The Sun. — London, England, 1860-03-30 00:00:00

all the information before it, and then the aul De regularly discussed. Lord WYNFORD asked whether staff appo intmer.ts would be open to officers in the local army, 'and whefher they would be permitted to exchange into her Maje ,sty's service? Tlfe Duke M ARGYLL . was understo®d to am, ier the first questiOn in the afirmative. As to the latter, he was not then prepared to give an answer. The Earl ot ELLENBOROUGH suggested to t: he Mar quis of Clanricarde to move for the production of as y docu ments which would show what was.the opinion of thi 3 Indian council in this country. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said he was disposed to do so.. The house had a right to know their opinions. They had been appointed to assist the Secretary of State, and he ought to be able to rely on their advice. The subject then dropped. THE EASTER HOLIDAYS. Lord CHELMSFORD asked when it was proposed that the house should adjourn ? The Duke of NEWCASTLE said he should move the adjournment on Tuesday next. To prevent the necessity of their sitting late to-morrow, he would ask the house to sit pro forma on Saturday, to proceed vith certain bills from the other house. k Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS-(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time :—Cannock Chase Railway, Chesterfield and Worksop Road, East Somerset Railway, Leicester Cemetery, London and Black wall Railway; London, Brighton, and South-Coast Railway (Croydon to Balham Hill) ; Lower King's Ferry Road ; North 'Staffordshire Railway ; and Sheffield Water. CHURCH RATES. A large number of petitions were presented in favour of a total abolition of church rates. BERWICK-ON-TWEED ELECTION. Mr. F. PEEL, chairman of the committee appointed to try the merits of this petition, reported•that the committee had found that Mr. Marjoribanks was duly elected, that bribery had been extensively committed at the last election for BersVick-on-Tweed, but without the knowledge of the sitting member, that one of the witnesses had been guilty of perjury, and that the committee had struck oft the roll several electors of the borough. , • PO.OR-LAW OFFICERS. Mr. FREELAND moved for copies of letters of instruc tion to poor-law inspectors, of orders issued, and of inqui ries, if auy,,instituted with reference to the cases of defal cation and embezzlement by poor-law officers in the metro- P ... .pHs, set forth in Parliamentary paper, No. 59, of the present session, with the results of such inquiries, where instituted : And copies of, or extracts from, any correspon dence relating thereto, or setting forth' the views or deci sions of the Poor-law Board thereon.—Ordered. I the local native army, and the local European army there bed been rivalry, but it did not go beyond that. They all with great emulation equally well served the State, and that iiversity in the army itself contributed on many occasions to maintain the authority of the State, and he did not hesi tate to say that it would not be safe to have a homogeneous army in India:- In that case, any grievance, whether real Or imaginary, would affect the whole ariny, and such a con dition of things could not butprovehighlydangerous. With re t ,- , ard to the officers of the Company's army, they had now been waiting for 18 months, perhaps not very patiently, for the decision of tho Government with respect to their position 'They had certainly thewords of an act of Parliament, which preserved themselves' to some extent, but they had no secu rity for their families and those who depended on them. they had no security that they might not be placed in the position of retired officers, and deprived of the opportunity of sharing in the great enterprises of that army, and dis tinguishing themselves as they had done before. That was a hard position for a body of officers to be placed in. And besides this, recollect that when the language of Mr. Wil • eon was made known the whole of thin army would feel that Lm the mind of one at least of the most able members of the Government it was doomed. This state of uncertainty ex isted too long ; it ought not to last ; justice should be done to those brave officers and men; some consideration should be shown to their feelings ; and he trusted that when her Majesty's Government met Parliament again they would be able to inform the country that they had recognised their services and placed the future armies of India in a perma nent, secure, and honourable position. (Cheers.) The Duke of ARGYLL said that, with regard to Mr. Wilson's speech, he could not lay it on the table as a Parlia mentary document, because it was not usual to make a Parliamentary document of a speech of any Minister even in this country. Mr. 'Wilson was himself responsible for the form in which the document was sent, and that form prevented him from laying it on the table of the house as a parliamentary paper. He declined to make himself re sponsible for the terms used by Mr. Wilson, but the noble earl had borne a little too hardly on Mr. Wilson in his inter pretation of the passages of that speech to which he referred. He was hardly prepared to go into the financial part of the . subject, but the noble earl in his opinion materially exag gerated the objections that might lie against the measures proposed by Mr. Wilson. He seemed to forget the serious position of the Indian Government, which had a deficit very much the same as that which the Government here had to deal with—a deficit of £9,000,000 in the present year, and a prospective one of V,500,000 for next year. Ho agreed with the noble earl that their best economy was to stand well with the native public; but he defied him to provide £9,000,000 without finding new sources of taxation, and, though the noble earl found grave fault with the plans of Mr. Wilson, he did not point out any that he would substi tute for them. The scheme of Mr. Wilson in-one respect held out a prospect of positive relief, because although he did not agree with Mr. Wilson in the opinion that the land tax was not a tax, the Government did not propose to in ' crease, but to afford consecutive measures of relief with respect to that tax, or impost, or rent, whichever it might be called. He believed that.there . was a machinery in India by which the income tax could' be put into operation in that country. The noble earl laid tee much stress on the words which Mr. Wilson used with respect to the army, although he admitted those words might have been more thought fully conceived. When Mr. Wilson said that the native army had committed suicide, he no doubt alluded to the Bengal army ; and the army of Bombay and Madras, which remained faithful, were not in his mind's eye when he used the language he did. It could not be said that the Euro pean army had ceased to exist; but the noble earl had omitted to point out that almost every regiment in India was reduced to a mere skeleton. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH--Oh, no. The Duke of ARGYLL said he had before him a return which showed the numbers who had taken their discharge from each regiment. In one case it was 496, half the regi ment ; in another 509, and in no case was it less than 300; consequently the regiments had been reduced to skeletons- As to the maintenance of the local army, the late Govern ment had appointed a commission to inquire and report on that subject. That commission comprised two secretaries and a considerable number of officers connected with the army. What was the result of that commission ? The two secretaries had avoided voting, it was believed because they • were on opposite sides of the question. The majority •re ported against the discontinuance of the local army, almost all the officers in the Queen's service voting against it, and the officers of the East India Company voting in its favour. The Cabinet of Lord Derby resolved on maintaining the local army to the extent of two-fifths, the European army being three-fifths. Such was the position of affairs when the present Government came into office ; and, after fUlly considering the matter, they had determined to adhere to the decision of their predecessors. But events had since taken place which had materially modified the opinions of many persons both in India and in this country. At the time of the commission the opinion was almost unanimous among the Company's officers in favour of the maintenance of the local army, but he was told that a very considerable number of them were now in favour of an amalgamation with the Queen's army. So far from its being their unani mous opinion that their position depended on the mainte nance of a separate army, there were many who believed that. their professional prospects would never stand on a prop©r footing unless they were incorporated with the Queen's forces. He would only mention the name of one cavalry officer, whose authority was deservedly high, that of Sir Patrick Grant, the cmxnander-in-chief of thenrmy of Madras, an old and distinguished officer of the Company, who had publicly declared and published his opinion, using almost the very words of Mr. Wilson, that the late army was at an end, and that it ought to be amalgamated with the Queen's army. He did not •say that that was the opinion of 'the Government. The question, which was a very difficult one, was still under their consideration; and unless means could be found, not only fully to provide for the maintenance of the existing officers in India, but also to provide for the future a class of men as valuable as they had been for the civil service, it would be absolutely essen tial to adhere to the determination of the Government last year. •. But it was thought that there were °tiler means of providing for the officers now in India, and of securing in fiture a supply of men who were willing and anxious to devote their whole time to the Indian service. (Hear, hear.) Unless that could be done the determination of the late and the present Government must be adhered to ; but un doubted) it was a matter of great importance whether late events had not materially altered the conditions of the question. The whole number of offiters of the local army was 1,151; of these only 64 were not employed either in civil or military duties; and these were chiefly elderly men, or those who were not in good health. The' whole matter was under the consideration of the Government, ant. he hopectthat before the termination of the session he should be able to announce the conclusion at which they had ar rived. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that his cwn opinion was strongly in favour of maintaining a local army. It was his firm conviction that our future rule in India de pended materially on maintaining those diversities in the Indian. army .which had hitherto prevailed. Lord LYVEDEN hoped that if the Government were not able to 'lay on the table of the house Mr. Wilson's speech, they would give some information which would enable their lordships to discuss the subject hereafter. The noble earl, in the course of his able speech, hail introduced nearly every topic connected with the maintenance of our Indian• empire, and this he had done unexpectedly. It was impossible fur their lordships now to go into the discussion, but he hoped that an opportunity would be afforded for it. If he under stood the matter right, Mr. Wilson would be obliged to propose acts of the Legislative Council for every one of his measures ; afid unless that body had altered its mode of conducting businesi, three months would have to elapse be tween the different' stages of a bill. Ile should like to know whether the Government meant to send out orders for passing the acts in a more summary manner. The moment the acts were passed the duties would be levied, though the home Government might afterwards annul those acts if they chose. He had been the first to propose, in the other house, that a financial counsellor should be sent 'out to India. Without approving all that Mr. Wilson had done, be would observe that he was the only person who had grappled with the difficulty. For years we had gone on with a deficiency, complaining of the Indian accounts which nobody could un derstand ; but no one had made any proposal to meet the difficulty until Mr. Wilson arrived in India. The first thing he had done was to pass the income tai,`of the elasticity of which their lordships knew smething, or would do next year. The noble earl had admitted that no class was so lightly taxed as the Merchants of India ; and it was said that it was impoisible to levy this tax upon them. He con- j tended that it could be levied on them as easily as onthe . - .tradesmen of London. He wished to know whe her the in :formation on which Mr. Wilson had proceeded would be .laid before the house ; also whether his proposals had the *sanction of Lord Canning and the council; and whether *some despatch-had not been sent home that might be laid ibefore thelonse. ' He entirely concurred with the noble earl its to the necessity of maintaining the local army. • The Earl of ELLENBOROUG II thought it probable that nr. Wilson's measures would be pass«al in India without my discuision. He proposed to tax ell classes. The idea f taxing the army was suicidal. The capitalists of India it Ii .nt would b e money at, high interest ; and he believed that be Impossible tii get at that money. The Duo of ARG YLL sa id th a t the Government was Lot `. in Poshe'ssion, of anY u otiicial information: which it could lay before the hous, hoped that the Government in and is would lose no . tim 9 ' the measures. It had t y, the object of P arliai e ne in nt i ra ss p an i a n s:ii a n l ! the late act to form 31 al tong Government for India, (u - o that the Govern /nen, tof India should be in India. ear, hear.) The' :Earl. of ELLENBDROUG-II said this %%la a groat m ant ra of taxation which disposed o f the property ' of all , lassese a i zail many of the natives thought it contrary to good filth thot; tipy,shOuld be taxed. Notwithstandi n g the ins portane c e f the measure not one man in the Indian Council Ras cap abl .etofoxpressing his opinion on it. • The 3. (a rquis of CLANRICARDE said they had estab. relied a c oancil in Leadenhall-street at an enormous en penile; n o w they were sending out a g entleman who had Lever been fit lmdia before, with power to tax the whole LAg the plan must have'been commented upon either in a Patch or a minute, the house ought to have SAVOY AND NICE. Sir R. PEEL gave notice that to-morrow he would call the attention of the house to the position of Switzerland with regard to the recent annexation of Savoy and. Nice to France. THE FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY. Mr. BRISTOW asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he could state why no inquest was held upon the body of a coastguardsman, who was killed by one of the trains of the South Eastern Railway Company, on their Notth Kent line, at Melton, near Gravesend, on or about the Ist of February last ? Sir G. C. LEWIS said that the coroner for the district where the accident occurred had .bean communicated with, and he replied that he acted according to the instructions received by the magistrates of the county to coroners, and not on his own discretion. .. TILE CARDINAL SECRETARY OF STATE AND M. THOUVENEL. Mr, BOWYER asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Lord Cowley had forwarded to her Majesty's Government a copy of a note, dated the 29th February last, from his Eminence the Cardinal Secre tary of State to the Nuncio at .Paris, answering the arp ments of M. de Thouvenel ; and also, whether her Majes ty's Government will lay that State paper upon the table of the house ? . Lord J. RUSSELL said that there had been no copy of the despatch in question received from Lord Cowley by her Majesty's Government, and that Cardinal Antonelli had stated at RoMe that the despatch was sent. When it was published he would bring it before the house. THE LUCKNOW PRIZE-MONEY. Mr. VANCE asked . when the prize-money for Lucknow would be distributed, and if simultaneously to, the officers entitled to it who have remained in India, and to those who have returned home with their regiments invalided ? Sir C. WOOD said that the prize-money had been re ceived from India, but the division of it rested with the Crown. He had been informed by the Lords of the Trea sury that her Majesty desired that the money should be distributed, and they proposed to apportion it at the same rate that was adopted in respect to the prize money arising from the Russian war, by which the private soldiers were to receive more in proportion than the officers of high rank. THE RIFLEMEN ON WANDSWORTH COMMON. Lord ASHLEY asked the Secretary of State for the Herne Department whether his attention had been directed to a letter, signed E. G., which appeared in the 7'om of Thursday last, complaining that on the 20th of March four persons, dressed in the. uniform of a rifle corps, while practising on Wandsworth Comnion, aimed at and shot the favourite dog of the writer's sister, immediately upon which fatal catastrophe they all ran alNtay ; and whether it would not be advisable to authorise thLpolice to put a stop to sharp-shooting upon public foot pa hs ? it G. C. LEWIS said that he understood the North Surrey Volunteers were drilled in the neighbourhood in question on the day named, and that four men in the uni -11, fo of that corps were seen the same day on Wandsworth Co mon, but the police could not discover who they were. N sharp-shooting had taken place on the public footpaths. (L ughter.) 4DUCATION IN IRELAND—IRISH REFORM. Mr. MAGUIRE asked the Chiof Secretary for Ireland whether he had received the rejoinder of the Catholic arch bishop& arid bishops of Ireland to his reply to their memo rial on the subject of education ; and whether, if he had received such rejoinder, he was prepared to lay it upon the,table at the earliest opportunity? He took this oppor tunity of asking the right hon. gentleman when he would proceed With the further consideration of the Irish Reform Bill. Mr. CARDWELL had received the rejoinder alluded to, nd would be happy to lay it on the table. He could not proceed with thp Irish Reform before Easter, and such be* the case, he proposed to postpone its further consi deration until the 20th April. Sir W. MILES asked the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, if it was the intention of the Go verment to introduce any measure this session for the improvement of butfalls, the deepening of existing public of .low-lying watercourses, and the drainage o ow-lying lands in dis trict's by means of general provisions; and, if net, whether the IGovernnient would appoint a comnktssion to inquire intotthe extent arid nature of existing evils, and the best means of remedying them. Sir G. C. LEWIS said the subject had been under the consideration of Government, but in the state of public bit.,iness he had no hope of passing a bill with reference to it, aid therefore no such measure would be introduced this session. SCOTCH REFORM BILL. In reply to an HON. MEMBER, _ The LORD ,ADV.OOATE said that he proposed to, pose pone the bill until the 2d proximo. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER- moved that the notices •of motions be postponed until after the orders of the day for consideration of the Income Tax Bill, as aMended, and the committee on the Stamp Duties Bill. He spade this motion in. consequence of 'an *arrangement that had been made to enable the other house to adjourn for the Easter holidays at an earlier day than they could possibly do, unless he progressed with two financial bills befo4 the house. He understood it was non intended at present to raise a general discussion on the income tax, or he would not propose the displacement of other motions. Mti LINDSAY •had aceeded to the 'appcial,of the noble lord r ahnerston ) when the commercial treaty Was brought forward, and postponed his motion, reldtive to . the 'shipping interest. lie did so on the promise' that a daY would be given hiin to bring it before the house, and by the ballot that ay had been obtained for the mrpose. He thought, there re, that lie would be treated hardly' if any further delay as thrown in his way. ••- • • ' , , Lo PALMERSTON said there wds no intention on i v the part of the Government to•offer any ;opposition to the hon. member bringing forward his motion. lie hoped, however, that hon. member's Would allow the two bills of his riKht hon.. friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be prqceeded with. • . . Mr.IDISRAELI was not prepared to agree with the assumption of the Chancellorof the Exchequer, that there would lbe no discu ss i on on th e i nco m e -t ax . (Hear, hear.) He hoped that Government would make some communication with respect to paper, so far as it related to foreigr( rags, a su bj ect i n wh i ch the üblic were very much n ni d gte nf asho to rath b ee ri interested io at present. He thought that as Government had ri n rem g pra f i ( rN ) k r i w lse a fgv r eo d sm. th: c s Hv e .e b ßa i ro ls, the house should not Monday The CHANCELLOR UheVarißlE. of the EXCHEQUER said it was not his intention to press his motion in the face Of the re luctant consent ,of the h ouse. lie, hoped, heWever, that he woi d be. allowed to bring forward these bills at a later hour that evening than usual. • UltitOtely the motion w as w i t h drawn, and the subject dropped. , EAST,ITDIA ARMY REORGANIZATION. Col. 0 - 1 - KEs rbbved an address for copies of the report of the Military committee. of the council of India to the council upon there-organization of the army of India. The hon. and gallant gentleman said that as he had served in the thrbe armieki Of India , in the fi el d , he was probably justifie(t informing his own opinion upon the subject, but as he might be considered to have taken a prejudiced view, ho moved for these returns, in order to enable the house to &Corm* whether his opinion was well founded. Although his motion was beaded " The organisation .of the Indian army," 'that, in truth, was a misnomer, for the Bengal army had already:disappeared, with the exception of 13 or 15 regi 'ents. The armies of Bbmbay and Madras,. how ever, st d intact; 'arid Were noW . as lOyal and effective as ri o thel{oe *ere. The question he brought before the house Was siin ly whether there should be an army in India nrl,r tli , 'control exclusively of the Governor-General of Imli:1, or wheiberthere should be one under the control of th t c; .? ecretary or State for War in England and the Horse G arils ? Tbe . S'cCretary of State for India, however, seemed aready to have made up his mind upon the subject, because he had passed a bill through that house far the maintenance of 30,660 . European troops in India as a local array.; but he would ask whether he had found that the Indian service had ever been wanting in cases of emergency or been unequal to any crisis, or whether there had been such a disaster as the loss of an army under an . jnclian officer? : 'Most undoubtedly not. As regarded its commanders, had the Indian service not pro duced its Clive, its Goddard, who marched 6,000 Bengal Sepoys through a hostile country during a monsoon, ar d saved from destruction Guzerat, as well' as its Ochterlony its Pollack, its Nett; its Ontram, and its Havelock? The aNromlyowssouolf an armybedever w In equal to any misfortune which occurred. had ever occurred under Indian officers, because they: had local experience, and knew the characters and temper of the men under their command, and were enabled to go through difficulties_ which would over whelm others. •-It had - been" - asserted that . the• seniority system in the Indian army produced only old men who physically and mentally were unsuited to the elevated posi tions cast upon them, but some of the most distinguished commanders were men advanced in life. Had they not a Napier, and a Gough, and other celebrated officers, all septuagenarians ? Therefore he contended that the argu ment as to seniority was utterly groundless. TliiiirAvolild also be a great saving in having native troops, because the mortality among European soldierseunless they were accli matised was very great indeed. In Whitelock's force, which consisted of about an equal number of troops of the line and local troops, the mortality while they were recently operating in the field was three and a quarter per cent. among the latter, and as much as 111 per cent. among the Europeans. Upon one morning, 21 men of the 71st regi _. ment of the line, when under Sir Hugh Rose, at Cutch, were struck down by sun-stroke, and many of • these-died, while there was not a single man belonging to the Madras regiments struck down. That the Indian army could not be relied upon was utterly disproved by the fact that they had taken a distinguished part in most of the great battles in that country. He agreed with a distinguished public servant now in India, that whenever any such cases was concealed the Government itselrwas damaged by that con cealment, and he would warn , the right hon. baronet the Secretary for India that a great feeling of dis trust was now growing up in the minds of thousands of officers in India, and a suspicion of Ihe - inefficacy of that clause of the late act which ensured to every civil and military servant of the East India Company on their transfer to the Crown, that the same rights, privileges, promotions, pensions, and other prospects that . they had before enjoyed, should be main tained and continued to them under the Crown. There was a growing fear amongst the officers in India that this clause would not have the efficacy it was intended to have. He therefore moved the resolution of which he had given .notice. Mr. BUXTON said the question was whether, hence forth, instead of the European force in India being in a. great measure a local one for India alone, and belonging, so to speak, to the Governor-General, it should consist wholly of ordinary regiments, taking India in their rota, as they might take any other colony. At first sight it seemed very natural, now that the East India Company was gone, to abolish their soparate European force and defend India as wo defended aaly other part of her Majesty's dominions, with a portion of her regular army. At first sight that pro posal commended itself by its simplicity, and the witnesses who were examined before the commission which inquired into this subject brought forward several arguments in favour of the scheme, which he would repeat as fairly as he could. One of their arguments was, that if regiments were permanently stationed in India they were apt to be dete riorated in discipline. That, however, was stoutly denied by others, and was hardly borne out by Indian history, which teemed with their achievements, showing no less good con duct than valour of the local European force. They further urged that it would be a good thing for the regular army to have had its share in the credit and experience that might be deti4ed from Indian wars. But now that we had no longer a single warlike neighbour to contend with, we Might fairly look forward to a long period of peace, so that our soldiers would be more likely to be enervated by the Indian climate than invigorated by Indian campaigns. It was further said that a mutiny among the European troops would be more easily put down if they belonged to the regular army than if they belonged to a local force, an argument which he did not think worth discuss ing. These three were the only arguments in favour of the scheme which seemed to him worth notice, except the grand argument, which he allowed to be a powerful one, that surely it must be far best in a single country to have but a single army under a single head ; that by blending them into one wo should render e the whole force a more effective instrument, and should escape those jealousies that must arise between two services running in couples. It might be replied that what some called jealousy was re garded by others as a wholesome and stimulating emula. tion ; and, again, that actual experience had not shown any ill effects from the combination of the local with the impe rial forces. Waiving this, however, and allowing that the army of India should be one army under one head, still it was an open question whether the sound inference would not be to make the whole European army a local one under the Governor-General instead of making it altogether a part of the regular army under the Horse Guards. He earnestly hoped the Government might be induced to pause before it gave its sanction to this scheme. Col. P. HERBERT said the real questien to be decided was what would lead most to the efficiency of the army in India. As far as his experience in India went, and as far as he could leam.from others, the discipline of the Euro pean force in India was not equal to that of her Majesty's army. There was one great point, that if disaffection should arise in the royal army, the Indian Government had the power of moving those forces to the coast and sending them away to any other colony, thereby eradicating the evil, whereas if there were a local force there would be no such power. Gen. Sir DE L. EVANS expressed his astonishmen that this discussion should have been necessary at all, see ing that last year there was a discussion as to whether there should or should not be a European local force in India, and upon that occasion the Secretary for India (Sir C. Wood) went beyond those who were in favour of a local force, and not only emphatically expressed his opinion in favour of a local force, but he said he would bring in a bill to esta blish one, and Lord Stanley, the Secretary for'lndia under a former Government, said it was his bounden duty to place on record his opinion that a local force was indispensable for the good government of India. The noble viscount, then Prime Minister of this country, had stated when the bill for the abolition of the East India Company was before the house, that if the bill passed the European local force would be entitled to their discharge. Not only was that known all over India, but it was generally understood that the Com mander-in-Chief was of the same opinion. When such statements were circulated among the troops it was impossi ble to suppose that they would not be inclined to take ad vantage of them. But the Government of India sally mis managed the matter. He believed that if the Government had admitted that the men were entitled to their discharge, and offered them a fair bounty to re-enlist, most of the men would have re-enlisted. Instead of that the Government published a document, written by a person who was much more of a lawyer than a soldier, stating that the soldiers were entitled to no such thing. The soldiers got out of humour; the Government behaved in a. dogged and unin telligible manner, and in the end declare 4 that the men were entitled to their discharge. What has been the result? He believed that 10,000 accepted the offer of the Government, and that 11,000 remained. That did not show that they acted as one man, as it was declared the local force would. A Royal commission was appointed to consider the matter. The commission sat in this country, and three of the'prin sipal members of it, including the Secretary for War and the Commander-in-Chief, had never been in India, and knew nothing about it. He believed there were 17 persons of the highest consideration in India, who had given an opi nion contrary to that of the commission, and amongst those 17 persons were the Governor-General himself, the Gover nor of Madras, Sir John Lawrence, and Sir James Outram. Sir C. WOOD said he should not follow his hen, and gallant friend who had moved for these papers into a dis cussion of the general question. He (Sir C. Wood) stated some time ago, in answer to a question which was put to him, that the Government had not made up its mind on this subject. It was not a question for the decision of the Se cretary of State for India; it was not a question which could be decided on Indian grounds alone, but it must be de cided on imperial grounds. If the decision of the Govern ment were in favour of a local army it would not be neces sary for him to produce those papers, but if it were in favour of a European force in India, it would be necessary for him to bring the question formally before the house, and that would be the occasion for discussing the qUestion. The circumstances which led 10,000 men to claim their discharge could not be lightly passed over. Those circumstances had changed the opinion of many eminent persons in India, He assured his hon. friend that, anxious as they were to satisfy the minds of the officers in India, it was not without good reason that the Geriernment had hesitated. It was impos sible for him (Sir C. Wood) to enter a discussion on the main question without giving some opinion on one side or the other, and he did n ot think it right' to do that till the Government had decided on the course they should pursue. Nor did he think it right to produce the papers at present, but when the question was brought before the house it would be his duty, not only to produce those papers, but others of the same kind. But if the hon. member really wished to have the papers which the last portion of his mo tion referred to, the correspondence between the military authorities, he had no objection to produce them. When the Government had made up its mind, and the question was to be brought before the house, the house should have pll the papers on the subject. , Sir J. ELPHINSTONE had never heard a syllable breathed against the loyalty of the European troops ; and a no s foti f n o b r dei t s l e o ce e rne d stu t i s or c ne o d n on discontent (for it had never amounted to mutiny) that had preVailed amongst them, it arose front an amount uni too o p thea s r t t ro o n f g term Government a N d y h ben ecn up ould one of the finest corps in the service, and had ended in scenes of cruelty and misery that were disgraceful to the authorities. Ms BRIGHT said the answer of the right hon. , gientle thsaetinTfea: t t e o s 7 .a anxiety The n e r z h p t ea h r o e n d t g o e h n t i t i l: n t i o an be vr tr fes fr s o eam give the house all the information in his power, a n nl ie ev y e more than the hon. gmtletnan (Colonel Sykes) had asked n for; and then he coolly declined to produce the papers for which his hon. friend had moved. The house should con sider what sort of question this was. There was in fact in volved in the motion one of the most important questions that could come before the house in connexion with the future government of India., Hes.., (Yr. Blight) had paid some attention to Indian t4tfrs, though much more to other branches of the subject than to this, but he nevertheless thought the house would commit a great error, if, * without the most serious deliberation, they permitted the Government to place 50,000, 60,000, 70,000, or 80,000 European troops under the management of the Horse Guards. If that were done, all past experience led to the conclusion that the expense of the Indian army would rapidly rise. (Hear.) He believed further that whatever evils tl*re had been it the manage ment of army patronage in India, those evils would, be greatly increased if that patronage wergplaced in the hands of the Horse Guards. He therefore thoughtthey were en- titled to call on the hon. baronet to be frank in this matter. (Hear.) An hon. gentleman had referred to the opinions of persons about the) court; but a question involving an ex penditure of from £12,000,000 to L 20,000,000 a year was too important to be settled by what might be the sentiments or wishes of anybody connected with the court. He hoped that this matter would be fairly laid before the public, and that the House of Commons would not be kept in the dark ; but he did not think the right hon. gentleman had treated the house with quite the respect it deserved, or shown that disposition to lay information before it which it had a right to expect. (Hear.) Mr. T. G. BARING reminded the house that his right hon friend had promised, as soon as her Majesty's Government had decided upon the course to be pursued, to produce the papers asked for, so far as they were in existence. He could assure the house that there was not the slightest intention of withholding any papers; all that was asked for was de lay. He wished to allude to an observation which had fallen from the hon. member for Birmingham, who, having made the statement, was not then in his place. [Mr. Bright en tered tho house at this moment.] He was glad to see that the hon. member had come back. (Laughter.) The hon, member was in error in supposing that the incorporation of the Indian with the royal army would throw 50,000, 60,000, or 70,000 additional troops under the control of the Horse Guards, seeing that the whole amount of European troops in the Indian army did net exceed 11,000 or 12,000 men. Sir H. VERNE%hoped that in a matter upon which the future welfaie of India depended, Government would not ob ject to furnish Parliament with all possible information. Lord PALMERSTON feared that the matter was not properly understood. It had been assumed that there was a disinclination on the part of the Government to furnish necessary information respecting the local army, whereas his right hon. friend had distinctly said that there was no objection to furnish papers, beyond their present incomplete ness. Some of the papers asked for did not exist; and others were not rn a fit state to be presented, and, moreover, there were none that could be presented except in an imperfect state. His right hon. friend had stated that, whenever there was full information in the hands of the Government, and when. Government had arrived at a decision, everything connected with the subject would be laid on the table. The hon. member for Birmingham, in accordance with a theoiy which he always put forth, intimated that the House of Commons were the executive government of the country, and that the responsible Ministers of the Crown had nothing to do but follow the behests of the House of Commons. Now he (Lord Palmerston) humbly submitted that that was not constitutional doctrine, but that, ',according to the constitution, the responsible Ministers of the Crown were bound to act and to decide upon their responsi bility. Parliament could of course subsequently control them by a vote of censure, but on this, as on every other subject, it was the duty of the responsible Government to I form in. the first instance their own decision. The action of Parlianient might be necessary to give effect to that decision, and without such co-operative action the decision of the Government might be totally vain and worthless, but be fore matters came to that point, it was necessary that Par liament should have full information as to the grounds upon which Government had acted, and the manner in which Government proposed to carry the matter in question into effect. This was a question which no doubt affected the interests of a great many meritorious and gallant officers, and that fact might be one element in its consideration, but he contended that it was not all, for the question was not a military nor even an Indian, but a great imperial question, and one that involved the interests of the whole British empire. (Hear, hear.) It was a question which could not be decided upon narrow or local grounds, but on grounds of military expediency, as bearing on the general interests of the empire at large. He was almost ashamed lo ad/ert to the clap-trap insinuations that had been indulged in, that the Government were influenced by court influences, or questioas of Horse-Guards patronage, or God knew what, He felt almost ashamed to reply to any such insinuations. He fancied that any Government which aspired to the confidence of the hsuse and the country would act on higher grounds and would not bo swayed by any considera tions save those of public duty. (Hoar, hear.) It had been said that if the whole Indian army belonged to the general service, the population of this country would not bear the drain, but if the same number of Englishmen were enlisted for India, he wanted to know what dif ference it would make whether the force were a general or a local one. As to the argument respecting the exist ence of a large force beyond the control of Parliament, if it had any force, it would apply much more to a local than to a general one, over which Parliament, through the responsible Ministers of the Crown, would exercise a com plete control. Again, it was s aid that the general force would notbe under the control of the Governor-General; in answer to that he lAggee to say that the Governor-General had control over the general as well as the local service, the only difference being that the general army had to submit to general as well as local regulations. However, these dis 6ussions were premature. The only objection that the Go vernment made was to giving papers in a state in which they were calculated to mislead. Theyhad nothing to con ceal, and their intention was to give the fullest information. He hoped, therefore, that his hon. and gallant f r i en d wou ld not press his motion, or put the house to the trouble of a division, as his object would be fully attained by the Go vernment doing voluntarily all that he desired. (Hear, hear.) He would only add that the letter of Sir Patrick to General Peel was one of the documents which had been already presented. Colonel SYKES said a few words in reply. If the Go vernment would consent to lay on the table of the house, a week after Easter, the papers he had moved for, he would at once withdraw his motion. Sir C. WOOD could not accede to the proposition of the hon. and gallant gentleman. As soon as he had obtained all the information, on both sides he would be prepared to lay it upon the table. (Hear, hear.) The motion was negatived without a division. DIFFERENTIAL DUTIES. Mr. LINDSAY moved " that an humble address be pre sented to hey Majesty, praying that she will be graciously pleased to enter into negotiations with the Emperor of the French, with the view of making a treaty for the recipro cal abrogation of all discriminating duties levied upon the vessels and their cargoes, of either of the two stations in the ports of the . other ; and for procuring such alterations in the navigation laws of France as may tend to facilitate the commercial intercourse, and strengthen the friendly relations, between England and France." The hon. member said that after what had been stated by the noble lord at the head of the Government he might have rested satisfied with simply placing the motion in the hands of the Speaker, if he had not considered that it was a motion of a peculiar character. There were two parties to it. The house might pass it unanimously, but the French Emperor and the Go vernment of France must also give their-sanction before it could produce any results. He contended that the change he proposed was far more essential and necessary for the people of France than to ourselves. By our old navigation laws no goods from Asia, • Africa, or America were allowed to be imported except in British ships, and no goods were allowed to be imported from Europe exempt in our vessels; or in vessels of the countries from which the goods were brought, We afterwards entered into reciprocity treaties, and most other nations had followed us in our maritime policy, at least to particular stages. In 1664 France framed a na vigation law which was almost word for word the naviga • tion law of England framed in 1661. Under our protec tive policy there cleared outwards from our ports in 1780, 430,000 tons of British shipping, and in 1810, 1,600,000 tons. Considering the period, that might be looked upon as a large increase; but it must be remembered we had the whole carrying trade of the world at the time, au our fleets crowded the seas. In 1820 there cleared out from our ports 1,607,000 tons of British shipping, but after the abolition of the navigation laws in 1850 the number of tons rose to 4,700,000, so that during this stage of partial free trade we increased 3,000,000 tons in 30 years, whereas, under the strictest protection, with all the advantages arising from reciprocity treaties, he 'had shown that we increased in 90 years only 1,000,790 tons. In 1858, there cleared from our ports 6,400,000 tons of British shipping, being an in crease of 1,740,000 tons, or an increase of considerably more in the eight years of free trade than there had been in the 90 years of close protection. (Hear, hear.) In 1830, when the reciprocity treaties were in operation, we owned 2,500,000 tons of shipping, but . at the end of last year we owned no less than close upon 6,000,000 tons ; and in the 10 years •of free trade we had actually increased 3,500,000 tons. The Government of France, for the put-rose of en couraging her own shipping trade, had levied a duty of 30 francs per ton upon all exprts, and 50 francs per ton on all imports. Franco, however, had materially changed he r laws. In 1826 she entered into a treaty with uS—and the law of France as affecting England stood in this, position : First, there was the coasting trade, which was still con fined strictly to the ships of France. Then there was the direct trade between England and France, in which the ships of England and those of France were placed on exactly the same footing by the reciprocity treaty of 1856. Then came the indirect trade of France so far as regarded the colonies and possessions of diffiirent Countries, which trade might be said to be entirely confined to the ships of France, in consequence of the differential duties being so heavy on English vessels; and the 'ships of England were also ex cluded from the trade bctween foreign countries and France. There could be no doubt that France had been a consider able loser by her restrictive policy. On the whole of her foreign trade she had decreased 8,000 tons in forty years. Then let them take the trades which were not protected. He had shown that the average decrease in the protected trades was 7 per cent., whereas in the non-protected trades, where the competition of o.her shipowners was admitted, there was an increase of 10 per cent. This policy therefore was not merely unjust to the people of France, but grossly unjust to the shipowners, over whose interest they watched with great anxiety. In the year 1787 France owned 500,000 tons of shipping; in 1830 she owned 688,009. In the year 1855 she owned 15,690 vessels; and in 1840 only 14,800 vessels, and if the latter 10,000 were under 30 tons ; and 3,000 under 1,300 tons. However, in the year 1830 France owned 680,000 tons of shipping; but he found she did not increase that amount, for ig 131 she possessed only 604,000 tons, and taking the whole period from 1830 to 1858, the increase of her shipping was only 370,000 tonS; whilst in the same period the British-tonnage was doubled, and increased from. 2,800,000 to 5,600,000 tons. But then la them proceed to the case of steam. He found that - whilst Great Britain owned. in 1830 82,000 tons of steam vessels, in 1858 we owned no less than 488,000 tons OU-steam vessels. The steam tonnage of France amounted in 1830 to about 9,000 tons, and in 1858 to about 66,000 ; showing that whilst British shipping in • creased to the extent of upwards of 400,000 tons, the in crease of France was only 57,000 tons of steam shipping. And yet it was found that in France protective duties were in favour. Why was this ? France had a large seaboard. Along the Channel her coast extended 450 leagues, on the Atlantic it was 130 leagues in length, and she had 90 leagues in the Mediterranean. Moreover, all other branches of her commerce were increasing and extending. During the years 1827 to 1836, the increase in the 'special commerce of France was 10,000 millions of francs. Prom 1837 to 1846 the in crease was 18,000 millions of francs, whilst in the years from 1847 to 1856 the special commerce of France increased no less than 22,000 millions of francs. As in the case of pri vate persons, they often found that the greatest success was attained by unassisted enterprise, when a man was left to his own resources and energies —so it was with nations. When the British shipowner was left to his own unprotected energies his success was greatest, and he (Mr. Lindsay) be lieved that it the French Emperor should be pleased to adopt the policy which the British nation had adopted, the shipping trade of France would be largely benefited, and the commerce of the country greatly increased. They ought to abolish all' differential duties levied upon goods from our possessions and our colonies to France in British ships, and admit them at the same rates as the produce of their own 'possessions in our ships. Such a change in the differential duties wns in fact essentially necessary inorderto carry into effect the reciprocal advantages of the treaty so far as the , maritime duties between the two nations were concerned. (Hear, hear.) Mr. HORSFALL seconded the motion, and expressed his opinion that great good would result from this agitation of the question by the hon. member. After the motion had been put from the chair, Mr. M. GIBSON said his hon. friend the member for Sunderland was already aware' that there would be no ob jection made to the• address on the part of her Majesty's Government ; and he had accurately described their position upon the subjeCi when he said that such address, if agreed to, must be followed by an effort on the part of the Govern ment to give it effect. In reply to his hon. friend he had to state that the Government would avail themselves of every opportunity, and would use their utmost endeavours, to carry out his views. (Hear.) There could be no doubt that British shipping laboured under many disabilities in French ports. The coasting and colonial trade, i.e., the trade between Franco and our colonies, was more than might at once be conceded ; but with regard to indirect carrying trade—the foreign trade with France—seeing that all other countries, with the exception of France, Spain, and Portugal, had given full reciprocity to England, he might express at any rate the hope that simi lar facilities would be conceded to England by France. He agreed that French Commerce and the French nationwould derive great benefit from such a step, and without taking up the time of the house at that moment by going over any unnecessary ground, he would merely add that he entirely concurred in the views expressed by his hon. friend as to the great benefits conferred upon British shipping and British commerce by the liberal navigation code which had been adopted. (Hear.) Lord C. HAMILTON expressed his gratification at the fact that the Government had acceded to the motion of the hon. member for Sunderland. Still he thought it behoved the house to ask why it was necessary that so soon after the treaty with France another negotiation should be com menced? How came it that they had so soon to set to work to patch up the treaty so recently concluded ? He believed it resulted from the great haste and slovenly man ner in which that treaty had been prepared. He conceived that that was done far a party purpose, viz., to bring it be fore the house at the commencement of the session. No doubt it had obtained for the Government some cheers, but they would be only of a temporary character. Mr. DIGBY SEYMOUR. thought the observations of the noble lord uncalled for, and that the attack made by him upon the conduct of the hon. member for Rochdale in his absence wag undeserved. (Hear, hear,) That hon. mem ber would no doubt receive the thanks of his' countrymen for his recent labours in the cause of freedom of trade ; and he believed the noble lord could not name any diplomatist who would have been better able to carry on the late nego tiations with the French Emperor and his Government. The resolution was then put to the house and carried neon. con. TENURE AND IMPROVEMENT OF LAND (IRELAND). Mr. CARDWELL asked the permission of the house to bring in a bill to amend the law relating to the tenure and improvement of land in Ireland. He wished to make one more attempt to settle a question which had occupied the care of every Government and the attention of every Par liament for a period longer than ho had had the honour of a seat in that house. It was a question of great difficulty, but to Ireland a question of great importance. Ho believed that from the time peace was concluded with France in 1815 up to the present date many branches of this subject had continually occupied the attention of the house. An era in the history of this question was the appointment of the Devon Commission, which took a mass of evidence, and made a most valuable report. Since then there was no Ministry that had not endeavoured to settle this question, and there had been scarcely a year when some proposal or another had not been before the house for the purpose of so doing. In 1845, Lerd Derby, then Secretary for the Colonies, under the Ministry of the late Sir Robert Peel, made a proposal. In the following year it was renewed in that house by the present Duke of Newcastle, then Se3re tary for Ireland. The right hon. gentleman the member for Canterbury made an attempt in 1848, and another in 1850: In 1852 the' Government of Lord ' Derby made a great effort tp settle the question, and under the Government of Lord Aberdeen another attempt was made. Sergeant Shee afterwards • brought forward a measure on the subject, which was to a certain extent taken up by the Government of that day. Mr. Moore, then a mem ber of that house, attempted legislation in 1856, and in 1857 and in 1858 the hon. gentleman the member for Dungar van submitted a' measure on the subject. The late Govern ment had, he believed, intended to deal with it, so that it was manifest the question must be not only one of great importance, but one of great difficulty. What gave the pre sent Government a hope of being able to settle it was, be cause the condition of Ireland was more favourable at the present time than in that of some of their predecessors—be cause they had greater experience, because there had been de cisions of that house, which showed what measures there were that it was impossible to carry, and how they ought to flatme a bill with any hope of success. The first question which would naturally arise was, why it should be neces sary to deal with the land of Ireland on a footing different from the land of England or of Scotland, but he might quote the opinions of Arthur Young, of Mr. Burke, and of Mr. Mill, to show that Government might take up the case. Every Ministry since 1845 admitted the necessity in em phatic language of dealing with Ireland separately. The Devon Commissioners had declared that,whereas in England and Scotland the landlord provided suitable farmhouses, put up gates, made fences in good order, and kept buildings in repair, in Ireland the case was wholly different. • The smallness of farms there rendered the introduction of the English system difficult. In most cases in Ireland what ' ever was done in the way of such improvement was done by the tenant ; this of itself constituted a strong reason why special legislation was necessary for Irel an d. Si nce t h e time of the Devon commission no more marked improve ment had taken place in the condition of any country than in that of Ireland. That improvement had resulted in changes which, if they diminished the necessity for legisla tion of this kind, operated, upon the other hand, as a great encouragement to make all just and necessary reforms, whereby the laws might be made to co-operate with the spirit of laudable enterprise, and the progress of beneficent improvements might be facilitated. Since 1815 there had been much done in the way of public works, as well as by loans and grants, and, above all, by the multipli cation of railways and other internal communications. The value of live stock in Ireland about 20 years ago was £2l,ooo,ooo—by the last return it was £36,000,000. The improvement had not been merely in quantity, but far more in quality and in value. No less than 2,000,000 of acres had been sold under the Encumbered Estates Court, which fetched £23,000,000, and he was glad to say that most of the money was found and paid by Irishmen. This land was sold to 8,500 owners, who bought it for the pur pcise of expending labour and capital in its improvement. In 1811 he believed the wages of labour averaged in Ire land 6d. per day ; now it was is. 3d. The number of evic: tions 10 years ago was 72,000; last year 2,300. Ten years ago there were 15 agrarian 'outrages in 12 months, last year only 4. Firing at the person, 10 years ago, 20; last year, 1. Serious assaults of the same character, ten years ago, 87 ; last year, 19. So that offences of this character were, ten years ago, 123; last year only 24. (Hear.) Ten years ago tho number of paupers relieved was 2,142,000 ; last year, 161;000.. Expenditure for the poor, ten years ago, ) ,199,000 ; last year, £114,000. There was now greater prosperity amongst all classes, and a better feeling was prevalent. I'll, framing the bill they had endeavoured to deal with the land in three categories—first, lands in the hands of landlords, limited owners ; secondly. in the hands of tenants, protectedi by lease ; and, thirdly, in the hands of tenants- who had no lease. In the same year in which the Devon commission reported, the year 1845, an itnpor tant act of Parliament was passed, having for its object the improvement of land. That act was applicable to Ireland. It enabled the limited owner to burden his land by mortgage for drainage, and to saddle the mortgage on the estate in certain specified proportions. The machinery by which the act was to be carried into effect was through the Court of Chancery. Ho was sorry' to say that not one single application had been made to the court for the purpose of - exercising the powers given by that act. They thought that the precedent of that apt and of many other acts, including the Montgello47 AO, f. 9 . 12 th e last kseVent which had been in oppositi y years, and of the Scotch Settled Estates Act, - might with propriety be applied to the case of limited owners in Ireland. They thought it might be appropriately extended to other pur poses than drainage, and that the word " improvement" for these purposes might include thorough drainage of land, the reclaiming of land from tidal or other waters, the pro tection of land by embankment from tidal or other waters, the reclaiming of bog land, the reclaiming and inclosing of waste land, clearing land of stones, making roads and fences, the erection of farm buildings, houses for stewards, la bourers, or other persons empioyed in superintending or cultivating the land, and the renewal or reconstruction of such buildings, so that any of these works increased the permanent value of the land. The mode by which they proposed this should be accomplished was this—at present the applications were made under the Court of Chancery, and, as he had stated, up to this time not a single applica tion had been made. They thought, therefore, it was abso lutely necessary in extending the scope of the act to find a cheaper and better mode of carrying it into effect. A few years ago there was passed an act called the Settled Estates Act, which gave very large powers for amending imperfect settlements, by extending to them the usual and proper leasing powers. But, again, the machinery of that act was limited to the Court of Chancery, and the result was that the applications under it had been very few. They proposed to extend the operation of that act in three ways. In the ' first place, they proposed to create a power giving special improvement leases for a longer period than ordinary agri cultural leases ; secondly, they proposed to include not only limited owners in the ordinary sense of the term — namely, individuals - holding under settlements—but also corporations, lay and ecclesiastical trustees, the owners of foundations for schools, and so on, following the prece dents which had obtained in particular cases on that principle. The improvements which ought to be executed by tentuits.were less extensive than those which ought to be executed by a landlord, because they extended only to his particular holding, and not to the whole estate. They therefore proposed to leave out one or two heads in this part,of the bill. They proposed that the im provenients to be executed by the tenant under lease should be, drainage of land, the reclamation of land from bog, the clearing land of stones, the making of roads or fences on his own farm, the erection of farm-houses, or the enlargement or the erection or re-construction of suitable farm-buildings. Then what they proposed with regard to leases was this : At present a limited owner under the act of 1856 could give an agricultural lease for 21 years absolutely without the in tervention of any court. They proposed to allow corpora tions to do the same. They proposed that improvement leases might be granted, with the sanction of the chairman of the county, assisted in the same manner as in the former part of the act, for a period of 40 years. They proposed that building leases which amounted to an alienation might be granted, as they were granted under the Settled Estates (Scotland) Act, and as they were granted under many special acts referring to Ireland, that they might be granted with the leave of the Landed Estates Court, if they related to a larger quantity of land than three acres, or a larger value than £lOO a -year, and if less, then with the sanction of the chairman of the county. They proposed that all thesa leases should be subject to three conditions, that they should give immediate possession, that they should be granted without fine, and that they should be subject to certain covenants. There remained the third, and certainly not the least com plicated portion of the subject. At this part of the subject he should like, with the permission of the house, to refer to a case which recently occurred in Ireland, which had , attracted great interest, and which was so important, that in the last session of,Parliament the hon. member for Tippe rary invited his attention specially to it. He stated that he hoped that in any measure the Government might introduce they would take care that no such case as that to which the hon. member referred would again occur. In the first place, he would fairly avow that they intended to make no attempt to give compensation for what were called retrospective improvements. (Hear.) The compensation was intended to be entirely prospective. He appealed to those who were in favour of retrospective compensation to remember the history of retrospective legislation with regard to other measures. And last, though not least, they would remem ber that last year a deputation of those gentlemen waited upon the right hon. gentleman the member for Bucking hamshire and requested him to exert the power of the Go vernment to bring this question to a settlement, and stated their views on the subject of retrospective compensation. They stated in the most distinct and emphatic terms that they did not expect retrospective compensation, and that they desired a sound and reasonable bill, providing a pros ' pective compensation for prospective improvements. A bill which was brought in by the hon. member for Dungarvan was rejected by a majority of 3 to 1 because it contained the retrospective principle. The, hon. member for Dungarvan stated this at the deputation' of which he was a member, and he had asked how could he and his friends continue to press on a measure which must result in failure ? adding, most justly, "if we had done so we should have deserved the scorn of this house and the contempt of our country men." He (Mr. Cardwell) quite appreciated the wisdom of these observations. Ho had therefore endeavoured to bring in a bill which, if it did not satisfy all expectations, would at any rate do some practical good, and pass into a law; and therefore he frankly stated he had no intention of dealing with retrospective compensation. (Hear, hear.) Then came the question whether they were to sanction pros peetive improvements without permitting the landlord have any voice or opinion at all as to the effect of these im. provements on his land. Ho thought the landlord ought to have the power of objecting to these improvements if he thought they were not advisable. The bill, therefore, would give the tenant a cheap, simple, and certain mechanism by which, if he chose to execute improvements, he would be certain that the result of those improvements should return into his own pocket. It was also proposed that the tenant who desired to improve his property should serve his land lord with notice of his intention. Forms of notice would be prepared and saleable at a cheap rate, so that the tenant might avoid legal expenses that would be otherwise incurred. If the landlord disapproved of the improvements, he might determine the tenancy; practically, however, he believed this would not result, but an agreement would be made be tween the parties as to the terms on which the holding should continue. He believed that everybody connected with Ireland would agree with him that it would be one of the most desirable results for that country if the habit of entering into written agreements between landlord and tenant were established. But supposing the landlord took no steps upon the notice of the tenant, then he would be supposed to acquiesce, and the tenant would proceed to execute his improvements. The tenant would then have to prove their value and extent, and he would then obtain a provisional certificate which would give him an annuity calculated at 5 per cent, upon every £lOO worth of improve ments, or £7 2s. on the £lOO for 25 years. Th en if the land lord ejected the tenant, he (the tenant) would go before the chairman, obtain a charging order, accounting for his arrears of rent to the time when he obtained that order, and having in his possession the certificate which would be transferable, saleable, and conveying to him the certainty of compensation for his improvements, exactly as the limited order obtained it formerly. Those who objected to any of the provisions he had mentioned would have the opportunity in committee of pi oposing modifications or al terations. The bill would set free land in the hands of limited owners. It would enable limited owners to give improvement leases, whether they were sole owners, cor porations, trustees of schools or clergymen, and he thought it would be admitted that whoever succeeded in carrying any measure that wouldsettle the law on this subject would confer upon Ireland a great benefit. (Hear, hear.) And although the measure might not be of an inspiring charac ter he trusted it would on that account receive the candid consideration of the house. They had difficulty enough in dealing with this subject, and he thought the time had ar rived when something like a substantial instalment of re form in this direction should be given to the people of Ire land. (Hear, hear.) Lord FERMOY did not think that Ireland was so su premely prosperous as the right hon. gentleman wished to make out. The right hon. gentleman was afraid to deal boldly with the question, alai so had to deal with it in this negligent and ineffectual manner. The bill would rather do harm than good. (Hear.) The O'DONOGHUE observed that what he really said when he attended the deputation to the right hon. gentle man was, that he would not obstruct a measure, good in ether respects, because it did not happen to have retrospec tive clauses. He did not regard the present "prosperity" of Ireland aa placed on at all a sound basis, be cause he re garded it as chiefly owing to the diminution in the number of the inhabitants. He did not believe the bill would bo found to introduce - any material improvement. It seemed to him that the right hon. gentleman was like a physi c i an attending an hypochondriac patient, being obliged to bre scribe something, he ordered bread pill s . (A laugh.) Mr. MAGUIRE said he was most anxious to have this question finally and satisfactorily settled; but however much he admired two portions of the bill of the right hon. gen tleman, if he did not withdraw or greatly alter that most vicious machinery which he sketched to the house, his name would be associated with evictions in every part of Ireland. and he was sure the right hon, gentleman did not desire a reputation of that kind. After a few words from several hon, members, leave was then given to bring in the bill. LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion of the ATT ORNEY -GENERAL for Ireland, leave was given to bring in a bill to consolidate and amend the law of landlord a n d tenant in Ireland. speori O vni n peee t ds h , l ao m nidn o tgituooni rree o p f ion A rtt l o r t . ot l t V hel S MISCELLAN EOUS SERVICES. a select committ ee was ap e expenditure whether for any m is c r e e d l a u n e e t o i e u n s `can, in their opinion, be effected in that branch of the public expenditure. LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. POLLARD-URQUHART obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the law of landlord and tenant in Ireland. EMBLEMENTS. Mr. POLLARD- URQ CH ART obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the law of emblements. COMMON LODGING-HOUSES (IRELAND) BILL. This bill was read a sooond time. - THE PAWNBROKERS ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. HORSFALL moved the second reading of this bill. Mr. E. JAMES moved that the bill bo read a second time that day six months. Ho complained that the effect of the bill was td allow pawnbrokers to charge a duplicate ticket of one halfpenny on all pledges under five shillings, which they were precluded from charging under the exist ing statute. The house thou divided. The numbers were— For the second reading For the amendment The bill, was then read a second time, and ordered to be committed on the 29th May. THE PAPER DUTIES BILL. On the order for going into committee being read by the eigk at the table, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER postponed it to Monday. Sir S. N0R17;40=4 said an impression prevailed in sidered, the house that this bill would not be proceeded with until after Easter. He hoped the doubt would be cleared up by the right hon. gentleman. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said if the hon. bironet said there was a doubt—no doubt there was a doubt, but he had no idea that there was a doubt, at any rate there was no doubt upon his mind. (Laughtei.) THE INCOME TAX BILL. On the motion that this bill as amended should be con- Col. DUNNE said it was hardly fair at that hour (ten minutes to one o'clock) to ask him to proceed with his amendment. The statement which he had to make might. lead to a discussion. This was animportantmeasure, and a it had not been sufficiently debated in that house, for it Was brought in without much discussion, and it had been so hurried through the house that only one Irish member had had an opportunity of speaking upon it. He thought the right hon. gentleman ought not to force the bill on at that hour. (Hear, hear.) He then moved the adjournment of ,he house. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had done all in his power to bring the bill on before. He h ad proposed a morning sitting that day, to which the house would not agree, and he had proposed to go on with the bill at an earlier period of the evening, but that was no t permitted, and a great part of th e even i ng h a d been spen t in discussing unopposed motions, and much time also in dis cussing motions in which the hon. and gallant gentleman'," an Irish member, must feel an interest. It was quite a m i l' take to suppose that money bills o f thi s ki n d were usual required to be brought on at five o'olock ; on th e co ntrail, 1 was extremely unusual to raise so many discussions upon them in their later stages. But this was not the last stage of the bill; it would be read a third time next day (Friday) as the first order of the day, and perhaps the hon. and gar lant gentleman would make his statement on that occasion , when he could propose any amendment he chose by moving the recommitment of the bill. Mr. AYRTON said the time had come when they ough t to have some definite understanding as to what the ha. would have to do before the recess. (Hear, hear.) The business was getting into a state of great embarrassmen t ' The Chancellor of the Exchequer was endeavouringto cart through the house various measures of change in every de partment of the finances, and in doi ng thi s h e was i m pede' by the friendly competition of the noble lord the Foreirl Secretary who was endeavouring to carry through his Rs" form Bill. The house could not go on discussing these ice' portant questions on alternate nights, and it would be eon . venient for the hon. gentleman and the noble lord to ceed in concert, and to arrange between themselves whlw' should take the precedence. The right bon. gentlemen,.. the Chancellor of the Exchequer had no right to claim the assent of the house without full discussion. He hoped the house would allow the Chancellor of the Exchequer t° take a etage pro forma, if they were to have a full discus' sion on a future occasion. He appealed to the Chancellor of the. Exchequer to arrange with his colleague the Foreign Secretary as to how- the public business was to be eon' ducted. Sir J. PAKINGTON hoped they would hear from ril e Government what would be the business to-morrow' (this day). The Chancellor of the Exchequer said the first bus ness would be the income-t ax , w h ereas t h e no bl e lord (Lo r d J. Russell) said it would bathe Reform Bill. Let theis know which. Mr. H. B. SHERIDAN moved the adjournment of the house. Lord J. MANNERS said he thought the best - thing they could do would be to take the amendment of his hot and gallant friend at present, and discuss it as fully as " deserved. Lord PALMERSTON observed that the Governmen t was perfectly ready and willing to discuss the aznendruso of the hon. and gallant gentleman, if such was the pleasur e of the house. Lord C. HAMILTON hoped the house would ) if need be/ decide upon the question of adjournment. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER exp laine d that what he said was, that the hon. and gallant gentians° might to-morrow move the recommittal of the bill. Mr. BENTINCK thought the Government ought • once to agree to the adjournment. Mr. E. JAMES said the Government had not given i ll ! information required as to whether the Income-tax Bill °' the Reform Bill would be taken to-morrow. Sir G. GREY said the reason the answer was not given was, that it was supposed the Income-tax would be tak en to-night, sad the Reform Bill would be taken the first order to -morrow. Mr. MALINS hoped a distinct answer would begiVell ° to the course that would be taken to-morrow. Lord PALMERSTON said it was the intention of tb n t Government to take the Reform Bill to-morrow evening the other business—(loud laughter from the Opposition) ° if it could come on at a proper time of the evemng. The SPEAKER was then about to put the motion for sd journment, when The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose, end was about to address the house, when Lord J. MANNERS rose to order. The SPEAKER said it was usual to allow a Minist er to explain. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said b e was not going to explain , but to give infor ma ti on . division was then called, but none took place, the ( - I° ' vernment agreeing to the adjournment of the debate. STAMP DUTIES BILL. The House went into committee on this bill. Mr. JAMES objected to the clause relating to the abe'' tion of stamps as being impracticable. After a short discussion the clause was agreed to. „. , t ot On clause 11 which requires th a t th e amoun t s s h ell - be valid unless stamped at the time of execution, `Mr. JAMES objected to that provision, and, after en# discussion, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sa id would consider the matter, and state his decision an ing up the report. The other clauses were bill P asea agreed to, and the - through committee. The Bankruptcy and Ins o l venc y Bill was read time and, ordered to b e comm itt e d on t h e 23d o f April. The house adjourned at h a lf-p as t t wo . to a second COUIY TRY MARKETS. BIRMINGHAM—MARox 29. At to-day's market there was a large quantity of w offering; trade ruled slow, but we note is to 2s advanZ on our quotations of last week in the few sales Fine barley sold slowly without alteration in price. " were at a slight rise in value. Beans and peas we re late rates. MANCHESTER—MAnen 29. f ,rter Wheat and flour were held stiffly at is to 2s per 4 11-- bli t and sack advance upon the quotations of Thursday last , ci ,ir very little doing. Beans and I n di an corn were ' request, and 6d dearer. Oats brought fully former 11°6 ' oatmeal rather higher. LOUTH—MARCH 28. sA 3 There was an active busine ss d one i n w h ea t t o -d a y, prices were at a rise of 2s upon last week's quotations, 7 ; wheat, red and mixed, old an d new , 46 s t o 50 s pe r white, 525. Oats, 20s to 235; beans, 41s to 445; bar vi 32s to 355. MELTON MOWBRAY-MARCH 27. Thera was a good supply of wheat to-day, with a herb business at the anne xe d prices :—White wheat, new, 4 io Od to 53s 0d; red, 43s Od to 46s per 36 stone; barley fair supply, at 38s to 46s for malting, and 30s to ?5 0 1,i, qr, for grinding; oats, 25s to 35s Od per 24 stone; D 43s to 53s for old; new, 52s per 38 st. EDINBURGH GRAIN—MAncu 28. Wheat on the top is Od down average la 3d up' Barley on the top 3s 6d up average is 4d uPfr Oats on tho top Os 6d down, average Oa 941 UP. Beans on the top 3s Od down average Os ld up• Averages per Imperial quarter. Wheat.... Barley 2 1 2 8-12ths. Oats Beans -12ths Total Supply and Sales. Wheat BlO qrs Sold 674 qrs 8ar1ey........ 523 qrs ..Sold 409 qrs Oats .2155 qrs Sold 1493 qrs Beans 255 qrs • Sold 17$ qrs DUBLIN—MARCH 27. , 01 Of home wheat littl e or none offering. A fair supP , y, s o oats, at 3d to 6d per barrel advance. Malting barley ff, sought after; al so gr i n di ng sorts, b ut a limited supP Maize in demand. Flour 6d higher. l , is.d.s. d. - 8. - d: H . 0 Wheat, white.. 28 6t030 6 Do., new --0 to 1, D Do., red. .... 27 oto 28 6 Bere l3 1t• ,t 4 6 Do., new .... --0 to —0 I Rapeseed Barley Oats Do., black ll 6to 12 6 Indian corn .. 32 6to DERBY SMITHFIELD—MA.Imm 27. 011 There was a fair aver age supplypf fat bea s t s t o -day, :;tfi a largo attendance of buyers; the b es t qua lit y i n der° 1011 and late prices maintained. Sh ee p aga i n i n very P.,1"014 supply, and sold at high prices. F a t an d s t ore calves "" plentiful. Fat pigs a better supply. ii i Beef Mutton .... Bd to 9d Pork stow Lamb Od to Od Rough fat, 5 s ad per st ° Hides, 4d to 54d ; calf skins, s!ld to 61d. Atte' [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills.—Bili o us "Aiet? lions induced by atmospheric changes, or too liberal should be checked at once , or ser i ous consequonc oa ; 0 4 ensue. When any on o fi n d s hi s id eas l ess clear trial t 1 his eyesight dim me d, an d hi s h ea d di zzy, which inalsAill him for all exertion, physical or mental, he mar 10 ' 4 lo° sure that he is in immedi a t e nee d o f some coolln„,g of l ' purifying medicine. L e t hi m sen d a t once f o e a a sa Holloway's Pills, which will free him from sufferlitE n ' 8 01° speedily renew his usual he a lthf u l f ee li ngs . If the v - o ver, be irritable, Holloway's Ointment should be run t oil.' the stomach and liver every night and morning- mg. wonderfully augment the correcti ve p ower o f the BITHS. h Wi t° ARNOLD.—On the 25th inst ß ., at South Norwood, t- --° of the Rev. C. M. Arnold, of a son. pirl•Y How.---On the 28th inst., the wife of William 1 1 "' 52, Queen's-gardens, Hyde-park, of a son. MARRIAGES. Do.li PASLEY—HARE.--On the 27th inst. a t Stoke parish church, Devon, Hamilton Sabine Pas&Yr Esq., H.M.'s Cape Mounted Rifles, fourth son of R e ' 4r " Antie , ral Sir Thomas Sabine Pa s l e y, Bart., to Catherine ios , eldest daughter of Li eu t.-C o l. the Hon. Richar d- to SIMON — LEON.—On the 25th inst., Julius Simon , Eliza, eldest daughter of J. I. Leon, Esq., 4282 park-square. DEATHS. BARRY.—On the 27th inst., at his residence, 171°14°14 New .road, Bl a ckh ea th, Fredk. Barry, Es+ °9 g g.l-11 HOGGE.—On the 23d inst., at Nice, Colonel Hog oc, A po late 20th Regt., of 24, Gloucester-place, IlYd e- P a of Aylsham, Norfolk, aged 73. joseo HUTTON.—On the 28th! inst., at Derby, t he ROT. Hutton, LL.D., aged 69. Y O LONDON : Printed and Published by WIRD 1 01 of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tls S un Office, 4 7 ...tv ° ' oi Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in Os Wl' Middlesex, Friday, March 30, 1860. 1 Tin agT Cr( I rk NI IN'o do n 0 - , fror •Tan Mr. cony Dorn acid, Wee .--___ in t' a , F eed n t t : Pit t yhiF i •411, the 14)4('. T 1 AN D i The c h q'tl-ei, Oat 13 Thi dress ton, Syrui Just VI SPFF Drstr, CYST P rzi Tans n h e y :t t y 1 0,zett , ecti Medic bireet 1108tei rc, R IY , tf c ' i )11d * Pr;, N I ; 'lll pai %tr, ~_•- - -