The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-06-03 00:00:00

ROUSE OF COMMONS.

MONDAY.—The chief part of the evening was occu-
pied by the Highway Bill brought in by the Home
Secretary. It proposes to provide that upon the requisi-
tion of five justices the Court of Quarter Sessions may
proceed, by order, to constitute highway districts, con-
sisting of any number of parishes, and that after the
approval of the Howe Secretary such order shall take
legal effect. The district thus formed is to be governed
by • Highway Board, consisting of waywardens, elected
as surveyors of highways are now elected, and of the
county justices residing within the district. This Board
shall be responsible for the effective state of the roads,
and is subject to coercion in this respect by justices in
petty sessions, whose order may be revised by the Court
of Queen's Bench. The union of several parishes will
enable the Board to employ a surveyor who
knows something of his business, and discountenance
the common practice of mending roads by the aid of
effete paupers, and broken draining pipes, and other
equally useless materials. There are also other improve-
ments upon the present barbarous law in respect to our
local communication. The old lazy dream, however,
of the beauties of the parochial system hung over the
House while tbe Bill was under discussion. Mr. New-
degate, Mr. Bentinck, and other gentlemen took fright,
and cried, " cursed be he who removes the parish boun-
daries." Mr. &later-Booth would have no dis.riet
without the consent of all the vestries, and Lord
Henley desired the consent of all the Boards of Guar-
dians testified in writing. The House was not pre-
pared to stultify itself bypassing a measure which should
thus far carry its own destruction within itself, but
when the House went into committee the horror of
"centralization" was allowed,in a great measure, to mar
the Bill. The county gentlemen would not allow the
roads to be repaired by a district rate, or that it should
be made compulsory upon any pariah to continue lines
of road on either side of it, or that the district should
be allowed to do this out of a common fund. The dis-
trict highway fund is le be collected by precepts issued
to each parish, and the rates are still to be gathered
within those ancient and much venerated limbo. The
Time* calls this " very childish." The House also went
Into committee on the Merchant Shipping Acts, &c.,
Amendment Bill, and Sir H. Stacey obtained leave to
bring in • Bill to amend the law for rendering more
effectual the police in counties and boroughs in England
and Wales.

TURBDAY.—A subject of great interest was intro-
duoecl on the motion of Sir. H. Cairns. The Hon.
member moved as address to Her Majesty, praying
that she will be pleased to issue a C,ominission to inquire
'into the working of the law relating to letters patent
for inventions. He thought the present was a con-
I venient and opportune time for an investigation of this
I kind into the system of the working of the law patents.
He did not deny that its policy was a very arguable
question, but it was one for open discussion in the
House, and there would be an inconvenience in extend-
ing the icquiries of the Commission also to the policy of
granting patents. He described the changes made in
the law in 1852, the wise and beneficial effects of which
had been proved by experience, for whereas in 1851
the number of patents was only 455, in '52-'53 they hail
increased more fourfold, the number being about the
same as at present—namely, in round numbers, 3,000
provisional protections and 2,000 patents actually
granted. The particular evils of which complaint was
now made he classed under three heads—first, that the
facility for taking out patents led to the multiplication
of worthless and trivial inventions; second, that the
cost of obtaining letters patent was Mill too high ; third,
that the mode by which causes for infringement of
patents were tried was very expenaive, and was unsatis-
factory through the want of experience in the
tribunals. He examined these objeMions and the
suggestions made to obviate them, which, in his
opinion, formed proper subjects for an inquiry, which
might result in conferring a very considerable boon
upon manufacturers and inventors, and also upon the
public. The motion was seconded by Lord Stanley,.
and the Attorney-General thought the mover bad made
out a fair case for inquiry. The motion WAS accordingly
agreed to.—Mr. H. Berkeley brought forward his
annual motion for leave to bring in a Bill to cause votes
of Parliamentary electors to be taken by way of ballot.
He briefly mid, as the arguments he had hitherto used
had been entirely unanswered, he left the question in
the hands of the House. A division took place forth-
with, and the hon. gentleman's motion was carried by
83 to 50.—Mr. A. Smith also moved for leave to bring
in a Bill to allow the votes of municipal electors to be
taken by way of ballot in all places when the Town
Council shall so think fit. Upon a division this 1
motion was likewise carried by 82 to 48. Mr. Hennessy
obtained leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law
relating to the religious instruction of Roman Catholic
prisoners in England and Wales.

WEDNESDAY. —The Irish Fisheries, Irish County
Elections, and other topics were brought on the lapis,
and among these a Bill was read a second time for
increasing the facilities of summoning juries. This
measure was introduced by Mr. Hunt, member fur one
of the divisions of Northamptonshire, and was com-
mented upon by Mr. Henley, Mr. Wbiteside,and others,
although it did not inaugurate, as might have been
feared, one of those regular professional debates in which
the gentlemen of the long robe, who abound so
plentifully in the Senate, ventilate their oratory with
such abundant but unwelcome difluseness.—Mr. Hunt
proposes to do away with much of the superfluous
instrumentally used for so seemingly simple a purpose
as getting twelve men into a jury-box. In effecting this
he professes also to save • considerable expense. By
the sixth of George IV., cap. 50, jurors have always
been summoned personally, and the expense of this
serviee has hitherto fallen upon the sheriffs. It is
easy to understand that in days when postal arrange-
ments where by no means as perfect as they are now
such • plan was necessary. The suggestion at present is
that the Post-office is quite capable of doing the work,
and that there is no longer any need to have recourse
either to the sheriff or the high constable :
but that the clerk of the peace in every county,
riding, and division shall every year issue his precepi—
an it is called—to the overseers of the poor to make out
an accurate list of all persons qualified and liable to sit
on juries. They are, moreover, to send such returns by
post, in a registered letter, having the words "Jury
Precept," legibly written or printed on the outside.
The justice's clerk is te send jury lists to the clerk of
the peace, and the clerk of the peace is to deal with
the jury list, se be has hitherto done, save and except
that he is to forward theistimmonses by post, and so save
labour and expense. These letters are to be registered,
and a duplicate form stamped by the postmaster, and
returned to the person transmitting such epistolary
summons ; and such summons sent by the post is to be
considered as in all respects • service of summons as now
by law required.

THUMIDAT.—NT. Fortescne put the questions of
which he bad previously given notice respecting the
wreck of the Mars. Sir George Grey said the siz
survivors of the wreck had left the country before the
local authorities could institute any inquiry, and that
no investigation had been made by the Board of Trade
because it was thought it would lead to no practical
results.

FRIDAT.—The chief portion of the evening was taken
up by • discussion on the sale of commissions in the
army, Colonel De Lacy Evans moving that no further
postponement ought to take place in giving effect to the
promises of Government, that the counnand of regi-
ments should no longer be pnrchaseable, and that the
promotion to that rank should henceforth be regulated
by selection upon the responsibility of the Commander
in-Chief. On a division the resolution was negatived
by 247 to 62. Colonel Dickson called attention to
certain murders committed In Ireland, and the organisa-
tion, equipment, an/ employment of the Irish
constabulary. He was followed in his remarks by Mr.
Scully, who speedily modem/ • " moat out" and the
Flops adionrescl el 20 minutes to 8 o'clock.
• •