The Sun. — London, England, 1848-06-20 00:00:00

TfirS SUN, LONDON. TUESDAY EVICNING, JUNE 20 ; 1848. i ati . ex - e - li ‘ ang:e respecti;e products between e ti n ti).r eiiin'elS_ t,a l; s pu o la t. tion of the West Indies and th America.—(Hear, hear.) What di:t th!. lN We b : e Friend mean to do about the heavy salsrits now paid to official personages in these' Colo Did thinkthat they would ^ p Ew he ar.) their governors 7,000/. a year a piece?—(ilear. Penn upon it the whole system must b, is han ge a d i;d or the whole thing given up.—(Hear, hear.) ruched' deservedly as many, he might say all, of these evi:frnors were respected, valuable as were the ser _ro,_ t 9 menti on p ar ti cu l ar i ns t ances — o f L or d H a rris n U p u on t . Sir Cha r l es G rey, hi s N o bl e F r i en d m i g ht re ly tie": that if th e i r p resen t sa l ar i es were t o be con they must be paid at the table of that House.— hear.) A n d no t on ly as t o sa l ar i es mus t the Undersys tem go a thorough change. There must be a ces sation o f that eternal interference on the part of the n 7i t e Government in every petty detail of local adini ration which had s o l o n g o pp resse d and annoyed the co l l , mists.—(Hear, hear.) The colonists must be per -,tted t manage their own local affairs, by thvir own lega l representatives fairly elected, under the direction of . • t-- e, r da own governors, elected by themselves, and re- Int:l.:l:rated b y suc h sa l ar i es as m i g h t b e ag reed upon be en thera —(Hear.)He agreed with his Noble Friend btb_at the days o f p ro t ec ti on — as protection—were gone b y ? * but he thought at the same time that—peculiarly in 81101 a period of genera l cr i s i s a s this—somewhat of a 41 ore concili a t or y p o li cy was require I towards towards our h est India c o l on i es . H e en t r e a ted his Noble Friend to give_. some explanation of his further views with regard "" t hese colonic' for, as to himself, he would say that, Friend, disposed wherever possible to support his Noble h..; e nd, he would not sanction these resolutions until he Noble .e beard a much more satisfactory account of his k '9 l Friend's further policy on the subject.—( Hear.) Lord D a _J. RUSSELL.—I beg to assure the Hon. j'Onet opposite (Sir J. Pakington) that I shall not detain„i. the House many minutes from the consideration " 1 the resolution he means to propose. It appears to me t hat the more regular course to have been taken would ha ve been th a t th e H ouse should have gone into Com mittee, and there to have heard such explanations and def ence of the resolutions to be proposed by the Govern -I!!ent as we should have been pre pared to offer. The 23n. Baron e t o pp os ite, however, has not thought fit to :thaw that course to be taken ; but has given notice of a resolution as an amendment on the motion that the ,Peaker l eave t h e c h a i r . Th a t being the course taken by the lion. Baronet, it seems to me that the only course Government can pursue is, to hear the motion of the then. Gentlemap, and then to enter upon a defence of course of policy we propose to adopt. What the Ri ght Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Ellice) asks us to do is, t° enter _ into a discussion and general explanation of our hews now, before the Hon. Baronet shall make his mo tion, But that is a course which I am not prepared to adopt, I am the less inclined to adopt that course, be cause my Right Hon. Friend, while he declared at the commencement of his speech that he blamed no one, While he threw out objections to every course that has been proposed—and. I should say, to every course that Can be proposed—does not seem, with all his sagacity, knowledge, and experience upon the subject, to have made up his mind as to the course which he feels ought to be pursued. My Right Hon. Friend seems to think that we should not propose the course of giving any more protection, and that we ought not to have pursued the course of advancing money to assist the immigration of labourers into the West Indies. Now, it does appear to me, not only from all we know ourselves, but from all the evidence and suggestions laid before us by others, that either one of these courses or the other, or both, are desirable,—that either we ought to give them a longer term of protective duties, to enable the planters of the West Indies to make preparations for competition, or that we ought to give them greater facilities for the introduction of labourers, thereby reducing the rate of wages; that one or both of these courses was necessary to remedy the distress which I regret to think exists in these colonies. But my Right 11011 . Friend says it would be better to give them , 1 0 0,000/. in the shape of diminished duties on their pro 0m But, supposing we were to guarantee this ' O O,OOO/., and look upon it as wholly lost to this country, the interest of that sum at 4 per cent. would be 20,000/., and the reduction of duties that would give that amount tr s'esuld not be much more than what is proposed by the Baronet; for no one supposes that the reduction of the present duty from 14s. to 10s. would produce a re duction of the revenue of much less than 20,0001. I do not mean to follow my Right Hon. Friend into his va rious objections, because it would be, in fact, to enter into the whole debate which the Hon. Baronet proposes to raise; but let me say, that with regard to the motion of the lion. Baronet, he seems to me to have made a c hange in it, which, if his motio n be su pp orted b y the vi - ' ° ute, will place the West Indies, as well as Parlia ment, in a most embarrassing situati on. As the motion stood on Friday night it was a very intel li g ible proposi ;-en--it was to give an increase of the pr otection, which i l 3 B now 65., and to make it 10s.; and that was to be done keeping foreign sugar at 20s. and reducing colonial sugar to los. I do not say whether that• was or was not a Wise proposition. I have no doubt that the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn would have defended it with great ability, and with all that extensive knowled g e of the subject which his attention to the Committee must have g iv en him; but at all events that proposition was intelli gible, But the Right Honourable Baronet now proposes t hat the proposition of the Government should be con demned by th e House, and therefore leaves t h e p resent fahto come into operation in July nex t . It does not 01, that, supposing the proposition of the Government Is condemned, the next day, or within the next 12 hours, ! a y proposal for increased protection may not be con "elaned also; and therefore the present Act, which in July Will change the duty of 20s. to 18s. 6d., and thereby reduce the protection from 6s. to 4s. 6d., will at once come into Operation. In 1841 the present Lord Harrowby made a !Mailer proposition, the object of which was very clear, and it was carried into effect; but the Hon. Baronet will hardly gain his object by a mere resolution condemna tory of the present proposition. I, for my part, do not believe that the House would adopt the proposition which the Hon. Baronet made on Friday night ; and I suppose that he himself despaired of carrying it. He thought there was no hope whatever of raising the pro tection to 10s. and therefore proposed his present mo tion for the purpose of embarrassment and rendering the plan of the Government ineffective. I will only refer to an allusion made by my Right Hon. Friend to the speech I made on Friday night. He says that I commented on the extravagance of the colonial pro prietors, and that I have taken my notions from the prevailing idea of th e Colonial-office. li 'te says I have founded the two or three Words I said with respect to extravagance so lel y on that idea. I beg to inform my Right Hon. Fr iend I have - T taken my notion from reading the evidence of a West -Lthe proprietor himself. That proprietor said that he himself went out to the West Indies, and made a mitre. °on of 1,000/. a year.—(Hear, hear.) That was no ender -secretary, no clerk in the Colonial-office, but the gentleman himself possessing the property; and when he was asked how he reduced the 1,0004 he said it, was done by perquisites, and when asked what was the amount of those perquisites, he said, " I do not b e l ieve that th e merchants in this country, intelligent as they are, unless they go out themselves, know much of what is going on in the West Indies. My own merchants told me that they believed my estates were economically e 3 nducted. When I went out, however, I found they were not so. The attorneys are the head agents of the estate; the merchants simply see the plantation accounts. In the plantation accounts there is always One very large item, namely, labourers' wages; and I will tell the Committee some of the charges which I found were included in that item. There is an estate groom, for instance; then there is attorney's cook and' 'attorney's groom, attorney's servant, attorney's washer, attorney's maid, minding attorney's pigs, minding manager's pigs, picking grass for attorneys; besides which, there are manager's ser vants and overseer's servants. As far as I and the merchant could see, all those came under the head of labourers' wages."—(Hear, hear.) That is practical testimony—it is no prejudice of the Colonial-office, but practical testimony, and it certainly made an impression on my mind, and which I had on my mind when I spoke en Friday night of the extravagance of some of the proprietors. And now I am to be told I am making a n unfounded imput at i on those gentlemen who and maligning the characters of are ex travagance in managing not g e u st i a lti es in (ariy way of ear z hears) I believe it is not the e xtravagance of those gentlemen themselves; I believe it is the consequence of that sys tem of management—(Hear, hear)—and I believe there are many instances of a similar character. But I do not wish to prevent the Hon. Gentleman from making his proposition. He will have an opportunity of again stat ing his objections to our scheme, and we shall endeavour as far as we can to explain the views which we hold with regard to the West Indies. I do not, how ever, think my Ri g ht Hon. Friend has considered fully all the co nsequences that might follow from the suggestions he threw out of things that might possibly be done. I have always been very favourable to giving the colonists, as far as possible, the management of their own affairs ; but when we speak of giving . to the . West Indians the managemen t of their own affairs, we touch upon some very nice questions of practice, representation and rights of voters, as difficult as those may be which we shall have to consider t o-morrow on the motion of the Hon. Member for Montrose , o r still more difficult, or accompanied with more peril, when we have to consider them as applied to the West Indies. If y ou are to intro duce a very low suffrage in Trinidad ; if y ou allow every One of the imported negroes into Trinidad who may 'Ave been there a year, and is a maleiof full age, to have a vote,l think the representative chosen by those persons will not tend to assist Lord Harris in his government of Trinidad, and that it would introduce a very difficult Problem in the government of the West Indian colonies. -- (Hear, hear.) My Right Hon. Friend has not consi dered all the difficulties that would arise if we should at °nee introduce a system of representation in Trinidad without due deliberation. I am for increasing the power the people of the colonies have over their own affairs and government ; but I am for increasing it with considera tion and deliberation from time to time, and not at once for granting them an assembly chosen from the blacks for the government of these colonies.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. ELLICE said he had made use of no expression which could at all justify the last observation of his Noble Friend.—(Hear, hear.) Sir J. PAKINGTON then rose to move, pursuant to notice—" That this House, considering the evidence taken during the present session before a Select Com mittee, is of opinion that the remedies proposed by her Majesty's government for the great distress of the sugar. growing possessions of the crown, and which that com inittee has said will require the immediate application of rel ief, will neither effect that object nor check the sti mulus to the slave trade which the diminution of the Cultivation of sugar in those colonies has inevitably oc casioned." He denied that, in proposing this amend *lent, he was actuated by any party feeling whatever. All he desired was, to save our West Indian colonies f rom the destruction with which they were shreatened. Ho had merely altered the form of his motion because entertaining a decided objection to the governmere measure himself, he had upen console anon, deemed 1 expedient to seek from the House a distinct expressie: of its opinion on the subject.-(Hear, hear.) This we no question between protection and free trade ; it was questionstandingon considerations peculiar to itself, an he looked for support alike to the tree trader and to the Protectionist.-(Hear, hear.) There was no one whe more decidedly approved of the measure of 1834 than h , did. What he sought to counteract, as far as possible, was the legislation which had subsequently taken plac-- witb reference to our West India interests, as well uncler the present Government as under its predecessors.- (Hear, hear.) He did not complain of emancipation, but he complained that all the pledges to the West In dians which had accompanied emancipation had been violated.-(Hear, hear.) The whole series of legislation for the West Indies, up to the coup de grace inflicted in 1846, had been utterly monstrous. The Noble Lord op posite, however, had repeatedly declared his firm reso lotion to abide by the Act of 1846. He had made this declaration emphatically when the Noble Member fo: Lynn moved for his Committee, and he repeated it, as, emphatically, so recently as the 29th of May, distincte , stating that whereas the West India Committee ramie; mended that the differential duty should be continuer for a certain period beyond that fixed by the Act o , 1846, the Government did not intend to propose any 4 change in the Act of 1846, with the view either of in creasing the amount of differential duties, or of con tinuing them for a longer period than that fixed by the Act in question. This was so recently as the 29th May last; yet on Friday last the Noble Lord came down it the House and proposed a plan which, whatever miele be thought by various parties of its merits, every oie must admit to be a material deviation from the Act o 1846.-(Hear, hear.) While deeming it right to ask the Noble Lord why this deviation had been made, he tout, not but congratulate the friends of our West Indian cold nies on the obvious fact that Government had found ii absolutely necessary to make the change.-(Hear, hear.) He himself could attribute the change to no ether consi deration than that the evidence before the Committee was of such a nature, so conclusive as to the fearful dis tress which was weighing down the colonists, that Government found . it wholly impossible to adhere 0 , the Act of 1846. Then came the question whether the change proposed by the Government would meet the case of the colonists-whether it would even mitigate the distresses which afflicted them. 11, ' would not then detain the House by enquirine why it was that Government had thought fit to pro tract the period of closing the duties to 1854 instead of to 1851. Nor would he stop to inquire what reason had induced them to think it better that the duties should close at 10s. per cwt., rather than, as in the Act of 1846, at 14s. per cwt. Every one must feel that this change. irrespective of its bearing on the present distress, un doubtedly involved very important financial considera tions, and therein reflected upon the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer quite as much blame as he had sought to cast upon the Noble Member for Lynn for proposing an immediate reduction of the duties on our colonial sugars. The Right Hon. Gentleman, however, possibly thought that he might not be in office in 1854, and that he should only be bequeathing to a successor the large defect in the sugar duties which must inevita bly result from his plan.-(Hear, and a laugh.) He was driven to the conclusion that the proposal of the Govern went was wholly unequal to enable the West Indies to struggle with their increasing distresses, or to compete with the slave colonies; and he was enabled to prove the latter half of his assertion by comparing the present con dition of the British West Indies with the Brazils and other slave-labour settlements. He would refer to the evidence of Mr. Tollemache, than whom no gentleman had spoken more fairly before the West Indian Com mittee: and what was the statement of that witness? He says that he entertained hopes at some future day, by persevering in the course the colonists were pursuing, that the cost of producing sugar would be reduced to 15s 6d a cwt. But Mr. Tollemache stated further, that even at that reduced cost of production the freight and charges would prevent him from laying down a cargo of sugar in London at less than 225. oid. per cwt. Look ing at that statement, and taking into consideration the prices that had ruled of late in the sugar market, the minimum of which was 225. per cwt., how was it possible for a planter who, under the most favourable circum stances, could not bring his sugar to market under 225. a cwt. to compete with a Brazilian planter, who can offer his produce in the London warehouse at 19s. a cwt.? In tact, says Mr, Tollemache, it is impossible for the tree-labour planter, under his present circum stances, to compete with slave-labour sugar growers. There were also other witnesses who spoke to the ques tion of cost of production before the Committee, the re sult of whose testimony he would shortly recapitulate. In Jamaica the average cost of producing sugar, ascer tained from an examination of 138 estates, was 225. 7d. a cwt. ; another witness, Mr. Green, stated it to • be 225. 9d. ; Mr. Higginson rated it at 29e 2d. ; . and a fourth witness, Mr. Miles, considered the cost of produc tion in that island to average 235. a cwt. The mean cost of the production of sugar, taking the various state ments into consideration, was 1/. ss. Oid. ; and Sir C. Grey, in the important dispatch which was alluded to the other night-(A. laugh)-stated it to be his opinion that the permanent cost of producing a cwt. of sugar in Jamaica was 305., and . unless the planter could reckon upon that the cultivation of sugar would cease in that colony. Such was the deliberate opinion of Sir C. Grey, himself a free-trader.-(Cries of " Hear, hear.") Lord Harris, writing from Trinidad. states the cost of producing a cwt. of sugar at 20s. Bd. Another witness, at 325. 6d.; and a third, at 28e, the average cost being for Trinidad 275. 10d. In British Guiana the average cost was 255. Bd. And the general average of all the British West India colonies, including Jamaica, St. Vincent's, Trinidad, Barbadoes, St. Kitt's, and Guiana, gave the amount of 225. Bd. as the mean cost of producing a cwt. of sugar. Now, what on the other hand did they find, from evidence brought before the West India Committee, was the cost of producing a cwt. of sugar in the slave colonies? In Cuba the cost of production was 6s. Bid.; in Porto Rico, es. 2d.; and in Bahia, Bs. 9d. a cwt., giving a mean for these three slave colonies of 6s. Kd. per cwt. This sum, as com pared with 225. Bd., the cost of production in the Bri tish West Indies, left the amount of 15s. 9id. as the differences between the cost of sugar in the two countries respectively. The calculations into which he had entered were so essential towards establishing the case of the British planters, that he must call the particular attention of the Government to them. His argument was, that so long as there existed a difference of 15s. 9id. between the cost of producing sugar by free labour and by slave labour, so long would it be impossible for the British West Indies to compete, under a differential duty of 7s. only, with Cuba, the Brazils, or other slave sugar-growing colonies. He had therefore a right to assert that it was impossible, by means of the Government proposition, to afford an adequate protection to the British West Indian colonies. Another thing the planters had a right to complain of was the manner in which the Act of 1846 had been carried into operation. The Government had stated that it was a great experiment, but if so, why not at the same time take measures to give the experiment fair play? Why not have afforded the planters the means of procuring abundance of labour? That was the indispens able condition attached to the successful cultivation of sugar in the British colonies. The negro and the planter had changed positions during the last ten years in those colonies. The negro was the easy man; the planter the oppressed and ruined man. Why had not the Govern ment taken precautions against vagrancy and squatting in the West Indian Islands ? Nothing had been done by way of assisting the British planters to compete with the Brizilian and Cuban slave-holders. He admitted that recently Earl Grey had proposed some regulations, whereby tree labourers were to be sent to the West In dies, consisting of the captured Africans-a system which was liable to great abuses. But this was not the ques tion which was before the House. He would not at that moment enter into any detail of the losses experienced by the sugar planters in the British colonies. All the witnesses examined before the Committee concurred in the opinion that it was impossible for them to carry on the cultivation of sugar at present prices. One witness stated a fact which was quite startling, as to the depre ciation of property in the West Indies, The estate of Mulgrave sold for 25,0001. in the year 1843. The sum of 10,000/. was spent upon it after it was sold, and in April of the present year the same estate was put up again to sale, and the prices it realised was 2,800/. Looking, therefore, at the facts which had been stated before the West India Committee, he had a right to assert that these losses were principally due to the Act of 1846. Since that Act had passed, eighteen of the principal merchants connected with the West Indies had become bankrupts, and if the present state of things continued, other houses must tall victims to the same melancholy fate. Would the House permit him to call their attention to the state of affairs in the Mauritius ? Sir George Larpent, in his evidence before the Com mittee, stated that, acting in the full belief that the legislature sanctioned the course they adopted, the mer chants connected with the Mauritius suddenly found them selves deprived of protection ; and thus, at the moment when they were recovering from former losses, they found themselves subjected to a fresh blow, which they could not survive. The same witness stated that the cost of producing sugar in the Mauritius was 20s. iod. a cwt.; how could the planters there com pete with the slave colonies of Brazil and Cuba ? The consequences of these changes had been ' to bring ruin upon seven great mercantile house., whose principals were men of the highest integrity and honour. Amongst those gentlemen were their late colleagues, Sir John Rae Reid, Sir George Larpent, and Mr. Barclay, all Members of that House, and holding a high position in it. He could not refrain from express ing the pain which he felt in seeing men such as these involved in ruin by the melancholy state of things caused by the changes introduced into the sugar duties by the Legislature. thingsLehtehpirmodruecfetirontootfhesusgtaatrehOafdbeen in graduthe East Indies. The that amounted to l 845, w ally hengtohieuquantity seatfrom to 1,520,11 4 c w ts. The cost of 235. per w producingost ; ugaarodwas, how,in Bengal, 205., and at Madras when the cost of i transporteswith Brazilian an ila could dCubansugars these sugrs compete at such prices in the English market ? All the authorities, includi n g the Governors of the W est Indian colopnrieess,enat costgreed o in opinion that it was impossi ble at thef labour there from Brazilrefor free labour and Cuba.aboursu The H sugar to compete Member te with the sugar here quoted the opinions expressed in the dispatches of Lord Harris, Governor Reid, Sir C. Grey, Governor Higginson, and Governor Light, all of whom coincided in repre sent i ng the state of the p lanters in the British West Indian colonies as most pitiable. In looking at the question it was also advisable to take into consi dlser4a6. Burns,tionwuhaentthe oe e relative tdh proportion o f ex p orts to the i ritish West Indian colo n ies was in the y ears p recedin g and subsequent of ed itor alteration or o f t h e c oo Commercial the ni er c i asugarduties Glance, says i i that the value ) the exports of manufactured goods during the 19 months previous to the alteration of the sugar ditties in 1846, wAs 5,988,5541. Whereas 19 months after Ow sugar duties were altered the value to exports wes 4.856,2861., showing a decrease in the ex ports to the same c dories within the period of 19 month, after the Act of 1846 is as passed amounting to no les. than 1,123,2681. The same statistical return reports that the export of cotton manufactures to the slave cob nies during the nineteen months previous to 1846 were valued at 2,490,7771., whilst during nineteen months sub sequent to 1846 they had risen to 2,946,1511., showing an increase in that branch of export of 455,351/. But comparing the value of the exports to the slave colonies with those to the British colonies, there was a balance against the manufacturer of no less than 676,8411., re sulting from the diminished consumption of British manufactures in the West Indies in consequence of the present state of affairs. The question then came to be considered whether the consumer was benefited by the change; and he had no hesitation in asserting that when the cultivation of sugar in the British colonies was extinguished the Brazilian and other slave colonies would obtain the monopoly, and the price would be come very materially increased. He must now turn, and he did so with great pain and humiliation, to the great feature of the subject, which related to the slavery question.—(Hear, hear.) lie had stated on Friday night that it was with feelings of astonishment. timost amounting to indignation, that he had heard the Prime Minister make his statement without one word ~f allusion to the subject of slavery. But, on reconsi deration, his surprise ceased, for believing the Noble Lard opposite to be a sincere advocate for negro free dom, he must have felt great difficulty in touching upon the subject, more especially when he was aware that the prophecies uttered in 1846 respecting the increase of slavery, which was certain to follow on the Sugar Duties Bill of that year, had all been fulfilled. the first witness ha should call to prove his statement that slavery had increased was the Noble Lord the Foreign Secretary, who stated before the Committee, that the number of slaves imported into the slave colonies, in the year 1846, was 55,000, and as many in 1847, making a total of 110,000 slaves in those two years; whilst in the years 1844 and 1845, the average number of slaves imported into Cuba and Brazils was only 32,000 a year. There were other returns, which gave the number of 75,000 slaves as having been imported nto the slave colonies since the year 1846. From this evidence he thought he was justified in assuming that the effect of the Act of 1846 had been to double the importation of slaves in Cuba and Brazil.—(Hear, hear.) But, if any confirmation were wanted, it might be had in the returns of the exports of machi nery to those countries during the last few years. In 1844 the value of the exports to Cuba was 6,3721., and to Brazil, 17,5051 From that time a gradual increase had been going on, until in 1847 it amounted to—Cuba, 17,6641.; Brazil, 35,1531.—(Hear, hear.) He must now refer to what he considered the most important evidence that had been given before the Committee. Captain Matson, of the royal navy, on being examined, a man of great experience in these matters, had stated, that in his opinion the admission of slave-grown sugar had increased the importation of slaves into Cuba and Brazil very much. Captain Matson stated that he was at Havannae when the remission was announced, and that the news created a feeling of universal joy ; the price of slaves and of land increased at once, and a general jubilee seemed to prevail throughout the island. In describing the mode in which the slaves were transported from the coast of Africa, Captain Matson stated that they were packed close, doubled up, and generally in irons. The general calculation was, that if a captain expected to land 300 slaves, he must ship 500, the difference being generally cleared off by " weeding" during the passage. The explanation of this was, that the most practised eye could not always distinguish the healthy from the diseased previous to shipment, but the first forty-eight hours at sea decided the matter by carrying off the latter.—(Hear, hear.) As a general rule those who stood out the first forty-eight hours were landed alive.—(Hear, hear.) One great cause of this dreadful mortality was the diminutive size of the vessels employed in the trade, a remarkable instance of which was men tioned by Captain Matson—that of a shipment of 427 slaves in a vessel of only forty-nine tons burden.— (Hear, hear.) He (Sir J. Pakington) might perhaps be told that these horrors were no novelties. He was sorry to say that there was a feature of novelty in these details, and that was, that the whole of the circumstances de tailed by Captain Matson, were now going on under the sanction of the Government of this country.—(Protec tionist cheers.) He did not impute the crime of intention to the Government; but he implored the Noble Lord at the head of that Government to pause and consider whe ther any other conclusion could be drawn from the state ments he (Sir J. Packington) had made, than that the le gislation of 1846 had given new life to the abominable slave trade,with all its attendant horrors. Why, previous to that year the slave trade to Cuba had almost ceased.— (Hear, hear.) The greater length of the voyage and difficulty of transport rendered a more expensive class of vessels necessary, and it was in consequence declining; but the legislation of 1846 gave it a fillip, and it was at the present moment going on with as great vigour as ever. The treatment of the slaves after their arrival at Cuba was also a point which must not be overlooked in considering the question. Captain Matson stated that they were usually kept at work for 18 hours out of the 24, being goaded during the latter hours with the lash, and hunted by dogs to keep them together in the fields. —(Hear, hear.) He would next proceed to call the at tention of the House to the reports which had been sent home by British Consuls in slave colonies. Mr. Morgan wrote from Rio Grande that the vessels were coming in there every day with slaves, under the sanction of the authorities, who received a bonus of from 10 to 15 dollars on each one landed. From Bahia, Mr. Porter wrote that the importation hal nearly doubled during the last year ; and the Go vernor of Sierra Leone stated that, notwithstanding the vigilance of our cruisers, the traffic between that place and the Havana was enormously on the in crease.—(Hear, hear.) He thought he had now said and ouoted enough to prove that the prophecies of 1846 had been fulfilled, and that the results of the measure of that year, however little such results might have been desired by government, had been to give a great impulse to slavery and the slave-trade. He regretted to have to observe that the Noble Lord at the head of the govern ment had not thought fit even to allude to those subjects in his opening speech, but in consequence of the indig nation expressed by several Honourable Members who followed him had subsequently found it necessary to say something which was not at all satisfactory, being merely the expression of his hope and belief that the measures of government would tend to place the planter in such a position as would enable him to enter into a fair competition with slave labour, and to prevent the continuance of the detestable traffic in slaves. He (Sir J. Pakington) trusted that the result of their delibe rations would be consistent with the principles which this country had adopted with reference to the slave trade, and such as, while they preserved our colonies, would redound to the honour of the sovereign and people of this country.—(Cheers.) Sir E. N. BUXTON, in rising to second the amend ment of the Hon. Baronet, must at the same time take leave to deny that the abolition of the apprenticeship system gave the colonists any additional claim on the mother country. In his opinion the policy which was most consistent with justice and humanity, was that contained in the Act of 1844, which wholly excluded sugar the produce of slave labour. Against that policy it had been urged that we were only driving the slave grown sugar to the continental markets. He acknow edged that there was some force in that argument, but he believed that if we had persisted in the exclusion, recent events on the continent would have given us great opportunities of making it influential there as well as in this country. Under present circumstances he believed that the only course would be to adopt the amendment of his Hon. Friend. His Hon. Friend had so com pletely exhausted the subject, that it would be un necessary for him to trouble the House at any length; but there was one dispatch of Lord Harris to which he could not help alluding. Lord Harris said it was painful to see men waiting the ruin which was sure to overtake them, and labouring without hope, be cause their labour was sure to go unrequited. The re inedy proposed f bu ort t h h is ad st i a m te m o i t g ' r t a h t i i n o g n s n b o y w G b o e v e e n rn h m e e a n rd t vas immigration; of for the first time? Why, since the project had first been conceived, upwards of 80,000 free labourers had been imported into our colonies; and the result proved how inadequate was the remedy. Lord Harris was op posed to immigration as hitherto carried on, but recom mended its continuance at the expense of the individual parties requiring the slaves instead of making it a charge on the colonial revenue. Having read some further quo tations to the same effect, the Hon. Baronet proceeded to say that it seemed to him, looking simply at the con dition of the West Indies, that the policy of this country had been too changeable, and that the principles of free trade should have been applied to them with greater caution. The great question was, whether, after all the efforts and all the sacrifices of the last forty years to abolish slavery and the slave trade, we were for the future to depend for our supply of sugar on colonies were both were carried on in the most brutal manner the world had ever witnessed. During the last year we had imported 48,000 tons of sugar from Cuba ; and, looking at the orders which had recently gone out to our own colonies to stop cultiva tion, it was not to much too expect that the importation would reach 100,000 tons next year, and so on until that island and Brazil would monopolise our whole supply. That would be a serious calamity, and one for which, in his opinion, no excuse could be found in the necessities of this country.—(Hear, hear.) The produce of our co lonies had always been equal to the demand, and during last year was 40,000 tons more than it had been during any previous year. Lird J. RUSSELL—That was under the Act of 1846.—(Hear, hear.) Sir E. N. BUX FON—Yes, but the free-trade mea sures could hardly have acted so soon. He had taken his present course with some regret. He admitted the ❑ecessity of supplying the labouring classes in this coun try with all their necessaries at the lowest possible price, but he believed that if the people had the ques tion fairly put to them—if they were told that their cheap sugar was purchased with the life-blood of their fellow-creatures, they would reject the boon with dis dain. Having quoted Mr. Calhoun andy the late Dr. Channing's opinions on the subject of slavery and the slave-trade the Hon. Baronet said, in conclusion, that the House of Commons had, in 1846, passed an Act under the impression that it would not aggravate the horrors of the slave-trade. They had been disappointed iu their expectations ; it was acknowledged on all hands that under the operation of that Act the trade was on the increase, and therefore he,trusted that, on the pre sent occasion, they would not hesitate to retrace their steps, and, as far as in them lay, prevent the evil conse quences of their error.—(Cheers.) .The amendment having been put, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER com plained that neither the mover nor seconder of the amendment had explainei what means of relief they . proposed foe the West hale planter, or what amount of protection they would substitute for that which the re solutions of the Government would establish. The [lon. Baronet (Sir J. Pakington) having given notice of the terms of his amendment, had twice changed his mind, and had now put it in a shape in which he thought it might succeed in catching a few stray votes. —(Hear, hear.) His Hon. Friend (Sir E. N. Buxton) said fairly enough that he would totally exclude slave grown sugar.—(Hear, hear.) His Hon. Friend con. tended that when emancipation passed in 1834, the House and the country entered into a compact with the West India colonists that they should have twenty mil lions paid to them as compensation, together with the perpetual monopoly of the British market. He admitted that if the Imperi a l L eg i slature c h ose t o d e p r i ve th e West India propriet ors of the i r s l aves, i t was b oun d to give them full comp ensat i on ; but he remembered that Lord Stanley argued at t h e time that t h e com pensati on which was given was f u ll and ample. P ar l iamen t h a d since decided against g i v i ng to the West Indies a per petual monopoly of the British market, and against the permanent maintenance of a high protective duty.— ( Hear, hoar.) It there had been a contract entered into in 1834 to grant such a monopoly of the market it was broken, as his Honourable Friend behind him had stated, by the Act of 1844, which, according to the present Lord Harrovvby, who moved the cele brated resolution of 1841, did, by opening our market to the sugars of Java and other foreign sugar growing countries, encourage th e i mport o f s l ave -labour sugar in the market of Hambu rg h ; an d on l y last year no less than 3,000 tons of su gar were a d m itted from slave growing countries into E ng l an d w hi c h we were com pelled to admit by our treaties under the Act of 1844. He did not mean to say that the Act of 1846 had not given a further encouragement to slave-labour sugar.— ( Elear, hear.) But if they were to stand on the con tract, he must contend that the first infraction of the principle of discouraging slave-grown sugar was to be found in the Act of 1844, and those who supported that Act were not now in a position to turn round on the proposition of Ministers, because it might in its results encourage the import of slave-labour sugar. The grounds on which the Act of 1844 was brought forward, as stated by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gonlburn), himself a West India proprietor, were the insufficient supply of colonial sugar, and the consequent high price; now, however, it was contended by the Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Pakington) that it had always produced a supply sufficient for the demands of this country. If any ene would compare the present con sumption with that a few years back, he would see that a more monstrous proposition bad never been put forward. In 1840 the consumption was 179,000 tons; in 1842 it was 193,000 tons; and last year it was 289,000 tons; an increase of more than 110,000 tons in seven years, and 96,000 in the last five years.—(Hear, hear.) Comparing this increase with that of the population, it was evident that the supply was not adequate to the consumption in 1840 and 1842. When the Bill of 1846 was proposed, there was scar ce ly any person in the House except those who voted with th e Noble Lord (G. Bentinck) who did not distinctly avow that the principle of permanent pro tection as against slave-labour sugar must be given up. The Right Honourable Baronet the Member ter Tam worth made that avowal distinctly; and the Honourable Member for Leominster (Mr. Barkly) declared that he was for free trade in sugar, as he had been for free trade 1 in corn, it being understood that protection should be continued for a time in order to enable the colonists to make arrangements to compete with other sugar-growing countries. He was entitled to assume, therefore, from what had occurr e d in reference to the measure of 1846, that the present majority of the House abandoned the principle of permanent protection. He thought the Hon. Baronet had somewhat overstated the case as to the in creased export of slaves as attributable to the Act of 1846. He believed it would be found that the number of slaves exported from the coast of Africa in 1847 scarcely ex ceeded the number in 1846, and that the increased ex port during the last two or three years was owing rather to the Act of 1844 than that of 1846.—(Hear, hear.) But the only way to put down the slave trade was to beat slave labour in open competition by the superior cheapness of free labour production. They had tried all other means and failed; and it was no argument against the course they were now taking—the only course left, as he believed, for effecting the object—that the number of slaves exported had increased under the operation of the Act of 1846—even if it were so. With regard to the amount of ,protection, he found that the Committee on the coffee and sugar plantations recommended a dif ferential duty of 10s. for six years; but if the Hon. Baronet's facts and arguments went for anything, they went to show that there was a cost of 15s. 9id. between the cost of slave-labogr sugar and free-labour sugar, and that nothing short of a permanent protective duty to that amount would have the required effect of enabling the West India colonists to compete with slave-labour countries. If that was the view of the Hon. Baronet, he could understand why he was no longer prepared to abide by the recommendations of the Committee of which he was a member. But the Committee went further, and agreed with his (the Chancellor of the Exchequer's) view, that the ultimate prosperity of the British West India possessions must depend on their means of success fully competing with the foreign producer rather than on any permanent protection—(Elear, hear)—and unless they were so enabled to compete, there was but little hope of their being restored to permanent prosperity. If it was still the opinion of Parliament that sooner or later the British West Indies must compete with the slave-growing colonies, the question was how that com petition could be brought anout in the best and safest way. From the evidence taken before the Committee it was shown that great reductions in the expense of managing might be effected without any loss in the amount of production. In one case the cost of management had been reduced from 2,3001. in 1843, to 1,6001. in 1846; and in another from 2,3001. in 1843, to 1,3001. in 1846. The evidence of Mr. Barkly, Mr. Innes, Mr. Greene, and others, also went to show that if protection were only continued for a short time, and arrangements were made for a small additional sup ply of labourers—a few thousands in a continuous stream—the rate of wages might be considerably reduced without any real injury to the labourers who, in conse quence of the very high rate of wages which they now received, enjoyed luxuries la which persons in a much higher station in life in this country were strangers. The Hon. Baronet had not stated what he recommended in lieu of the Government plan in regard to the emigra tion of labourers to the West Indies, but he had alluded to contracts, and had urged that permission should be given to enter into contracts for labour for three years. He believed that the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Glad stone) had permitted su c h contracts to be entered into. Mr. GLADSTONE —But excluding natives of Africa and the West Indies. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER would not enter into the details, but believed that it depended on the colonial legislators themselves whether such con tracts for labour should be entered into, and his Noble Friend (Lord Grey t ture for that purpose. B ut i t was no t qu ite certain that refused his since sanctiori'tott oy he e h t a of d been in Co l o o a c l e , L h e a g d i a n l a o the contract system would act. Mr. Tollemache, in his evidence, stated that it had been tried in Antigua, but he was not inclined to think that it answered. The object of the contract was to compel the labourer to work To or that ts there than wasthe ordinary rate providedy rate of wages.—(No, n ) la bourer refusing to c arry out sueechancontrac the twasno ' treated as a felon. With regard to squatting, he heard no means suggested by which it could be effectually prevented. There were plenty of laws;on the subject, but the difficulty was to enforce them ; and he must say that the worst kind of squatting was produced by the proprietors themselves, who drove the negroes to a dis tance from their estates. The great difficulty was ad mitted on all hands to be the want of labourers, but the proposal they made of advancing money, or guarantee ing the interest of a loan, if the colonists raised it them selves, would enable them to meet that difficulty. But neither the introduction of labourers, nor the other measures proposed, w ou ld ava i l, un l ess hey extended to the West India planters further time than was contem plated by the Act of 1846. In so extending the time, however, he did not consider that there was any depar ture from the principle of that Act.--(Hear.) It was stated as a matter of complaint, that, owing to the pre sent classification of sugars, the colonists did not gat that amount of protection which it was intended they should have, because the whole of the colonial sugars was exposed to a competition with the best foreign sugar. That was stated very clearly in the evidence of Mr. Greene. To remove this ground of complaint they pro posed to introduce a new classification of foreign Mus covado sugar, and to divide that which was now intro duced under one denomination into two classes, to be called brown clayed and Muscovado. The Hon. Gentle man said that this plan would be defeated, because the fine sugar would come in as Muscovado. Everything depended on the point at which they fixed the standard, and, a , ter consultation that day with the officers of the Board of Trade and Customs, they were of opinion— but they would not pledge themselves absolutely to it— that the decriptioa of sugar which was now 365. 6d. long price in the market should be the standard of brown clayed sugar, and that all below that should be entered at the Muscovado rate. If the present law re mained unchanged the West India planters would only have a protection of 6s. By the plan which the Govern ment proposed they would have a protection of 7s. for the first year, 6s. 6d. for the second year, and 6s. for the third year. But that was not all, for they proposed to reduce the differential duty on ruin, with respect to which he was surprised that no mention had bees made in the recommendations of the Committee. —(gear, hear.) And this was not altogether valueless to the West Indian interest, for a great increase had taken place in the quantity of ram entered for hone consumption. In 1846 the number of gallons entered amounted to 2,684,000 ,• in 1847, to 3,330,000. A n d the quantity entered was still on the increase ; for the number of gallons introduced which tbey proposed to give the West during the four first months of 1847 was 849,000, proposed to give them a higher protec tion enjoyed,. and to extend that cy bey o nd But th etyunwee froer notw h iuenhmi unmindful u w l whilst for the four first months of 1848 no less than 1,010,000 gallons came in. —(Hear, hear.) These were proposed to Pedrduoutsycpezt:ithvec.odifferential duty n v n a y f c g e t e money to facilitate immigration, and Indians.t ti h o e n th a They advantages they at to c o nsi der any suggestion for the r h aa e rns consumer in this country.—(Hear.) a a o t the interests of the producers of sugar ers were identical, and lithaltv:heheparvo.; protectionothey umwrteo three preparedadvance v existed. They Consuminterestser u ltimatelylook of colonial proposedreduce th eon for the present or the next year, because in the first place there present year ; and, was a great quantity of sugar iu hand as com pared with last year ; and, secondly, there was a prospect of slogs • thirdly, it was probable, front, the state of the continent that a great portion of the sugar in the foreign ware houses would be brought to this country in the first in ' stance. The stock in hand in the five chief ports of the continent and this country in the present year, as com pared with the quantity held last year, was 143,000 tons against 103,000 tons, being a difference of 40,000 tons in favour of the present year. He did not, for these reasons, expect any enhancement of price during the present or following year. The Hon. Gentleman said that the production of the colonies was equal to the con sumption in this country, and could be even more ; but did not the Hon. Gentleman see that if the colonies pro duced more than we consumed in this country, the sur plus must go into foreign markets, and therefore that the price must depend on the price in those markets? But if, on the other hand, the colonies only pro.. i duced f or t hi s country, an d th a t at a high price, t Was quite clear that the consumers would not stand that high price, and that they would demand an adherence to the principles of the Acts of 1844 and 1846. With regard to the effect of this measure on the revenue, which it was said this proposal would endang ,, r, he could on l y ask, if their proposition was likely to have any such effect, what would be the effect of the recom mendation of the Committee? The loss by their pro posal would be Is. per cwt., or 11. per ton, on colonial t s a u k g i a n r g ; t and d w h a s s t i t t h w e i a r s cloans last uyme o ar, w n a s o f 240, o colonialoo tons, ns, sugar, the bhs lo uel s mgb s ayrt would orc: ero b dao e t of consumption o_ 4 r ntoh:, u o eurim o e o pai e ntri,:ohn ß rem u oa But far information ou f the recommendation of o t the e 4/ C . o p m er m t i o t n t c e a u w d e adopted,roenthe whole th consumption loss of colonial t a d () c a l , a t . 1 , on sq t u l u ! Atte rspret.: wsion n l a aE n us any other mon t take lEa:keß. what a p spt o al i wai n dca t eyohinnips permanent ti nh object ea c ch h t i n t t washe benefit necessary efi t t o tthe e for co lonies tihnepric could be promoted ? believed that could only r te , o a d n tihd d en t Ho lt o t uks t ne h o. a w t Thecthonat w c onsequence as to of fo r r e c d e u u c p ti o o n n Governmente. a reconsideration of this important question. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the late Government always appeared to him setotsatiFtoonnt. H entertain thetaine vi on ews t this i The h ci e u t sviewe d ound andthe questionstatesmanlike a so f justice. n eo colonies was awful. Peopl e were every day falling in a lower grade. It was time f or f ree-traders to retr their steps. Right as they m i g h t b e i n their decima a s l e they were proved to be wrong in th e i r m illi ons. Their policy had involved the West Indies in ruin. He con tended that we could naturally enough only rely upon the loyalty of our West Indian population so long as that population considered itself more prosperous and consequently happier under our rule than it would be un der any other. It we systematically oppressed our colonies our colonies would ultimately reject our rule, and either seek a connexion with some other country or set up for themselves. As to the slave trade, it was a mere farce to suppose that while it continued to be so profitable a commerce as it now was it would be given up. Cheap sugar might, no doubt, be an excellent thing; but once throw our colonial sugar estates oat of cultivation and cheap sugar would no longer be attainable, for we should be wholly at the mercy of the foreigner, and have to pay a high price for slave-grown sugar. There was no question that all our exertions and all our sacrifices to put down the slave trade had only made matters in finitely worse than they were before. He was not pre pared to assent to the proposition that sugar was so e v x er t y en w si h v o el l y eso u m se e d t n a n s t o u e l a lady'set ne teethia 8l after the age of thirty, would bear inspection. He should give his decided support to the amendment of the y ug b a ty r h e w t rh a ee s , ladies, and it was ainn no tah t r o et r ic i U o le u n s itoe t rd ha c i Hon. Baronet. Mr. HUME concurred in the opinion that this was not a question within the category of free trade, which sup posed that the parties acting upon it should be upon equal terms. Mr. Deacon Hume, in his evidence before the Committee, had given his decided judgment that while the West Indies were placed upon as good terms, in re spect to free trade, as Cuba, Porto Rico, and other foreign colonies, they could compete with the whole world in the sale of their commodities; but that since the emancipation, which had placed them upon an in equality with the slave labour sugar countries, they were not in a position to compete, without something in the shape of protection, until they had secured an ample supply of cheap labour. The whole annals of legisla tion did not present an example of such monstrous in justice as that which the Parliament of Great Britain had inflicted upon the West Indies. Every engagement we had made with them we had utterly violated, and an intelligent witness before the Committee, Mr. Innes, had distinctly stated that so gross had been the bad faith of the Imperial Legislature towards the West Indies, that the colonies had lost all faith and confidence in that Legislature.—(Hear, hear.) As to slavery, there were no means of putting it down but by rendering free labour cheaper than slave labour; and this was the object which the free-traders had always in view when they advocated emancipation, fully convinced that free labour, if' it had a fair trial, would beat slave labour in cheapness as in every other quality. His com plaint was that free labour had not had a fair trial.— (Hear, hear.) He considered that a ll th e di stress o f th e West Indies had resulted from our policy since 1834, well-intentioned, no doubt, but wholly erroneous. He denied that the engagement of 1834 had been fulfilled. The full price had not been paid; for the captured slaves under the treaty of search had been valued by arbitration at a much higher sum; and had the West Indian slaves been valued at that rate, they would have amounted to 101,919,0001. Besides paying below the value, the ap prenticeship had been curtailed—another instance in which the engagement with the colonists had not been carried out. Instead of offering a round sum of twenty millions, the colonists ought to have been heard as to the measures which were necessary for giving due effect to emancipation. The colonists were unable to act; they were deprived of labour, one-third of that extracted from the slaves being taken away. Proper regulations were also needed, which were never made. So early as 1836 Lord Glenalg had written a dispatch, urging the importance of making provisions against squatting and idleness, before the apprenticeship expired; thus show ing that it was then thought most important to keep up the supply of labour. The want of that single article had produced all the mischief to the colonists; they had even been forbidden, by orders in Council, to bring la bourers from Africa, America, or anywhere else.— (Hear.) They were not even allowed to get labourers from Europe, could they - have done so. The restric tions had been one by one relaxed, but without restoring the supply of labour which had been cut off by these orders in Council, secretly issued from the Colonial-office without the authority of Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) Had they possessed due facilities for obtaining labour, no doubt they might have competed with other places. The blame was wholly attributable to the Colonial-office, which had been a nuisance from first to last.—(Laughter.) Had the Colonial-office been locked up, and the colonies allowed to manage their own affairs, without the petty meddling and interference of ignorant men (for how could Lord Grey or Mr. Hawes, though they might be as clear-headed and sharp-sighted as anybody, know intuitively what was requisite for the colonies?) they would now have been in a very different state.—(Hear, hear.) Why, every two years almost there had been a fresh Colonial Minister, so that the colonists never knew was ef that lrloim th e thi in what they had to expect for two months together. (Hear, hear.) In one case rules had been drawn up, and were uen e clear, v Wellington, sent out for the regulation of the coolies, of which Lord Harris observed that they were not wholly faultless. Thereupon Earl Grey sent out an order immediately to cancelpass passing g the th e rules ; Emancipation and the consequence eq coolies were seen dying in the highways with statements of Lord Stanley, the Duke of hunger.— (Hear, hear.) The intentions of the Legislature • proper vagrancy Acts and other measur es all to secure a f and others, all of whom contemplated the passing igton ' due supply of labour. Notwithstandin g , almost as soon as the Act was passed diffic ulties l• u t . ies had been thrown in the way, which had since beeninereased, till things had now come to the worst. It had been said the high wages in the colonies were not the result of the want of labour, but of the competition between the colonies ; but it was clear the high wages could on ly arise from a want of labour. As it was, the negroes were the masters, and the m as t ers h a d b ecome the servants ; it was said the ne ro g es went to their work in cabs, and with silk umbrellas.—(Great laug hter .) regretted that in th e case of Guiana, Lord Grey rey lie had stopped the supply of labourers, because the taxes were not voted —a very paltry pretext, in his opinion. Let the colonies be placed in the situ C _ a ton in whi c h it was meant to place th em i n 1846. The Act of that year had not produced, though it had much collies Why not all ow t h e co °lus 1 • aggravated, their diffi ts now to go to Africa, and obtain their own labour without th e i ntervention of Gov ernment? Now th at th ruined, wagit n t time e colonies were a l most o high that something was done for them? The plan o f Gov ernment would have no effect; it wou l d be much bett er to let th e co l on i sts di e out at on ce . L et themhave protection for a period sufficiently long to restore their confid ence , and to enable them i n the meantime to prepare themselves to compete with other sugar-growing countries, and thus give a f • atr cbance to free labour. He believed that no shorter period than ten y ears of protec tion in would su ffi ce t o p l ace the colonies a fair posit ion. But the Right Hon. Baronet asked how he was to make up the loss in the revenue by adopting the proposal of the Noble Lord. He would tell him how. Let the squa dron be withdrawn from the coast of Africa, and the amount lost by the sugar duty would be saved in the naval estimates. If something were not done soon the colonie s wou ld relapse into a savage state, and this would be a sad resullt for the sacrifices England had made. He was satisfied the Government proposal would never answer, and he therefore counselled the Noble Lord, if he was not prepared to do more, to take the course pointed out, and to leave the colonies to their fate. For these reasons he was opposed to the resolutions of the Noble Lord, taking it for granted that the Hon. Baronet would follow up his amendment if carried by a definite propo sition. Mr. MOFFAT T moved that the de b ate b e a dj ourne d. —(Go on.) Mr. ROBINS ON seconded the motion. Mr. CARD W ELL, before the mot i on was p u t f rom the ch a i r , b egged to point out that the number o f stages of the Bill, b e i ng a money Bill, required that no t ime should b e l ost i n carrying it forward before t h e s t h o f July, oth erw i se the measure could not b ecome l a w in time to sup erse d e the sugar dut i es, w hi c h w ould come into operation o n th at d ay . The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER agreed that there was a difficulty in point of time; but the course pursued by the Hon. Baronet opposite was in some respects unprecedented, and calculated to impede the fair progress of public business. Sir J. PAKINGTON protested against such an im putation being cast upon him as that just made by the Right Hon. Baronet. Mr. BARKLY also vindicated the proceeding of the Hon. Member for Droitwieb. The debate was then adjourned to Thursday next. PUBLIC HEALTH BILL. Viscount MORPETH moved that this Bill be read a third time, which was agreed to. Mr. HENLEY moved the following clause to be added as a rider to the Bill :—" And be it enacted, that if it shall appear to a majority of not less than three. fifths of the rated inhabitants of any parish or place co ntain ing less than two thousand inhabitants on the then last census, in which this Act shall not be in force, assembled at a public meeting to be called as hereinafter provided, that it would contribute to the health and conve nience of the inhabitants generally that a public drain or sewer should be made, or a well dug, or a pump provided, for the public use of the inha bitants, it shall be lawful for the church wardens and overseers to have an estimate of the cost of making such drain, or digging such well, or providing such pump, made, and to lay the same before another public meeting to be called as is hereinafter provided ; and if the same shall bo approved and sanctioned by a majority of not less than three- fifths of the meeting, it shall be lawful for the churchwardens and overseers to have the same, or any part thereof, sanctioned as afore said, executed, and to pay the costs thereof out of the poor rates of the parish or place, provided always that notice of any such meeting shall be given by the church wardens and overseers, as is by this Act provided to he given of meetings to be holden by the superintending in spectors ; and the notice shall also contain a statement of the work proposed or intended to be submitted for the consideration and approval of the meeting. Viscount MORPETH thought the clause would im pede the action of the Bill, but should not for tnat rea son object to its insertion. Colonel SIBTHORP moved that the House do now adjourn. Viscount MORPETH hoped the Hon. and Gallant Member would not persist in his motion. Mr. URQUHART hoped that the Hon. and Gallant Member would persist in his motion. Mr. HUDSON hoped his Hon. and Gallant Friend would not persist in his motion, but that he would per mit the measure to proceed, as it had been fully and fairly discussed. ' The clause was agreed to and added to the Bill, and the Bill was passed. The House adjourned at Twenty minutes to One. THE WATERLOO BANQUET. The anniversary of the battle of Waterloo having this year occurred on a Sunday, the customary banquet given by the Duke of Wellington to the officers who participated in the glories of that great day was not cele brated until last evening. As usual, the noble and gallant Duke received very numerous congratulatory visits at Apsley House—Field- Marshal Grosvenor, Marshal Viscount Beresford, the Duke of Richmond, Sir William Verner, Viscount anaberna ere, the Marquis of Londonderry, and m an y other o ffi cers who served under his Grace; the Mar chioness Cornwallis, Viscountess Beresford, the Marquis of lleadfort, the E arl and Countess of Jersey an d L a dy Clementina Villiers, Lord and Lady Braybrooke, and in fact a host of the aristocracy. Soon after half -past ix invited to the entertainmentao'clock the gallant veterans Count Kielman_seggbee,gan to assemble; his Ex cellency Harding % Sir Edward .h..erriso-nLoarnddSsailrtoAunnd,rVewiscßouanrt. Bar nard being among the early arrivals . In the inner hall, immediatel y ommunicating with the grand staircase, was station ed the full band of the Grenadier Guards (the Duk e 's re giment) which, during the arrival of the guests, pl a yed a variety of marches and martial airs. The Marquis of Anglesey, on being recognised by the crowd, was loudly che ere d, as a l so was Viscount Har ding°. His Royal Highness Prince Albert,httended by Ma General Bowles, Colonel E. B ouver i e, and Colonel 2". Buckley, arrived at ten minut es a f ter 7 o'clock. The. Prince was warmly greeted by the populace without, and on alighting was welcomed by the Duke of Wellington, by whom the Prince was conducted to the saloon in which the majority of the Waterloo heroes had mustered. The Prince Consort, on his arrival, was saluted by the band playing the National Anthem. Punctually at half-past seven the banquet was an nounced in the Waterloo-gallery, when the Prince Con sort and the illustrious host, followed by Prince Castel cicala, the Count Kielmansegge, the Marquis of Angle sey, and the remainder of the guests, passed into the banqueting-room. The Prince wore the uniform of Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards; the Duke of Wellington, that of a Field-Marshal, with the riband of the Order of the Bath; the Marquis of Anglesey wore the uniform of the Royal Horse Guards (Blue), as Colonel of that Regiment. On the right of the Duke sat Prince Albert and the Marquis of Anglesey; and on his left, his Excellency Prince Castelcicala and his Excellency Count Kielman segge. _ - The table presented a gorgeous display of valuable plate, the celebrated Portuguese plateau occupying the centre. Ranged along the table were immense china vases, gifts from the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia, filled with the choicest flowers, and the whole of the fruit-diskes and ornaments were of solid gold. The dessert service was the celebrated set of Dresden china, a present from the King of Saxony. At the north end of the gallery, the sideboard exhibited a varied collection of gold plate, amid which was Flaxman's shield, emblematic of the Duke's victories, the whole being lighted from the superb candelabra presented to his Grace from the citizens of London. The arrange ments were, in fact, with trifling difference, the same as noticed on previous years. In addition to the Duke there were present:— Field-Marshal his royal Highness Prince Albert, and the following Waterloo officers:—Field Marshal the Marquis of Anglesey, K.G., G.C.8., and G.C.H., Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards; General Lord Strafford, G.C.B. and G.C.H., Colonel of the 29th Foot; General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K C. 8., Colonel of the 17th Foot; General Sir C. HaMott, G.C.B. and G.C.H., Colonel of the 45th Foot; General the Right Hon. Sir F. Adam, G.C.B. and G.C.M.G., Colonel of the 21st Foot; Lieutenant-General Sir E. Kerrison. Bart., K.C.B. and G.C.H., Colonel of the 14th Dragoons; Lieutenant- General Sir A. T. Barnard, G.C.B. and G.C.H., Rifle Brigade; Lieutenant-General Sir A. Woodf or d, K . C.B . and G. C.M.G., Colonel of the 40th Foot; Lieutenant- General Lord Fitzroy Somerset, G.C.8., Colonel of the 52d Foot; Lieutenant-General Sir James Macdonell, G.C.B. and K.C.H., Colonel of the 79th Foot; Lieutenant General James W. Sleigh, C. 8., Colonel of the 9th Dra goons; Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur B. Clifton, K.C.B. and K.C.H., Colonel of the 12th Dragoons; Lieutenant- General the Earl Cathcart, K.C.8., Colonel of the 3d Dragoon Guards ; Lieutenant-General Viscount Hardinge, G.C.8., Colonel of the 57th Foot ; Lieut.- General the Hon. IL P. Lygon, C. 8., Colonel of the 13th Dragoons ; Lieutenant-General Sir George Scovell, K.C.8., Colonel of the 4th Dragoon Guards ; Lieut.- General Lord Saltoun, C.B. and G.C.H., Colonel of the 2d Foot ; Lieutenant-Gelled Henry Wyndham, Colonel of the 11th Hussars ; Lt tenant-General Sir Edward Bowater, K.C.H., Colonel of the 49th Foot ; Major- General Sir Henry W. Rooke, C.B. and K.C.H. ; Major-General Henry D'Oyly, Colonel of the 33d Foot ; Major-General Thomas Dalmer, C. 8., Colonel of the 47th Foot ; Major-General James Hay, C. 8., Major- General Douglas Mercer, C. 8., Major-General John Reeve, C. 8., Major-General Sir Robert Gardiner, K.C.B. and K.C.H., Major-General Archibald Money, C.B. and K.C., Major-General E. Parkinson, C. 8., Major-General Sir Thomas Hunter Blair, C. 8., Major-General R. Lluellyn, C. 8., Major-General R. Egerton, C. 8., Major General John Boteler Parker, C. 8., Major- General J. C. Bourchier, K.C., Major-General J. Grant, C. 8., Major-General T. W. Taylor, C. 8., Major- General F. Calvert, C. 8., Major-General Sir D. L. Evans, K.C.8., Major-General Lord J. Hay, Major- General J. S. K ennedy, C. 8., Major-General Lor d Sandys, Major-General G. Bowles, Major-General T. %V. Robbins, Major-General R. M'lsreil, Major-General W. L. Walton, Colonel H. Dawkins, Colonel Michael Childers, C. 8., Colonel Wilaman, Colonel J. Martin, Colonel the Hon. H. Hely H u t c hinson, Colonel W. G. Moore, Colonel J. Simpson, Colonel the Hon. G. Anson, Colonel S. Stawell, Colonel Lord Hotham, Colonel the Hon. G. Catheart, Colonel E. P. Buckley, Colonel Charles Yorke, Colonel Berkeley Drummond, Colonel C. F. R. Lascelles, Colonel R. Wallace, Colonel John Oldfield, K.H.; Colonel E. W. Bouverie, Colonel Lord Rokeby, Lieutenant-Colonel C. Rowan, C. 8., Lieu tenant-Colonel Wilkins, C.B. and K.H., Lieutenant- Colonel the Right Hon. G. L. Dawson Darner, Lieut tenant-Colonel E. Keane, Lieutenant-Colonel P. Camp bell, C. 8., Lieutenant-Colonel J. Cox, KIT. Covers were laid for eighty-four persons. The Hon. and Rev. G. Wellesley, Rector of Strath fieldsaye, was present and said grace before and after dinner. The dessert having been placed on the table, The Duke of WELLINGTON rose and proposed the " Health of their gracious Sovereign the Queen." The toast was drunk with three times three. The DUKE then rose and said, he would next give the health of his illustrious guest who had honoured him with his company—" The Health of the illustrious Prince, the Consort of her Majesty, Prince Albert." His Royal Highness Prince ALBERT, in acknowledg ment, said, he was highly gratified at having the high privilege to attend that annual festival to meet those officers who had acted under their renowned chief. He cordially thanked them for their kindness, and by their permission he would propose to their notice " The Health of the noble host, the illustrious Duke of Wel lington." The announcement of his Grace's health was received with enthusiastic cheering. The Duke of Wellington bowed his respects to his as sembled guests. The DUKE then gave—" The Army that fought the Battle of Waterloo," which was responded to by the heartiest cheers. The DITICE said, the next toast he would give was one always drunk in silence at these anniversary meetings. It was—" To the Memory of those brave Companions in Arms that fell at Waterloo."—The toast was drunk in solemn silence. The Dunz then rose to express the high sense of the great services rendered by the cavalry at Waterloo, under the command of his Noble Friend the Marquis of Anglesey. He would give " The Cavalry that fought at Waterloo, and the Marquis of Anglesey."—(Cheers). The Marquis of ANGLESEY rose and thanked his Grace and his brother comrades for the honour conferred on the cavalry, and on him personally. He believed they had all done their duty. The DUKE then gave—" The Infantry engaged at Waterloo and the Earl of Strafford." General the Earl of STRAFFORD briefly replied. The DUKE then said, that he could bear testimony to the efficiency and brilliant achievements of the artillery at Waterloo, with which toast he coupled the name of a Gallant Officer who faced him, Sir R. Gardiner. Major-General Sir R. GARDINER, in reply, thanked the Duke and company; he believed the artillery were never employed to greater advantage than at the field of Waterloo under their illustrious chief y ?tie illustrious DmuCiald, he experienced great pick 1 sure in seeing again among them a Noble Friend who had on many occasions eminently distinguished himself in the field, and what gave him more gratification was, that he had returned to this country in unimpaired \ health. That gallant officer had been called upon t(Ego to a distant i country to administer its government,- and, in his military rank had assisted Lord Gough. the Duke) need not speak of his exertions during the ,tr . ying\ scenes he took part in, for it was well known he had re turned to his native country to receive the approkatrn of his;Sov e r e i g n, and the admiration of his countrywq„ - from whom he had obtained the highest honours Iktat. could be bestowed. He would give " The health 114—, Viscount Hardinge." Lieutenant-General Viscount HARDINGE expressed his sincere thanks to the Duke and his brother compa nions in arms for the manner in w hich they had received the toast. As for the civil position he held in India, he felt proud of it, but as to his military services with tho army of the Suth , j, he was confident that the brave army under their gallant and intrepid commander, Lord Gough, had done only that which might be expected from the example set them by the army which fought under their illustrious chief. He was sure nothing could be more gratifying to the Indian army than the repeated expressions of praise uttered by the Duke and the country generally. The DUKE then said, the nex toast he would submit was " The Hanoverian Army that fought at Waterloo," and he would call on Count Kielmansegge. His Excellency Count KIELMANSEGGE said be was proud to be again present at the festival, to meet his comrades in arms in that glorious battle, .the success of which had given them thirty years of peace. To tho gallantry of the troops and the leadership of the illus trious Duke they were indebted for that blessing. He thought the King's Germans, as they were then called, did their duty. Germany had been in a con vulsed state to obtain a change of constitution, and he trusted by the blessing of Providence it would secure those lasting institutions which bad rendered the British empire pre-eminent among all other nations. England had withstood the storm, and he believed it was owing to the loyalty and practical science of the people, and the devotion of the army, at the head of which was the Noble Duke, that the country continued to retain those great blessings. He was deeply obliged, on behalf of the Hanoverian army, for the favourable notice of the Duke. The DUKE then gave " The Sovereign Allies of Eng land at the Battle of Waterloo," to which he coupled the name of Prince Castelcicala. His Excellency Prince CASTELCICALA. returned thanks in a brief address. The DUKE said he was glad to see a gallant officer who had been absent on the last anniversary, but who had rendered great services to his country. He would give " The health of Sir Frederick Adam." Lieutenant-General the Right Hon. Sir F. ADAM, re turned thanks in a short speech. The DUKE now rose and expressed his pleasure in giving " The health of General Sir James Macdonnell, Lord Saltoun, and the officers present who so ga ll ant l y acted at the farmhouse of Hougoumont." Lieutenant-General Sir A. WOODFORD replied. The Duax said, be had another toast to offer; they all were aware that nothing was more important than to have active, zealous, and experienced officers on a I staff, and it was never more clearly illustrated than at Waterloo; those officers had nobly done their duty, and he would therefore give " The Officers on the Staff at Waterloo, and the Earl Cathcart." Lieutenant-General the Earl CATHCART replied in a few observations. It being then half-past ten the Noble Duke vacated his chair, a signal which the Prince Consort and the gallant guests promptly followed. The Prince and company retired to the saloon. At a quarter to eleven his Royal Highness Prince Albert departed, and the company then broke up. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSALL'S.—YESTERDAY. All the stakes now in the market were touched upon, but the investments were small, and the fluctuations of no importance. NORTHUMBERLAND PLATE 5 to 1 agst M r. B. Green's Sylvan, 3 . yrs, 4st 101 b—t 5 to 1 agst M r. Pedley's Administrator, 4 yrs, 6st 6to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Glen Saddel, 3 yrs, sst 81b—taken 13 to 2 agst Mr. S. L. Fox's Executor, 4 yrs, 6st Elb —taken 10 to 1 agst Mr. Willington'a All's-well, aged, Est 10 to 1 agst Mr. Merry's Chanticleer, Ist 81b GOODWOOD STAKES. 10 to 1 agst Mr. Verity's Diplomatist 12 to 1 agst Mr. Osbaldeston's Chat 20 to 1 agat Lord Chesterfield's Alpheia—taken 20 to 1 agst Lord Exeter's Hydrangea —taken 25 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Vampyre—taken 25 to 1 agst Lord Clifton's West India Planter—tkn Weldid not hear any bet laid agst theitavourite. Several inquiries about Remembrance, but no business done. GOODWOOD CUP. 7 to 4 agst Mr. J. B. Day's The Hero, 5 yrs, lOst 4 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Van Tromp, 4 yrs, 9at 31b—taken 6 to 1 agst Mr. Pedley's Cossack, 4 yrs, 9st 31b— taken to 1001. ST. LEGER. 5 to 4 agst Lord Clifden's Surplice—taken and after wards offered 3 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Springy Jack—taken and afterwards offered 6 to 1 agst Duke of Bedford's Justice to Ireland -7 to 1 taken 20 to 1 agst Mr. B. Green's Beverlac—taken and afterwards offered 50 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Loadstone taken and afterwards offered Several hundreds were laid out on the first favourite at 5 to 4, but the odds were currently offered at the close. DERBY. 20 to 1 agst Mr. B. Green's Garrick 20 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Elthiron—taken 25 to 1 agst Loi'd Eglinton's Flying Dutchman-- taken to 1001. 25 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Honeycomb—tkn to 4001. 1,000 to 30 agst Mr. Jaques's Chantrey—taken 1,000 to 30 agat Mr. A. Johnstone's c out of Alice Hawthorn's dam—taken 1,000 to 30 agst Mr. Payne's Crucible —taken 1,000 to 30 al,;st Mr. J. Scott's Windermere --taken 2,000 to 30 agst Mr. Gratwicke's Rochester —taken Offers to take 40 to 1 each about Osterley, Saucy Dick, and Meal c. 40 to 1 (taken to 751.) agst Flying Dutchman winning July Stakes and Derby. INTELLIG ENCE EXTRA. NEWMARKET FIRST OCTOBER MEETING, 1848. WEDNESDAY. Duke of Bedford's Saddle, Bst 71b, agst Mr. Pedley's Foreclosure, 7st 121 b. T.Y.C. 200, h ft. SECOND OCTOBER MEETING, 1848.—MoNnA.Y. Mr. Pedley's Lady Mary, Bst 71b, agat Duke of Bed ford's Festus, Bst 41b. Last halt of Ab.M. 100, h ft. COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and Prince Albert, attended by Colonel Buckley, visited her Majesty the Queen Dowager yes terday, at Marlborough House. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent also visited the Queen Dowager yesterday. . Her Majesty, attended by the Ron. Miss Macdonald, took an airing in a carriage and four. His Royal High ness Prince Albert rode out on horseback, attended by Colonel Bouverie. Their Royal Highnesses Prince Alfred and the Princess Helena took an airing in a carriage yesterday, and their Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Princess Alice, and the Princess Louisa, took their usual airings yesterday, in the plea sure grounds of the Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert honoured the Duke of Wellington with his company, yesterday, at the Waterloo Banquet given by his Grace at Apsley House. His Royal Highness was attended by Major-General Bowles, Colonel Buckley, and Colonel Bouverie. The royal dinner party yesterday at the Palace, included her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, his Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe- Weimar, the Marquis and Marchioness of Kildare, Lady Augusta Bruce, Baroness de Speth, Lord Fortescue, Earl of Desert, Lord James Murray, and Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent 'visited the Duchess of Gloucester yesterday, at Gloucester House. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge visited the Tower yesterday. The Royal Duke also paid a visit to the London Hospital.. Prince George visited her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent yesterday, at her residence, Clarence House. St. James's. Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam bridge and the Princess Mary, visited the Duchess of Kent on Sunday. Lieutenant Gibbs had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday. Mr. Fowler had also an interview with the Noble Earl yesterday, at the Colonial-office. Lord Hatherton and Mr. Saunders, had an interview with the Commissioners of Railways, yesterday, at their office in the Board of Trade. _ _ Sir Thomas Fremantle, Chairman of the Customs, had an interview yesterday with the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, at his official residence in Downing -street. A deputation from the Dissenting • .uties, consisting of Mr. J. R. Mills, Mr. B. Ilanbury, r. A. Ferrell, and Mr. John Bennett, had an interview with Viscount Mor peth yesterday, at the office of her Majesty's Commis sioners of Woods and Forests, on the Health of Towns Bill. MISS BREMER'S NEW NOVEL, " BROTHERS AND SISTERS." TRAN.SLA.TED BY MARY HOWITT.--TO the novel reading public a new novel by Miss Bremer, is indeed a treat of the most refined and elegant descrip tion, as the one before us amply testifies. The peculiar character of Miss Bremer's works, the simplicity and beauty of her style, and the fresh ness an d t h ought di s • played in her execution, have long made her a very great favourite, and placed her high in the class of novelists, where, as a pourtrayer of domestic lite and what we may term the domestic affections, she need yield the palm to no competitor. " Brothers and Sisters" is of this class. The story is exceedingly interesting, and the tale throughout is told with the excellence and grace of style which always adorn the works of this authoress. "Brothers and Sisters" is indeed a first-rate novel, and equal to any of the former productions of Miss Bremer. —Messenger. PRINCESS'S THEATRE.—The well-conducted and obliging messenger, Mr. McLean, has announced his be nefit to take place at this theatre on Thursday next, the 22d instant. We know of no one who is more deserving of support; his arduous duties are done with an urbanity that gains him the esteem of all he has to deal with, and we hope to hear of his success. All the favourites will be engaged on the occasion. •• ~%~'' . ~~~~