The Sun. — London, England, 1847-02-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SA.TITRI)AY MORN FEBRUARY ‘Jto 1847. IMPERIAL PA iiLIAME-i-dT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 19. Tl . ,e LORD CHANCELLOR touk his seat on the Wool- Tack at Five o'clock. CROWN LANDS, ROSCOMMON.the • of Marquis of WESTMEATH moved for returns the amount of the costs incurred in the manage r; Put of the Crown estates in the county of Rwicommen. is object in moving for these returns was to show to wir Lordships the s;.ate of land in Ireland. The estates 1 1 'questi on compr i sed about 200 acres ; and hk believed those returns were granted that he should be able to si how their Lordships that for the last fifteen years not one farthing of rent had b-en paid, and consider re costs i ncurre d i n the managertint of those estates. asked for an improvement of the law for the sake of the people themselves, for he believed that it entailed the 'greatest evil upon them. It migut do very well for pro perty situated in Middlesex, but was by no means adapted for the state of things which existed in Ireland. The motion was agreed to. DISTILLING FROM SUGAR BILL Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the Anti - Slavery Society against the use of sugar in distilleries, as they believed it would tend very much to encourage aiavery by the increased stimulus it would Ive to the gr ow th o f sugar. Si nce l ast autumn , w h en the late change had been made in the differential duties ?LI sugar, the rage for sugar planting in Brazil had pro needed to an incredible extent, and the consequence had been that the coffee plantations had been greatly neglected. POOR-LAWS. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE presented a petition d . f rnal the rat e -p a y ers o f Killarnu, complaining of the A orty-seventh section of the Irish Poor-law Act. GRAND JURIES (CORK). The NOBLE MARQUIS also presented a petition from 4 ,he Corpor a tion of Cork, praying for the equalisation of the grand jury cess rate in that county. REGISTRATION IN SCOTLAND. The NOBLE MARQUIS (in the absence of the Duke of Sutherland) presented a petition from the Presbytery of Caithness, praying that births, deaths, and marriages, aright be registered in Scotland as in England. INDIAN RAILWAYS. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH wished to know 'whether the Noble Marquis (Lansdowne) was pre pared ,to lay on the table copies of the communications which had taken place between the Government of this country and the shareholders in certain Indian rail 'Ways, with respect to the granting of loans for their construction. The Government had opposed, on finan cial ground s , th e granting of money for the construct i on of Irish railways ; he was, therefore, anxious to know whether the Government—or rather the Go vernment of India —intended to act, on a si milar principle, withrespect to Indian railways. The reason fur his asking this qu estion was because of a rumour whi c h h e had heard some short time ago, and w hich, if true, showed that the interests of India were mu much injur e d b y the course which was at present pur sued,lt was well known that money could be raised at Zi per c ent. to a considerable extent, for several effect upon the money market in this country ; India, at th e present moment, he regretted to sayVer that money could only be raised at 5 p er ce nt y recently the Government of India found them selves compelled to open a new loan at 5 per cent. A return of four per cent. was guaranteed to those specula tors who were interested in the loan. Their Lordships t wonld at once see that if the Indian Government wished to return to the four per cent. loans, it was impracticable , as the same amount of interest was now guaranteed ' O , ll railways an d upon t h e same sec urity, while the many advantages of patronage, and, he regretted to lay, of the jobbing system,were secured to the railway proprietors. If a 5 per cent. loan were now opened, if it once re d uce d the premium upon the capital advanced u pon former 5 per cent. loans, and the 4 per cent. went own to 10 or 12 discount, it would produce the most serious losses to the Indian capitalists. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said, that if the Noble Lord had g i ven not i ce o f hi s q u e stion, he would have been better informed on the subject. The state et the case was this. Two months had elapsed since the Board of Control made known to the Indian Railway Com pany upon what terms and conditions certain advances could be made to pay for those undertakings. No answer had been received from those com pan.es—a pretty strong proof that the terms were not considered sufficiently advantageous, or they would at once have closed with them. As soon as the correspondence was in a Rouse complete state, it s h ou ld b e l a id on the table of the After a few words from Lord BROUGHAM, The Duke of RICHMOND said that with regard to these measures he was very sorry that such an example had been set, as the people of Ireland would be furnished with an additional argument for a repeal of the union, as offers of the assistance which had been refused to Ire land, had been made to India. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said, that when the correspondence appeared, the Irish people would not have any additional argument for a repeal of the union. The Earl of RIPON said, that when he was in 1844, Pre sident of the Board of Control, the Government had declared itself favourable to the general principle of the establish ment of railways. A deputation had called upon him, and he informed them that he concurred in the general impression that prevailed of the utility of the railway system in India, and that he was sure the Government would give it their support. They (the deputation) then intimated that that support would involve pecuniary assistance, and without it they doubted whether they could go on. In that case, he thonght the Go vernment ought to issue a commission, and a gentleman was accordingly appointed who reported upon the subject. He conctiived they ought not to do more for Ireland than they had already done for India. The conversation then dropped. Lord AS BANK RETURNS. HBURTON then moved for the returns of the acc o ou.cnt of capital or stock authorised to be raised by any rail wayapanies by any Acts passed during the two last sess i ons of Parliament, of the amount of money actually so raised, and of the amount re ma i n i ng to be paid. Also , account the sums authorised to be borrowed by all railway comp; 'tiles under the ' were given them by Acts of th p e two last sessions of Parliament. Also, ac ount of all sums borrowed by all the several railway companies from the p er i o d of their commencement to the present time ; distinguishin g each year, and stating the amount of such debt still ciutstancling ; stating also the rate of interest at which such bums were borrowed, and the several periods when the moue yso borrowed is promised to be repaid. Also, an ac count of the amount which each of the several railway cons panie s have still power ;to borrow by their several Acts of core i.ament. And also, account of the proposed amount of capital, and of the proposed power of borrowing, of all rail says of which notice has been given to the Railway Com :nisi 'loners, of Bills intended to be presented to Parliament duri ing the present session. Account of the value of all _gold and silver coin and bullion in the Bank of England at the several periods when the returns are mad e public, from the Ist January, 1846, down to the latest perm id. Also a monthly return of Exchequer-bills, held by the Bane of England during the same period. Also return of the amot tnt of discounted bills by the Bank of England during the same period. And also, return of all investments by the Bank of E ngland in the bonds, debentures, or other engagements for L orrowing money of any railway company; stating the perio ds of such investments, the rate of interest at which they mere made, the periods of promised repayment, and the sums still r ernaining due to the bank. This Earl of CLARENDON said that with regard to the first .and second returns moved for by the Noble Lord, there could be no objection to the granting of them, but as regarded the of '.her three he did not conceive it fair to the Bank of Eng land t o give an opportunity to joint-stock companies and other bankit ig rivals, to know the whole of their investments and privats- business—business the particulars of which was even denied by the directors to their own proprietors. The Noble Lord 0 ten read the 6th clause, to show what returns they were compel led to make weekly. Parliament had, therefore, limited the am ount of information necessary to be published, and those returns were accordingly published by the Bank of England every week. If these returns were granted, a pre cedent it light be established for calling upon the Bank of England to give i nformation as to the amount of assistance furnished by the Baal cto each merchant or other party. The Noble Lord had not brought forward any grounds for his motion, and he thought that if the returns were granted, it would be con sidered as a slur upon the conduct of the directors, and detri mental to the interests of the Bank. He hoped, therefore, that the Noble Lord would not press his motion. Lord ASHBURTON thought, that considering the present state of the circulation, it was necessary to have the returns he had n toyed for, in order to show to what extent the c irculation had been affected by the new species of public securities by investments in railways. It was quite true that Parliament ban stated what returns were to be published, but that was no reason why the director a of the Bank of England should refuse, out of cour tesy, to , grant those returns, which were necessary to assist the Governs neat in conducting the financial affairs of the country. Lord MONTE AGLE observed that he did not think there woald b e any objection on the part of the Bank to grant the returns. The returns, if they were furnished, would afford the House the means of judging of the vast extent to which railway speculations were being carried, and would, perhaps, lead them to be chary of passing such a large number of Bills, within a limited period, as they had been in the habit of doing. Yet he did not think. the returns necessary as his Noble Friend seemed to him tr, possess all the knowledge which was ne cessary f or the (Nei :t which h e h a d i n view. - Lord BROUGHAM said those who did not possess so much knowledge of the Proceedings in the Bank parlour'' p 1 ' as his Noble Friend (L or d A lonteagle) could not -forrm, an acc urate opinion on th e su bj ect. The withdrawal of the motion would not preclude the Bank of England from volun tarily offering the desired information; but if they did not do so he should think they had some motive for withholding it. Lord II.SHRURTON begged to be understood as casting no reflection whatever upon the Bank, for he w as conv i nced that they were a highly honourable body. He called for this information with other views, and not with the view of in any way impugning its credit. After a few words from the Earl of RADNOR the motion was agreed to. LAST DAY FOR APPOINTING RAILWAY COM- Lord REDESDALE moved that no Committee should be appointed on any railway Bill after the sth of July neat. The motion was agreed to. Lord STANLEY presented two petitions. The first peti tion was from a large number of farmers and landed prop ititors against the use of sugar in rtisttllenes ; the second was from several distillers in Scotland, praying that their Lord ships would not sanction a lower rate of duty than 4s. 10d. per gallon on rum. SUGAR BREWERY AND DISTILLERY BILL. Earl GREY presented a petition from the Standing orn rnittee of the West India planters, praying for the remission of all duti es on sugar used in distilleries and breweries. Lord MONTEAGLE presented a similar petition from the agents of the %Vest India planters to the same effect. Lord CLA RENDON presented three petitions, one from the Nlauritiu s association ; one from the members of the London W. st India and China Association; and one from the merchants and traditis oJ London. to the sane effect. Lord MOUN f CASH EL presented a petition front the agr!culttnis.ts of Macroom, in the county of Cork, praying their Lordships to protect agricultural interests against the operation's of the Brewing and Distilling Sugar Bill now be fore the House. The Earl of CLARENDON said that it had been Bald that this measure ought. to he a ieraporary one, and that it had been iun€ , d in the measures of the Noble Lord at the head of the with Otter measures of a temporary nature. No, v. although there existed a most distressing famine in Ireland, and h e b e li eved that this measure would, if passed, tend to set free a great quantity of food for the people of Ireland, still he would say, that if that distress had not existed, the Government would have been bound to introduce this measure, in conse quence of the pledge given at the close of last session by her Majesty's Government. The colonists of the West Indies, therefore, claimed this Bill as a right. If the present measure were to be a temporary one, and only to last till next Septem ber, there would be no security whatever to the brewer, the distiller, or the colonist, and the greatest amount of evil would result from the speculation to which the measure would give rise. He would explain to the house the operation of the proposed measure. The duty on malt was 21s. 60. per quarter ; the duty upon 180 lbs. of sugar, which would be equivalent in yield to one quarter of malt, was `92s. 6d. He was not, however. quite sure but that from the improved modes adopted by the brewers, he had reouced 1801bs. of sugar to an estimate mach ton low to be compared with a quarter of malt. He believed that 200, or even 2101bs. of sugar was nearer the mark. If, therefore, 1811bs. of sugar (taking the lowest estimate), paid 225. 6d. duty, and one quarter of malt paid 21s. 90., it was clear that the Government would be a loser to a trifling amount-9d. upon each quarter. He did not think. however, that sugar could ever be substituted for malt, except. when malt was excessively high, or sugar exceedingly low. Malt was from 87s. to 89s. per quarter, and already the price of beer had been raised Id. per pot, at the rate of 25 per cent., which to a labouring man was no small consideration. Taking the price of malt at 845.. deducting, however, from that the sum of 2s. 60. as allowance for grains, and the price of 1801bs. of sugar, at 755. 6:1., it would cause a saving to the brewer of the sum of els. upon each quarter, which to the consumer would make a considerable difference. It was the wish of the West Indians, that molasses should be admitted equally with sugar for the purposes of brewing. The Govern ment, however, did not think it expedient to accede to those wishes. The duty on molasses was ss. 9d., and if 2521b5. of molasses equalled one quarter of malt, the duty , would require to be raised from ss. 9d. to 9s. 4d., in order to place them upon the same footing. Molasses varied very much in the am oun t o f saccharine matter, and different rates of duty would be required in order to make it equivalent to the rate of duty now imposed ; and great expense to the State and inconvenience to the brewer would be caused by the Excise officers, whose supervision would of course be required. Now, with respect to the use of sugar in distillation : the present amount of duty levied upon spirits equalled a sum of 5,200,0001. The great obstacle hitherto to the use of sugar in distilleries has been the amount of duty levied upon it. British spirit was produced from a mixture consisting of 2 parts malt, 1 part oats, and 18 parts of barley ; and the spirit the result of that distillation was 7s. 10d. per gallon. It was now proposed that the duty upon the sugar should be the same as upon the spirits distilled from grain. In order to carry this into effect, it was proposed that the dis tiller should take the sugar out of bond, paying the duty upon it, and when be paid his spirit duty an allowance should be made to him equal to the difference of the sums he had paid upon the sugar and the sum he would have had to pay upon the malt. Now the quantity of spirit produced from sugar had been proved by experiments made in the years 1799. 1812, and 1831, by the excise officers themselves, and also by a most eminent chemist, that the yield of 1121bs. of sugar was equal to 11} gallons of spirits at proof. Upon this 11} gallons of spirits produced from 112Ibs. of sugar a drawback of 12s. 100. would be allowed, the duty upon that quantity of sugar would be about 14s. in ordinary times, when the price of barley was 305., he did not think, therefore, that agriculturists would have much cause for apprehending a diminished consumption of barley. Believing that it was most expedient to pass the mea sure without delay, he hoped the House would go at once into Committee on the Bill. Lord STANLEY hoped before he proceeded to comment on the statement of the Noble Earl that he should not be consi dered disrespectful if he drew the attention of their Lordships to a portion of the speech delivered by the Queen at the com mencement of the session. Her Majesty in her speech stated " that it would be the duty of Parliament to consider what further measures will be required to alleviate the distress," and recommending Parliament " to take into its serious consider ation whether increasing for a limited period facilities for im porting the corn of foreign countries, and the admission of sugar into breweries and distilleries, might not be beneficial." It will not be denied, that when Parliament met, the inference to be drawn from that recommendation was, that her Majesty's Government would advise Parliament, with a view to the mitigation of the existing distress, to adopt mea sures to promote a freer admission of corn tree of duty, and the freer admission of sugar into breweries and distilleries ;. and he could not but repeat the regret which he had al ready expressed, that this Bill, unlike some of the others, proposed for th- purpose of alleviating that distress, should par take of a permanent instead of a temporary nature.-(Cheers.) He was sure every one in that House would do him the justice to say, that the temporary measures propounded by the Go vernment had not met, in that or the other House of Parlia ment, with any factious opposition, or that their progress had been unduly retarded.-( Hear, hear.) He thought the Go vernment itself would admit that no disposition had been shown to interrupt for a single moment the passing of mea sures which were proposed for the purpose of remedying the distress that prevailed.-( Hear, hear.) The utmost be contended was this-that if his Noble Friend had intro duced this as a temporary measure there would have been no occasion for discussion-no occasion for a Select Committee I f f or t w h a e r y d had into a a t hae temporary mer tsof in t h e e aso p r r e o vi sion. brought t is o t a t i e n cl q ut ire e t i t the sole purpose of allev iatin g that distress, he was satisfied with respect to this a nd the other measures no opposition partake of a temporary character - that it was would have been offered.-( Hear, hear); but when he f ound that it did not not brought forward as a remedy for that distress or, rather brought forward under cover of that dis tress, for the purpose of altering a great portion of our commercial policy, he did not think he went too far in saying that the slight examination to which the Bill, if it had been temporary, would have been subjected could be fol lowed, and that they should not do well to pass ouch a measure without they had the fullest information as to the effect which it would have upon the sugar producers of other countries, and upon the barley growers of this. Another course was adopted in 1795 and 1803, and upon many subsequent occasions, when it was found that a sufficient quantity of grain could not be obtained for the purposes of brewing and distilling, as the measures brought forward at those periods for allowing the use of sugar were tem porary. If the Government had come forward and said, as other Governments had said in proposing similar measures, that the stock of grain was small, and that it was desirable to econo mise the use of grain in .breweries till the next harvest; he should not have opposed a measure which proposed to admit sngar in breweries and distilleries in lieu of grain. No diffi culty would have been experienced in obtaining the sanction of Parliament to such a measure. His Noble Friend had talked about a pledge which was given to the West Indian interests last year; but he (Lord Stanley) knew of no pledge, nor of anything the Government had for making a pledge, that in this session measures would be proposed for facilitating the admission of their sugar into this country for brewing and distilling. A pledge given at the end of last session that those interests should receive the early attention of Parliament this session was not tantamount to a pledge to bring forward such a measure in this. But what he (Lord Stanley) said was-do not let them take the necessity of this measure from the Government; but let them see whether they had justice and policy on their side, and whether what was declared by them to be a great boon would not be found to be absolutely nugatory and ineffectual, hut rather a boon to the foreign producer of slave grown sugar.-(Hear, hear.) The West Indian interests would gain nothing, as but a small portion of their sugar would be imported, and the gradually diminishing rate of duty upon all sugars would more and more bring producers of slave-grown sugar into competition with West Indian sugar, and with the producers of barley in this country. The Noble Earl, in speaking of Canadian corn, alluded to a speech deli vered by him (Lord Stanley), in which he expressed an opinion favourable to putting the producers of that corn on an equal footing with the producers of cern at home. He had no doubt that he stated, on behalf of the Government, that a pledge had been given that the subject should receive conside ration in the interim, and that a motion, which was then be fore the House, was withdrawn on that understanding, but when and where the pledge he had already referred to was given he was at a loss to know. Lord GREY said it was given in the House of Commons during the progress of the Sugar Duties Bill. Lord STANLEY proceeded to comment upon the state ment made by the Noble Earl that " restrictions upon trade could not be permanently maintained, and that they could not permanently place duties on their own colonies," Now he (Lord Stanley) thought the Government were, in speaking thus, following a course, the progress of which they should watch with jealousy. First of all, measures had been passed for abolishing the protection which the British agriculturists had for years enjoyed, using as an argument in favour of it that a measure to cheapen the price of sugar should follow it ; and now the West Indian interests claimed a similar advantage. He watched the measure with much jealousy owing to what had taken place during the last few weeks. At the commence ment of the session they were told that a temporary suspension of the navigation laws was necessary. There was not a dis sentient voice to its passing as a temporary measure ; but what followed? A motion was made in the other House of Parliament on the ground that, as all other restrictions had been removed, that the ship owners had no right to maintain a monopoly; and that the colonies anynat had a right ion; but thet t a o rg r o e m cei en v h argument was w t awa er produce hr i eicehei hyeadd,m in the anaddetthhee sh ipr i r ps of noapvo s w i t h o :t n w i ere ewr was, s d w o o p u t e l d d , t o h a a w t e pon p r t o t a e w c t a i as an useless relic of former times. But what course did her Majesty': Government pursue? They gave th e propos i t i on their corial support. and consented to the appointment of a Committee. Sometimes when a question was brought forward for examination on ou thought it convenient the ofoanctvsaieridt to refusefiguresi an inquiry.thenvolve ltto be their co removed, Govern mentace account g produce of the Although the and tNoblehat theyL ocrodul could stated n ot t h h u a t t restrictions the o by high duties, yet in the third clause of the Bill it onies that if any brewer should make use of any appearedlaa e , sugar, syrup, honey, except on what the d u ty had laseesn, paid, or having them in his house, should be liable to a fine of 2001.-( Hear, hear.) He did not say that that was an im proper restriction for the purposes of revenue, yet this was consonant with their free trade notions.-( Hear.) If the principles of free trade were to be held sacred, he saw no reason why,at least, they should not be extended to home pro duce. -( Hear.) If the tigures of the Noble Earl were cor rect, the measure could hardly alleviate the present distress, at the present price of malt and barley. What he wished to urge upon their Lordships was, that before they adopted this principle that they should be satisfied by inquiries that those calculations were correct. He almost despaired to make the calculations intelligible, on which the expediency of the measure was based. He said it had been assumed that 112 lbs. of sugar were equivalent to eleven gallons and a-half of spirits, .but then, h e went on to say, to fi n d an equ i va l en t i n barley and in malt you must examine what quantity of sprits they would produce, and upon the fact of those quantities the correctness of his calculations depended. The Noble Earl said he was undecided whether 200 lbs. of s a quarter of ma lt was equ al to 180 lbs. or sugar, and yet on that difference, amount ing somewhere to about two gallons, one-tenth, the Noble Earl to bring th ese two , on . these figu r e s , was prepared commodities into close competition. He said, however, he wound ar ,, ue on the - assumptlon that. 1801bs. would prickles that, (rant' t - If ' ' he w ou ld re f er to th e ev id en ce adduced b e f ere a C ommit tee in 1831, he would tr tdictory s t a t ements. Onefind - molt ou g ht. t o p ro d uce 18i; ;another, said that a quarter of ier, that 18 gallons ought to be produced trim a quarter of the malted largely an d t h at the highest very best malt ; an d t h a t h e h a d lens from a qua r t er o f ma l t, and u,a a t mount obtain e d was 18 gal the lowest was 14, but that the average was 16 gallons. The diff and 20 gallons was j us t th e value erefnce one , therefor e b etween 16 o Another stated that e i g ht een gallons ought to be p ro d uce d f rom fifth• of the article. very superior barley malt. M r . Ure, who be fore the Committee, stated th at the produce was examined quantity was not eighteen, nor sixteen, but fifteen from th e same If that were so, instead o f making the fifteen gallons. the Noble Lord, they would have to compare Comparison of with 16 2 difference tlature of th e compet s. There would, therefore, be a on which had to be decided the of ‘1 . itiou between :hose different articles. Where state ments were so varied, it was incumbent upon th em to inquire carefully into the statistics, before coming to a determin at i on , as the operation of such a measure could not fail, ultimately, to injure the agricultural and colonial produce, by the intro duction of foreign sugar at a small duty. He found, when *lie experiment was tried on which the Government relied for the success of this measure, the price of flavattnah sugar was 495. S o pp„so ss s on St , e valcul.tien of the Noble Ei,l, th at . a quarter of malt was equal to 201 pounds of sugar was correct, the calculations of the Excise Commis sieuers at bOs. 4d. was equivalent to the price of malt at 90e. not be brought into comp etition with i s f ag t a h r at co w u a ld s per quarter, but until malt was at 4 it 0 . 5 , time. principle so, it disposed of the measu re as a remedy for the present distress, T h e Noblebecause a h t a t d h the adopted,prese prices in p o in sugar fact,could t not he b brou g ht . at the present into competition with malt and barley of the sliding scale. He ( Lord Stanle y ) was surprised to hear it. He said that he would admit sugar practically, but that he would admit it just in proportion to the rising or th e fall ing of of the price of corn, and then p assin g over the operation the slitting scale, in other respec ts, he came th f e p orw u a r r p d os a e nd of to a l vid d o th in em that they must adopt the m easure,g the uncertainty in the pric es of colon ial pro duce. That un certainty being, according to the Noble Ear l , dependent i w u o c u t l u d a t n i n o g t th p e r n i cs' enter e in n p t r o od t h u a c t t production u o l f ati t o h n e , article hee ause itself. itwo Pon the oet as a matter of discussion for that House ; it was a matter of dis cussion for a Committe e, where it could be examined and tested and sifted, and if her Majesty's Ministers wore correct in their statement, he was sure that there would be no indis position on the part of those who advocated the principle of p ro t ec tion for the country , and ado p ted the measure without looking whether the res ult u p on the metoifacturing intsrest, or the benefit of the colonies were likely to be derived from it was better calculated. He wished to call the attention of the House to the manner in which the Noble Earl thought the colonies likely to be benefited by this measure. If the colonies were to be benefited by this measure, the greatest benefit to them must be the greatest rise in the price of sugar ; but if a rise took place in the price of sugar—unless a large and material rise—took place in the duty on other sugars, it was impossible that the colonial produce could come into con sumption at all. The Noble Earl said that a very large in crease in the consumption of this country must benefit the West Indies very much. But if any increase in the consump tion of sugar in this country would benefit the West Indian in terest, while the duties were low, and the duties on other pro duce remaining fixed, what hope was there of the slave-grown produce being diminished? On the contrary, he believed, that any increase in the consumption of sugar in this country, would increase the consumption of slave-grown sugar also ; and if the price of the sugar rose, while the duty of the slave-grown sugar still remained fixed, the colonial produce could not come into competition with it. In the course of the year 1844, the con sumption of sugar in this country was 206,000 tons. In 1945, the consumption was 240,000 tons of British sugar, and 3,867 tons of foreign ; making altogether 244,000 tons, as the consumption of the year 1845. Supposing that the consumption of the last month of the year 1846 was a fair average for the remainder of the year, the total consumption of sugar would have risen in 1846 from 244,000 tons to 266,000 tons. Was that for the advantage of the colonial grower? The result was, that, of that amount, 244,000 tons in the first year-240,000 tons British and 3,867 tons foreign ; and in the second year, 266,000 tons, the produce of British possessions, tliV the foreign slave grown sugar increased from 3,867 tons to 28,196 tons.—( Hear, hear.) Unless he was wrongly informed, that increase was going on at the pre sent moment—for, during the first six weeks of this year— where there were 27,000 tons of sugar introduced against 13,000 tons of the same period last year—there had been an increase of 1,500 tons of British sugar as compared with last year, whilst there has been an increase of 7,772 tons of foreign slave-grown sugar. He stated as this, the result of one of their late measures. That increase in the consumption of slave grown sugar being the result of the opening of the ports to sugar which had already taken place; but the stimu us they had given to the slave trade had not had time to work. It was the surplus of former production which had now come in, and it came in under a duty of 21s. against a duty of I4s. Let them take the state of things three years hence—the year 1850. The increased market for foreign slave-grown sugar would then be in operation. They would have assisted cultivation, extended the importation of slaves, and increased the produc. tion—and that increased production would come in com petition with that of colonial growth. In 1850 they would have an additional seven shillings per quarter in favour of the foreign slave-grown sugar, and could it be doubted that it would have the effect of increasing the consumption of slave grown sugar in this country? if it had any effect at all it would be to increase the consumption of slave-grown sugar. and the benefit would not go to the colonies but to the pro ducers in the Havannah and the Brazils. The Noble Earl had referred to the case of the distilleries, and had told his Noble Friend that when malt was at 60s. per quarter, it would require sugar to be at 365. in order to render it possible to make it come in competition. In the first place, that de pended altogether upon the question not only of the quality of the spirit which was to be forced from the sugar—a question which was altogether omitted from the consideration of her Majesty's Government— but also on the amount to be extracted from one quarter of the malt. When the Noble Earl said that 365. must be the price at which sugar must be in the market to be introduced into this country, and at that price it further appeared that out of the 365. a drawback of Its. 10d. was to be received by the importer on the con version of the sugar into spirit, it was to be received back in the shape of a drawback—the most objection able of all modes of receiving it—which covered nearly the whole amount of duty. It was a subject which did deserve the consideratiun of a Committee, and it was most desirable that the Home should be satisfied of the prospect of a large importation of sugar. The Noble Earl had quite forgotten until then, to inquire whether the duty on sugar was as low as it was at the present time, and now it was about to be still lower than ever it had been. When the Noble Earl said that sugar was never as low as 355., he (Lord Stanley) begged to remind him that in 1830, Jamaica sugar was brought into this market and sold for 435., paying a duty of 245., and a very short time ago. Havannah sugar which the Commissioners of Excise declared to be 3 per cent. better than the ordinary run of foreign sugar, was brought into this country at 21s. minus the duty, so that a drawback of 12s. 10d. made it consumable value about 225. 2d., so that even if the price of Jamaica sugar, which was 19s. minus the duty, were raised 2s. higher than it was in 1835, the price of sugar would he 22s 10., instead of 365., as stated by the Noble Earl. He was not pro- posing to their Lordships to reject this Bill. If it were a tem porary measure, and he could see in it a prospect of relief, be would say, " Adopt it at once, and make no inquiry," but if they were asked and invited to take this measure avowedly in the course of free trade, and as one cf the measures in the course of free trade policy to which they must come, and through which they must adopt measures which would lead still farther, because it was impossible to continue any restric tion upon trade—if they were invited to take this course, which would have a permanent effect upon their commercial policy, he would say—do not take this step blindfold ; do not take it upon the statement of the President of the Board of Trade. All he asked was, that the House should examine into it, by the evidence of competent witnesses, who would to the best of their judgment show—not for present purposes, but ultimately arid permanently—the effect of the measure upon the intetest of the sugar cultivation in the West Indian colonies, and upon the slave grown and produce of Cuba. He asked that they should adopt measures which would satisfy their own minds as to the effects which would be produced by this Bill, and then vote for it—if they ultimately decided upon voting for it as a permanent measure—with their eyes open. That was all he proposed, all he asked from their Lordships, that they shook: legislate on this important question with satisfaction to the public. and with satisfaction to themselves; that they should examine not only the papers produced by the officers of the excise, however credible and worthy they might be, but that they should inquire from other sources to satisfy themselvesthat they were not doing mischief where it was their earnest desire to' do good, and that they were not injuring the cultivation of the colonies under the plea of relieving a temporary distress, which the measure, as he was convinced, would not do. He asked that they should not do mischief upon the plea of grant ing a boon to the colonies, which the Bill would not do, and it was upon these grounds, and not professing any opposition or hostility to the measure, but merely with a desire to be satisfied, that he invited their Lordships to refer this Bill, not to a Committee of the whole' House, but to a Select Committee, where the facts might be investigated carefully, stated with a tolerab:e certainty, and where a deliberate judgment could be come to as to the probable effect of the measure.—(The No ble Lord sat down amidst loud cheers, but rose again immedi ately, and moved that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee. ) Earl GREY said that he could not help thinking, from the speech of his Noble Friend who had just sat down, that he (Lord Stanley) had a very bad cause indeed ; because he knew so well his Noble Friend's ingenuity, that whenever he saw him during the greater part of his speech altogether leaving the great question before the House, and entertaining their Lordships with very ingenious and acute arguments upon points which hail nothing to do with the real merits of the mea sure, he felt very certain indeed that his Noble Friend had a consciousness in his mind that the cause which he was defending was a bad and a rotten one. Their Lordships would recollect the course of his Noble Friend's speech, and they would per ceive how completely, in the greater part of it, he had avoided the real merits of this case. He had entered upon an argument at some length, and read a passage from her Majesty's speech at the opening of the session, for the purpose of proving that in that speech this measure was introduced to Parliament as a measute intended to relieve a temporary distress, and, there fore, not to be a permanent one. On that point he had only to say, that whatever might be the construction which the words were capable of bearing, the intention which the passage of the speech conveyed was well known ; because some explanation on the point was sought by his Noble Friend on the first night of the session, and it would be in the recollection of their Lord ships who were present at the time, that it was stated distinctly that this measure, with respect to the introduction of sugar in breweries and distilleries was intended to be a permanent one. His Noble Friend had commented at some length on this verb subject, and had objected to that course. He, therefore, ad mitted his Noble Friend's view of the Royal speech so far, and what was the result ? merely that her Majesty's Ministers in the wording of the Queen's speech, had not shown them selves very skilful im composition -( Loud laughter.) That was the whole result of the long and elaborate argument of his Noble Friend. His Noble Friend had also endeavoured to alarm the House, with regard to the measure itself, and had objected to the dangerous policy to be pursued in the present instance, and referred to the pledge given by the Government upon this Bill in the other House. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the other House, had stated that it was im possible, at the then late period of the session, to enter fully upon the consideration of this complicated question, and pro mised to place sugar upon an equality with corn in distilleries, so as to benefit the British colonies. The pledge given by the Government h a d no t b oun d t h e H ouse , but it had bound the with Government. Wh en on t h e ot h er s id e o f the House, they had given it ou t as t h e i r conviction that dut i es s h ou ld on ly be im posed a viewand cap ital increasing fro m thei r the revenue,natural sources. dnot to turn as industry But ih a Noble Friend said that C the appointment of this orn mittee was getting themselves into the position of the fine edge of the wedge. Did that not mean that they had not understood the subject. But, further, he thought that he did hear something of the hostile intentions of the Committee. He the more believed that he was right in this opinion, because he had hear his Noble and Learned Friend on the Woolsack say, ,‘ Oh that gives us a clue to what will be, and, therefore, I pre sume this Select Committee is a convenient instrument for rejecting the measure to which we are asking you to assent." But what were the grounds on which the Committee was asked ? What were the legitimate grounds of this inquiry? What were the principles which they believed ? They considered that the sugar of their colonies ought to came into consumption subject to no impositions save what the safety of the country required. if required for distillation or brewing, th e y oug h t so to arrange it that n o more bias would b e in l eft on the m i n d s o f distillers or brewer s than the case of there being no tax levied at all. I f their object wa s s to raise a revenue, then th e y should so imptoe a far that the'. sould tot in any d eg! ce g i ve h au been levied at all. The did not require a Committea greater bias than i f' no taxe Y to ascertain if this was a good principle or a bad one. He maintained t hat the lrinciple wa s carried out. His Noble Friend m ade as curious a confusion • between malt and ra w grainas he had between sugar and is (Lord soGrey's ) deth, molasses, and he had got far bey ond .im. The rev on he belie p ved although ' h he h a d tried to follow hheouse that there was some he could not follow h im was La if he followed his Noble confusion in his own mind, u soive iteelf into simply this— Friend's argument it would re brewer or sii,i ilter to use ge t h e • . would it answer the purpo se ue , ,ti ,„ o with which they had sugar or not ? That was a ( 1, ni f o r the manufacturer to nothing to do. That was ( Pl" t 1 :",, a , t o take care that the determnse. All they , the m a t had ttl - iu facturer should not revenue was so conducted that ile wou e b bene be injur e d, a t th e sam e time filet. the f the b greatest importance fired. This measure would be °- seaso n, by pre " giving a security in a 11; 1.- & s t i lling, while it venting the u - e of malt in The tendency prevented sugar falling to roineusis low } iris:'.. .;on of prices. of the measurs would be to give an equalises. • that was They new that the smallest quantity , -ter of capable of yielding an equal amount of spirit with a qua. ''ile malt, was 180 lbs. The malt paid a duty of 1/. is. Dal /14. the sugar paid 1/. 2e. 6d., so that this measure on the most unfavourable calculation they could take, would not give the smallest advantage or abatement of the tax on sugar, and if they took sugar on its real calculation of 200 lbs. to the quar ter of malt, it would, instead of 1/. Is. Bd., pay a tax of 11. bs., therefore, in this respect, there could be no partial duty. The question was one of such perfect equality that it would be in vain to refer it to a Committee. With respect to spirits it was equally clear, and he did not think that any man had ever maintained that the drawback on sugtr was more than was necessary, in order to put distillers in sugar, and distillers in malt, on an equal footing; he said there was no doubt that they had, as nearly as possible, equalised the burdens on these classes of manufacturers. Now, he never recollected a case in which a matter of this kind was referred to a Select Committee. The practice was, that the Govern ment for the time, acting fairly towards all parties, should make some proposal to Parliament ; if they were wrong, their views were contested, and the House divided ; but if they ap pealed from their views, they should apreal to one of the Houses of Parliament, and not to a Select Committee. A Chancellor of the Exchequer, he forgot which it was, but in a proposal of this kind, one of the Chancellor's of the Ex chequer said, that he would never consent to have his office put in commission. If his Noble Friend thought that their calculations were wrong he might have prop sed an amendment, and the question would have been fairly discussed, and they on that side of the House would have been prepared to defend their ow n. He would remind their Lordships that his Noble Friend wished them to go into a sort of fishing Committee, in order to distoter, if possibleelsome error which was not before them. He mile; said, ‘• you are wrong." but he did not tell them where they , were not right. He (Earl Grey) confidently appealed to their• lord ships not to assent to a course which was unusual, not to say inconvenient. There was one point in his Noble Friet td's ar gument which excited in his mind so much surprise t had he must advert to it. He (Lord Stanley) said " this he si ipi tosed was a measure for the advantage of the colouies, I out the colonies knew nothing about it." He (Lord Grey) pr ese nted petitions from the West India planters, and his Noble Fr iend beside him presented similar petitions from the China Associa tion in favour of this measure, yet his Noble Friend said they knew nothing about it. He said that the measure was for the benefit of the slave sugar grower. Their Lordships might remember that by the provisions of the Bill passed last ! session, the duty upon slave grown sugar would be reduced eve ey year till, at the end of five years, the duty upon slave grown and colonial sugar would be equalized, and during that per iod the proposed measure would operate in favour of the colonial planters. There was advantage to be gained from the extension of competition. This was a proposition so plain that it could hardly bear argument. He could not help saying th at his Noble Friend, whoa he said " competition in sugar would be injuries 5 to the colonial planter." He entertained the most confident belief that the British colonists would be enabled to reduce the . prices of sugar, and he could not help expressing the greatest. satis • faction at the evidences which were afforded them, both it 1 the West Indies and in the Mauritius, of the tendencies on tin : part of the planters to introduce a better mode of cultivation and generally improving their system of growing, so as to him -ease the amount of their produce. These improvements were pro gressive in Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua, and in almost the whole of the colonies. The planters were beginning to see the identity of the species, and they were commencing to im prove the condition of the negro. He believed that th e crop which was now in course of comieg to the markets of this country would turn out greatly superior to former crop. ,; and in proof of the progressive improvement, he might itestance w the imports within the last few years. In the year 18.15 , the imports amounted to 45,000 tons ; in the year 1846 the a tate ment was 50,000 tons ; and at the present time there wer e in on nurse that o of f b l e B in 4 g s. se F n o t rtothtehsies reasons sy he 6 id rejecttons, 0 ,00 oao be th in e st g m7end in crease of one-fifth on the produce of last year, or 15,000 tons ment of the Noble Lord. Lord ASHBURTON totally objected to the course a legis lation adopted on this subject. The negroes in the British colonies, with an inferior soil, were expected to cope with the cheap labour and better soil of Cuba and the Brazils, and the result would naturally be, that the British colonists would he driven out of the m.arkets. They were seeking to reduce the price of a small article of consumption, by sacrificing the interest and live s of hundreds and thousands of individuals. There never was a subject which demanded more of their Lordships' consid era hen than this, because the measure itself depended upon evedonce and calculation. It would lead to the introduction of the worst kinds of sugar into breweries, and thus it would have the additional effect of stimulating the slave-trade. It was rather ineonsistent tor them to be spending large sums of money in attempts to suppress the slave-trade, while they were directly stimulating it in another way. Lord MONTEAGLE wished to explain the vote he was about to give, because he did not wish it to go abroad that he was supporting a measure of the serious character repress nted by the Noble Lord. Whatever might be its effects up on. the t evenue, it had become absolutely necessary that sugar tihould, fur the present, be introduced into breweries, but re illy its effect upon the sugar market would be so insignificant, that it was not worth while instituting any inquiry into that branch of the subject. Its effect upon the market, it had been de monstrated, would be infinidecimally small. In saying thus much, however, he did not wish to commit himself upon the measure for the reduction of the duty on rum. There he thought an inquiry was necessary, and, when that Bill came before them, he should vote accordingly.—( Hear.) The Duke of RICHMOND said it had been urged that this measure would confer no very material benefit upon any class, and that in his opinion was a sufficient reason for inquiry - . In his opinion the measure would produce injury rather than good. The Noble Lord, who had just sat down, had told them that there was a Bill about to come up to that House thee he was anxious should be inquired into, because it was based upon erroneous calculations. Now, these two Bills. came from the same shop, and if the one was wrong he had a right to suppose that the other was; too. Last session the agricultural party had been deceived, with the free-trade measure, and it was the duty of their Lordships to see that they were not deceived again.—( Hear.) The manly declaration of his Noble Friend now at the head of the Board of Trade admitted as much, and he must be allowed to say that he better liked a fair and manly opponent than an insidious friend.—(Hear, hear.) It was the duty of their Lordships not to allow any measure to pass without a f all and ample inquiry into its details, or the agricultural party might be victimised again.—(Hear, hear.) If they wanted to give the people good wholesome beer, let them get rid of the malt-tax.—(Hear.) A partner of Mr. Whitb read in his evidence given before the committee which sat upon this subject said, beer made from sugar was wretched stuff, and the only wy to make it good an wholesome was to antefa ctur it from English malt and hops. d He e asked whether the parti e sans of that measure would go to the hustings and say to the people, " We promised you cheap bread, but chea . e , b a r .r e i d ad yod have riot got ; but now we promise y ou cheap beer ,' some p o or man, more daring than his nei g hbour, would to its this cheap beer, which would half p oison him and all his boon COM• t hsei. bee panions.—(Laughter. ) H e thou g ht that Parliamen w hi c h ulti n for some time in the hab it of passing measures h e ir defects, gav e mately in their operation , by t e of passing little satisfaction to the country, in coesequene measures with little inquiry, or wit h no in q uiry at all, and they s ect the might expect by and bye that the country would not re d p erstood measures of Parliament at all. He begged to be u_ Committee that he did nut give his vote for going into Select that c h e for the purpose of defeating the Bill, and heh op edf t. i t Noble Lords who agreed with him would get credit or _ orti_ it was no intention of theirs to defeat the Bill by mittee which had been moved tor; indeed, if the Noble Lor d in that Committee should make out the ca se which he had p re - Bill sented, he (the Duke of Richmond) woul d support the, ed j ibe operation, he certainly would like to know, before the Bill pas h s alf the operation, that the effect of it would not be torn oin side people.—( Laughter. ) Much had been said the othe r in the about putting off the Bill ; but surely could case of this last, of all the measures, there days, be no objection to deferring for two or thraeeveeaayse, or even a week. He had always been the d . t minds of for inquiry, as that which was most satisfactory to the d ino the people—inquiry into those subjects where inquiry ha r. tendency to unsettle the public mind on great public merca .. • ile interests. lie and his Noble Friends d id not ac t as the n laws, free traders had done in reference to the nav gatio eid fin. with minds hostilely set against these laws. TheY if n r y • ing i t were this Select Committee in a friendly spirit , belles, of the granted that it would assist the manufacturing interes ts of country, and certainly not destroy the maritime supremacy the nation, and render her a secondary power in Europe . r Lord ships, BEAUMONT said, in rising to address their would ships, he was convinced most distinctly that thi . 13 111 t could pro either effect the intended object, or certainly that e l k that any duce no harm. He was rather inclined t° thi roduced any effect it should produce would be very small if it ld p at all injure at all. But he could not suppose that it wou ld at any any colonial interests. If he were called th e n am o amendment, he argument in support of this, and against..tohhee _ I Lord who had would instance the speech made by the N That Noble Lord moved far the Select Committee • onl ex hausting the had moved for it in a speech not y b u t exhausting general principles of the subject, oble Lord c redit for it in the details. He would g ive the corr ect. The Nob le his statements and his calcu lations; "N d clations which Lord, however, who followed p ut forva r fi uresalcu were from 180 varied from those considerably, for his g Nobl e Lord rented, l•ulations the. so 210. But on whatever ca c into competi tiond never come he was convinced that sugar would never would only be with barlet, for sugar used in of barley. In the used in assistance to the inferior qua lit ies Riven in evidence Committee on the subject last year, it wa s r Realities of barley, that there was no market for the infersioewq assistance would and therefore sugar coming into use he sale of barley. But rather be in favour of than against t ertace, was one which this Bill, which was of little or nor imp airily one which would pro would produce little effect, d . r, s led c e e ct that the Bill was bat a part duce no harm. He ackn °:ig n ofgmeasures some of them already of a consequence and a chat t to follow. — (Hear , hear.) He p assed ' and som e o f them ye t h a t when they had passed that fi rst step, by repealing t always had maint ain ed e corn - laws, it would be an injustice to &in y f u ll, If their Lordships had adopted stop short of fre e ti's t h e carr that out into all the ramifications of a principle they T . u, d u ties Bill was a necessary sequence to free trade ; the Sughe ar- abolition of differential duties was a Bill. S 1 he Corn ma tter of mere justice to the colonies after the repeal of the duties en c orn ; and this Rill . ._.... ill was a ju s t ' ennsequence and if the colonies de m ande d it their Lordshi p s could notrefus e it. He excise d o ubted not but that a fter the duties had been con siderably reduced on manufactured produce as well h t those - • I produce, t - . titles that should as agriculture .be 'wax re tained. such as the me , which was a burden en land, Would come forward more prominently than ever. The sari I qus of SALIS BURY sad he had been th e mover for the Com mi ttee l as t year to consider the bur heir Lo rdships bur dens on l an d, an d he begged to remind t .. _. ec that the inquiry i n t o th e w effect of th e malt-tax;'ltch h onsidered a burden upon land, b e f or e they h a d well entered • was interrupted therefore, he thought was the time for getting that inquiry it ought not to b e l ost. resu med,The and Noble then Lord pro ceeded in a very few sentences, which were almost inaudible in the gallery, to contend for the reduc tion of the malt tax, a s a compensation for the object proposed by the present Bill. Lord REDESDALE said the princiele of th e Bill b e f ore their Lordship s was not t he r principle of free trade, for that principle was contra dict' o prohibition, p ro d uced by excess in duty on one ar icle ;bu now, in this case, th e re would a , excess O f duty, and ii would be against the British pro ducers, the refiner s of sug a r. He b e l ieve d that for the pur poses of brewing • m alt an d sugar might be reduced to equali ty in duty without bad effects ; but, as in the case of spirits, would not come into competition with malt, he contended surrarr it would become prohibitory if they shouldrelieve sugar and have the duties on malt. He contended, therefore, that t he effect would be to p roduce a p rohi bition against the British producer. The Marquis of WESTMEATH said that he felt it his • Lord, duty to vote against the motion of the N o bl e L o H e could not lend 'time r :lf to any meaeure ca t eolati.a z , o et:sheers the present Government, who h ad taken o ffi ce tin der very peculiar circuandances in their financial ' , lea - ure' Upon all those questions relating to Ire l and, on which cie thought himself better informed than the Government, he would reserve to himself the liberty of voting es he thought proper. Their Lordships then divided on the original motion, when there appeared— Contents Noe-Ceetents ... .. Ajerity .. The bit' then went through Committee without amend ments. DISTILLING FROM SUGAR BILL. This Bill also passed through Committee without amend.. ments. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE laid upon the table of the- House several returns relating to the state of Ireland. Their Lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 19. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. LONDON (CITY) SMALL DEBTS BILL. Mr. MASTERMAN moved the second reading of this Bill. Mr. BODKIN moved the adjournment of the second reading for a week or ten days. This Bill proposed to ex tend to the city;of London the provisions of the Act passed last session for the recovery of small debts. The judge to be appointed under this Bill had not been appointed, in consequence of the existing differences between the Court of Aldermen and Common Council, and he thought it much better to postpone the consideration of this Bill until some adjustment of the differences had taken place. After a few words from Mr. MASTERMAN and Mr. WARBURTON, strangers were ordered to withdraw; no division, however, took place, and the Bill was read a second time. iditure much tiny; a red bY Id car- upon 0 n the t Dec., fi sided ,t4lrota v regis !s of 9'• rig after for the rthwith accept March ❑gdoPl' day of sha re, elide )rieto same ;.; depo sit to tbe e mmie 5, shall 11W, 9r lege 111 ',flCh of chat V 8 nbe;r of b e fill part °J; day °' t fray ball be r ce ot• , ntit led ntet est .icip ate ieetiog -A "V. 847. he fol it 1.40 len';• ne WO. uag . f t he e 3500! was A the Two jection .11or of a ea ch a late c hester Dck, a t It Kam' ind the tottron n read► egister 'or bins Those Ling, AS could( et that Lipp% niles of shed in would on the i n de -9 su6- 1846 , 18 8 14 2 _._--- 12 8 s Who ;ss re- SECOND READINGS. The following Bills were read a second time, and or dered to be committed: — Braintree and Ualstead Railway. Bridge House Estates Debt. Darwen WatPrworks and Reservoirs. Dundee and Newtyle Railway. Dundee and Perth Railway (Alteration and Extension, and Inchture, Polgavie, and Inchmichael Branches). Eastern Counties Railway (Spalding to Newark). Eastern Counties Railway (Peterborough to Folking- ham). Eastern Counties Railway (Wisbech to Spalding). Invern , ss Gas and Water. Kilmarnock Police and Improvement. Leicester Waterworks. Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction Railway (Alteration of Main Line and Mawes Branch. - - London (City) Improvements. Midland Railway (Erewash Valley, Etc.) Pile Pier Extew-sions. Scottish Union Insurance Company. Soutr Staffordshire Railway (Cannock, Wyrley, and Norton Branches, &c.) DROPPED PRIVATE BUSINESS OF THURSDAY. The following Bills, which were appointed to be read yesterday, were read a second time: — Boston, Stamford, and Birmingham Railway (Peter borough and Thorney Line). Cheltenham and Oxford Railway. Edingburgh, Leith, and Granton Railway (Leith Ex tension). Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton Railway (Union Canal and Caledonian Railway Junction). Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle•apon•Tyne Junc tion and Northern Counties Union Railways Amal- gamation. London and South-Western Railway (Andover to the Bishopstoke and S.ilisbury Branch, &3.) NEWPORT. ABERGAVENNY, AND HEREFORD RAILWAY (EXTENSIOF TO TAFF VALE RAILWAY). On the motion of Mr. GREENE, this Bill was read a second time, although more than seven clear days had t.psed since the first reading of the Bill. NEWPORT, ABERGAVENNY. AND HEREFORD RAILWAY DEVIATIONS BILL. Mr. GREENE moved that in the case of this Bill the standing orders, requiring that no more than seven clear days should elapse between the first and second readings, should be set aside.—Motion agreed to. Bill read a second time. NORTHERN COUNTIES UNION RAILWAY DEVIATIONS BILL. I❑ this case the standing order was also dispensed with, and the Bill read a , mond time. Mr. CORBALLY presented a petition from the county of Meath, praying that measures be taken for e►tablishing a system of railways in Ireland, for giving compensation to tenants•at-will for improvements on the land, and for promoting emigration. Major MACNAMARA presented a petition from the county of Clare, praying that measures be taken to em ploy the marine in the importation of foreign corn, to relieve the destitution in Ireland. WASTE LANDS. Mr. 0. GORE presented a petition from the Commis sioners of Waste Lands, praying that they may be em powered to raise loans for the improvement of these lands. COPPER DUTIES. Mr. MUNTZ presented a petition from merchants and manufacturers in Birmingham, praying for the repeal of the duties on copper ore. They complained that those duties since 1831 had been increased nearly 1,000,0001. The lion. Member gave notice that on Monday he should move that the petition be printed. THE BLACK CAT. The HoN. MEMBER said he also had a petition to present from the owners of the " Black Cat " (Laughter) stating that they had suffered great grievances, and complaining of the conduct of the Go vernment. He should move the printing of the petition on Monday. POOR REMOVAL BILL. Several Hon. Members presented petitions against this Bill. THE SMALL DEBTS I3ILL (WALES). Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition from a place in the county of Pembroke, signed by magistrates, clergy men, and other respectable persons, praying that the judges to be appointed under this Act for Wales might be persons possessing a knowledge of the language of the Principality.—(llear, hear.) TEN HOURS' BILL. Mr. FERRAND presented a petition from the mem bers of the Society of United Trades in favour of this Bill. RAILWAYS. Mr. B. ESCOTT wished to present a petition to which be wished to direct the attention of the Honourable Member for Sunderland (Mr. Hudson). It was from a Mr. J. A. Gordon, who stated that he was a shareholder in a railway from Bristol to Portbury, and that the shares of that line were at a discount— (Laughter)—that in the neighbourhood of the line there were 7,000 unemployed Irishmen, and that it would De of great benefit to the neighbourhood, and raise the shares to a premium, if they could be employed on the line.—(Roars of laughter.) BREWING FROM GRAIN. Mr. S. CRA WFORD presented a petition from a place in Cumberland, praying the House to prohibit the use of grain in distilleries during the present dearth of pro visions. POOR-LAW. Lord RENDLESHAM presented a petition from Beccles, against any alteration in the Poor-law. LIGHTHOUSE DUES. The NOBLE LORD also presented a petition from seve. ral shipowners, praying for the reduction of the light house dues. Mr. M. GIBSON presented a petition from the board of guardians of Manchester, praying that in any altera tion which might be made in the law of settlement faci lities might be provided for persons obtaining a settle ment in the parihes where they had laboured. The Hon. Member also presented a petition from the Cham ber of Commerce of Manchester, praying that duties on butter and cheese might be repealed ; also a petition from the Commercial Association of Manchester, pray ing that the expense incurred for the relief of the evils which afflicted Ireland might not be paid from the cur tent revenue of the country. ROMAN CATHOLIC MARRIAGES. Mr.J. O'CONNELL presented two petitions from the Catholic archbishops and bishops of Ireland, praying for an immediate alteration of the law regulating mar riages between Catholics and Protestants, and also com plaining of the Catholic clergy being excluded from the privileges enjoyed by their fellow-subjects. RELIEF FOR IRELAND. Sir R. PEEL presented a petition from Liverpool, nu merously signed by the inhabitants of that city, stating that they had looked with considerable anxiety to the commencement of the present session, to see what mea sure w ould be adopted for the relief of Ireland, and stating that while they entertaint•d the deepest sympathy with the necessities of that country, and would cheerfully pay their share of any burden that might be imposed, they hoped that some financial arrangement would be made, so as to relieve the sufferings of the poor of this country, while extending relief to Ireland. SALT DUTIES. The RIGHT How. BaaoNET also presented a petition from a salt manufacturer of Liverpool. The petitioner stated, that, in consequence of an application made to the East India Company with respect to the import:stnin of salt into Calcutta, he received an assur.ince that salt might be exported to that place in the same woy that other articles were usu ally exported. In consequence of this statement, a con siderable exportation of salt took place to the East Indies, and to the great surprise of the owners, there were very heavy duties found to be imposed, and on application being made for permission to land the salt, it was at once refused, and thus considerable loss was entailed upon the exporters. The petition prayed that the House would interpose its authority to prevent the reeurrence of such a circumstance in future. RAJA. OF SATTARA. Mr. HAWES presented a petition from the inha bitants of Lambeth, praying for an inquiry into the case of the Raja of Sattara. RATE-PAYING CLAUSES IN THE REFORM Captain PECHELL presented a petition from the inhabitants of Brighton, praying for the repeal of the rate-paying clauses in the Roforta Act, which they con sidered as unsound in policy and unjust in principle, and contrary to the spirit of the Reform Act. POOR-LAW FOR IRELAND. Mr. HUTT presented a petition from a number of persons, praying the Governiuent to pass a poor-law for I: eland. AMENDMENT OF SCOTTISH LAW. The LORD-ADVOCATE gave notice that he would bring in some Bills with the object of amending the law of Scotland. • LANDED PROPERTY (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. B. ESCOTT, in the absence of Mr. Roebuck, gave notice for that Hon. Member, that when the Landed Property (Ireland) Bill was brought under the consideration the ['louse. he would IllOVe that any plan having for its object the advancement of loans to the Irish landed proprietors was unjirit. unless the same principle of taxation which was applied to the proprietors of land in Great Britain wasEMIGRATION. extended to them. M r . V. SMIT H g ave notice that, on the 4th of March, he would bri n g under the consideration of the House Mr. J. O'CONNELL gave notice that , on Monday next, he would present a petition from the board of t E h t e n ig n ,r e .4 c t e lC) s n tY S oc oit: extending the powers of the Irish 4A . • guardians of the Killarney Union, prayin ' fora gene• ral system of taxation. Y.........:.~ CRACOW. Mr. HUME postponed, till Thursday next, the motion regarding the suppression of the republic ' of CraeCt", which he had un the paper last night. THE EC CLESIACTICAL C 0 M3LIS "MON. Lord RUSSELL intimated that on v A early day he wound bring in a Bill to alter the constitution of the Ec mlesiastical Commission. Before he cad. so he would be abl a to stale the precise words in which he would intro duce the subject. He made this statemen at on account of a 'notice which appeared on the paper. WEST HIGHLANDS. Mr.. ELLICE said he would, on Mon:day next, call the attention of the House to the state of the West Highlands of Scotland, and the steps which had been taken to relieve tir e distress. msg. CORPORATION BILL. Major LAYARI) begged to ask the Right Hon. Gen tleman the Secretary for Ireland, if it Wag the intention of her lkia.i,esty's Government to bring forward the Irish Corporation Bill during this session of Parliament? Mr. LABOUCHERE said the subject had been under t'ae consideration of the Government, awl they had pre r aired two Bills, which they would introduce at such a period of the session as would give the House ample op portunity to glee it their consideration. CONVICT COLONY AT BERBICE. Mr. GRANTLEY BERKELEY read a statement from a. colonial newspaper, to the effect that the Rev. Mr. Kelly, Roman Catholic priest, sent out by the Govern ment to officiate to the convicts of that persuasion, had lit ten refused the liberty of officiating without the sanction of the Rev. Mr. Bell, prison chaplain in the colony, and that that rev. gentleman had refused his sanction. The consequence had been that the Roman Catholics had been without religious instruction. The Hon. Member wished to know whether this conduct had the sanction of the Government. Mr. HAWES said the Government had had no report on the subject, nor information, further than that which the Hon. Gentleman himself possessed; but he had no hesitation in saying that the Government would take steps to ascertain the truth of the report. CORONERS' INQUESTS. Mr. BARCLAY begged to ask the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it was intended to do anything to remedy the state of co roners' inquests ? Sir G. GREY said that an inquiry was to be made with a view to a remedy. IMPORTATION OF FLAX SEED INTO IRELAND. Mr. FOSTER wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentle men the Secretary tor Ireland a question with respect to the: introduction of flax seed into Ireland. He had be en informed by a gentleman connected with Ireland that Government had lately been importing flax seed into Ireland, and he had yesterday received a letter f coal a firm at Limerick, stating that suet' was the fact ; and as they felt that it would be perfectly useless to attempt to compete with Government, they wished him to ascertain that fact, and he (Mr. Foe ter) wished, therefore, to learn whether it was or was not true that the Government had imported flax seed into Irela d? Mr. LABOUCHERE said it was true that with a view to improve a part of the country in which the flax had been much impoverish the Government had im ported a small quantity of ex:ellent seed into the neigh• bourhood of Limerick. If the Government were rightly haler med the whole of the seed hitherto used in that part of elle country was American. With a view to amend the quality of the seed they had introduced a small quantity, not more than 6001bs. at the utmost But he might dis tinctly say that it was not the intention of the Govern ment to introduce any more, for it was their impression, and he wished it to go f or th expressly to the public that they held it unwise to interfere with private commercial enterprise by the competition of Government.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman might therefore rely upon it that they would introduce no more flax seed into Ire land. STEAM COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE WEST' INDIES AND AFRICA. Mr. BARCLAY wished to ask whether it was true that a steam-vessel had been put on by Government, to establish a communication between the West Indian colonies and the coast of Africa? Mr. B. HAWES said that it was quite true that a steam-vessel, expressly put on by Government with officers under their authority, was en gaged to communicate between the West Indian colonies and that part of the coast of Africa where neither slavery nor slave trading existed. He must, however, state distinctly that the measure was an experimental one. It would be immediately under the superintendence of the Government, but it would not extend beyond the period of one year. If there were found natives of the country who were willing to emigrate to the West Indies, they would be conveyed thither free of expense. Mr. BARCLAY wished to know what was the name of the vessel? Mr. HAWES replied, the' Scourge." RAILWAY CLAUSES CONSOLIDATION ACT. Mr. FERRAND wished to ask the Right Honourable Gentleman the Attorney-General whether the Railway Clauses Consolidetion Act provided any, and what, pro tection for the property of tetrints in tale? The ATI ORNEY-GENERAL replied, that the Act was so much inv.lved in doubt, that it would not b , prudent for him to answer the question of the Hon, Gentleman. TEN HOURS' FACTORY BILL. Mr. BRIGHT desired to know whether the Noble Lord had any objection to lay upon the table of the House a memorial, signed by between three and four hundred factory proprietors in Lancashire, em ploying one hundred and twenty thousand hands. The subject of the memorial had reference to the Factory Bill. He wished that it should be in the pos session of the Members of the House before the ques tion came on again for further consideration. Lord J. RUSSELL said that he would lay it upon the table on Monday next. RAILWAYS FOR IRELAND. Mr. COLLETT would wish to put a question to her Majesty's Government as to whether it was their inten tion to give any assistance to those railway companies from whom baronial presentments had been made. There had been a presentment made in the barony of Cremoyne, in the north of Ireland, for the assistance of a local railway, and the directors were most willing to take the support of the able-bodied labourers from the relief committee. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that there had been a general rule to give assistance to those companies en gaged in making the earth works, and if any peculi ar case arose it would be competent for the directors to memorialise the Government. SESSIONAL ORDERS. Mr. HUME begged to ask a question of the Speaker as to the rules of the House. By a rule of the House the Speaker was bound to leave the chair at six o'clock on Wednesdays, and no Member was permitted to speak. Now, he understood that after that hour the division of the House was declared.—(Hear, hear.) The question was, could the report of the division be received after six o'clock? If they deviated five minute: they might as well deviate fifty minutes. The SPEAKER said, the Member was right in stating that the House must be adjourned at six o'clock without putting the question. But this must take place when there was not a division, and the doors were unlocked. In the present instance there was a division, and the doors were locked at six o'clock. He could not therefore in pursuance of the standing order, adjourn the House till after the division, and when the doors were opened.—(Cheers.) MEASURES FOR IRELAND—THE BUDGET. Sir A. BROOKE wished to know the intentions of the Government as to the course they intended to take respecting the measures proposed for Ireland. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, the Honourable Gen tleman wished for the information of the Irish Members to know the course the Government intended to take. What they proposed to do was to go into Com mittee on the Labouring Poor (Ireland) Bill to-night. This was a Bill to sanction the proceedings which had taken place under the direction of the Lord-Lieutenant. With regard to the other Irish Bills, he did not think of going into Committee at present, as there were several amendments proposed to be made in them. On Monday next he proposed that either himself or the Chancellor of the Exchequer would make the financial statement, after which he would propose the second reading of the Railway Bill. He did not think they would go on with any Irish measures that night; on next Friday, he would propose going into a Committee of Supply for the voting of the naval estimates; and on Monday fortnight he would bring under the consideration of the House the Irish Bill, now postponed, namely, the Bills for the Irnprov , men: of Irish Estates, aed for the Relief of the Poor. The Earl of LINCOLN wished to know what were the nature of the amendments ? Lord JOHN RUSSELL said they were mainly of 1 technical cha: acter. He had no objection to3tbe Bills being committed pro forma now, and recommitted on Monda, Fortnight. House that his (Mr. BaiHie's) name was not a Scotch name. He could tell the Noble Lord 'that his (Mr. Baillie's) ancestors were resident in Scotland before (as we understood the Honourable Member) the Noble Lord's ancestors had an acre there.—(Laraghter.) He (Mr. Baillie) was ready to give his support ° all the measures h e r M a j esty ' s Governmen -gh'' ' bring forwerd benefit of Ire an that wouln his hear)opinion be calcut 'ni , the . i — (Hear, lated .rat . b. "lOWNE said, that howe ver i n di s p ose d h e was Mr to detain the attleetion of the Hou s e f rom th e severa l m i series i which this Bill was se e • tended to relieve, he yet could n o t avo id calling its notice to the ;riehtful catalogue of evils which were b daily recurring in his county. The Hon. and Le arne d Member for Cork had a fortnight N Y 'z' stated, unless the reli e f were granted that two millions or people would lose th e i r re . s every lives in I r eland. H e h a d hi m self r e , ad, in the Freeman's Journal, a st a te men t th a t u p war d s o f 50 persons died day. T o thi s h e m i g h t a dd t h e s t atement which appeared in that journal on the llth instant, in which iL was said that no less than 671 coffins had been carried to the grave in one union within a month. To Wis the Ho nourable Gentl eman a dd e d a num b er of instalacbs of fright ful suffering which were recorded in the same paper. In Sligo, also, the people were dying of starvatie'°, and one revolting case of misery which had recently occu'r'red had come to his knowledge. A man named Malrowny pu,-chased an ass for a few shillings. He lived for a short time upon a portion of its carcass, and he died from the effects of the un wholesome and disgusting food. The Hon. Member read a series of other cases, but in so low a tone as to be inaudible ira the gallery. He did not wish to detain the House, but he felt that the time had arrived when no Irish Member could be silent, and when they should demand Parliament to stretch forth a more helping hand than had hitherto been extended to Ireland. He asked what was the use of legislating for a people if they were desolated by hunger and disease? He entreated the attention of the House to Ireland, and earnestly begged that they would take i mme di ate means for relieving the pe ople- of Ireland. es Mr. LEFROY said, as the Noble Lord had stated that the Irish measures would be postponed for a certain period, he thought it proper to avail himself of that opportunity to lay the dreadful condition of that country before the House. For it appeared to him most important that if Irish Alernl , ers were to remrin here, away tiorn the sphere in their own country where they night, minister with sevantage to the comfort and relief of their countrymen, it was their duty in that House to state, not only for her Majesty's Ministers but for the informa tion of the British public, that there was no exaggeration in the statements made as to the distress which prevailed in that country. In making the statements which he wag about to make, he would not cast the slightest reproach on her Ma jesty's Ministers, for he believed that to the extent of their power they had ministered to the relief of that country as far as they could see their way. But in the circumstances it was their duty to lay the condition of that country before them. He said he would read to the House some extracts from a letter which he had received within the last two days respecting a county in Ireland. he meant Roscommon. It stated that they were in a melancholy condition in that county, and that on Sunday a clergyman's horse bad died for want of sustenance, and the poor people insisted on cutting him up, and carrying away the carcase for food. In many parts of Roscommon great exer tions had been made by the resident landed proprietors to assist the population in the existing distress, but all they could do went but a little way. What then must be the state of those dis tricts in which the same attention was not bestowed ? He anxiously implored theGovernmetet to reconsider whether it was not possib!e to introduee a more comprehensive scheme, than any they had yet proposed, to avert the misery and distress which existed in Ireland to a greater extent than they had ever More existed in any civilised country. respect to those temporary treasures that had been in troduced, no relief had been received from them. With re gard to the future, ruin would necessarily ensue to thousands if they were taken from labour on the public works. He regretted that her Majesty's Government had acted as they had done in not allowing some portion of the grant to be applied to the purchase (4 seed, and he trusted they would re.consider the question.—( The Hon. Member here read an extrac., from a letter corroborating his views.) Attention to this question was indispensable to the preservation and restoration of Ireland. He must deny the imputation that had been cast upon that vilified class, the landlords of Ireland. that they were intent only upon putting money into their pockets. There were many cases where landlords had not received a farthing of their rents. He felt bound to avail himself of that opportunity to lay before the House the views which he thought would be nefit Ireland. Sir B. HALL. rose with several other Members, but they ultimately gave way, and the Hon. Baronet said that he had not intended to take any farther part in this discussion • but as he bad an opportunity of sa yi ng a f ew wor d s , h e would wish to state that he did not retract one single word of what he had uttered the other night, because the assertions he then made had been made from the substance of what was an authentic report, and he believed that that report was true. He had said that it was a strange thing that irish Members should come down to the House praying for relief for the dis tress in Ireland, and stating that if their rents were paid they would willingly have provided for the poor in that country, and if any English Members got up to express an opinion on this subject, they were told either that they did not feel for the dis tress, or they did not understand the circumstances of the eountry. Now, he did say that it was a great anomaly for gentlemen to come there from the neighbourhood of Dublin, and make long speeches, while they made no effort to relieve the distress themselves. The Hon. Member for Mayo had spoken to the extent of the distress, and had very vividly de scrided the terrible sufferings in his country, and yet he was connected with a body of men who collected large rents, and spent large sums in Conciliation Hall. It was true that he knew nothing about it—(Hear)—but he would just refer to the report for the money that was expended in March last. In March the amount was 92.51.; in April 930/.; in May 5661.; June 7061.; in July 745/.; in August 1,1321.; in Sept. 4911.; in Oct. 3471.; in Nev., when the papers were teeming with the horrors of Skibbereen. the amount was 6021. Now, why was not some of this money applied to the relief of the suffering people of Ireland ? Why did not Members of that House who had influence with the association endeavour to induce the association to render its assistance in the mitigating the distress, and not come to that House complaining that Ireland was being neglected by England, while in point of fact the people of this country were doing all in their power by way of sub scriptions and otherwise, to relieve the distress. Colonel VERNER agreed with the Hon. Baronet in what he stated, with respect to the money for the repeal rent, which had been collected from a starving people, but he regretted to add, that it was not a voluntary, but a compulsory payment. There was another subject, however, to which he wished to call the attention of the House, because he believed it to be of the greatest importance in considering the Bills before the House, namely, the sub-letting of land, or, more properly speaking, the cutting it up into shreds and patches. That subject was very little known, he believed, either to that House or to the people of England. It was an evil of the greatest magnitude, but he did not think that the present landlords should be blamed for what should be set down to the account of their predecessors. As an instance of the evil, he would just call the attention of the House to his own parish, and he took this case first, because he was more intimately acquainted with it than any other part of the country; and secondly, because it belonged to the heart of what was called the favourite part of Ireland—the province of Ulster. In that parish, two-thirds of which was in the county Tyrone, and the remaining part in the county Armagh, when the calamity, which at present prevailed over the country, commenced, a relief committee was established, and meal was distributed once a week, and soup twice. There were at present four hundred and thirty fa milies seeking relief from that committee, and of these thirty-five only possessed as much as an acre of land; so that 395 families, or (allowing five persons to the family) nearly 2,000 individuals had no late! whatever. Of the remaining thirty-five families, consisting of 166 persons the amount of the land in their possession was just eight acres and a few perches. Four of these families occupied seven acres, and the remaining portion of the land was divided among the other thirty-one families. That would give the House some idea of the state of things which existed in what was called the favoured part of Ireland, and would show what would be the effect of giving out-door relief. He asserted that if this measure of out-deor relief were granted it would convert all Ireland into a poor-house, and absorb the whole property of the country. He should like to know from. Honourable Member for Bath what he had to say to the pic ture which he had just drawn? One thing he thought must be very clear, that the cottier system was the greatest curse under which Ireland laboured. A few days ago he received a letter from the rector of aft adjoining parish to that which he had just referred to. He was a brother of a Noble Lord who was a Member of that House, the Rev. Francis Clements. ( The Gallant Colonel read the letter which described the ex istence of the distress in that locality to be beyond conception, and that notwithstanding all the exertions of the poor linen weavers they were enable to procure sustenance, owing to the high price of provisions.) When he (Colonel Verner, last ad dressed the House, he took the liberty of saying a few words on behalf of the Irish landlords, and he repeated that they did their duty and exerted themselves to the best of their means, and ten times more than their means would permit them, but what could they do to re lieve such an overwhelming amount of destitution as that which prevailed in Ireland? He asserted that the wealth of this country, to which Ireland had been so long united, ought to be extended to mitigate the evils of the emergency. For his own part, he rejoiced to see the unanimity which prevailed on both sides of the House to relieve the destitution, and he was ready to support any measures for that object, no matter from what political party they proceeded. Mr. L A BOUCHERE said that some Hon. Gentleman had expressed an opinion that the House was not aware of the ex tent of the misery which prevailed in Ireland. For his own part he never concealed his opinions respecting i t, and invaria bly said that it was scarcely possible to overstate the amount of suffering that existed in some parts of that country. It was most painful to him to receive the intelligence which every post brought him, and he could not convey to the House the feelings with which such accounts impressed him. If the statements were put forward with a view to induce Go vernment to exert themselves the mare, he could assure those who made them that it was not because the Government were in ignorance of them, or were disinclined to relieve them, b at because of the limited powers at their command. w hich adequately pre vented them from giving that aid which w ould on an enormous scale, and there . meet the calamity. They h a d,never w t e h r e e legs a , t receiving relte a m n om ei r t nt, 600.000 persons empl o y ed, enormous effort and f m ha r o da m e t the Go- That was an verument money. ver much the could not be ma de without taxi when e r tit calamity. satis fied, He was and every sacrifice submitt e d then, that if they had not been to, to avert so tremendous a 'nevertheless a ble to prevent all those scenes of suffering, and destitution, and death, the sig ht of which pained them so much, they were able to mitigate much of the misery by the measure which was passed at the close of the last session of Parliament. This measure was the principal, but not the only one by which they had been able to extend relief. Soup kitchens had been established under the direction of relief committees, who also were enabled, by grants from Government, to effect a great deal o f good, by administering assistance to the most destitute. But the efforts of any Government to relieve such an extensive calamity, must be very limited. The true cause of the distress, as had been observed, le as the high price of provisions. Was it in Ireland alone that the rate of provisions was high? Let them look at France—in industrious Frauce they were exceedingly high —and it is absolutely impossible by the ef forts of the Government to keep the rate of provisions low in Ireland while it is high in the other European states, from whence we are accustomed to draw our supplies. As well might they attempt to keep the level of the Irish Channel higher than that of the Atlantic Ocean. It was impossible in such a country as Ireland—so poor, and circumstanced as she was in respect of her social condition—to prevent the existence of the greatest distress. The lion. Gentleman who intro duced the subject to the House, 'the Member for Mayo (Mr. Dillon Browne) called the particular attention of the House to the destitute state of the county which he represented, namely the: county of Mayo. He was quite willing to admit that at all times that county had suffered more than any other in Ireland. It was also true that many of the deaths which had occurred from starvation, a very great num ber of them had occurred in the county of Mayo. The persons who had, for the most part, perished from starvation, belonged to the class of mendicants, which at all times are a very numer ous bony, and maintain a very precarious condition. But during the present calamity they had no means whatever of st accus t o med to obtain charity procuring a subsistence , the d oors were closed in every place against them , although heretofore they were from the very poore BLACK CAT. Mr. MUNTZ said as he had not had the opportunity of bring forward his motion on this particular, he would take the earliest opportunity of doine so. DUKE OF BRUNSWICK. Mr. DUNCOMBE postponed his motion on the in jury sustained by the Duke of Brunswick from the violation of the 63d article of the Treaty of Vienna, till Thursday week. BRITISH MUSEUM. Mr. HUME complained of what appeared to him to be the irresponsibility of that institution to the public, an institution to which they had been voting yearly from 40,000/. to 50,0001 An election had taken place in that body of a person, no doubt worthy to be con nected with the institution ; but what he com plained of was, that the departments of science and natural history were not properly represented. He had formerly moved for a committee of inquiry, and was opposed by the Government, but he now positively inti mated that he would not accede to any vote of money unless something satisfactory was done in reference to it. Lord J. RUSSELL said the subject was under the consideration of her Majesty's Government. LABOURING POOR (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion that the House go into Committee on this Bill, Mr. .H. BAILLIE said he begged to offer a f e w words, in consequence of a Inisrepresention that had been made . with respect t o some observations of his. He (Mr. Baillie) was represented to have stkited, in answer to a question of the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn, that, as a Scotch representative, he would not vote English money to relieve Irish distress. The Noble Lord had repudiated that on the part of Scotland. He (Mr. Baillie) also repudiated such an expres sion, and he would be ashamed to have ever made use wf such. The N.)ble Lord was not satis fied with havin g m i srepresented his (Mr. Baillie's) words, but he took the trouble to inform the En e, and It Le glder , 'pore; Is. 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