The Express.
London, England, 1867-02-21 00:00:00

THE CRIMINAL LAW SILL.

Dlr. B. t-n-RNEY, in moving the second tvadinp 41 this
tat, said the first matter to which he vri,hed to :der was
the second clause, which provided that t(41111 paid by a
prisoner should be defrayed by the prosecutor. !dome
Tears ago a person might, upon evidence, obt.di l bill of
indictment, and then, without notice, a man could, upon a
bench warrant, be taken into custody. sa?li proceedings
were for the purpose of extorting mor.ey. or they
arose from malice. The late Lord Campbell passed
WI act which directed that all chairs should
be first beard by a magistrate, and that
act hal had a mind beneficial effect in
stopping such proceedings. But there were cam., now
where pirtie., after going before a magistrate win: before
a grand jury and obtained a bill of indicurt i.t, and then
when the case Genie on for trial the counsel had to state
that there was no charge. The object in Pt .11 a case was
no doubt to extort money from the accused. In these
cases be proposed to allow magistrates and ;,i.tges to make
the prmecutors pay the actual costs of the .creed, and it
seemed to him that inch an alteration in the law would be
a great improvement. The other clause to which he
attached great importance was that which pr:.vided pay-
ment of costa to witnesses for the defence. '"?:ere were
ample means of forcing the attendance of witnesses for pro-
pecutiana, and it seemed to him to be quite as necessary
for the due administration of justice that similar means
should be provided to couqiel the attendance of witnesses
for prisoners. lie believed that he had introduced clauses
which would prevent abuses under the act. The judges
would hive power to direct the payment of costs to such
witnesses. The only objection which he bad heard was
that the alteration in the law would involve expense, but
be did not think that such an objection si.utild be allowed
to interfere with the proper administration of justice.

Mr. HURST did not rise to oppose the moion, but he
wished to state that it would be better that the bill
should not he pawed. He did not think that the costa of
• prosecution should depend upon a. jury. He also
thought that the bill was unnecessary, and that the clauses
of the bill would be unworkable. If bills of indict-
ment were got behind the backs of petions be thought
grand juries should be abolished altogether. Further,
jatlges at present could certify that eoats should be paid ;
and if malicious prosecutions were ha-ought, there was a
remedy by action for damages. He wits of opinion that
the bill went too far, as in many cases the meta of prose-
cease were not paid.

Mr. DENMAN said be had on fernier occalCons (opposed
the payment of costs to the witnesses of prisoce:s, but he
'we felt that the clauses of this bill ha.. guarded against
Abuses. lie w.is glad to see that the Li!! contained A
chubs which enabled a judge to take the 14):,11.11 alruma-
tion of a juryman. if he objected to be sworn.
Mr. WALPOLE thought the bill might Le allowed to
igo into committee, and then if necessary i. could be
411.8.nde!!' —..—.. . . . . . .

Mr. R. GURNEY having shortly replied, the motion
was agreed to.
THE ASSOCIATIONS OF WORKMEN LILL.

The second reading of this bill was, on the motion of
Mr. NZATI, postponed to the Ist March.
On the report of the committee of supply,
Mr. OSBORNE drew attention to the state of the
ladies' gallery, which he said was, in respect of both space
and ventilation, utterly disgraceful to the Louse. He
also suggested that the acreen behind which the ladies
were hidden should be removed as a necessary sanitary
arrangement.
Lord J. MANNERS said he had hoped that the altera-
tions made during the recess would have resulted in an
improved ventilation. The matter, however, should
re‘xive attention ; but the removal of the grille in front of
the gallery was of too grave and delicate a character to
be answered off hand.

Oa the report on supply being brought up, another dia.
CIICSiOII took place on the subiect of the vote for 116,6MV.,
for the expenses of the English commission of the Paris
Exhibition.
Mr. B. HOPE asked for further information, and denied
that the commissioners. of whom ho was one, were respon-
sible, or that they knew anything of the items.
Mr. HUNT said he had passed through the phases of
surprise, indignation, and protestation, and was now at-
to opting to school himself into Christian resignation.
After the commission bad accepted the conditions upon
which the space was to be allotted, he did not see how
they could help themselves. If they had not consented
to those conditions they must have withdrawn from the
Exhibition.

After Borate further discussion the report was agreed to.
Mr. LEEMAN obtained leave to bring in a bill to
amend the law in respect of the sale and purchase of
shares in banking companies. The bill provitieJ that no
contract for the sale of shares in those c.ropanies should
be lftsl unless it stated the number of the share as it
stood on the register of shareholders.

Lord NAAS Obtained leave to bring in a bill to renew
for a short period the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act in
Ireluid. He said in order to consult the convenience of
the house be would make his statement, showing the De-
ca.sity of the measure, on moving the second reading this
d y.
. .

the home then adjourned at a quarter to 5 o'clock.

ASSOCIATED CHAMBERS OP COMMERCE.

THE ANNUAL DINNER.

....
The annual dinner took place het. evening at the West-
minster Palace Hotel. Mr. SAMPSON 1.. Lunn, the presi-
dent, occupied the chair. Amongst those present were:—
Sir Morton Peto, M.P.; Mr. Roebuck, M.P.; Mr. Egerton,
M.P., Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs ; ColonetCross-
lend, M.P. ; Colonel Akroyd, M.P. ; Mr. Berkeley. M.P. ;
Illr. ScholeBeld, H.P. ; Mr. Norwood, M.l'. ; and Lieute-
nant. Colonel C. Stuart, M.P. After the usual loyal and
patriotic toasts had been disposed of. Mr. Moema, the
representative of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, pro-
V7dthe toast of " The two Houses of Parliament."
ROIDUCK, M.P., in responding, said, in reference
to the Reform Bill which is proposed to be introduced
into the House of Commons, that with Englishmen any
attempt to shark, any attempt to ward off difficulties
or mislead, always failed. If on Monday next
ministers should bring forward something great for the
country he was quite sure the country would receive it,
and hail it as a boon, but should there be any attempt to
shuffle, any attempt to deceive by wily artifice and
honeyed words and studied circumlocutions, punishment
would surely fall upon the bead of whoever attempted
that unworthy act. Mr. WHITWILL, of Kendal, proposed
the toast of " Her Majesty's Ministers." Mr. Eorwrox,
M.P., responded. Mr. BEREELET proposed the toast of
" The Associated Chambers of Commerce," which was
responded to by the PAESIDENT. Mr. firnoterietp,
M.P., proposed " The Board of Trade." which was
responded to by Mr. MALLET. Mr. ATKINSON, of lihefSZ
proposed "The Consular Service," which was responded
to by Mr. MICHELL, secretary to the embassy at St. Peters-
burg. The only other toast was " The Health of the
President," proposed by Sir F. CAOSSLEY.

A FiNLAN ALARM AT WARWICK.—OR Tuesday
evening much alarm was occasioned at Warwick, by Mr.
}tickling, chief superintendent of police, receiving a tele-
gi „m from London to the following effect :—" A number
of suspicious looking persons left Paddington station by
the 6.15 p.m. train for Ararwick. They will arrive there
at 9.15. Heed Centre Stephens is said to be amongst
them." On receipt of the telegram Mr. Hichling com-
municated with the Mayor of Warwick, and also with
Captain ft. D. Vaughton, who is in command of the
militia staff, at the barracks, Captain Vaughten at once
ordered the officers and sergeants of the staff under arms,
sod they were supplied with ball cartridge. A number of
the local volunteers were also called out. A large quan-
tity of arms being stored in the barrreks
the gates were closed, and the staff remained under
arms until nearly midnight. Mr. Chilton, the station-
master at the Great Western Railway Station, was com-
municated with, and telegraphed to Oxfonl to know
if there were any suspicumedooking passengers in the
6.15 p.m. train from London. The Oxford officials tele-
graphed there were not. On the arrival of the train about
thirty persons left it, and called for care to take them to
Warwick Castle. During the evening it transpired that
the persons who had arrived by the train had come to
Warwick to attend a evening meeting at Charlcotte-park,
got up by a local publican. One of the parties went to
the police-station with a companion, who be said was the
Dead centre, and it would appear that they sent the tele-
gram to the superintendent of police. Considerable alarm
was created at Warwick Castle by the receipt of the tele-
gram, and two cannons were got in readiness to give the
}Penis= a hearty welcome.

LONDON GENERAL OMNIBUS COMPANY.—The
tratfie reed& for the week ending Feb. 17 were
110,61341. 6e. Td.

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