The Express.
London, England, 1867-02-08 00:00:00

INDIAN ACCOUNTS.

In answer to Mr. J. B. SMITH,

Lord CRANBORNE stated that Lord De Grey bad
given orders to have the Indian accounts made np to 31st
]lurch, the end of the English financial year. He (Lard
Cranhorne) had mentioned that theywould be so presented
this year, hut he bad since learned by telegram that they
could not be so prepared until next year. However, the
introduction of the Indian budget did not depend upon
the production of these accounts, but on the state of the
imperial business of the house.
SEIZURE OF THE TORNADO.

- -
Mr. LITSK inquired of the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs if the attention of her Majesty's government had
been directed to the seizure by the Spaniali authorities of
an English steam-vessel, called the Tornado, on the high
asax, in August last, and to the imprisonment and trial of
the crew ; and if so, whether the government had taken
may steps to sanirtain if the capture was lawful, if the
represmtations concerning the harsh treatment of the
wen tore well founded or not, and if there was any pro-
bability of their being soon released and sent home to this
country.
Lord STANLEY replied that ever since the capture the
ease had occupied the careful and anxious consideration of
her Majesty's government. They had watched it through
;all its stages. and had been in frequent, he might almost
say continual, communication with the law officers of the
crown upon the subject. According to the well-understood
yule of internation-1 law we had no right to object to the
trial of the vessel taking place before the Spanish prize
courts, but the government had remonstrated against
what appeared to them the unreasonable length of time
eocunied in the preliminary investigations, and within the
last .few weeks, when they had all the proceedings of
the trial before them, they had, acting under
psiadvice, felt themselves authorised and corn-
ed to protest against the illegal and informal
character of some of the proceedis. That protest
had only very lately been received, and he was not
yet able to say what the result would be. With regard to
the treatment of the men, and generally as to all the
details of the case, the best answer he could give was that
in a few days all the papers relating to these transactions
would be Lid before the house.
THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.

On the order for the consideration of the Queen's
glrech.

The SPEAKER read the paragraph relating to the
estimates.

Mr. HUNT morel that the house will tomorrow resolve
itself into committee of supply.
The motiun was then agreed to.

RAILWAY COMPANIES• ENGAGEMENTS.

Sir S. NORTHCOTE rose to move for leave to introduce
a bill to make better provision for the arrangement of the
affairs of railway companies unable to meet their engage-
ments. They proposed that the executive government—
the Board of Trade—should in the first instance prepare •
=home that should be laid before parliament in the form
of bills, and should take charge of them as
public bills. and carry them through parliament. When a
company was in financial embarrassment, when it had
committed what he might call financial bankruptcy by
laving an execution against it which it could not satisfy,
by not being able to pay the principal and interest of its
debt—then in any of these contingencies, or others men-
booed iu the bill, two or three creditors or shareholders of