The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-25 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS-THURSDAY.

The Marquis of BREADALBANE read the gracious
reply of the Queen to the address on the subjects of
the African slave trade and the maritime survey.

BANKRUPTCY LAWS.
Lord BROUGHAM called attention to the present
state and working of the bankruptcy laws, and stated
not only the grounds of complaint but the remedies
he proposed. In the first place, the expense attend-
ing the administration of the bankruptcy law was
excessive. He objected, also, to the manner in
which pensions were paid. No less than 25,000/.
a year continued to be paid as compensation for the
loss of salaries to commissioners of bankruptcy,
'bolished in 1831 and these

whose offices were ;
payments were made out of fees levied upon the
suitors, who were in fact the present creditors en-
gaged in present suits. He proposed to, transfer that
burden from the creditors to the Conso'idated Fund.
With respect to the messengers, accountants, and
brokers of the bankruptcy courts, although the bill
which he proposed to introduce would abolish their
offices, he was inclined to think that the office of
messenger ought still to continue, subject to tho
authority of the commissioners, who should decide
in every case when they should be employed. He
thought the official assignees ought to be paid a
certain proportion by salary and the rest by fees, the
maximum to be received from both sources being
fixed and settled

Another complaint was as to the irregtilarily of the
attendance of some of the commissioners, and he strongly
recommended the Lord Chancellor to look at the returns
made on this subject. Some of the commissioners lived
at a distance from the places where they held their courts,
and the consequence was that for the last hour they would,
it was said• sit with their watches in their hands, and pre.
cisely at five minutes to five, or within a few minutes of
the railwaytrain starting, they would, at whatever incon-
venience to the parties concerned and the witnesses in
attendance, adjourn their courts, instead of sitting until
six or seven o'clock, and disposing of the business before
them. It appeared from the returns that in one town
there were 130 sittings of the commissioners during the
year, in another there were 185, in a third 151, and in a
fourth 705. He certainly was very much surprised when
he saw that there were 705 sittings in one year ; but it
turned out that each different matter was called a sitting,
and that on an average the commissioners had only sat
fiftyfuur days in the year, or a little more than one day in
the week.

There were other points, too, connected with bank-
ruptcy which needed amendment; such as the
arrangement clauses in the Bankruptcy Act, the
decision against assignments, and the present system
of appeals, all required careful consideration.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—THURSDAY.
At the morning sitting,
Lord NAAS moved the second reading of the Su-
perannuation Act Amendment Bill.
The discussion was prolonged till ten minutes to
four o'clock, when the speaking was brought to a
sudden close without any result.
Mr. WilsoN opposed the bill, maintaining that
there had been no breach of faith on the part of the
Government, and that no injustice had been done to
the civil servants by the course pursued, although he
admitted there were many anomalies which required
to be rectified. The civil servants were quite aware
of the nature of their engagements, and that their
salaries had been largely increased since entering
the service. Mr. Wilson moved as an amendment
that the bill be read a second time that day three
months.
Mr. CLIVE, Mr. WEGUELIN, and Mr. SEYMOug
FITZGERALD supported the opposite view, urging
that the civil servants were in fairness entitled to ho
relieved from the deductions of which they coin-
plained.
Sir FRANCIS BARING, Mr. WILLIAM WILLIAMS, and
Mr. RICH supported the course taken by Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Rich had not concluded when the time for ad-
journing the debate occurred.
The CHANCELLOR Of the EKCHEQUER stated that
as the Government were anxious to ascertain the
opinion of the house upon the question, he should
suggest to Lord Naas that Wednesday next be named
for resuming the debate. Should no division take
place upon that day, the Government would endea-
vour to give a morning sitting, upon the under-
standing that the decision of the house should then
be given.
Lord NAAS, with an allusion to the tactics adopted
to prevent a division upon that occasion, assented to
Wednesday next for resuming the debate.
At the evening sitting,
On the question that the house go into committee
of supply,
Lord HOTHAM called attention to the existing
practice of exacting from officers appointed to be
members of the Military Division of the Most
Honcurable Order of the Bath an engagement that
the insignia of the Order, after their death, be re-
turned. He suggested that the decorations (except-
ing the collar) should be allowed to be retained for
transmission to their descendants. He likewise
commented upon the miserable tinsel of which the
star was composed.
Lord PAI.MERSTON could not agree that there was
anything unseemly or improper in requiring the
return of the insignia. As to the material of the
star, ho thought it might be expedient to reconsider
the practice.

Sir J. RAMSDEN, in reply to Mr. Noel, stated that
the Court of Directors had announced their inten-
tion to defray the expense of the passage to India of
officers ordered to rejoin their regiments there before
the expiration of their leave. •
Mr. V. SMITH, in answer to an inquiry by Sir J.
Elphinstone, said no intelligence respecting the
state of affairs in India had been received by the
Australian mail.
The house then went into a committee of supply,
when

The CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER moved the
supplementary estimate of 400,000/. towards reim-
bursing the East India Company a moiety of the ex-
traordinary expense of the Persian war.
The vote was agreed to.
Mr. WILSON, in moving the estimate of 590,0001.
for adjusting the account with the East India Com-
pany of the expense of the late China war, ex-
plained that there was a set-off against the Company
amounting to 560,0001., so that by the ultimate ad-
justment the vote would be reduced eventually to
30.0001.

This vote was agreed to.
The committee then took up the consideration of
the remaining civil service estimates, and various
votes were agreed to after discussion, and ordered to
be reported.
The house then went into committee upon the
Ecclesiastical Commission, &c., Bill, but before all
the clauses had been gone through the Chairman
was ordered to report progress.
Other bills were forwarded a stage, and, after
some further business, the house adjourned at a
quarter to two o'clock.

NOTICES OF MOTION.

TUESDAY.

....
Lord PALMERRTON said it might be convenient for the house
to know that the Probates Hill, which had been fixed for pro-
gress on Thursday :.e‘t, would not be proceeded with uu7-1
Thursday next.

THE LAST WAR IN CHINA.—The estimate of the
sum required to he voted in the year 1857, ending
March, 1858, for the adjustment of the account With
the Hon. East India Company, for the expedition
in connection with the last war in China (from 1840
to 1813), is fixed at 500,6931.

THE INDIAN MUTINIES.

A SERIES of official despatches have this week been
presented to Parliament relative to the origin of the
mutinies in India. It is needless to observe that
they appear to be ridiculously incomplete. In the
first document, dated Feb. 7, 1857, the Governor-
General informs the Board of Directors of the un-
willingness of the sepoys at Darn Dum to use
the greased cartridges, and requests that no more
cartridges be sent out. The succeeding despatches

continue to record various demonstrations of a
mutinous feeling on the part of the sepoys, the
punishment decreed for individual offences, the revolt
of the 19th, 11th, 20th, 38th. 54th, and 74th Regi-
ments of Native Infantry, aided by the busk of the
:3rd Cavalry, and also the capture and occupation of
Delhi. On the 10th of May the Governor. General
and Council urge the necessity for a material in-
crease in the strength of the European troops. They
write :

The necessity for an increase of the substantial strength
of the army in the Bengal establishment—that is to say, of
the European troops upon this establishment—has been
long apparent to us; but the necessity of refraining from
any material increase to the charges of the military depart-
merit, in the present state of our finances, has prevented
us hitherto from moving your honourable court in this
matter. The late untoward occurrences at Berhampore,
Fort William, Barrackpore, and Lucknow, crowned by the
shocking and alarming events of the past week at Meerut
and Delhi, and taken in connection with the knowledge we
have lately acquired of the dangerous state of feeling in
the Bengal native army generally, strange and, at present,
unaccountable as it is, have convinced us of the ur fent
necessity of not merely a positive increase of our European
strength, but of a material increase in the proportion
which our European troops 'bear to the native regular
troops on the establishment. We are of opinion that the
latter is now the more pressing necessity of the two.
The Court of Directors, in a despatch of July Bth,
promise their best attention "at the earliest period "
to the Governor-General's report of his measures,
and after applauding his Excellency and the officials
for the judgment they have shown, add :
We cor.fidently expect that the next despatches we shall
receive will apprise us of the complete success of the mea-
sores taken for the suppression of armed resistance to our
Government; and we feel assured that the same energy
and skill which have been displayed in making head
against the most formidable danger to which the British
G.wernment in India could be exposed, will be employed
in taking precautions against the return of that danger,
and in immediately ascertaining and removing, so far as is
practicable, the causes which may have led to it.
The papers close with a despatch from the
Governor-General, dated the sth of Juno, containing
apparently the latest official account of the rebellion,
so far as it could be ascertained. In the course of
this despatch Lord Canning, alluding to the position
of affairs at Delhi, observes upon the defeat of the
rebels at Ghazeecodden on the 30th of May :
This victory will, no doubt, be of great value in proving
to the mutineers, and to the whole army, the prowess of
our European troops, even in comparatively small bodies;
and its occurrence just now is still more important, when,
owing to the d(fficully in procuring sufficient carriage, and
in moving the siege train which his Excellency she Coln•
mander.in•Chief was organising for the attack on Delhi, a
delay of some days must take place before the attacking
force can reach that fortress.

In addition to these despatches a parliamentary
return is also published, containing the correspon-
dence which has passed since the Ist April, 1856,
between the Government and the Company, relative
to the number of European troops in India. Upon
the sth April, '56, we find the • Governor-General
calling the earnest attention of the directors to the
deficiency of officers for the native army. The
directors, in reply, admit the necessities of the army,
and promise relief. The remainder of the corre-
spondence is not of very great importance.

Many very interesting letters detailing the incidents
in the mutiny of the Indian regiments, and from
officers on the spot, have been published this week.
We select from a few the most striking portions.
The first is from a junior officer of the Infantry at
Delhi, detailing the arrival of the 3rd Cavalry at
Delhi. His regiment, with the exception of two
ccmpanies left in the fort, was ordered down to
destroy the mutineers. The result is well known.
He continues :

Not the slightest effort was made by our men to defend
their officers, and they were nearly all shot down at the
head re their companies by these troopers. In fact, our
ponr colonel was seen tobe bayoneted by one of the sepnys
after he had been cut down by a trooper ; and then the fact
of neither a sepoy nor a trooper having been killed is
enough to convince one of their treachery. Well, soon