The Express.
London, England, 1858-04-16 00:00:00

COMMUNICATIONUTFILIN LONDON AND

DUBLIN.
saysetepAirmn_isie Ity Lard NGANNON,
Lard •WL dated thatU arrsageneato were
being mak he ilmlsoln4 dee lbw of conveying the mai
between Sabina sad Ikerftwa. A ocatract had beat
drawn up beans the arid the rained sad
eteam-Earbet etaltamiat, lad Dot yet been signed.

PASSPORTS.
The Earl of MALMESBURY, in laying on the tilde the
correspondence which passed between the Ent& and
French governments on the subject of pumper= said he
could not help thinking that it would be convenient to their
lordships and to the public generay if be were to =phis in
• few words what had paned on this subject aed whet had
been said by the late and the present government with regard
Ito
It. Their &lordships were very well aware that oboe the
late adept en the limperce's We at Paris the French
geeernimma, beam jeterally alarmed at these attempts
me d. by larergeere fa this country sod In France, wished
to robot thminelves by • obange in the use-
pat regulations. They therefore adopted a suggee-
tion—first made, he believed, by her Majesty's *maul
at Havre—that it would be better if no passports were given
to Englishmen by French passport agents. Though he
heard luny out/hints made against the French government
for this change, be did not thinkthey wore fair because
ati waa moss just, where a system of passports existed,
thaw ens ementry to say that no subjects of • foreign
country ebeeld visit it unleas they had
the proper authorities of the country tow Paaltlh'systeogbedy
—thee obliging English travellers to have English purports.
The cousquence of the change, however, was, that there was
U fleet some difficalty created by the withdrawal of the
facilities by which Englishmen were enabled to travel
to Boulogne and Calais without any pompon at all,
and to obtain passports in nonce without the
of applying to theForeign-efike in London. With
to Englishmen who ridded in France, he wee glad to be
able to say that the Prencit government most libereDy said
that such persons might travel from or town in France to
another with a French passports given to than in Frame.
The French government also suggested, glue the fine mu-
lattoes, which stated that English passports should be dined
only by the French Consul-General in this country, that
Trench moguls should rise' English passports ; and to give
further facilities to the Britith public, the French government
agents at the principal ports of the channel
=tta stiol, which would not oblige travellers to
some to Loudon, So much with regard to the proceedings
of the French government. When these regulations were
=opted Lk noble friend opposite. finding that ha would have
to give the whole of the passports at the Foreign-office,
naturally felt that when he was ageing his name to English
passports he should have some sort of security that the per-
son therein described was the person whom it purported to
he. A ingestion had been made that the English passport
should be merely • certificate of British citizenship, but he
thought a little reflection would parotids their lordships sad
his countrymen that that was not quite enough, and that the
passport meat answer for the identity of the person
who had it. His noble friend opposite sought for
that security by requiring from the person who asked for
a pompon, a catifloate signed by the mayors of towns, by
magistrates or by tankers. It was found that IDOCIIMIli•
uses mom from this plan; and • suggestion was made that
the mayors of towns and magistrates should not only have
the power of granting certificates, but of issuing purportsthemselves independently of the Foragu-office. That
sounded plausibly, and he considered it attentively, bat what
was nobody's duty was nobody's business, and as neither
mayors of towns nor magistrates were obliged by act
of par-
M•Nt to perform the duty, they might at any time refuse
to the applicants the passports they asked for. It was most
neesseary that when a man asked for a passport be should
have it es woe as possible. They knew enough of society
to know that when porpoise were good-natured enough to are
se amateurs they were not always over punctual to the dis-
t= their duties, and it might well happen that the
tor a passport to • mayor sitting down to or
to • megietrate riding ca his nag to a hunt, would receive
en bat a boos voyage an his journey. Therefore, after
the subject, he thought the best course to adopt
was leiseresse the area of grandfathers who were to give cer-
tificates of Identity. (Laughter.) Her Majesty's go-
vernment, therefore, decided that to the mayors cf
towns, and magistrates who had been named by his noble
friend opposite as the persons who were to give certificate.,
should be added the clergy of various Christian denomitut-
lions, physicians, and surgeons, solicitors, and notaries, all
of whom would be empowered to grant certificates of iden •
tity to persons wishing to obtain passports. It was almost
impossible for any one to be so completely isolated es not to
know some one to those various categoories from whom he
could easily obtain • certificate of identity. It had
been said that •
great inconvenience was expo-
rimmed in having to corns to the Foreign-office
In Landon to get passports, and that they might be
gives is ether pieces. But, on the othr land, he saw that
ccasitlarable incenvenience might arise if tmvellem went
shooed with pesspotrtahavingdiferent seals and signatures
attached to them. The authorities abroad would be puzzled
by this variety, and travellers would often be detained by
the puzzles so created. (Hear, hear.) But the Foreign-office
with the arma of the Queen and the signature of
the passport,
Secretary, very soon became familiar to the eyes
of foreign authorities, and they readily recognised its value.
If a variety of passports existed, the result would be
that one or more of them would be depreciated in value.
He had therefore thought it of great consequence to travellers
to be supplied with Foreign-office passports. But to prevent
their having the trouble of coming to London to apply for
them at the Foreign-office, the government had appointed
agents for delivering Foreign-office weapons at Dover,
Folkestone, Southampton, and Liverpool. He did not say
that more might not be appointed, if it were found necessary
to do so, at other ports. If travellers wished to save them-
selves inconvenience or anxiety of any kind, if resident in
the centre of England or near the coast, they had only to
obtain such a certificate as he described of identity and name
from either their clergyman, their surgeon or physician, the
nearest magistrate or mayor of a town, or their solicitor or
notary. This they would rend to the Foreign-office or
to any of the ports at which they wished to embark,
where they would find an agent who would deliver to
them a Foreign-office passport. If they did not choose to
take this certificate In person they had nothing to do but send
a day or two before to one of those accredited agents at the
ports, or to the Foreign-office in London, stating that they
wished by such a day and hour to have a passport, and it
would be reedy for them, or they might have it sent to them
by poet. Under these circumstances there could not be the
slightest inconvenience In any person getting a pamport as
soon ashe pleased. He bad further thought it desirable to
lower the duty upon these peamorts. Formerly it was Ss.
upon the stamp, and le. fee for the Foreign-office socommo-
dation. He proposed to reduce it to Is. for the stamp, and
Is. for the expense—making 24. It was only fair to the
poorer climes who were going abroad as railway la-
bourers, and were obliged to have English pass-
poets, that they should have them upon those
terms. He did not think that he could do more
than this to facilitate the obtainment of passports ; and he
made this statement hoping that it might be well understood
and reported in the usual course ; for one et the great
cultism bad been that the Inconvenience had been exagge-
rated and magnified from not understanding the regulations
that had been made. He would only add one recommende-
d= to all those who were likely to travel, particularly to that
due of persons who had often been hypothetically brought
before the public—gentlemen living on the omit, or in the
interior of England, who had homilies living on the coast of
France, and who might suddenly becalled upon to visit them.
Now that • passport would only.cost 2e., almost every man in
the country might as well at once furnish himself with that
document, just as he did with a Bradshaw or an almenack.
(Hear, hear.) Having does that, they would be perfectly
wouldito go abroad, even on the caprice of the moment. They
not meet with any dtfficaliies on this tilde of the
Channel ; arid ha was glad to say, from the liberal conduct
of the French government, he wee quite sore they would not
meet any on the other. (Hem, hear.)

The Earl of CLARENDON explained that the regu-
lation, of the late government were only provisional.
Re thought the whole system of paesperte a great
mistake. They afforded no protection against the
vary persons the authorities wished to guard against.
Thome persons always had their papers in order,
sod It was the innocent or ignorant traveller who was
expend to annoyance. This was the opinion of the Elope-
Me of the French, and some years shoe he attempted to do
away with the system, but was defeated by the difficulties
coeds by hie own government.

Esti ()REY thought the prewint dismission Itself proved
the inutility of the whole system. When so mazy persons
were authorised to give certificates to all who asked them,
whet wee the seispardf Why not go a step further and
empower the regular authorities in towns and cities to great
passports at once ?

The Earl of if ALMESBURY stated that they could not
be compelled to do it, and the rands raised would not support
more than six or seven agents.
Earl GRANVILLE believed anythlng that reduced the
system to en sheardity would be a public
.. - -

Th. Berl d DERBY laid on tae table a bill ewsloodylag
the rewommesdatione of all melon committee of 18660 a the
Booludeetkal Commiaion. The bill was read a Ihst time.
lb in.. adjourned at I Tactic peat U.