The Sun. — London, England, 1856-04-15 00:00:00

MPERIAL PARLIAMENT. i HOUSE OF LORDS—(YE6TERDAY). The LORD CEIA.NCRLLOR took his seat on tho woolsack at five o'clock. TORTURE IN INDIA. The Earl of ALBEHA.RLE ross, pursuant to notice, - to present a petition from certain inhabitants of the Presidency of Madras, complaining of the infliction of 'torture by the officers of the Government ; attribut log the practice to weight in the assessment of the Government revenue ; and praying for protection ; also, ---that by a report lately laid on the table it is proved to the entire conviction of the house that tor . ture, or the infliction of pain, for the purpose of confession or extortion, has long been practised, and still continues to be practised, by the native officers of Government, in the realisation of the public revenues and the administration of criminal law, to a greater or ess extent, throughout all the twenty provinces con estituting the Government of Madras ; that the aforesaid torture, although clandestine and unauthorised, has been for many years known and admitted by the constituted authorities at home and in India, as shown by the public records ; that this house views the afores a id practice of torture, affecting so many millions of her Majesty's • subjects, whether as an instrument for the realisation of the public revenues or the administration of criminal law, or for any other purpose whatsoever, as repugnant to natural justice, abhorrent from humanity, and highly disgraceful to the character of this nation ; that this house hereby pledges itself to use the most effectual mea ,sures within its power for the annihilation of the odious .ared barbarous practice of torture within the above-mentioned Government and Presidency of Ma dras." The noble earl then entered at some length into the various horrid means which the Government . officers employed to collect the revenue, and ex - plained the pain inflicted upon the unfortunate beings who were sentenced to undergo the in fliction of torture. In some cases the tortere Was so strongly employed that death shortly afterwards followed. Indeed it was upon record that death had followed torture for the non-payment of revenue. Amongst the many tortures inflicted he would mention some of them—for instance, exposure in the sun in cer tain postures, with weights placed on the back ; tying the victim by the hair of the head to the tail of a .donkey, and, dragging him, thus attached, a great distance along the ground ; severe beating with cudgels, tearing the flesh with iron pincers, forcing thorns under the nails, tearing women's breasts with lianaboo pincers,, pulling out the mustachios, inserting cayenne pepper in the eyes and nostrils, and other `similar barbarities. The noble lord then quoted a number of cases from a report that had been 'bade to their "lordships' house to shoW the univer sal belief in the - minds of the natives of India was, that the infliction of torture was sanctioned and carried on with the full concurrence of the British Govern meat. That torture was constantly resorted to was - well known, and admitted by every official from the highest to the very lowest, and he thought that it was evidence of connivance that it should be so dif ficultto obtain an adequate punishment, when the infliction of -it was proved before European officers. Dismissal from office had followed conviction in some cases, but that was not sufficient punishment, as he thought . the Lord Chief Justice would agree with him, for parties found guilty of such atrocious acts of cruelty. At the close of .the last century regulations were made by Lord Cornwallis for separating the administration and col lection of the-revenue for police purposes ; but in 1816 the regulations were superseled. 'Upon this subject Mr. Fallarton, a- most able officer of the company, expressed the strongest apprehension of the result of again conti :ming the two offices. The noble earl read a despatch from this gentleman to the Eactt India Company, which bore out the opinion expressed by the noble earl as to ,the impolicy of repeating Lord Cornwallis'a distinction. The main point for which the East India Company was responsible was that, with all this evidence of cruelty before them, the directors had, no later than September of last year, recommended the adeption cf the same sys tem in Bengal, and be had every reason to believe that already torture was practised in that presidency to a grea,t extent. The great cause of all this evil was over -assessment of the people—and what was neces sary was that a fixed and determinate .assessment should be made, and that it. should not be left- as it now, was, in the hands of numerous and all but irresponsible agents. It would also be a matter of great importance, and productive of great be nefit to India, if a larger number of native servants were employed. He had discharged a painful duty in bringing this matter before the house. The house would be Ashamed of the fiendish malignity of the native servants, and of the apathy of the civil servants of that country. Ire knew not how sufficiently to express his abhorrence of that joint-stock undertaking to which we had farmed the Indian empire ; and they owed it to God and to their country to put an end to the existing state of things. The noble earl concluded by moving his resolution. The Duke of ARGYLL: said that the Government fully concurred- in every word which had been said by the noble earl on the subject of torture in India, and he considered it his duty to say that her Majesty's Govern• ruent looked upon the subj set with abhorrence, and regarded the system of torture as not oily injurious to, the best interests of the empire, but opposed to every consideration of justice and good policy. It was hardly three years since both houses of Parliament were engaged inan inquire - respecting the renewal of the char ter to the East India Company. So far as the oommittee of that house was concerned, he was not aware that a single whisper had been heard on the subject of the prac tee of torture in India, and ha should certainly have ex pected that had it been a known fact that either the British Goi-ernment or that of the East India Company practised'it, it wou ld h ave formed one of the most pro inleent features of the inquiry. There was, theiefore, it would appear, a most remarkable degree of ignorance on the subject. The practice of torture in India was first dis covered in consequence of A statement made in another place, to the effect that torture was practised. in Lolls. That statement was denied by hon. members connected With the East India Company, and by the right hon. hart. the then President of the Boasd ofOontrol. Ifer Majesty's_ Government,on thus lieeringfor the first timeof the cus tom of applying torture,appointed a commission to inquire into the subject, and within ten months from the date of the issue of that commission the evidence and report on the -subject which was now before' their lordshipe. Teere head therefore been no want of energy on the park of the Government in inquiring into the custom, and it was most unfair to charge anything like an encouragement of the system upon the British Government. Neither was it true that the system had - originated with the British Government.. -On the contrary, it was one which had been inherited from the empires that bad preceded us.- The noble duke referred to the report of the commission ers, from which he read several extracts, showing that the system of ,torture was one that was ingrained in the allele social system of India, and was invariably prac tised by the inhabitants in every relation of their life. The great ignorance which existed 'on the subject of the existence of torture, notwithstanding its exten<iive prac tice, arose from several causes—aniong others, the very large extant of the territory entrusted to the maxis' trates, and the fact that nothing of the nature of torture is ever inflicted in the presence of Earepeans. Several extracts were read from the report of the commissioners in confirmation of this explanation as to the causes of the 'existing ignorance on the subject of torture. In for mer years it appeared that the subject had been brought - under the notice of the Board of Directors, and since the yeae 1819 there had not been less than ten occasions on which the courts of justice had issued orders to prevent the continuance of this practice. With reference to "the junction of police and revenue offices., to which the noble earl. had referred, the commissioners in their - rsport con demned the system in the strongest manner. But 'wheo they found that the system was one ed voeated by such high authority as Sir Thomas 1 lonr ,, e, it was baldly fair to make charges aesainst the Basi Gevern- "lent and the East India Company for haying adopted thiS system of the union of the two offices. rho rare important (location, however, which the house had to consider Was, what steps .ought to be takoo in order -to put an e n d to this ahominablesystem. L ord 11;irii,s, the Governor of 111 a d sas, had expressed himself strongly in favour of adopting some most stringent steps in order to put a 'stop to the system, and evict of his suggestions was the employment of a much larger number of Euro pean servants ;,but there existed veiygreat difficulties the way of giving this increased e mployment. t, He (the Duke of Argyll) trusted that it woula possible to effect a co-operation betweas the revenue and e service*, and to put an end to the syste m of thnelcaticiumoafl find from a despatch assessment of laud, which was found to be prod so Many evils. He was happy t. laid, before the house that evening, that alreadya4 tdhie. Court cf Directore of the East Ladle Company b rested the atteotion of the, civil servants to the neces sity ofesubstituting a fieed fur an annual assessment of -the` land. - The whole subject was at preaent under the consideration of her Majesty's Goeern rnentiand as the resolutions prOposed by the noble. lord would not be productive of any. pracical advan tage if _agreed to, but would on the contrary convey an errorreens opinion if adopted .by the bowie in the original shap.es he, would add a few amendments the xesolution, the effece of which would be to show that the sistern of torture had not been originated by. the British Government, and that its practice had been 0- elated to-bellle, , ;•al by the,British Government. The Heide duke ontildc w hyi r iovinß his amendments accordingly. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE agreed with the no-geSdalie in the opinion expreseed by him as to the iothirAnce which existed by all the leading statesmen of the -country on the subject of the existence of torture in India, and b e li eve d that had such a system come to their hnowledge, they would have adopted the most energetic measures for the pureose of putting an end to the practice of torture.' - H e trusted that cfleotnal mea sures ,would he taken to abolish the system which had so long prevailed, and' which had been so justly cen urea. (Rears) HOUSE 01? CONIAIONS.—t•Y ,-ESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at the usual hour. NEW. MENIBER. . . stir. TOTTENHAM took the oaths and his seat for Neg. Ross. Sir J. WALMSLEY presented a petition praying for an alteration of the law .with respect to the property of married women, FISHERY HARBOURS. Mr. E. ELLTCE moved far a return of sums of in )ney advanced on public account since Jan., HA I.)r building, adding to, or otherwise improving and main tabling fishery harbours in Ireland ; and also a similar return relative to Seltland.—Agreed to. CANAL TRAFFIC. ' Mr. 11. BROWN asked the Vice-President of the B >ard of Trade whether he intended bringing in a bill for the better regulation of railway and canal traffic ? And whether he intended bringing in any bill for the better prevention of accidents on maw tys, by a more defined responsibility of railway officials? Mr. LO WE said it was not his intention to bring in a LH on either of the subjects. HAY FOR THE CRIMEA.. Mr. W. WILLIAMS asked the Under Se.cretary f,r War whether comp'aiuts had barn received that hay sent to the Crimea had been of bad quality and in a damaged. state ; and, if so, whether he would lay on the tai,U) of the house the information received on the sub ject? - - . Mr. F. PEEL—No such complaints have been received. FOREIGN TROOPS. Celnnel DUNNE asked the Under Secretary for the War Department, why a return of the pay and allow ances of the foreign troopi in the Briti,?h service, ordered smne time since, had not been laid on the table of the house ? Mr. F. PEEL—The return was presented to fie house t'vo or three days ago. ST. JAMES'S-PARR. Viscount RAYNELIAI asked the Secretary 'of State fur the Home Department whether, p 3nding a-1y altera tion in St. James's-park, the privilege and Brea: conve nience of passing through the perk in cabs would be con ceded to the public ? Sir B. HALL said ho stated the course he intended to propose a few evenings ago. Those alterations he in tended to state to the !aline qn Friday next. .His hon. friend the Sserstary of State was too ill to attend., to answer the question of the hon. member, but on the evening mentioned he had no doubt he would receive every information he required. THE NATIONAL GALLERY. Mr. VERNON asked the Chancellor of the Exche pier whether it wa3 the intention of the Government to intr.:Once a bill fur the parpoae of enabling the Govern inefor the trustees of the National Gallery to purchase entire collections of pictures, with the view of selliNv snQii portions of such collections as it may be undesir aloe or unnecovary to retain in the Gtllery ? . ) Che CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER Faitl'a i 4 was in preparation, and would shortly be intro ' Air:wiilo i;AILLIE begged __. REC RUITING 'IN AMERICA. alietrabill.7; to ask the noble viscount ~ the paper -4 lelative to recruiting. in _ .A_ morica would, depend whet wyuld be laid on the On the answer he received that stood on the would brin , on the motion - L9Yd PAILNLaS7O"I I)l"ainethat ' evening. - . N said the documents that Lutist „ ie . jes?arily form the ground age been of the answer to be given had- - bat a short time contained tt good deal of detail, and e received' They. although Lord Cla• rervion was occupied in badness f :;till -trarNaCted the duties of ti.l office importance he' i ...e as far as he colVd (~ t tsistentljr I,4:ith the d utiea in whi c h he wag g - 3 thene n ag . The ansWer'to ho given .to M r . Dallas required to t on),t carefully framed, in order not to envenom a. di ° n s bc F,iyo which he thought had already gone t oo f ar. Lord Ctlag. rrndon, he bad no doubt, would very shortly re t urn to thi S e qintry, and,: under thorn circumstances, he thought that next week he should be able to submit the whole correspondence to the . house. , (Flear, hear,) .. Mr. BAILLIE said un , ler those circumstances he shr,uld postpone bringing forward his motion to a future The Earl of E LLENTLORO-CIGEI said be had been , clogear-connectea with Indian afrtirs for a period of five years, and during the whole of that time he never enter- tittne I' Abe slightest --stypicion that t'he practice of I S:r D. L. EVANS said he should also postpone his ctortatre exiited in any part of laili a , and if he had heard - t .17narlment on the - subject until the evening on: which . such alelarge made before reading the • book on their t the hon. meMber hrought forward his motion. - lordshipS7 ta,ble. he should havt.frepurtiat e 4 it with indi , - L -,..: FALL OF EARS. : - - , . nat;,,n B u t it, was now certai n th at the practice had Mr, WHITESIDE g ave • no ti ce th a t on an early day coutintly existed, in a more or less degree ; e practice he should move- 6 That this house, while expressing dirlie4 f r a u a mo ornme d an government, but c ntinued its ainuiration of the Turkish soldiers and the conduct by our ow n : - (H ear ) W e had now held those countries of the Britsk army at Ears, also feels it its duty to ex or more than filly years, and it was to him a matter of press its conviction that the capitulation of that for- tlireelitetintirprise mid - regret - that silence should have been so completely maintained, on the part of those who were cognisant of the facts, and that they should never have bean br•ught prominently under the notice of the head of that Government : (Hear, hear.) He would not attribute connivance with the practice to the members of the civil service in India, but he must be permitted to say that ho did not think the officers of that service had shown the sensitiveness upon the existence of so dreadful a crime which might have been expected from the feelings of English gentlemen. (Hear, bear.) It was most extraordinary that, except in a very few cases, the punishment for these offences should have been so strikingly inadequate—(hear)—and that ' in so many cases the magistrates should have held the offence to be not proved, and that in others they should have consented to a compromise between the tortured man and the person by whom the torture was inflicted. (Hear, hear.) He looked upon these things with more than regret, and hoped the Home Government and the Government in India would make the gentlemen exer cising authority under them fully understand that the administration of British India was hereafter to be con ducted in a very different spirit from that in which it appeared to have been conducted. (Hear.) Lord MONTEAGLE said that if the noble earl never suspected or beard anything of the system of torture which prevailed in India during his residence there, there must have existed an organised duplicity and a conveni ent suppression of facts. (Hear.) When the committee on Indian affairs were appointed, it was understood that the result of their inquiries was to be the foundation of future legislation ; but the question of land ai sessment, and the subject of the finances of India, were never entered into. There was one other circumstance to which he might for a moment or two call attention — namely, as to the question whether or not this system of torture was or was not confined to the province of Ma dras. The noble duke (the Duke of Argyll) had spoken as though it were confined exclusively to Madras. But let them see from the evidence of Mr. W. Elliott, which was now before their lordships in the form of a bluoboolc, w'iat was the real state of the case. That gentleman, who a as an eyewitness, stated that, of his own knowledge, simi lar practices prevailed to a very great extent at Bombay. And he added that so far as various districts were con cerned he found them to prevail in a greater degree in Bengal. Here there was the evidence of an eyewitness which he believed was beyond denial. A noble lord who had spoken had sta'ed that the law was sufficient to re press these torture.. If that were the case why had it not suppressed them hitherto ? What he (Lord Monteagle) most relied upon was the discussion of the matter which from time to time took place in that house, and which be trusted would, when they reached India, have the effect of making those who wore high in office look after those matters. He could not think that those practices, horrible as they were, could be in any manner excused from the conduct of those who had preceded us in these b.mrbarous times. They might as well embrace Mationo medanism on the same teries, or the worship of Jugger naut, or other debasing superstitions which the inhabit ants had received from those who had conquered them. We mighttakefrom them their territory or wealth, but do not let them take an inheritance of crime, which they would certainly do if they followed the misdeeds of their pre lecessors. It was their duty to teach the people of India civilisation and Christianity,but it wag not by these l i tortures to the breasts of women that they could recom mend the Gospel of Christ. He hoped that the bine-book, lie had quoted would be circulated throughout India, and that it would work some good results there. If the Par liament of this country and the governors of India neg lected their duties, and threw aside their former glorious precedents, they would make themselves responsible for those who in times past misgoverned that country. The Earl of HARD OWEY could not consider that the Government of this country had been guilty of such misdeeds as had been adverted to by the noble lord. They had inherited an enormous territory, and it was true that they had not been able altogether to uproot throe great evils which were so deeply engraven in the habits of the people. It had been said that there was not so Much indignation on the part of officers as there ought to have been. It was constant familiarity with such evils that had to some extent rendered men careless ; but it might be hoped that they would be re-tempered, and that gradually the evils would cease as knowledge and religion became more generally spread. (Hear, hear.) In the northern districts of India, and in Sciude, and where an independent . spirit prevailed, the inha bitants might be protected ; but where they were cowed in spirit and looked upon the evils which had been described as part of their rule, it was difficult to taae them out of the range of their influence. In England such a course was easy enough, because every man re. Emoted an injury and brought it under notice so soon as it was inflicted. He hailed discussions like the present as being likely to be productive of much good, except so fer as they conveyed to foreign nations what he trusted might not prove the fact —that when such matters as these were brought under the notice of the Leeistature, no further notice was taken of them. He bad seen it stated in a book written in a foreign language, and jus tifying, the conduct of the King of Naples, that England inflicted worse cruelties upon her subjects in India than v. en ever inflicted in Italy, and this was accounted for by the fact that England was a Protestant state. Ho hoped that by our conduct we should not allow such an impression to prevail. He knew that Lnrd Harris wa , ;,t present engaged in a chose investigation of the sub jsct, and he had no doubt that what had taken place would stimulate all in authority to put an end to evils of such great magnitude. (Hear, hear.) Lord CONGLE roN was satisfied that no beneficial result could be expected until there was a separation be t seen the revenue department and the police. Those two c'a,sses had entered into a combination to pillage the people for their own advantage, and as far as the natifes were concerned, i; was a state of lawless barbari,m. He trusted the noble duke and. the Government would take speedy measures for the reparation of the two depart ments. The Earl of ALBEMARLE sa id it ` had been re marked, in taking the course he recommended, greater tvils would be inflicted than those he condemned. He could hardly conceive worso evils than those he had mentioned that evening could, under any circumstances; prevail. (Hear.) The resolutions as amended were then agreed to. The house adjourned at 20 minutes before 9. tress was owing to - the - want of foresight on the part of her Majesty's Government." SUPPLY. The house then went in committee of supply. The following votes were agreed to :- 4,050/. for the various establishments is Bermuda, 7,3751. for the support of ecclesiastical establishments in the North American provinces. 4.7131. fir the Indian Department in Canada. The next vote was for 24,7281., for the discharge of the salaries, &c., of the governors and others of the col( nice. Mr. WILLIAMS objected to many of the items in this vote as being too much for the duties performed, and moved that the vote be reduced by 3,5001. for the gover nor of Jamaica, and 1,8001. that of the governor of Western Australia. Mr. LABOUCHERE defended the vote. The co lonial estimates had been reduced one-half since 1850. • Lor 1 J. RUSSELL supported the vote for Jamaica, and said he thought it would be unwise to make any al terations in it, considering the peculiar circumstances under which it had been made, having reference to the disturbed state of that colony. Sir 3. PAKINGTON called attention to the oasis ,ion from the colonial estimates of the salaryi of the Bishop of New Zealand. On the appointment of the right reverend gentleman to that office it was ar rauged that he should be paid a salary of 6001. a year. Good faith had not been kept with the right rev, prelate, and he was now left without an income either from this country or New Zealand, and had been deprived of his 6001. per annum since 1853. After a desultory discussion, in tie course of which Mr. HADFIELD and other hon. members took part, Mr. LABOUCHERE condemned the introduction of extraneous subjects in discussing the estimates. He was of opinion Bishop Selwyn had no further claim on this country for the continuance of his salary, and he doubted if the rev. prelate ha :l been placed in a wrong position in consequence of its withdrawal. From what he knew of New Zealand, the inhabitants of that colony were in a position to amply compensate him in return for the great advantages and benefits he had conferred on the inhabitants of that colony. He passed a lengthened eulogium on the ex emplary, zealous, and pious conduct of the right rev. • prelate. Lord J. MANNERS contended there was a distinct promise on the part of this country to continue the salary to the Bishop of New Zealand. It was a deliberate act on the part of the Government to grant this sum, and with out the solicitation of Bishop Selwyn. Lord J. RUSSELL said this was not a violation of faith as was supposed by those who had adddressed the house. At the appointment of the bishop be was informed that the salary was not to be considered a permanent one, and it.wa,s during the time the right hon. member for Droitwich was Secretary for the Colonies that, under certain circumstances, the amount was omitted from the vote?, and had not been renewed, in consequence of a pledge given to the house on a former occasion. Sr J. PAKINGTON defended his conduct at the period referred to, and said that he had no idea that in anything he said or did at the time referred to he was consenting to the withdrawal of the grant in question The committee then divided, when there appeared— For the amendment Against it Majority The original vote was then agreed to. On the motion that a sum not exceeding 24,3001. be granted to her Majesty to defray the salaries of the stipen diary magistrates in the West India colonies and Mauritius, Mr. WILLIAMS complained that the subject of the salary.of the Bishop of New Zealand had been introduced into the discussion upon the last vote. He had now to complain of the present vote, as he considered it monstrous that the taxpayers of this country should maintain a staff of stipendiary justices for colonies which were no longer of any use. Mr. LABOUCHERE explained that, at the time of the emanlipation of the slaves in the British colonies, it became indispensable to appoint stipendiary magistrates to carry out the system of apprenticeship, but that no appoint ments had since taken place Government allowing the va care'es occasioned by death to remain unfilled. He hoped this explanation would satisfy his hon. friend. Mr. WILLIAMS would not, after the explanation, divide the house. He was, he said, often taunted for not dividing the house upon the subjects of these votes, but the last division showed that the House of Commons was indiffe rent how the public money was spent. The vote was then agreed to. The following votes wore also agreed to : - For the civil establishments on the west coast of Africa, 10,230/. For the Government of St. Helena, 10,8561, For Heligoland, 960/. Oa the motion for granting 2,9311. to defray the ex penses of the Government' of the Falkland Islands, Mr. WARNER inquired if the settlement was worththe cost ef its maintenance ? Mr. LABOUCHERE replied that the settlement was very serviceable to the country, and he was the other day informed by the late governor that it was a place of great increasing resort to traders and to persons engaged in the whale fishery. The vote was then agreed to.' Oa the motion for granting 14,5861. to defray the ;barges of the Emigration Board, Mr. SPOONER said that if they had paid more atten tion to keep people at home instead of sending them abroad he thought that they would have acted upon a system of sound policy. He thought that it was a great mistake to encourage emigration at the present time. Mr. LABOUCHERE said that the object of this com inislion was to direct the emigrants is a manner which was most advantageous to themselves and to the place to which they were to go, and also to correct the evils which had been found to result from a mere voluntary system of emi gration Coolies were imported from India to the Maud tat., and it was most important that this emigration eiseuld ho under the control of the commissioners, who were most able public servants. Mr. HUTCHINS asked whether this sum was to be a permanent charge upon the revenue ? Mr. LABOUCHERE said that, of course, the charge must vary according to the amount of business which came under the control of the board. The emigration from this country amounted last year to 176,000 parsons, and he thought it would be premature to alter the system. Captain SUOBELL said that there was no emigration station between Plymouth and Liverpool, and he would suggest the establishment of one at Bristol. Mr. L 1 BOUC FEE RE said that the suggestion was quite new to him, and he could only say that he would consider it a year, and - they had besides a resident vice-comsnl, with 2,000/e a year. At Naples they paid an ambassador 3,6001. a yeir, and a consul 500/. a year ; and at Lisbon there was a consul who-received - 60M a year, and a vice-consul who did all the work, at 3001. a year. He was really anxious, for the honour of the country, to have the amount of the present vote fairly distributed and judiciously ap plied among the consular body. He then came to the sub ject of superannnations and compensations. With regard to superannuations he had nothing whatever to complain of, except that they were in very many cases by far too low in amount, considering the salary enjoyed and the age of the recipient. But the amounts granted as compensation were vary large, and in many cases wholly unnecessary and uncalled for. The former consul at Tripoli was awarded 8501. a year as compensation for the abolition of his office ; and in that very year in which the office was abolished a new consul-general was appointed, with a salary of 6001. a year, which had since been raised to 8001. There was a case of a similar description at Venice. A gentleman 43 years of age held the office of consul-general, with a salary of 1,2001. a year. His office was abolished, and he received 6001. as compensation. The reason for that compensation was the abolition of the office, yet in the same year another consul was appointed, with a salary of 7001. a year. But the worst case was that at Chagres, where a gentleman only 38 years of ago had been compensated with a pension of 1,000. a year on the abolition of his office; but, not withstanding that abolition and compensation, a new con sular establishment had been created, comprising a consul general, with a salary of 1,6001. a year, allowances 9971., and a vice-consul at 5001. a year. He wished to know how it was that when an office was abolished and compen sation given, another consul w as i mme di a t e l y appo i nte d , with a considerable salary ? With respect to the amounts granted for! superannuation, he theught they were not sufficiently large to attract the most efficient men to the service ; and there was this farther injustice as regarded the consular department—that those employed in it had to submit to a deduction of 5 per cent. on their salaries, while those in the diplomatic department received their salaries without any such deduction. Thus a consul who had served 25 years at a salary of 5001. a-year, would have 625/, taken from him in the shape of deductions, and at the end of that period would only be entitled to the paltry allowance of 250/. a-year. With regard to the question of patronage, he confessed he put great faith in the new re gulations of the Earl of Clarendon, if they were properly carried out, on the subject of examinations for consulate offices. They would then secure a supply of consular ser vants who would speak the language of the country to which they were sent. With respect to the distribution of appointments hitherto, an analysis of the returns would speedily show who were the parties appointed to positions with salaries of 1,8001., 1,6001., and 1,2001. a -y ear , an d who got the situ a tions which ranged from 2001. to 5001. a year. He would suggest the adoption of the French sys tem, by which they secured a constant supply of pupil consuls, and those were regularly advanced in the service. He thought the present system of paying consuls by fees was excessively injurious, and he hoped the Government would take the subject into consideration with a view to abolishing it. The whole of the fees last year amounted only to 31,0001., and if he bad had the power of doing so, he would hate moved the increase of the vote to 200,0001. ou condition that those fees were abolished, because he contended that our consuls should be our protectors abroad, and not tax collectors. He thought, also, there were far too many foreign consuls in - the service of the Government. No matter how honest or how well dis posed they might be, it *as impossible they could feel for the interests of England as an Englishman would. With respect to consul merchants, he thought it was most important that ns consul should be in business. in cases where they were at present it was a constant source of jealousy and dissension, and it had, besides, the effect of frequently preventing our consuls obtain ing information so early as they otherwise would have done. If a consul failed in trade his official position was immediately compromised, and where they ware merchants they frequently had great temptations to advance their private emoluments in many ways, to the prejudice of other traders. He thou g ht it wou ld be much wiser to pay them proper salaries. They would then have an undivided interest in their °nice and the country. Tho case of the Mermaid was a notorious instance of the manner in which the private interest of consuls clashed with the public. That vessel had 400 e 03. in gold dust on board, besides 30,0001. worth of wool, and ou her way home touched at Pernambuco for fresh vegetables and water. The consul, who had the power to do so, ordered the ship into dock to be repaired, alleging that she was unseaworthy. Captain Bailey and the passengers remonstrated, as they were per fectly satisfied with the ship. The consul threatened that if Captain Bailey refused compliance he would report his conduct, and deprive him of his rating. Captain Bailey aid sail for this country without any repairs being made, and arrived safely at Liverpool. The consul carried out his threat, and an inquiry was ordered by the Board of Trade, which resulted in the decision that Captain Bailey had acted very properly in the course he had adopted, by which he saved 10,0001., which would otherwise have gone to the consul, who was entitled to 2i per cent. upon the gold dust had the ship been repaired. The continuance of such a system as this must be highly detrimental to the public interest. He hoped the three or four points he had mooted would be considered by the Government, and such men would be appointed consuls as would be most likely adequately to serve their country. Mr. KINNAIRD entirely agreed with his hon. friend in the propriety of bringing forward this motion. A coun try whose trade is so extended as ours ought to have able men to represent it—men trained for the purpose, and brought up in habits of diplomacy.. Had such a system as this been established before the beginning of the late war, he believed the Government would have been in possession of much more valuable information than they possessed. He believed there was great room for amendment, and hoped the matter would not escape the earnest attention of the Government. Mr. W. S. LINDSAY thanked his hon. friend for the very clear and able speech in which he had brought for ward this question. Trade was every day becoming more and more developed, and it was of great importance to have thorough representatives of our commercial interests in the different ports of the world so as to advise our merchants, who were now engaged in an ardent competition with the United States of America. Upon the whole, though some consuls might be too highly remunerated, he thought the consular body ill-paid. It was of great importance to have the best men, and he hoped a committee or a commission would be appointed to inquire into the, subject. (Haar.) Lord PALAIERSTON concurred with his hon. friend, who hail begun the discussion, in the importance of the various duties which the consul had to perform. His hen. friend had very well explained those duties. The hon. gen tleman who had just sat down (Mr. Lindsay) spoke of periodical reports as to the resources of trade and other circumstances of the col inies in which they were placed. Nuw, it had been his (Lord Palmerston%) duty for many years to peruse these reports, and he felt bound to bear testimony to the ability with which they were drawn up. Th.se reports were invariably sent to the Bsard of Trade, end were not, in consequence of their being so voluminous, laid before the house. Hie hon. frien l objected to the sys tem of fees, but he was of opinion his hon. friend entirely mistook the nature of those fees. Originally consuls were paid by fees on shipping, but in 1826 or 1827, an act was passed, placing those fees on a different footing, and giving salaries instead. The fees were now on l y l ev i ed for th pur pose of enabling the consuls to pay the expenses of their office clerks, &a It was but in comparatively few cases that any fees went to the consuls merelyas emoluments to them. As to the appointment of consuls, his hon. friend &sewed to think improper selestions had been made. He could most sincerelystate that d aring his timeat the Foreign office he had made the best appointments in his power. He did nor, think the duties to be discharged in the consular office required any considerable previous education or training. A man of good sense would be able, with a little application, to perform the functions of consul. Wh a t h a d occurre d in that house illustrated the change of opinion which had taken place hare upon this question. For a great many years, whenever the matter of the appointment of consuls was discussed, hon. members had urged the selection of commercial mon. Now that was objected to. The only way to get a commercial man was to appoint one who was there, or hail bean engaged in commerce. He was inclined to think that though there was an economical advantage in appointing commercial men as consuls, yet that there were many political considerations which might intervene, private connections, and other circumstances that would tender them more or less liable to be visited by the Govern ments under which they resided. A 9 a general rule he would admit that it was not desirable to employ merchant consul., but the house must not forget that they procured the business to be done more economically through mer chant consuls, and, therefore, if they were determined not to employ merchant consuls, they must increase the sala ries of consuls who were not merchants. He felt bound to say that, as far as ho knew, merchant consuls had never abueed the influence which their appointmentsgave them, nor were they less assiduous ita maintaining the rights of their countrymen. In respect to vice-consuls that was an other and a different matter. His hon. friend objected to the employment of foreigners. But the very cases he had mentioned showed the necos%ity of none others being em ployed but foreigners under the present system. The salary was only 1001. or 1501. a-year. The rule was, that where British subjects were residents in a place, and were duly qualified, they should have a preference, but where suck were not to be found, the house would see that, ata salary of 1001. or 1501. a-year, it was almost impossible to find any one but a trader to perform those duties. The hon. gentleman . s did the salaries of consuls wore not pro perly distributed, and pointed to Ma grid. Well, the consul there received 200/. a-year, but was, in fact, only a con sular clerk, who corrected the returns sent from other con suls to Madrid. But, as to the objection to the pay of con suls in Naples and Lisbon, there was no force, for these were ports to which much British commerce was sent, and the duties of co nsu l s were consequen tly heavy and impor tant. His noble friend at the head of the Foreign-office hate employed a system of examination for consuls, and had sant out a circular to our consuls requiring answers to . 2G9 .--2 6 Mr. ADDERLEY said that S 3 many dreadful accidents had eccurrod with respect to passenger ships that no one, ho believed, would object to any expense which might be necessary to carry the provisions of the Passengers' Act into off. - c`. He must, however, complain that there was no diruinuqon in the charges for the Emigration Board at Park-street. Some of the colonies now sent funds to this country for the purpose of obtaining emigrants, and those c _denies should employ agents without going to the Emi gretion Commissioners. Mr. LA.BOUCHERE said that as long as the colonies were willing to resort to these commissioners, he did not think it would be advantageous to alter the system. Mr. SPOONER objected to any support being given to emigation. Sir S. NORTHCOTE thought that the number of the commissioners might be reduced. After a few words from Mr. WARNER and Mr. WIL LI A NIS, Sir J. rAKINGTON said. he thought that the vote in future years might be diminished. Formerly one-half of the Find found in Australia was applie I to the purposes of emigration, but now- it was at the absolute disposal of the colonies. With regard to the officers of the emigration (Ace, ha coel.l only say that they deserved all praise for the in inner in which they discharged their duties. (Hear.) Mr• LABOUCHER.E said that there were causes in operation - which he believed, would reduce the business of the commissioners ' but what he wished t o d o on th e pre sent occ (sign was to deprecate a hasty vote on the subject. After a few words from Mr. FIADFIELD and Mr. M. CiIA3IRERS, the vote was agreed to. • A, vote of 13,0001., to defray the expanse of the support of captured slaves, was agreed to. On the vote of 11,039/. to defray the expense of the mixed commission for the suppression of the traffic in slaves, Mr. BIGGS' said that he thought it was an instance of national hypocrisy that they could vote 20,0001. for the prevention of slavery on the African coast, at the same time they ignored its very existence in Constantinople. There were 50,000 slaves there, brought from Trebizond, Tripoli, Tanis, Cairo, and Alexandria, and the horrors that were practised amongst them far exceeded those of the middle passage, the sins which were co m mitt e d b e i ng frequently similar to those which - brought such a fearful deetruction upon the cities of Sodom and Gl-oinorrah. The only way of getting rid of these abominations was to esta blish a Christian nationality in the east of Europe. From an intimate knowledge of Eastern affairs ho was convinced that the civilisation of Turkey was only skin deep, and that Turkey was now as far behind the civilisation of the 19th century as she was when she broke into Europe be hind the civilisation of the 14th century. He should take an etily opportunity to bring before the house the question of the social condition of Turkey. Oa the vote of 167,4931: for consular establishments abroad, Mr. WISE said that the . subject of consular establish ments.was one of vary great importance. Considerable im• !movements had been made with regard to them in 1831,and the subject had since been frequently discussed in commit tees. I u 134) a committee was appointed to inquire into the subject of the diplomatic and consular services. They made a report on the diplomatic service, and recom mended that the subject of our consular establishments should be inquired into the following year by a commit tee. That committee had, however, never been appointed. He trusted that inquiry would be made into the subject. The duties of our consuls were of the most important and resnonsibla character. The consuls in the Levant, for in• stance, had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and hav ing to perform such important- duties, it was necessary that this ,country should have men of high principle and independent. character for their consuls there. He trusted the Government would propose a commission to inquire into the state of the consular establishment in the Levant. tiedid not mean in any way to cast any reflections on our consuls in the Levant; there were many of them men of the highest abilities and attainments. There was no doubt, however, that there were many of our consuls incapable for the position; they held. He should do wrong if he omitted to mention, as' instances of men of merit and ability in the consular service, the names of Mr. Grant and Mr. Calvert, who, with many others; hadiserved the country so well in the last war. He (Mr. Wise) thought that charges for passports and the like fees ought to be abolished, even t the salaries of the consuls had consequently taouga pro portiocately to be increased. The hon. gentleman referred the o passages lE o f from Carlisle'sthe pt s a n o t f i the D r. Sandwich's Timas' Com m " i Siege ssione o r i Ke.ea,” to show that the reform of our consular system was much ace 'a I. With respect to the financial part of the question, the total sum proposed by the Government for our consular service this year was 167,0001. He did not object to that amount, but to the way in which it was dis tributed. The whole number of persons employed in the consul ir department was 533. There were 27 consuls general, 119 conuls, 228 English vice-consuls, and the re mainder were foreign vice-consuls. Since 1848 there had been a considerable increase in the number of consuls, some of . that increase having naturally arisen :out of the increaso of our trade with China and elsewhere._ Be, at the AIMS time, it struck him that some of our cotouls were unneec.mtry and might be removed altogether. For instance, at Constantinople, where our embassy cost us 49,0001. a-year, he saw no necessity for a consular esta blishment in addition, which cost us 2,0.01. or more. They had an embassy at Madrid at an' expellee of 6,0t01. Mr. DISRAELI said the fact that the duties of the counsel to the Irish office wore now done for half the salary that was paid when the Government of the Earl of Derby came into office, showed the wisdom of the policy which they had adopted, and which hal let to this desirable re sult. Lord NAAS entered into some details as to the changes in the Irish office which had been effected under the late Administration, and vindicated the dismissal of Mr. Batty. ;kA discussion ensued on the number of superannuations on the list, in the course of which Captain SCOBELL said them were 300 persons on the list of superanuuation many of whom retired at 32 y ears o f ago, and asked why these gentlemen were not absorbed in 'the Government offices ? Mr BOWYER suggested that in future the superan nuation list should be divided into sections, instead of bring voted in one sum and at once. Mr. WILLIANIS withdrew his amendment, and the vote was agreed to. The next vote was for 2,270/. for relief to Toulonese and Corsican and other emigrants, which was ultimately agreed to, after Mr. WILSON h a d explained the grants wore origi nally made under acts of Parliament for two generations. 2,0001. were then asked for to defray the expenses of the vaccine establishment. Mr. STAFFORD asked for an explanation why a violent attack on vaccination by Dr. Gibbs had been printed by the Government. Mr. BROTHERTON sail that the committee had re• fused his application to print this pamphlet, but in conse quence of a notice on the books by the hon. member for Finsbury that it should bo printed, the printing committee consented to it, and it was printed. Mr. MICHELL defended .the statements contained in the pamphlet complained of, and said ho could prove vac cination had a tendency to produce death rather than pre vent it. He advised hon. members to read and become acquainted with the subjacts it contained. Mr. GROG AN condemned the house turning this pamphlet into ridicule, and said that it contained facts with reference to vaccination that every member ought to read. If Mr. Cowper had done so he would move the repeal of the Vaccination Bill. Mr. COWPER said that if it had not been for the state ment of the learned doctor (Dr. Michell) ho should have thought the miter of the pamphlet in question was raving mail. (Laughter.) The vote was agreed to. The next vote was for 3501. for defraying the expenses of the Refuge for the Destitute. Mr. CO WAN wished to know if the Edinburgh Refuge for the Destitute was not entitled to Royal support equally with the one in question ? Mr. WILSON sail that this refuge was situate at Delston, and was for the support of 25 convicts, females, removed pi iecipally from the metropolitan prisons. He could not answer the question of the honiurable member, but advised him to bring the question before the house for a specific grant. The vote was then agreed to. A sum of 4,000/. was next agreed to for the support of Polish refugees and distressed Spaniards. A sum of 4,3711. was voted for miscellaneous allowances formerly defrayed from the civil list. On the proposal to vote a suns of 2,5 51. for infirmaries in Ireland, Mr. WILLIAMS considered that there was no necessity for this vote, now that the poor-law had been established in Ireland. Mr. WILSON explained that the vote proposed was given under two old acts of Parliament, and was to be discontinued as soon as the present trusts had ceased. After a few words from•Culonel DUNNE, The vote was agreed to. A sum of 1,295/. was next proposed for the support of the Foundling Hospital, Dublin. Atter some discussion, in which Mr. Blackburn, Mr. Williams, Mr. Horsman, and Mr. Grogan took part, Mr. HASTIE moved that the vote be reduced by the sum ef 1291. lOs., being 10 per cent. on the amount, on the ground that the people of Ireland ought to support their own foundlings, and not make them a charge upon this country. After some discussion the committee divided, wh en there appeared— For the amendment ~ 32 Against it 187 Majority against the amendment .••.--159 The vote was then agreed to. The next vote proposed was 11,790/, for defraying the expenses of the House of Industry, Dublin. Mr. A. HASTIE proposed a reductioe in the vote of 1,1791., in accor lance with the recommendation of the com mittee, that a reduction of 10 per cent. should be made. Mr. WILSON defended the vote, stating that the Oe• vernment had already acted on the recommendation of the cesunaittEe to a certain extent; and that, if they had not a great number of questions bearing on - matters to which his hon. friend had adverted, and when answers and infor mation had been received, he would be prepared next ses sion to agree to the appointment of a select committee to take into consideration the whole of the consular system. As to the question that the Government should have ap pointed consuls who ought to have given information be fore 'the breaking out of tho war concerning Russia, he could only say that the consuls at Odessa and at Taganrog had,. in his opinion, discharged their duties.. There were none in the Crimea, because the Russian Government would not permit any to reside there. But the house would recollect that consuls could not act as spies, but could only forward information, properly accessible, to their Govern ment—accessible by open• means. The consuls at Odessa and Taganrog had forwards I much valuable information to the Government regarding the resources of the country, and all other matters properly within the scope of their knowledge. As to the high salaries of consuls-general, his hon. friend must recollect that such offices could not have been abolished without compensation. When a consul general was aboli had, as in Tripoli, a salary of 8001. a year was given instead of 1,6001., and the same was the cage in Venice. (Hear, hear.) Mr. WILLIAMS said that the young men who were se lected for the duties which they had to perform were, on the whole, fully paid. He found that in Turkey there were 42 consul, who received amodget them in salaries the sum of 15,6351., and in fees, 5,7351., making together, 21,3701; and these consuls were in addition to those employed in Egypt. and at Tripoli, and Tunis, who received about receivingl3,ooO/. In the Unit e d States there were only 13 consuls, of their ex "". w year, and to that country the great mass Ports e i re sent. At CoLstantin. ir •he found they had a consul-general at 1,5001. a year, a vice consul at 4001., and another vice-consul at 3001., besides having another consul at Scutari. The hon. member complained that in Spain there were two new appointments of consuls —one at Sun!, and the other at Illilo—at salaries of 400/, a year. There matters req , irtd to be fully inquired into. In an"wer to a question from Mr. BELLEW, Lord PALMERSTON was understood to say that it was not the intention of the Government, either directly or in directly, to interfere with the internal affairs of Madagascar. The vote was then agreed to. On the vote of 25,00 1. for defraying the extraordinary disburse vents of the embassies and missions abroad, Mr. BO WYEFS complained of the present system of . THE SAO, LONDON, TUESDAY- EVENING, APRIL is, 1856, attaches in the diplomatic service. These attaches, upon _whom' the public service very materially depended, ought t) be well paid, and care should be taken that none were appointed who were not capable for the position. The attaches ought to be put through a course of international law, and be well-read men, so that when a Minister re quired information he would be able to turn to them for it ; but Ministers could not expect this from young area who were not paid anything. He thought the diplomatic service required to be thoroughly reformed. Lord PALMERSTON said the subject to which the hon. and learned member alluded, of paid and unpaid attaches, belonged to the diplomatic establishment. The expenses of the diplomatic establishment were defrayed outof the charge created upon the Consolidated Fund, and about 160,000/. a year covered all the expenses of salaries and retired al lowances, wh'ele could not bo exceeded. But the subject referred to by the hon. and learned member was very dif ferent to this, and he apprehended that the attaches which he referred to in Turkey were the young men sent there for the purpose of becoming British interpreters of Turkish, and to supersede the Turkish dragoman hitherto employed. The Vice-Chancellors of Oxford and Cambridge had each the privilege of recommending a young man, selected by them, who were sent to Turkey to become interpreters, and these are the attaches here mentioned. What the hon, and learned member said against the system of unpaid attaches had some force. There were two classes of attaches, paid and unpaid. They began as unpaid, lend after a period of time they were promoted and became paid attaches. It was quite true that the diplomatic service did not hold out those brilliant prospects which young men anticipated who were anxious to enter it. Theyspent a long time, &c., as unpaid and paid attaches before they became secretaries of legation. He did not agree that the attaches should be well read in in-' ternational law and history in order that the Minister could turn to him for assistance. International law and historical facts were necessary to enable the Ministers at foreign courts to perform their duties, and ho must assume that they had risen to their posts through a long period of time, and that they were better able to perform their duties than those young men who ware just appointed, or they would not be fitted for the responsible duties to which they had to attend. Mr. BOWYER explained that many persons were ap pointel to the pest of Minister without having gone through any training in international law whatever. Mr. EWART reminded the hon. and learned gentle man that there was now established a system of examina tion for public offices, and that for the future attaches would be examined in history, languages, and international law. Mr. WISE regretted that the salaries of the ambassadors were still paid out of the Consolidated Fund instead of coming before the house in the estimates. He wished for an explanation of an item of 1,463/ put down as lost by Ambassadors by exchange. Mr. WILSON explained that the English Ambassadors at foreign Courts had frequently to make large disburse. ments for the public service; and it often happened that when they drew bills for that purpose the rate of exchange was against them, and therefore it was but fair that they should be reimbursed for the loss they sustained. Mr. WILLIAMS did not see why we should have Mi nisters at six of the petty Courts of Germany. He might pass over Hanover on account of the relationship existing between the King and her Majesty; but that excuse did not apply to Wurtemberg. He believed that our first connection with that kingdom was when a princess of England married the Elector, as ha was then called ; but since her death there had been no Minister of that State at this Court. Mr. J. G. PHILLIMORD reminded the hon. gentleman that the ruler of Wurtemberg had never been ceded an Elector, but that his former title was Duke of Wurtemberg. Mr. OT WAY called attention to a charge of 21. 14s. 2d. —a piece of extravagance which the Prussian Minister had been guilty of for fetes and illuminations—(laughter)— perhaps in rejoicing for the signing of the treaty of peace. He wished, also, to suggest that there should be a system of interchange established between the clerks in the Foreign office and the attaches. Lord PALMERSTON said that wherever such inter change could take place without interruption to public business it had bean done. With regard to the observe, tions of the hon. member for Lambeth, he had to assure Lim that it was highly important that England should be represented at the smaller states of Germany, as the other nations of Europe were. Th. se States were the consti tuents of the German body, and exercised a considerable influence upon it, and during the war the conduct of Austria and Prussia, in a groat measure, turned on the foaling of those States. Mr. E WART hoped that the suggestion of the hon. member for Stafford (Mr. Otway) in reference to the inter change of the clerks in the Foreign-office and the attaches might not be lost sight of. The vote was then agreed to. On the motion that 146,5371. be granted as superannua tion'ant compensation to persons formerly omploped in the public service, Mr. WILLIAMS called attention to the necessity of more attention than had yet been given to those superannuation , allowances. Ho f oun d one case in which a pension had been enjoyed for 65 years, and another in which a salary of 7001. a year had been enjoyed for 36 years. Then there were four persons who received 2001. a year as " commissioners of metropolitan buildings." Why were these persons not employed under the new board? Mr. WILSON said that these officers were appointed under a former act. By the act of last year appointing the Metropolitan Beard of Works, it was enacted that those officers employed under the former commission, who should not obtain employment under the new board, should be superannuated. It had not been possible to pro vide employment for these persons, and therefore they re ceived their allowances. Lord NAAS wished for some explanation how it hap pened that one counsel of the Irish office of London, per fectly competent to his duties, had been superannuated, while another had been appointed to perform the same work. Colonel DUNNE complained that superannuations were frequently given to men in the full vigour of mind „end body, and adverted to several cases of this kind in connec tion with the Irish board of works. Mr. WILSON said the office of counsel to the Irish office in London had been abolished in 1353, under the im pression that such an officer was nut necessary. Subse quently, however, it had been found necessary to appoint another gentleman to perform their duties. After a few words from Mr. WHITESIDE, Mr. HORSMAN said the present Government neither abolished the office of the counsel to the Irish office in London, nor pensioned off Mr. Batty. That was one of the ill-judged "reforms" in the Irish office instituted by the Marquis of Chanties under the Derby A lininistration. Last year the inconvenience of allowing each department to draw its own bills was discovered ; and it was also found that having separate persons to draw bills far each department entailed additional expense. The Government therefore made an arrangement to secure the services of one of the experienced bill drawers in London, who had engaged for 5001. a year to give the whole of his time to the work of drawing bills for the Irish office. That was a shin not larger than was paid for drawing one set of bills, with regard to tenants' compensation, under the Darby Government. Mr. NAPIER said the whole of this discussion showed the necessity of having a department of public justice. He did not think that the drawing of the Tenants' Compensa tion and Law of Landlord and Tenant Consolidation Bill under the late Government was overpaid. He did not know who was the present draughtsman of the Govern ment bills, but the experience of a bill which he had lately drawn had convinced him (Mr. Napier) that he was very imperfectly qualified to discharge the duties committed to him. done so enti re ly, it was ow i ng to circumstances over which, 1 at present, they had no control. The committee then divided. The numbers were— Fo. the amendment Against it Majority against the amendment —147 The vote was then agreed to. The following votes were also agreed to :- 600/. for the Female Orphan House, Dublin. 1,215/. for the Sick Hospital, Dublin. 500/, for the Lying-in Hospital, Dublin. 795/. for Dr. Stephens's Hospital, Dublin. 1,900/. for the House of Recovery, Cork-street, Dublin. 6001. for the Meath Fever Hospital. The CH AIRMAN reported progress, and asked leave to sit again. The house then resumed. PUBLIC WORKS BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. PUBLIC WORKS (IRELAND) BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. BANKERS' COMPOSITIONS BILL. On the motion, by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE QUER, for the second reading of this bill, Mr. GLYNN said he would not oppose the bill, bug would have been pleased if the Chancellor of the Exche quer had given the house some idea of the views of the Government upon the matter. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said be understood that no objection was to be offered to the bill, which merely continued for a year a clause in the act of 1844, whiclOf not continued, would expire iu the month of August cf the present year. It had been represented to him that some bankers in the country would feel it con venient for the act to bo continued, if the terms were en larged. Ho had said that he should have no objection to an enlargement, on condition that if a larger term than a year were concede 1 in committee, any legislation upon the subject should be subordinate to that which might take place in reference to the bank. He might say, in reference to the Bank Act of 1811, what he stated at ' the beginning of the session, that Government would have no objection to a committee of inquiry, if any gentle man would propose it. He did not know whether it was the wish of the house, at that period of the session, to in quire into the operation of the Bank Act; but, if it should be desired, her Majesty's Government would not offer any objection. At the same time he did not think that, at that period of the session, it would be able to make any great progress with the inquiry. He did not see how it would loe consistent with the duty of the Government to make any proposition of this sort to the house without previously hearing opinions as to the operation of the act during the twelve years that had elapsed since 1845, that net having introduced important principles which fixed a legislative limit to the issue of the Bank. Mr. SPOONER. was certainly very much surprised at what had fallen from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, be cause only a few weeks az° it was suggested that an in quiry should take place, and the right an. gentleman ad mitted that some inquiry would be very proper. Both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the First Lord of the Admiralty said that, although an inquiry was necessary, that was not the time for it, and now the Chancellor of the Exchequer came down and said it was too late. `(Hear, and laughter.) Of this he (Mr. Spooner) was certain, that they would never have a system of circulation fit to carry the business of the country so long as the act of 1811 continued in existence. The bill wits then read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Friday. BURIAL GROUNDS (IRELAND) BILL. The house then went into committee on this bi!'. After some discussion, clauses up to nine were agt eel to, when Mr. SPOONER, moved that the Chairman report pro gress, and the house resumed. MEDICAL QUALIFICATION BILL. This bill was read a second time, and ord. red to be re ferred to the 'select committee sitting upon the Medical Practitioners' Bill. Oa the motion of Col. DUNNE the following returns were ordered :—Return of all those guns which have burst at the siege of Sebastopol, stating the description and ca libre of each gun, number of rounds fired when the gun became unserviceable, and supposed cause of such burstinr. On the motion of Mr. COWPER, the following names were agreed to as the committee on the Medicll Practi tioners Bill :—Mr. Cowper, Mr. Headlarn, Mr. Brady, Mr. Cranford, Sir William Heatheote, Mr. Napier, Lord R. Grosvenor, Mr. Black, Col. Dunne, Mr. Bell, Mr. Strutt, Mr. A. Hastie, Mr. Howard, and Mr. Percy. The house then adjourned at a few minutes after one o'clock. TILE MILITARY BOARD OF INQUIRY, [A. part of the following appeared in our impression of yesterday :—] The Board met this morning at the usual hour when the examination of Sir R. Airey was proceeded with. He said that an answer given by him on Saturday to a question put to him by the Commissioners, why nothing hal been done to shelter the horses on the 12th Nov., referred not t that particular date, bu's generally as to the cavalry up to that time. Col. Tulloch submitted that as the report of the Cri mean Commissioners was founded entirely on the infor mation given to them by officers in the Crimea, it could not be impugned by any subsequent explanation. The Judge-Advocate-General said that Cal. Tulloch had better confine himself to examining the witness rather than enter into explanations by running com ments on the witness's evidence. Colonel Tulloch wished t 3 know if he was to under stand that Sir R. Airey's explanation was to cancel his former statement made to the Commissioners ? The Judge-Advocate-General—l think you are. Colonel Tulloch (to witness)—Are these, then, the effect of your answer—that on the 12th of November last the site of the camp had been fixed, that engineer offic , rs were available, that Turks and tools were ready, and that there was nothing to prevent the construction of shelter? Sir R. Airey sail that the great uocerta:nty that pre vailed of the cavalry remaining on that spot at the time alluded io prevented the er ction of s'aelter. Ile ex pressed his regret at the indisposition of the C3mmis sinners to examine him personally, for, hal they done so, a great many erroneous impressions and conclusions might have been avoided. Colonel Tulloch—Why did you neglect to explain this important circumstance to the Commissioners ? Sir It Airey said because he really did not know the object of the Commissioners was anything more than to obtain general information upon general sutjacts ; and that a Quartermaster-General's time was fully occupied in the discharge of his official duties—not having five minutes to spare in the day? Col. Tulloch—ln the absence of that information could the Commissioners have possibly known that your answer did not refer specifically to the 12,h Nov. Sir R. Airey said he was unable to answer that ques tion. He was not aware that Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon had offered an explanation to the Commis sioners to lead them to conclude that everything would be ready except the timber. He felt sure Lieut.-Colonel Gordon was anxious to give them all the information in his power. He was not a.vare that such an explanation as he had given to the Board was given to the Commis sioners. Any alteration of witness's orders would not appear in his office register, because in carrying on such a great war as that they had lately been engaged in many of the orders were given and countermanded orally. A great deal more was done than what appeared in his office register. With regard to Lord Lucan's statement of the 12th November, that an engineer officer would be placed at his disposal, arrangements were made for that purpose, but beyond that he was unable to state any thing. He, of course, expected they would have been carried out. The Commissioners called at his office three times after Lieut.• Colonel Gordon's examination to take his (Sir R. Airey's) evidence, but on each occasion he was peremptorily called away. He found by refer ence to his book that on the 12th Nov. Captain G .rdon was written to by order of the Commander of the Forces to place an engineer officer at the disposal of Lord Lucan, and that the commander of the Engineers was written to accordingly. On being again pressed by Col. Tulloch to say whe ther it would not have been better had the witness afforded this information on subjects on which the Commissioners were desirous of obtaining the fullest in formation at, the time they were in the Crimea, he said he was unable to do so from press of business, and that his answers were as short as possible in consequence. Witness continued—The great and primary cause of delay was the want of labour, With sufficient labourers they might have done anything, even before the site of the camp was permanently fixed on. He was unable to say if the permanent site of the camp had been fixed on by the 16th December. It appeared from remarks made by Lord Lucan, and a reference to his evidence before the Board, that the ground for stables for the c.►valry bad been marked out before the 16,,h December. Colonel To said that perhaps Lord Lucan would have no objection to afford the Court the. information desired—viz., when the ground was marked out. Lord Lucan—lf you will examine me I will answer that or any other question. Sir R. Airey continued his evidence, and said that the questions theOommissioners required him to answer remained in his possession several weeks before he did Colonel Tillloch—Could Lcrd Lucan have constructed shelter without labour, without toobt without materials, and without a p ermanent site being ' fixed on before the 12th Nov., and have provided shelter for the cavalry in accordance with orders that had been issued to that effect ? Sir R. Airey—The shelter to be constructed was such as the circumstances would admit of. That might have been merely throwing up of embankments for the night, or any temporary shelter Lord Lucan might be able to construct under the then circumstances. Col. Tulloch—The Commissioners having received no other information except that which they obtained from you and your officers as to the construction of the stables, which appeared to embrace a period of three months, was it not necessary some other information should have been afforded the Commissioners to pre vent them coining to a conclusion that there was a want of promptitude and ingenuity displayed in providieg shelter t . . . . Sir it. Airey---Yea• I think it was a great pity they came to that conclusion withnut calling for flintier evidence. • _ _ Col. Tulloch—From whom but from yourself and Col. Gordon could such evidence have been obtained ? Sir R. Airey—l think very much might have been obtained from me, and I think with one ride between KIR KCAL D Y—AP RIL 12. Fair supplies of wheat and oats, and only a few sacks of barley. Sales ready for all kinds of grain. Wheat and barley same as last week. Oats sold slowly, and inferior were 6d to is per qr. cheaper. Wheat. First 76s Od Second Third 6os Od Barley. Oats. I Beans. 435 01 t 3ls Od I Os (kJ 42s 308 Od j Os Od 36s Od 26s Od I Os Ott Balaklava and the camp we might have conversed freely, honestly, and openly upon these matters, and without difficulty have set everything right. Col. Tulloch—Did not the Commissioners give you that opportunity in waiting to yourself, and by four days' examination of your senior assistant ? Sir R. Airey— Of the examination in writing I have already spoken. Mine were merely general and superficial answers to general questions. I had no idea the Commissioners would have blamed or implicated any body. If I had had the slighte%t idea they w ould have done so I should have gone more fully into the matter. Col. Tulloch repeated the question, and added--Did not the Commissioners attend three tinges at head-quar ters for the purpose of seeing you ? Sir R. A irey—You attended in person, but no exami• nation of me took place, and consequently that was null and void. Col Tulloch (to the Board) said he wished to show that ho gave Sir R. Airey an opportunity of affording an explanation on this point, and asked him—Do you think the Commissioners could attach blame to no one when it was found so many horses had died ? Sir R. Airey—l thought it was quite impossible for the C,immissiuner3 to have found by these inquiries that, under the peculiar circumstances under which the army w;:s placed, any one in the Crimea was to blame. It is now my impression that some of the persons is the Crimea were to blame. • Col. Tulloch continued to put questions of a similar character to Sir R. Airey, and he replied that if he bad hal any idea that there would have been a subsequent inquiry would have afforded the Crimean soldier fuller information. He considered from their questions that they were seeking merely for general information, and be gave his answers accordingly. Cd. Tulloch—lf the Crimean Commissioners had to report to the Secretary of State for War, and ultimately to Parliament, could they have omitted such an impor tant circumstance as when shelter was ordered and pro vided, and should not the information thereupon given to the commissioner; been of the most specific character ? S r R. Airey—l don't know what were the instruc tions given to the commissioners, but I thought they merely embraced Commissariat duties. I did not know that you were called upon to report on other matters. Col. Tulloch—Could they in " v,ny report " have omitted such an important circumstance ? Sir R. Airey—The question is so vague and indefinite that I really can't answer it. Colonel tulloch—Did it not occur toyou that in "any short" made by the Commissioners to the Government, that in the absence of such information, if the Quarter master• General's department had done its duty, that the cavalry had neglected theirs. Sir It. Airey —I don't admit the inference that is drawn here, that the cavalry neglected their duty. My impression is that the cavalry under the circum stances in which they were placed did all they could. I can't answer the question in any other way. Shortly after 2 o'clock, the Court adjourned for half an hour. The Court having re-assembled, General Sir R. Airey was recalled. Col. Tulloch—When the order was given to provide shelter on the 12th Nov., and it was not completed until the middle or end of February, could the Commissioners have come to any other conclusion than that it arose from any other circumstance than a want of promptitude and ingenuity, especially when the great mortality amongst the horses was taken into consideration ? Sir R. Airey—l think it is an error the Commission era committed in not going sufficiently into the evidence. Col. Tollosh—What could the Commissioners have clone more than examine yourself and your senior as sistant ? Sir R. Airey—My exa►ninaticn taken on the spot appears now to have been incomplete. Col. Tulloch—lf you supposed that the inquiry of the Commissioners was confined to the Commissariat, why should they have gone to the Quartermaster-General's department for information ? Sir R. Airey—That was best known to the Commis sioners themselves. Probably it was because he was is continual correspondence with the Commissary-General. Col. Tulloch—May did you rat at once reply to our inquiries by . denying our authority in regard to the mat• ter of shelter for the horses. Sir R. Airey—l was desired by the Commander of the Forces to appear before the Commissioners, and to give them all the information I could. Col. Tulloch—Why, under any circumstances, did you give information which must of necessity lead to erroneous conclusions ? Sir R. Airey—lt appears to me that I have answered that question in spirit several times. I gave all the general information that at the moment appeared to me to he embraced in tae Commissioners' questions, and I had no reason to believe that they required any further specific information. They knew where I was in the Crimea, and after my return to E❑gland they might have found me in London, and if they required more informa tion bad they applied to me I would have given it. Colonel Tulloch—Are you not aware that when com missioners have taken evidence, and that evidence is signed by the persons giving it, the duty of the eomwie' rioner3 may be said to be ended ? Sir R. Airey—.l think that when commissioners are sent to make inquiries into circumstances such as those that took place in the Crimea, they ought to leave no stone unturned to obtain the most complete infor mation. If after the evidence of officers had been given it was found that the evidence was not complete, they should have applied to those officers for further informa tion. In the Crimea, when cholera prevailed, and there was great fear in consequence—men in full health watt taken ill at 11 o'clock and were corpses in the afternoon — there were necessarily many difficulties. The Commis sioners themselves were obliged to go to Constantinople for the benefit of their health, but they did not return again to the Crimea. After the gallant General gave some further evidence, the Court adjourned at four o'clock. Co .retry xlarKits. CHELMSFOI We had to-day a large sup] dull trade, and prices must best, and 2s for inferior sa for, and the turn dearer. A value, with but little doing- Wheat, white, old, per s. s. qr. 52 76 new 58 73 old 54 70 new 51 68 Barley 30 38 Chevalier 33 42 Grinding 2B 36 Malt 71 75 Chevalier 73 77 D-A?BIL 11. ply of wheat, which caused b 3 quoted is lower for the ,mples. Barley was inquired 11 other things unaltered in s. 0. Oats, per qr 22 28 Peas, Partridge 38 40 White 4O 47 red, Boiling 4l 48 Dun 37 3 8 Beans, Tick 35 37 Harrow ticks 3T 3 9 Mazagan 34 36 Ditto, new 33 31 COLCHESTER- APRIL 11. A good supply of wheat, and prices must be noted 18 to 2s per qr. cheaper. Barley continues in demand, at very full prices. Beans the turn lower. Peas scarce, and the prices well supported. Prices to-day were as follow :---Wheat, white, 72s to 76a ; red, 64s to6Ss ; barley, 3iis to 42s ; oats, 21, to 26s ; Lena , . Kazagan, 34s to 36s ; middle and small, 34s to 44s ; leas, white, 46s to 43s ; grey, 30s to 40s. Official Statement of the Quantities of Corn, &c in the port of London, from the following pi the ith to the 12th April , both inclusive. receive 3 )rtd, from 4 p 4 0 Al P. 04 - 7 - Colchester — i 350' 60 Harwich l4l 220 Leigh yfa COAL MARK Prices of Coal per ton at s. d. Bate's West Hartley - 17 01 Byass's West Hartley .. 18 0 Holywell Howard's West Hartley Nethertou 17 9 North Percy Hartley l7 C Taufield Moor l4 ( Taufield.Moor Butes 14 3I Walker Primros e l4 011 WallB3nd, kn. aosfortli . 16 0 Ilartou l6 3 liedley .. l6 3 Riddell IG 0' _Wliarneliffe l- 9 Eden Main • . l7 0 Frainivellgafe lB l Haswell Iletton lB 6 Ships at market... 12i %-APRIL 14. ;he close of the market. Wallsend, &o. B. '• Rotten Lyons Main l7 0 Kepler Grange 17 9 Pensher 16 6 Plummer l7 0 Russell's Hetton l7 9 South Hetton 18 3 Stewart's 18 6 Caradoc . ......... .....17 3 Cassop 17 3 Hartlepool lB 6 Baugh Hall 17 0 SO e u l t i t e ll' l7 6 artlepool l7 0 South Keno° Tees lB 6 West Kelloe .......... . Whitworth l6 0 BircligroveGraigela 21 9 ,0 I Sold .. ..... BIRTHS. Or 80N. On the 14th inst., at Westbourne-terraee, Hyde-park, the wife of Ralph Allen Hussey, Esq. On the 13th inst., at Wimbledon, the wife of Robert Graham, Esq. 01 A DAUGHTZB. On the 13th inst., at the Cloisters, Westminster, the wife of the Rev. Henry Temple Frere, rector of Bun ton, Norfolk. On the 14th inst., at 36, Duncan terrace, the wife of A.. Upward, Esq. ARRIE D. Oa the 10th inst ., , at Islington Chapel, William, th e youngeqt son o f Mr. George Kershaw, of Upton,Bucks, to Sarah Eli za b e th , th e second daughter of Mr. William Barefoot, of Islington. On the 9th inst., at Hawley Church, Hants, the Rev. Erskine Ne a l e , v i car o f Exning, to Eliza Ann, the eldest (laughter of the late John Scovell, Esq., of Fern hill, Hawley. DIED. - - - - - On the 14th inst., Mr. Jas. Weedon, of Cursitor•street, Cbanceiy-laue, aged 67. On the 12th inst., at Arundel, Richard Holmes, Esq., solicit-or, aged 71. On - the 12th .inst., 'at South -end-green, Hampstead, s. Pittet, aged 91. LO_ipoN: Printed and Publishe.Ti by KURD° YOU B of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at me Sun Office, No. 112, Strom.), in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county o f Tne3day, April .15, 1856,- U 2dISSIOI dilly, on Burling R 0, MORROI prnee the ner Id hi will be p Roziety's M' Anus: terms. mE, street, W. Rt. Pin. Ft] Henry Pc Life As N.lll, 33 Por tei s uis l'olicie! POUR-F 1 according Mb Pr are lower are fully addition t Premium Policy Prosper London, TMP: I_ FA Capital, Charles Portia W. J. F. Wilbrahl Rononra Charles street Lieut.-C Richard Direct J. P. Bu and A Richard place, George : Mark- Henry L William Wood . G. H. H field E James E Cottal Coleus Director Major 14, St. The II Liability building Louvre, Parlia Gallery curried b respect selected As ini highly s America Hotel in highly r division at the ra about dc ration t! for accm its super least eqt nature. 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