The Press.
London, England, 1858-03-20 00:00:00

THE PRESS, MARCH 20, 1858.

LORD CLANRICARDE'S PERSONAL STATEMENT.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE having given notice
that on Friday he should put a question to the
Government on the course they intended to pursue
with regard to National Education in Ireland, pro-
ceeded to refer to the announcement he had made on

the previous night respecting a notice he had placed
upon the paper for that evening. The noble mar-
quis observed that as what he stated had been mis-
understood, owing, no doubt, to his imperfect
utterance, he would now repeat what he said. It
was, that having had representations made to him
by several noble friends to the effect that the notice
he had given, and the statement he had proposed to
make, were at variance with parliamentary usage,
and that if such a practice were adopted it might
lead to much inconvenience, be had felt it right,
after such representations, and with the permission
of their lordships, to withdraw his notice.

The Law of Property Amendment Bill was read a
second time.

The East India Loan Bill, on the motion of the
Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, was read a second time.
The noble earl, in the course of the remarks he
offered upon the occasion, expressed the following
opinion upon the position of affairs in India :

The state of India is this. No doubt in the course of
the last year, in consequence of the mutiny, there has
been a very great loss of property belonging to the Com-
pany, and a great diminution of revenue ; but let it be
recollected that all the revenue of Madras, Bombay,
Scinde, the Punjaub, the country near Delhi, and the
lower provinces, remains in the possession of the English
Government. It is, besides, a great cause of satisfaction
that the price of opium is so high, for a very considerable
increase of revenue may be expected under that head.
There is no doubt, therefore, that even at present the elate
of the revenue of India is such as to justify hope. It may
be necessary when I am asking for money to state what I
conceive to be the present posture of affairs in India. I
should distinctly say that what I expect is this—that by the
end of this month the commander-in-chief will have de-
stroyed Lucknow. I think the bodies of rebels who have
congregated in that place will have been driven out of it
by a fire under which no man can hope to live. I expect,
therefore, there will not be in India after the commence-
ment of the month of April any considerable rebel force
remaining in a body. ( Hear, hear.) there will le, no
doubt, desultory and predatory movements made in
various parts of the country, and a number of men will be
required, and great exertions will be necessary, to prevent
these movements, or to keep them in check. Some time
will, therefore, probably elapse before the country is re-
duced to a state of complete tranquillity; but I trust that
by the beginning of April our troops will be housed for
the hot weather in the palaces of Lucknow. I do
not state this from any information I have received
since I have been in office. I am now only repeating
precisely what I sated in conversation two months
ago. I have only thought it necessary to say this much
because when I ask the house to agree to a measure for
enabling the East India Company to borrow a sum of
8000,0001., I think it right at the same time to give a
favourable view of the financial position in which I
think the Company will be placed in a very short period.
(Cheers.)

The order that no private bill shall be read a
second time after the 20th of July was agreed to.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH moved that the name
of Frederick James Halliday, Esq., Lieutenant-
Governor of Bengal, be included in the resolutions
of thanks passed on the Bth of February.
The motion was agreed to, and the house then
adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS-TUESDAY.
CASE OF MR. HODGE.

The CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER, in reply to
Mr. Horsmao, with reference to the casA of Mr.
Hodge, who had been arrested in Sardinia, stated
that his surrender bad been demanded by the French
Government, but under the treaty of extradition
between Sardinia and Great Britain it was not com-
petent to the former to comply with that demand
without the consent of England, and a demand had
been made upon her Majesty's Government that Mr.
Hodge should be surrendered to France :

We requested that the papers which bad been seized on
the person of Mr. Hodge, and which were the foundation
of the demand, should be sent to England. Having
examined those papers, and it being our opinion that they
were not sufficient to warrant the committal of Mr. Hodge
by a magistrate in England, we declined to consent to
that demand. (Loud cheers from both sides of the
house.)

Perhaps I may be allowed to say that there has been a
public statement made, which has been very prevalent,
that the state of Mr. Hodge's health was of a very dan-
gerous character, and tLat he was subjected to very severe
imprisonment. We instructed her Majesty's Minister at
Turin to inquire into those circumstances, and to place
himself in communication with Mr. Hodge. It was found
that that gentleman was suffering from a pulmonary com-
plaint; but Sir James Hudson had anticipated our in•
structions, had taken care that every becoming comfort
was at the command of Mr. Hodge, and demanded from
the Sardinian Government that his imprisonment should
cease so soon as the observance of the forms of law would
permit. (Loud cheers.)

VOTE OF THANKS.

271

The CHANCELLOR or the EXCHEQUER then moved
that the first resolution of the house of the Bth of
February be read, and that the like thanks be given
to the Hon. F. J. Halliday, Lieutenant• Governor of
Bengal, which, he said, had been inadvertently
omitted. He at the same time urged SiriDe Lacy
Evans and Sir C. Napier not to press amendments
of which they had given notice, extending the vote
of thanks to other officers, on the ground that this
matter was most properly left to the discretion of the
Executive Government.

Mr. MANGLES and Lord PALMERSTOg explained
the circumstances under which the name of Mr.
Halliday had been omitted in the resolution of the
Bth of February, Mr. Halliday not appearing to have
been intrusted with any very important duties, an
error afterwards corrected.

Afters short discussion the motion was agreed to,
the amendments not being moved.

APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC MONEY.

On the report of the Committee of Supply,
Sir G. LEWIS asked for an explanation of the vote
of 500,0001. for the embodied militia, which was an
addition to the army estimates, and what was done
with the large savings which must necessarily accrue
from the large number of men transferred to the
East India Company.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that after
the army estimates were voted last year the house
would recollect that the bill for embodying the
militia was passed, in the end of July or in the month
of August. The consequence of passing that bill
was, that the provision made for the embodiment of
the militia, namely, 200,0001., was exceeded by the
sum of 500,000/. ; that was 700,000/. altogether.
There was therefore a clear deficiency of 500,000/.
to be supplied, and the Government thought they
were only taking the proper parliamentary course in
asking the house to vote that 500,0001., without
seeing whether they could, by availing themselves
of the surpluses under other items, meet that deft.
ciency under the Appropriation Act :
It was their opinion that though they might, under the
Appropriation Act, apply the surpluses under other heads
to meet the deficiency, that was a power which should not
be exercised when Parliament was sitting, and one which
ought not to be exercised by the Minister except in
moments of emergency. (Hear, hear.) With regard to
the probability of supplying the 500,0001. from the source
indicated, he should be happy if that turned oat to be
correct; but it was impossible that the accounts of the
military expenditure could be concluded in time so as to
enable them to form an opinion as to the saving likely to
be effected under that head. But if the amount of saving
was equal to the 500,000/., or even more, they should not
be able to avail themselves of it, because these savings
were now arranged under the head of acknowledged
savings, and formedpart of the consolidated fund. ( Hear.)
The right hon. gentleman shook his head, but he had the
authority of a right hon. gentleman who filled the office
he now held which induced him to believe that the right
hon. gentleman opposite was in error. But whether that
was correct or not he hoped the house would not disap-
prove the course the Government took—of preferring to
come to Parliament for the vote. (Hear, hear.)

Sir G. LEWIS said he had no objection to the course
taken if it was distinctly understood that the surplus
of one vote should not be transferred to supply
another. But notwithstanding what the right hon.
gentleman said, it was competent for the Govern-
ment, under the Appropriation Act, to transfer the
savings under one head to expenditure under another
head, and it was to that he objected. For example,
if there was a saving of 500,0001. under the head he
had mentioned, it might be expended on barracks
and fortifications, or some other item of expenditure
in the War Department.
Mr. HAMILTON said that if there was a surplus it
would be a declared surplus, and would fall as such
into the ordinary ways and means of the country.
Sir F. BARING expressed his concurrence and satis-
faction with the course pursued by the Government.
No doubt there was a power of transferring small
savings, but it was never contemplated that so large
a sum as 500,0001. should be transferred from the
active service to the militia service, or vice versa.
This was one of those points on which the house
should be particularly careful, and he was glad to
find that her Majesty's Government had laid down
the principle strictly, and he hoped they would
adhere to it.

Sir H. WitLottettnv said that last year a sum of
500,000/. was taken from the transport vote and
applied to naval purposes, and, 1 a he understood
the right hon. gentleman (Sir C. Lewis), he seemed
to lament that something of the same kind was not
done in the present instance. The Chancelloc of
the Exchequer took the constitutional course in
coming to the house and asking for a vote. There
was no limit to the 27th clause of the Appropriation
Act, and under that act the Government might take
millions from one service and apply them to another
without the authority of Parliament. He thought
the 27th clause ought to be amended by limiting
that power to 150,000/.
Mr. CAIWWELL considered that the Government
deserved great 0%14 for taking the course they had

272

adopted, which was the best undertaking the house
could have that a similar course would be followed
not only by the present but by future Governments.
The report was then received.
The house went into Committee of Ways, and,
after a brief conversation, passed the formal resolu-
tion necessary for the introduction of a Ways and
Means Bill.

The Mutiny Bill and the Marine Mutiny Bill were
respectively read a second time. The Militia Act
Continuance Bill was also read a second time.

COLONISATION OF INDIA.

Mr. EWART moved for the appointment of a select
committee to inquire into the progress and prospects,
and the best means to be adopted for the promotion,
of European colonisation in India, and the forma-
tion of military stations, especially in the hill dis-
tricts and healthier climates of that country, as well
as for the extension of our commerce with Central
Asia. He asked, he said, simply for inquiry. In
our other colonial possessions there was a free de-
velopment of British industry, capital, and labour ;
but if we turned to India we found only a few
scattered Europeans, numbering, with indigo planters
and military officers, only about 22,000 individuals.
The climate was objected to, but there were parts of
India, be observed, in which the climate was favour-
able to the constitution of Europeans. Then it was
said that the land was already occupied; but in the
parts to which his motion referred there were lands
open to colonisation. The hon. member enlarged
upon the opportunities for agriculture sad trade
that were available in different parts of India, and
which might he rapidly developed, if the emigration
of free colonists from England were duly encouraged.
The process would be fraught with advantages, some
of which he described, alike to the European settlers,
the India Government, and the native populatioc of
Hindostan. The subject, he contended, was justly
entitled to investigation by a select committee of
that house. .

Mr. BAILLIE believed that colonists were not
wanted in India, and that if English emigrants
settled in that country they would find it impossible
to obtain any considerable profit on their capital.
The only districts where cultivation could be rendered
remunerative lay in the plains, where the climate
was so destructive to Europeans. He denied that
any obstacles were placed in the way of free colo-
nisation, or the occupation of land in Hindostan. If
inquiry were however thought desirable, he would
not oppose the appointment of the select committee.
Colonel SYKES and Sir J. ELPIIINSTONE having
spoken in opposition to the scheme of colonising
India,
Mr. MANGLES warned the house against any rash
attempt to colonise India, and entered into some ex-
planations respecting the conditions of colonisation
and the tenure of land in India. Adverting to the
cotton cultivation, he confessed that much neglect
had been exhibited in leaving that source of profit
unimproved, but declared that an unlimited product
of that important article could be grown in India by
the proper application of skill and capital.
Mr. KINNAIRD supported the motion.
Mr. DANBY SEYMOUR was assured that vast oppor-
tunities existed for extensive colonisation in Hind°.
stan, provided only a better system of land tenure
was introduced in that country.
Mr. TURNER supported the motion for a select
committee.

Mr. CHEETHAM believed that no country was fitter
for the production of cotton than India, and none
had suffered more from neglect and misrule.
Mr. NISBET having said a few words, the motion
was agreed to.
Lord Eicuo obtained leave to bring in a bill to
amend the laws relating to the medical profession.
The house adjourned at twenty minutes to nine
o'clock.