The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-01 00:00:00

SHIPPING BILL.

On the order of the day for the second reading of
this bill, on Tuesday,
Lord PALMERSTON stated the course her Majesty's
Government intended to pursue with regard to this
measure. The bill had only been proposed to Par-
liament after full consideration, yet in the debate,
although nothing had been said by the opponents of
the bill to shake the confidence of the Government in
the justice and policy of the course they had pursued,
there was a greater complication of interests involved
than the Government was aware of. These matters
could only be imperfectly dealt with by a committee of
the whole house ; and, from the position in which the
subject now was, the Government proposed to with-
draw the present bill, with the view of framing
another bill for the simple abolition of passing tolls
and of referring to a select committee the compli-
cated question of the differential and town dues.
Mr. DISRAELI heard that declaration with satis-
faction. When the house first understood the
alarming character of the bill and heard its proposi-
tions supported by a speech more calculated than
any other he had ever listened to in that house to
disturb and alarm the public mind and unsettle all
confidence in prescription. he had felt it his duty to
impress upon the house the necessity of coming to a
speedy decision upon the question. Lord Palmerston
had spoken of the consideration bestowed by the
Government upon the subject. As to that portion
of the bill relating to the abolition of the passing
tolls, for three years past, when he (Mr. Disraeli)
proposed a measure on the question, the house had
been fully prepared to deal with the subject.,
And as to the other portion, relating to the
lucal and differential dues, what became of that deep,
that profound and ample consideration to which the
Government so triumphantly referred, when the
noble lord himself admitted that on the very eve

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of the debate the Government were only then first
informed of the position of two of the most impor •
tent cities and ports in the kingdom with reference
to the effect of those dues?

But what was now the proposition by which the
Government designed to cover their retreat, and
induce the country to believe that they had only
committed the mistake of adopting the least expe-
dient of the alternatives which it was their duty to
accept?—

We are now informed that Government are of opinion
that a select committee of this house should thoroughly
investigate the subject. But if the subject has been
already thoroughly investigated—(Hear)—as we are as-
sured it has been, by the Ministers, what necessity can
there be for the House of Commons to undertake the
duties of the Cabinet., and to do that which we had a
right to expect would have been performed by the respon-
sible Administration of the country? (Cheers.) What is
the use of the Cabinet—what advantage results to the
Sovereign or the nation from having Minister., if tines
Ministers, plunging with rash precipitancy into a subject
they have not cared to master, first bring forward a crude
and immature measure, and then, recoiling from the con-
sequences of a public debate—(cheers)--admit that they
are not able to deal with the question, and call on the
House of Commons, in the shape of &select committee, to
fulfil the duties of the responsible advisers of the Crown?
(Renewed cheering.)

And yet it was no light or trivial proposition they
ventured to recommend for the adoption of the
house :

They have brought forwards measure which has alarmed
every possessor of property in the country. (Hear, hear.)
Was that a light proposition ? Ought such a proposition
to have been made without grave deliberation ; or, having
been made, is it to be endured that the Government should
not be prepared to accept the responsibility of their ill-
advice in a matter of such moment? They have recom-
mended the house to deal in a most summary manner
with the Municipal Reform Act—a measure of compara-
tively recent enactment, and one which has received the
support and sympathy of great masses of the population.
The appointment of a select committee was as ob-
jectionable as the essay at direct legislation ; for, as
the Government had attempted to deal with property
they had no right to touch, a committee clearly could
have no right to summon the holders of such pro-
perty to give evidence. In conclusion, he could not
believe that, after mature deliberation, the Govern-
ment would propose a reference of the question to a
select committee.

Upon the general conduct of public affairs by the
Government, Mr. Disraeli wished to offer • few
remarks. When Parliament first met there was •
highly creditable anxiety in the house to secure for
the Government, consistent with public duty, so
much parliamentary tranquillity as might enable them
to concentrate their attention upon the great
European questions of the time. For himself he
was most anxious to abstain from any course which
could damage the reputation of the Ministry and
afford to Europe the unhappy spectacle of • weak
Government destitute of resources on which it might
permanently rely
Such was the hope I fondly cherished, but never sine*
Parliament first assembled have there been six weeks more
marked by blunders, mistakes, defeats, and discomfiture.
of Ministers. (Cheers) And who has defeated and dis-
comfited them ? Who has reduced them to this state of
perplexity and humiliation? Not the Opposition, nor yet
their own supporters. Themselves alone are the authors
of their misfortunes—( Hear, hear)—themselves alone have
brought about a state of affairs which at the present
moment is most deplorable and most earnestly to be deptv-
cated. (Hear, bear.) It is not in this house only that
we mark the results of their infatuated policy. In another
place what scenes have we witnessed ? At a moment when
the utmost forbearance was evinced towards them from
both sides of the house, they must needs enter on a cru-
sade against all the legal authorities of the land—(" Hear.
hear, and laughter I—and, taking advantage of the indul-
gence of their adversaries and the tranquillity of the
political world, nothing would content them but wantonly
and most unnecessarily to open a qnestion which, had
theyibeen gifted with the most ordinary sagacity, they must
have foreseen would lead to protracted controversy and
profound excitement.

What he charged against them was that, in the face
of the most forbearing Parliament, the Ministry bad
passed their time and exerted their ingenuity to
start questions which could not fail to agitate the
public mind and end in their own embarrassment
and discomfiture :

What I charge against them is,"that, having a forbearing
Parliament—( derisive cheers from the Ministerial
benches )—yes, I repeat it, a forbearing Parliament, which
would not even step out of its way to expose the blunders
of the First Lord of the Admiralty--(laughter)—the
Ministers would seem to have passed their time and
exerted their counsels in devising among themselves
questions which could not fail to agitate and distract the
public mind, and which they should have known could
only end in their own embarrassment said discomfiture.
(Hear, hear.) It is not merely that most wantonly—as it
appears to me—they created lile peerages. I complain of
the conduct of the Government in the matter of the re-
port of the Crimean Commissioners—a document thrown
upon the table of the house without consulting the Tropes
official authorities, and in a manner which does not effort
the slightest evidence of that forethought, caution, and
prudence which we hare a right to expect from men who

198

assume the duties and the character of statesmen. What
a piece of business you have made of it, with your life
peerages, your Crimean reports, and your boards of
generals, to remedy the blunders and investigate the
conduct men whom you were bound in honour and
policy to have supported 1 (Loud cheers.) But this is not
all. Not satisfied with attacking the constitution of the
hereditary peerage of England, not satisfied with creating
all this scandal about the officers of the army, you must
take this occasion, of all others, to assail the municipal
Institutions of the country. (Loud cheers.)
But this was not all. Another measure unfriendly
to the system of local self government had been
introduced. Was this a proper season for bringing
forward such a measure?—

Yet, night after night, these dangerous courses are
adopted by the Government; and now we have a striking
example of the consequences to which such conduct
inevitably leads. Parliament has sat only for about a
month ; on both sides of the house there has been but one
anxious desire to veil the weakness of the Government, if,
unhappily, they are weak ; and yet at a most important crisis
in the history and fortunes of this country her Majesty's
Government have so skilfully managed their affairs that
they have secured for themselves a startling defeat in both
Houses of Parliament. (Cheers.)
Mr. LIBOUCHERE defended the course taken by
the Government. He could see no inconsistency in
Lord Palmerston first asserting that the Govern-
ment had, previous to bringing the measure under
discussion, seriously considered its principles, and
then proposing to refer a part of the question to a
select committee. The forbearance of the Opposi-
tion was not required by her Majesty's Government.
After a few remarks from Mr. HEADLAX and Mr.
HADFIELD, the order was discharged, and the bill
was withdrawn.

THE WENSLEYDALE PEERAGE.
Lord REDESDALE on Monday night brought up
the report of the Committee of Privileges upon the
Wensleydale peerage.

Lord GRANVILLE, though expressing the disincli-
nation of the Government to receive the report, stated
that it was not their intention to d►vide the house
again on the question. He admitted that the Govern-
ment found itself in a position of no ordinary diffi-
culty, and trusted that the question would now be
calmly considered without party or political feelings.
Lord CAMPBELL expressed his satisfaction at Lord
Granville's statement.

The Earl of DERBY also expressed his satisfaction.
The house had no other alternative but to admit or
reject an unlimited exercise of the royal prerogative.
The matter had been forced upon them, for nothing
could be more painful to the house than to come into
collision with the Crown. Attar the large majority
against the measure, he thought it would have been
more satisfactory if her Majesty's Government had
conferred an hereditary peerage upon Baron Parke.
The discussion upon the question of life peerages
would be facilitated by such a step. The main ques-
tion of conferring lite peerages was of considerable
importance, and the Government should give some
explanation of their object for desiring to establish
so novel a precedent. The two points, conferring an
honour upon an individual and insuring the more
efficient conduct of the business of the house, widely
differed. As to the point of limitation, that was a
mere question of degree, and did not remove any ob
jection to the principle of the measure. Of those
classes on whom these peerages might possibly be
conferred, he believed that the independence of
thought of literary and scientific men would be im-
perilled, that naval and military officers would not
value such second-rate rewards, and as to lawyers, if
they were admitted to strengthen the judicial func-
tions of the house, which he was not prepared to
declare altogether satisfactory, the remedy would, he
feared, be worse than the disease. He was not going
then to enter into a discussion upon the existing
condition of the house as a court of appellate juris-
diction, but would give notice of his intention to move
on Thursday for a select committee to consider the
expediency of making provisions for the more effi-
cient discharge of the duties of the house as a court
of appea'.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE anticipated a satis-
factory termination of the question now before the
house. For his own part be did not regard the
exercise of the prerogative, as shown in the creation
of a few peers for life, as attended with any danger
to the pnvileges of the house.
The Earl of Malmesbury, Lords Brougham, Camp-
bell, Grey, Granville, and other noble lords further
discussed the question, when the report of the com-
mittee was received, and Lord Derby having given
final notice of his motion for Thursday, the house
adjourned.