The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-06-04 00:00:00

Empatat Vadiaraent. HOUSE OF LORDS, THURSDAY, - MAY 30. Petitions for enforcing the better observance of the Sabbath were presented by the Marquis of Downshire and the - Earl of Roden. NEGRO SLAVERY. A number of petitions were presented by Earl Grey, Lord Id, and . the Earl of Roden, praying for the abolition of slavery in our colonies. The Duke of WELLINGTON presented a petition from mer chants, shipowners, and other inhabitants of the city of Bristol and its vicinity, against the plan for negro emancipation brought forward by ministers. The petition stated that immense loss would accrue to that town should the proposed measure become law. BELGIAN QUESTION Earl GREY laid upon the table a copy of a convention entered into between the King of the French and the King of the Ne therlands, signed on the 31st May. IRISH CHURCH. The Earl of RODEN presented a petition from St. Ann's, Shandon, in the city of Cork, against any measure which would have the effect of spoliating the Irish church. The Bishop of BRISTOL presented a petition from St. Paul's, Cork, -against 'the: Irish Church Reform Bill, and he hoped it would meet their lordships' serious consideration. He looked upon the proposed measure merely as a sacrifice made to the Roman Catholics of Ireland, and said that in Ireland it was looked upon with horror and dismay. PORTUGAL. " The Duke of IeITELLINGIONI;eied to ask the noble earl opposite if he knew that armed ships with troops on board had left England, under the command of a captain of the navy, for the purpose of aiding one of the belligerent parties in Portugal? Earl GREY had seen such accounts in the public papers, but that was all he knew on the subject. The Duke of WELLINGTON gave notice that he would on Monday move an humble address to his Majesty, praying (as we uudersiood him) protection for his Majesty's subjects and th2ir property in Portugal, and for the observance of strict neutrality. METROPOLITAN POLICE BILL. Their lordships went into committee on this bill, and. Lord MELBOURNE proposed several amendments. The bill then went through committee; report on Monday. The Loan CHANCELLOA moved the second reading of . the Real Property (liability for) Debts Bill. After a conversation, in which the Lord Chancellor, Lord Lyndhurst, and the Duke of Wellington took part, it was agreed that the Limitation of Actions Bill and Inheritance Bill should be read a second time without discussion, with the understanding that their principles and provisions should be fully explained before going into a committee. Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, THURSDAY, MAY 30. Mr. JAMES presented a petition from the vestrymen of parishes in Carlisle, in favour of the introduction of the poor Laws into Ireland. Mr. Mena Kos supported the petition. He regretted the noble Chancellor of the Exchequer was not in his place, be cause lie wished to put a question to him relative to the com mission about to be appointed on this subject. He looked upon it merely as a means of getting rid of the question altogether, and he believed a very strong feeling of that kind prevailed out of doors. After receiving several other petitions, the Speaker vacated the chair at a quarter past two. The house resumed at five o'clock. WOOL TRADE. Lord Moat)ETH gave notice, that he would (we did not catch the day) move for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the 30th George 111., relating to the wool trade. - Mr. FITZGERALD obtained leave to bring in a bill for the bet ter transmission of property in Ireland. IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. The SoLiciTon-GENERAL gave notice, that he would on an early day move for leave to bring in a bill to abolish imprison ment for debt. BELGIUM. Lord PALMERSTON presented - ; copy of the convention between the King of the French and the King of the Nether lands, with an explanatory article. Ordered to be printed. On the question that the Speaker do leave the chair, Sir R. V YVYAN began by observing, that of all the questions which had ever come under t he consideration of the legislature, the present was one of the most important. On former occa sions, when important questions affecting the interests of our West India colonies were under consideration, the colonists, though they had no share in the direct representation of that house, had still among its members many who were found the able and persevering advocates of their interests. Those inte rests were to no inconsiderable extent indirectly r epresented in that house. But now the thing was greatly changed—the in direct representation was nearly gone. During the discussion on the reform bill a motion was made by the hon. member for Middlesex for the purpose of giving direct representation to the colonies in that house, but that was without effect. The reform bill passed without giving to the colonists any share in the re presentation. Thus, while the owner of a £lO freehold, or the inhabitant of a £lO house, could claim his share in the repre sentation in that house, the colonist, who might possess ten times as many thousands was totally excluded. That law was, he contended, most unjust and most injurious to the colonies. But as it was so passed, he hoped the house would abstain from any interference with the colonial legislature, seeing that they had no direct share in the representation. (Hear, hear.) The present resolutions related to the internal regulation of the colonies, and were, in a financial point of view, a direct inter ference with their admitted right of internal taxation. After referring to the manner in which Lord North had been com pelled, in 1778, to give tip the haughty pretensions which h e had set forth on behalf of this country at the commencement of the American war, and after reading several extracts from that noble lord's speech on the pacification of the colonies,—a speech which he said was received with so much dismay•and astonish ment by the house as to strike almost every man silent, —he proceeded to notice the languae,e in which a certainpaet7 thin oo.intr~ Isere new in the - habit or speaking respecting their fellow-subjects in the West Indies. The right. hon. gentleman opposite had not said, but the hon. member for Weymouth had said, that if the West Indian colonists resisted the will of the united Parliament, they must take the consequences, and had intimated that in that case they must not only not expect to receive any assistance from the British government, but must also be prepared to expect measures of active coercion. He conjured the house not to begin by entertaining suspicions that the West Indians intended to tell it. that they would use vio lence. It was in the power of the house to preach conciliation, and to meet the colonists (who were a loyal and obedient class of men) half-way, by supposing, until the contrary was proved, that the laws at present in force among them for the protection of the slave were as good as any which could be found on the statute book of Great Britain. If the house pursued a different course, it might be found that foreign aid might be of as much use to the colonies as it was found to be to the United States at a time when the fleets of France and Spain combined together and swept the Channel. To show the temper by which the le gislature of Jamaica was animated towards this country, he read to the house the instructions which it gave to the com mittee of delegates which it had sent to England for the pro tection of its interests, just before they departed for our shores. " It will be the duty of the committee, if they find emancipatio n to be the general de s i re o f th e i r fellow-subjects, not to oppose to that desire a resistance which will be unavailing." From that instruction he inferred that the course pursued by the le gislature of Jamaica would be submission. The document pro ceeded—" The committee are required to make themselves ac quainted with the views of the emancipationists, and if it shall be found that they contemplate the dissolution of colonial so ciety, they will O nly require that compensation should be made to the colonists to the amount of the labour and the property which they have to lose. The committee will also insist that the expense of the police and the police magistracy for the libe rated slaves shall be defrayed out of the national treasury. They are to protest in a decided manner against the interposi tion of Parliament in their internal affairs, for the Assembly of Jamaica is ready to discuss the question of emancipation on the principle of compensation, but will not yield its legislative Sanctions to any other party, except under the pressure of violence, which it trusts will not be used." ( Hear, hear.) The numerous meeting which was held on Monday last at the London Tavern, proved the deep conviction which existed in the minds of the thinking part of the community, that if the plan of the right honourable gentleman were carried into effect, inevitable ruin would certainly fall upon the country. The right honourable gentleman had told the house that the in crease in the quantity of sugar grown in the colonies had al ways been regularly followed by a corresponding decrease in the numbers of the slave population. Now, if the object of his resolutions was to lessen the amount 'of sugar grown in the colonies in order to increase the number of the black population, bad he considered how the decreased importation of sugar into Great Britain would lessen the revenue of his noble colleague the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Did not the right honour.. able gentleman also know that, besides the injury which would thus be occasioned to the o ..eneral revenue of the empire, the in come of private individuals must be greatly reduced by his plan, which, in destroying the means of consumption at present ex isting in the West Indies, must also destroy the numerous coin mercial and manufacturing interests which by different rami fications were connected with them ? The plan of the right honourable gentleman was moreover destructive of the very principle upon which it was founded,—he meant the abolition of slave-labour; for, if the quantity of sugar imported from the West Indies was too small for the consumption of Great Britain, our merchants would be driven to the necessity of pro curing it from the Brazils, and by so doing would encourage slave labour in that country, though they had abolished it in their own. He understood that the Anti-Slavery Society had recommended their friends in Parliament to support the government proposi tion, but he did not know how far that support could be relied on. However, he should say a word or two on that subject pre sently. It was unreasonable to expect the 'West India body to act till they knew the feeling in the colonies on the subject. All parties had been taken by surprise. The grand question of emancipation in the abstract had been admitted by the colonists --nay, their friends and advocates allowed that the time for emancipation had arrived; hut then it must be conducted upon just and prudent principles. Il e did no t b e li eve th a t s l aver y and Christianity were inconsistent; but when we admitted Dis senters of every description to teach the slaves, he did not hesi tate to avow his belief, that in practice, th oug h not in doctrine, slavery, and general and unfettered instruction in religion were inconsistent, and therefore upon that principle emancipation became unavoidable. He did not pretend to 'bring forward any plan in relation to this subject—it was for government to do that. With respect to the plan proposed by the right. hon. gen tleman, it was enough to know that merchants and others most conversant with the West Indies had declared it to be one which could not practically work. (Hear, hear.) He had alluded to the adhesion of the Arfti-Slavery Society to the government pro position, but felt convinced that the plan would not eventually satisfy them. Their fundamental principle, "that man could have no property in man," must prevent them from concurring cordially in a system which, according to them, while it ren dered the negroes free in name, kept them slaves in fact, by compelling them to labour even during those hours said to be assigned to themselves. The consequence of the imperfect sa tisfaction of the emancipationists would be, that we should still have an anti-slavery question behind, fresh agitation, and re newed pledges at elections. (Hear, hear.) As a specimen of the way in which it was sought to influence members upon this question, he would refer to a letter addressed to an honour able gentleman by his constituents—it was probable that many such letters had been sent, and not impossible that they had all originated in one quarter (hear, hear); this letter, after in. forming the hon. member that apprehensions were entertained that government intended to make concessions to the West In dia body, inst ructe d- him to wait on Lord Althorp and express a l hope that the ministerial measure might be one of immediate and entire emancipation. In the event of its being such, the hon. gent was to support it; but if it were not of the nature desired, his eonstitueets requested him to attend in his place and support amendments calculated to render the plan effective.— The honourable baronet called the attention of the house to the condition of St. Domingo, one of the finest islands in the world, which was now in the hands of barbarians, or little better' and in which the effects of sudden and violent emancipation had been the confiscation of property, en agrarian law, and every kind of disorder. (Hear.) After alluding to the extent of trade and commerce dependent on the colonies, and the im nierisestake of the West India proprietors in the present ques tion, the honourable baronet expressed a confident hope that, despite of the factitious excitement, false popularity, and obsti naee prejudice existing in relation to the subject, the British public would not allow of a destruction of property and an an- ' nihilation of rights which reposed on as strong grounds as those of the smallest freeholder or greatest nobleman in this country. Notwithstanding the hostile principles to which he had referred, in spite of much popular prejudice, of pledges tendered at the shrine of popularity at the elections, and of cabinet preposses sions, he trusted that his Majesty's government might yet be induced to reconsider their plan. He did not intend to move any resolution on that occasion, or oppose the motion for the Speaker leaving the chair, because he neither wished to em barrass ministers nor check a fair investigation of the subject, but he could not resist the opportunity of expressing his senti ments, representing, as he did, a place perhaps only second in importance to the metropolis itself. Mr. STANLEY assured the committee that he should, as far as possible, studiously abstain from dropping a single word likely to give offence to any individual or body of meu. The threat which the honourable baronet held out as to our being com pelled to recall our resolutions by foreign interference,—the charge which he threw out against those - honourable members whose he was pleased to consider a _pledged majority, because they declared upon the hustings, as tney had done within those walls, their fixed determination to labour to the utmost for the abolition of slavery, (his conviction of the necessity of which abolition the hon. baronet now, for the first time, avowed,) these topics, treated as they had been by the hon. baronet, were not calculated to produce a cool, dispassionate, and cau tious consideration of the question. The honourable , baronet now declared that he had no objection to an abolition of slavery, but it was an abolition of slavery " in the abstract," (" hear, hear, hear," and a laugh,) and if they were to leave the question of slaves to the honourable baronet and his friends, long indeed would it remain a question " in the ab stract," without being carried to any practical conclusion. If he had commented on the conduct of any individuals or any body of men, he did so to make out a ease of necessity for the inter ference of Parliament, arisi n e e from non-performance aud neglect on the pe.rtof the colonists with t expect to the recommendatious of the mother country—a nun-performance which, as he maintained, constituted the ground for that house interfering in the internal and local regulations of the colonies. He still adhered to the principle which he before laid down, and which had not been controverted by the right hon. baronet; and he again asserted, that he knew of no limitation to the right of Parliament to in terfere, save that which it might impose upon itself, unless it had voluntarily abdicated the privilege, which could not be pre tended in the present case. He admitted that the expediency of exercising that right was a different question, and he had be fore stated what he was now ready to repeea—namely, that ex cept in a case of absolute necessity, the house was not justified in interfering with our chartered colonies. That necessity he had, as he hoped, successfully demonstrated on a former occasion. According to the hon. baronet, neither chartered colonies nor legislative assemblies ~could justly object to this latter inter ference (but he begged . to inform the hon. baronet that they did object to it,) because, said the hon. baronet, the slave trade was a national question, in which your bankers and monied men, your navigation, trade, and commerce were involved; but as to the abolition of slavery, that was a merely local question, bounded by the limits of each island in which the system pre vailed, anal therefore the empire at large had no right to meddle in it. Why, then, if this were a strictly local question, what was the meaning of all those He that had been presented to Parliament? (Hear.) He spoke not now of the petitions for the abolition of slavery, but asked whether those on the part of the West India body itself did not prove that this also was a national question, otherwise why petition the legislature? No Parliament, no government ought to resist, or could resist time weight of public opinion on this subject. He did not wish to speak the language of complaint, but he must say it was impos sible to negociate with a body such as the West India deputa tion, which attended to hear proposals with authority to object - to them, but without authority to offer any suggestion, or pro pose any modification in a titan which they rejected. He stated to the deputation distinctly that it was the intention of government to carry into effect safely, and if possible with their concurrence, a complete extinction of slavery, and that such extinction must form the basis of any plan on which ministers would consent to act. The deputation declared that they had no power or authority to propose any plan. (Hear.) He teat it due to the government to state, that it had not been in sensible to those points which had been raised in the way of ob jection to the government plan by the West India body. Three points of objection had been started to that plan by ihe West India body. The first was, that we in this country were legis lating for the a b so l ute and immediate freedom of the negroes, and that we were imposing upon time colonial legislatures the odious and invidious task of apparently restricting that freedom, and of continuing for a time a portion of that slavery which we had declared should altogether cease. The second objection was, that without a temporary ascription of the slaves to . the soil, it would be impossible fur the colonial proprietors to culti vate the soil througn the agency of the negroes; and the third objection was, that the mode of cultivation proposed by the plan tended to give an additional dearness to the ground, and lied also a tendency to be a tax upon provisions, and that so far it would be burdensome and oppressive even upon the negroes th his niNsiealjy,sveesst.To those three objections of the West India body government, though debarred of all discussion with that body, though unassisted by any suggestions from it, had given that dagree of attention which they deserved; and it would be seen that in the changes that had been made in the measure of government those objections had been duly consi dered. Ile thought it right thus far to vindicate his Majesty'sgovernment against the charge which had been raised against it, of recklessly disregarding the feelings and wishes of the West India body. His Majesty's government was prepared to pay a due regard of deference to the wishes of that body, and they were anxiously desirous to receive their suggestions upon this subject. Their suggestions they did not receive,—they had endeavoured to attend to their wishes, as far as they found that they had been indicated. There was one part of the plan of the government which, both on the part of the West India body, and on the part of those who were anxious for the more imme diate liberation of the slave,—there was one part of the plan which by both those parties had been objected to. He (Mr. d~mtauley) stated, when he had the honour of proposing this plan amount opret o w hich the nouz, that the.o wale but two modes of r o p ay i ng the r hS—ichnlly, was e intended to advance to the West India p that that repayment must either be borne by the produce of negro labour, or that it must entirely fall upon the revenu e o f this country, and to the latter alternative he stated at the time that it would be impossible for the govern ment, or Pa r li ament, or t h e coun try to consent. (Hear,- hear.) His Majesty's government, therefore, had proposed that, one fourth of his time being at the disposal of the negro, the produce of his labour in that time should go to liquidate the advance made by government and to remunerate time proprietor for his ulti mate loss in the full emancipation of such negro, and they had further proposed that the proprietor should pay an interest for the money during the period that it continued advanced to them as a loan. There was another alternative, certainly---one. too, that h a d b een suggested b y the West India b o d y, name l y , that the loss of this £:15,000,000 should be borne entirely by the resources of this country; but that was an alternative to which, ashe had already said, Parliament would not be disposed to acced e . His Majesty's ministers found that a great and well-founded objection had been urged by the West India propriet ors aga i ns t this part of th e p l an, as ma ki ng the nominal paymentout of , the wages of' the slaves be consice red as the repayment of this loan, while the real repayment of it would be made out of their (the West India proprietors') own resources. They found, on time other hand, that, on the part of those who sought for the snore immediate emancipation of the 'negro, there was a strong feeling that, during that portion of his time which was to be left at the disposal of the negro, he should be at liberty to en joy the full benefit of the exercise of' his own energies and resources. (Hear, hear.) It was impossible, on the one hand and upon the other dot to feel the force of the objections thus made against this portion of the plan, and as both parties, how ever opposed in other respects, concurred in this manner in ob jecting to this part of the plan, if it should be found that the West India body would not object to make such a provision as would compensate this country for at least a large portion of the interest of the sum thus advanced, and if they would not object to an incre ase i n the taxation upon colonial pro duce, his Majesty's ministers, under such circumstances, meant amonast other alterations to propose that the proprietors should be altogether relieved from any obligation to repay the money thus advanced to them, and that no deduction should be made from the wages of the negro for that purpose either. (Hear, hear.) They proposed that during the negro's ap prenticeship of twelve years this reward should be held out to him as an inducement to habits of persevering indus try and exertion,—namely, that by the payment of a cer tain amount of the produce of his labour during the time at his own disposal, time period of his apprenticeship . should be redeemed; t ha t w as to say, that when he had, - in this way, paid the sum agreed upot} as compensation to his master, he 'should be discharged from the remaining portion of hi s twelve years' servitude, and amongst other advanta ges em braced in this alteration, it would afford to time negro an op portunity of proving himself a man of persevering and indus trious habits. (Hear, hear.) In that way his Majesty's minis ters proposed to submit to the house such a modification of the plan as did not introduce a material alteration into the resolu tions now before it. It appeared to him that it would be only dealing fairly with both parties interested in this question,.and with the house, .to state at once the coarse of proceeding with regard to which 'his Majesty's ministers had made up their minds in consequence of the introduction of this alteration into the.plan. Th e y i n t en ded to propose that an additional amount of duty should be charged upon sug ar. (" Hear, hear," and some cries o f " Oh,") H e was we ll aware that such a proposi tion was not free from difficulties and objections. He knew that Meamount-of duty on sugar at present was high, and that it would be well if it could possibly be somewhat reduced. (Hear, hear.) But, believing as he aid that a trifling increase in the amount of duty would answer the purpose. in question, he felt that his Majesty's ministers were justified, looking back to a former precedent, when a reduction of the duty on sugar from 275. to 245. did not in any way affect or benefit the inte rests of the consumer, while it occasioned a considerable falling off in time revenue, in assuming that the proposed increase would not affect the interests of the consumers m this country, while the revenue might be so increased as to compensate us for the loan advanced to the West India proprietors, But if the effect of the raising of the duty should be a rise in the price of sugar in this country, it would be, of course, upon the consumers — that was to saw, upon the people of this country—that the bur den would fall (for he did not contemplate, in consequence of such increase of duty, any mates ial diminution in the consump them, e s pe c i a lly when they tion of sugar,) and, in h is o p inion, it ou g ht to be b orne by them; andh ebe - 1 ie consideredve d ittvou would e b e g e r h e e a c t r tbl benefitly borne and that b convenience y would be reaped from getting r id of the objection which h a d been made to this portion of th e plan. (Hear, hear.)' He had seized the first opportunity to state this important modification to the House, in order that the at tention of Parlia ment might be directed to it. He did not state it for t he p ur pose of calling now for the judgment. of the house upo n it, as in p assin g the reso lutions now before it the house was not called upon to express any opinion with regard to such a modification of the original plan. 'I hey were greatly mistaken who supposed that ministers or Par liament, without any reference to the feelings of the colonial legislatures, were anxious to precipitate this measure. It was in consequence of the vain efforts which had been made to in duce the colonial legislat ures to act in accordance with the ex pressed wishes of Parliament and the country on the subject, that they felt bound to legislate upon the great leading prin ' ciples embraced in the measure, leaving the local details which could not be filled up here to be filled up by the different local legislatures. Without, then, refusing to the local legislatures the settlement of that which properly belonged to them, when we had forced the great leading principles upon them, their last hope of preventing the freedom of the negroes was removed, and after the excitement occasioned by this question had passed away, he hoped and trusted that they would anxiously join with us in making those local regulations that were necessary f or carrying the wishes of Parliament into effect. To them, there fore, was left the filling up hereafter of the d e tail s o f th at great outline which we now feel it our duty to mark out for them at once, and for ever. (Cheers.) Colonel HAY contended that there was something in the nature of the near() which required a stronger stimulus than was supplied by the feelings of want or the motives of industry to induce him to work. lie was as ready, he said, as the right lion. gentleman to go into the principle of emancipation, but he was not prepared at once to enter into that principle. (Hear.) In his opinion the plan proposed by government would, if car ried, occasion ultimately the loss of our colonies, and deeply injure the commercial and mercantile interests of this country. lie had always toll his constituents that the immediate emau cipatiou of the slaves, without being preceded by a moral edu cation to fit them for it, would, instead of benefiting them, be their destruction. That was his impression when he last met his constituents—that was his impression now, and the plan proposedby government was not one calculated to remove that impression. The moral wants of the negroes should be first attended to, and then they might be fitted to be placed in a state of society with a prospect of going on temperately and dispas sionately. He did - not doubt the good, intentions of those by whom the cause of negro emancipation had been espoused in this country, or. that they really believed that cruelties were practised on the slave populafion in the colonies, but he must deny the existence of that system of cruelty and oppression which was but too generally supposed. He spoke after a residence in Barbadoes commencing in the year 1814 and terminating iu 1832, and he could state most certainly that during that period he never saw one instance of cruelty practised; on the contrary, the great proprietors acted with the greatesemildness and moderation, and though he was not prepared to deny that the small proprietors might stand in a somewhat different situation, yet he would con tend that any failing on their part ought not to be visited upon the great proprietors in the colonies. It must also be remem tiered that even in Barbadoes mildness and moderation had not produced the best of conduct on the part of the negro popula tion. It could not be forgotten that the insurrection in 1816 commenced on the estate of a proprietor notorious as one of the kindest and best masters lift the island of Barbadoes, and could not,have arisen from any hardship practised on his part. The fact, however, really was, that in Barbadoes, so long ago as the period of the administration of Lord Combermere in that island, public schools had been established in which the negro, the coloured, and the white- children were instructed together. (Hear.) Those schools, however, having been demolished during the hurricanes which prevailed in the year 1831, before even the re-erevtion of private builings was com menced, subscriptions for rebuilding the schools were set on foot in the island, and the gallant officer, the then governor, Sir James Lyon, himself subscribed i:500, and they were found again in full operation by the Earl. of Mulgrave when on his way to the government of Jamaica. (Hear) With such facts as these, he was entitled to deny,the allegation that there existed in the colonies that want of provision for the education and instruction of the slave population which had been so much relied on as manifesting a disinclination in the colonists to hil l/rove the condition of the slaves. He had stated thus much upon a firm conviction of his own mind arising front what he had himself witnessed,—a conviction not prompted by any selfish motive, for,. being unconnected with the: colonies, he had no interests to serve beyond what he conceived tp be the whole community,—interests deeply involved in the result of this great and important question, which required the ,most calm and deliberate consideration, lest should be inflicted the most severe colonial blow that was ever felt in this country. (Hear, hear.) Mr. F. BUXTON remarked, that the West India body had reason to congratulate theniselves on the acquisition of so able an advocate of their interests as the hon. gentleman who had just sat down. The right hon. Secretary for the Colonies had on a former night made it a matter of accusation, as it were, against him that he had once expressed himself favourably to gradual emancipation. The right hon. gentleman had quoted from a speech delivtred by him (Mr. Buxton) in 1823, but he ought also to have referred to the resolutions which he moved upon that occasion, and which declared that slavery was con trary to the' principle' of ' the British constitution, and to the Christian religion. If, however, the.opponents of slavery were inclined to concede somewhat to the West India interest on for mer- occasions, it should be recollected that they had not the ex perience which events had since given to the right hon. gentle man. They acted upon the promise made by Mr. Canning, with the authority, he said, of - the West India body, that certain ameliorations should instantly take place. The anti-slavery party did not formerly show the rage which prevailed against the ministers of religion in the colonies,—they did not know of the existence of colonial church unions,—they were not aware that negroes were punished for no other offence than worshipping God,—that missionaries were hunted like wild beasts,—and that children were torn from their mothers' arms, and tarred' and feathered. The only charge which was now brought against him, who used formerly to be considered too headstrong, was that he had not gone far enough. He would endeavour to make some compensation to the negroes for his former neglect, and when that part of the measure which proposed that the negro should work three-fourths of his time without reward came under consideration, he would give it his decided opposition. The hon. member here referred to the case of Henry Willis as a proof of the cruelty which was practised under what was called the im proved system of late years. Mr. Betty addressed the gang of slaves Of which Willis was one, and told them that if they went to chapel they should be sent to the Rodney-hall workhouse, which was a terrible punishment. A woman who heard the order given, sighed, upon which Mr. Betty said, " We must hand that lady out.", She was seized, stripped, stretched upon the ground, and flogged. (Hear.) Henry Willis did attend the chapel, and in so doing disobeyed orders; but his punishment was dreadful. He was sent to the Rodney-hall workhouse, and there flogged repeatedly, until his back became a mass of cor ruption, and he was compelled to lie upon his stomach. Sir G. Murray instituted an inquiry into this case; but Mr. Betty said that he had never exceeded the legal punishment—that he had never inflicted more than 39 lashes at one time ; and he added, " If the Colonial Secretary thinks I have done any thing con trary to law, let him submit my conduct to twelve honest plant ers, and they will convince him that I have only exercised the undoubted right of a West Indian proprietor. (Hear, hear.) In a despatch sent out by Lord Goderich upon that subject, it Was declared that upon inquiry it turned out Mr. Betty had been guilty only of exercising legal powers in an illegalmanner. His (Mr. Buxton's) mind was impressed with the conviction that a servile war would be the inevitable consequence of eman cipation being Much longer deferred. The speech of the right hon. secretary would tend to diminish the danger, for the ne groes,. who were possessed of good sense, would see that it was I their interest to conduct themselves peaceably. He could not, however, forget that the report of the committee which sat last session stated, that if the question were not speedily settled, it was probable that the uegroes would themselves throw off the yoke, and exterminate the white population. He hoped that nothing would induce ministers to postpone the Settlement of the question beyond the present session. No wisdom or power could now avert the doom of slavery; but wisdom and foresight might influence the mode of its termination. Slayery . might end by violence or in peace. It might terminate as in co , Domingo, amidst the horrors of a servile war ; or as in Mexico. in peace and safety, and to the benefit of all . parties. The de termined spirit exhibited by the negroes during the late insur rection in Jamaica proved that there would be imminent danger in again driving them to desperation. A refractory negro was told to work, but he replied that he would never work again without wages. The muskets of the soldiers were pointed at him, and lie was again told to go to work; he made the same answer as before, and fell pierced with balls. Ile mentioned this not as an atrocity, but as a warning. When men could thus brave death with the fortitude of martyrs and heroes, they could not be kept in slavery. A thousand Acts of Parliament, sanctioning slavery, might be shewn to him, but the negro was unconvicted of crime, and therefore was free. The negro might be in the lowest state of civilization, or,' as. Blackstone said, - " in a state of nature," and prefer the pursuits of a savage life to those of civilized society; but still he was unconvicted of crime, and was therefore free. If it could be demonstrated that the negro, when emancipated, would refuse to work for wages, he would not the less claim for him the acknowledgment of those rights which belonged to him by the law of God, and had been taken away from him by the abominable cruelty of man. He objected to the phraseology of one part of the right hon. gentleman's resolutions—natnely, that which described the masters as the pi oprietors of the saves. The slaves did not belong to them, and never had belonged to them. When that word should be struck out, he believed that he should be able to support the plan which had been submitted to the house. If, as he anticipated, he should vote against au amendment embodying the terms of a resolution which he formerly moved. it would only be with the view of promoting the welfare of the negro, which was the object he had always had at heart. (Hear, hear.) Mr. WA RD proceeded to say, that in Guatemala and Mexico, where colonial produce was raised, and where Africans had been originally imported, there was not a single slave. In • Mexico the government had extinguished slavery . by promot ing intermarriages between the African slaves and free Indian women, securing emancipation either to the slaves or to their issue. When the revolution broke out they reaped the advan tage of this proceeding, for the estates were cultivated by free labourers. He (Mr. Ward) . had seen the success of the expe riment of free labour in Mexico. On the question of compen sation, he held that without it the measure who'd be nothing but spoliation. He was not one of those who held to the ab stract proposition, and said that we ought to celebrate his Ma jesty's birthday next year by giving liberty to the slaves with out compensation ; still less should he think of dismissing all the military in the West Indies, and substituting teachers for infants and adults. He was sorry to understand that the go vernment had given up the wisest part of the plan, that of the slaves working out their freedom by wages. The hon. member concluded by saying, that it was not on the West India pro prietors, but the nation, which had encouraged the system, that he would place the burden ; and that without the co-operation of the West Indians government could not hope to carry into effect a plan which would realize what reason, philosophy, and religion, had so lone- desired. Mr. GODSON, amidst cries of "Question," and "Adjourn," moved, as we understood, the adjournment of the discussion. The Chairman put the question that he report progress. Lord ALTHORP intimated that the debate must take its chance on Friday, after the discussion of the Bank charter. The house then resumed, the other orders of the day were disposed of, and it adjourned at 1 o'clock. 'ME LIVERPOOL STANDARD. HOUSE OF LORDS, FRIDAY, MAY 31. The Earl of Huntingdon, Lords Delamere, Northwick, and Onslow took the oaths and their seats. The Marquis of WESTMINSTER presented several petitions for the abolition of slavery. GAME LAWS. -The Duke of WELLINGTON presented a petition from the operative gunmakers of Loudon and Birmingham against the present game laws. The petitioners stated, that since the passing of the late act their business had very much decreased, and that poaching had enormously increased. The noble duke said that he had lately lost a servant, anti, in consequence, would, as many other gentlemen had done, give up all idea of preserving game in future. Poaching was in his immediate neighbourhood three times as great as before the passing of thi s act, and the evil proceeded from the power now enjoyed by those who killed game of taking it away and disposing of it. The Tallow and Soap Duties Bill was read a second time. The Savings' Banks' Annuities Bill went through committee. —Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, FRIDAY, MAY •31. Mr. EWART presented a petition from the Dissenters of Li verpool, praying for a charter for the London University; and also a petition from Liverpool, praying the removal of the dis abilities respecting the registration of births, marriages, &c. At the conclusion of the presentation of petitions Mr. G. P. Scrope and Mr. Kennedy took the oaths and their seats. The Speaker retired at a quarter past three. At ten minutes past five o'clock the Speaker resumed the chair. Mr. GOULBURN presented a petition from the University of Cambridge against the Jewish Emancipation Bill. BANK. OF ENGLAND CHARTER. On the motion of Lord ALTHORP, the house resolved itself into a committee of the whole house on the Bank charter acts. In the committee Lord ALTIIORP stated that he believed that it was the practice on all former occasions on which it was pro posed to renew the chiirter of the Bank of England, for the per son who held the situation which he had then the honour to fill to move the resolutions on which the Bank charter bill was afterwards to be founded, in consequence of a formal applica tion made by the Bank of England to Parliament for its renewal. The question of the renewal of the Bank charter was a ques tion of great importance to the commercial interest of England. It was a question upon which the value of the property of all classes of men in the country—not merely of those whose pro party was invested in commerce, but also of those who had pro perty of any kind under their contrcul—must mainly and essen tially depend. In considering that question, he felt the full importance of the subject which he had now to introduce to the consideration of the house ; and he had endeavoured, to the ut most of his power, to frame a proposition which would give general satisfaction and general security to the monetary in terest. During the last session of Parliament, occupied as it was with matters of the most urgent and serious importance, he had thought it better to defer this matter to the considera tion of a select committee. That select committee had sat for a considerable time, and though it had not concluded its exami nation so as to make a full report to the house upon the various points into which it was instructed to examine, yet the informa tion which it had elicited in the course of its examination had induced him to think that the subject matter intrusted to it had been sufficiently inquired into, and that it was unnecessary to move for its renewal in the present session. With regard to the principles upon which banking here and elsewhere must be conducted, in order to be conducted properly, he thought that it was almost unnecessary to -observe that the first prin ciple must be the convertibility of the paper issued into money; indeed, that was the only principle on which you could pretend to say that paper ought to have value as a medium of exchange; and any departure from that principle must have the very worst effects upon the manufacturing, the commercial, and the agri maturel property of the conntry. The next principle of im portance was how to secure the solvency of the bank which issued the circulating medium. It would require no argument to prove that these two points were points which it would be necessary for the house to keep constantly within its considera tion. There was also another part of this great question which was scarcely of less importance to the interests and prosperity of the country than the soliency of the bank of issue,—and that was the security to he taken against undue fluctuation in the amount of the currency ; for though the ruin arising from want of solYency in the bank was more immediate, the ruin was 'scarcely less inevitable which proceeded from undue fluctuation in the amount of the currency. It was impossible, however, in any circulating medium to prevent altogether fluctuation of value ; the only object ,which any reasonable government could hope to obtain was the adoption of such a system as would ren der the fluctuation as small as possible. The question, there fore, which the house then had to decide was in what manner for the future the mode of supplying the paper currency of England should be effected. At present, the Bank of England, possessin.g as it did the monopoly of the circulation of the me tropolis, was the point on which all the circulation of the coun try must ultimately turn. It was by the Bank of England that bullion was collected; and- whenever the foreign exchanges turned against us, so as to make it the interest of persons to send bullion abroad, the place to which they resorted was al ways the brink; and thus the circulation here was also affected. The first question, then, for the house to decide would be, whe ther it was more desirable that the management of the circu lating medium of the country should be conducted by a single bed, as bankers of issue, or by a competition of different banks ,or bankers ? It appeared to him, upon looking into this ques tion, that there were advantages, undoubtedly, in both systems. It was, therefore, necessary to consider the case as related to each • system. It must be the interest of banks thus competing with each either, assumingthem to be equally secureiis to their solvency, to issue each as much paper circulation as they could. They would :be a check one upon the other as to the amount issued by .each. It was therefore positively clear that no one of these banks could issue more than its. due proportion of the circula tion wanted. For if there should be a state of things in which there should rise up a great demand for accommodation, though it might be in the power of each to increase the amount of cir culation, it would not be in the power of any of them to have more than its due proportion of the amount of that increase; and when, again, in consequence of a depreciation of the cur rency, a failure of credit takes place, in consequence of the turn of the .exchanges against us, each bank, looking to its own interests, would be under the necessity of contracting its issues, and thus would produce a sudden contraction of all the currency of the country. This was a danger which ought to be guarded against, for you would, from such a competition, produce a greater fluctuation than you would by a single well-regulated bank. There was another point on which a single bank, hav ing the control of a large part of the circulation of the country, might be of advantage, and that was the assurance that in times of distress it could give assistance to the commerce of the country. In times of panic the exchanges turn in favour of this country. There was no objection, on such occasions, to the bank's increasing its accommodation, but if there, should be ! many banks, no one of them would dare to come forward from fear of the competition of its rivals. The accommodation, there fore, in times of difficulty and distress, would be greater to the country by a single bank than by many. All he said in this respect was on the assumption that the single bank'was con ducted on sound principles,—that was, that it should not make too great a profit by the public,—that it should look to the rate of exchanges, and let its issues be regulated by the actual state of the currency. No doubt the interest of a single bank would be to keep as large an amount of its notes in circulation as pos sible. This plan of the single bank, therefore, would, he ad mitted, place an immense power in the hands of a body which had a pecuniary interest iu abusing it. When he laid this plan of a single bank, or of many banks, before the house, he did not mean to assert that either was a mode wholly free from ob jection, but they must take the objections and the advantages at one side and the other; and, looking at these, it appeared to him that if they placed a proper check on a single bank, it would be more preferable than to have many banks rivalling each other. The advantages of having the Bank altogether in the hands of government instead of a private company would be greater responsibility, and in that respect greater security to the public, and the whole of the profit; Uut in his opinion these were more than counterbalanced by the political evils which would -follow from having the Bank wholly in the hands of government. He thought that the state having thus the circulation of the country in its own hands would be productive of great mis chief. Government would have a constant temptation to abuse this additional power; besides, it would be impossible in times of commercial distress that government could give the same as sistance thathnight be afforded by a banking company. But even supposing that government could give assistance under such circumstances, the power which it would thus acquire would be so enormous as might be destructive of the constitu tion of the country. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, if the ' Bank were to be tied down by fixed rules, which might prevent it from making such. advances, he apprehended that in the en deavour to avoid one evil they would fall into a greater; for it would then be impossible to give assistance when it might be most required. He thought, therefore, that under these cir cumstances, it would be better to throw aside the notion of having a bank under the entire management of the govern ment. The only cheek to which the attention of government had been directed, and indeed the only one which had been stated in the committee of last year as likely to be efficient, was the publication of the Bank accounts. This, though not in itself a perfect check, would, he thought, be found a suffici ent one for all essential purposes. It was well known that the exchanges were against this country from August, 1830, to the month of February, 1832, During this perios there was a con stant drain on the bullion in the country and a corresponding contraction of the circulation, which at one time tell below its usual amount by the sum of £7,000,000. He did not mean to say that this had not been productive of great pressure, and some distress; but there had been no convulsion such as had been experienced in former times: but by the plan adopted of allowing the drain on the bullion to act gradually on the circu lation, the pressure came with diminished force, and the evils which it was calculated to produce were consequently lessened, and at last, when the exchanges turned in our favour, the cir culation was allowed to increase as the bullion came. They had thus reason and experience in favour of the present princi ple of the Bank being a sound one. Now, the publicity to which he alluded would enable th e gove r nmen t an d - the coun try to judge how far the Bank adhered to this principle. He , was aware that the Bank was not responsible, and that its di rectors could not be punished for adopting any course they thought proper in, the management of th eir a ff a i rs; b u t the house knew that the publicity of the Bank accounts would bring the directors under the control of public opinion, and he was sure that the directors of the Bank were as likely to be acted upon by public opinion as they would be by per sonal responsibility. (Hear.) He would therefore propose that there should be a single bank, as at present, but subject to that control which the publicity of their accounts would pi oduce. Ile would, also, propose to continue the monopoly to the , Bank of England as far as regarded the metropolis—that was, that no bank with more than six partners should he allowed to issue notes in London, or within 65 miles of it. The next point to which he should call the attention of the house was the dura tion of the charter. He certainly felt it not desirable to tie up the government and the country to such a length of time as that for which Bank charters had heretofore been renewed, while at the same he admitted the inconvenience of again setting the question afloat too early. He would therefore propose that the charter should be renewed for a period of 21 years, but subject to this contingency—that if at the end of 10 years government should think proper to alter the - sye::em, it should have the power to give a year's notice to the Bank; and, it that case, if l i the government so desired, the charter would expire at the end of the elei enth year. Thus, government would . have the op portunity of making a change, if such were considered desirable, while the Bank would have the certainty of not being subject to any change for at least 11 years. With respect to the pub licity of the accounts, he proposed that the Bank should make a weekly return to the Treasury of the amount of bills and notes in circulation, and also of deposits, and that the average of such issues and deposits should be published quarterly. He did not mean that these weekly returns should be published weekly, for he could easily imagine many circumstances of a temporary na ture which might occasion an extraordinary issue from the Bank in one week, the publication of which might tend to create an undue impression, which could not be the case if the average issues were published only once in the quarter. Such a publi cation would be sufficient to show whether the Bank continued to act upon the sound principles to which he had already ad verted, and could not be productive of any evil consequences.—. He now came to that part of his plan on which, perhaps, there might be great difference of opinion in the house. He bad already said that there ought not to be any interference on the part of the Bank or the government to prevent the drain of gold out of the country, in order to regulate the circulation ; but an internal drain in the country was on a different footing, and might therefore safely be made the subj ec t of regu l a ti on . H e ha already said that, the convertibility of bank-notes to bullion was essential to a sound system of.banking, but having a bank secured by a ready check, such as'that which he had stated, he did not think there would be any danger. iu securing banks against sudden internal drains of gold. He proposed therefore to make Bank of England paper a l ega l tender in every place except at the Bank of England itself, or its branch banks.— (Cries of " Hear, hear," from several quarters.) He knew it might be objected that this was an important change in our system, bet looking at the rapid communication between all parts of the country and London, he could not see that this change would be attended with any danger; but when he saw the effects that had been produced by sudden panics, he thought that this part of the plan would be productive of much good.— The next change which be should propose applied not only to the Bank of England, but to all the commerce of the country. It would be an advantage to the Bank that it should have the power of checking the circulation by other means than by re fusing to discount, which they had done when the value of money was greater than the interest allowed by law. He pro posed, therefore, to make a change, to a certain extent, in the usury laws, by exempting all bills which had not more than three months to run from the operation of those laws. He was aware that very strong objections existed to the entire repeal of the usury l aws; b ut those who entertained such opinions need not be alarmed at the partial repeal which he now.pro used. It might be said that this would be open to great eva sion; but surely those laws were open to evasion at present, (hear, hear,) and he was sure that this partial repeal would not add much, if anything at all, to such evasion. (Hear, hear.) He would now call the attention of the house to thejerms of what he might call the bargain made with the Badt by the government; and first he would state that the whole of the debt due from the country to the Bank was £14,600,000. Now, it was evident that it was not necessary that the whole of that sum should be locked up to give security to the country with relation to the Bank. He would not, therefore, propose to re duce the debt much; but it was necessary that it should be re duced something, because it had the effect of making, the bar gain with the Bank dearer to the government than it otherwise would be. They (the Bank) complained that they lost 1 per cent. upon the whole amount o f th e d e b t due by the govern ment. He did not think the loss was so much; but it was cer tain that it was some loss : and in all the transactions with the government, they charged it as a loss for which the public ought to pay. Another point was, theta the interest o f money should rise to be much higher than at present, it would give the Bank an advantage to have the claim for so large an amount; but there would be much less difficulty in arranging part of it now, when'the interest of money was low. He proposed to pay the Bank 25 per cent. off their debt. This would leave the debt of the government to them about £11,000,000, and he was sure no one would say that that vas not ample security to the :,;: 11 4Nk► 7'7'74l ‘'‘ . N SUNE 4, 1333:_ public. In this arrangement there was an evident and impor tant benefit to the Ban proprietors, and he might in justice demand from them a good sum for it. He knew that he might demand a larger amount, but he thought that the public would have no reason to be dissatisfied with the amount which the directors of the Bank consented to give—namely £120,000 a year, to be deducted from the sum allowed by the public for the management of the public debt. At former renewals of the charter the Bank paid for the renewal, either by a sum of money or by lending,,money to the government at a, leduced rate of interest —thus, by lending at 3 per cent. when the legal rate was 5. He had the option of taking a fixed sum, or a certain share in the profits of the Bank, but he thought it better that the coun try should receive a fixed sum, than that the public should have a certain share of the profits of the Bank. (Hear, hear.) The amount thus given by the.Bank i spread over the whole period of 21 years, should the charter continue so long, would be £2,500,000 which was inure than the Bank had paid for the renewal of any former charter. (Hear, hear.) He would now come to another, and a most important part, which related to the banking system of the country generally. He proposed that every banking company of more than six partners should be a joint stock company, such company to be established by charter. In this he uid not mean to interfere with the forma tion of such companies but he thought it essential to the commercial welfare of the country that such banks should be established on sound principles. It was not intended that this should apply to any banks already in existence, but he would give to such banks the option of applying for a charter within a time to be limited. [I he chartered banks would be subject to certain regulations, but none which would not be found advan tageous to themselves as well as to the country. He would not propose that joint-stock banks should be banks of issue. It was well known that these joint-stock banks were of two sorts— some issued their own notes, and others transacted - their busi ness in the notes of the Bank of England. But banks were prevented from issuing notes payable in London for less than £5O. In the plan he proposed joint-stock banks might exist Within the 65 miles if they used the paper of the Bank, of Eng , land. He would also propose that government should have the power of refusing the grant of charters to companies applying far them. This, for obvious reasons, was- necessary ; as• rt would lead to mischief if all who thought proper to apply for such charters were to get them as a matter of course. The conditions on which he proposed that government should grant charters to those joint stock banks were the following:— first, that the partners in those joint stock banks should have half of their subscribed capital paid up, and deposited either in the government funds or some equally good securities. (Hear, hear.) He further proposed that the partners in those joint stock banks shouldle liable to an unlimited responsibility. He thought that it was but right that where those joint stock banks would have the power of issuing their own notes, they should be liable to unlimited responsibility. (Hear, hear.) He fur ther proposed that the corporation of the bank, as such, should not hold any shares in it. He understood that in joint stock concerns hitherto such a mode had been resorted to for thepur pose of multiplying the shares, and it was to meet that that this condition was intended. He lastly proposed, that the accounts of the bank should be yearly audited and published. With respect to the course which he would propose to adopt as to joint stock banks that did not issue notes, it was plain that they stood upon different grounds from the joint stock banks that possessed the power of issuing their own notes. The public certainly were concerned in the sta bility and good, management of them, but much less than they were in the stability and good management of banks issuing their own notes. (Hear.) He proposed in their case, as the conditions ou which charters should be granted to them, that one quarter of their subscribed capital, instead of one half, as required in the instance of joint stock banks issuing notes, should be paid up and deposited as before,—that their shares should not be less than £lOO each,—and that the partners in such banks should be only liable to a responsibility to the amount of their shares. He also proposed that the corporations of those banks should not, as such, hold any shares in those banks. It would be seen from these propositions that he pro posed to give great advantages to banks not issuing notes over those that issued their own notes. These were the conditions which he proposed with regard to those banks. In a case where a charter was to be granted, it must be at the discretion of the government to decide whether the amount of capital sub, scribed was a sufficient amount for the locality in which the bank in question was situated. As the amount of capita! which would be sufficient in an agricultural district would not be sufficient in a great manufacturing district, it must be left at the discretion of the government to determine whether the amount of capital subscribed was sufficient, and whether the charter asked for should be granted. He hoped, however, that every proper fa cility would be given to the establishment of such banks. He did not intend with respect to private banks, contradisguished from joint stock banking companies, to interfere in any way in the management of their concerns. It appeared to him very desirable that by some means or other a better mode for estimat ing the circulation of the country banks should be established than existed at present. It was essential to the good manage ment of those banks, on which the whole circulation of the country depended, that the amount of their notes in circulation should be accurately known. It was for that purpose, and with a view to effect that object, he proposed that those country banks, instead of having the option, as now enjoyed by the Bank of England, of making a composition for the stamp duty payable on the gross amount of their notes issued, should be compelled to pay 7s. per cent. stamp duty upon the notes which they issued. A distinguishing feature of this plan was, that it would enable the government to know at all times the exact amount of country bankers' notes in circulation. He thought that no real or sub stantial evil could happen in the case of a country banker from such an arrangement; and, further, he was of opinion that it was desirable to know, not only the amount of each country banker's paper in circulation, but also theamount of his general assets to meet the demands upon him. He did not by any means desire to expose the affairs of individual bankers, for though he thought it desirable to make the affairs of joint stock banks known to the public, he did not consider it expedient to extend the principle to the case of private individuals keeping banks, who, with every certainty of ultimate solvency, might be ruined by an exposure of their affairs under certain peculiar cir cumstances. He proposed that a statement of the accounts of each individual bank should be sent up to London as a strictly confidential paper, which was not to be published in a separate form; but, the accounts being* added together, the total result would be given to the public periodically. These were the grounds of the propositions which he felt it his duty to submit to the committee on this important subject. He certainly did wish that the tendency of the present measure should be (as he doubted not it would be found) to extend the issue of Bank of England paper. Further, he was ready to ad mit that he did think it would be a safer and more secure prin ciple (if a banking system were now for the first time to be established) to have only one bank of issue ; but in the present state of things that was impracticable, and the utmost extent to which any prudent man could be induced to go consisted in en couraging—without compulsory measures, which he (Lord Al thorp) had not used—the establishment of banks which should not issue their own paper. He disclaimed the use of any com pulsion whatsoever, but he had endeavoured, by the tendency of his measures, to make it the interest of individuals to esta blish joint stock banks that could not issue their own paper, but that of the Bank of England. He had now stated all with which he thought it necessary to trouble the house. He had informed the house last night that it was not his intention to ask for a vote on any of the resolutions on the present occasion ; he should, therefore, content himself with placing the resolutions in the hands of the chairman :•72- ilr4‘ house to sr here till Christmas next. (A laugh.) It Oil greatly to be regretted that their time should have been wasted upon measures of much less consequence, so that when a gr eat measure like the present was brought forward, it must be dis' posed of in a hurry, as it was physically impossible for 119 n: members to continue to sit for the period required for its du!. consideration and discussion. (Hear.) It was, however, 9, great importance that with respect to that part of the noble lord's plan which regarded the internal circulation of the coup try, and the country banks, some time should be given to the persons connected with that circulation to pronounce their opinion upon it. 'Without entering generally into the qu estion ! he could not refrain from offering the observations which he hila now addressed to the house. After acme observations from Mr. Grote, Mr. I. Smith, Mr• Hume, and Colonel Torrens, Lord ALTHORP moved that the chairman report progress and ask leave to sit again. Mr. GROTE inquired when it was intended to resume th e discussion. • Lord ALTHORP replied on Monday se'nnight. The house having resumed, Mr. BARIN G moved that th e ! be laid on the table copies of the correspondence which ha l, taken place between the Government and the Bank of Engla siu on the subject of the renewal of the charter. Lord ALTHORP stated that the correspondence was I' B l voluminous, and not material for the elucidation of the ques tion. That it was the opinion of the committee that it was expe dient to continue to the Bank of England for a limited period the enjoyment of certain privileges now vested by law in that corporation, subject to provisions to be hereafter made. '1 hat provided the Bank of England continued liable as at present to defray in the current coin of the realm all its exist ing engagements, it was expedient that its promissory notes should be constituted a legal tender for sums of £5 and upwards. That one-fourth part of the debt at present due by the public to the Bank be repaid during the - present session ofTarliament. That the allowances to the Bank on the management of the national debt, and other public business, be continued, subject to an annual deduction of £120,000 from the remuneration at present assigned for that purpose. That the laws restricting the interest of money to 5 per cent. be repealed, so far as concerned bills not having more than three months to run before they become due. _ _ . That it was expedient that royal charters be granted for the establishment of joint stock banks within a certain distance from London. That all banks should enter into a composition in lieu of stamp-duties, at present chargeable at the rate of 7s. for every £lOO issued in notes. That it was expedient that a bill should be introduced into Parliament to regulate country banks, the provisions of which should be such as to encourage joint stock banking companies in the country to issue the notes of the Bank of England. The resolutions having been read by the chairman, Mr. BARING fully concurred in the propriety of the course taken by the noble lord in not calling for an immediate vote on his resolutions, which it would be absurd to dismiss without an opportunity of first hearing what the country at large thought of the plan. The country bankers would be greatly deceived if they did not see in the noble lord's resolutions an attempt to get rid of their paper to a considerable extent, and substitute for it Bank of England notes. Whether that was a judicious plan or not, he did not pretend to say. However, that the principle had been favourably received by a number of country banks was clear from their present practice. Though the noble lord said, "far be it from him to resort to compulsory measures," he (Mr. Baring) suspected that the noble lord would not be unwitting to accelerate and extend Bank of England issues by a gentle shove, or that species of Quaker force which would effect his object, and drive country bank paper out of circulation. — From the sum of £248,000, at present paid to the Bank for the management of the public debt £13,000 was to be annually deducted, but the noble lord did not say whether this deduction was made .in consequence of the sum allowed under the old charter being too great, or as a compensation for granting a new charter. If the original sum was too Much, they got no thing for the new charter. What was the compensation given by the Bank for the last charter? The Bank lent money to the Government at 3 per cent., instead of 5 per cent. the mar ket rate at the time ; consequently it submitted to an annual loss of 2 per cent. on £14,600,000, the amount of its capital loaned to Government. This difference of 2 per cent., which amounted to £280,000 or £290,000, was a bonus to the public. What was the value of money now in the city ? Not 3 per cent. say between 2 and 2 1 -t per cent. It would seem from this, that, in order to preserve the same proportion of compensation as formerly, the Bank should now lend its capital at 1 per cent. As to the chartered banks which the noble lord proposed to establish, be thought they, never could work well while the law of partnership remained in its present state. With respect to partnerships, the French system was infinitely better than ours. In his opinion the Board of Trade could not do better thau di rect its attention to a revision of the law on the subject. The bon. member proceeded to observe that the noble lord's object in making the distinction as to the limited and. unlimited res ponsibility of banks, accordingly as they were or were not banks of issue, was evidently with a view to force the circula tion of Bank of England notes. The noble lord said that all those banks should be obliged to pay 7s. per cent. stamp duty upon the amount of their issues in circulation, and that with a view to ascertain the en:fount in circulation. Now, he should like to know how the noble lord would ascertain the amount of such issues in circulation. Was be to take the account from the hankers themselves ? The fact was, that this criterion of the amount . o f t h e i r i ssues would be anything but a tru e criterion. It would no snore afford a tree criterion of the amount of notes in circulation, than a property tax would afford a criterion of the real amount of any individual's pro perty. There was one point in the noble lord's arrangement to which he had personally a great objection, and an.objection that was founded upon personal experience, not only in this country, but in other parts of the world. He was aware that it was an objection which, in the present temper of the times, and of that house; was likely to meet with little favour there. It was au Objection to the publicity of the Bank accounts. He was quite sure that in times of difficulty the means of the Bank would be limited, and its operations would be cramped; by its being under the necessity of putting in an appearance to the country for the purpose of marking its operations. The noble lord prOposed that the government should have the power of putting an end to the, charter. Was the bank; on the other hand, to have a similar power? There was a variety of points connected with this important subject, which would re quire much time for their consideration; and yet it would be hard to call upon the noble lord to give proper time for their discussion; fur that would, is point of fact, be calling upon the The motion was ultimately withdrawn. Mr. ROBINSON said that in consequence of the events whi cb had recently taken place at Exeter, he wished to know whether any steps had been taken for the recall of Sir J. Jeflcott? r Mr. STANLEY replied that Sir J. Jeffcott had gone out a very short time, but that the earliest opportunity would I, e taken to communicate with the colony on the subject of hi s re' call from the office of judge. Mr. ROBINSON.—Am 1, then, to understand that he is still to retain the office until a communication takes place with the colony ?' Mr. STANLEY said that it was evident no step could be taken until the opportunity of communicating with the colony Pre" sented itself. Mr. O'CONNELL said he could bear testimony to the charec' ter of Sir J. Jeffcott. A more able, kind, humane, and excel lent man did not, in his opinion, exist. COLONIAL SLAVERY. The order of the day having been read for the resumption the debate on colonial slavery, and the house having resolv e ' itself into a committee thereupon, Mr. GODSON rose for the purpose of expressing his sent ments upon the proposed measure of Government. Ile a° e nutted that no doubt could exist as to the question of the tio having arrived at which emancipation had become imperativ e " The proposition he would first of all set out with was this—th a t the Parliament of England had no right to supersede_ the thority of the local assemblies of our colonies. Had that house: for instance, any power to delegate to the Assembly ofJamaies' He denied that . it ever possessed such power. This positioo was illustrated by the parallel instance of the conduct of th e States of America before the separation, which never re°4 - nised the authority of the English Parliament to interfere 1 1 their internal management, and when obedience was attempt ; to be enforced, answered the demands made upon them, not bi compliance, but by presenting the bayonet. This position O ti s also strengthened by the charter granted by Charles 11., whic h did not require the acts of the legislatures of the colonies to he' confirmed by the Parliament of England, but by the King on f' The people of Jamaica had always resisted any attempts to e 0" croach upon their undoubted rights by the Parliament of El: land ; and a measure like the present, he was sure, the Englis, government would never have ventured to-apply to Scotian' or Ireland before the union, but they were emboldened td force it upon the colonies only because they were weak a° could offer but little resistance. He hoped, however, the sense of justice which distinguished Englishmen would operate to prevent the consummation of so flagrant an act, and that the); „„ would pause before they recognized the principle that pow er constituted right. He trusted that house would never come i" such a decision. In considering the question as to whether th,, e West India possessions were property or not property, he cow" not help remarking that the right hon. Secretary for the Colo' nies had carefully abstained from denying the affirmative of tI3O proposition. He (Mr. Godson) contended that they were Pry s perty in the strictest sense. The hon. member then proceede d to contend that slaves were property, and in support of his ar" gument quoted the decision of Chief Justice Holt, and nin e other judges, in reply to a demand from the King in Councils that " negroes were merchandise." In 1760 the plantel wished to get rid of the slave trade, but Great Britain said tha she Could not suffer them to put aside a traffic which was 0 generally lucrative to the empire. Thus it was evident that th e principle of slavery had been fostered by the mother c ounts); For his own part he was willing to admit that the system st, wrong from the beginning to the end, but it was f or those vm.; had invested it with all the attributes of property to abolish with safety and honesty. (Hear, hear.) He considered th e a plan proposed by the government to be impracticable. It soul be impossible to attempt to carry it into effect without having 4,000 stipendiary magistrates in the colonies. What would O'l'P, labourers of England think when they saw that by this plan 5 was considered that a man who worked 7% hours entitled to a house and garden without payment of rent, be' sides food and raiment? And this, too, at a time when teri hours was proposed as the maximum of the labour of infants: It had been asserted by the right hon. gentleman that there WO no saving-banks in Jamaica. That was true; but a savior bank had been established at Montego, and had only been give s up because not a single negro had ever come forward to mat e a deposit in it. The right hon. gentleman bad also said that th number of negroes had decreased in proportion as the quantil of sugar had increased, thereby producing an impression in country that the planters had inhumanly worked their slaves t. e r death in order to nbtain a larger quantity of sugar from the' estates. Now, he asserted that there was not the slightest folio' dation for this position, and entered into some details to pro that his assertion could not be contradicted. The right ho l3 ; gentleman had also denied that the depreciated value of estat e in Jamaica was occasioned by the agitation of this slave que e t ; Lion in England. Now, of what use was such a denial, wh e it was known that ever s i nce the year 1823, in which year 0' .3 agitation commenced, estat es h a d not been saleable in the OW nies? He (Mr. Godson) likewise complained that the right l'o e ,; gentleman had always referred to extreme c a ses to c re ate °- impression against the planters, and that he had entirely ove r looked the meritorious exertions of such colonies as haildooe their duty. The right hon. secretary_ proposed to raise the do j o; on sugar from 245. to 275. per cwt. Now, that additional an of 3s. would produce to the country a revenue of £600,000, a l l a penny a- pound on coffee would produce £lOO,OOO more. N°": ought not the house in common justice to give the West Indian"; from whose property this revenue was to be raised, and vibo s ; estates would be rendered almost valueless by this plans , sum equal to that which at 3 per cent. interest would prodo4 £700,000 annually ? He contended that such a sum, wiv e amounted to £20,000,000, ought to be giien them as a COol_.; pensation for the loss which they would sustain, and as Y inducement to them not to resist the law which involved that . in utter ruin. The resolution with which he intended to cos" elude would embrace four distinct propositions—First of sr it would grant immediate emancipation to the negro; seconl it would enable your resolutions to work well in practice 'c c ! conciliating the prejudices of the planters; thirdly-, it w° 1 1 ,h provide a fund for the raising of a capital of £20,000,000, wi , _ l he would pay to the colonists as a compensation ; and fourth l y' it would pledge the house to lend £10,000,000 to the plante r on the security of the colonies themselves. The hon. geo, ti a man then moved a resolution to the effect which we have 3!" - 0 stated; but we are sorry to state that the constant interrurt'".,, which he met with in the course of his speech prevented from collecting the precise words in which Isis resolution couched. Mr. Tancred, Mr. Buckingham, and Col. Davies then ad' dressed the Speaker, after which, Mr. O'CONNELL moved that the debate be then (I o'clocU) adjourned till Monday. Agreed to. Adjourned at a quarter past one o'clock. LONDON GAZETTE.-FRIDAY, MAY 31. BANKRUPTS. Thomas Sherwin, London-wall, cheesemonger. Mary Clara Buchanan, Golden-square, boarding-house-keeper . James Edward Brand, Nelson-place. Old Kent-road, fishmonge r William Hazelden, Goudhurst, Kent, butcher. John Elling, Warminster, Wiltshire, butcher. William Dickins, sea., Northampton, plasterer. George Bilton, York, tailor. John Pope Durant, Plymouth, chemist. PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED. G. Prior and W. Ansey, St. Mary's, Rotherhithe, ship-breake l- „j.si J.!and C. P. Mirfin and T. Dry,Tottenham-court-road, linen-draPV as far as regards C. F. Mirfin.—J. and C. F. Mirfin, Doncaster A. Manchester, linen-drapers.—C. Barling, D. Foat, L. IL Wells, 811 `;. , Culverhouse. Ramsgate, bathers ; as far as regards G. Culverho lo ,oV C. and W. Thompson, Sheffield, printers .—' f Thornton Tho and S P „'O 4 ton, IVarrington, Lancashire, coopers.—J. and W. Archer, . o. ` tee Lancashire, corn-merchants.—Brockbank and Wallace, Carlisle dealers.—W. 11. and E. Honiss, and D. B. Baker, Ilastin_gs 8 , 11 , 4 0' Leonard's, Sussex, upholsterers.—D. Humbert and I. bilirieo' Worship-street, cabriolet-proprietors.—Wilks and Hopkins, ".„ „ e a c3' ham, Gloucestershire, tailors.—.l. and D. Moore, Heywood. La shire, grocers.—Hubbard and Colter, Bath, farriers.—lt. 0. Jone. o . , W. Hughes, Southampton-buildings, Chancery-lane, attornl o . , Beech, Nicholls, and Beech, Lane-End, Staffordshire, merc e ,co; %V. Gostling and J. E. Huxley, Castle-street, Long-acre, ironEno i r IN• —Barber and Cartwright, * Leicester, cotton-winders.—.L Wilde, Mincing-lane, sugar-brokers. icirto; DIVIDENDS. June 22, J. Saywell, Macclesfield, Cheshire, and R. - Wood-street, Cheapside, silk-manufacturers.—June 24,J.Scott, -kept, Shields, ship-owner.—June. 22, W. P. Waorlgate, Tunbridge'inee' hanker.—June 21,.J. Jones, Well-street, Wel'close-square. ei* June —June 21, J. Careless, Sweetings'-alley, Cornhill, victualle r 'r_nel" 21, D. Gorely, Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury, wholes ale fumer.—June 21, J. IL Rowley, Great Dover-street, N ew ington', o n , nishing ironmonger.—June 21, J. Sinclair, Bow-lane, warehmn a e —June 21, D. Duncan. Tooley-street, victualler.—June 21, son, Waltham, near Grimsby, Lincolnshire, tanner.—June 25 , Webster, Oldbury, Shropshire, druggist.—June 25, J. M. 1310:r o . llalesowen, Shropshire, apotheeary.—June 25, J. J ones and J. r, c „,/!, day, Dudley, Worcestershire, pig-iron.makers.—Jime 24, T. Stibbington, Huntingdonshire, paper-manufacturer.—June or Moulton, Warwick, grocer.—June 21, J. Lowe, Ashted, near _ t r y , mingham, dealer in iron.—Jane 20, G. Max', Evesham, NVorco;00 shire, bookseller.—June 24, J. Marsh, Manchester, innkeeper.o 24, J. Lane, jun., Gitat Yarmouth , Norfolk, tailor. , -June 21, , ' derson and J. Perry, Worcester, painters.—June 21, J. Bristovre, Poole. spirit-dealer. CERTIk ICATENio be granted, unless cause be show n t o the con t ild' or before the 21st day of June. rot' J. Blake. Nortonfalgate, chemist.—T. A. Kendall, Paternosnillr silk-manufaeture. O. Kettle, Southampton-street, Strand , Bonus, NorWich, coi , dwainer.—G. Rarehead, New l'.1altoli• shire, corn-merchant.-b.SOntlaill, Yorkshire, blanket -3 facturer. r to NEWCASTLE AND CARLISLE RAILWAY.--The heavy " ( 11 , l' t this great undertaking, on th e li ne f rom t hi s , c i tv about ten miles, is now in a state of considerable forwari t 11$' The tremendous exca va ti on a t th e C owran Hill s is abetla finished, and some idea may now be formed of the gilt O A pearance which this portion of the road will present- I . O OF r be remembered, th a t a t unne l was prop ose d t o b e cut ti c l these hills, and actu a lly c ommenced with, but abandone i proceeding with it a little way, it being found impractuit from the nature of the soil, anti other causes. An open c a ver therefore determined on, which •is now, as we have obs`o rD about half done. It presents a striking instance of hn liv beitt dustry, skill, and perseverance: the length of the cut about eight hundred yards, the depth in many places,3l',Ois, forty yards, and consisting of upwards of a m illion c ubic e lpo o f of earth, sand, and stone. About three hundred men ° C e ce,i,.'t• employed in the work at these hills. Another heavy P i i s t , ' ‘ i work, three mites nearer Carlisle than the Cowran 1 -11 91, / , e i t k viaduct of five arches over Corby-beck Valley—a CO d s o j apparently unnecessary erection : it is now in a forw L 1 a!: o df e o and is a handsome structure. W Fit'ithin two or three c , 0 :35 yards of this is the stupendous viaduct over the river adjoining glen, at Wetberal, to connect the lofty rockfqi, side. This is a mamiificent object. Its entire lenno feet, and breadth 20 4 feet within the parapets • and se d arches of 80 feet span each. On e o f th e arc hes is c li - e rst i k, and the others are ready f or b e i ng c l ose d ; b u t we un s affpl sonic delay is taking plane from a scarcity in thti o cl‘' e of of stone, arising from the difficulty in procuring 0 ~,leto r the, immense size required for the arches. When c i n i c r, l l l l 4 this viaduct will present a most imposing effect. r i :'is 1 !1) theral to within a mile and a half of Carlisle, the wnr in a state of grCat forwardness. Nearer to Carlisle, n°, t ieov, any consequence has yet been set about, with the eicc e t'o'o f the bridge over the Petteril. near the 'Mains' Cott° l ' which is now completed.--Cui-li.ds Pctriot. .301 ( hay 11 1e2 mac] th e 1 11 04 th e , i s eci f or ei cernt S hout for tii to nch Ally, tut th e c ( If the tr y needi