The Express.
London, England, 1849-07-04 00:00:00

THE EX PRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 4, 1849.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT,

BOARD OF HEALTH.
Lord BROUGHAM moved for a copy of the corresee
donee with the General Board of Health, as to the form in
which their reports should be published.—Agreed to.
BITES FOR SCHOOLS BILL.
On the motion of Lord Ramehnrah, this bill was read
a second time.
AUDIT OF RAILWAY ACCOUNTS BILL.
Lord MONTEAGLE moved the committal of this bill.
bad been the organ by which the opinion of certain
of their lordships on this subject had been expressed ; but a
report of their 1 .rdshipa had been issued after a full inquiry,
In which they entirely concurredin the necessity of this mea-
sure. It did not therefore emanate from an individual.
When he told their lordships that 300,000,0301. was the
capital necessary for the construction of all the railways sanc-
tioned by parliament, and that 200,000,00 W. of that amount
had already been expended,the magnitude of the sum (looking
at the national debt as being 700.000,0001.) constituted the
necessity which imposed on their lordships the consideration
of the question. He might also add that parliament had
motioned 12,000 milts of railway, a distance equal to one•
half the circumference of the earth. The superior velocity
of railway travelling must necessarily create • great mono-
poly, and it had given rise to a species of gambling as bad as
the South Sea bubble, which had inoculated both high
and low. Surely, in such a state of things a
public audit of railway accounts should be enacted
by parliament as a protection to the public. The
difference between the highest and lowest price of rail-
way shares represented a fall of no lets than 3,000,0001. in
the course of two months during the panic. The North
Western, which stood at 222 in 1845, fell to 210 in 1846, to
170 in 1847, to 114 in 1848, and to 100 in October, 1848 ;
0141% Westerns tell from 240 to 77 ; South Westerns from
82 to 36; Midlands from 180 to 66; and the average fall of
twelve principal railways in the kingdom within this period
was as much as 64 per cent. If gums which were
granted for capital were transferred, and made use et for
the purposes of dividend, a Seditious value was given to the
share., and the dividend thus inflated by the addition of the
capital, encouraged persons who were unaware of these pro-
ceedings to invest their mosey in the undertaking. (liese.)
The persons who effected them frauds, for they were nothing
else, gave a fictitious value to the undertaking, which was
quite contrary to the law, for the law declared that the reale
of dividend should be prepared after such a fashion as ire. no
ease to reduce the capital of the company. He knew
an instance of one railway where one description of
a-count had been printed and circulated amongst
the shareholders and another, from which material
portions had been extracted, bad been left for in-
spevion. The act of parliament also provided that there
should be an audit, but the auditor, who must be a share-
hol ler et the company, had but a very limited power. And
he need not remind their lordships that to make an audit
valuable, it must be made by a person independent of
the company. (Hear, hear.) In several instances the 11
smog which was sanctioned to be raised by par-
Bement was applied to purposes entirely foreign to that
fee which it was originally granted. He would quote
soma cases of this kind, but he begged to say that he did not
&titbit's to the companies he was about to name the
slightest meral delinqueLcy. The case he would
instance was that of the South Western Company, the chair-
man of which, a very respectable man, borrowed a sum
of money from the North Western Company, not in
the manner directed by the act- of parliament, hut
on the single security of himself and his co-directors. He
stated that it was a mea•ure of policy wkich, though it might
not be strictly legal, might be highly desirable. He said he
was aware the loan was irregular, but knowing the pressure
upon shareholders, and the arrangements made with the Bank
of England to prevent railway companies from getting
money, he adopted that means of getting money to promote
what he believed to be the interest of the company. Thas
the law was violated in deference to the supposed
rests of the company, and the money so olyained was
applied to the estahliething of a steam communication
with the Channel Islands and Havre. Money was also
voted by parliament for the purpose of making a. railway to
Harwich. The money was taken, but not a singe farthing
was applied to the making of that railway. About 5,0001.
was expended on one station, but not a single inch of line
was made, and the money was appropriated to the maki, g
of a railway to Norwich. But the must extraordinsry in-
stance of all was the Cale donian railway, with which there
were friends of his own connected. Their case was, that they
trsflithed in the shares of other railways without
getting even the authority of their own shareholders,
with the object of getting a control over the transeetions of
these railways. They had thy: sted out of the money which
perliament appropriated to the Caledonian Railway no less
than 381,0001. in the traffic of shares of other companies.
They contracted other lial,ilitiee to the extent of 117,0001.
besides which they entered into various guarantees—one of
24,0001 , two of 150,0001. each, and another in connexion
with the North Western to the amount of 1,020,0001.
In addition to all this, they were under obligation to
pay c Ile acd further calls which would amount ts the sum
of 93,0001. more. He now begged leave to move that the
bill tat committed.
Lord BROUGHAM agreed in what bad fallen from his
noble friend. The objection against his bill was, that it. was
too late Low—that it was useless to lock the door alter the
steed bad been stolen. But it should he ree dlected that
100,000,0001. had yet to be paid besides all that might be
raised for new undertekings.
The Earl of LONSDALE sail that the noble lord oppo•
site hat explained all the misdoing. of the railway com-
panies.
Lord MONTEAGLE—Not one tenth. (Lsugbtcr.)
The Betio( LONSDALE objected to the principle of the
b 11 on the ground teat it interfered with private trading
concerns.
The Earl of YARBOROUGII complained that the evi-
dence was only put into their hands that morning, and that
more time was not given to the railway companies to express
their opinions in re erence to this bill.
The E ,rl of PO WIS otjected to the rapidity with which
the bill were hurried through the house.
Earl GRANVILLE said that the only objection which
had been urged against this bill by Mr. Chaplin was that
the auditors would interfere with the management of the
raileay. Now by this bill they would have no power of
doing so. As to the argument, that it showed an unbecoming
want of confidence in the chairman and directors, he
regarded it as too fl may to be dwelt on.
Lord BROUGHAM said that the public were interested
in the matter in a secondary degree. That was one reason
why paella= .t had a right to interfere, and the other was
that railways were in the nature of a monopoly.
The bill then pursed through committee, and the house
adjourned at half-past seven o'clock.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—'EUESDAT, JILT 3.
The Earl of Swarresewur (Drputy Speaker) took
Nat at 6 o'clock. •
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
SECOND READINOS.—Lancash4 e and Yorkshire Hal
way (oVension of &Osten branch of Clifton branch, in);
Dublin, Ashbournr. Slane, and Drogheda Roads Act Coati.
union and Amendment;
THIRD READlNOS.—Neweattle and Carlisle Railway
(alterations of, and branch frets, Alpton branch) ; Truro
Torspike Roads' Penryn and Redrnth Turnpike Roads
(annoiolidation of trusts, alterations of tolls, formation a new
tads); limarow•hire Justice of tke NOM. Courts; Surrey
end Banes Roads (amendment of act and alteration of tolls);
StOckton and D Railway (roosol.dation of acts, dm);
Wieboeh, Chatteris, Tid Gots, and DJWIIIIa4I Bridge TLLIII-'
pike ; Bills.

PUBLIC BUSINESS.
PEITTIONS PRESENTED.
AGRICULTURAL DISTEESS.—By FILVERmAig,
from a place in the North Rtditur of Yorkshire, complain'y
of agrieul:nral distress, and pra)inp for protection.
Nextoarfow Laws.—By L FEVERSHAM, front va-
rious places, against the recent alteration of thee* laws.
POOR Law OFFICERS.—By the Archbishop of YORE,
from the fish's: union, praying for a soperannaation fund
for poor law (ANTS.
PARISH OF SPRINGFIELD.—By Lord CAMPBELL,
from the parish of Spriugtield, Fite, complaining of •
clause in a railway bill shutting up • public road.
BEER HOUSES.—By the Bishop of NORWICH, frogs St.
Giles'irin,the-Ftelds, Middlesex, for the abolition of licenses
to beer-houses.

MILITIA BALLOTS SUSPENSION BILL.
On the motioa of Earl this bill was read a
second time.

INDIA.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, Remnant to notice,
moved for papers • xpMnatory of the circumstances ender
which the booty taken in the war in India, in Lahore, had
been granted to the Court of Directors of the Rest India
Company, or to the army in India. He made this motion to
be in order while he drew the aeention of their lordships to
a nutter which seemed to affect the 1. gal rights and honour
of the crown, and indirectly the just expectatioi a of the army
lately serving in the Pu..jsub. Ho moved that theirservien
sight be couaidered by her Majesty, acd that the booty
Wen in the war might be granted to them, as it had been
rented to other armies in India under similar circumstances
That which he felt, and which he thought he should
satisfy their lordships, was that the b eoty taken in the
war bad been inadvertently—he was satisfied it woo only
inadvertently—misapplied by the Governor-General to the
Ear India Company, and " the East India Company," he
should say, meant no more than the government of India.
They had no personal interest whatever in this matter. This
proper y bad been transferred to the treasury of India, and
so fur it had increased the means of the government of India,
but in no respect affected the private interest of the Court of
It:rectors. The law on this point, he apprehended, was
perfectly clear; territ ry conquered by the East India Com-
pany in war, in India, b.lorged to the company—booty
taken in war in India, where the troops of the company were
alone em toyed, belonged to the company—but shear her
Majesty's troops co-operated with the troops of the company,
by letters patent of 1753, the crown possessed and still pre.
set Ted its power over booty se taken; and, with such reser-
vation as tier Majesty might be advised to make, such booty
hid always been granted to the army. He bad seen a notice
in • letter of the Governor.Gencrere, in which it was rated
that tee booty in question was to be applied to the liquida-
tion of the accumulet d debt due to the government by the
state of Lahore; and icr the expenses of the war he had con-
flscated the provirty of the state of Lahore to the use of the
Eau India Company. Ho apprehended that confiscation
implied possession or power over the object coufisceted. In
this case it was the property of an enemy, and could only be
obtained by war ; and, if so, that property belonged to the
crown, and was not at the dime gal of the government of
India. The booty included the great diamond of Kuh-i-
-noor, and it would appear, by the course taken by the Gover-
nor-General, that her Msj• sty was indebted to the Ent
India Company for this precious stone. whereas it was her's
in tight of her crown, the state of Lahore hee-
1, g been direrly at war with the British government.
There was avower document t which ha wished to call
their lordshipe' attention. He knew not what to call the
paper. It was described as terms grant dto Dhuleep Sirgh,
the Meharej th of Lahore, and accepted by him, by which
paper the crown was bound to grant a 'semi .n to the Maha-
rajah, and it contained an expression to the effect that the
property of the crown should be confiscated for the repay-
ment of the expanses of the war, and fur this purpose the
Koh-i-noor was to be placed in the heeds of her Majesty.
But there was nothing in 'hat paper which could change the
irate of right which existed before. It was impossible for the
Gevernor-Geeeral by any diplomatic act to di feat her Ma-
jesty's right over this property ; the property which he was
made to dispose of was not in his possession, but in that of
the British crown. He could not expect the noble marquis
at once to say that he admitted the correctness of his state-
ment; hut he thought he should distinctly engage that this
mutter should be investigated with judicial accuracy, and
that justice should be done. (Hear, hear.)
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said then could be no
objection to the production of the papers .o which the
noble earl bad adverted. He had derived fie m official
soutecs the whole of his information relating to the In-
dian campaign, the brilliant services of the army, and the
conduct of the Governor-General, and the last imputation
to which he could be subject would he a disposition to un-
dervalue the services of that army which he had ox every
occasion acknowledged—(hear, hear)—or any disposition to
withdraw from them that reward for their great sod distin-
guished act*, which it Imil ben n the custom and right of the
army to obtain. (Hear, hoar.) But he (the Marquis of
Lansdowne) hod been informed that the question turned
simply on how tar the state property of Lahore, including
the precious atm e which had been referred to, was to be
considered as the booty of war, and how far it was to be con-
sidered as state pro;.crty liable to the provisions of a treaty.
He beliet el the statement of the noble earl was correct as to
the custom in India with reference to property obtained in
wv, and had that preemie stone and the other property in
Lahore teen considered as the booty of war, it would have
been liable to have h. cn dealt with em booty in similar aces.
But the Oovernor•General considered at the termination of
that war—when hostilities were closed, and he war to con-
clude &treaty with a sovereien prince from whom bethought
himself justified under the circumstances in whico the war
had closed in requiring • cession of prepsrty—and
that having beer. obtained by treaty, he thought
it was liable to be disposed of in the way
in which he (the Governor-Oeceral) thought best
fitted to meet the wants of the case. Part of
the treaty was that all property, wheresoever found, should
be confiscated to the East India Company, to pay the ex-
oen-es of the war, and that the gem called Koh.i-noor should
be surrendered to the Queen of Englant. Dhuleete Singh
when this treaty was concluded was not • prisoner, bat was
treated as a 'sovereign prince. He .41t sure that the governor.
general considered himself at libel ;y to conclude such a treaty,
and dispose of the property obtained from the state of Lahore
lin any way which he thought best for the royernment of
India. The subject, however, should he reconsidered in
reference to its legal merits. (Hear, bear.)
The Duke of WELLINGTON must do the Governor-
, General of India the justice to say, that his noble friend was
wrong if he supposed that the services pi rformrd by the
army bad net been highly and justly considered by the
governor-geesr.l; and ;bat her Maj. sty's advisers who had
been consulted, had not been niggardly in grantint the
rewards and honours due on this occasion. (Hear,
hear.) This had bees done by her Majesty's ser-
vants at the recommendation of the commander-in-chin
and the governor-general. (Hear, heir.) His noble
friend had stated the way in which the questing
of b oty stood between her Majesty and the East 'edit Com-
pany in all cites. But here there was not merely moveable
property, which was properly the subject of booty, but there
wee large landed and other property, not exactly booty; and
all thee. were included in this word " property," which
was stated to be confiscated. The Governor-General, in Lie
own proclamation, confiscated this property; but when be
came to this arrangement with the Msharejeh, the word
should not have been " confiscated," but " seised." He did
not na• an to say that would at all alter the legal position of '
the property, after it bad come into reunion of the British
authoti les. He would, therefore, suggest that it should be
left to her Majesty's government to settle this question of
booty, feeling sure that the government at how and the
Governor-General in India were most anxious to do full jus-
tice to the Indian army. (Hear, hear.)
Lord GLENELG did not wish to reflect on the conduct of
the Governor-General, but the document in question did not
profess to be a treaty; it was nothing but an exertion
of certain terms on the part of the conqueror, for which
certain benefits were to be conferred. Mr. Eliott bed de
dared that it the Maharajah refused to sign this treaty it
would be just the same thing, and he would be entirely at the
mercy of the Governor-General.
Lord BROUGHAM considered it by no means clear that
if it wog booty the using of the word " confiscated" would
make no difference. The governor-general, as the servant
of the company, perhaps could do no more than at first eon-
&cote the property, but the crown would hold the But
India Company to be the trustees for the crown. It was
an important subject, but nobody insinuated that the go-
vernor general had intentionally done ar ything which
might be i,TOTIVC*, or that he did not highly appreciate the
services of the Indian army.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH had only attributed to
the governor-general inadvertence, and all the property to
which his argument applied was moveable property, and net
the land in Labor.. As the noble marquis tad atquiesced
in his motion, be thought this matter iitteht to be consi-
dered, in the first instance, by the Attorney-General, who
had to adeim her Mai-sty as to her rights; and, if he should
be wrong in his opinion, there was nothing to prevent the
army from memorialising the crown, and inch memorial
might be retry, d teethe jodieial committee of the privy
council, whose decision would be most satisfactory to all
parties. At any rate sufficient had been shown to demand a
Judicial inquiry. (Hear, hear.)
The nation was then withdrawn.
SHERIFF FOR THE COUNTY OF WESTMORE-
LAND.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TUFSDAY, JULY 3.
The Srgaxga took the chair at 12 o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
SECOND READINGS.—Lee's Estate; Hudson's Di-
vots .; 888.
REPORTS CONSIDERED. London Corporation ;
Loutn Market and In provements ; Bills.
THIRD READINGS.—Eastern Union and Eastern
Counties Riilway Companies (amendment of acts, and
p Aver to lease, si 11, or amalgams,e to or with the Eastern
Counties Railway Company); Norfolk Estuary (amendment
of acts and powers of coutlibution by the Eau Brink com-
missioners of drainage, and by the corporation of King's
Lynn); Bills.
PUBLIC BUSINESS.
PETITIONS PRESENTED.
THE PEOPLE'S CHARTIR.—By Mr. J. ELLIS, from
Leiceat-r ; Mr. W. PATTEN. several from Preston ; Mr.
VILLIERS, from Wolverhampton ; Mr. COBDEN, from
places in Yorkshire; Captain PECHELL, from Brighton ;
Lord SEAHAM, from Durham; Sir J. WALMSLEY,
from Bo:too; Lord D. FI'IVAKT, from St. Pancras and
Bomar's-town ; Mr. G. THOMPSON, from the Tower Ham
lets ; in favour of the People's Charter.
Tun Streragoz.—By Mr. S. CRAWFORD, from Roch-
dale, in favour of universal suffrage.—Bs Mr. OSBORNE,
from several individuals, in favour of household suffrage.—
By Mr. BRIGHT, from public Timeline at Manchester, in
favour of the extension of the franchise to persons 21 yea's
of age, and generally in favour of an improvement of the
representative system.
Rottit—By Mr. T. DUNCOMBIL from Edinburgh,
praying for the appointment of an ambusador to the republic
' Rome.
Idsaatitoa (SgoxLatars) BILL.—By Mr. RUBE, from
Provost and magistrates of Forfar, against the Marriage
1 (Scotland) Bill.

PRISONERS UNDER COMMUTED SENTENCES.
Sir H. W. BARRON said that he wished to RA the right
hon. baronet the Secretary of State a question. It appeared I
that the Lord Lieutenant had commuted the sentences of
several prisoners in Ireland from traniportation to imprhon.
men', and he wished to know whether, under these circum-
stances, the expense of maintainhag the convicts whose
sentences were so commuted was thrown on the country,
whereas, if not commuted, the expente would be thrown
upon other funds ?
Sir G. GREY said that it was a case of frequent occur-
rence that s Dunces to transportation were commuted in
this couttry and in Ireland for sentences to impri,onment.
The result was that the prisoners, instead of being sent
abroad at the expense of the imperial treasury, remained in
the county prisons, and the cost of meiotaintng them w►s
charged on the same fund that supported all the other
prisoners.
POOR RELIEF (IRELAND) BILL.
The boss then went into committee on this bi.l.
Sir IL W. BARRON moved the following clause.—
.. Whereas it is found that outdoor relief demoralises the
paupers, leads to great frauds, pauperises the ratepayen, and
destroys all motive furexertiou on the part of both the landed
proprietors and capitalists, be it therefore enacted, that from
the Ist of June, 1850, it shall not be lawful for any boards of
guardians to grant re to the able boded poor out of the
workhouse." The hon. baronet procee ied to show the
immense mass of people that ree ived outdoor relief
in Ireland. Several thousands were now maintained
in idleness under the out-door relief system, than white .
nothing could be more demoralising, as every kind
of fraud and dealt was practised on the poor-law guardians.
The great and crying evil, however, was that the rateable
property in Ireland was giving way under this s 3 stem, which
the property even of England could not hear up against.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that he must oppose this clause,
which would effect a total repeal of the net of 1847, and
should not be discussed now. . .

On the notion of Lord CAMPBELL, a hill for empower-
ing the crown to appoint a sheriff for the county of West-
moreland, was read a Ant time; his lordship explaining that
the shrieraliy of Westmoreland was hereditary ; the late
sheriff, the But of Theme, had bequeathed the office to en
individual, hut some doubt hav;ng been expressed as to the
legality of the bequest, the county war left without a sheriff,
Janos the necessity of this bill.

Mr. DIXON, in support of the dense, said, that every-
body in Ireland knew that the system of out-door rebel was
ruinous. - _ .

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Mr. W. FAGAN said, that if there was sufficient accom-
modation is the workhouses, he would be unfavourable to