able paper he had published in relation to Mr. Wilson's financial state ment, and proposal to levy new taxes upon the native popu lation of India; but he must regret that the Government, after the publication of that paper, had no other course and no other alternative than to recal him from his government. Mr. Wilson in his speech rejoiced that there' was a public press in India. Then why should Sir C. Trevelyan be blamed for commenting on Mr. Wilson's speech ? He was acting merely as a European gentleman there, and freely expressing his opinion about Mr. Wilson's plan, a plan which Sir C. Trevelyan thought would interfere with im- Portant designs of hi s own. To recal this gentleman for doing so was monstrous, and an occurrence that could only _lure* in India. A s t o t h e principle on which the legis latave pia was formed, it seemed as if India, a place of such vast extent and variety of races, was regarded as a place that might be l egislated for as you would legislate for the Isle of Man. It wa s a great mistake to exclude the natives from admission to the higher offices of the State. He anti cipated that there would be no objection to receive the peti tion, The petition was then ordered to lie on the table. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said the legislative eounCn if India consisted of the Governor-General of India, a few gentlemen nominated by the G overnor-General, an ney Attor-General and two other lawyers. If their lordships' house had the same Proportion of lawyers they would have 100 noble:and le arne d l or d s. He could not conceive that this ana l' 1)0 4 of men could enjoy the public confidence of the people of India. Various propositions had been made for ex tending the council. He thought tkere were two prin ciples which should be adopted; first, that the Governor- General should have the power of passing instanter any act of Parliament which might be necessary for the time ; and, secondly, that tho Go vernor-General in council should have consultative council to whom he should refer for dis cussion all measures affecting the laws, customs, and reli gion of the people. The members of the council would be of course members of that consultative council, and it should comprise 10 01 12 European gentlemen of distinction and character in India, and an equal number of native gentle.. men. (Hear.) Now, when a great measure of taxation affect ing 1 20,000,000 of people was about to be enacted, he thought it but just that the natives should have some voice in . the matter. As to the differences betweep the plauters and the .. ~-:~ ryots he believed extreme views had been taken by news paper writers and others on both sides. He did not wish to follow their example. There was as much variety among planters as among other classes. Some of them were gentle men of property, others were speculators carryir g out their projects on money borrowed at high interest, or the agents of such persons. Of course, under those parsons the ryots were great sufferers. He would say let th. re be justice to both parties. That was the first thing re l,; red, and next to that was confidence. These could be obtained by the ap pointment of circuit judges, in whose decisions, as they had no local connections, the people would have confidence. He also thought protectors should be appointed, under the con trol of the Government, and that their business would be to watch over the interests of the ryots, and, as far as pos sible, reconcile differences. With respect to Sir C. Tre velyan it was impossible to overvalue his services. No man was ever sent to India so qualified by his ante cedents to perform the duties assigned to him. He went out at that period of life when a man is likely to farm attachments with the people ; and from his knowledge of the country and regard for the people, no man was more qualified to perform the functions of go vernor. He first distinguished himself by investigating im portant matters for the information of the Government. Without regard to his own interest he risked everything for the public service, and seeing a great danger coming upon the people committed to his charge, he, at every risk to himself, endeavoured to stay the pestilence. What ever we might think of official irregularity, it was impos sible not to honour the feelings of the man. (Hear, hear.) To the last moment of his life he had reason to be satisfied with the great personal sacrifices he had made, and the danger was in not taking his advice. Had Sir Charles in structed the representative of his presidency at the Legis lative Council to have read to the Council his minutes, they could then have been published in every newspaper in Cal cutta, according to law, and he would have avoided falling into the error which had been imputed to him. He had no personal acquaintance with Sir C. Trevelyan, but from his knowledge of him in his official capacity, he entertained a high opinion of his abilities, and had the highest respect for his talents, and this last act of his had raised him still higher in his (the Earl of Ellenborough's) opinion. The Duke of ARGYLL said the difficulty as regarded the ryots was, that when advances were made to them they rarely escaped from the consequences. The subject had at present seriously engaged the attention of the Indian Go vernment, and a commission had been appointed to inquire into and report upon all matters connected with the culti vation of indigo in Bengal. He trusted that when the re port of the commission was received, they would be able in this country and in India to see how the difficulty could be met. As regarded the Legislative Councils, he admitted they had proved a failure, and that their constitutions re quired to be revised. The time had not arrived for giving representative assemblies to India; but he thought the in troduction of a few natives into the Legislative Councils would give great satisfaction, and that before any measure was passed by the Supreme Council, they should give the natives an opportunity of expressing their opinions upon it (Hear.) With reference to Sir C. Trevelyan, he (the Duke of Argyll) had a great respect for him, but he differed with the noble earl opposite in the opinion he expressed as to his last act being one which entitled him to approbation. There was an absolute necessity for upholding the Government of India, and of looking to due suborlination in all the offi cials to the acts of the Supreme Government. (Mar.) Lord LYVEDEN said as they had not as yet received copies of the bills presented to the Supreme Legislative Council, they were not in a condition to be able to form an opinion regarding them. As to the recal of Sir C. Tre velyan, he could only express his regret that it had been deemed necessary; but he did not see how the Government could have avoided that step. After a few words in explanation from the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, the motion was agreed to. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY presented a petition from the merchants, traders, and other inhabitants of Cal cutta, agreed to at a public meeting, presided over by the sheriff. The petition expressed the regret of the meeting at the state of the finances in India, and it prayed, among other things, a revision of the constitution of the legislative councils, and that the attention of the Government should be directed to the further construction of railroads as an importantmeans of developing the vast resources of India. If the members of the Madras Council had only communi cated their views on those subjects to Sir C. Trevelyan, and if he had with them discussed the matters to which he had referred in the very minute which he had published, the embarrassments that resulted might have been avoided. The noble lord concluded by presenting the petition, in the prayer of which he concurred. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said a few words in reply, and the subject dropped. PARLIAMENTARY CITIES AND BOROUGHS IN ENGLAND AND WALES. Lord LLANOVER moved for a return, setting forth in columns-1, the name of every Parliamentary city and borough in England and Wales ; 2, the number of tene ments rated to the relief of the poor at £8 and under £9 ; 3, at £9 and under £10; 4, at £lO and upwards; b, the total of columns, 2,3, and 4 ; 6, the number of electors on the register; 7, the per centage that the number of elec tors bears to the 'numbers given in column 5; 8, the number of tenements rated as above at £4 and under £5; 9, at £5 and under £6 ; £lO, at £5 and under £7; 11, at £7 and under £8 ; 12, the total of columns 8,9, 10 and 11; 13, the numbers that might be placed upon the register if the same per centage is to be taken as shown in column 7; 11, the numbers in columns 6 and 13 added. The cities and boroughs to be placed in alphabetical order, and the cities of London and Westminster, and tho boroughs of Marylebone, Tower Hamlets, Finsbury, Lambeth, and Southwark to be given separately. The totals of each of the columns also to be given.—Agreed to. HARBOURS, DOCKS, &c. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY moved that the Board of Trade do present to their lordships' house reports upon the F event' private bills relating to harbours, docks, navi gations, railways, &c., of the present session. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTEEDA.Y, The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were considered and ordered for third reading :—The Manchester and Buxton Road, the Dorset Central Railway (Extension of Time, &c.), and the North and South Lanarkshire Roads. PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented against the Savings Banks Bill, from various parts of Ireland in favour of Tenant Right Compensation, from certain temperance so cieties and other bodies against the Wine Licenses Bill, praying for withholding Government grants to Schools of Art where designs are made from naked female models. ROYAL COMMISSION. The Usher of the Black Rod summoned the Speaker and members to the bar of the House of Lords to hear the Royal assent given by commission to different bills, for which see Lords' report. PARLIAMENTARY CITIES AND BOROUGHS. Sir W. MILES moved for an address for a return setting forth, in columns—the names of every parlia mentary city or borough in England and Wales ; the rateable value of such city or borough at Lady-day 1856 ; the gross estimated rental at Lady •day 1856 ; the annual value of property assessed under schedule A, exclusive of railways and canals ; the annual value of pro perty assessed under schedule A, including railways and canals ; the cities and boroughs to be placed in alphabetical order, and the total of each column to be given; and the cities of London and Westminster, and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Marylebone, Finsbury, the Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, and Southwark to be given separately.--Ordered. PAROCHIAL CONSTABLES. Mr. DEEDES asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it was the intention of the Government to bring in any measure this session to repeal the Acts relating to the appointment and payment of paro chial constables, viz. 5 and 6 Vic. c. 109 ; 13 Vic. c. 20 ; and part of 7 and 8 Vic. c. 52. Sir G. C. LEWIS said that no doubt the alterations that had taken place rendered it necessary that there should be a change in the laws passed some time ago. It was very desirable that the laws in question should be repealed, and as soon as he had obtained the necessary information on the subject it was his intention to bring in a bill to meet the requirements of the case. DRAWBRIDGES IN DUBLIN. Sir E. GROGAN asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he could say when the repairs of the drawbridges on the quays in Dublin would be completed, and if he had any objection to lay a copy of the contract entered into by the Board of Works for such repairs upon the table of the house ? Mr. CARDWELL said that he had no objection to lay the document alluded to on the table of the house. LICENSES. Mr, DUTTON asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the wholesale wine license at .£lO 10s. conferred upon the holder the power of selling by retail, without the necessity of taking an additional retail license ? Sir F. KELLY also asked a question on the same sub The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was never the intention of the revenue department to deprive the holders of 10 guinea licenses of the privileges which they were entitled to under the present law. On making inquiry of the authorities of the revenue he was informed that there was no intention to prevent persons hold ing such licenses selling a single bottle of wine by retail, and such an intention had never been entertained by the Government. DISTRIBUTION OF POWER-SOUTHERN ITALY. In reply to Mr. GRIFFITHS, Lord J. RUSSELL said there was no ground for the state ment which appeared in the Independence Beige, to the effect that the French Government had intimated to Lord Cowley . that, in the case of the occurrence of contingencies in refe rence to the present distribution of power in Southern Italy, France would feel it her duty to claim further territorial compensation. THE PORTE. Mr. J. LOCKE inquired whether her Majesty's Govern ment were in possession of any, information to the effect that Russia had concentrated a considerable army on the Ptuth, and diat the OttoniaA g9TerumPAt Jaaci movaltd a corps d' armee at Widdin ; also whether her Majesty's Government had been advised that Prince Gortchakoff had assembled the representa ives of all the Powers except Turkey, and had stated that the condition of Chris tians in the Turkish dominions was every day becoming more insupportable, and that it was hoped by Government to obtain the concurrence of other powers, and would make a strong remonstrance to Turkey on the subject. Lord J. RUSSELL said that no intelligence had been received in reference to the first question. As regarded the second matter a despatch had been received from the British ambassador at Paris stating that M. Thouvenel had announced it was the intention of the French Government that the action in respect to the question should be that of the five great Powers of Europe. ARMY ESTIMATES. In reply to Mr. DISRAELI, Lord PALMERSTON said that the army estimates would not be brought forward on Thursday after 11 o'clock at night. THE DERBY DAY. In reply to Mr. E. JAMES, Lord PALMERSTON said that the Government would not ask the house to depart front the usual practice in ad journing= the Tuesday till after the Derby Day. It was not proper for a private member to bring forward a motion on that subject, and he would move the adjournment on this day week. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 16, 1860. ordered of the number of defective gunboats and the names ' of the builders. The hon. and gallant officer was clearly out of order in going into the state of the navy generally. Sir C. NAPIER had thought it was as well to take that opportunity of making a few observations on the general subject; bat as the Speaker ruled he was out of order he would content himself with submitting the motion in the terms stated. Mr. BENTINCK seconded the motion. Lord C. PAGET hoped the gallant officer would not sup pose that the Admiralty had any wish to screen any parties who had not performed their contracts, or come short in their duty to the Government. So far from wishing to do so, before even the circumstance was made known in that house, or made public in the newspapers, they had taken measures to ascertain how far they had the power of pro secuting such contractors as they thought had neglected to perform the conditions of their contracts. (Hear, hear.) The hon. and gallant admiral asked him to mention the names of the gunboats which had been built with the short bolts, and the names of the builders. He should have no difficulty in giving that information, nor would the Admi ralty desire to withhold it, were itnot that they felt it would be manifestly unfair to all parties that the names should be given when the subject waa, to use the legal term, sub jiidice. They (the Admiralty) were taking the opinion of . the law officers of the Crown as to the propriety of prosecut ing certain of those parties, and he could not give their names without prejudicing the public against them, and perhaps unfairly influencing the minds of those who would have to try the case. He was not prepared to say that they would after all be in a condition to prosecute, but whether or not he considered that it would be some time before a legal case would be complete, the opinion of the law officers obtained, and all the steps preliminary to a legal inquiry before thdordinary tribunals taken. And as no man in this country was to be held guilty before he was tried and con victed, he was not disposed to prejudge those persons by making their names public. There could be no objection to the second part of the motion, the return of the number of gunboats fit for service so far as it could be ascertained, but it should be borne in mind that the defects could only be ascertained by close examination, and as many of the gunboats were now laid up in ordinary, it world scarcely do to take the men from the other work of the dockyards to haul these boats up and examine them. (Hear, hear.) Should the opinion of the law officers be that there was no case in law against the contractors, the Government would not object to any other mode of inquiry the house might think it right to institute. (Hear, hear.) Lord tOVAINE—AII that was required was the plain simple fact what gunboats there were fit for service, in what boats the defect of construction had been found, and what were the names, of the builders of those defective boats. There was no wish to prejudice the decision of the courts of law, or to dictate to the Government whether they should prosecute or not. Mr. BENTINCK said there was no intention of charging the contractors with fraud. What they wanted to know was the names of the gunboats that were found to have short bolts in them, and the names of the contractors who built them, in order that the house and the country might know where the negligence, by which the lives of hundreds of men might be endangered, existed. He could not see how information of that kind could prejudice any future legal proceedings. His noble friend indicated that there might be no prosecution at all. That, therefore, was a rea son for getting the information now. It appeared that the information was given elsewhere, bat they ought to have it on official authority. Ho was afraid the whole of the gun boats were thoroughly rotten, owing to the haste with which they were built and the kind of materials with which they were constructed. It was notorious that these boats were in a bad state. The fact was known to the late Go vernment and to the House of Commons as well as to the present Government. But if so, why was the survey of these boats delayed till the present time ? (Hear.) The Board of Admiralty professed to be anxious to keep up the navy in an efficient state, yet they dismissed men from th e dockyards, and now his noble friend told them that there was a deficiency of halide. Owing to this circumstance the vessels which at first might have been easily repaired were now perfectly rotten. This appeared to him to bo penny wise and pound foolish, and made him doubt the professions that were made respec ing the efficiency of the navy. Mr. WHITBREAD reminded the house that there were 16 of these boats at Hasler which were not reported upon as yet. It appeared to him that the motion, therefore, was premature. It would be unfair to give the names of the contractors who built these particular boats whilst the names of others were withheld, who for aught they knew might be equally guilty. The gallant officer and the hon. gentleman said they only wanted facts, but they could not give the facts without raising a storm of indignation throughout the country, which while the matter was still under consideration would be contrary to that spirit of fair play which characterised their proceedings. (Hear, hear.) If the gallant officer wafted for ten days or a fortnight, he would have that information which if given now would have an appearance of vindictive hostility. Mr. TAYLOR thought that the noble lord the Secretary of the Admiralty had given a sufficient reply to the gallant admiral. As a shipowner himself he knew that a perfect supervision over the contractor was a matter of great diffi culty. (Hear, hear.) Sir M. SEYMOUR said that the gunboats under him an swered extremely well. It appeared to him that their de fect was in the caulking, a circumstance which was com mon in contract ships. The character of the timber seemed to have been the original sin; but it was very difficUlt to find timber of the right kind in a time of pressure. 4e be lieved thatealt emater seasoned timber was used in France, and that it had been found to answer very well. He recom mended the Government to make experiments with timber seasoned in salt water in this country. Mr. W. E WART hoped that the Government would take precautions for the future, by insisting on a vigilant and thorough inspection. Lord PALMERSTON hoped, as this was a question of time, and of very short time, and not a question of grant ing or refusing the information asked for, that his hon. and gallant friend would not press his motion. (Hear, hear.) His node friend (Lord C. Paget) stated that it was the opinion of the law officers of the Crown that the case of those" persons whom it was now their in tention to prosecute would be prejudiced if the returns asked for indicated that they were guilty of fraud or negligence in the construction of these vessels. Whether they were so guilty or not would be the subject of investigation by the prosecution now intended to be made. If his hon. and gallant friend would only wait for ten days or a fortnight, in order to see whether a prosecution could be instituted or not, the information he now sought for would, in case a prosecution, were instituted, be more ample and complete than any which could be given in the return he asked for ; and 'if it was found that a prosecution could not be instituted•—that no legal grounds for a prosecution existed—then, indeed, his hon. and gallant friend would have good ground for requiring all the information that could properly be given, and more ample information could then be given, because there were sixteen boats which were not yet examined, but which were about being examined. To grant the return now might prejudice the case of some contractors, and might appear to exempt others who might be equally blameable with those who were guilty. (Hear.) Sir F. SMITH said that a distinction should be made between damage which appeared to be the result of bad workmanship and damage which was the result of fair wear. Sir C. NAPIER said the noble lord the Secretary of the Admiralty and the hon. gentleman one of the Lords of the Admiralty appeared to give a very lame excuse, and there fore the noble lord came to the rescue. He did not accuse the contractors of fraud; he guarded himself most dis tinctly against that. What he asked for was the names of the contractors of the vessels in which the bad bolts were found. He thought the house and the country ought to have that information. As to the storm being raised against them in the country, the sooner it was raised the better, if it was true that they had driven such bolts into the gun-vessels. (Hear.) He (the gallant admiral) would take the advice of the noble lord, but he was by no means satisfied. He had not done with the matter, and in a short time he should bring it on again; for he would never re main quiet until he had exposed to just reprehension the persons who had been the means of sending 400 or 500 sailors to sea, and exposing them to possible destruction within 24 hours after they had left port. (Hear.) The motion was then withdrawn. FISHERIES (IRELAND). Colonel DUNNE moved for copies of any report or cor respondence that had taken place between the Commis sioners of Irish Fisheries and the Irish Government on the subject of the censolidation of the Fishery Acts, together with the memorial to the Lord-Lieutenant from a meeting of the different boards of conservators of fishery districts in Ireland. Mr. CARDWELL stated that he hadprepared a consoli• dation bill, but considering the pressure of more important business he was not able to say whether he should deem advisable to introduce it this session. The return was ordered. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (1858). Leave was given to bring in a bill to confirm certain pro visional orders under this act, and for other purposes in re lation thereto. TRAMWAYS (SCOTLAND). Sir E. COLEBROOKE obtained leave to bring in a bill ;o provide for the formatio'n of tramways in turnpike and statute labour roads in Scotland. THE LATE PRIZE FIGHT. Lord LOVAINE, in moving an address for copy of all correspondence between the Home-office and the directors of the South-Eastern Railway Company, in the year 1859-60, relating to the conveyance of persons intending to commit a breach If the law, observed that he was not going to make a speech pn the merits or demerits of prize-fight ing. On a recent occasion an exhibition of that kind, at no great distance from the metropolis, was declared—rather reluctantly and apologetically, he must say—but it was de clared by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to be illegal ; and it consequently followed that those who attended them or promoted them were accessories before the fact, and ware as guilty as the principals. (Hear, hear.) This instance was not the first on which complaints had been made against the conduct of the South-Eastern Com pany. That company had been entrusted, as everybody knew, with a very large portion—he might almost say, with a monopoly—of the traffic in the counties over which their lines nui; 4 , 11C1 they had. bow; warod of tiro illegaiitY 91044- A;ahl RECREATION GROUND, Mr. SLANEY moved that the Government or Parlia ment should take steps to secure open spaces in large towns for the benefit of the working classes, and urged on the house the necessity of providing places for the recreation of 'the people. Sir G. C. LEWIS considered the proposed inquiry un necessary. The existing law and local acts gave facilities by which objects such as Mr. Slaney desired could be to a greater or less extent attained. 'Where obstacles arose, the proper course would be for the local authorities to apply to Parliament for further powers. If any amendment of the existing law were proposed, he should give it attentive con sideration. " The motion was then negatived without a division. LIVING FEMALE MODELS IN SCHOOLS OF DESIGN. Lord HADDO brought forward his annual motion to withdraw grants of public money from all schools of design where nude living models were studied. This, he said, was the case with four schools out of 12. Mr. SPOONER seconded the motion. After a few words from Sir G. C. Liwrs, Mr. ADDERLEY strongly opposed the motion, and de fended the practice, under proper restriction. Lord PALMERSTON said this was not a question for the Government. What was the minimum of cloth ing which the noble lord would allow ? He should have been more precise. The house then divided, when there appeared— For the motion ' 32 Against it Majority • —lls TURNPIKE ROADS AND BRIDGES. Mr. ALCOCK moved for the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the existing system of taxa' ion for maintaining turnpike roads. Sir G. C. LEWIS thought it was fair that those who used the roads should pay for them. He saw no use in issuing a commission, and should therefore oppose the motion. The house then divided, when the numbers were— For the motion Against it Majority —66 EAST INDIAN ARMY.—ORDER OF. THE BATH. Sir H. STRACEY moved for copies of correspondence between the Secretary at War, the Governor• General of India, and Lord Clyde, on the subject of officers recom mended for the Companionship of the Bath. Mr. S. HERBERT denied that there had been any par tiality in the distribution of the Orders of the Bath or other honours. As vacancies occurred those recomrnentled by Lord Clyde would have the Companionship of the Bath conferred upon them. He could not consent to the pro duction of the correspondence. The motion was negatived without a division. GUN AND MORTAR BOATS. Sir C. NAPIER moved for a . return of the names of the gun and mortar boats with.the, short bolts, and the names of the builders; and of those which were now fit for service. He could not, he said, see why the Admiralty should screen the contractors who had built vessels which were dangerous to human life. Probably the contractor himself knew no thing of the insertion of the short bolts, which might have been put in whilst he was sitting in his office, but still, con tractors who carried on business so carelessly should be published and exposed. It might be hard to publish their names, but it would be much harder to drown 150 men, who after going to sea in full confidence in the strength of their vessel found her go to pieces in the first gale of wind. On the former occasion the noble 1 rd made no objection, and he (Sir C. Napier) did not see any reason why he should now change his opinion. It would in his judgment be wicked to conceal the names of those contractors. Ho wanted to know also how many of those boats were fit for service; 164 had been mentioned in another place, of which two had been broken up. He believed that the whole would be found to be in a bad state. Si/teen, they were told, had been repaired, and he wanted to know why at that time the inspectors of the navy did not examine them and report the result to the house. It was said that the Admiralty were going to"prosecute ; if so, let the house have the names. He knew the names and would hand them out. The builder of the Caroline, which had 100 short bolts, was Mr. Green, and if it was not Mr. Green, let the noble lord tell him who it was. This story of the gunboats was a very serious thing, for he very much feared that many of the larger vessels of recent construction were as bad, and it was of importance that it should be known whether the sail of the line we had were efficient or not. He was in company the other day with a gentleman, one of the largest shipowners of Ame. rica, Mr. M'Coy, who told him that he had recently been travelling in France with a Prussian gentleman ; that he visited the port and dockyard of Toulon, and that our dock yards bore no comparison with what he saw there. There were employed in Toulon dockyards, according to this gen tleman's statement, 116,000 men ; the works were tremen dous; they were fitting out, and could fit out and send to sea in a fortnight a fleet of 20 sail of the line. They had also at their command all the steamers belonging to Passe gems, or those employed for post-office purposes and the conveyance of passengers. They had an immense amount of material collected, and they had besides a number of transport boats, 260 feet long each, capable of carrying a large force of men and horses. He (Sir C. Napier) asked Mr. M'Coy, " Can you tell me, or do you know of your own knowledge that they could at Toulon within a fort night not only fit out these vessels but send 30,000 men to sea in them ?" " I have not the slightest doubt of it," was the reply. Then he asked, " And suppose they were to send on by railroad all their men from Cherbourg and Brest to man the fleet, could they in that case de it sooner ?" The answer was, " Considerably sooner." Well, that was the position in which we stood as regarded France. The right hon. gentleman told them the other day that the coun try was not in a very safe state, and they had since heard that Russia was collecting an army on the banks of the Pruth, with what object it was not difficult to guess. The late Emperor of Russia was looking out for the death of " the sick man." But the sick man, by the aid of France and England, recovered for that time; but was there no reason to apprehend that the sick man might not be again ready to receive medi cine, and that a severe dose might not be pre paring for him ? What security had we that Russia might not propose the same game to France that she wished us to join in ? It might be France had declared she would enter into no arrangement for the dismemberment of Tur key ; but they could all recollect that last year France de clared she would not attack Austria, but she did, and de prived her of one of her fairest provinces. Again, they ,he.d been assured that the Emperor Napoleon had no design 3 upon Savoy and Nice, and yet shortly afterwards they aaw those territories actually in his possession. (Hear, hear.) In the same way he might now tell us that he was not going to do anything in the East, but had we any reason to trust him ? Suppose there were a secret design on the part of Russia and France against any part of the dominions o the Porte—Egypt for instance-the first news we shonfla hear of it would be that an expedition had sailed for Alex andria, and perhaps had landed, We had a respectable naval power in the Mediterranean-12 sail of the line—lbut tint would not be sufficient to cope with the 30 sail whiiel, France could in a few days equip and send out from Toulon fully manned. It was well known that the first news we had here in England of the first 'Napoleon's expedition against Egypt was the intimation that he had landed there with an army of 40,000 men ; and at that time, be it remem• • bared, there was nothing but sailing ships ; and now, wheel 1 the motive power was steam, the army might be transpertes there in less than a quarter the time. He thought am 3 Government ought, at least, to be able to satisfy the home and the country as to what was the exact state 'of our nab —how many ships were efficient and sound, and how many they could man in case of sudden emergency. In his opinion, we could net man many more than we had now in commission. The Government had not carried out the recommendations of the Manning Committee--indeed, they had done little or nothing towards it. He was mistaken the other night when he said that we had a reserve of 7,300 coast-guard men. lie found we had only 3,200 regular theycoastguard l m y e l n , , 9o good s t s ri e a c m t e s n h , p fi s t , t c b oB p e a m n i b e a r s k ed that; tlvh to say, men to man the old hulks, and they had 1,5()c revenue men, mere civilians, totally unfit to go on board a man-of-war ; and they had, besides these, 600 men on boat •d, he revenue cutters. The result was that—instead of an 3- serve of 12,000 men, as recommended by the committee they had at most between 6,000 and 7,000 real good mel 1. It was said they could not fill up the coastguard resory e, but they might easily do so if they reduced the qualificatic ,o seven years service. It was said the other evening i ;he House of Lords that we could get as many sailors a s' were wanted—that they were coming forward freely. If so,, how was it they had not got the 4,000 mon which the com- mitten recommended should be always in our ports ready b3l be put on board ? The SPEAKER begged to remind the hon. and gallant mew* tA44 tll9 quosticqzW whether & retw plurplcl ing and abetting prize fights by himself, when he was a member of the late Government. It was then understood that nothing of the sort should again take place. Last year a letter was sent to them by the Surrey bench of magis trates, expressing their regret that the company should have afforded facilities for such disgraceful exhibitions , and the board replied to the effect that the arrangements would be made by the officials of the company without consulting them, but that they had given orders which would pre vent, as far as they could, anything of the kind in fu ture. So far from that, however, they had actu ally allowed two special trains to go down their line on the morning of the late fight, and to stop at every station where there might be fields suitable for the occasion. At every station in Surrey they found policemen waiting for them, and they were obliged to go on into Hampshire; and there being at one station in that county no police, the fight took place. He was informed by the depositions of the constabulary, that an officer of the company, Mr. Knight, a superintendent of traffic at Lon don-bridge, was on the engine directing the movements of one of the trains; and that the use of the telegraph was denied to the authorities while the fight was going on. Under these circumstances he (the noble lord) submitted that the complicity of the company was clearly established. As to whether it was possible to bring the law to bear on the directors, it would not be right, as he perceived none of the law officers of the crown present, to ask the opinion of the government; but he hoped the house would not let persons to whom they had given great powers wield those powers in defiance of the law. (Hear, hear.) Few could form an adequate idea of the inconvenience which arose from those special trains, from which 2,000 or 3,000 of the worst ruffians in London were in a moment launched upon a quiet neighbourhood. (Hear, hear.) He was happy to quote the example of the :South Western Company as one that had entirely given up the 'practice, and that had re cently refused to grant trains for any such purpose. (Hear, hear.) They all knew that the executive of the country was by no' means particularly strong, and that it was very rarely inclined to exert itself when it was opposed by num bers. He might refer, for instance, to the case of St. George's-in-the-East, where a mob of boys and ruffians had bern allowed for the last three months to disturb un checked the devotions of the congregation. (Hear, hear.) The house would, however, concur with him in asking for information which would show whether the government had used its best efforts to enforce the law, and whether anything could be done in order to put a stop to those brutal displays. (Hear, hear.) Viscount PALMERSTON—I do not intend to offer any objection to the motion, and I will only just enter a sort of protest against that exaggeration—(hear, hear)—in which the noble lord has indulged. He has attacked this railway company for having brought down 2,000 or 3,000 ruffians and launched them in a moment upon a quiet neighbourhood. One would have imagined from his description that these persons were a set of banditti—(laughter)—robbing and p;undering, and seeking to ravish the country—murdering persons, burning houses, and committing every, sort of atrocity. (Hear, hear.) Technically, a fight between two persons, though not fighting from any feeling of enmity, is a breach of the peace, and, being a breach of the peace, it is clearly an act which is subject to prosecution. But the persons who go to those places, though they may be open to a charge of breach of the peace, are harmless and commit no breach of the peace ; they stay looking at what passes, which are exhibitions of manly courage, characteris tic of the qualities of the people of this country. (Hear, hear.) It was only the other day a French newspaper, speaking of this fight, described it as a type of the national character—endurance and patience under suffering, and rather holding it up as a specimen of the admirable quali ties of the British race. (Hear, hear.) However, that is a matter of opinion ; but setting aside the legal technicalities of the case, I do not see that any number of persons who assemble to witness a prize-fight are more guilty of a breach of the peace than persons who go to witness a balloon ascent. (Laughter.) Thay go to see a sight, and, that over, they return without having done harm to anybody; and as to the danger to those persons who engage in those fights, I con sider the danger to those who go up in a balloon is much greater. (A laugh.) Therefore, I think there should be a medium in all things and moderation in all opinions; and though it may be desirable to prevent those fights, yet I do not think any advantage is to be gained, or good to the morals of the people is to be promoted, by the exaggerations of the noble lord. At the same time the motion is one to which I cannot see any objection, and I shall not therefore refuse to produce the correspondence. (Cheers.) Lord LOVAINE said the noble lord was so much in fa vour of prize-fighting he should not be surprised if he brought in a bill to legalise it. The noble lord had very skilfully put the discussion on the merits of prize fighting, whereof he (Lord Lovaine) had specially guarded himself against saying one word. What he said was that the rail ways should not bring down 2,000 or 3,000 ruffians. He granted that all those who attended the late fight were not of that description; Vat if the noble lord had been, as he (Lord Lovaine) had been, a passenger in that train—(loud laughter)—he was merely a casual traveller—he was sure that the proceedings of the passengers were not such as would have pleased him, as they certainly did not give him (Lord Lovaine) any satisfaction. If they chose to oppose those things let them do so; but do not let them call on ma gistrates to preserve the peaCe, while in that house they were throwing the whole weight of their authority into the scale to aid and abet those who break the laws. Mr. V. SCULLY did not think it right to let it go abroad that the noble lord (Lord Lovaine) stood alone in that house in his condemnation of those prize-fights. He, on his own part, must enter his protest against them; but he thought the noble lord who brought forward this motion should fly at higher game. The Ministers of the Crown, instead of putting down this prize-fighting, lent every encouragement to it. They had the Home Secrerary, whose peculiar busi ness it was to put down these prize-fights, defending them ; and now they had the noble lord at the head of the Govern ment speaking of them only as playful exhibitions of the animated nature of the British lion. (A laugh.) But he thought it was the duty of the Government to enforce the law, even if it were a bad law. He remembered that in his school days the boys who were the most anxious to set the other boys fighting were generally considered the greatest cowards in the school. Mr. W. EWART was an enemy to prize-fighting, but he begged to be understood he dig not object to fighting with ' the gloves—(a laugh)—as a good sort of exercise ; neither did he object to a pelican learning the art of self defence. But he drew a great distinction between these practices and going out in the way of prize-fighting. He drew the same distinction between these practices and two men fighting with the ordinary foils, and two other men going out with leaded foils. The noble lord had said there was a panegyric in a French newspaper on this late fight . The paper which the noble lord alluded to was the Journal des Debats. That paper did not justify prizefighting ; it only alluded to it as an instance of the vigour and en durance of the old English race ; but another French news paper, the Sleek, spoke of the fight in terms of strong con demnatinn. He hoped, however, they should now hear no more of this fight—(hear) —and these exhibitions would for the future he entirely prevented. Mr. CLIVE did not intend to offer a single remark on the main question; but in justice to the South-Eastern Rail way Company he must say that the directors of that com pany had entered into an engagement that they never would give a special train to any' parties to stop between stations, and they affirmed that on the particular occasion in question they had no knowledge of the objects or inten.. tions of the parties. Sir W. JOLLIFFE was not very squeamish about prize fighting; but the question was whether they were not breaches of the peace, and magistrates ought to know what would be their position if they took part in endeavouring to keep the peace on these occasions. (Hear, hear.) He happened to live on the South-Eastern line, and was also a magistrate for the county of Surrey. One or two of those prize-fights had taken place in his own imme diate neighbourhood, and one or two of his brother magis trates ran considerable risk of personal danger in endea vouring to prevent them. But what would be said when those proceedings were sanctioned by the voice of the Go vernment in that house ? He must say he was very much astonished at the tone of the noble lord (Lord Palmerston) on this subject; and he wished to place before the house the position himself and his brother magistrates would be in if they thought it to be their duty to suppress those breaches of the peace while they were sanctioned by the Executive Government. Lord PALMERSTON explained that he had not said rizo-fights were not breaches of the peace. What he pro tested against was the exaggerated character of the noble lord's charges against this particular fight. Col. DICKSON said, with .reference to the remarks of the hon. member for Cork (Mr. Scully), he could not under stand an Irishman objecting to fighting. (A laugh.) He considered the noble lord (Lord Palmerston) had not laid himself open to these attacks. He would say for the noble lord, that if he had one attribute more than another which endeared him to his follow countrymen, it was his thoroughly English character and love for all manly sports. (Hear, hear.) He (Colonel Dickson) did not stand up for prize -fighting; but he said that those two men had shown qualities, our own man in particular—(laughter) —he said 'so advisedly, because he was disabled at the commencement of the contest—ho said he had exhibited qualities which entitled him to higher honours than many other men had received who did not so well deserve them. But he asked how were they to give power to railway directors to refuse trains as they pleased ? He thought the law as it stood at present was perfectly well laid down ; and one of the first duties of a magistrate was to know when to act and when , it was advisable to shut his eyes. (Hear, and a laugh.) Mr. PAULL confessed he thought it was a most unfortu nate thing—whether it was in the power of the Government to suppress those prize-fights or not—that they should have from men in the high positions of chief Minister of the Crown and the Home Secretary, if not a sanction, an en- ceuragement or palliation of those fights. He thought it was an unfortunate thing if when 2,000 or 3,000 ruffians collected together in a field for this purpose the authorities could not collect police enough to disperse them. The motion was then agreed to and the subject dropped. TENURE AND IMPROVEMENT OF LAND (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion for the eecond reading of this bill, Sir JOHN WALSH moved as an amendment that the kill read 6 09 0 44 tiulo that slay tliZ 149Atkey Yrtif3 v z4L landlord and tenant bill as it purported to be, but one deal ing with real property. Now, surely, if it were a good principle for Ireland, why not apply it to England ? and why make Ireland an exceptional case ? He found that throughout the whole of the bill all the questions raised were to be decided by Chairmen of the Quarter Sessions. He did not wish to say anything to disparage those learned gentlemen, but he thought questions of such importance as the relation between the landlord in fee and the limited landlord, ought to be submitted to a higher tribunal. Be sides, the bill allowed no appeal from their decision, and that made the bill very objectionable. Then, as to that portion of it which allowed the limited owner to grant leases for 21 years, and, improvement leases for 41 years, it was dealing with the interests of the inheritor, who was not able to protect himself. In the cases of minors they all knew how careless and ruinous guardians and trustees were; and if a limited owner chose to commit a fraud he might very easily do so. For example, there were many persons in Ireland who would be glad to pay a large sum of money for a lease of 41 years, and many opportunities would be given to the limited owner to receive this money at the expense of the inheritor. He had always a great ob jection to long leases in Ireland, and he admitted that now the tenure was generally from year to year. In his opinion the evils of snb-letting, and many others which had been the curse of Ireland, and were now passing away, arose from the system of giving long leases in the last century. In Scotland, where agriculture was brought to the highest perfection, the leases were only for 21 years. Then, as to the question of tenant-right introduced into the bill, he did not believe it would please hon. members from Ireland. He did not wish to disparage the labours of the Devon Commission; but they went about the country taking evidence, and they only heard .one side of the question. The Devon Commis sion reminded him of a bad "photograph," where all the prominent features were enlarged, and all the best parts were thrown into shade. (Laughter.) The country was altogether changed now from what it was in 1810, when the Devon Commission were taking evidence, and a different state of things altogether existed. The agencies between landlord and tenant were now far better regulated and car ried on between the landlords and tenants themselves than they could .be by any legislative intervention. (Hear, hear.) Much of the difficulties that existed in these relations were attributable to the subletting system that at one time so much prevailed in Ireland, but that system was now fast - passing away, and the landlords generally in Ireland were resolved to eschew any relation but those which should sub sist directly between themselves and their tenants. (Hear, hear.) It had been said by an honourable member (Mr. Pope Hennessy) that Ireland was going back in the scale, but that was not correct. It had been said by that hon ourable gentleman that the acreage of the cereal crops in Ireland had very much fallen off, and that so negli gently was the farming carried on in Ireland, owing to the want of tenant right, that the "horned" cattle broke into the corn fields, trod down, trampled, and ate the corn— , " horned" cattle seemed to be the great bugbear of the hon. member. But whether there was now less acreage of corn than formerly in Ireland one thing was certain, that agri culture in Ireland was greatly improved, and that the con ditiOn of the peasantry was visibly and happily improved in proportion. They were now better fed, better dressed, and better housed than formerly. He must condemn legislative interference between landlords and tenants. One thing he was certainly ready to admit, namely, that the right hon. gentleman's bill was the mildest " tenant-right" bill that had yet been proposed ; but it was a measure which was really not called for. The wisest legislation would be that which would unite England and Ireland more closely, and assimilate them itt their institutions; but he looked upon this bill as mischievous, unnecessary, and uncalled for, and with those opinions he should conclude by moving that the bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr. MAGUIRE had often listened with plea'sure to the talented speeches delivered by the hon. baronet who had . just sat down; but he must say that a stranger and more unaccountable speech than that delivered on the present occasion by the h i en. baronet he had never heard. The hon. baronet objected to the details of the bill; but, taken as a whole, he thought the Government deserved credit for the measure, and he (Mr. Maguire) should earnestly oppose the hon bares motion that the bill beread a second time that day six months. The hon. baronet objected to giving power to the chairmen of quarter sessions; but he (Mr. Maguire) knew those gentlemen well. They were in numerous instances landlords themselves, and were so thoroughly landlord in heart that there was no reason for the hon. baronet to be ap prehensive about their exercise of the power proposed to be conferred upon them by the bill. The hon. baronet' found fault with and severely criticised the Devon Commission but there was no statesman who had perused the document that emanated from the labours of that commission, but was prepared to approve of it; and to be guided by it. What the friends of the honest and industrious agricul turists of the country demanded were improvement leases, giving compensation for improvement of the land by the investment cf capital and labour. It was not true that in the bill under consideration the Government had introduced a new system —one for England and another for Ireland . It was the landlords who had done so. In England the landlord did everything for the benefit of the tenant, but in Ireland the landlord did nothing for the tenant. He (Mr, Maguire) could not agree in the hon. baronet's vivid de. scription of the prosperity of Ireland. Was there in that prosperity all cause for rejoicing and no cause for regret and sorrow ? What could be more fearful than the descrip tion given last session respecting ene district in Donegal, where the people lived on sea••weed and bad potatoes ? (Hear, hear.) It was quite true they had not grim poverty and destitution, la& there was no contrast between the state of England and the state of Ireland. The people were afraid to put their labour and capital in the soil, because they were at the mercy of tyrannical, political, and foolish landlords. He admitted there were many good landlords in Ireland, but it was too much the practice on the part of Irish landlords to raise the rents on those tenants who op posed them at elections. The franchise in Ireland was almost a curse, for tenants were often turned off at a mo ment's notice for exercising that franchise according to the dictates of their conscience. To the third portion of the bill he had objections. (Hear, hear.) There were short comings in the bill ,which they should, in justice to the tenantry of Ireland, endeavour to have improved in com mittee. The bill said that the tenant should not improve the land without the consent of the landlord ; but what he contended for was, that any tenant anxious to improve in a substantial and valuable manner should have every facility afforded him for doing so. The bill would be of no value in Inland unless those facilities were granted. What in jury to the estate or evil to any human being could follow the improvement and reclamation of the tenant's holding ? The veto of the landlord should not be put as a bar to the determination to improve on the part of the tenure. Another grievous error in the bill was the totally insufficient com pensation proposed for improvements. He would not, how ever, anticipate what might be done in committee to im prove this part of the measure. The people of Ireland were discontented, but wise and generous legislation would make them happy and contented. Discentent and the emigration of the people was not a sign of contentment. There was now a deep-lying sense of wrong in the Irish heart, and every emigrant from the Irish shores carried that sentiment with him to a foreign country. If something was not done to stop this emigration, you would lose your right hand in time of war. The Irish could be made the best soldiers in the shortest time—they had a natural taste for military opera tions—and it would therefore be wise on the part of the Go vernment to keep them at home, where they could be had in a case of emergency. The bill was not a large or revolu tionary scheme—it was a mere abortion—but nevertheless he would support it as a step in the right direction. Lot no gentleman imagine there was so much prosperity in Ireland as was reported. Why not enable the people to be prepared for any emergency ? The weather, if it had not lately changed, would have prostrated the whole country. He wanted to make the people of Ireland prosperous, con tented, and happy. Mr. GEORGE said he had as much knowledge and ex perience of Ireland as the hon. gentleman who spoke last, and he must say that his statements respecting the land lords were grossly exaggerated, not to say unfounded. He hoped the right hon. gentleman the Secretary for Ireland would be no party to subvert the rights of property in Ire land, but, while he protected property, would do justice to the tenants. Allusion had been made to that cele brated document which emanated from the Devon Com. mission, and he must observe that the witnesses examined were those who professed to have grievances. But in 1845, when the Devon Commission sat, there was undoubtedly much to complain of; but what were the circumstances of Ireland now P In 1849 the number of paupers was 620,747, while in 1860 the number was only 440,929. In 1819 the convictions were 310,202 ; in 1859, 200,735 ; in 1849 the acquittals were 700,347 ;in 1859, only 300,000. Allusion had been made to the diminution of the cereal crops, but the increased emigration fully accounted for this. The diminution of labourers diverted the attention of farmers from tillage, and led them to engage in grazing. At the - time of the Devon commission the number of holdings was 691,100. Since then there had been a decrease on account of emigration, and other circumstances, of about 131,000. The Devon commission therefore furnished no criterion to decide this question. (Hear, hear.) Tbere were several bills now before the house with reference to Irish matters, and with the exception of the ono brought in by the right hon. gentleman the Attorney-General for Ireland, none of them was worthy of general acceptance. (Cries of " Divide.") He objected to such immense powers being left in the hands of county judges as to allowing tenants for life to borrow such large sums of money, and landlords to make such agreements with tenants as were provided for under the 3d section. He objected also to the enormous powe s given to the tenants for life. He objected that out of an estate of £l,OOO a-year, borrowing powers were given to the extent of £4OO a-year, which could thus be alienated from the ob jects for which they were devised. He should, however, support the seconi reading of the bill, without pledging' himself as to details, which could be considered in coin- mittee. Mr. POLLARD URQUHART, amid loud and long continued cries for a division, said they ought not to go on with a bill unless it was of such a nature as to render it likely that it would pass both houses of Parliament. No thing was more objectionable to both landlord and tenant than a law of this kind banging over them year after year • _ as it pr9y94t9d improyemmto berg mob for fcAr of what a bill of this kind might do. He had found this to be the effect of this long expected measure amongst his own ten antry. As to the fear of the borrowing powers given by this bill, he thought judging from tho experience of Scot land, that there was no reason to expect that it would be seriously objected to. Something ought to be done to pre vent a continuance of the exodus now going on ; and, be lieving that this bill would have a good effect, he should support it. Mr. DAWSON felt surprised, on reading the introduc- tory speech of the Chief Secretary for Treland, to find that the name of Mr. Sharman Crawfurd was omitted. (Hear.) No man had shown a deeper interest in the question than that hon. gentleman, though many of his ideas were im practicable, and though the delay in legislation might in some degree be attributed to the extent of the demands which that hon. gentleman made. But the reasons which made him object to the measures of that hon. gentleman induced him to support the present measure, as affording an opportunity for legislating effectively on this very important subject. The, peculiar circum stances of Ireland rendered it impossible for the land lord class to make all those improvements which were necessary for the proper cultivation of the soil ; and when, therefore, the tenant made improvements he ought to be compensated at the period at which his tenancy expired, or was otherwise terminated. The Ulster system was advan tageous for the tenant, and it worked so satisfactorily that the agitation in that part of Ireland was consequently wear ing out. The effect of the system was to raise materially the value of the rights of the tenants. He therefore approved of that part of the bill which recognised existing tenant rights in any part of Ireland. To the real solution of this difficulty a more extended system of leasing was necessary. Written agreements should be made between landlord and tenant in the most comprehensive amanner, and witnessed satisfactorily. In the northern parts of Ireland this bill excited no enthusiasm ; but he hoped to see the measure, divested as it was of all impracticable and illusory expecta tions, speedily enrolled amongst the statutes of the realm. (Divide ! divide I) The O'DONOGHUE moved the adjournment of the de bate. Mr. V. SCULLY appealed to the hon. baronet to with draw his motion. The only good part of tho bill was that which related to the tenant's improvements, all the rest was bosh. (Laiighter.) Mr. WHITESIDE said that any bill affecting the pro perty of Ireland ought to be well considered. He did not believe that this bill would ever become law, as it would never be passed by the Lords. It should not therefore be supported by those who wished, as he did, to see a settle ment of the question. Bills to assimilate the criminal laws of the two countries had just been brought down from. the Lords, and why, then, should they now bring in a bill to make the laws different on this subject ? Mr. CARDWELL hoped they would be able to satisfy the house that this was a bill which should be acceded to, and he could not doubt that in that case the bill would re ceive the sanction of the other house of Parliament. After a few words from Mr. MONSEL, the debate was ad journed till Thursday. LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. Sergeant DEASY moved the second reading of this bill, which had originally been brought in, he said, by the late Lord Chancellor of Ireland (Mr. Napier). The bill would go to repeal a large number of acts of Parliament, and would greatly improve the relations that existed be tween landlord and tenant. The right hon. gentleman, having briefly explained the provisions of the bill, which. was intended, he said, to make an improvement in law reform, said he should be glad to avail himself of the sug gestions of hon. and learned members from Ireland to make it still more effectual for the objects the bill had in view. Mr. WHITESIDE thought the bill was defective in some of its provisions, and that it would require to be con sidered as a whole measure, instead of placing a number of amendments on the paper. Mr. V. SCULLY trusted that the second reading of this bill would not be persevered in at so late an hour of the night (near one o'clock). Lord FERMOY supported the motion for the second reading. Mr. HASSARD also supported the second reading: The motion was then agreed to. METROPOLIS LOCAL MANAGEMENT ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. TITE moved the second reading of this bill. It was, he said, the opinion of the Government that this bill should be sent to a select committee, and when the second reading was agreed to, he proposed moving that it should be re ferred to a select committee accordingly. Lord FERMOY objected to proceeding with th; motion at that late hour, and therefore moved that the debate be now adjourned. Mr. Alderman CUBITT and Mr. JOHN Locs.s having said a few words, The debate was then adjourned. The other orders were disposed of, and the house ad journed at ten minutes past one o'clock. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVERPOOL-Miy 15. The weather has been most favourable for the country. We had a fair attendance at this day's market, and the consumptive demand for wheat moderate, at about Fri day's currencies. Flour in limited request, but held firm. Oats were about late rates. Oatmeal a slow sale, at barely late prices. Beans, peas, and barley each the turn lower. Indian corn neglected. LEEDS-MIT 15. With a small show of wheat, prices are unaltered from Tuesday. Barley as before. Beans held for same money. Oats and other articles quite as dear. SHEFFIELD—MsIi 15. Red wheat, per load of 3 imperial bushels...l9s 611 to 21s M White 71 11 ...21s Od to 22 s Od New red 7 , 71 ...178 Od to 18 s Od New white ~ JP ...188 Od to 19s 6d Beans ~ - If ... 18s Od to 20 8 6d Peas, per qr Grinding barley, per qr. 33s Od to 35s Od Malting ditto, „ 3BB Od to 43s Od Oats 1, 26s Od to 34s Oct Millers' prices for flour—ls 11d, 2s Od, and 2s 2d per 141 b. BRISTOL--MAT 15. At our market we had a fair attendance. English wheat was firm at last week's prices. Grinding barley was cheaper. Other things about the same. NORWICH CATTLE—MAY 12. This morning our market exhibited a very considerable show of good store cattle, comprising Scots, Devons, short horns, and a few Irish. A slow trade was effected, on very poor terms, and there was also a tolerable attendance. Fat beasts a large show, and sales firm. Scots, 4s Od to 4s 6d ; shorthorns , 3s 6d to 4 3 ; I r i s h, 3 s Od to 3s 6d ; Devons, Os Od to Os estimate,d weight when fat). heep—There were good supplies of sheep in the pens. Fat sheep, 7s 6d to 8s per stone ; prime, 9s 6d to .10s. Pigs—A fair supply. Store pigs 26s to 30s; fat pork, 7s 6d to 8s Od per stone. TifE MAILS DUE. Australia, Ceylon, and Mauritius (via South ampton) .. . • . .. May 19. Do. (via Marseilles) June 4. Bahamas and Havana (via New York) .. .. June 7. Canada, &c. (via Cork) .. .. May 16. Cape of Good Hope, &c. .. • • .. Jun e 1. China, Penang, and Singapore (via S'ampton) M ay 19. Do. (via Marseille s ) M ay 27. Gibraltar (via Southampton) .._ May 19. India (Calcutta), Ceylo n , & c . ( v i a Southampton) May 19. Do. (via Marseilles) May 27. India (Bombay), (via Southampton) .. .. May 26. Do. (via Marseilles) .. May 19. Lisbon, Brazils, Buenos Ayres, &c. .. • • June 5 . Lisbon, Vigo, and Oporto • • • • .. May 21. Malta, Egypt, an d Ad en ( v i a Southamton) .. May 19. Do. (via Marseilles) .. May 19. United States, California, &c. is Cork) May 16. Western Coast of Atrica, Madeira, Teneriffe .. May 10 West Indies and Pacific, Carthgena, Cuba, &c. May 29. The Mysterious Power of the Magnet is most beautifully developed .by Mr. F. M. HERRING, of 32, Basinghall-street, in his Patent Magnetic Brushes and Combs, which are the remedy for grey hair, weak or falling hair, neuralgia, nervous headache rheumatism, stiff joints, &c. His Teazle Brushes for cloth, velvet, &c., are admirable ; they not only cleanse but preserve the fabric in a remarkable manner. The publi arecautioned against counterfeite.—[ADvT.l BIRTHS, D'ALMAINE.—On the 10th inst., at Abi ng d on, tho wife of B H a e n n k ry , o p f atAlsomn:aine: Esq., of th e L ondon and County _ _ Fr LLom.—On the 13th inst., the wife of F. J. Fullom, War Department, and Lieut.-Colonel 10th Kent Artil lery Volunteers, of a daughter. GORDON.—On the 14th inst., at Southend, the wife of Lieut.-Colonel S. E. Gordon, of a daughter. MARLBOROUGH._ On the 14th inst., at 10, St. James's square, the Duchess of Marlborough, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. JONES. — WATKINS.—On the 13th inst., at St. Stephen's, Paddington, by the Rev. J. H. Daadsday, the Rev. William Jones, curate of Brecon, to Caroline, youngest daughter of the late Major Watkins, of the Bengal Ar tillery. VOLCHMAN.—BIDDLE.—On the 7th inst., at the Indepen dent Chapel, Wood-street, Walthamstow, by the Rev. T. E. Stallybrass, 8.A., John, second son of M. F. Volchman, of Stoke Newington, Middlesex, to Mary Ann, youngest daughter of Mr. G. Biddle, of Stratford, Essex. DEATHS. BLACK. —On the 11th inst., at her residence in Coleshin street, Pimlieo, Mrs. Jane Black, aged 73. GRIFFIN. --On the 9th inst., at Memel, in Prussia, Maria, widow of the late John Griffin, Esq., of the same place, aged 81. OGLE. --On the 26th April. at 13, Albany-street, Regent's park, Mrs. Mary Ogle, widow of Mr. Robert Ogle, book seller, London, aged 72. PROBYN.—On the 10th inst., at Milford Haven, the Rev. Julian Probyn, aged 37. WHISTLER.—On the 11th lug., at 26, Pulteney-street, Bath, Jane, widow of Webster Whistler, Esq. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG of No. 112, Strand, -Printer, at The Bvn Office, No. 11?, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of Middleeor, Wednesday, May 16, 1860. j