The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-04 00:00:00

THURSDAY.

Petitions were presented against opening the British
Museum and other places of amusement on Sundays, by Mr.
PeeL, from Tollington Townend, near Bury, Lancashire ;
against the Counties and Boroughs Police Bill, by Mr. Acton,
from the Town Council of the Borough of Wigan; and by
Mr. L. Davies, from the parishioners of Llangunllo, and
also from the parishes of Pembryn, and Bettevs, Cardi-
ganshire, praying that the enactment authorising the removal
of St. David's College from Lampeter should be repealed, and
that the endowment of St. David's College be increased by the
addition of funds accruing from tithes in the counties of Car-
marthen, Cardigan, and Radnor, applicable to such an institu-
tion.

In reply to a question, Sir G. GREY said, he hoped at an
early day to be able to introduce the bill for the reform of the
Corporation of the City of London.
LOCAL DUES OW SHIPPING.—Mr. GIBSON observed that
it had been stated by the government the other night, that it
was desirable to have a select committee to inquire how the
principle of this bill could be applied to particular cases, in
reference to which it might be difficult to come to a decision
in the whole house. He wished to ask the noble lord at the
head of the government when the committee would be ap-
pointed P—Lord PALMERSTON replied that he would give
notice early next week on the subject.
Trrs CRIMEAN COMMISSION.—In reply to a question by
Mr. Stanley, Lord PALMERSTON said—On a former evening
I said that the general practice with regard to courts of this•
kind was, that the inquiry should be conducted with closed
doors. This inquiry, however, is of so peculiar a nature that
it is the intention of the government that it should be taken
with open doors, reserving, however, to the commissioners that
discretion which must properly belong to them of conducting
any particular part of it with closed doors. That is a discre-
tion which I am sure the court will not exercise without the
fullast-and-moat satisfactory raaaouc---Witlx-pagard to-the se-
cond part of the hon. member's question, the commissioners
have no power of administering an oath. They are not a court-
martial under the Mutiny Act, and no military court otherwise
composed can examine upon oath unless specially empowered
so to do by act of Parliament.

THE CURRENCY.
Mr. Muzfrz moved for a select committee to inquire how
far the present monetary system is in accordance with the re-
quirements of the country, and to consider if it cannot be im-
proved and amended. He commenced by a distinct denial
that he was an advocate of an inconvertible paper circu-
lation. He then entered upon a rapid historical survey of our
monetary system from so early a period as that of William the
Conqueror (when, he observed, the pound sterling was a
pound weight of silver), the dryness of which was relieved by
reflections upon the various crises and panics which the sys-
tem had experienced, especially during the last half century.
His object, he said, was to inquire—nothing more—whether
it was not possible to devise honest means by which the great
vacillations of this system, the effects of which had been so
destructive, could be prevented, so that justice might be done
to all classes and all parties.
Mr. PEACOCK supported the motion for an inquiry, but not
upon the grounds put forward by Mr. Muntz, whose speech,
he remarked, contained three fallacies ; first, that the price of
gold was fixed, whereas, he contended, it fluctuated like that
of other commodities ; second, that the rate of interest de-
pended upon the price of gold, whereas it bore a relation and
proportion to the supply of capital ; and third, that bank
deposits could control the circulation of the country, which
they were impotent to do. He supported the motion because
he wished for an inquiry into the working of the Bank Char-
ter Act.

Mr. DRUMMOND said this was a question more difficult to.
discuss in that house than any other, because it was a question
of pure science, and it was easy to bring forward an array of
insulated facts; but, unless it was borne in mind that, in
speaking of value, the precious metals must be held to be a.
fixed and unalterable quantity, all would be confusion. To
talk of the rise and fall of the precious metals was downright
nonsense. They must be the sole measure of value.
After a long discussion, in which several members took
part, the Cne.NCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had been
desirous before he expressed his own opinion upon this motion•
of hearing whether there was a general and prevailing senti-
ment in favour of a committee. He did not understand what
was the nature of the inquiry which the committee was to
undertake. He put it to the house whether the inquiry •
should be into matters of a speculative and philosophical
character. The ground upon which the question had been
argued was, that the subject of inquiry should be the Bank
Act of 1844. If that was the object, it would be better, in-
stead of couching the motion in vague terms, to move for a
committee to inquire into the operation of that act. As-
suming that to be the object of the motion, he repeated what
he had stated upon a preceding night, that, in his opinion,
the present moment was not peculiarly well suited for such
an inquiry. The circumstances of the country were ex-
ceptional and extraordinary, and, if a committee was now
appointed, the investigation would be to a great extent
directed to the extraordinary circumstances of last autumn, and
not to the general operations of the Act of 1844. There was
nothing perilous in the condition of the Bank of England.
The returns showed that the circulation amounted to
£19,254,000 ; that of bullion to £10,576,000 ; the notes to
£24,890,000, and the reserve to £6,848,000. Much hostile
criticism, he observed, had been passed upon the arbitrary
limit of £14,000,000 for the issue of notes, added to the
amount of the bullion. Supposing that there was a valid
objection to this limitation, the question was whether any-
body was prepared to propose a scheme preferable to the
fixing an arbitrary amount. The plan suggested by Mr.
Tooke was not, in his opinion, preferable to the present
arrangement. He should vote, he said, against the appoint-
ment of a committee at the present moment. Nevertheless,.
he was of opinion that there were parts of the Bank Act of
1844 which did require investigation when a proper time
arrived for the prosecution of such an inquiry before a com-
petent tribunal.
Upon a division, the motion was negatived by 115 to 68.
THE IRISH JUDGES.
Mr. J. PHlLLimonn moved for copies of the judgment pro.
nounced by Mr. Justice TUREENS, one of the judges of the
Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, in the case of " Talbot v.
Talbot," before the High Court of Delegates, in Dublin, in
1856; and of the written 'proceedings and depositions taken
in the same cause before the Consistory Court of Dublin, from
which the appeal was made to the Court of Delegates, and
which were laid before that Court. He did not propose, he
said, that that House should act as a court of review or appeal,
nor did he appear as the advocate of Mrs. Talbot or her
friends; but he brought the subject before the House because
the dignity and reverence due to the judicial seat were lost if
charges of this kind, not anonymous, were to be passed over
without notice. The charge he brought against the judge
was incapacity, followed by most terrible and tragical conse-
charge which, if true, made it the dnty of the
interfere for the protection of the subject. Mr.
qHuoeunseee s
Phillimore gave a copious narrative of the facts of the case,
which, he said, appeared on the face of the depositions, and in
conclusion, accused the judge of admitting hearsay evidence
of a witness whose direct evidence he had rejected, of misre-
presenting the testimony of other witnesses, and of interpo-
lating his judgment after its delivery.
The motion was seconded by Mr. J. EwaaT.
Mr. WniTzspan entered into a counter-statement of facts,
by which he contended that the judgment in question was
borne out, observing that Mr. Justice Torrens was only
one of five judges of which the Court of Delegates consisted,
and the judgment he delivered was that of the Court.
Why, he asked, did not Mr. Phillimore assail the
whole court ? The motion, if successful, would, be
said, be fatal to the independence of the bench. The
case was now before a competent tribunal, and this motion
was calculated to forestall and prejudice it. After examining
the charges preferred against Mr. Justice Torrens, he declared
them to be either groundless or trivial, and asked what
the house was going to do, whether it intended to proceed in
the career of summoning judges before it upon garbled ex-
tracts of evidence. The motion he characterised as a mis-
chievous one, and he trusted to have the support of her
Majesty's ministers in defending thejudges of a court appointed
by their own Lord Chancellor.

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Mr. WALPOLE said he had never listened to a motion with
greater pain, and he hoped it would be the last time the Hous
of Commons would be asked to sit in judgment upon such
question. The last thing the house ought to do was to inter-
fere with the administration of justice. He recommended
that the motion should be withdrawn.
Lord PALMBRSTON joined in this recommendation. The
house, he thought, ought not to take upon itself the functions
of a court of review, which it was totally incompetent to
perform.
The motion was withdrawn.
The Drainage Advances Acts Amendment Bill was read a
third time, and, with amendments, passed.
The Secretary to the Poor-law Commissioners (Ireland) Bill
was read a second time. _ _

The Annuities Bill passed through committee, with a pro-
viso that the provisions of the Act 22 George 111. shall not
extend to any subscriber or contributor under the act.
The house adjourned at twenty minutes past twelve o'clock,