The Sun. — London, England, 1852-02-13 00:00:00

TIIE fortsnaouth was not made by the inhabitents tit all. hut i wire [revere to llayt the anith ty which was natural]; was breught 'creard by the Adeetrelty to the pui:peee , ft !ton the s 0 bit:et o f the proviti eee supplied to the Arctic of obtaining a judicial decision on the suaje e t ; en d t he ' ex pedition. L was also well-known that meat in the examination which they then made undoub te dl y resu l t ed I cold latitudes of the Arctic regions w as not li a bl e to in the c on d emnation of so many of the canisters. He , decay, and in confirmation of the saf e ty o f supplying had no app re h ens i ons whatever as to the state of the 1 provisions of the kind, h e m i g h t state that of 35.000 provisions suppli e d to the Arctic Expedition. But he I cases supplied to C a p ta i n A ust i n ' s expedition, only wished to i mpress upon the House that in the present ' eighteen were found to be faulty. Some of the meat state of science the Admiralty were not ay e io secure a had been returned into store, and recent examinations good supply genera of preserved meat. With r e spect to the had tended to confirm th e op i nion upon the subject. l supply of' the navy, they held contracts with Cap sin SCOBELL had no doubt whatever but that several persons who had been exc ee dingly anxi us to those who had the management of the affairs of the Ad prevent the deterioration of the meat, consequent on long m!r111y had not been altogether so neglieent as that they exposure to th e a i r; b ut they had not been success f u l. wou l d not he able in committee to offer seine satisfac- A general impression was, that the meat which the Ad- ter) explanati on on the subject. lie was decidedly in miralty supplied was a ll bad in quality; but he ventured favour of the amendment proposed by the Right• Hon. to say, when the facts came b e fore the Committee, it Baronet at the head of the Admiralty, as he considered would turn out that the casesot bad meat were extremely it advisable that the Committee should carry their ie few indeed. The whole or most of the bad meat arose, quiries as far hack as possible. He thought that this de not from its being bad originally, but from its becoming scription of preserved meat would never be found to so in the course of time.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Grf la• arl,rer well for the use of the navy. tleman had indulged in many pathetic observations as t , Celonel SIBTHORP was not surprised to find that the results ef using the bad meat in question; but, on the the G overnment preferred a foreigner to a Br i t i sh sub other hand, he (Sir F. Baring) could as su r e the Hon. jeer, and was not surprised at the consequences of this Gentleman that Mr. Goldner was a-ruined man. He unjust partiality. Ho should like to know how many might add, however, that there was no intention what- tenders had been sent in for the supplying of the pre. ever on th e p ar t o f th e Admiralty to forego proceedings served provisions by parties in thi. country more re against hi s sure ti es for the nonperformance of his con- spt ctable by fur than Mr. Goldner, who would no doubt, tract. He would propose, as an amendment to the mo- he supposed, as things now went, to be very shortly tion of the Hon. Baronet, that the inquiry into the con- knighted —(Laughter)—what were the terms of such tracts and the mode of making them, for the supply of tenders—and what were the reasons they had been re the meat provisions for the use of her Majesty's neve, fused. If the Ministry had partaken of the poisoned instead of being confined as proposed to the years 1847, meat, it would have saved the country a round sum in 1848, 1849, 1850, and 1851, should extend over the salaries.—(Lauehter.) The bitted the poor sailors got whole period from 1841 to 1851 inclusive.—(Hear, hear, was bad enough, but the cheese was quite enough to and cries of " Oh, oh.") It the inquiry corns mplated choke a dog. The country was greatly indebted to the was a real and bond fide one he could not se e t h e Ho .. 13sr.net for bringing the question under the atten grounds fur the unwillingness to carry back the inquiry tion of the House, as it might. have the efF, ct of putting a to the commencement of the supply of preserved pruvi- stop to malty discreditable practices going on in some sions, and the nature of the contracts fu; the supply of other departments. the provisions of the Erebus and Terror.—(Hear.) The Mr. M A CGREGOR was anxious not to let the question remeoning portion of his amendment would be in the pass without a few words of observatien. With the words of the original motion itself, exception of the ships of the United States, the British _Colonel CHATTER roN stated that Mr. Gamble, navy was b. tar victualled than those of any other ser . why had a large establishment at Cornhill as well as at vice in the world. It was a fact which ought to be ex- Cork, had enjoyed the exclusive contract for the pre- tensively known, that the victualling of ships was ex served meat for the navy for a peri t el of five y ears , and elusively ma d e up without refer ence t o p reserve d meats . _that no in stance had occurred in which any complaint A su ffi c i ent quant i ty of f oo d was put on board, and had been ma d e of the provisions supplied. lie had sus reservedp meats were only su p era dd e d to the store a l- Pplied the p rov i s i ons to the expeditions of Captains - r any obtained. This was a circumstance which, were arry, Austin. and Ross. Mr. Gamble had supplied the it known, would allay reach next: ty in the residents of former expeditions in 1819 and 1820, and again in 1824 many of the seap o rt tewes. The Right Hon. B a ron e t at and 182 e, w ith 24,314 cases of meat, weighing 108,3931b5., the head of the Admiralty had taken as much care, and . and not one of them when opened was found in the bestowed as much pains on his department, as any least defecti ve stat e . It was also a remarkable fact that person who had ever preceded him in that office; and if when the Fury was wrecked in the Arctic Seas, in blame were to he at.s c h e d -t o an y person , i t certainly 18 26, she h a d some of Mr. Gamble's preserved meat on was not to the Right Hon. Baronet. If the information board. This was examined by Captain Ross, and I A- were correct which he bad received, it might turn out though it was exposed to all the vici-sitees of a climate that some canisters of bad meat were purposely con the thermometer ranging from 80 deg. above to 92 de g , veyed into the stack supplied by Goldner. pjbelow z3ro for twenty-five years, it was perfectly sound, Sir WILLIAM JOLLIFFE had no particular reason i uicY, and wholesome. With these f ac t s b e f ore t h e i r f or c h oos i ng the year 1847, and he was quite willing to eyes, was it not strange that the Government should include the yearn 1845 and 1846, which would include continue so to favour this Hungarian Jew, who since the victualling of the Erebus and Terror. that period had had the contract? Not less than 7,468 Sir FRANCIS BARING was only too happy to give canisters of the provisions supplied by him had, upon the fullest facilities, and to make the inquiry as strict examination at Portsmouth , been found to be unfit for and as searching as possibl e . Littman food; and he had no doubt but that, if an inquiry The motion as amended was then agreed to. , had be en made i n other ports, a similar d i scovery would THE LAW OF MORTMAIN, have been made.—(Hear, hear.) It was lamentable to Mr. HEADLAM moved the re-appointment of the think of the sufferings which in all probability were en- Committee upon the law of mortmain. The labours of dured by the brave Arctic voyagers, who had been sup- the Committee were interrupted by the close of the plied w i th provisions by the same contractor.—(Hear.) session of Parliament before they had time to report. he neglect of the Admiralty had, however, been shown They had already collected a hire° amount of useful not only in the present case, but upon former occasions, evidence, and their object was to place the laws of mort in July, 1849, the Apollo, a wretched crazy craft, was main on the best possible foundation. The Committee th o rdered to t a k e on b oar d 689 men b elonging to one of were not anxious that there should be any material ad finest regiments in the service. It was found, how- dition to the evidence now before them; but they were e ever, upon touching at Cork, that the vessel would not desirous to examine the Master of the Rolls in Ireland, accommodate that number of men, and five officers, 130 who had been a most active member of the board of .. m en, and seven women and children, were ordered to charitable bequests, as they considered his evidence disembark, in order to be conveyed by another vessel. would be most material. The Act of Lord Hard wicke Froth the first a most disagreeable smell arose. Malaria had entirely failed in its object, and an amendment in was perceptible, which could not be accounted for, and the law was requisite. They had no desire to offer any Which increased during the voyage. Most unfortunat e ly imp e di men t s t o th e s tream of charit a bl e d onat i ons; b ut the chol era b roke out, and in a very short time -one considered that it was infinitely better for those who had o_fficer an d 25 persons were consig ne d t o t h e d eep. T hose anyth i ng to give to g i ve i t d ur i ng the i r own lives, when cas ualties were doubtless caused by the crowded state of they could super Intend its distribution. tthe ship, the malaria whi c h p reva il e d , an d the almost After a few words from Lord JOHN MANNERS,t he ufferable heat, particularly at n i g h t , b etween d ec k s of the motion was agreed to. he Apollo. The soldiers becoming weak and debili- MAIL PACKET SERVICE. tated fresh provisions were ordered to be issued, and Mr. FITZSTEPHEN FRENCH moved for copies of e ccle of Goldn e r' s mea t can i sters were opened. The the tender made on the °green:rut or contract entered c ause of the impurity of the atmosphere was immediately into with the West India Mail Packet Company to carry I,l_pParent for the contents of these were a perfe ct mass the mail to Brazil at 3e . 2d per mile, and the number of of putridity, and were, of course, rejected by all, an d voyages performed by that company under such tender, thr own into ' wn nto the sea, whilst the preserved meat stock of agreement, or contract. The Honourable Gentleman k t h i p officers, p urc h aee i at C or k , f rom M r. G am bl e ' s este- complained that the Admiralty bad shown an unjust (B" ln thment, was in a perfect state of preservation.— preference for one particular company. Up to the year ear, hear.) I t was dec i ded that they shoul d steer for 1849, her Majesty's Government carried the mails to diseto Janeiro, and on arriving there the troops were all Dublin and Holyhead at an annual cost of 56,0001. per mbarked a n d p l aced under temporary h uts an d tents annum. At that time Lerd Auckland was at the head he Isla, Grande, where, being plentifully supplied of th e B oard of Admiralty, and he advised that the ~swtirtehn g as f r t e h ish w provisions and vegetables, their health and service sho u ld b e put up to public competition. It was comparatively restored. The Apollo, in offered to b e p erformed by the Dubl i n S team P ac k et MI6 meantime, was thoroughly cleansed and fumigated, Company for 45,000/. per annum. That offer was ac and the troops re embarked, and arrived in safety, after cepted. However, certain Members of Parliament con - tditivi con this most perilous voyage, in eight months, the freight netted with the Chester and Holyhead Railway remon aelP, with the remaining part of the corps, reaching her strated with the Treasury, and the effect of their repre nation in four.— disease hear.) The pestilential sentations was, that the Treasury decided that the ques rie__ease, however, generated on board followed the regi- tion should be re-opened. The result was that the Duh oa to its destination, and shortly after arriving at lin Steam Packet Company were obliged to take the con- - th e e g .l ong one hundred and thirty of the men died in tract: and they were annual losers to a considerable ex the• Thus was 'one of the finest reg i ments in tent. In 1849 Lord Auckland, who was a loss to the Admi the servi . e t u urood ce almost completely destroyed by the bad ac- ralty, advised that the last of the sailing packets between tirurs.tGed°lta t e i e o r n and the execrable provisions provided by England and Brazil should he superseded by steam, and the and the Admiralty.—(Hear, hear.) He Serew Steam Company entered into a contract with the compiet at th e whole subjcict would undergo a most that they should perform the service at a certain met , .e and searching invesiigation.—(Hear.) viz., 3s. 4d. per mile. The Treasury thought it neces theAidratral BERKELEY felt confident that the result of sary to int e rt rr e. The contract was put up to competi ;oA ,rantqairy would be to elbow that the present B ard of then, and a tender was put in by the West India Steam re ralty, which had b-en so much abused, had done Packet Company to perform the service for 3s. 2d. per tha n for the comfort of the men in her Majesty's navy mile. It was for the production of these contracts and un any of its predecessors had ever 13.1 en able to ac- agreements that he no w m o v e d. I t was perfectly well agreements .h eune plish.—(Flear, hear.) With respect to the charge known :hat the company who had obtained the con wade by the Hon. and Gallant Member for Cork, of tract were not in a condition to carry it out. They had . it ile_n_ c li ng a crazy vessel to convey the troops to Hong- only one screw steamer, and they took no steps to carry .6 - --ng . , there was no ground whatever for it. Th e out th e ir contract. He believed that it was the duty of ~,,_l ' . ._ mo was a perfectly sound ship, new, and in every the Admiralty to have stepped in and deprived them of d :d e Nroperly that there was a better in the service. It was v e ry eas y pined, and then the Admiralty entered into a double con to make charges of the kind, but by no means so eas y treat with them, to carry the two mails for the enormous but Substantiate them. He did not find fault w i t h t h e sum o f 2701. per annum, and that contract was_given to b ut he in . which the motion had been brought forward; the company for ten years. Now it was not the lowest zbirm , did with the manner in which the Board of Ad• tender that had been made./ The General Screw faa __ e l was abused, as not being fit to manage the af- Navigation Company, one equally competent to after, eta7dionamitted to its charge.—(Flear, hear.) Notwith- undertake the service, offered to do ie for , ng what had been said, the Admiralty did look 80,0004, and thus 190 0001. of the public money ' h ad neverand effectively too, the comforts of the men, and had been wasted. The materiels of which the vessels , Conte nd against ie, Mac embarked troops in improper ships.—(oh.) of this favoured compeny were built were not of oak, as to which allusion had been made, had to required by the Admiralty, but iron and pine were used, il h a o ci t the most trying and adverse winds, and and it was owing tn some d.gree to the circumstance of wmithsdtanding the statements of a gallant admiral who the Amazon bein,g built of the last-mentioned wood that lett er .: e himself somewhat conspicuous in the art of it teas found utterly impossible to check the flames. It I; paper 0 Ming, and who had written to the Times news- was said that the Government gave this contract to the e_r.l!_.o n the subject, he contended that the vessel West India Company partly from a commisseration of e every way fit for the service for which she was their losses. He did not think they were so much to be `Le tee kr, W. pitied , since at their last meeting they declared a divie th e tro • MILES thou g ht that the question then before dend of eight per cent., and reported a reserve fund for char ge n Se was, not the fitness of vessels for the dis- building ships of half a million sterling. He was in -o:_centof their duty, but rather whether a proper and formed that the Admiralty had entered into a contract 1 1;7 1 ` 4 84 1 supervision bad taken place with reference to with the Austral* Steam-packet Company that PPY of the meat fur the navy, and more especially riage of toe mails to that country, but at so low a figure lueat,,,descriptiona of preserved meat known as " Goldner's they would be unable to carry it out. consistedor the car arge proportion of which it could be proved Mr. COCOWPER thought there were no such documents ti _ us in t of abominable, unwholesome, and excrementa- in existence as those referred to by the Honourable fro m a ll ter•—(Hear, hear.) He had received a letter Gentleman. There was no tender for 3s 2d. per mile; z°___, and _ officer who had been long connected with the there was no contract for it, and consequently no me urtlan i d a n d e stated with reference to this description of morial. meat knout./ supplied to the - navy :—" The preserved Mr. FRENCH—WeII, let me have the correspoiadence. * Way With. eas ` Goldner's patent' is now being done Mr. COWPER—The Admiralty would be most wil of some of th I t was utterly disgusting to see the contents ling to throw all the light they could upon the subject; with the dun e tine . In some cases they contained offal the Honourable Gentleman had brought a grave charge 'dung than lig i nsid e — (Hear, hear)—more like horse- against them, which, after all, would only amount to good me at . ;l av ing else, lying packed equally with this—that the Admiralty had entered into a renewal of on board ship f e u o e ft , 8 ! )01 1. myself, provisions when issued those contracts which were before in existence. With which were issued we l r n_weight 15 per cent., and the parts regard to the Dublin and Holyhead contract, he ed it:eat was a large quantity o f thiesexceedingly indifferent." In 1849 milted the charge made by the Honourable Gentleman. board; but, notwithstand disapproved of by the The Admiralty were on the point of entering into a into with Mr. Goldner 4,attahother contract was entered contract fur that service at 45,000/.; but, before anything would ask, became of the secur7ti"miralty'' What, be was signed, another party stepped forward, and the re- Were they not proceeded agtonste; in that ease ? Why suit was, the contract was taken at 25,0001, thereby wanted to know tha quantity o f me ,.cilearr hear.) He saving the public 20,000/. He could speak confidently the contracts with Mr. Goldner sincelhdestroyed under of the circumstances of ibis case, because it was brought tered into, and how the country stood an y'e were first en- before a Committee of the House, who reported that the with the contractor—(Hear, hear)—wa.4 l 3 : e ceY matters Board of Admiralty had done their duty in every res er Ai r. the country pect, and entertained quite a different opinion to that of , Goldner had been mulcted, and if e Z.e •-. from the preserved meat, the s e as (,jortio what the Hen Gentleman. With regard to the Brazilian con ber neap read a passage from the same letter a ' Met a - tract, the lowest tender was accepted, being that of the des • • cribua the condition of the salt provisioes—e, first ni g, s l e . t ' ) ve West In.lia Company. It was true the Screw Steam lan for r ace' seid the writer, " the quantity P i o. seat toe " the Pecket Company made a proposal and laid a p obi- the service before the Admiralty, but instead of acce ceedenaned to be returned into store, or sold for th , taZu-r-db nefit of the Crown , ordered to be thrown away, is, ing that proposal at once, they called for tenders, ands s acceptance the 41. ' 14 . Li the second or place, there is a very great loss ‘3? ttlb'e Screwdi Company did not make the lowest tender, t eight in boiling. All the meat is cut into 41b. pieces, not obtain the contract ; so far the result was Now, as th e men unable to corn stillieluding bone, before boiling. The average weight of of the a w l e e s to the practice of the Admiralty. The tender penditur madeounces,in for eachthoseweight • halflargethey efficientmustvesselsva proposal to the Admiralty the• November 22, and he found tke result to be that In the year 1849. 'P I- A. hat p.r itENca—How long after?] Proper all ,, wanee of moat issued for the crew during once, but when the West e u n aii sal was not accepted at Wax ed for , tim e was 2,4451b5., and the extra quantity the Brazilian line was ineorpouractundtract was remodelled Ip aii 'or making up for the loss of weight in belling India contract had been carried o e t with it. The West was 4,0121 b• tie found from the same account that there with the Brazilian in addition, tbe uAda'' 24 0,0001. ; and, I,7l24e.tiondt mned to be sold for the profit of the Crown continue at 270.000/. per annum. Them Admiralty agreed to to b 11 ' 4 .; and of meat which was so bad that it required der for the Brazilian contract was above 3 e o x o t _loowest ten dse throw n overboard the weight was 1 ,1181b5., making the additienal sum paid W et India Com Pan se iss ue ,' as Possible treble the allowance of the weight 30,000/ , the public had still the adv Y as u foramaze of the lowest Visa,— the crew of that ship. The case of salt pro- tender, and of the two services being exe cuted by thus ei,eitt"..,. although not so bad as that of the pre,er same parties, edoch enabled the company to put Ro llie t ?' Mr. Goldn er , equally showed the necessity for more efficient and powerful vessels. He understood 'the b e _ tn.quiry, and he trusted that the Committee would Hon. Member say to that peculiar favour -had been ..a.nrPointed.—alenr, hear.) shown to the West India Company in not compelling 41 - OI; ita mi • , RY said that having been connected with the them to use vessels built of wood. He (Mr. Cowper) .? re 'tY at the t' the Admiralty regulations had r ettlitli ime the provisions were supplied to the could - the assure House je ) a expedition in 1845, he felt bound to remove the - with;every vessel was carefully of a n strictly complied crews ~, wa tch appeared to be entertained, that the sirveyed, and . 1 on one occasion, au iron vessel w as Pro per w r the Arctic vessels were suffering from the itn- put othe • wi ' en, vessel, to which no a u line it was an extra eery A food supplied by Mr. Goldner. In 1845 pre- jectio be made, so long as the company e " meatcould ' n of course on e f . was not issued as an article of toed, but as continued to * • r number required by maintain the proper these medical comfort. At that time so excellent were the Admiralty, lii , provisions that contract. It eny reproach was due to the , not mo re than 1 p er cent , o f th e m it was for having driven rather a hard bargain with the 4. 4 _ peen f ound . IA s ., i , to be bad,'while in the hest qualities of %Vest India Cow ran— , that m eat it ,y arid not for having shown them at i ii . am ounted to from 2to 3 per cent.; so any partiality or h - • t. Point of fact,uvouritisin. " Pot there was then ereater safety in Mr. HUME said ' s (gear, p otted meat th an • - . - salt . . . . , tee explanation of the Admiralty wa ev er ) The tnedi l in the ordinary provisions perfect y sati•raetory to bile, and he merely rose to im ine Most carotin e ;comforts of the crew were, how- press on the Gevernment the importance or giving our tt for the use dr"kuct to. The ordinary preserved colonic. the advantegra of the penny ostage. A letter nitrateY at thc. „ the navy was supplied to the Ad- could be sent to Irelatid or the Channelp Mar ene: --. price of s d ds fee a ...emus that 5d per pound. Being however penny, and he ceuld not see why 1 - hish ed at tne crews,of • this t x edition should be fur- hies should nut have the same y every one of our co o rat e e w lth meat of the beatPsepa - _ adv antage.—(Hear, hoar.) 4... _entrant wag entered Possible character, a we wer« paying for foreign postage service 600,0601 or th,L.kieldner, for Et sus 101° bY the Admiralty with 700,000/. a year, and the amount of postag e r reset is was 04 • ittaices ranging, t' of the very best description of inconsiderable. In vessels of 2,000 t on - receipts ' -4.) . thought . rom Bt h that Ulla ezni to ls. per lb.—(Hear, no difficulty in 100 to the s there could be devoting tons mails instead 'of venation would &actin 30 or 49 tone, audit would be so beneficial; and bo bigh LONDON, EVENING, a satisfaction to those who were obliged to expatriate themselvee, that he trusted her Majesty's Government would pl.iee oar ce!onies in the same position as Ireland on the Channel IA 4,llds,—(flear, hear.) It might be done without increase of charge for the service, though be antici;2atcd a reduction of receipts; but when the House saw bow inconsiderable these receipts were, ho was sure there would he no objection to placing our co loeies within the range and facility of penny postage. Mr. FRENCH would be very happy to take the re turn in any way the Admiralty might wish; but surely the Hon. I}lniber for Montrose had not been in the House when he (Mr. French) made the statement that 270,000/. a year was heing paid fora service tendered at 80,0001 or the Hon. Member would not have expressed himself ix:rice:ly content with the explanation of the Admiralty, which left the statement unanswered. If the Hon. Mern'iser was content, he was the only person that was content. The return was then agreed to. REGULATION OF TOWNS (IRELAND) BILL. Sir W. SOMERVILLE moved for leave to bring in a to make better provisions for the paving, lighting, cleansing supplying with water, and regulation of towns in Ireland. Mr. MONSELL called fur an assurance,from the Chief Secretary for Ireland that the same course would not be pursued with this Bill as was pursued last session, when within three days of the prorogation it was abandoned, and all their Lbeur was found to have teen in vain. Mr. ROCHE hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman would also give some iefurmation of the mode in which he pro posed to carry other important Bills relating to Ireland through the House. He suggested setting aside some portion oF the week for Irish business. Sir W. SOMERVILLE said it did so happen that at the end of last session it was found impossible to carry a great number of Irish Bill successfully through the House. That very important Bill, fur the bettee ad ministration of justice, was carried, but the Bill now ewore the House was abandoned. For himself, he could only say it was his full determination to omit no effort which should bring this Bill to a successful issue during the present session. He had fixed the second reading for this day week, and should name an early day for going into Committee. In the last session many clauses were inserted in Committee, which occupied a great des' of time; but many of those amendments were now in. eluded in the Bill. The motion was agreed to. QUALIFICATIONS OF PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTS. Mr. JACOB BELL said the Bill for regulating the qualifications of pharmaceutical chemists, which he asked leave to bring in, was the same he introduced in the last session, with amendments, to meet objections then raised against it. To comply with the forms of the Hotta() ho would move that the House resolve itself into Committee for the purpose of giving leave for the introduction of the Bill. The motion being agreed to, the House went into Committee, and a resolution was proposed for giving leave, upon which Mr. HUME asked whether anything had been added to render the Bill more acceptable, and whether it had received the approbation of her Majesty's Ministers? Mr. BELL slid he bad been in communication with the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Department; he had no objection to bringing in the Bill, and as soon as he had seen it he would state whether he would support it or not The objections last year were that the Bill gave too much power to the body which it created, and it had since' been altered to meet those objections. He hoped the Hon. Member would allow the Bill to be printed. The resolution was then agreed to, and, on the House resuming, was reported to the Speaker. Mr. FREWEN moved for leave to bring in a Bill to extend the powers of justices of the peace regarding dangerous animals. Mr. SOTHERON asked whether the dangerous ani mals went on two legs or four? For his own part, be would support the Bill, either for the one class or the other.—(Laughter.) CUSTOMS INQUIRY. Mr. MITCHELL moved the Select Committee on Custome to consist of Mr. Mitchell, Mr. C. Lewis, Mr, Goulburn, Mr. Gladstone, Sir J. Yarde Buller, Sir G. Clerk, Mr. W. Brown, Mr. Alderman Thompson, Mr, Forster, Mr. Macgregor, Mr. Archibald Hastie, Mr, Alderman Humphery, Mr. Moody, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Tennent. Mr. W. WILLIAMS thought there was already suffi cient evidence to satisfy the, Government that there ought to be some change in this department. Three years ages commission was appointed, including officials and Lords of the Treasury, and they reported that the Commissioners and officers of Customs had been guilty of neglect of duty, and had shown their incompetency in the issue of orders which it was impossible for officers under them to carry out. The Customs presented such a scene of mismanagement that frauds had to au un known extent taken place, in which officers of the Cus toms of high rank had been concerned. There was overwhelming and, if possible, stronger evidence before the Committee appointed last session of the total incom petency of the Board. The blame rested, he believed, more with the mode in which the Board was constituted than with the individuals of which it was composed; though when they looked at the appointments to that Board—not in reference to the present Board more than to any former Board—it did appear the Commissioners—of which there were nine—were not appointed for their competency to discharge the duties of the offics, but merely to fill places, and he had heard it often described as a sort of refuge for the destitute.— (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) The cases of the St Katharine and Londuu Docks further showed that the Board of Customs (mot not any longer to be entrusted with the management of that important department, and he was surprised that the Noble Lord at the head of her Ma jesty's Government, having seen the report of that case —having seen the report of the Commission, and havin g heard the statements which bad IN en made before him by the leading merchants of the city of London and Li verpool, shewing the total inefficiency of the present system for the collection of revenue, did 'not propose a ny change. With regard to the proceedings against the dock , to which he (Alr. Williams) had alluded, the Customs—witeout any justification, without any evi dence save that picked up, in the first instance, from discarded servants, and afterwards obtained from up wasds of sixty of the dock servants, who were-paid for giving evidence against their employers—sent a body of their effieers through all the warehouses, con taieiug twelve or fourteen millions of property, threw everything. into confusion. made seizures of packages to the value of 20,0001. without duty, and issued 120 informations against these docks fur defrauding the revenue. Every means were taken by the dock compa nies to bring on a speedy trial. The Customs threw impediments in th e way. At last the case was brought to trial, and af ter occupying eleven days, and costing the dock company 10 , 0 00 / .—he supposed the costs to the public on the ot h er aide would be as much—the jury found there h a d b een only irregularity, without any in tention to commit fraud, on two packages of the value of 6/. Every means were then taken by the dock com paniea to go to trial on the other informations; but after numerous delays the Custom-houss Board came forward and offered to compromise these charges of fraud to the amount of 20 ; 000/. for 51, and which, owing to other influence, was eventually compromised for 100/ in each of the cases. Having charged the decks with having committed these gross frauds, and having offered to compromise them for 51., the Customs had been guilty either of great calumny and oppression, or of participating in compounding for frauds on the public of a most serious amount. In either case they were unfit to manage a department through which 22 mil lions sterling of duties, 65 millions sterling of imports, and 71 millions sterling of exports passed through last year. But if such was their conduct to the prin cipals, their conduct to the servants of the dock was much worse. He, learnt from a petition which he had presented, that servants of the company, who had for 36 years, 28 years, 20 years, and other periods respec tively occupied situations of trust, and borne irreproach able characters, were arrested like common felons, and taken, not before a magistrate, to ascertain whether their detention was just or not, but to the Central Criminal Court, and some were absolutely committed to goal, be cause they were not prepared with bail on the instant. These men demanded a trial. The trial was first put, off, and when the time fixed arrived, was removed to an• other court, to the incurring a great expense for their defence, and at last these men were set at liberty, the whole char fie was abandoned, and the amount of robbery charged turned out to be the sweepings of the warehouses, of the value of 41., and supposing duty to be payable, only of the value of 27e. For a year and a half these men were kept with the charge hanging over them, and put to the expense of some hundreds of pounds. After these circumstances were known could her Ma jesty's Government hesitate in making an instant change in the Customs, or did thsy really think these men were fit to have the management of the most im portant department in a commercial country ? During the last year the public newspapers were teeming with complaints of the unjustifiable conduct of the Custom house officers in the examivation of passengers' luggage. He himself came from Ostend, and had to wait two hours and a half to get his portmanteau, and his was the first examined from amongst the baggage of 170 passen gers, who were detained he knew not how long in the dirty, filthy room. He wrote to the Lords of the Trea sury, and it became perfectly evident that those most important gentlemen thought him guilty of great pre sumption in complaining, for he had to send four letters before he could get an answer to the most ordinary question, and the whole tone of conduct was such as would not be expected towards any Member of that .House. He knew not why those gentlemen Were so important, unless it be that they were re ceiving a vast deal of money, more than they had either the ability or industry to deserve. Ile did ,lie,nsteyN's eGholevLereermd(antt thfoeritdpoufrptoh,oeGoelvedrenlmaye.n—t hope this Committee would not be grained by her Ma barasaing impediments totheinconveniences, re ceived a v, , ,ry large numb° rof the most important mer chants of London, and they had represented to h (h i lla m dea t r h . e inflicted by the present system, perfect inefficiency , the endless hoped the Noble Lord would and the After such evidencethe and effected a thorough reform, have taken up the question that department i6'l;ldernber of this House unless he placed at of a th n t: i la tt ead member of the Cabinet, it would never be found already satisfactory to the merc h ants or efficient in the collection Committee, but he of revenue. H e did not object to theeiComeme houghtoeert an entire change in ther ex whelmning de present n s)cetrsettd: iof o t t h' nly thought :necessityin en a gees en e Lord JOHN RUSSELL said the Government had as-sated to the appoi ntment o; the Committee with the view that it would be enabled to point out such change s e useful to the commerce of the country and in the laws , and s uch alteration in th e management, as on.elaborate report frQui the would b conducive to the public service. H av i ng h ear d the de putation Gentleman bad a lluded, an d aviag to roodlyieehrythlL Hg and Board of Customs on the subject, he (Lord J. Russell) was ready to appoint a Committer, and to take the matter into the bands of the Government; and because he had essented to the appointment of the Committee ho was toll by the lion. Gentleman it was only for the pur pose of delay-- Mr. WILLIAMS—I slid I hoped it was not for the purpose of delay, L - )rd J. RUSSELL —With regard to the narrative which the lion. Gentleman had given, it would be un necessary for him to enter into any detail, though ho might mention that the Board of Customs had allega tions to make at variance with the narrative given by the Hon. Gentleman. Ho woald not, however, enter upon that now—(Hear, hear)—but he agreed to the re-appointment of the Committee, in the hope that they would apply themselves to discover some useful reforms which might be made in the administration of the law. He had no doubt that the very able gentlemen whom the Honourable Gentleman had named as members of the Committee would apply them:elves to that question, and would produce a report that would be useful to the country at large. lle might state, however, that he could not agree to the pla i suggested by the Hon. Gent'emais, teat the chairman if the board should be a Member of this House, end have a scat in the Cabinet. He had no doubt that if he had made such a proposition he would be told it was merely for the sake of the patronage and to strengthen the Goverment in. fiance in the House.—(ffear anti a laugh.) With re gard to the present chairman of the board, Sir Thomas Fremantle, he was no political friend of his, because, when that gentleman was a Member of the House, he 1 was generally entirely opposed to hina.(Lord John Rus sell). But at the same time a man or greater honour and of more indefatigable industry he believed did not exist.--(]tear, hear.) en ase was pl ace d b y th e l a t e Si r Ireland, Robert Peel in that high an d responsible situation, and with regard to certain le ga l questions which occurred between the board and th e d ock companies, he consi dered he was bound to take legal opinions, which did not turn out to be well fou n d e d ; but there was nothing which ought to induce this Neese pr the Government to injure a meritorious public servant, and a man of unsul lied honour.—(Hear.) h u o n t ry, had 1 Mr. HUME did not b e li eve there was a man con nected Eng lEngland, d, Scotland, dtrade or I o rnd f this made up his mind that th e Board of Customs onght long ago to have been r emodelled. This was not a question of' politics ; every class of the mercantile community had already e x p ressed their condemna tion of the present se stem, and he could only regret that with her Majesty's Government, whether h er fully in Such a mass of evidence before them, should still hesitate upon the subject. He also had long known Sir Thomas Fremantle, and had been opposed to him for years. Ile could also bear his testimony that he had always considered him to act like a gentleman.—(Hear, hear.) But his observations were directed against Sir Thomas, not in his personal charac ter, but as the head of a board which had made itself notorious for causing delays in the transmission of all sorts of goods, whether exports or imports. Indeed, he had lived long enough to say that he now began to doubt all boards—(Hear, hear)—he was for ono or more re sponsible individuals in every department. Since, how ever, her Majesty's Government wi s h ed to have the opinion of the Committee, he trusted that the Committee would go into the whole question, and particularly that they would review the whole proceedings respecting the compromise, which he considered discreditable to both parties, and which ho believed had been come to in order to prevent this Committee from ofinriug any opinion upon the conduct of the board. But he trusted the Committee would go into the whole question andsee who was in fault, whether the companies had been guilty of fraud, or whether th e B oar d of Customs bad act e d ignorantly or maliciously in bringing against them a criminal charge. The Noble Lord had given the Committee a fair chal lenge, and he trusted the Committee would accept it, and inquire not only into what was fact but with regard to the future remodelling of the Board, and whether any reductions could be made in its staff, for he re gretted to say, that though Sir Robert Peel had reduced or abolished between 600 and 700 articles of Customs, yet no reduction whatever had taken place in the number of officers. Mr. C. LEWIS said he was unwilling, after the severe censure which had been passed upon the Board. of Customs, to remain altogether silent. He entirely questioned the statement that the Board of Customs had thrown any impediment in the way of the trade of this country. lie believed the present administra tion of the Board was at least as liberal as any other that had gone before them.—(lronical cheers.) But it must be remembered that they were responsible to the Crown and to the public for the collection of twenty-two millions of revenue; so that a heavy responsibility was thrown upon them to see that the law was punctually and faithfully exercised. In the course of their administration they had come in contact with two powerful bodies, the London and the St. Katharine Dock Companies, and representations were made to them that certain irregularities and breaches of the law had been committed by these companies. On that question they took legal advice, and they were told that they would not discharge their duty if they did not take legal proceed ings, and legal proceedings were consequently instituted. With reference to the compromise to which his lion. Friend had applied such strong epithets, and which was intended, he said, to prevent inquiry, and to screen the conduct of the Commissioners, he (Mr. Lewis) could state in answer that the proposal of a compromise came not from the Chairman of Customs, but from the Lon don Dock Company. How, then, could it be said, with any appearence of truth, that this compromise was effseted to screen the Commissioners from inquiry? This compromise was by no means unprecedented —a similar course had been taken about twenty years ago with the London Dock Company, and he was not aware teat any censure was at that time pronounced upon the proceed ing. The re-appointment of the Committee would give lull opportunity for an inquiry into ell grievances, and for suggestions as to an improvement of the law; and, as his name was on the Committee, he could only say that, so far as ho was concerned, he would do his utmost to promote these objects. Mr. MITCHELL would not have taken part in this conversation but for certain inaccuracies into which both the Noble Lord and his Honourable Friend who had last spoken had fallen. It had been stated that if any mistake had been committed, the chairman of the Cus toms was led into it by legal advice. Now, the evidence abundantly proved, by the admission of Sir Thomas Fre mantle himself; that though an opinion was taken as to the mere law of t he case, yet he was left to exercise his own discretion as to the application of the law; and that every step that was taken was done on his own responsibility. lle must therefore protest against its being now said that the lawyers were to blame. There was another statement* made by the Honourable Member for Herefordshire (letr. Cornew - a If Lewis)which , though it might be technically right, was yet substan tially wrong, when he said tEat the proposal for a com promise originated with the dock company. It might be true that would the first letter which pro p osed the compromise was written from the dock Company ; but if his Hon. Friend inquire, ho Would find that when Sir Thomas Fremantle went to visit tho docks in company with the French Minister of he condescended to avk Mr. Chandler —tee gentleman whom he had pre viously arrested on a charge of smuggling—to accom pany him; and in the cours e of the visit said to him, " Oh, we shall be as go o d friends as ever, when th i s matter has blown over;" and, at the tame time, other parties connected with the dock companies were con stantly hinting tho propriet• —(Hear, o f a compromise. hear.) With regard to the matter itself, he expressed no opinion, but he would f• he discharge his duty tat uly in Committee. Tho Committee was then 'appointed. PASSENGERS ACT. Mr. PEEL, in moving for leave to bring in a Bill to amend and consolidate th --e laws relating to the carriage of passengers by sea, stated that certain defects having some time et ego been felt in the l aw as i t at presen t s t oo d , a Commi had been appointed to ascertain whether any improvements could be made. That Committee was presided over by his Honourable Friend the Member for South Wiltshire (R ec. Sidney Herbert), and had made a report containi ng st variety of suggestions of t great value. Most of these s 1 4egestions, so far at least as they referred to the,proteetion of passengers during the voyage, had been incorporated into the present mea sure; and he anticipated that they would tend greatly to promote the safety and comfort of the hundreds of thousands of passengers that wee •year from this country to Australia and° going every the United States.. Mr. HUME 'was glad this easure had been intro duced. At the same time ho h Gentleman would lay upon Honourable te _ s ed the ue a return of the number of emigrant ships that hatable past year. been l ost d ur i ng t h e Mr. ANSTEY asked whether the provisi ons o f thi s Bill were confined to steer age Passengers or were ex tended to cabin and intermediat e passengrs? Mr. PEEL said it included the eas e of the interme diate passengers. Mr. G GOLD thanked the Honourable Gentleman the introduction of this measure, whi ch for would prove of eminent service to many thousands of his countrymen. On Bill was then brought in and read ao'fiurntrymen. On the motion of Sir GEORGE 'Ed //Lath" lowing returns were agreed to:—.R t —e sern showing the fol. number of cities and towns, with the Showing the same, which are governed by the nennim l ion of the England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland,Pdais Acts for ing those for each country which have had charters of incorporation granted to them since the passing of the Act 5 and 6 IV., cap. 76. Return cf a ral sums of freight money received by th e the seve tre Greenwich Hospital since the 13th da a x tr easurer of with the date of such payments, andwhetsr on 1851, public or private account; also, the name of the Ship or vessel in which the treasure was conveyed , and ee . the captain or officer commanding the same. On the motion of Mr. GROGAN copies of any agree ment entered into between the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and Messrs. Bacon and P etch f m engraving, postagesuosequent to printing, and gumming thelabels the Ist day of May, .1851; and Rowlan ot any report nettle by the Postmaster General, or d 11 1 11 , Es 4, in December, 1851, as to utility and advantage to the b lie of the perforated postage label , w ere ordered. pub- Mr. Mr. SOTHERON obtained leave to bring i n a Bill to amend and consolidate the lw rel ating Co f r i en d ly societies, which was read a first time. rel ating House adjourned at a Quarter past Ni ne o'clock. , TRH CENSORSnzr or THE PRESS.—There is estab lished in the department of the censorship the press a particular bureau for the examinati on of the E f ri fish papers, and expert lawyers are employed to read the London m ay be said of Lbuetl3inleggidi English journals, with the object of discovering calumnious' news, upon which a trial for libel may be instituted before the British eourta of law. The same Piedmontese, Swiss, and Portuguese as ference between the treatment of the latter and the papers is, that in the Belgian and others the leading articles will furnish subjects of representation, to the res pective Go vernments, and procure, it' they attack Louia /shy-oleo, th e "PPresBlo4 of the paper,--Observer. SUN, FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13, 1852 PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. (From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons. THURSDAY, FEB. 12. _ The undernamed Railway Bills were presented, read a first, and ordered to be read a second time : South-Eastern and Reading, Guildford and Reigate. Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossau. Shrewsbury and Birmingham. York, Newcastle, and Berwick (Deviation of Bishop Auck land Branch, &c)- York, Newcastle, and Berwick (Deviation of Thirsk and • Aialton Branch, &c). Cork and Bandon. .TOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE. The undernamed Bills are appointed to be read a second time on Monday, Feb. I G : Barnstaple Markets and Fairs. Birkenhead Docks. Birkenhead Dock Trustees and Birkenhead Dock Company. British Empire Mutual Life Assurance Company. Cheltenham Stipendiary Magistrates, East Anglian Railways. Exeter Roads. Frome, Yeovil, and Weymouth Railway (No. 1). Frame, Yeovil, and Weymouth Railway (No. 2). Kingston-upon-Hull Dues and Docks. Londonderry and Coleraine. Railway. Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway. London (City) Improvements. London (City) Small Debts Extension. Patent Solid Sewage Manure Company. Bettor(' and Littleborough Road. Ulverstone Waterworks. PARLIAMENTARY DIVISIONS. From the Votes aid Proceedings of the House of Commons THURSDAY, F . L:E. 12. LOUGH FOYLE AND LOUGH SWILLY DRAINAGE BILL. Order for Second Reading read; /lotion made, and Ques tion proposed, •' That the Bill be now read a second time :" Amendment proposed, to leave out the word " now," and at the end of the Question to add the words " upon this day six: months :" Question put,-" That the word 'now' stand part of the Question." The House divided:— MAJORITY—AYES, 56. Adair, Hugh E. Geach, Charles Romilly, Colonel Bailey, Joseph Granger, T. C. Scholetield, William Baines, M. T Greene, Thomas Scobell, Captain Baring, Sir F. T. Grenfell, C. Pascoe Stansfteld, W. B. Bell, Jacob , Hardcastle, J. A. 'Thompson, Colonel Berkeley, C. L. G. Harris, Richard Thompson, George Birch, Sir Thomas llastie, Alexander Thornely, T. Blair, Stephen Haste, Archibald Trelawny, J. S. Brotherton, J. /Lindley Charles Tufnell, H. Clay, Sir W. Howard, P. 11. Vivian, J. 11. Crawford, Robt. W. Kershaw, JameS Walmsley, Sir J. Dalrymple, Captain Loch, James Wawn, J. T. Dawes, Edward , Lushington, C. Williams, John Divett, Edward Mackie, John Wilson, Matthew Duncan, George Masterman, John Wrightson, W.D. Duncombe, T. Matheson, A. Wyvill, Marmaduke Ellis, John Matheson, Colonel Ferguson, Sir R. Parker, John TELLERS. Foley, John H. Peto, Samuel - Clay, James French, F. Pilkingten, James Clifford, 11. M. MINORITY-NOES, 48. Arkwright, George Gwyn, Ilowel Pakington, Sir J. Baillie, H. J. Hallewell. E. G. Pechell, Sir G. Brernridge, Richard Hamilton, G. A. Peel, Frederick Chatterton, Colonel Hardinge, C. S. Itushout, Captain Child, Smith Henley, J. W. Sandars, George Collins, Thomas Herbert, 11. A. Sidney, Alderman Collolly, ThomaS Hodgson, W. N. Spooner, It. Deedes, W. Hughes, W. B. Stanley, Edward Disraeli, B. Keogh, William Sullivan, Michael Dodd, G. Knox, Colonel Tyler, Sir G. Do Pre, C. G. Lygon, General Whiteside, James Forester, G. C. Mackenzie, W. F. Willoughby, Sir 11. FresWield, J. W. Mahon, Viscount Wodehouse, E. FreWen, C. 11. Manners, Lord J. Wortley, J. S. Fuller, A. E. Morgan, H. K. TELLBss. Gallwey, Sir W. P. Naas, Lord Bateson, T. Greenall, Gilbert Napier, Joseph Jones, Captain COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. Yesterday a Court was held for the dispatch of pub lic business. There was a full meeting of the Members in consequence of the notice of the report of the Fleet Valley Improvement Committee. Mr. LAMBE gave notice of motion for the next Court, that the sum of 200/. be granted in aid of the fund for the surviving sufferers by the late frightful inundation in Yorkshire.—(Rear.) Mr. BENNOCH suggested that the Court should sus pend the standing regulation, in order to come to an immediate and unanimous decision upon the subject. The majority, however, were of opinion that much inconvenience might arise from an instantaneous decision as to the appropriation of any part of the funds. The TOWN CLERK read the following communication from Mr. Professor Braude:— " Royal Mint, 3d Feb., 1852. " Sir—l beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, inclosing a resolution of the Court of Common Council appointing me to test the quality of the gas supplied by the Great Central Gas Consumers' Company. • " I regret to say that I am obliged to decline the acceptance of the appointment in consequence of my other avocations. " I have the honour to remain your faithful servant, " WILLIAM THOS. BRANDE. " Mr. Sergeant Merowether." Mr. DAEIN hoped that the Court at their next meet mg would proceed to the appointment of a practical chemist to test the gas, and an inspector of meters as between the consumers and the company.—(flcar.) The LORD MAYOR was understood to assent to the suggestion. Alderman Humphery and Mr. Deputy Watkins were appointed governor and deputy -governor of the Irish Society for the ensuing year. THE COAL EXCHANGE. Upon the motion of Mr. FREEMAN, the chairman of the Cum!, Corn, and Finance Committee, tho report for providing moneys for the improvements in Tower -street, arid on other financial matters of the Corporation, was taken into consideration. Mr. Deputy HARRISON and Mr. R. L. JONES prcpesed that the report should be sent back to the committee, with instructions that more particular details should be supplied of the apparently unaccountable expenditure in rebuilding the Coal Exchange. The CHAIRMAN said the details would sufficiently prove the care and vigilance of the present committee, and had no objection whatever to the reconsideration of the report, which was accordingly recommitted. BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE. Mr. IL L. TAYLOR (the chairman of the Bridge house Committee) brought up a report for sanctioning the Chamberlain's advances in respect of works autho-1 rised to be executed at Blackfriars-bridge. Mr. BENNOCII called the attention of the Court to the state of the bridge, which was continually sinking, and causing a continual sinking of money by that dangerous process.—(Elear, hear.) Although 4000/. had very latety been expended iu repairs, no advantage had been effected. On the contrary, while the Bridge House Committee were tumbliug rocks round the piers to prop them up, the Navigation Committee were at work to clear the river of such impedimenta,—(Great laughter.) It was quite evident to the public that the corporation must very soon either build a new Bl ac kfriars-bridge, or build a new bridge somewhere else. As for repairs they had beau worse than useless, for they prevented the al ternative of a solid and permanent structure. Mr. Low said the observations of Mr. Bennoch wore calculated to excite unnessary public alarm, and were ob vieusly made to bear out that gentleman's new notions about a new bridge.—(Hear, hear.) It was true that a large expenditure of money had taken place in conse quence of the frequent dilapidations, but no committee of the court was culpable. The fact was that a fow years ago 100,0001. had been expended in repairs under the management of Messrs. Walker and Burgess, who asserted that they would last fifty years.—(A laugh.) In opposition to that assurance was the now existing fact that two of the piers wore sinking. It oc curred to him, when that defect was discovered, that the most advisable course to be adopted would be to sink a coffer dam to ascertain the cause.—(Hear, hear.) At all events, the corporation had acted with due caution and activity, and were not answerable for the conduct of the contractors, who had engaged to accomplish an impor tant task, which they had failed to perform.—(Hear, hear.) The statement of Mr. Bennoch was exaggerated, but it could not be denied that a large sum of money had been thrown away. Mr. H. L. TAYLOR said the price of a coffer dam for the ascertainment of tho defect would have amounted to 30,000/.—(llear, hear.) It appeared, however, from the representations of those who were engaged in repairing the bridge that the experiment would not be necessary. The corporation was in the hands of the doctors, and certainly Messrs. Walker and Burgess had no cause to be dissatisfied with their patient.—(Laughter.) A large sum bad been expended, and the corporation was in the following position. It had acted under the advice of Messrs. Walker and Burgess hitherto, and it would pro ceed no further without the additional advice of Sir William Cubitt and Mr. Brunel.—(Hear, hear.) The obligation to repair the bridge bad been saddled upon it by Parliament, and piers would sink and bridges would fail, and when they did fail new ones must be built for the accommodation of the whole community.—(Hear.) The report was then agreed to. THE GREAT FLEET VALLEY IMPROVEMENT. Mr. Deputy HARRISON rose to present the report of the Fleet Valley Improvement Committee uponh me morial of Mr. Charles Pearson. His present e was to have the report audits appendices, which consi s ted of the reports of the several engineers, and evidenceothetpeeeth e of an important character, printed, and to p consideration of the matter to a future day.—( gd o r Mr. H. L. TAYLOR wished to know w l ha appen dices (which presented a most formidaehe to bulk) consisted of before he would ex pense of printing them. The document e n consent appearance t looked a h n e ce a more like a huge railway concern tha n such else.— a mass altogether eeythieg (Laughter.) He could not thin i k ihe f ra l t l ioo. wg to get into print without duo deliberation. Mr. RICHARD TAYLOR sa... t he Court had to his know leclgo frequently ordered appe ndices greater length to be printed before of considerably dischuesrssiocno,uoltd knowherwise it was quite impossible that the members any of we contents. Mr. Deputy HARRISON, i s order to show the necessity toted some sentences from of printing tho appendices quoted with the estimate the reports of the engineers, undertaking. of the probable cost of t he_ Several members wished to near a statement of the heads of the report, but Mr. Deputy-Hannisoia hencled the report itself to Mr. Woodthorpe, and moved that it should be rea d . The motion being c arried, The CLERK read the report, which was in substance as follows: — Th a t having met immediately to proceed in the con sideration of the reference, we, in the first instance, di rected Mr. R e membranc es to prepare, the proper n ot i ces to be inserted in the (g a zette and newspapers —that we were subsequently attended by M r. R emembrancer, who laid before us the draft of notice of an application to parliament, which had been prepared by Messrs. Burchell wad p erson , solicitors, and the draft of a notice proposed to be given on the put of the City, which h e b a d pre- ' ' -- /- •--' - ' . of tho body he WAS now addressing what he had the other day said to another body which had not been distin guished for wisdom or independence " You are mshipg ycurselves a great advertising van."—(Laughter, and cries of " Ob!") The deputysecmded Mr. H. L. Taylor's ameneraeut. Mr. GRESHAM said the Court would pay a very bad compliment to themselves to take th e opinion of the committee upon so important a question without being supplied with the dccuments upon which that opinion was founded. Mr. THORPE wished to have everything printed which the committko seemed to consider of importance. Mr. Deputy HARRISON said if any argument were cal culated to show most powerfully the necessity for print ing tho whole of the documents, it was the extraordinary statement of isldcream Sidney, L which that worthy Alderman said the project involved such enormous surer. —(clear, hear.) When the whole of the case should come with its accumulated evidence before the Court, h© had every reuson to hope for its unanimous adoption.— (Loud cheers end murmurs.) The amendment war then rejec'ed by a large msjority, and the original motion was carried. pared, and after consulting with the Town Clerk, Soli citor, and Rernembrancer, we approved of the notice, end ordered the same to be duly inserted in the Gazette and papers accordingly. We also directed the plane and models of the contemplated measure to he laid before us at our next meeting, and that the question of appointing competent engineers should be then considered, and we requested the architect in the mean time to examine the plan and estimate prepared by Mr. Pearson. " That at our subsequent meeting, the Rernembrancer reported that the notices had been duly inserted in the Gazette and newspapers, as directed by us. The City architect was heard on his proceedings under the order of the previous meeting; and Mr. Pearson having at tended, with Mr. Stevens, jun., his surveyor, laid before us plans and sections in explanation of his general plan, and Mr. Stevens was heard as to the gradients embraced in the proposed measure, and stated that there was no difficulty in connecting the proposed lino with the other railways to the north of the Thamee. "That your committee having heard Mr. Pearson generally on his plan, it was resolved that the same was desirable, if, upon further inquiry, it should appear that no practical objection existed to the execution of the , work, and th at t h e cos t cou ld b 3 a mply- provi led for. And in order to fully satisfy ourselves and to afford the necessary information to the Court, 'AC further revolved that it should b e re f erre d to M r . B ann i n g, the City's architect, with some gentlemen to he thereafter named, to consider as to the practicability and cost of the plans proposed by Mr. Pearson, with power to make and re ceive any suggestions they might think calculated to improve the plan, and to report to us thereon. It was further resolved, that Mr. J. W. Higgine be one of the psi-lice to be associated with the City architect in the inquiry ; and Mat Mr. J. Walker bo the engineer to be in like manner associated ; and we requested E. Ilarri eon, Esq., dei_uty, our chairman, with Mr. Bunning, to pat the mse l ves in communication with those gentlemen forthwith, an d request that they next meeting. would attend us at our That rt our meeting on 21st November last we were attended by Mr. Walker and Mr. Bunning, who were both heard, and the latter laid before us a communica tion from Mr. Higgins, in reply to the reference to him, when_ wo " Resolved—That the consideration of the subjects be adjourned to Monday, 15th December. to receive and consider the reports from Mr. Banning, Mr. Walker and Mr. Higgins respectively. , " That your committee met on the 15th December accordingly, and received reports from those gentlemen, copies of which are hereunto annexed for the informa tion of the Court, and are respectively marked A, B, and C. We were also on that occasion attended by Mr. Pearson as the projector of the plan, who laid before us a statement from Mr. Ste v en s i n explanation of the same, and' particularly with reference to the cost of the pro jected measure, After hearing all the parties, and fur ther considering the subject, we referred it to Mr. Wal ker to report to us how far it would be practicable to connect the proposed trunk railway with the Great Nor thern, the Great Western, and the Eastern Counties Railways; and it was also referred to Mr. Higgins and Mr. Bunning to consider and report as to the cost in re spect of the property involved in any mode which Mr. Walker mieht agree to be practicable in an engineering point of view, for connecting the present railways with the proposed trunk line. We also authorised Mr. Hig gins and Mr. Banning to give Mr. Pearson any informa tion respecting these reports which in their discretion they might think proper to communicate. " That at a meeting on the 19th December we di rected Mr. Walker to be informed that we wished to have his report on the 29th December, when we would meet to receive) it. " Having then heard Mr. Pearson upon his plan, who in addition read a statement in respect of the informa tion he was desirous of having as to the estimates of Mr. Bunning and Mr. Higgins, and having also beard these gentlemen upon the subject, we resolved that they should be requested to give Mr. Pearson the amount of their estimates with respect to the property to the south of the lino marked on the plan referred to in Mr. Pear son's statement. "That your committee accordingly met on the 29th December, when we received a report from Mr. Walker upon their last reference, accompanied with a map and four sections in explanation of it, we also received copies of the reports of Mr. Bunning and Mr. Higgins to Mr. Pearson, giving him their estimates, as directed, and beard each of the gentlemen respectively upon the sub ject of their report, and we resolved to discharge the reference to Mr. Higgins and Mr. Bunning as to the cost of the several communications with the other railways, as some of the lines were purely hypothetical, and we did not feel justified in incurring, for the present, the expense of such a survey, having satisfied ourselves of the practicability of the communication. "Having thus detailed our various proceedings, it now remains for us to allude to the reports of Mr. Walker, Mr. Higgins, and Mr. Bunning, as well as to the state ment of Mr. Stevens, all of which we have caused to be hereunto annexed, for the more full and complete infor mation of this honourable court. " And your committee beg further to report to your Honourable Court the;, having, as before stated, deter mined that Mr. Pearson's plan was desirable, if no prac tical objection existed to its completion, the expense being amply provided for, we subsequently considered Mr. Walker's report of December 15, 1851, and are of opinion that such report does not show any practical engineering difficlty in its execution; tut, on the contrary, that it is capable of completion with only the ordinary difficulties attending such a lino through a crowded part of the town, and where so many streets and thoroughfares are to be interfersd with; but as the surmounting of these difficulties will afford facilities for improving many of the streets and communication, they may, in the result, be rather a recommendation to the plan than an objection. Mr. Walker, in his report, specifying distinctly all the work} to be done, estimates the amount, upon a conside ration orthe details, at 750,0001. "As to the cost of the execution, Mr. Higgins and Mr. Banning, having been in consraunicatton with Mr. Walker upon the hasty and general survey which the limited time allowed them only permitted them to make, state in their reports that they had estimated the amount under compulsory dealings in the total (detailed or apportioned estimates being impracticable) not to exceed 1,673,000/. after deducting the estimated value for surplus properties, the market sites and building frontages, and sites round the passenger stetion and the intended streets, making, together with the amount of 750,0001. before reported by Mr. Walker, the sum of 2,423,000/. " Mr. John H. Stevens, the engineer and surveyor employed by Mr. Pearson, 'in a report to that gentle man, dated 15th December, 1851, states his estimate of the cost of construction at 800,0001., including the entire cost of excavating the ground for four double linee, with sidings, the viaduct over Farringdon-street, the raising of Holborn Valley, the alteration and reconstruction of sewers, the completion of the connexion of all side streets with the main line of road, and the completion of the four lines of railway and their stations, including all contingencies; and further estimates the balance of loss between the purchase of the whole property required, and the sale of the surplus at less than 700,0601, in cluding the sums for trade compensation and the con tingent loss between buying and selling surplus property, not required to be taken for the purposes of the under taking, making together the sum of 1,500,0001. " In addition to the practi ca bili ty of the trunk line, inasmuch as the ultimate profit of that line, as well as its benefit to the public and the city of London, must in a great measure depend upon the-other Imes to the north of the river Thames having access to it, we referred it to Mr. Walker to report to us the general practicability of communication between these several lines of railway, and we received from him the report, which we consi dered sufficient to ,how the reasonable practicability of the junction of the trunk line with the Great Western, the North-Western, the Great Northern, the Eastern Counties Hailwaye, and the Dock Junction, by means of several lines, some . in ex i s t ence, others pro j ecte d, and others alternative, in - none of which, however, are there any unusual engineering difficullies to prevent their exe cution. We are, therefore, of opinion that the trunk lino and the communicating lines are practicuble, and with out expressing any opinion whether the corporation of London would or could with propriety embark in any railway scheme, which we consider to be purely a ques tion for this Honourable Court, and not within our pro. vince, we do not see any objection to the trunk line only being carried to the proposed terminus, provided it is to be executed with the consent and the approbation of the corporation; and we consider that it would be moat desirable to secure, if possible, to the public and the Cor poration of London, the great benefits w hich pr w ov il e l m a :n i ste from such a terminus, and the street improvements which will be the necessary consequences beyond that for an of the any risk struction of the line may be secured without con being incurred by the corporation there will be an adequate return." Mr. Deputy HARRISON then moved that the considera tion of the report be postponed, and that the report and appendices be printed and cir cu l ated bers of the Court. among s t t h e mem _ Me. H. L. TAYLOR said he h a d objection to the pr i nt i ag of the document just read 110 o nd the reports of Messrs. Walker, Banni n a , printing the vie k; and Higgins, but ho objected to the idea of and opinions of the projector, who had alreadytwspslayed his talents on the subject sufficiently to t t h h e e ju lic. It would be nothing less than identifyin g that ingenious ourt with the speculations of gen:lei:nail, and he should therefore move an amendment to the effect of excluding from the mo tion the statements, opinions,projector. and explanations of the Alderman SIDNEY said if the Court should determine to print the re they were bound to and the appendices of the engineers, n h to print the observations of the pro jector.—(Hear,kssional ear.) It would be found that the pro remarkable tr men engaged_ upon the occasion entertained very half a trillion to of opinion, varying, i t n h d o e u e s d a , n f d ro i m n theirto two million four hundred estimate i of the probable expense.—(Hear, hear, and loud cries of " No, no," ald laughter.) It would be recollected, t oo, t h at the esti , - , ato was confined to the junction with ono railroad, whereas upon the introduc tion of the plan the junction with four was contemplated, a project which would have swelled the most moderate esimato to upwards of six millions. — (Laughter, End cries of "Oh" and " Hear.") If the Court wou ld print would be able to understand t h e the docaments they magnitude of the plaa, and coull not be charged with injustice or prejudice.--(Hear, hear.) Mr. WILLIAM JONES said it would be en act of great unfairness not to publish the whole of the documents upon which the committee had founded the report which had been just read to the Court. It was a subject which generally aff.cted the constituency, and upon which every member of the corporation ought to be fully in formed.—(Hear,hear.) Mr. Deputy LOTT said the documentar ma tter in cluded the able and persuasiv e a dd ress o f y .Mr. Charles Pearson, and he would ask the Court whether they had ewer yet done such a thing as print the evidenc e of their of his own form own officer upon a Sch eme Eng.—(near, bear, and laughter, and cri es o f c; 01 1 :") Ile would bay COCIAT CIRCULAR. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. Assistant Engineers—James Downey, George Cork, John Wynhall, to the Sirooom; W. E. Tabean, to the Ajax, 58, screw guard-ship, Queenstown. Boatswain—George Ray, to the Simeom. Carpenter—S. Croggan, to the Simoom. The paymaster of the Hydra steam-sloop, Commander Belgrave, which sailed on Tuesday evening for the Cape, was left behind, not having returned to his ship at the ime she was ordered to proceed to sea. Pilot, 12, Command( r V. G. Hickley, from the East Indies, last from Ponsinouth, arrived at Devonport at 4 15 on Wednesday afternoon. She will be insps cted, and having discharged her powder, come into harbour to be paid off. Spartan, 26, and the Desperate screw steam-ship of 400-horse power, are nearly ready for commission. Diligence naval transport was expected to sail yester day, from Devonport, with stores for the fleet at Lisbon. Marceaverer lighter, Ross, sailed to-day with stores for Portsmouth and Chatham. The following warrant officers, attached to Devonport ordinary, having on survey been reported unfit for fur ther active service, have been discharged on suporannu ation:—Messrs. Wallis, gunner, on 751. per annum; Freernar, ditto, 651.; Nicholson, ditto, 551.; William s , ditto, 40!.; Hale, carpe n t er, 60/ ; and hard, ditto, 641. A boat, belonging to the Arnobion, 30, advanced screw-:ihip, at Sheerness, was capsized in a sudden squall oa Tuesf'a 7, when ono on: of three hands in the bout was drownee. PonTsmourn, FEB. I2.—At the examination of offi- CCT3 t quality tor the rank of lieutenant to-day, at the Royal Naval Collage, no following passed:—Mozsrs. S. W. G. P. May, is. S. /Cares, W. Weymouth, R. 13radbhaw, J. 11. J. AlexanJer, H. C. I3urleigh, C, J. Rowley, 11. 1 . 1 - Iz -: oo clz , T, F. E. G. Earle, T. 0. Kidd, W. F. Edward, , ,. , F. Hf - ,rdy, G. 11 . B urna b y, A. C. Bal. hvgall, and 11. L. IZAind. The following second masters also passed for mas tars: —Mesz:rf. J. M. Hockley, J. C. Jone., H. C. A. Wilkinson, E. bwaiu, P.I. T. Wright, and 0. F. Clc mentson. The following young gextlTneen at the same time passed examinations qu.lifying for entry into the se rvice as naval cadets :—Nlessrs. W. M . Bridger, W. N. Tule% H. C. A. Brand, C. C. Hassel!, and W. Brabazon. . . The Simeon new iron stearn•frigate hoisted the pen. dant yesterday. Captain Kingcome, late of th e 80,. leisle, commissioned her for troop service. She was to have gone out of harbour to-Jay, and the Rodney, 92, was taken from this port was removed for the convenience of allowing her to swing for the adjustment of her compasses, but, at the last moment, it was discovered something was the matter t li c e _L E ; L t e n am . i.:i s e l° t6 P e advanced steam squadron with the engines, so she is delayed from going to spit head for a day or two. Expedition is at o t Tip th he a ev t °A s n i Pr a gu ti rn o ts n. Shc took down a party of Officers and men from the Excellent to join the ilotspusrosiogounwninteoherybayesthtoihn: arrival of the wilt proceed w l2 it . h — t S h u a rg A e r o a n tic ß Eo ( is lB o 2 rd 7) ered to be mecl e o ,te f n ul a l n y t r i e h e a d l y .e a m t adleVapiplication fer 15ih of April next; but he has permission be but it is not expected that hi s Own judgment with a boat party on th e expedition at Wellington Ch annel. eoxr elitel Upwards of fifty I; m se o r tional steamer of more °PPcinted,powerth unless au addi an either of those O r( wiy in cornmision 15 plac2rl at Sir Edword Belcher, which is anxiously r v e ic t e ha i n a four the . service of Captain be the case by all the officers s anxiously wished should Lieutenant Robertson, of * here, had the pendant. hoistedthe steam department all ;at the Assistance, the p this morning on board Picneer. Resolute, the lnt r ep id, and the Captain Sir Edward Bel in the forenoon ' tailing and gave eber arri ve d at t h e d oc k yar d works o n t h e e dirctions to commence the versels immediately, and in the course of the day s cf . bowe.of ~__ ,c, ca. Ailing waq put up to sharpen the advantage" e , 11 -ststaticu and Resolute, which will be of to them •I" a —en towed by the steamers. RAILWAY AND OTHER BILLS ON STANDING ORDERS. WOLVERHAM PTON J UNCTION B AlLW AY.—Yesterd ay this comp any ' s Bill to mato a railway to connect th e Birmingh am, Wolverhampton, and Dudley Railway with the Shtcwsbury and Buckingham Railway, and for working arrangements with them, and station ap proachee, at a cost of 104,0001., was declared not to have complied with the standing orders. DORCELESTEP. AND EXETER COAST RAILWAY.—no standing orders were declared not complied with in this case, for making a railway from Dorchester to Exeter at a cost of 490,0001. YORK AND NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY.—In this case, for a branch line to the Victoria or East Dock at Hull, the standing orders were not complied with. LEICESTER-SQUARE IMPROV EMENT.—The Bill to pro vide for the improvement of Leicester-square, and to secure Mr. Wyld in the possession and enjoyment of the enclosed garden or area, yesterday complied with the s t an ding orders. The Bill sets forth that Mr. Wy ld h as , Globe"), an d h as planted at considerable cost, er ec t e d a building (the • Great and otherwise i mproved the square, which, from i ts f ormerly ruinous an d dilapidat e d condition, was a detriment and nuisance to the neigh bourhood. It states that Mr. Wyld has purchased the fee-simple and inheritance of the square and garden, and the seine has been duly conveyed to him, but that divers persons chino rights in respect of it, and that it is desir able Mr. Wyld should be quieted in the possession and enjoyment of the square and garden, but that the same cannot be effected without the aid and assistance of P ar _ Lament. The following Bills also complied with the standi ng orders : —Li nco lnshire Estuary (for i n closuro of lat ds and improvement of Waiail,et Harbour). Clausen's 1a•,,,t Flax Company (for working patents in England). lit•pt ford Gaslight Company (for Incorporation), a n d it a il way Passengers Assu r ance C ompany. W h o wog a long time attached to the i s i t h e t e l t better d known by his Mr. Layard, . Secretary discoveric • . rADVERTISEN'ENT.] 1 - 1.01loy. ??. ., , at s l 'C t oxrisntea v n e t h in . c h p a l s e , beer.hu• t al 1 . who ro i i 3' S Ointment and certain Cure for Bad Legs.-- par s a einbasv . Extract of a letter from Iklr. George Pates, chemist, Exeter, Dec. 31, 1851. "To Professor Holloway. SAmong the many persons who h ave derived benefit from your excellent medicines, I may of State for Foreign Affairs. mention a poor woman residing at Kinford, who had a bad log of a severe description for many months. She was under the care of several eminent surgeons, but obtained no relief. At length the clergymanof sub scription to purchase from me some of your Ointment and Pills, and in a few week they effected perfect cure of her s a leg and restored her to good health ."—Sold by all Druggist!, the parish kindly raised a and at Professor Holloway's Establishment; 2441 StatiO, London. The add WINDSOR, FED. 12. itions to the Ro3al dinner party last ‘vening werclfer yhighness the Duchess of Kent, the Lady it* Waiting to her linyal Highnese, the Bareness de Sp oft, Lady Caroline Barrington, and Sir George Cauper. The Queen, with the Prince of We, lee, w a lk e d i n th e Home Park and Slopes this morning. Tbn Princess Royal and the younger members of the R')3•3l Family took their u mai walking and pony exercise. - - A deputation . from the Royal Patriotic end Industrial society of Scotland and t h e Committee for Industrial Mr. Charl es Cowan, M.P. (of P., Mr. Charles Forles Mr. Benja- Rrlief, consisting of Cl uny Macpherson, Macleod of mac , e 3 , l, Sir John Hero n M axwell, Sir Duncan Mac d7ouChe R .Ca e .b v F . b.e' R il e . nr M y tho R ev . J ohn Ken nedy, Mr. John Bayley, M . .. r. Geor ge Bain (hen, secre tary to the Highland Society), Mr. Frederick William Caldwell (of Mishnish), and Mr. Charl es B ond (secre tary of the society), had aninterview with Sir George Grey yesterday at the Home-office. A deputation, consisting of the Lord Mayor, Mr. Mastermar, M.P., Sir James Duke, M.P., Mr. Deputy Harrison, Mr. Blake, Mr. Perkins, and the City R e _ membrancer, had an interview with Lord John Ru sse l l yesterday at hi s official residence in Downing-street. The Hon. William Begot h a d an interview yesterday with Sir George Grey at the Home-office. The Earl of Waldegrave had also an interview with the Right Hon. Baronet. Sir Anthony Perrier and Dr. Sutherland had an inter view yesterday with the General Board of Health at their offices, Whitehall, on the occasion of their return from Paris, where they have been attending as two of the delegates to the Sanitary Convention recently held in that city. Lord Stanley of Alderley attended yesterday for the first time at the Board of Trade. THE NEW ARCTIC EXPEDITION.-Sir Edward Bel cher, C.B , the commander of the new Arctic expedition, it is said, pref e r s th e N ort h St ar , 26, t o th e Resolute, for service. No doubt the man-of-war would make the best depot. Li eu t enant Sh erar d O s b orne will again com mand one ache screw-tenders, and Commander M'Clin tock will command the other. Commander Richards, late of the Acheron steam-vessel, at New Zealand, will go in Sir E. Belcher's ship. APPOINTMEN TS . Lieutenants —Edw ar d Nares (1848), to the Excellent; John Allen (1841), to the Boscawen, 70, flag-ship, Chat ham; A. Luckraft 1838), to the Vesuvius, 6, steam sloop, Devonport. Surgeon—James A. Miller (1846), to the Simoom screw troopship, Portsmouth. Chief Engineer—John Boswell, to the Simoom. Assistant Surgeons—Dr. James Young (Jan., 1851), confirmed to the Cumberland, To, flag-ship, West Indies; John 5,)10 (1845), to the Tyne transport, Wool wich. ..... of sth ing er ith go Alt Of 15'