The Sun. — London, England, 1847-02-27 00:00:00

• part of the observations addressed to the house by the Hon. and Learned Teeterreher, he thought it would be but right to date to the House the course to be adopted by the Qovernment. Ou receiving the retort of the Commfte of bquiry into the circumstances connected with the aclinittglion of the poor-law, he (Sir George Grey) L - tail addressed to the Poor-law Comm issioners a letter, calling upon them to state what might_ have beta the course followed by them in conducting thebusiness of their office. Ile had received a full report upon that subject, and that report had been referred to the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, to ascertain how far the practice of the Commissioners might be in conformity with the law under which . they held their powers. The result of that reference was, that the opinion given was not such as to leave h er Majesty's Government in doubt as to the legality of the acts, or the validity of the law under which they were performed. He was surprised that the Honourable Gentleman should have proposed to delay by a long in quiry the measures to be adopted with regard to Ire land, when he himself had approved of them.—(hear, hear.) The Noble Lord at the head of the Government had stated the course he was to pursue upon this point, and had asked and obtained leave to bring in a Bill upon this subject. That Bill would shortly be in the hands of Honourable Members, and would be under considera tion upon the Bth of March, the day for which the dis cussion on the subject was fixed. Mr. HUME wished to call attention to another im portant document. Ile wished to call attention nut to the evidence, but to the report of the Committee ap pointed to inquire into the subject of the Andover Union. That report showed completely that every act of the Commissioners since the year 1841 was illegal, When the Committee were asked to condemn the con duct of the Commissioners, their reply was that the con duct of the Commissioners was nut referred to them by the House. The Commissioners had carried on their business in private rooms without having a secretary present to record it. The proceedings were noted down on slips of paper, instead of being recorded in books, and that was an additional reason why Geverninent should take up the question. It was rather too bad, when an inquiry had been instituted into a particular matter, that Government should decline to take any notice of its results. Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIENs tated that, as an indivi dual he believed, after having carefully examined the working of the two Poor-law Bills in England and Ire land, it would be a benefit to Ireland if the English Poor-law were taken clause by clause, and applied to Ire land, and any Hon. Member who would bring forward such a measure should receive his cordial support. Mr. SHAW wished to know when the House were likely to have in their hands the Bill for the reconstitu • tion of the Poor-law Board for Ireland, and whether it was intended to bring the measure of the Irish Poor-law under discussion at the same time as the Landed Property (Ireland) Bill, which was to be brought forward on the Bth of March. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, before he answered the epos tion of the Hon. Member for the University of Dublin, would make a remark upon what had fallen from the Honourable Member for Montrose. That Hon. Member seemed to suppose that the reports of the District Asylums Committee and the Andover Union Com mittee were left unheeded and neglected by the Govern ment, who stood by as though they were not concerned in the matters referred to in those re- Forts. Ile would ask, then, whether any higher authority could be appealed to, fur knowing whether the Commissioners did their business in a legal manner or not, than the Attorney- General, at least so long as the administration of the poor-law was under the management of Government ? Oa that appeal the only answer they got was, that the Commissioners could be asked for any further ex planation. It was true that there had been a series of letters in the newspapers, signed by Mr. M. D. Hill, in which allegatirese were made that the Commissioners did their bueicess illegally ; but all these allegations were founded on an snonynntus case, which was itself founded upon nothing, end it was a little hard that such grave im putations as these should be thrown out against the Poor-law Commissioners on the assertions of this among gentleman. For his own part, he ceuld not help being of opinion that if the Cumuli: sioners had thus violated the law to such an extent they must have been conscious of the fact. So much fi,r the legality part of the affair, With respect to the delay in bringing fore ard the measure, the House knew as well as he did, that, what with the measures for the introduction of corn, the Sugar Distilleries Bill, the discussion on the Noble Lord's proposition of railways fur Ireland—that while carrying forward the measures for the relief of that country, it was utterly impossible with the few days at the command of Government to bring the Poor-law Bill under the notice of the House, and be would have been highly imprudent if he had forced it forward. With respect to the alteration of the poor-law in Ire land, he hoped that they should be enabled to lay on the table papers containing information relative to the administration of the poor-law in Ireland. Ile would have wished to fro pro f;ffiroi into Committee upon the Poor-law (Ireland) :Bill, but it would be too late to do it ; but on Monday evening he should move that it be committed. lie would then propise a Bill for the loans ler Ireland. RELIEF OF THE DESTITUTE IN THE METROPOLIS. Sir W. JAMES wished to ask the Secretary for the Home Department, if it was the intention of her Ma jesty's Government to introduce any measures to relieve the casual poor in the metropolis? Sir G. GREY lad not receive 1 any information on the subject from the proper quarter, and was not at all in a position to say what his views on the subject were. BOROUGH OF CAMBRIDGE. Sir DE LACY EVANS, on going into Committee of Supply, begged to call the attention of the House to certain erroneous allegations in the petitions from the borough of Cambridge, complaining of the omission, or non-registratii,n, of several duly qualified, in the last court of revision held in that borough. lie held in his hand a letter from the town-clerk, stating these facts, and expressing a hope that a remedy might be found to correct this state of things, and restoring these voters to their franchise during the ensuing year. The charges of neglect of duty against the Revising Barrister were• G tally unfounded, for he had performed his dudes sub stactial:y and completely. A list of the claimants had been submitted to him, which list he had given in a perfect state to the town-clerk. Ile had only further to state that, of the sixty voters excluded, they were in pretty nearly equal proportions of the opposite parties— Liberal and Conservative ; and in the event of an elec tion, the results would be of no great matter. Some means should be adopted for rectifying- the Act of Par liament, and the parties were very anxious that an inquiry should take place. FEVER IN IRELAND. Mr. J. O'CONNELL said that in rising then he had no intention of interfering with the business of the House upon the paper fur that night, but he felt it absolutely ne cessary to call the attention of the Government, fur .a short time, to the condition of Ireland. He was well aware that they would have, during the next fortnight, many opportunities of discussing the condition of that country, onthe measures which the Government had upon the paper for the relief of Ireland, but he wished to direct the serious attention of the Government to the necessity of additional measures. Ile did not refer to the accounts of increasing digress, which appeared iu a morning paper of that day, fi)r, since the beginning of the present session, the Irish Members had the tnistertune to have everything they said, with reference to their country, treated as an •strava ,, ' ance and exaggeration. The disease of typhus fev er had already appeared, and if the Government restricted the diet of the people to the single article of soup, they would cause them to ex perience the disease of dysentery, according to the opinion of the most eminent medical men. He hoped Government would take an opportunity of considering the propriety of bringin4 forward some measure which should hold out a prospect of Ireland being, at no dis tant period, supplied with solid food. Some Hon. Gentlemen would seem to lay it dusyn as the rule to be adopted iu the present emergency, that the population of the country should be diminished. but he saw no reason why that rale should be adopted, seeing Ireland, when well, cultivated, was capable of producing more than sufficient food for its people. The natural resources of the country were rJased to the people, and exported in large quantities to this country. He would express his hope that the dictates of reason, justice, and humanity, would be at tended to by the Go vernment, and that the people of Ireland would not be told by them that they must perish; that sufficient re sources were to bo found in the country, and to those the starving millions of the people must look, or that, because the supply of food had decreased, the population should decrease also, by emigration. It was a norrible . - doctrine for any person to propound. It wac owing to the misconduct of Government that Ireland was in its present distressing condition, and it but fair that the Government should was bear the consequences of its fistal misconduct.—(llear.) The effect would be to break down the rate-payers to the condition of the p tuners. They believed that the prosperity of the country had risen in spite of the poor laws; but he had stated more that; a month no in that House that they were quite ready to give up their oppo sition, and allow the Government to make their experi. meats; though he believed that the attempt to curry out these laws in Ireland would be only a reckless waste of effort and of means, particularly at a time when the funds of the country were so strained, and must be so re strained to relieve the frightful distress. Still, he asserted, that a great m a jo r ity o f th e I r i s h M em b ers we re quite ready to bear any burden which they might choose to impose upon them. But he thought all these attempts would be uucless, and he would rat.her point to an observation of the Chancellor Of t e ExExchequer the other night when h e was alluding to h the remark whi ch ha Irish receipt s i n th e E xc h equer, a served. That not al received the notice whi c h it de rem remark t o the possibil ityell) of in creasing tho se receipts, and he (Mr. J. O'Conn be lieved that if th ey Only increase th e ex p en di ture could in Ireland, instead of pa in the proportion of one third to this country that ythi7yl would double the amount, L12,,tr)00,000/. the and instead of receivi ng get 17,000,0001. from the Ex '' some would thing to etrect good towards Irela h n7 W 71") landlords return home. They capital il'ial w°ull should bbe: make"g the do so by the expre, , sion of public opird,, n , e :lTPe t iled to create something like expenditure of an I consegnently relieve the people of thin couut•7lf4,n`,,,,l' a portion of .ho burden that pressed upon them at present..' He trusted that the Irish measures might be brought forward as hastily as possible, that the Iri:th Membe rs might return as soon as possible to do what they might to relieve the distress which existed around them. Mr. LABOUCIIERE said that he was not aware that the Hon. Member for Kilkenny had it in contemplation to bring this subject at present before the House, and he hail spoken so often upon the subject, that the House would excuse him enter ing at large upon it. He trusted that when the Honourable Member spoke of t4ii horrible doctrine of delaying the measures for Ireland, that he did not refer either to her Majesty's Go vernment, or the English and Scotch public. He had never heard any such doctrine broached, and he thought that it had been justly condemned. Had the Honourable Mem ber referred to the diet intended for the people of Ireland, and to the consequence of giving them a liquid food. The subject had occupied the attention of the Government, and enormous quantities of solid food were being sent by the Government over to Ireland in order to relieve, as much as possible, the distress there. He felt it to be his duty to do all that lay in his power to mitigate that distress, bnt he feared that there was a disposition to over-rate the power of any Government to relieve distress.—( Hear, hear.) All that they could do would be done,witness the fact that the Noble Lord was at the present moment raising a loan of 8,000,0001, to re lieve the distress prevalent. The people of Ireland had, at this moment, a claim upon the co-operation and support of England, and that support had been given as far as it could be. He ad mitted that there was a feeling on the part of the English and Scotch people, that while they were helping their Irish brethren, there ought to be a corresponding exertion on the part of the people themselves. BOARD OF WORKS' REPORT. Colonel WOOD wished to ask the Right lion. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland, when any additional report from the Board of Works in Ireland would be laid on the table ? Mr. LABOUCHERE replied that they were made out every month, and laid before the House as soon as possible afterwards. EXCHEQUER LOANS. Mr. HUME wished, before the order of the day was read, to call the attention of the House to the mode in which it was proposed to effect tho loan of the eight millions that was in tended for the relief of Ireland. It appeared to him that the proceeding, as he had seen it stated in the papers, was against all experience, and would have an injurious effect on the finances of the country. He regretted it very much, and was of opi nion that it would be much better to borrow the money at the lowest rate of interest for which they could get it, and he hoped the Noble Lord would alter his plan so as to embrace his view. Lord J. RUSSELL replied, that they had proceeded with the plan referred to because they considered it the best one which, from the best information they could get, could bs adopted. On the motion to go into a Committee of Supply, CONVEYANCE OF FOREIGN PROVISIONS. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD brought forward the mo tion of which he had given notice, that an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that she would be graciously pleased to authorise and direct that such ships of her Majesty s navy, as can be spared from the regular duty, should be ap plied, under such regulations as her Majesty might deem ad visable, to the accommodation of merchants in the conveying of co , n and provisions from foreign countries into the ports of the United Kingdom. On taking a survey of the various countries from which corn might be expected, it would be found impossible to procure from the mercantile marine a suffi cient amount of shipping to convey the food accumulated in foreign countries to the people of this country. There would be one million of quarters of grain collected in the various ports of the Danube by the Ist of June, and this grain, if brought to this country in the mode he pointed out, would greatly alleviate the pressure of the present calamity. an f in America, also, and other places, the accumulation of grain was equally great. It might be at once seen, then, how great was the scarcity of ships from the increasing freights that were charged for the conveyance of grain, a statement of which he then made to the House. He would not attempt to dwell upon the wretchedness of Ireland, as that was well known to her Majesty's Government ; and he hoped that the measure now proposed, tending, as it would do, to alleviate in some degree the mass of misery which prevailed in that coun try,' would meet with their approval. He would not trespass longer on their attention, but would conclude by submitting the motion. Lord J. RUSSELL said that the subject referred to in the motion of the Hon. Member had been brought under the no tice of the Government some time ago, and they had had it under their consideration, but they did not think it advisable to adopt it. He should however, say that there were at pre sent a great number of vessels—sailing-vessels and steam-ves sels employed in conveying provisions to different parts of Ireland. There were thirty steam-vessels, twelve sailing-vessels, and five depot ships, employed in the conveyance of provisions to and from different parts of Ireland. With regard to the supplies from abroad, of which the lion. Member had spoken, he feared that he had estimated them far beyond the truth. He thought that the quantity of grain which they might expect from abroad was very small indeed. But supposing they acceded to the motion of the Ho nourable Gentleman it would be necessary, in the first place, to put the vessels in a condition adapted to the conveyance of provisions. Now this would occupy considerable time and would occasion considerable expense. It would take about 19,004 1 . to put them in this state, and perhaps double that amount to adapt them again to the purpose for which they are intended. In addition to this, the very limited supplies of grain which they would be able to procure made it very obvious that na adequate result would compensate fur such expen diture. The certain consequence, however, would follow that as soon as it became known and was proclaimed that her Ma jesty's ships were employed in this service it would cause a very great discouragement to the exertions of the mer chants of this country.—( Hear, hear.) It would re quire a much greater effort to be made than he had anticipated. His own estimate was, that it would require from 1,201 to 1,500 ships for a service of this kind. Now, it it was proclaimed that Government vessels were to be employed, the number of vessels now engaged in the conveyance of food would be consider ably less, and the freights from America and Odessa would be considerably greater. There was also consi derable difficulty, as well as expense, in bringing Indian corn from the western states to the ports of America. Corn, which was sold in the interior at id. per bushel, was enhanced in price several shillings before it arrived at the port in conse quence of the cost of conveyance. And in addition to this, there was a great deficiency of boats to bring it down the Mis sissipi. The great objection, therefore, to the proposal of the Hon. Gentleman was the expense it would cost—the great loss of time it would occasion before it could be carried into effect, and the great discouragement it would give to private enter prise. He hoped the Hon. Member would, under these cir cumstances, withdraw his motion, for he might rest as sured if her Majesty's Government thought they would be able by that means to accelerate the importation of food, and to in crease the supplies, they would be as ready to adopt it as they were to employ her Majesty's vessels in the slistribution of grain to the different ports of Iceland. The motion was then by leave withdrawn. Lord JOHN RUSSELL then stated that a proposal had been made to the Government by the Society of Friends, who had exerted themselves so much for the relief of the distress in Ireland, that they should, by their contributions, endeavour to raise a sum of money sufficient to purchase a cargo of corn, if the Government would allow one of her Majesty's vessels to convey it from America. Government declined that proposal, but offered to pay themselves for the freight of the corn from Americo to this country. Mr. KERR thought if Government had allowed her Ma jesty's vessels to be employed in affording accommodation to those persons who were disposed to emigrate from Ireland, that this, in connexion with the plans which they were at present engaged in carrying out, would be productive of the greatest good to the iwhabitants of that country. In that way they should get rid of a large portion of a population which could not find either sustenance or employment in Ireland. Lord .1011 N RUSSELL said, that with regard to vessels bringing corn to this country, they would be at liberty to take in passengers to the colonies without being subjected to the operations of the Act. That was to be allowed, provided that they confined themselves to passengers only, and he believed that the system would be of benefit to the country. SHIPS' SIGNALS. Mr. HUME wished to know whether the Admiralty had come to any determination with respect to the signals to be adopted by vessels sailing off the coast of England. There were collisions so frequently occurring at sea, that some measure was necessary to prevent it. He saw, by a return, that during the past year, 550 collisions of ships had taken place on the coast of Ireland, and he believed that if a proper code of signals had been adopted, much of this loss might have been avoided. The experiment had been tried by her Majesty's ships at Portsmouth, and it was desirable that they should know the result of the experiment. • Mr. WARD said that the trial had been made to a consider able extent, and the next week he should be enabled to lay the results on the table, Mr. ROEBUCK said that as he did not see the Secretary for the Home Department in his place, he would ask the Noble Lord at th head of the Government, if there was any ob• jection to lay upon the table the answer of the Poor-law Com missioners to the question of the Government, as to the manner in which they exercised their functions. Lord JOHN RUSSELL was understood to say that the paper would be laid upon the table. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. Sir C. NAPIER wished call the attention of the House to the system pursued in her Majesty's dockyards with respect to the building of vessels for the navy, and to the abuses which prevailed as to the use of ships which had been built at an enormous cost to the country. There had been eight three-deck ships cut down, and many others so altered as to be materially injured. There had been hardly one ship built of late which had not been altered in some respect more then once, but all of them once. He would read the return of the ships cut down, in order to show the ex tent to which the system was pursued. A in 1815, which cost 86,0401., was cut downin 7 l 4 B - 4 4 1 u . n bilt Vin dictive, built in 1813, and which cost 81,0001., was cut down to a frigate in 1832, without ever having been at sea. The Amazon, 42. built in 1821, was cut down, without having been at sea, in 1844; and another 42-gun ship was cut down in 1845. The Brilliant was cutting down at the present moment. The Penelope, 44, was converted into a steam-frigate. The Thames, which cost 37,0001., had been turned into a hulk, and the Bacchus was now cutting down. The Liebe, built in 1826, and which cost 32,4845., was turned into a hulk in 1839; and many other ships had also been either cut down or turned into hulks. The sum of their cost was 619,000/. Ships of 44 and 42 guns had been cut down into corvettes, mounting 22 guns, and, in fact, the late Board of Admiralty seemed to have it as their hobby, that a corvette of 22 guns could carry heavier metal, and be superior to ships of 44 guns, lie very much doubted the propriety of cutting them down, but it was well known that the practice of the Admiralty was to turn large frigates into small corvettes. The next fact he came to was, with reference to the Caledonia, 1 a three-decker, built in 1808, costing 81,000/., and afterwards' Irepaired at an expense of 10,000/. in 1815. The Board of Admiralty took the freak into their head of widening the Caledonia, which was done at an enormous expense, and a good ship turned into a very indifferent one. Lord Exmouth, who commanded her in the Mediterranean, begged that they would not spoil the ship, but they were indifferent to the request. They had six three-deckers on the stocks at the present moment, mounting each 110 guns, built upon the model of the Queen, and the Admiralty were in fact quite ignorant as to whether she was a ship fit to use as a model. There were six 90-gun ships built after the Albion, a ship which was sent to sea in 1841. He cautioned the Admiralty at the time to he careful in building ships until they had tried the models, but no attention was paid to it, and the vessels were to be con structed upon a plan which acted indifferently in small vessels, and could not therefore be very applicable to large ones. There had been many doubts as to whether the Albion was a good or bad ship, but he had one proof of her qualities ; namely, that in a late gale she rolled 45 degrees to leeward, and lurched ever to windward 43 degrees. He remembered when the Van guard was in the Mediterranean she sailed excellently at first, and with her ports seven feet four inches out of the water, but then she was in yacht trim, but the moment she had her full compl , ment of provisions and stores on board, she sailed vi ry indifferently. On one cruise the Vanguard carried only 685 tons, while the old Canopus had 793 tons. On another, she carried 492 tons ; and on a third, only 618 tons, and yet then she sailed well. The Superb had the same complaint made of her, and her captain had actually been obliged to shift the stores to trim the ship. The Rodney— a much smaller ship than the Albion—carried her ports 7 feet 44 inches, 7 feet et inches, and 8 feet out of the water, whilst the Albion only carried them 61 feet. She had now been sent qaene e of the rolling, to Malta. The Rodney had exercised her guns in a strong breeze, and hardly shipped a drop of water on her lower deck, whilst the people of the Albion were obliged to hold on in conse- I managed in conseqgnteem? water. Was that built upon the old a g, and she shipped an immense quantity of a fit ship to send against a French vessel 1 of them were unabl: t The steam navy was equally badly of the frequent alterations, and many lie next came to the Terrific,carry main-deck guns at all. was a 40 gun frigate, and clengthened about sixty i one of the largest size. Sheh w ad ' b il e ..reault? Why that feet by the Admiralty ; and what s w h eaesn Ras,he she could not bear herself up. i her altered state She ' went t o th e only four feet eleven inches above the water. coast of Africa ; and he had learned, that while there, her main deck was but four feet four inches out of the water, and they had been obliged to cork in her port holes, to keep the watt l out. He now came to the Terrible, which was built at Wool wich, by a man of great talent and experience, and it was ex pected that she would turn out a real and proper man-of-war. Now the Board of Admiralty were sitting only within six miles of the dock where the ship was building, and al,hough she was 1860 tons burden, they absolutely forgot to have any stern-ports made in her. The consequence was, they had to cut down her stern-deck, in order to accommodate the guns, and then they had to hunt about to get guns to suit. The bow ports of this ship had also been very badly constructed. She was a ship, nevertheless, that steamed well, and was efficient in several other respects.— ( Hear, hear.) But let them wait a little before they cheered, they were not yet out of the wood. She was to have been constructed to carry 800 tons of coal, but when it was stowed in her, it was found she would not stow away under decks more than 350 tons, or coal for four days, at the rata of 85 tons a day. They had been obliged to get coal bunkers built on the deck, and then she could not carry more than 500 or 550 tons. But this was not the only fault of the Terrible, her paddle-boxes were elevated greatly above the decks, and her steam-boxes and boilers were actually six feet five inches shove the level of the water. The engines were so placed that in a fight there would be no escape If a shot were fired into the boiler, then below, about forty persons in number wculd be completely cooked. In fact boiled by the steam. If such a thing were to happen the result would be that not a stoker would be got to go into the navy. The Retribu tion was a steam-ship of 1,641 tons, and her main-deck was but five feet six inches above the lower; she was unable to carry main-deck guns. The Avenger of 1,442 tons was ex actly in the same predicament. The same might be said of the Barcemide, the Sampson, the Centaur, the Vulture, the Pegasus, the Dragon, the Firebrand, the Orion, and several others. Not one of these could carry main-deck guns. They could not go into action, and could only carry eight days fuel at the most. If they did go into action, from the position of their boilers and paddle-boxes, they would be certain of destruction. He remembered in 1841 he cautioned the Board of Admiralty against the construction of iron steam vessels; and if they built them, to plank them outside and in with timber. Yet, they had not taken his advice, and had gone on building iron steamers without ever having tried a shot upon one of them. Here was a fine list, indeed, of no less than thirty-three iron steamers built, or laid down for baildMg from 1840 to 1847. They had not tried a single shot on an iron steamer till very lately, and then they found that the shot went clean through one side, and almost through the other. These steamers would cost about two millions of money, or taking the large steamers with the small ones about fifty thousand pounds each. If they would not cost two mil. lions s'erling, they would at least a million and a-half. They were, in fact, perfectly useless. The Birkenhead steamer had bean tensed into a troop ship, then she would not carry more than 450 troops, and had no place for cable-tiers. But she was rot fit for a troop ship in the time of war, for if she went into action and received a shot she would go to the bottom, and all the troops would be drowned. In fact, it would be necessary to supply all the men with air -collars.--( Laughter.) The Admiralty should sell them all. One of them the Grappler, he had been informed, was nearly lost the other day on the coast of Africa. He also complained of the screw vessels which had been constructed. It seemed that 17 were in the progress of being built, and only one had been completed, the Rattler. Doubtless the vessel ought to have a fair trial, and he hoped it would succeed; but he considered one ought to have had a fair trial before 17 others were contracted for. What he had now shown was sufficient to prove that great blame was due not only to the late Board of Admiralty, but to every Board of Admiralty that had sat for many years. He now came to the great change in the navy last year, and the condition the ser vice was in, prior to the brevet. In 1816 the service consisted of 1 admiral of the fleet, 66 admirals, 68 vice-admirals, 75 rear-admirals, 831 captains, 812 commanders, and 4,012 lieute nants. This immense number was repeatedly complained of, yet up to 1830 it remained the same. The Government became then ashamed of this enormous list, and resolved, on the 27th of July, 1830, that no promotions should be made, brilliant exploits excepted, except one pro motion to every three vacancies. (The Hon. and Gallant Member here read the decision of the Admiralty to that effect.) Matters, however, continued bad enough till last year, when the provision was made for the retirement of many of the officers on the list. On the 30th of September last year there were 171 fl ig officers—these were reduced to 139; there were 858 captains, which were reduced to 730; there were 918 commanders, which were reduced to 855; and 3,50 lieu tenants, which were reduced 2,558. 30,0001. was granted for a retiring allowance, and the flag officers were reduced to 150, and the captains to 500. But the first thing the Government did at the same time was to increase the flag officers to 160, though by vacancies which had since taken place, the number was only two above the 150. Though they had reduced the captains' list, what (lid they do? They promoted 60 commauders to the post of captains. This was undoubtedly a breach of the arrangement they had previously come to. No promotions should have been made till the captains were reduced to 500. On this subject he trusted he would get the assistance of the Hon. Member for Montrose (Mr. Hume), in order to take the sense of the House on these promotions, which, if persisted in, would place a vast amount of patronage annually in the hands of the Go vernment. Instead of doing as they had done, if the Govern ment would make but one promotion for every vacancy he thought the service would soon be brought into a healthy state. He had almost forgot one thing of some importance, which he had intended to point out to the Admiralty ; he was glad he had recollected it. He had just been pointing out the monstrosity of their constructing 20 screw vessels without trying any of them except one, and 30 iron vessels, of which they had actu ally tried none ; but there was another fact which nearly equals that, if it did not excel it. What did they suppose it was? Why, the Admiralty had given orders for four line-of-battle ships, and four seventy-four gun frigates being cut down. Granting that object might turn out of use, what was even more than that was, that they made no contract with the builder who was to accomplish it. This it seemed they were not in the habit of doing; for he was told that in the ease of one of the ships which was being built, he believed, in Mr. Green's yard, he was told there was no contract, and that they just sent in their bill once a month for payment. He hoped to be told that he had been misinformed as to there bein g no contract. But here they had four line-of-battle ships an d four frigates to be cut down, be sides the war vessels on the stc,d.,, ..d what,hc etalscd, estimated amount of the expense? What was the vote to be taken? The vote of last year was 18,000/.; what was the vote of the present session ? 18,000/. would do no mora than build one good vessel ; it was im possible it could do more than cover the expense of the vessel in Mr. Green's yard. But then again there was the case of the Vampire ; her bows was pulled to pieces, and she was to be made into a bad steam-boat ; they were to have a bad steam-boat for a good frigate. The vote of last year was 18,000/. He begged again to ask what was the vote for the present year ? He found that the vote of last year for building iron steam vessels was 12 ),000/., and this year the vote to be asked from the House was 100,175!. When Mem bers came to vote away such a sum of money as that, they na turally wished to know, and they ought to know, how it was to be spent. For his part, he did hope that the present Board of Admiralty would spend it better than the last board had done. He would not speak harshly of them just now, for as yet they had had but little time in office. One thing he must mention before lie resumed his seat. He understood that a commission had been sitting at the Admiralty, with a view to increase the pay of the lieutenants. He thought that there ought to be a com mission, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he believed, agreed with him, to increase the wages and so raise the status of their engineers. He said it was a most singular thing, but a fact as true as singular , that Government had never sent out a steam-vessel which had not broken down—and what was the reason ? It arose from the parsimony of the Government, who gave low wages, and engaged thereby a low class of men, who were ill qualified to do the duties of their office. When a steam-vessel was built and the machinery put in, the Government bad never appointed the eneineer, previously, to see that the mac hi ner y, th e cran k s , an d shafts,' were properly and efficiently constructed, and properly put up. In fact, there was one case—he would not mention names—but he knew that a steam-boat was constructed by order of the Government, the machinery was put in, and the engineer, who had the superin tendence of her construction, and put in the machinery, knew that he was putting in insufficient machinery at the time, and the consequence was, that when the vessel put to sea, she broke down. His opinion was, that if the Government would in crease the wages of their engineers to a sufficient amount, and raise their station to a higher grade —say the rank of Lieu tenants—(Mr. Ward : "'I hey have it.") Sir Charles said lie was glad to hear it; but if they would increase their wages also, and appoint them in time to inspect the ma chinery as it was being put on board, he was convinced that the effect would be immensely beyond any anticipation the House might be prepared to make on the subject. Another point to which he wished to draw the attention of the Ad miralty, was their officers— he meant their petty officers. He said the naval officers had been continually rated in that House and throughout the country by persons who knew no thing about the subject they were talking upon; but, if Go vernment would pay their first class and second class of officers at a better rate, and their seamen also, they would find that these men would feel it punishment enough to withhold their wages, and the consequence would very soon be that all corporal punishments would disappear from the navy. He expressed his fervent hope that the Admiralty would this year pay attention to the recommendations of that commission. One thing that he wished to press upon the Secretary of the Admiralty was that he would establish at least one single seaman's home at one of the ports ; he begged dis tinctly to press this upon the attention of the Right Hon. Gen tleman. They had been told again and again by the Government for the last four or five years that the Merchant Ssamen's Fund should be upheld. But now he begged positively to ask the Government whether they intended or not to amelio rate the Merci ant Seaman's Fund; he begged they would e c n themselves e it r h n e m r e d t fsoor the saidht e theironcesu p p o ra r tg givesf this hei i e t f u na p dr a aa nl t o dy g t w e h t e h t yh e r h . e d T bhye receivedt sh no o a m Gb e eo nefit whatever from it. They begged, therefore, that Govern ment would either repe a l th e A ct authorising the collection of the fund, or so alter it that they would benefit from it, Again, he begged to draw the notice of the Admiralty to the Registration Bill about which so much had been said of late, and not a little against it. A Bill was brought in some years ago, by his Right Honourable Friend, for the registering of the names of the seamen, and for the furnishing them with tickets. It had been said that that measure had proved ineffectual ; but he quite differed from that opinion, and he would read a letter which he had just received from a friend well able to judge on the subject, which would show that such an opinion was ill founded. The Gallant Admiral here read the letter, stating that the registrations for 1845 had been 207,813, and for 1846 the number of tickets issued was 230,892; but in the latter year it was found that the number of desertions was 2,341. The letter concluded by stating the writer's belief that the effect of this Act would be the production of great good. He ( Sir C. Napier) said there were still difficulties and defects in the measure, but he had seen an able friend the other day, and he proposed as a means of remedying these, that some gentlemen should be appointed to superintend the registration, who, as soon as a bargain was struck between the seaman and the captain, should register it, and the good effects, he believed, would very soon be felt. He would now trespass shortly on the attention of the House, while he drew their notice to the Aa e s ts subject of e n li s t men t. Hi s Friend opposite, the Right Hon. Baronet ( Sir C. W oo d), had brought in a Bill, which in the t e h r e ent(s seamen f w to a come war, was forward os intendedward immediately t o h ave t huepeonifechteor of inducing proclamation. One of the provisions of that measure was to entitle those who came forward within five slays after the pro clamation, to a bounty of 10/. ; and another was to entitle those, actually in service to a bounty of another amount. But now suppose the House should vote a supply of 50,000 men, the moment the Chancellor of the Exchequer mu ,t be prepared with a sum nearly like 503,00 0 /. But, again, suppose they wanted five thousand men in a popular war, they would fird that an overwhelmi' g number would come forward out of the merchant service, and the immediate effect would be to injure that service. He wished that some arrangement could be made, so that men could be called out by classes, an arrangement, for example, which would compel every boy, who had served his apprenticeship in the merchant service, to go the first or the second year after into the war service, for a certain period, when he would be trained to his duties on board a ship of war, and should thereby be fitted for her Majesty's service, and at the same time acquire a knowledge and a liking of its superior eharacter. He begged once more that the Go vernment would take into consideration the composition of the I Board of Admiralty. That was a subject which he had often THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, IM7. brotght before the House, and he felt the necessity of doing so again. The mistakes that were committed were most nu m, rous, a,,,, s sie all atir:buted to the r: , ,. Lo; of Admiralty ; but that was, in a great mea sure, the fault of the First Lord of the Admi ralty himself, there was a great deal too much thrown upon cirri. The three Lords of the Admiralty had all the decks under their management according to the presentarrangement ; but if this were altered--if the fleet were put ulster the control of the First Lord of the Admiralty, and if be docks were put under the second or the third Lord, he believed that matters would turn out much more correctly. He spole from experience when he said that, for he had had the building of one ship himself; he had to consult with the builder, with the engineer, and with the ethers; but he had invariably had tie builder and the engineer brought together, so that by their frequent consultations each might know the other'sduties and preparations more perfectly, and soaharmony be estaliished which alone could ensure correctness and adapta tion. He was sure that without that, they could not go on as they ou;ht, and yet, as it was at present, the builder was per haps at Portsmouth and the engineer at Woolwich, and all that eacl had of the other's work, was what could be supplied by drawing. He felt assured that his suggestion as to the divi sion of services by the Lords of the Admiralty would yet be adopted, despite the First Lord whoever he might be ; for it was impossible that he could execute all the duties which he was expected to do were he a young man of 30 yesrs of age, much less if he were a man at 76, as his friend Sir George Cockburn was. Another point to which he would address himsdf was the manning of the ships. They were told that their men of war were not to be ships without guns, and they were told that the 40-gun ships were manned with their com plement. But what was the number of men at present in the service? Why they were 4,000 short. Mr. WARD—(laughing)-4,000 men over. That was not a great mistake. SirC. NAPIER—WeII, but the late Government, when they came nto office, made large professions. Sir George Cockburn told them that their line-of-battle ships and the other ships of war must se properly manned, and he began on a magnificent scale. But what was the end of it? Why, when the squadron which was then fitted out put to sea, they sailed with one-third less men than their complement, and the vacuity was filled with marines. But it was said that the squadron was out upon trial; yet -there were three of the ships at that moment in the Mediterranean, and one of them was at L'slon. If there were 4,000 men above the complement, he wished to know how they were to be paid out of the esti .mates d the present year? Last year they were 150 men short, aid this year they were 4,030 men over the complement —how, then, could this extra number be paid out of a vo t e no larger Iran, if it was so large, as it was last year ? He must appeal to his Right Hon. Friend behind him, and take sis wonted argument that with so small a vote they would be obliged to have recourse to amounts voted for differ ent purposes, a course which was not to be approved of, for thus they did not know what this Government was doing. If they wished money for any object, that object ought to be named, and a vote specifically taken for it. The Noble Lord the Member for Lynn had chosen to think and to say of him (Sir C. Napier) that. he who had just stepped off the quarter deck into the dock-yard could not be well fitted to enter upon the discharge of his duties. Perhaps he (Sir C. Napier) might say of the Noble Lord, that he who had just stepped off a quarter-deck peculiar to himself— for Newmarket and Epsom were the quarter •decks which he had walked, and which he had left to come into that House— could not have been very familiar or very much a master of the duties which he was called upon to perform. But be would tell the Noble Lord that his (Sir C. Napier's) vessel would be ready on Saturday night to put to sea on a trial cruise, and he would invite the Noble Lord most heartily take a trip with him. He would give him a trip round the Isle of Wight, and as good a bottle of—(Laughter)—as good laosbsoottf Isislef port as h e cou ld ge t in the kingdom, and p er h aps that would prove a so/wit/in to his wounded feelings over the Railway Bill.—( Laughter and " Hear, hear.") Mr. CORRIE rose to make a few observations in reply to the Gallant Admiral who had made his speech now for the sixth time, as Hansard up stairs would show. Especially he must notice one point of importance, not only to the Admiralty, but to the nation at large—he meant the building of iron vessels. The Admtralty felt it their duty to encourage ship-building, from a material which abounded in the kingdom. They were aware that the timber used is the dockyards was for the most part of foreign growth, and that during the last war there had been an exces sive demand for it. It was natural, therefore, if they could do it with equally good effect to the navy, that the Admiralty should wish to encourage the use of materials possessed by Great Britain within her own territories. He thought these were quite reasons sufficient to justify the late Board of Admi ralty in constructing steamers of iron. But the Gallant Admiral thought that this experiment was carried to to great an extent. Now, out of these 33 vessels, he should put nine out of the list. Several of them were very small vessels, and he should, therefore, only take twenty-four on which he should make any remarks. The Gallant Admiral had stated that these iron ships strained so that there was great danger of both crews and cargoes being lost. That was the first time that he had ever heard such a re pot t, and just as he had a paper put into his hands by an Irish gentleman who had made 250 iron vessels, some of them of a , much as I,B''o tons, all of which were seaworthy; and he need only take the instance of the Great Britain, now lying in Dun drum Bay, where it has been subject to a very heavy sea, with out that straining of which he complained ; but of the twenty four vessels, one was built only fur the purposes of experiment on the screw propeller, and only six, the Birkenhead, and five others, that had been built for war ves sels. The others they had taken, because they could get no others. Subsequently to the Nemesis being built. another vessel of much larger dimensions had been built. It was of 1 ,300 tons, and they had the report of a ship-builder of s e g bNfaatfeTrhrga r uroyeh e castir nm a ewi ons t .pee hnhc3susr e tpoi riaxpyllsttktpi compartments, f e e:: ionraea r eionfedn i nurp e mrtsdssb n atsoel hhe,frclechropeeeaokoe:noifimi from esehi commanders iruor Nemesisat, dhu nthhdoni for hee hor7 a rvaawea s seds s w u rwemto r taha:to a hn bsartinb n oeeon vs c remdNy ; hiesrsivhaiahs. t mi sade h oedixil td a eediastesfd t sai bgs n uehoaiht, lesr o nnit tnyeandwvopencvoe:nedpersfe pass seisl repeatedly vdhesttn igeui s ibaaircnuerei te c usmdi asiowtl particular harmless ynt d st aesnhida:e, a,away. prejubetter -tight diceriivitggoac throughhhnayeehts commu nicationsn r d d t opinion was decidedly in favour of iron over wooden vessels. Captain Hall was a man of as great exs erience as any man in this or any other country. Then there was the evidence also of Captain Charleville, who bad the Guadeloupe. The vessel which he commanded was struck by a 24-pound shot, fired from a distance of 1,000 yards, and the hole made was not larger than just sufficient to allow the shot to pass through. Another shot, an 18-pounder, struck the counter when fired from seven hundred yards, and it only indented the iron, and then passed away. Another shot, which passed through her side, lodged in the coal bunker, but without starting a single bolt. There were a variety of other instances which were given by some of the most eminent officers in the British navy, all tending to the same effect. So that he believed that the late Board of Admiralty ought to be quite exonerated from all blame ; yet he believe t that the present Board was quite risht in holding their hands, and in refraining from going to the expense of constructing iron steamers until, they had the fullest assurance that they were fit for the purposes of war.— ( Hear, hear.) The Gallant Admiral had charged the late Board with rashness in ordering so many as seventeen schooners, but it should be recollected that these vessels were built for the screw propeller. This was a charge that could hardly be sus tained, for if these iron vessels were not fitted for war purposes, they would at any rate be fit for the conveyance of troops and stores; and many of these schooners had been built from a justifiable cause, that arose from the state of the relations between this country and France. The Gallant Officer (Captain Pechell) said that there were the block ships, but it should be recollected that they wanted vessels to move quickly about, and block ships were totally unfit for experiments. He would not have troubled the House to such a length but he was anxiosupsectoialidyefeansdretshpeeeltaetde Board of Admiral t y from the at tacks that had been mad e up in it. Admiral DUNDA S th ou g h t that the attack of the G a ll ant the e miral promotion W or officers.l3ratunfa He found unfair and unjust, by looki ng at t h e off i cer ' s lists in 1816 and 1846 that as man y as 1 , 45 4 officers had di e d. The admiral's list had been reduced from 210 to 56; the cap tain's list from 851 to 697 ; the lieutenant's from :4,317 to 4,248. With respect to the number of promotions that had been made, he could state to the House that upwards of 160 lieutenants had been promoted for meritorious services rendered to the country, and he only regretted that double that number had not been promoted, in order that the Government might show their sense of the services that had been rendered to th e country. as Captainithadelicited HARRIS was glad that this atta c k h a d b een made, the statements that had just been made on both sides of the House, and he was still further rejoiced to hear that our large vessels of war were not to be laid aside, and that our seventy-four gun ships were not to be put out of commission for the sake of using steamers. With regard to steam .boats, he concurred with what had been said upon that subject; but he did not ; think the steam-boat system had yet been sufficiently deve lo p ed. There was another point he wished to allude to , th ou g h he was loath to do s o; but after what had occurred the other evening, he f :It it to be his duty to do so. He deprecated very much the issuing of such an order as that mentioned the other night by the Right Hon. n Secretary to the Admiralty , because, if the co mmander could be entrusted with the p ower of correctin g the men under him without previously consu ltin g a senior off icer , he ought not to be entrusted with the powe r a t all . He would limit the power of punishment to thirty lashes, and make that number uniform both for home and foreign service. The punishment might be reduced by degrees, but he thought it could not con sistently with the maintenance of due discipline be abolished altogether. As another mode of punishment for slight offences, such as drunkenness, &c., he would suggest that the allowances of meat and grog should be reduced. Mr. HUME said the subject of improving ship building for the navy was one of considerable importance to the country, and did he not know that the matter was under the considera tion of the Government he should have fe lt called u p on to bring it before the House. INaval architecture had lo ng been neglected in this country, and it was a matter of disgrace to the country that its models for ship building for the n av y bad been taken from th e S pan i ar d s , the Dutch, and other nations. Some improvement ought to be introduced into the naval sp.: tem of the country in that respect. and he was very glad to hear that th e ma tt er was being inquired into. With regard to the subject of promotion, he would defer his observations upon that point till a return of the promotions had been laid before i the House, and, w h en th a t report did come, re should extravagant and inconsistent. He was no advocate for in creasing the wages, nor was he disposed to adopt the sugges tionprepared to p rove th a t th e p ro motions of past years had been to employ the navy in carrying food from abroad, because it would derange the commercial system of the country. He would decidedly do away with corporal punishment, and sub stitute for it an improved mode of education. Let the Govern ment adopt that course, and they m ight depend upon it the men would be more steady and attentive to their duty. He was an enemy to the sy s t e m o f holding out the inducements off bounties for men to enter the navy, but rather preferred a steady system of wages which should increase exactly in the same ratio as wages in every other part of the world. The SPEAKER then left the Chair, and the House went into a Committee of Supply, Mr. GREENE in the Chair. NAVY ESTIMATES Mr. WARD then rose to introduce the navy estimates. He said—Sir, I have - a difficult duty to perform in laying before the Ifouse th e navy estimates for the year, ow i ng , first, to the large ness of th e expediture ; and, secon dl y, t o the great va r i e t y o f the exp en di ture; but I will still do my b es t to make th em as intelli g ibl e as possible. Now, Sir, the grass es ti ma t e f or t h e year e xcee d s, by 62,840/ , the estimate proposed last year. The net vote w i l l excee d th a t of last year i n a still greater amount, but th i s ar i ses f rom th e p ecu li ar i ty of the credit account of this year. This year the credits aineunt only to 175,000/., while last year they amounted to 1 90,000/. ; so that the apparent excess is 77,0004 more in money than was required last year. I perfectly agree with the observations that were made the other night by my Hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, and my lion. Friend the Member for Coventry, upon the financial state of the Exchequer, when they impressed upon the House that nothing is more deserving the attention of Parliament, or more required the watchfulnes of Parlia ment, the probable tendency of navy estimates to increase in times of peace. They referred to the standard of 1834 and 1835, when the navy estimates only amounted to 4,245,0001. Perhaps I might ask them why they did not go still further back ? Why they did not go back to 1817, when the number of seaman voted for the service of the year was only 17,000 ? They did not do so, because their own common sense .I.i 'l.ii•re shot il ii,,ii r,,r7 u s , to :f. fou of our justification. it shows that a country like this cannot fix fts owh expenditure in matters connected with public expense , . What may be ample provision only two yeirs after t e termination of an expensive war, affecting every con tinental state, may not prove sufficient twenty years afterwarde, I mean the power which is strictly necessary for the purposes of defence, not for the purposes of aggrandisement. There is not, I am sure, a person in the House who will not feel that is necessary to keep up the power of the country. 1 do not think that the Government is asking too much, when the dig nity and honour of the country is taken into consideration. What is now the actual increase in the navy estimates, exclu sive of the packet stations? The expense of the packet ser v ce in the year 1830 was 27,000/., in 1831 it was 24,0001., and for the present year 820,083/. It will be found that after deducting this charge of the packet stations, and other charges, amounting to the sum of 1,564,945/, the total expense for the maritime defence of the country is only 5,996,0001. It must be borne in mind that in this country there are no fortified towns as in France, neither is there any great military organization upon which to fall back. The French navy estimates for the present year, with her immense army and her Paris fortifications amounted to 5,639,000/., the difference between the estimates of the two countries amounted only to 327.0001. In the year 1846 an extraordinary credit was taken by the French Government for a sum of 93,000,000 of f ancs to be distributed over a period of seven years. The French navy estimates for the present year are 114,594,591 francs, and to this turn must be added the seventh part of the 93,000,000 of francs of thc extra ordinary credit. It was also proposed by the French Govern ment to increase their present number of ships from 358 to 390. It is also to be borne in mind that the French Govern ment have expended and are still expending large sums in the construction of steam basins, in order in some measure to supply the deficiency of natural harbours, along the coast at Dunkirk, Calais, Cherbourg, Brest, Toulon. and numerous other places. At Cherbourg, 44,000,003 of francs had been expended. At Brest, a lei ge naval establishment was set up, in one of their smitheries there were 127 furnaces ; at Portsmouth, the largest of our naval stations, there is a smithery which has but 48 furnaces. ' These things, I am sure, ought to operate as a lesson to this . country. It is perfectly necessary that some parallel should be kept up between this country and France. The naval esta blishments of this country were in a most disgraceful state ; there is not a single station where a large vessel cari put in between Woolwich and Constantinople. Bermuda, Malta, and Devonport were all in a very bad condition. Now all this has arisen from the miserable parsimony which has recently ex isted in this House ; you have been always for cutting down the estimates, and now in a year of great depression, and when there is not a shilling but could he well employed by the Chancellor of the Exrhequer, you are called necessarily to devote a large sum to the purpose of improving these naval establishments, which might have been distributed over a period of several years. The works at Bermuda will be oqliged to be suspended, in order to finish the works in progress nearer to home. Now, with reference to the marines, it is necessary to :dd 1,50 J men to that body, and also to re-orga ni,e the corps of naval engineers. Nothing can be more im portant than the adoption of such a step. A Committee was appointed to inquire into the subject of the naval engineers; they reported that in conset i uence of the low wages given in her Majesty's navy to engineers, that service had become the last resort of the ignorant and inexperienced. Tile pay of the [ first class engineers at present in her Majesty's navy is 131. Is. per month. The pay to the first class engineers in the East India Company's service, with 50/. for outfit, is 15/. per month for the first three years, 191. 4s. 6d. for the next four years, and 211. 4s. 6d. for the next four years. The pay in the merchant service is 251. per month for India and China, 16/. per month for the Mediterranean, arid 21/. per month for the West Indies. In her Majesty's service the engineer is compelled to rank with the carpenter ; they were not treated as gentlemen ; they did not feel themselves to be such. The Committee proposed to divide the engineers into first, second, and third classes. The chief inspectors of machinery afloat, of the first class, to rank with, but after masters of the fleet ; the chief engineer to rank with, but after the master; _ the assis tant-engineer w ith, b u t a ft er th e secon d master. We propose to give to the inspectors of machinery afloat 21/. per month ; the chief engineer, 161 per month ; engineers, 141. per month; assistants in the first class, 121. per month ; in the second class, 9/. ; in the third, 81. per month. The inspector of machinery afloat is to have the power of reporting upon all matters con nected with the machinery. Now when it is considered that these alterations will not exceed 8,0001., I feel assured that the Committee will not refuse its assent to the proposition of the Government. The total amount of the value of the machinery with which these officers will be intrusted, will be at least 1,400,000/., and the proposed additional expense will not be more than a half per cent. on the value of the machinery. It is proposed that a vote of 500 men for 12 months, and 1,000 men for six months should 1 e taken fir the marines. It is also proposed to take a grant of 20,000'. for the organisation of the dockyard corps, this carps will be a very useful body of men, and can be turned to very valuable account in case of invasion. The greatest readiness had been evinced by h e artisans employed in the dockyards to enlist in the corps. The numbers had been— At Deptford 9OO Sheerness . ..... 868 Chatham Portsmouth ... 1664 Plymouth Pi mbroke It would be most essential to the discipline of this body of men that they should be instructed, and have as much as possible their condition improved, measures will be proposed for that object. It is proposed to extend to the marines in sornt modified form, the benefit of the Bill for re.. during the period of enlistment. Of course, the peculiarities of the nature of the service in which the marines were engaged, should be taken into due consideration. It is intended to bring forward some measures for the improvement ,f the condition of the marines, and for placing them substan tially upon the same footing as the army. With respect co the punishment in the navy, I do not wish to go again into that question. The order recently issued by the Board of Admiralty, has, it appears, been received by some Hon. Members favour ably ;by ethers not so. It is. however, proposed to introduce a measure for the infliction of secondary punishments, white the vessel is in harbour. Tne Government also propose to introduces Bill to legalise the apprenticeship of boys in her Majesty's service. These two Irtil , s we wish to bring in, and we intend that the system which at present exists, when a ship enters the dock yard, shall be in a great degree done away with. We pro pose that if any man of good character desire's to remain upon the ship's books he may do so, and six weeks' leave of absence shall be given, to enable him to have a " run " on shore, while his clothes, kit, See. can be kept in the dockyard. Now, Sir, there is another subject to which I wish to direct the attention of the House, and which I ask it to provide for under two separate heads. I ask a total vote for salaries and wages of 810,664/., and you will observe that this is less more present thatatl vote a t h of menik nearly noffl eachs money, 0,0 0 n O/ than the vo t e w hi c h has been taken for many years past. The vote f or 18 43 and 1844 was 779,396/., for 1845 and 1846 931,808'. an d t h ere i s consequently a ;reduction; in the numbers n o u u e m s n e nb con sidersetsto r; o re thepNeeakwi speaking in , when hn the steamf et roundo;i and that the charges for new works amounts to 526,000!., I think that, with these facts before us, you will agree with me that thl question involving, as it does, an expenditure of three millions, is worthy the attention of Parliament. The House, I trust, will see the impolicy and inconvenience of leaving all the affeirs of the steam factories to be conducted as now, in one place, and th a t at t h e l east accessible point. Look' at France, she has factories at Cherbourg, Brest, Toulon, Ro chelle, and other ports; while England has only Woolwich. —( Hear, hear.) It is, therefore, this imperative ne cessity that induced the late Ministry to commence at Portsmouth, Devonport, and Sheerness, magnificent steam factories with all their concomitants. The House must be aware that in these establishments the utmost vigilance and carefulness is requisite to prevent any misapplication of the Government stores, and to insure a necessary and wise eco nomy. But as economy and vigilance are virtues not easily commanded in Government establishments, it is our intention to make the individuals employed in these feel that their own interests as' private members are dependent on a proper and fitting attention to the interests of the country. You cannot have that watchfulness in her Majesty's dockyards that charac terise the establishments of private companies ; you must, therefore, trust some, and as they have to deal with a large amount of money, it is better that you should appeal to their prin ciples than vainly endeavour to coerce them into a rigid system of morality —( Har, hear.) You must show them that their chances of promotion depend upon their merits, and you must prove to them that these merits shall have fair play.— ( Cheers.) You must show them that they have a higher au thority than that of their own officers to appeal to. Ido not hesitate to say, that promotion for merit has hitherto been worse than a de id letter, nay, it has been often said, that a 10/. freehold was better than any testimony from a superior officer. We have seen that when a vacancy has occurred in the dockyard, applications have reached the Board of Admiralty from every quarter but the right one recommending s successor. The printed regulations were no doubt excellent, but they were a dead letter. There never had been any thing corresponding to them in the practice of the Admi ralty.—(Hear, hear.) I shall not say for how many years it has been the rule that meritorious exertions should go unre warded. Now Ido not blame any particular Board for the continuance of this system. I believe that all Boards have been highly culpable, and if I want pooof of this, I wili find it in the fact thst no Secretary of the Admiralty has dared to leave behind him the correspondence which has taken place on this subject of promotions.—( Laughter.) Sir, I say that that system is a most baneful and demoralising system. There are 12 000 artisans belonging to, or hoping to belong to these establishments, these men have no prospect beyond the dock yard, they look forward to becoming foremen, and from fore men to inspectors, and from inspectors, dock masters, until they hope to reach a status which will give them perhaps 690/. per annum with a free house to live in. Thus a proper emula tion will be created, because you show the artisan that his pro motion is certain, because based upon fair and intelligible principles. By the system that prevailed, you had no h ope that good cond uc t wou ld b e not i ce d or bad conduct checked, unless such exceeded what was called the dock-yard license. The result was, that a sort of apathy was engendered in the dock-yards, which no authority could check, and which there was no getting rid of. Now this was a system which the Noble Lord the First Lord of the Admiralty felt peculiarly annoying, and I saw a great deal more of its evils, because many things are exhibited in the Secretary's department which reaches not higher. I must say that I think all the defects of the system are to be attributed to the mode of distributing the patronage of the Admiralty. If the House will only consider the vast amount of power, for gootl or evil, which the officers in these establishments possess, if you consider that every one of the 180 inspectors expend on an average 10,000/. a year, they must concede that an improved system of promotion—a system which will connect the interests of the Government with their own —will be a desirable one. I shall now state the principle on which we intend to proceed. We wish to have, in the first place, an improved educational test for all who desire to be workmen. We wish to place schools on a superior footing to what they are now, for we conceive that it is better to give the boys access to the best system of education that can be commanded, than to allow them, as by the present course, to attain only an imperfect education from some of the officers Of the dockyard. In every application to the dockyard, we shall require from the apprenticesa school a s we ll as ot h er cer tif ica tes, and if considered qualified, th ey s h a ll b e a d mitte d i nto th e mo uld dock. Havingthe conducted thems e l ves i n a * m anner to give satisfaction, be in will then b e a d m i tte d as s hi pwr i g hts, and they will then some degree l e ft t o th emse lves. We wish also to introduce a s • the master of a gang of syste m of periodical returns, that I twelve men, shall make a return, over a fortnight, to a fore man ; the f oreman ma k e another return once a month, to a '(tester; and the master once a quarter to the Board o f Admiralty. A ga i n , when a vacancy occurs, three names shall be sub m it te d t o t h e mas ter, who shall strike off the one l east qualified for the v a cancy, and the Board of Admiralty shall choose to supply it one of the two names remaining. W e pro at once pose that the salaries of the masters shall be raised from 100/. per annum, as at present, to 1251. I have sub to the governors o f t h e nuked these regulations different dockyards, sod they all express th e i r ex treme satisfaction with the measure. I shall now allude very shortly to the different points in the Bill. In vote No. 1 there is an increase of 31.10 W., which is intended to defray the expense of the addition to the marine force, and the corps of steam engineers. Under vote No. 2 there is a reduction of 4,220/. The Government have taken the cost of provisions at present, and have calculated on the coming har vest, when every article shall have reverted to their former prices.—(Hear, hear.) We have discontinued, in con sequence, the eontineenev of h per cent, el 'eh Govern ment, h,rpt,d' ore . t ie = I trr-, .; t h e h'" .f g. Under vot e N:,. 3 the re was an increase of 1,3401. ; this hi eluded ti,e steam department, and comprised 2,000/. for I °st age, and 1.2001. for clerks. I will not now go into the min r points, but will confine myself to the principal items. And for the same reason I will pass over votes 4 and 5. With regard to No. 6, we propose to take 7,2911. for the if crease of the sala ries at home, 2,785/. for other parts of the inspection and measurement of the docks, and 300/. to Mr. Grant, at the Clarence Dock, as an indemnity to him till he is promoted, when the allowance will cease. I will pass over No. 7. For No. 8 we propose to take 8.3771. for attendance iii the dockyarde, aed 3 2:o'. of that will be for the inspection of the dockyards 2,070/. for tr,iiiing in the dockyards, 2,965/. for the metal-mills at Chatham, by which alone a saving of 6,000/. per annum will he effected in onse,,uence of the work being done by Government. We propose to add 10,000/. to the wages of the steam department at Woolwich. That item may appear large, but the great convenience which the accommodation will give to the great necessity which exists of having persons to execute the works required by Government steamers justify, in our judgment, such an outlay. We have 735 men now employed in the factory there. I find that in 1844-45 there were 27 steamers repaired at Woolwich ; in 1845-46 there were 36 ; anti in 1846-47, during a period of nine months, 29 steamers. The value of the work bone in these periods respeciively wa549,000/., 58,000/ , and 76,0001. The value of the engines was 501. per horse power, and the cost of repairs :31. per home power per year, and if they had been done in a private establishment, the cost of this 41,000 horse power would be 328,000/. You now pay 60.000/. in wages, of which 10.000/. is more than the esti mate of last year. Mle.. vote 10 there was a decrease of 89,995/. There was a decrease in iron steam-boats of 78,000/., which consisted of contracts not yet completed. I will not go into the question of building large steam-boats without further trial, which has been referred to by the Hon. Baronet, but I sincerely hope the experiments that may be made will justify the good opinion formed of them. I have now to come to No. 11. In this vote we propose to have an increase of 32,719/. for new works. This will ap pear a large sum ; but it must be recollected that in former years sums that were placed under votes 8,9, and 10, and ap peared in these votes respectively, were now collected under a generic head, and placed in vote 11. Those only which related specially to votes 8,9, and 10, were charged to those votes. If the House will allow me, I shall now state in order, one at a time, the other items which we propose. We have taken 167,0001. for Portsmouth, and I should think the steam basin there will be ready in the month of May. We have taken 10,000/. to complete the works at Woolwich, and 27,600'. to construct new marine barracks. For Plymouth we have taken 120,0001., for the basin and docks at Devonport 39,000'., and for Haul-bow-line, near Cork, 10 000/. For Malta, where we have a dock ready for the largest steamer, we purpose taking 10,01101. I think 1 have now finished all the points to which I intended to refer in this statement, and I can only say that though the expenditure may be very great, I do not see, considering all the facts to which I have adverted—seeing what every country is now doing, and that we are now paying for the niggardliness of former years—that we can reduce the estimates to a smaller amount. I think that the vote for wages in dockyards, under a system of restriction, and having a check upon the repairs, will tend ultimately to a saving in this department. It is possible—certainly there will be a reduction in the expense of iron steamers of 85,000/. I hope that there will be some reduction in the estimates for steam machinery in subsequent years, in consequence of the change we are about to make. The system will be placed on a better footing than it now stands upon, and the probability is that, in a few years, these extraordinary expenses will en tirely disappear.—(Hear, hear. ) I believe that I have stated to the House that there are 185,000/. of excess for the year 1845 and 1846, but the responsibility will not rest with us. That sum shall constitute the first vote. Admiral BOWLES, 'who was very imperfectly heard, de fended the Admiralty from the charges brought against it by Sir C. Napier. He would wish to see as large a squadron kept up in the year 1847 as had been maintained during the past year, for the race of naval officers who had seen actual war was now rapidly declining, and it was necessary that the young naval officers should have opportunities of such exercise as would enable them to keep up the national honour in the event of a war. He objected also to the per nicious system of detaining ships at particular stations for any length of time. Many ships had not the opportunity of proper exercise in consequence of their being thus de tained, and the race of officers now growing up were thus most materially injured, and hindered from acquiring a proper knowledge of their profession. Captain PECH ELL was glad to hear the observations which had fallen from the Gallant Admiral, and that a ne w system was to spring up which would effectually hinder that jobbing in the dockyards which had hitherto prevailed. The Hon. Gen tlemen in his opening statement wished to show the reasons for the measure of the estimate. The House did not require that knowledge, for it was obvious to every person who took up a newspaper that the measure was necessary ; but he should be gled to know something about the condition of the squa drons on the coast of Africa. Those vessels were detained there three years, and he thought that the system as at preset pur sues with regard to the capture of slaves was one fraught with the grossest jobbing, for, what with fees and other charges made in the Vice- Admiralty Coons, very little found its way into the Exchequer of the admiralty for the benefit of the seamen. He thought it absolutely necessary that the system should be reformed. He was also glad to hear that the salaries of the pursers in the navy had been raised by the Government, for, in his opinion, they were a most deserving class of officers ; but he was still of epinion that the Government had not effectually carried out the recommendation of the Commissioners with reference to the higher class of officers. He would conclude his reference to the masters and pursers, w ith the hope that the Hon Gen tleman below (Mr. Ward) would take their case into his most serious consideraiion. There was another point to which he would refer. They had done great injury to the service by the indiscriminate admission of youths into the navy, without proper inquiry. They had admitted a number of thieves and vagabonds into the service. This was a matter which should be looked into. With regard to the building of ships, he considered that fair competition should be allowed, so that builders who were competent might be induced to come forward and take a part in the construction of the ships. They had also been promised a reformation in the constitution of courts martial ; but from recent cases which had taken place, this did not appear to have been the case. Among these cases there was the one of the captain of the Sphinx, which was lost off the Isle of Wight. That officer was called on to criminate himself, and had been degraded from his rank. All these things showed that a revision was necessary. Now, that they had had again another Reorm Ministry in, he thought the question of Courts-martial should be fully inquired into, and redress given. He had also to complain that the members of the coast guard engaged on the west coast of Ireland were not treated as they ought to be. At the present time, though provisions in Ireland were excessively dear, and in many cases difficult to be had for money, no advance in their pay had been made, and no promotion was held out to them. He trusted all the matters to which he had referred would command the serious attention of the Government with the object of effect ing a reformation. Dr. BOWRING congratulated the lion. Member (Mr. Ward) for the improvement which was made in the arrange ment of the accounts. This would appear to have been done in pursuance of the recommendation of the Committee of Public Accounts, a few years ago. He said he was happy that the principle had been adopted, partially in the public accounts, of excluding all credits in aid of the departments ; and he hoped that the column of credits would be entirely done away with. Mr. FITZROY wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Secretary for the;Adruiralty, whatwas the object of taking a vote of 27,500 men, at a time when they had 4,030 men more than the complement on the books. That was an excess which they were not accustomed to have .on the books. He did not think with many in England that the ships could be manned and the harbours of refuge prepared all at a moment's notice. Practical men knew that that was not so, but he did thinklthat come of the minor details ought to be omitted. He thought there ought to be 'some means got for coaling their steam-ships. He understood that 100 tons was all they could put aboard a s'ay. Now in that case an impediment might easily be created in a time of war, and a steam fleet without coals would become mere logs. He was also glad to hear the Hon. Gentleman's plans with regard to the dockyards ; he admired the principle of it, having had his attention specially drawn to the dockyards while he was in the Admiralty ; and he would certainly give the measure his support when it was brought in. Atter a few words from Capiain BERKELEY, Mr. WARD said he had just consulted with Lord John Hay, under whose care a plan was being carried out for coaling their steam vessels. He found that the construction of a Coal Board would cost from 40,000/. to 50,0001., but they had adopted ono of the old hulks, where they had put an engine on board, and they were enabled to put 100 tons an hour on board the vessels Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that while he held a place in the Admiralty, he had never diminished the naval estimates, except so far as that could be done without diminishing the efficiency of the navy. ( Hear, hear.) hut he had risen that moment to express his regret that there should be an increase a constant increase in the naval estimates ; and he heard the Hon. Gentleman with alarm state that, in his opinion, the estimates for the present year were not so large as they would yet require to be. But he regretted one thieg—he very much regretted one delicate point which had been touched upon by the Hon. Gentleman he meant the payment of the men. The Hon. Gentleman said it would be necessary to raise the wages of the seamen in the Queen's service up to those given in the merchant service, or near to them. But he (Sir J. Graham) entirely dissented from that proposal. If they brought the Queen's service into competition with the merchant service, the moment that some new arrangement was made by the Government in her Ma jesty's service, a counter movement would be made in the merchant service, and there could be no seeing the end of the expence which it would entail upon the country.—( Hear.) He thought it unhappy that the subject had been mentioned at all, arid the subject, if con sidered, would natur a lly b r i ng on w ith it the consideration of the marines and the army. He did not propose the postpone ment of it to a future day, for he entirely dissented from the principle. Under such a system there would and of boundl essld be opened up a plan of boundless expense on the one hand, expectation on the other, and he thought it could not be main tained even if it were to be entered upon. He did hope that it would not be entered upon without the sanction of the Chancellor of th e E xchequer, or, indeed, witliout the sanction of the Government. He would not have made these observations, but that it gave the Right lion. Gen tleman the opportunity of making an explanation of his views. Mr. WARD said that the Right Hon. Baronet had entirely misunderstood what had fallen from him. The Honourable Member for Montrose had entered fully into the matter, and he was quite aware of the itnportance of the subject, arid of the de licacy of the question which had been mooted, and he was at the same time aware that such a step ought not to be taken without the sanction of the Government. The Gallant Officer had alluded to the number of • the desertions, and the object which he (Mr. Ward) had in view was, to offer such inducements to the seamen, that from the common ranks the men might rise to be petty officers, and thus by offering the inducement of promotion so to elevate the moral character of the men as to have the advantage of a better class in the navy. That was the question which lie had mooted. Sir J. GRAHAM had only spoken of the disadvantage of confusing the positions of the petty officers and the seamen. Mr. \YARD —To that he was alluding. He hought there would be no difficulty whatever in arranging the plan. If they allowed the seamen to rise in rank, they would give all the inducement that was necessary for gating good men into the service. That was the only question—he never contem plated anything further—for the House could not but be aware that he could not carry out this design without the sanction of the Government, and he did not at all intend to permanently raise the wages of the seamen. Sir C. NAPIER was much disappointed to hear the decla ration which had just been made by the flight Hon. Gentle man the Secretary of the Navy, for one of his main objects in desiring this increase in the wages of the men and the petty officers in the navy was, to oblige the merchants to raise the wages of the persons in their employment. They wanted to keep the men in the service, and how were they to do that unless they gave them as good remuneration for their exertions as they could obtai n e l sew h ere . Th e l a b o urer was always worthy of his }tire. It was said that there were 51,00 j British seamen engaged in America at the present moment, and it was well known that the greater part of the mercantile marine in America was being worked by British seamen. He I wanted to bring them back from America, and he thought thi f fee s''• • • • • ihe • . . e ., 0 1,1 ie es, T.; Id .1 ft-t' " CI, object which he had in view, for he was quite sure that they. would never get g oc d men i n t o th e serv i ce unless they pai d them better than they did at pi e3ent. ' Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT thought that if the Secretary to the Admiralty would look into the matter he would fled that, with the exception of a few instances, the pay of the sea men in the navy was not lower than that of men in the mer chant service, and that, considering the low price at which e slops were supplied, and a ll th e o th er a dvantages, that at end of a certain period the seamen in the navy would be 'n the possee=ier of more hard mensy any one would obtain from the merchant service. There was one thing that he th oug ht was not prudent in th e statement of the Right Hon: Gentleman, and that was the pro position to reduce the estimate for the victualling departmen t of the navy below the ratio of f ormer y ear s. Ile proposed . take five per cent. from the estimates of this department of tle . navy. If he would t a k e th e hi g h es t p o i n t la s t year, he would find it was absolutely nec es s ar y t o t a k e the estimates for _a higher number of men th an hose they abso lut ely required at the time, arid in the present year especially it seemed to he a matter of i n di s p ensa bl e prudence. Many causes might arise for e xt en di ng th e num b er of men, bu t was impossible for the Nobl e L or d th e S ecre tary for Fore i g n Affairs to see precisely what number of men he would require. If they would take the exp e rie nce o f th e J ai l few years , and consider the various wants of the empire, the extent of e ve colonial possessions, and all the v ar i ous requ i s itions that b are been made upon the Admiralty, he wou ld se e that in this e de partment at least it was not prudent to reduce the eVnot '', mates. With respect to the d oc ky ar d s , he would enter into any detail, but he understood that promotions were to take place on the recommendation of the officers in the dockyards. Mr. WARD expressed his dissent. Such was not exactly the case. Mr. S. HERBERT had had some considerable experiences and he believed that it would be dangerous to trust suliPlY to the recommendation of the officers in the dockyards. lir ee officers enjoyed a position of grea t l oca l i mpor t a nce, and they would recommend any man either because he was a Whig er& Tory. They had greater f a ith i n L or d A uc kl an d so long its be continued at the Admiralty than in any other individual. The only plan to render such a system available would be t° take the recommendatio ns o f th e hi g h es t officers in the several establishments. Mr. WARD said there was to be a chain of recoro• mendations, beginning with the superintendent. Mr. J. O'CONNELL said that he observed there wa g recommendation in the estimates for the expenditure of 600,0001. on the coast of Ireland ; he wished it had been more, for he felt assured nothing would tend more to promote the interests of his country than the establishment of larg e naval arsenals on the coast. Mr. BARING was glad to understand what was the in" tention of Government, and not the less so because it inti mated a desire on their parts to maintain the whole of the public service in a full state of efficiency. The House ha d not only given its sanction to this policy, but it bad &boo' lutely forced it upon the Government ; at the same On e he must add a hope that this endeavour to keep up force and efficiency would not be confined to one department only. Still he hail listened with great attention to the able statement of his Bight H on . F r i en d, an d was rejoiced to find tha t he hail devoted so mu c h ti me an d attent i on to the important subject of keeping up the national defences, and he must be al lowed to express a hope that Government would continue in the course they had so a bly b egun . Wi t h regar d to the subjec t of promotion, he, with the Honourable Member for Dorsetshire, trusted the Government would receive with caution recommend a ti ons f rom the officers of the docky an s i !' In any promotions they intended to make, they ought rath er to trust to the discreti on an d j u d gmen t of the Admiralty. than the prejudiced recom m end a ti on o f d oc k yar d o ffi c i a l s. H e did no t mean to insinuate that th ere was anyt hi ng lik e j o bbi n g in t, dockyards, but still he was g l a d to he.ar the Right Hon. Gentle**o man the Secretary for the Admiralty was determined to ser port a system of promotion founded upon merit. — (H ear ' hear.) Perhaps he would have some difficulty in Will out so laudable a desig n , b u t h e t ruste d t h at t h at prospe ct von n ,.. not deter him from c arr yi ng hi s pra i sewort h y o bj ect i n to cif With regard to exces s i n th e vote , i t must b e b orne in mind that it was to meet the deficiencies of the past two years, a n therefore it ought no t t o b e o bj ecte d t o. Th e navy es timate , were not singular in these deficiencies, for they applied almost to every branch of th e serv i ce , an d h e , f or one, was re j o iced th is system was about to receive a deathblow.—( Hear, hear.) rt Ceptain BAINBRIDGE made a few remarks, the purP e of which were inaudible in the gallery. Mr. GOULBURN explained that the excess of the exPe n diture over the estim a t es i n th e y ear 1845 arose f rom t he desi r e on the part of the Government, to carry out the reeominen t : t ; th ins of the Commi ss i oners appo i nte d to i nqu i re i nto the stn of the defences of the country. Lord J. RUSSELL said that the statements made by the Hon. Member the l a t e Ch ance ll or o f t h e E xc h equer , a s to th e cause of the expenditure. was perfectly satisfactory. H e r j e :t memb red, in th e y ear 1840, t h at t h e G overnment thoug ht proper to go beyond the estimates after the prorogation of par; liament, but upon the re-assembling of the House a vet e : t h passed upon the subject, indemnifying the Governmeno , to respect to the present expenditure of the navy, be had statee, the Noble Lore at the head of the Admiralty ( Lord Auckland) that whatever sum might be voted, it would be necessary ensure a proper expend , ture it the sums. He did not thins; when it was considered, what strides steam navigation W,_ the e _ taking, and th e i mmense sums expended by France , thatt House could j us tly enterta i n any opinion on the subject ° reduction of the expe nses o f t h e navy. I t was t h e d u ty o f t It executive to provide agaiest the risk of any emergenef. • was not to be supp ose d th at b ecause t hi s country once qe sessed a powerful marine, that therefore it should sow content and stand still. With respect to t h e a b us e of rating i t e in the dock-yards, me asures wou ld b e ta k en b y t h e Admire s : . to prevent as much as p oss ibl e th e recurrence o f the a base An eminent and gallant o ffi cer , w h o was a t presen t out °:.,; fi g country, had stated that th e l a b our o f th ose p er sons, ha l'" - o f political influence, was much more inefficient than the D o t hired workman, who held no such influence. He i s t e r • je nd prepared to say that th e sc h eme of hi s Ri ght H on . would be in every respect success f u l , b rat as they y , would A quire to report to t h e H ouse next session, the Hon . esenoe' man opposite would have an opportunity of suggesting some more effectual system for effecting these desirable improve ments. Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT said that many of the appoint. ments which the late Government Lad made, were to individualv who held not the same views with the Admiralty. If the Right Hon. the Se cre t ar y o f t h e Ad m i ra l ty wished to aec ertain the con ectnese of every appoi n t men t, h e wou ld fi n d that his time would be too limited for that purpose. The vote was then agreed to. • of The sum of 1,325,820/. was th en vote d f or th e salaries seamen and marines, and ano th er vote o f 635 , 452/. for th e victualling department was also granted. po rted On the motion of Mr. HUME, t h e Ch a i rman ter' on progress, and th e C omm itt ee o b ta i ned l eave to s i t again - Monday. The House then resumed. Captain PECHELL moved for certain returns connec ted with the operation of the Poor Removal Act of last session. Agreed to. THE DESTITUTE RELIEF SUPERVISION BILL FOR IRELAND. On the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL, this Bill was rea d first time, and or d ere d t o b e rea d a second t i me this dal se'nnight. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned. PETITIONS ON PRIVATE BILLS" HOUSE OF COMMONS. (Room 22, before Mr. Examiner SMITH[.) OPPOSE D . LEEDS, DEWSBR UY, AND LIST MANCHESTER RAIL, WAY (OSSETT BRANCH AND DEWSBURY MORELY STATIONS). Opposition withdrawn, and sta n di ng or d ers comp li e d Wi t s . KILMARNOCK AND AYR DIRECT RAILW , r 0 (RAILWAY FROM KILMARNOCK TO AYR, WI BRA NCH TO THE HARBOUR OF AYR). of This petition was resumed. It occupied the whole the day. (Room 23, before Mr. Examiner MAY.) OPPOSED LIST. SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY EXTENSION AND AMENDMENT. This case was closed to-day. Standing orders not com plied with. EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY (AM.—* MENT OF ACTS.) In this case the standing orders were complied with. , A y GREAT SOUTHERN AND W ESTERN KAI LV‘ ‘' „., EXTENSION (PORTARLINGTON TO TULLAMORr" ) Standing orders complied with. t Birmingham and Oxford J unct i on, and Birmingham. Iv., we d hampton, and Dudley Railways Amalgamation (P r° P, 7 „ e n, Amalgamation of the Bi rm i ng h am and Oxford J un ' and Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Dudley Railway o Companies, with power o f transfer to or Amalgama tion with the Great Western Railway Company). Standing orders complied with. Adjourned till to-morrow (this day). EA DVERTI , EMENT.j—The Registered Paletot o r Llama cloth, the most fa s hi ona bl e coat for both the pres e°t and approaching seasons , st ill re t a i ns th e same modera t e price, which, with its usefulness and gentlemanly appear, ance, has secured such general pop u l ar ity. It h as been 11 1116 e by special command for their Royal Highnesses Prin ce Albert, Prince George of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Sal Weimar, his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and th e s evers royal visitors to the British Court. In London it can only be purchased of the pa'entees, 11. J. and D. Nicoll, Cour t tailors, 114, Regent-street, and 22, C orn hi ll. Agents for Liverpool, Dawbarn and Son, 13old.street ; for Dublin, G e .fi Mae:lona, Molesworth-stre e t ; for Birmin4ham, Wareing a",„; Son, .New-street; and the p r i nc i pa l tailors in other 106- towns -- --- IMPORTANT FAMILY MEDICINE. of Health effectually relieves the stomach and bowels .6, genCe relaxation, without griping or prostration of o P f tc' st n' re i n:;: l : l They remove head-ache, sickness, dizziness, pains in chest, &c. ; are highly grateful to the stomach, promot e f gestion, create appetite, relieve langour and depress i°n re spirits; while, t o th ose o f a full habit and free livers, vs(ll° a continually suffering from drowsiness, heaviness, and singfn in the head and ears, they offer advantages that will a "v r ice to be appreci a t e d. S o ld b y all venders of medicines. ',29, Is. I!6d. per box. See the name of " Thomas Proat , Strand, London," on the government stamp. orTIRS O f [ADvERTISEMENT.]—AN EXTRAORDINARY 04 , A HAD LEG, AT HOIINCASTLE, BY HOLLOWAY'S PILLS A" . 0 010 MENT.—A lew days since Mr. John Simpson, a highly resi sin ce bookseller In that town, states that a gentleman of his acquaintbad had been suffering lbr years frcm one of the worst description o f legs, frequently enduring the most excruciating pain. Ho near the care of several medic a l m e n with o ut obtaining th inch benefit. This gentleman, however, has just been cured by th?!t pr suable medicines, after every other trea ment had failed. The pro will cure chilblains and chapped hands in a few hours—Soldll fessor Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand; and by almost respectable vendors of mealcine throughout the civilised w___ BIB? ffS. 50 1 On Feb. 21, at Devonport, the lady of Captain F. J. Islac kei Fusiliers, of a daughter, stillborn. On Fob. 21, the lady of teorge French, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn , 14:- rister-at-law, of a son. On Feb. 24, at Long Dillon, the lady of Charles Corkrfin, 1 ' 44 of a son. On Feb. 25, at Hampstead, Mrs. Thomas Butcher, of a son. ,„,,, On Fob. 26, in Gosw,ll-street, the lady of Charles Gordon, J" Esq., of a daughter. . 133 13 g On Feb. 23, at Trinity C h urch, ARRIED Regent's-park, Captain Crea,gh, t , Charlotte Jane Minebin, daughter ofJohn Min clgn. her Britannic Majesty's Co nsu l a t F a y a l. .L.sq., DIED. On Feb. 24, Albert Walker, son of It. Bell, Esq., of 31 GONVer - sty eet. . 'l On Feb. 24, at Bri g ht on , M a tild a Mary, daughter of 1001 Graham. Esq. On Feb. 24, at Thames Ditt on , Surrey,Mrs. Charlott e Betts, o f tho relict of thy late J. Betts, Esq., aged 72. On Feb. 25. at Richmond, Surrey, Geraldine. only daughter late Captain Wintour, of the E. I. C.'s service , aged our: - ,n • , ' 7,10 11 2, • "we' , 00 ( 'nbllshed by hiErRI)O YOTTNG, of • . , ttan,l. I , lntot. It rh. Su. , 17. e , 1'.3 , ) !IT, -41,nd, In the Free Inc" °‘...t t " ''%‘"'‘'. , n the County of 311,1,,11e5ex, Saturday' uruary 27, 1847.