The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-04-01 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

I o the House of lords, March 27, there was a notch larger
attendance of lo dm than usual, the subject for debate being
the second reading of the bill far legalising marriage with a
decease! wiie's ester. Within the enclosure of the throne
mood pa fur Burmese commleeloncre, Who were
preeetzt Ihe other evening In the House of i'ammons,
sod they were attended hy their Interpreter. Al
commencemelt of the proceedings some time
was occupied by Lord Houghton presenting to the
House in his own name, and on behalf of several peen who
could not attend, sundry large batches of petitions in favour
of the measure. Lord 1.011.11 Ce also presented a large
number of petitions: while stanY ethers is the opposite
effect ware presented by aeveralright rev prelates and other
peers

Lord Penrune, to a coMptehenstre speech then moved the
second reading of the bill ler Legalizing Marriage with
'ieceaners Wife Slater. 'I his was the sixth time the mea-
sure had come lip t, their lortehlps. 'the niajortiles by
which It had been hitherto rejected had been steadily de.
cresstng, until last year the bill had been thrown out by a
p,,,j rity.4 only four it the other heed, the petitions
• both Houses la favour al the Mil had ipme on to.
creasing until, this year, their lordships had been
asked to pars the bill by 118,(09 pethionen, of whom
41,0e0 were women, and 5.000 were Dissenting minta-
ge.. The other House had antrmed the primiple of the
measure In 40 Divisions. The object of the bill was
to repeal the Act of 1835, which he explained, together
with the circumstances out of which it arose. Excusing
himself from discussing whether these marriages were for.
bidden p Scripture, In regard to which men of the highest
auth,rity and learning In the Chmeh bad th&red,
be affirmed that the whole of Christendom outside
the Church of England permitted these marriages.
Passing In review the moral and social arguments in favour
of such unions, he reminded their lordships that the agita-
tion in favour of the bill was not of a party or political
character, and did not at this moment represent any Meant y
to the Church of England. 'their lordships might be cm-
!Manny relied upon to support ineitvidu at lit erty Ia all
things just and reasonable, and not to withhold free any
man his natural right of free choice lu so important an act
of his We.

The Duke of Northumberland, In moving that the second
reading be postponed for six months. argued that the pro-
hibition now sought to be repealed had been imposed not
only ny the Jewish law, but by the law of the Christian Church
for eighteen centuries Replying to the social considerations
relied upon by Lord Pen curios, he laid stress upon the
Jealousy and suspicion which would be Introduced Into
families by this bill, and the mental torture likely to be
endured by the wife who had reason to believe her husband
and sister longed for her death in order that the latter
might fake her place. That a considerable number of
persons had violated the law was no reason why It shonid be
changed. It would be, on the contrary, a most pernicious
example if ey cx 100 facto legislation of this kind people
should be encouraged to break the law.

After a few words from Lord Mord, who held that these
marrages Were often Contracted from the holiest and purest
motives, and at the wish of a dying wife,
Their lordships divided, when the bill was thrown out by
P 7 Not-contents against 71 Contents.
Lord Granville, in answer to the Duke of Richmond, said
he should propose that their lordships adjourn on Friday
next for the Easter holydays, to Thursday, April 20.
- - - - -

" -
Their lordships then adjourned.
lu the House of Commons, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, In reply to Colonel Roden, said there were two
objections to affixing adhesive stamps to Inland bills of
exchange. These bills, If improperly damped, were useless,
and the distributors of stamps were not as a rule of sufficient
education to make them competent to decide as to the
amount of damp which a bill ought to bear. If the two
offices of selling and cancelling stamps were placed In
the hands of the same persons there would be great risk of
fraud.

Mr. Magntac asked whether an arrangement had been
entered into with the Government of the Netherlands for the
cession by it to Ore t Britain of the Dutch possesaions on the
coast of Guinea; and, if so. whether the arrangement was
subject to the consent of Parliament before the purchase
money was paid.
Lord Enfield stated that a convention had been signed,
but nct yet ratified, by which certain possession. on the
coast of Guinea, adjacent to British territory would be
handed over to the British Government. There was no
question of purchase money and the expenses of transfer
Would be paid out of the revenues of the British settlement.
Mr. Gladstone declined to fix a later day than Monday next
for the second reading of the Ballot Bill. The appeal to him
was made by Sir Disraeli, who pointed out that Monday was
the first day of Quarter Sessions, and on hearing the Prime
Minister', refusal the members who bad mottoes on the
second reading postponed them until the Committee, acid It
was ultimately arranged that the real diseueslou should be
taken on the later stage.
The Consolidated Fund is. lid.) Bill was read a
third time and passed.

The main business of the evening was the Navy Estimates,
but before going into Committee Mr. Graves addressed the
Mouse, and moved a resolution, on the importance of making
additional provision for the defence of our commercial har-
bours by building light-draught and heavily armed gunboats.
This kind of defence, he argued, could be more rapidly and
cheaply furnished than shore batteries, and some 50 vessels
of the Staunch class, which might be manned by the riggers,
boatmen, .tc , of each locality, could be built, he calculaLed,
for between £360,0.70 and £400,000. To this purpose be was
prepared to divert a portion of the funds allotted in the Esti-
mates to large ironclad", and even to borrow from the Army
ball t
'''l'3rsassey seconded the motion, and compared our
poverty in respect of these enia!l vessels with the large
numbers possessed by Russia arid the United States. Lie
recommended that the Admiralty should suspend the build-
ing of vessels of the Cyclopc and Inconstant type until we
had provided ourselves with a sufficient number of vessels
of the Staunch and Monitor class, and he sketched out a
Scheme for utilizing tugboat' and coasting steamers for
purposes of harbour defence.
•

-.-
Sr John Hay, Mr. lleadlam, Mr. Bentinck, Mr. Liddell,
Mr. Maeda, Mr. Laird, Mr. Gourley, and Mr. Eastwlck also
spoke in support of the motion; and Mr. Graves, being satis-
fied with the unanimity which was shown, did not press it to
• division.

SfrJ. Elphinsfone and Mr H. Selivlu-lbbetson next brought
before the House the circumstances of the recent sale of
Deptford 1-Mckyard to a Mr. Austin for £75,000, and its re-
sale by him to the London Corporation at a bonus of £20,003,
and moved that the transfer be not completed uutU a Select
Committee has Investigated the transaction.

Mr. Baxter repeated the defence of the bargain he made
In August last, and maintained that everything had been
done above board. Sir J. Hay recorc mended that there
should be an Inquiry in the interest of those whom
innuendoes" accused of inhering in the plunder ;" but
the House, on. Diviaion, negatived the motion by 141 to 63
The House then went into Committee of Supply, and after
Mr. Goschen had explained the Navy Estimates, the usual
desultory discussion followed, in which Sir J. Hay, Mr.
Samuda, Mr. Hermon, Mr. Candlish, Mr. Media, and Mr.
Graves touched on various points In Mr. Goschen's statement,
and the votes of 61,000 men and boys and £2,693,336 for pay
and allowances were agreed to.
The ther Orders of the Day were disposed of, and the
House adjourned.

n the House of Lords, March 2% Lloyd's Rill and a
number of other private bills were read a third time and
pawed.
The Duke of Richmond brought up the report of the
Select Committee on the Albert Insurance Company's Bill,
which they bail passed with some amendments.
- - - - -• - - • ••

After stew words from Lord °Masan In reference to the
object of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Bill, which is to
assimilate the law of Ireland with that of England, and In
justilication of the differences which have been allowed to
prevail, the House went Into committee on the bill. The
various clauses parsed with but few verbal alterations, and
the bill was reported.
The Poor Law (Loans) Bill was read a second Unto.
The Consolidated Fund (Z 162,580 9s. lid.) Dill was read a
second time.

Lord Dufferin (hi answer to Lord Clanricardej said that a
Bill amending the Law of Bankruptcy and Imprisonment for
Debt in Ireland would be introduced before Beater either In
that or the other House.

Lord Strathualrn, in moving for returns, said that the
great defect in the education of our army officers was that
they were instructed only in the mechanism of movements,
Instead of being taught the principles of military strasegy.
In the combination of steadfastness and ardour our ill-leers
were unrivalled, but they would take the field at a great dis-
advantage against an army of superior professional education.
Ile gave military examples of ignorance of strategical know-
ledge which had come under his observation in the Crimea,
Innis, and Ireland, which had in some cases caused great waste
of life, and declared that troops c mmanded by such officers
might encounter means, if not irretrievable, disaster if they
took the field saaloat an army perfectly taught and trained.
The reverses recently sustained by France were to be still-
buted, not to want of courage, for he had himaelf witnessed
the gallantry of French troops, hut to a neglect of the art of
war, and it behoved us not to disregard the warning. The
fault was not with our officers, but with the system; and he
justified himself in bringing the subject forward by the
changes about to be made in our military system, which rea.
dewed it necessary that Parliament should know our military
shortcomings.

- -
Lord Northhrov k, who offered no objection to the returns,
adverted to the progress already made in military education,
and said that there were now between 200 and 400 officers under
gammon inetructors. lie admitted that great changes must
be made under the new eystern in -.der to give British officers
the means of atouLring the education insisted upon by Lord
Strathnairn.

-----
The Doke of Cambridge said that the necessity for Improv-
ing military education had long been under discussion, bat
httherto there had been a difficulty is getting the public to
appreciate its importabce Theoretical Instruction wars me-
lees without opportunities of putting it in practice ;
and If the Continental system of reviews and military
mac muerte were adopted the public most be Prepared
for a large outlay in enter to compensate landed pro-
prietors and tenants for injury done in passing over
their fields. The officers only wanted opportunities of edu-
cation. Garrison inatnictlon bad been warmly taken up,
and the number of applicants was now, indeed larger than
the authorities were able to deal with. When he Prat went
to the horse Guards there was no examination in promo-
tion. arid now these examinations must be made more com-
plete. Tee illustrious Duke. In conclusion, bore warm testi-
mony to the zeal, devotion, energy, and general intelligence
of the British officer.

Lord Ilardbige hoped that the flying columns about to be
formed would be composed In port of Militia and Volunteers
end that an opportunity would also be afforded of judging of
the control system.
Lord Strathnairn said it was not part of the duties of
garrison Instructors to give strategical training. No country
afforded such good materials for officers as }logland, and ha
emphatically repeated that the system, and not the Individual
was to blame.

Their lordahlps then adj mrned.
In the Douse of commons, Mr. Donald Dalrymple asked
whether it war the intention of the Government to extend
the advantages of the parcel post to India and the colonies
Mr. Moorell F std that no desire bad been expresiett for the
transmission I puct,ls through the post to any of the
colooks excepting Duda; and as regarded lodia, the Go-
vernment was precluded by Its contract from sending by the
pest articles not now transmittable without making addi-
tional payment. As the present expenditure f the postal
service to India was largely in excess of the revenue do-
rived from it, it was not his intention to make the proposal
suggested.
Mr. James Lowther called attention to the complications
which have arbien from the present state of our municipal
law with regard to the export of arms and ammunition to
beligerents, and moved a resolution calling on our Govern.
SiLent to to settle the question in concert with
other Governments. Personally he was in favour of pro-
hibiting the exportation of thew, articles, and combated at
Jength the objections urged against It. lie saw no practical
difficulty In preventing wholesale and concerted shipment of
arms, which was all that could be require I from the Govern-
ment, and he maintained that a general prohibitory law
would be for our bench, as a maritime Power, In time of
war.
- - • -

Mr. James, on the Giber hand, decidedly opposed a change
In the law, pAnticg out that it would transfer to the GLiveru-
ment the resp-ii.itillity for preventing these exportation',
pad thus Increase the causes of difference with other I,ivern-
Monts.
Sir itoundi Palmer admitted that It was not lc accord-
ance with sound commercial morality to drive a trade in
arms and ammunition, nor did =uch a trade deserve active
legislative protection, bUt he oil. 'sod the motion on the
Pound that it wi,uld increase one responsibility as neutrals,
and multiply the causes of quarrel with beldgerents If
there were one point of latetnational law la filch was without
a.minnnitY end lasyond all controversy. It was this, that neutral
Governments ere not bound to prevent the expertati di of
anus and ammunition, nide.s they have undertaken a eptctal
obligation to that eff vet, and that belligerentl have a right
to stop such u 4011111 they can. No belligerent when mmee
WA. n"4" hurl ',nee yet made this tr .ftle a cause ,if complaint,
nor would the Gennans—"iough, of course, among other
modes of damaging nth- opponents, they had remon.trated
against It. ti:r P.,rundel emphatically advised the House to
keep clear of all spe,l,l laws and obligations, which were
...nein to be the fertile source of complicatione, and to
Undertake nothing which we could not perform.
After remarks from Mr Rennaway and Mr. Cave,
The Attorney-General, on the part ot the Oorernment,

stated that they had seen nothing in the events of tile War
to bring about a change In their decision of last year. The
Present law might have led to controversy, bat not to Cole-
I' cranes Lord Granville bad completely answered
o,lllitlttqleril complaints if, however, we had under-
taken such a burden as the motion recommended there would
assuredly have been • complication. lie endorsed without
reserve Sir itoundoll Palmer's statement of the responsi-
bilttlea cud onllgations of neutrals, and declined absolutely
lobe a party to carrying them further than the Act of last
) ear.

Eventually, Mr. Lowther did not press the motion to a
division.

The Salmon Fbheries Bill wu read a aecoml time, and the
County Julia.' gaallilcatlon Amendment Bill was passed
through Committee.
on the Order of the llsy htiug rout for committing the
Trades' Talons Bill,
•

I r. Bruce proposed to separate the civil and criminal no,
lions, and to make two bills of it. The dell clauses he in-
tended to preeoed with first, hot the third reading of both
he proudned should be taken port 11(160 1. The snaltesiton
was generally accepted and agreed to, though Mr. Herbert,
Sir B. limy, and Mr C_ Forster pressed for an aPsurance,
which was not given, that an interval of someday@ should be
allowed before the ertritinal portion was taken,
tell Bee then went Into Comralttee, and the r.;vil clauses
were agreed to with a few amendments, chiefly of a verbal
chamfer.

sdine ther Idas wan hr.varded a stage, and the 'louse
adjounled.

In the House of Commons, March 29, Viscount Sendai
moved the second reading of the Parochial Councils Bill,
the object of which Is to give greater power to the laity In
conducting the service. of the Church and other mat-
ters of a pivochial nature. The measure did not In any
way erect the question of doctrine, nor was it Intended
to C9Bi any imputations upon the clergy of the Established
Courch, but he believed the time had come when the
laity ought to have a larger share la the management
of Church affairs thou they had at present. In order
to carry this Into efidct, it was proposed by the bill
t establish In those parishes where It might be thougl t
desirable councils consiatimg of the Incumbent, church-
wardens, and a number of elected aldermen, varying, accord-
ing to the number of the population, from four to twelve.
'the councils should be elected every two years, unless
the parishioners wished to discontinue them ; and they
Mu-mid he empowered to undertake the management of all
ecclesiastical matters relating to the parishes to which they
belong.
• • •• -

Mr. Bermford-Ilope expressed his belief that co-operation
between clergy and laity would be more effectually and
peacefully carried out by voluntary action throughout the
cohntry, enforced and supported by a declaration of PaHla-
ment than by a bill which would be unworkable in
parishes in England. it the Church of England were a rigid
Intl-slide body like the Church of home, having no variety
in di e'rine or management, the bill would be admirable, but
in the pre•ent condition of affairs It was not the remedy that
the Church required. Ile moved, therefore, that It we. In-
expedient to hamper the free development of co-operation
between clergy and laity, according to the local circumstances
of different parishes by uniform and inelastic legislative pro-
vision. •

Mr. Cowper-Temple gave In his adhesion to the measure
because it was elastic, awl not uniform, and because it was
cal:misted to develop° the co-operatic between the clergy
.0 laity by creating a new relationship, and finding means
of co-operation which did not already exist. This, he he,
Ileved, would adapt the Church to the wants and require-
ments of the present day.
Sir Selwhi-lbliettion and Mr. Dalrymple opposed the bill,
and Mr Crone thought that all that was neceuary was the
giving of. status to lay-helpers, and the practical enlarge-
meat of the number of churchwardens. Sir George
Grey suggested tha, the measure should be referred to
a select committee, and Mr. Newdegate and Mr. Richards
promised their support to it. Mr. Gaythor e Hardy,
however, disapproved of the bill as conferring power
upon the narrow-minded and ignorant section of the
population to fetter anti control the actions of liberal
and enlightened clergymen. Mr. Bunton also opposed the
measure, whilst Mr. W. It. Smith supported its principles
as lie coosidered it necessary for the welfare of the State
that the laity should possess greater power in Church manage-
ment,

---
Mr . Illingworth, Sir Adderley, Mr. KMitchbullo
!Lorene°, and Mr. Mowbray continued the debate, and
were followed by
Sir Gladstone, who Intimated his Intention not to vote
against the second reading of the measure, as It was highly
desirable that the laity should be encourared to take a
greater part in the management of Church affairs. At the
same time it was a great question In his own mind whether
it would rot be better to trust to the spirit of progress
which might be discerned In the voluntary system,
rather than to legislate in the matter, lie spoke In warm
terms of the clergy, through whose boldness, zeal, and per.
severance, the Church of ngland had been rescued from
that spirit of coldness and indifference which characterised
her services in his earlier ohms ; and suggested that if the
bill were referred to a select committee, it should be a corn.
mitten who should Inquire into the whole subject.
Lord Sandon having expressed hlsdisinclinatton to a select
committee on the bLI, the sec ind reading war agreed to, on
the understanding that it should not be further proceeded
with in the present sesolon.
The other orders of the day were then proceeded with. the
Coroners' Bill being withdrawn and the Consolidated Fund
(45,111,900 Bill being read third time and passed.
•

The Mutiny BM passed through l'mnmittee, and the
Marine Mutiny Bill was read a second time, and the House
adjourned.