The Sun. — London, England, 1819-03-02 00:00:00

PARLIA MENT. lOUSL OF I,OIMS, INlAncii 1. The lionse did not proceed in Apprais, the 1,0 d Chancellor being prevented, by indispot:t tion, from attending. Lord Chief Baron Richards took the Woolsack between three and four o'clock. . The Oaths Were administered to the Duke of land, the Earl of kireadalbatte, and the E:trl of The consideration of the Marmein Peerage was po.tpooed till the 26th April. • Lord Viscount GetANytt.t.a presented a Petition from the Merchants, Traders, &c. of 13riNtol, til&ninst the renewal of the Insolvent Debtots* Act —Ordered to lie upon the table. The Earl oIAYLESBORY presented a Petition from the Master Chinwey-sweepet s, Householders of London and Westminster, against the Chimney s'weepers' Regulation !Ml.—Ordered to lie upon the table. BANK REsTracTioN, &c F A Message from the House of Commons, by Mr. Brogden and other Members, announced that the House had given leave to Hudson Gurney, Esq. to attend the Committee on the State of the Bank of England, if he should think fit. On the motion of the Marquess of LANSDOWNE various Accounts were ordered respecting Gold Standard, Silver, Spanish Dollars, Bank Notes, &c. On his Lordship's motion also, a Alessage was ordered to be sent to the House of Communs, re questing leave to be given to Alexander Baring, Lbq..and John Smith, Esq..to attend the Com mittee on the state of the Bank of. England. INDIA. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY (in the absence of a Noble Ft lend) laid upon the table certain Treaties concluded with the Native Powers in India. The Marquess of LANSDOWNE observed, that the PaperS laid before the House respecting the late ' events i►► India did not include the dispatches front Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Hislop to the Governor-General of udia, relative to the execution of the Killedar of the fortress of 'rai nier. These he thought ought to be laid upon tl-►e table, and be therefore moved for an Address to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, praying for their production. to which a Noble Earl, now absent, had no objection.—Ordered. Adjourned till to-morrow (ibis day). HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. &Lis was excused, on account of ill-health, from (Art her attendance on the Chester Election Committee. . INSOLVENT DEBTORS' ACE. Lord FOLKESTONE presented a Petition from the Merchants, Manufactiirers, &c. of New Sarum, against the Insolvent Debtors' Act. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL OS was undermood) nvokinced his intention ot submitting to the House a renewal of the Insolvent Debtors' Bill, in which considerable alterations would be made in the law as it at present stood, more particular ly w ith a v i ew o f aUrding proper protection to creditors. A vast number of persons had taken the benefit of the Act, and considerable property was vested in assignees. If the Act were allowed to expire altogether, there would be no power to compel tie assignees to distribute the property in their hands. Besides, there would be no power to take front debtors the property acquired by thetn after taking the benefit ot the Act. It was, in his opinion, absolutely necessary that the place of the present Act should be supplied by a mea sute ot some sort. Mr. WAITHMAN said he should reserve any thing which he had to say on this subject till the Ei:l was before the House, but he thought it but ight that the House should beforehand have all the intorination necessary to enable them to farm ploper judgment respecting it, and he should theietore move for certain Papers, from which material information might be derived. The Petition having been ordered to lie on the (able, and to be printed, Mr. WAITHMAN then moved for an Account of the Number and Names of the Persons acting as Agents before the Insolvent Debtors' Court, spe cifying those who were qualified to act as Attor mys,' mid the number of them who had taken the benefit of the Act ;—also a List of the Number of Persons imprisoned for Debt in the different isons of England and Wales from 1797 to 1 8 1 9; and also an Account of the Auction Licenses which had been taken from Ist January 1811 to Ist January 1819, distinguishing each Year, and the Amount of Duties received from Sales, &c. Mr. Lir TLETON presented a Petition from Wol verhampton, against the insolvent Debtors' Act. JUNIOR LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY. Sir G. WARKENDER moved for a New IVrit for the County of Edinburgh, in the room of Sir G. Clerk, who has accepted of the office of Lord Culm»issioner of the Admiralty. Sir M. NV. RIDLEY said, after what had taken place on this subject, he had hoped that the op prtunily of vacancies would have been seized to rviiuce the number of Commissioners of the Ad miralty. He wished to give notice that he would take in early opportunity of calling the attention of the House to the subject. Sir GEORGE WARIIE;DHR said, Sir George C!erk had accepted this situation in the room of o'' of the present Commissioners, who had re- sig Mr. CALCRAFT hoped his Hon. Friend would 1.• ills motion. LIMERICK. Sir 'l'. ,BARING reported from the Committee appoilitud to cry the merits of the contested elec tion tor Limerick, that Colonel Vereker had been duly elected. The Report was received and a Inn tiou curt ied act ordingly. CALvcitT remarked on the difficulties %%hien were complained of respecting the want of the atichenticated evidence of - the poll-clerk- in ea,e of a contested election from Ireland. The 1-14:11 Aleniher had in idea, the propriety of may hit; tar a Committee to take into consideration wict brig forward some law ea the tubiect. As a preliminary to this proposition, be moved, (hie (he Minutes of the Evidence received by (he Limerick Committee be laid before the House anti printed. Sir T. BARING concurred with the last Hon. Meinber. Were the law respecting the Irish Poll Clerk not eh:kitty dx.fined, it might softie times require_ the attendance in London of sixteen or twenty persons. ' . . 11r. Wvstsr explained the law so far as it now stood ; and was also of opinion that its defects ,ought to he remedied. Air. ABEitcaOlNtute acknowledged with deep concern the deficiency of the law, and approved of its amelioration. In its structure they must form a new basis, for they had no precedent. '[be motion WaS figri•ed to. The Niatquess of WOBCESTRII presented a Peti tion trom the Borongh of Montuonth, against any alteration in the Coal Duties. Air. Alderman Wont) presented a Petition from the WooltNtrtibet s of the County of Devon, pray ing the Houle to place them in the same state with respect to wages, in which they were be fore 1809.—Ordered to lie on the table, and to be printed. SCOTCH BURGHS. Mr. HUNTER BLAIR vresented a Petition from certain incorporated Trades in the City of Edin btirgh, praying for a more liberal and constitu tional Burgh Go*ernment. Mr. MAXwahr, made some ob s ervations on the defects of the Burgh system in Scotland, and stated, that if the Bill which the Lord Advocate proposed to introduce was similar to that of last Session, it would be altogether inadequate to its object. .• The Petition was then read and ordered. to lie on the table. COL DUTY. Colonel ‘Voop i:►eseuted three Petitions, which be said wete respc - curlily signed, from.the County of Brecon, against any alteration in the Ditty on ,Coal. Tl►e. Sca Duties-„ be said, were equal throughout the country it was the local duties which were principally fell in this metropolis. Mr. METHUEN said, any alteration in the Duties might be . advantageous for a few individuals,• but it tvou:d be severely fclt by . the great manufac turing interests. - Mr. Alderman WooD observed, that the Duties principally complained of were not local but Go vernment Duties. He believed if cite laws were narrowly looked into, it would be found that the duty attached to coals Carliett by canals as well as by sea. It was water•.borne Mr. C. CALVERT presented a Petition, which he stated to be numerously ana respectably signed; from the parish of St. George's, in the Borough of Southwark. The Petitioners, many of wi►om were extensively engaged in trade and manufac tures, complained of the duty on coal, 'which they considered burdensome in the highest degree. They hoped-the Rouse would take the subject into their consideration, and afford them such relief ,as might seem just and meet. A Petition was presented from the same place against the Insolvent Debtors' APPEAL. The Sheriffs of the City id London presented a Petition from the LOrd Mayor, Aldermen and Commons, in Common Council assembled,.against the Repeal of the Right : of Appeal. Mr. Alderman WOOD and Mr. AidermauWAITH MAN supported the Petition. Ordered to lie on the table, and to be printed. A Petition-was Fesemelt. front Tiverton, against. the Insolvent Debtors' Act. DEFAULTERS. Lord CASTLEREAGH moved the Order for calling over the Defaulters in ti►e Ballot of T►►ursday last. The names were called over, and the Defaulters were chiefly ordered k attend on Tlfurbday next. CRIMINAL LAW. Mr. Wm. SMITLI presented a Petition from the City of Norwich, praying for a revision of the Criminal Law, especially with respect to the crime of Forgery. The Petition was laid on the table. Mr. Wm. WYNN presented the Report of the Cotutnittcl!, to %%Atom it Was referred to inquire why the Galway Election Recognizances bad not been entered into. In consequence of the Re port, the time for completing the Aecognizances was enlarged to Thursday se'unight. NAVY CONTRACTS. Mr.. Alderman WOOD, in explanation of what he bad stated on a former occa,ion, respecting the Contracts entered into with the Navy Board for the supply of Granite, said, that that Board bad contracted for '6,000 weight of stone at 4s. Bd. He had meant to state, that if the con victs had been employed to procure the stone from Dartmoor, it might have been furnished at 2s. a foot. He had since examined into the dif ferent Contracts, and he - found that the Navy Board had been diligent in their examinations of the quality of the Stone ; had been guided by Mr. Rennie, 'who was of opinion, that the Aberdeen granite was the only granite fit for the works; that the Cornish granite was quite unfit ; but Mr. Rennie was not acquainted with the nature of the Dartmoor granite. He moved for an Account of the- Granite and other S one purchased by the Navy Board from Ist January, 1810, to lst Ja nuary, 1819. Sir B. MARTIN expressed his satisfaction at the candid explanation of the Hon. Alderman, if the accusation, that the Navy Board had occasioned a loss to the public of 100,0001. by their misconduct, had been maintained, be should have moved for a Committee-to inquire into their conduct. Mr. TaaMAYNa .suggested, that the Navy Board were not justified in being guided by the advice of only one individual (Mr. Rennie.) LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY. Sir M. RIDLE,Y gave notice that on Wedneitlay, the lOth of March,' he should move an Address to the Prince Regent; for the Reduction of Two Junior Lords of the Admiralty.—(Sir M. R. afterwards fixed this motion for Thursday, the I t h March.) Sir M. I(JDLEY also gave notice that he should shortly move for an Account of the Number of Surcharges, similar to that which had been mov ed for last year. A Message from tl:e. Lords requested the at tendance of Alexander iia►ine and John Smith, 'Mgrs. Members of the Home, ris witnesses before the Lords' Committee on the Affdirs of the Bank. The - Messengers were informed that the House would send an answer by Messengers of it, own. Mr. CANNING postponed his motion for a Vote of Thanks to the Marquess of Hastings from to• morrow to Thursday. PENRYN. The Order of the Day for resuming the ad journed debate on the motion for a new Writ for l'enryn having been read, The SPEAKER said, that before the House pro ceeded to consider the adjourned motion, it might be convenient to them to know in what state of forWardness were the Minutes of Evi,lence'which had been ordered to be printed. He understood that they would not be printed till late in the day of Wednesday, and therefore would not be in course of delivery • till Thursday. In addition to this the House would give him leave to state what the practice of the House had been in simi lar cases. He had been on a former day called upon to state whether it.had been the practice to delay issuing the new Writs in cases in which • special Reports were made. He could now say with certainty, that in all cases in which, general charges of bribery were made in the Special Report, the issuing of the, new Writs had been delayed till the Minutes bad been laid. before the House. In the case of fichester, indeed, the Report charg ed some individuals with bribery, but did not call for any general resolution. In, that case the House ordered the new Writ, and directed the Attorney- General to prosecute the offenders for bribery. Sir C. Buil CELL said, that without presuming to add any thing to a statement of so high autholity as that of the Speaker, he.stionid - observe that it was consonant with reason, as well as with practice, that the, House should not proceed till the evi- deuce on the 'subject had beets considered. It also had been reported to him, that a material witneSS;who would have disclosed the general pre valence of bribery in the .Borough, had been ob• jected to, and that the• 'votes for and against his admission were so• nearly balanced, that he was rejected by the casting vote of the Chairman.—' He should beg also to refer to afOrmer Special Re port of an Election Committee,„ in relation to this same Borough. This Report (of 1S07), which was read by the Clerk, stated that Sir C. Hawkins, the Member petitioned against, was guilty of bribery, or coy npt practices, by himself or his agents, and that some . vbters named in the Report were parties to their corrupt practices. Sir C. BORRELL (nen moved, that the debate be adjourned. to this day sennight. opinion its ; ele,.ptirloerp,er ic e r v e ctly v s a o i n l f e o i e l' (xiit i ffe n enre t ei h it: e cge Honse with respect t Colonel GRANT said, tha t whatever differences t E o le s c h t e ive op F in ra io % of the as t that it should be exercised purely and conscien cionsly. The difficulty in the present ease was,• lest the honest part of the Electors of Penryn s hould be deprived of their franchise on:account of the misconduct of others. He had, however, less reluctance in acceding to a short delay in is suing the writ, when he found in 1807 the inha bitants of the borough bad been guilty of corrupt nractices. He thought that Monday was, per haps, too early a day,—(Cries of Nob Mr. A. W RI GHT said, that seven or eight per sons hail-been proved to have received bribes in this borough. This Was the extent of the bribery proved. As to the notion that 100 voters had been bribed, it was entirely without f oundatio n in the evidence. Sir J. NEWPORT approved of the adjournment. 1-le understood, that in addition to, the proof of bribery on the individuals, it was proved that nei ther the one party nor the other tiad tendered the bribery oath to any voter. He understood also, that a paper had been offered to the Committee, which, though not accepted, as it could not be brought home to either party, and therefore could have no reference to the late Election, tainted the character of the whole borough. It was no great punishment, after the second time of the borough being brought before the House for, bribery+ that its franchises should be put in suspension AN l k i ' t f i t t o i r e c , a wr ti s il a 'e iC Mr. (,nn . e I, there was no proo f b e f ore t e C o mmittee, either that th e b r ib ery oat h h a d , or that it had not, been administered. Sir J. NEWPORT Said, that the omission of any notice of the bribery oath in the poll book deci sively proved the negative. HARVEY agreed in the propriety of waiting for the 'minutes of evidence, and observed, that when they .were laid before the House, it would be found that sonic of the assertions would not be borne out by the evidence. Mr. BANKES acceded to the motion for delay, on the gr►►uncl that this borough had been brought before the House at two not very distant periods. Mr.DuNNtsoN said it appeared most clearly, that in this. respectable borough what was called a breakfast was organized, at which every voter received - 245. for his vote. The Motion was agreed to, and the further consideration of the Report was also fixed for Modday. MR. GRADY. Mr. C. HUTCHINSON said, that it had seemed to be'a very general teeth% on the former night, when the petition from Mr. Grady was presented, . _ that the - House would be inclined to release hint it a petition were presented, couched in. the usual tet ins of submission and regret. Such a petition he had now to present. 'Th►e petitioner stated that he had never intended to offend the House, expressed his regret that he had offended, and prayed for his release. lie (Mr. H.) should not add any-thing to irritate the feelings of any one, or to counteract the object of the petitioner. The Petition was read, and the petitioner de• claiing that he had no intention whatever to offend the House, or in the slightest degree to trench upon its privileges, prayed that the House would be graciously pleased to take his case into consi,- deration, &c. Mr. flurcniNsow moved, that chi, Petition be ordered to lie Oil the table. • Sir RaIiVRT Wrcsoll, in . seconding the motion, expresied Whope that the House would bear in mind; the ill health of the - Petitioner, The :notion being agreed to-- Mr that Mr_ Grady sliftillgt be forthwith brought to the Bar in otder to be discharged. Mr. BOOTLE WILBRAHAM said, that he objected to the motion of the Honourable Gentleman tiro a former evening, because be thought the Peti tion of Mr. Grady to have been couched in ex ceptionable terms ; but to the present petition no such objection applied. From his knowledge• however, of the practice of the House, he be: lieved, that to adopt the motion just submit ted by the Honourable Gentleman would be rather ad unprecedented measure. It was usual, according to his recollection, to have any prisoner, en" - fined by order (if the House, brought up to bd. discharged at an early hour of the evening, be!' cause, if the order for bringing up such a,prt: : soner were made at a late hour, the House tiligl% rise before the order could be complied with. t) '.* this ground he felt it proper to move, as t !' Amendment, that th e P e ti t io n er should be bro u g h to the Bar to-morrow. Mr. HUTCHINsoN expressed his u nwillinel to press any p ro p os i t i on i ncon sistent yd.t practice or judgment of the House, and there fore, with l e a ve o f t h e H ouse , he would w ith draw his motion, i n or d er to give way to tl amendment. Mr. BANKES said, th a t un l ess it were ine s l that the Petitioner was to be reprimande d "I° his appearance at the Bar, be should feel it duty to make a special motion on the sabi ec i . t. bet i The SPEAKER conceived t h at t h e o rder " t :' t his prisoner's appearance at th e B ar , pre vious release, necessarily implied a repri m and- es k e r's Mr. C. 11 7 , \VYNN concurred in the W alt opinion. Upon the original motion, however , withdrawn, it was ord ere d t h a t Thomas Gra des should to-morrow be brought to the Bar, in or • 5 .. to be reprimanded by th e Sp ea ker, ad d tit charged. WINDSOR ESTABLISHMENT. thg Lord CASTLEREAGH brought in the Bill-"rite better regulation of the Care and Custody of Person of his. Majesty, and the Amendinen.t the several Acts relative to that important obi rt o The Bill was read a first time, and ord° el j a / be printed, and read a seco n d t i m e on T"'' next. SUPPLY AND WAYS AND MEANS m oved The CHANCELLOR of the ExcilEduElt„ r ly. the postponement of the Committees of,„,'," ( lpts.' , and also that of Ways and M ean s, until ' day next. STEAM VESSELS. p p the The Steam Vessels' lonnage Bill miss' motion of the CHANCELL O R of the .60 1 17, c5 a; read a third time and passed, as was fi cog Smugglers' Apprehension Rew ar ds on" - to the HOilbe . o . f Lords. STATE OF PRISONS. I den' Lord CASTLRRRAGR, in rising to call e gt•ouassi. • (ion of the House to that important subject' 1. . 00 4 it necessary to advert to the notice for to-morrow, as it was most closely 80c1 I lie mutely connected with hiS present nrt i " . Honou • was inclined to suppose, that bad the bo understood able . and Learned Gentleman fully nature of his proposition he would have Iht.'"ti g his own less necessary' •A Ri g h t H O OO O - Friend of'his had stated on the st day ( € )1 , L1 : IS WhiCh Session his (Lord C.'s) intention to move '"' t -ti extensive inquiry into the State of prisomo Criminal Code, and the Increase of Crime s • objection had then been started, because th e Tiiry was n o t to b e moved directly, but intlireetil into the Crimin a l C o d e; b ut he tru sted he sh °° prove to th e sat i s f act i on of the House/ 68( it s il t • the coutemplation of Government to go ', e d into the q uest i on as the Honoura bl e an d Lea r ' - ce G entle tnan himself. There was no dif fer : n l, whatever in their object ; the only ques ti "a l te what b was the kind of inquiry best calculated ring it to an issue. If his only intentiv" t his been to inquire into the State of Prison% rg", dimensions and regulations, he would lW r- cotir . ferret! addressing the Crown to a pp o int a ijilt mission to inquire into the subject' s alaC his view was much snore extensive. It b e st directed to the state of jails alone, but to th e o il mode whiCh could be adopted to contro l it a W t repress crimes. It was impossible to 1( 1( 7 0 1 4 ,.. it as a question of prisons, without also ° To . in g at it as a question of crimes and n r :o. uishment, and the laws by which it was i n "„" o tl ed. The only difference was, that the Hon' " 6 0 Learned Gentleman took the question on the ° o il of the laws of the criminal code, whilst lie to C.) took those laws as being only con comi (dr e4 ' to the inquiry. He apprehended that the e ti ll of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman's 1 13 °' 1 , 4 ,1 would be to create a prejudice a gainst the e e l themselves, before any inquiry should have ,v.ebi„, laid before the eye of Parliament, as to the po' si . ti g lity of diminishing their severity by re" deri e ssc secondary punishMents effective, either by "Ly r e system of penitentiaries, or of transpoi tation: t t o terrifying than the present. Were ParlimPe.', l 4 adopt the . course announced by the- lion', - s Learned. Gentleman, it would begin 'by n 055 1, 7 0,4 general . sentence of condemnation on all the or 4 of the country. By the mode which he t id- C.) proposed, that inconvenience would he t it ' o if ed, and the inquiry would not be narrowed• iot „ he had not bowed to the authority of an I ,A - fo r Gentleman on the second bench opposite. 0 whom he had • the highest respect, it %vas f r°lti e conviction that he was fulfilling in the most eti nn , tive manner all the objects which that F" Gentleman had in view. The inquiry would V h ... brace the whole scope of our system of po ur e y.' meat, and the best method of preventing Cr', l , - „d... As to the division of labour which had been a"" ed to, nothing would tend more effectuallYaieto shackle _inquiry, than to affect each branch oi rie subject to a separate Committee. Such c° 7 would even produce what was apprehentle%:y.., considerable delay in the progress of the inq ui l y, If, on the contrary, it was carried on ttith u , 11 ,: t olo temper and caution, it could not fail to he rotten s ed with the most useful results, and to lea" '" satisfactory reform of our Criminal Lt""' Vag Committees were multiplied, there would be a oi riety " of reports, containing, perhaps, "I t i r te fr opinions,. and in what a dispersed and lb i f y ligible state would not the result of the ingtoib, come before the House ? He should have o° t te e, jection to add to the numb er , o f his Comi l ' i ier s, which he proposed should consist of '2l mei" - 0 1 - -quoid4r henerer sneh an atlititinn inioilt I.w c