The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-05 00:00:00

MEDICAL PROFESSION BILL.

Upon the order for going into committee on this
bill on'kVednesday, _

Lord ROBERT 6RosvENon called attention to the
peculiar position in which this bill stood, notice
having been given of nearly a hundred amendments
—some of them going to the whole principle of the
measure—at so late a period that there had not been
time to consider them. He recommended Mr.
Headlam (who had charge of the bill) not to force
on a discussion, but to postpone the committee.

. .
Mr. HEADLAM declined to accede to this proposal,
on account of the inconveniences that would result
from delay, and because there was not the slightest
hope that delay would lead to an approximation of
the discordant opinions respecting the constitution of
the medical council, the majority of the members of
which, the Government now proposed, should be
nominated by the Crown. This was the most im-
portant of the amendments, the rest were merely
verbal.

An animated discussion then ensued, when Mr.
WALpoLE moved by way of amendment that the
order for committing the bill he postponed to Wed-
nesday next. Atter some further discussion the
amendment was carried by a majority of 116 to 81.

.
Mr. HEADLAM then said that the Government had
thrown him over, and he should now leave the bill on
their hands ; a charge which Sir G. Grey, on behalf
of the Government, declined to accept.

7ATION.

Mr. SCOTT moved on Thursday for the appoint-
ment of a select committee to consider how far, and
in what direction, recent legislation and the substi-
tution of other punishments for transportation. had
influenced the existing amount of crime. Adverting
to the alarming increase of crime, he urged the ne-
cessity of ascertaining whether this increase was due
to legislation or to other causes. It'this inquiry were
deemed too wide, the amendment of which notice
had been given by Sir G. Grey, to inquire into the
operation of the act 16 and 17 Victoria, would, in
his opinion, make it vastly too narrow. In support
of his motion he referred to statistics to show that
crime went on at a more rapid rate in this country
th ►n the population, urging that such a condition of
things called upon the house to look carefully into
the causes. He contended that the new ticket-of-
leave system which had been adopted, like the aban-
donment of transportation, against high and sound
authority, had failed, there being various impedi-
ments to the absorption of the liberated convicts into
the labouring population. Finally, he urged that the
system of transportation might, under proper pre-
cautions, be revived with beneficial results alike to
the mother country and to several of the colonial
dependencies. The subject, he insisted, had never
been investigated in the wide and comprehensive
spirit which its importance demanded.
Mr. L. DAVIES seconded the motion, and, pointing
nut the immense increase in the amount of crime
committed in the country, proved by late statistical
returns, insisted that the ticket-of-leave system was a
total failure.

Sir GEORGE GREY, admitting the importance of
the question, recommended that the investigation
should be limited, in the first instance, to the con-
sequences of the ticket-of-leave system, a topic
which, with its collateral relationships, would be
found sufficiently extensive. He considered Mr.
Scott's motion of the increase of crime as not exactly
warranted by documentary evidence, and proceeded
to reply to some of his observations, entering into a
variety of details to show that the working of the
ticket•of-leave system did not deserve to be stigma-
tised as a failure, and to prove that transportation
still existed in full force as far as regards Western
Australia, where convict labour was in great demand.
The right hon. baronet concluded by moving :
That a select committee be appointed to inquire into
the operation of the act pith and 17 of Victoria, chap. 99,
entitled An Act to substitute, in certaiu cases, other
punishment in lieu of transportation.

Sir J. PARINGTOX thought the terms of the original
motion rather too wide, and after the speech of Sir
G. Grey he suggested to Mr. Scott whether he would
not be content with the proposed amendment. He
felt convinced that the terms of the act of 1859
should be revised and reconsidered, and this object,
he understood, would be within the limits of the
inquiry. Sir John entered into details respecting
the principle upon which he supposed limited trans-
portation was now carried out by the Government,
and as to the periods for which convicts were sen-
tenced to penal servitude, which, in his opinion,
were too short, and did not bear a due proportion to
the old punishment. Imprisonment for four years
was much less formidable than expatriation for

SATURDAY,

seven, and to this mistaken forbearance he was in•.
clined to attribute the late increase of crime. With
respect to the ticket•of-leave system, it could not be
said to have failed, and he thought the wisest and
most prudent course was nat to abandon it under the
present system of penal servitude.

AIR. LABOUCHERE declared that the Government
would cordially co-operate in the proposed investiga-
tion, and gladly adopt any improvement of which the
existing system of punishment might be found sus-
ceptible.

Atter some further remarks from Mr. Adderley,
Mr. Baines, Mr. Newdegate,
Mr. SCOTT withdrew his motion, and that of Sir G.
Grey was adopted in the following form :

That a select committee be appointed to inquire into the
provisions and operations of the act 16 and 17 Victoria, c.
91, entitled " An Act to substitute, in certain cases, other
puu.sliment in lieu of transportation."

APRIL 5, 1856.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, on Tuesday,
moved a resolution, preliminary to the introduction
of a biil, by which he proposed to render the inci-
dence of the stamp duty levied on fire insurance
more strict and extensive. The object, as explained
by Sir G. C. Lewis, was to include the policies at
present granted at agency offices on behalf of foreign
companies, so as to protect the English companies
from the unfair competition to which they were now

exposed.
The motion was agreed to after a short conversa-
tion, and leave given to introduce a measure on the
subject.

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