The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-07-03 00:00:00

ANOTHER PLAN TO FURTHER
EMIGRATION.

A meeting on the subject of emigration haa been
held of the guardians of the poor in London at the
Sessions Howie, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster. A
memorial to the President of the Poor Law Board was
submitted for approval. Lord Alfred Churchill was
in the chair. The memorialiAi think that any system
for the emigration of poor persons should embrace these
conditions :

—...„--
I. That for the purpose of emigration of poor persons
chargeable to the rates, the metropolis should be considered
as a whole.
2. That this emigration should be confined to the class pre-
vi °lndy specified.
2. That these emigrants should be distributed amongst all
the colonies cepahe of receiving them in small batches,
rather than by sending a large number to one colony at one
time.
4. That no emigrant of this class leave these shores ontli
passed by the emigration agent of those colonies to which it
is proposed to send them, provided there are such agents in
this country.
5. That arrangements be made with the authorities in the
several colonies to take charge of these immigrants on their
arrival, and to forward them free of cost into such parts of
the interior where their labour is likely to be most in demand.
- •

visiting
v&guely

In order to defray the cost of ;migration under this
scheme, parliamentary power be obtained (the me
morialists say) by the Poor Law Board (should it sot
already possess it) to levy a rate of one penny in the
pound, to be uniformly assessed upon the whole rate-
able property of the metropolis, and that this should
Continue for ten years successively.

;7ilegol

THE HONOUR OF THE HOUSE OF
LORDS.
(From the Pall Mall Gamtle.)
Several lamentable occurrences which have become
notorious within the last few days illustrate very
forcibly the importance of the suggestion made some
weeks ago by Lord Carnarvon on the occasion of the
debate on life peerages as to the propriety of the pos-
session by the House of a censorial power over its own
members. Extravagance and consequent ruin are bad
enough, but when we come to crime it is surely time to
make a stand. Is there any society of gentlemen in
the world except the English House of Peers in which
a man judicially proved to be a thief and a forger could
take his seat unquestioned? Yet in the ordinary
course of nature we may expect at some not very
distant period to see this happen if matters are allowed
to remain as they are. Is it possible to imagine a
more monstrous insult to public decency and to the
administration of justice than the spectacle which
would be afforded by a man who, having been con-
victed by his brothels oath of forging that brothels
acceptances, should stand up in his place in the House
of Lords and, laying his hand upon his breast, declare
as a hereditary judge, that some one else was
upon his honour?' Surely it is high time to take
measures which would render such a scandal impossible.
It is only by one degree less infamous that foolish and
vulgar spendthrifts should be allowed to legislate and
to degrade by retaining them titles of which they have
shown themselves unworthy.
There is, indeed, not only a remedy, but a precedent
for its application upon this matter. "A peer," says
Blackstone, "cannot surrender or lose his nobility but
by death or attainder ; though there was an instance
in the reign o Edward IV. of the degradation of George
Neville, Duke of Bedford, by Act of Parliament, on
account of his poverty, which rendered him unable to
support his dignity. But this is a singular instance
which serves at the same time by having happened to
show the power of Parliament, and by having happened
but once to show how tender the Parliament hada been
in exerting so high a power." It is, we think, high
time that this injudicious tenderness should cease, and
there can surely be but little difficulty in pointing out the
steps by which it should be remedied. Every position in
life which does or is supposed to confer special honour
upon the person who holds it is subject to special sanc-
tions. The maxim "noblesse oblige " commonly is, and it
always ought to be, true. Every one of the learned
professions has its own special code of rules and its
special courts for enforcing them. An immoral clergy-
man, a barrister, an attorney, or a physician who
tranegresses the rules of his profession, a soldier or
sailor who acts in a manner unbecoming of an officer
and a gentleman, is liable to summary and effectual
Vengeance; and there can be no doubt that some such ,
jurisdiction as is exercised by the bishops, the benchers,
the Law S iciety, the College of Physicians, and
courts-martial, ought to be instituted in every cams
in which a particular class of men are invested with
special functions and required to come up to a special
standard of honour. The House of Commons exercises
such a jurisdiction over its members, for it can, if
necessary, expel them ; besides which, as they have
from time to time to be re-elected, the very constitu-
tion of the House subjects them to a discipline far
stricter than any which its exceptional jurisdiction over
its members can impose. The freedom of peers from all
responsibility for their general conduct to the House
of which they are members is thus an anomalous ex-
ception to the rules which govern all other societies
which it is very difficult to justify, and which it is not
impossible may be taken into serious consideration by
a body which has already shown itself ready to make
such a fundamental alteration in its constitution as is
involved in the establishment of life peerages.
Questions of detail might no doubt arise as to the
manner in which euch a tribunal should be constituted,
and as to the limits of the powers which should be
entrusted to it; but the broad outline of its constitu-
tion may readily be suggested. What is required is
the establishmnent of a Committee, permanent or
otherwise, which should have power to inquire into the
case of any peer who might be charged with scandalous
conduct unworthy of a gentleman and a nobleman. It
should form a domestic tribunal shackled by as few
rules of procedure as possible, and free to inquire into
the merits of the matters brought before it by whatever
means it might regard as most effectual for the dis-
covery of truth. It should have power to make a
report to the House, recommending in case of convic-
tion that the person convicted should be reprimanded,
suspended from the exercise of his privileges as a peer,
or in extreme caws demived of his title and statue ,
altogether and reduced to the rank of a commoner. It
is difficult to see how there could be any objection to
men a jurisdiction. It is hardly conceivable that it
should be abused, or that it should inflict injury either
on the public or on individuals, as the peers might
surely he trusted not to be too severe upon the failings
of members of their own order. On the other hand, it
would exercise a degree of influence for good over those
who were subject to it which can hardly be overrated.
No laws are so effectual as those which apply to a res-
tricted class and ?set up a special standard of honour
and morale. Professional rube of all kinds are pro-
bably better observed than almost any other commands,
human or divine, and it is difficult to over-estimate the
effect which would be produced P oon the members of
PO email a class as the j—erage by toe occasional degra-
dation id an unw, _y member, whose nol name
would 1 converted by such a Punieemert f rota a
mark 1 honour is a budge of utsgroee. Some idea
may i. termed slit I,lllobeeri Mg the influence which
the pi.esession of a distinguished title gener .11y does
exercise over a man if he ii. not intoxicated and sedaced
into a life of mere voluptuous idleness by its posses-
sion. In such cases the effect of hereditary ral kis ass
rails a good 0118, 1111 d in sometimes remarkably and con.

spicuously is . unpuswole for any ens
who has the opportunity of making the observation to
deny that a nobli.man ef average natural gifts, and
who has made • fair use of the opportunities
offorded to him by his position in We, is gene-
rally to a certain extent superior to • man of the same
calibre who hes been placed in narrower circumstances.
It would, indeed be strange if he were not, forth. mere
fact that he has property to manage, a name to keep
up, a share in public business, general or local, must
exercise over him in common cases an influence like
that which all other profewsions exercise over those
who practise them. Put over him some additional
professional restraint, teach him by example that if he
disgraces his cloth he will be degraded in law and in
form as well ail in fact, and he will be upon his good
behaviour to a greater extent than almost any one else
except a clergyman or • soldier in matters of disci-
pline.
It may be said that so broad • power as that of
ig by degradation an offence so vague and so
iy defined as disgraceful conduct is too great •
power to be safety •onferred upon any assembly or
committee whatever. We cannot think so. There is
not the slightest fear that the power would be used
tyrannically. The fear is quite the other way. It
would be used far too indulgently. All experience
proves that this is the case. A. banister's misconduct
must be quite unbearably bad before the benches of his
inn will interfere with him. The natural feelings
which incline men to avoid scandals and to be lenient
to offences committed by members of their own class
would operate with extreme energy in the case of the
peers. No one would propose, moreover, that their
power should extend to affect either person or pro.
nertv. It would apply merely to those special
which are associated with a seat in the House
ot

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•i. au.rely