The Express.
London, England, 1858-04-17 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 17, 1858.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—FATDAY, Ann 16.
The House alai& sad it Ike eelealc, Lard RSDISDASA
ou the woolsack.

Tim Earl of FIRMINAM presented • petition from • place
in the North Riding of Yorkshire, against the Oaths Bill.
Sheilar petitions weft Involuted by Viscount DUNGANNON,
from places in Antrim, Tyrone, and Mayo ; by Lord Binutzue,
from • place in the colony of Ross.
FAA Tiasor presented ation from • place in the
diocese of Peterborough, againstthe Abolition of Church
Rates
.13d1.,

- -
Earl Dram ted a petition from the board of oon-
miniafan tn sad mound London and Westminster,
real orma olf the abolition of church ram.

SALE OF POISONS.
Lord CAMPBELL wished to know Stem the noble earl at
the head of the government whether it was the intention of
the government to introduce a bill in the potent session for
Nabs ilang the sale of
The Earl of DERBY' rid sthat his right hon. friend the
Secretary of State for the Home Department was to have a
conference on the subject with the Pharmaceutical Society.
He did Lot know whether that conference had taken place.
On its remit would depend whether the government would
introduce a bill in the preemie mica.

cirgrome
Oa Oa motion of the liarl DONOUG /MORE, this bill was
neaTltairs al=itiriadjoaraod at a gamier past five.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—Famar, Aram 16.
The arum took the chair at four o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The Chester (1.. Knighton Railway; Newport (Salop)
read a third time an
Marketa, Town•haill Nottingham Gas ; twee
pared.

PUBLIC warms.
THE CASE OF THE CAGLIARI.
Mr. HEADLAM asked the Chancellor of the lli
whether he bad as yet received the opinions atchrtel:
officers of the crown on the subject of the Cagliari, and If
so, whether he could state to the house what come. the Go-
vernment intended to pursue.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Sir, in the
matter of the Cagliari there are two questions involved,
which are really distinct. One we may call the national ques-
tion, and the other international. The first concerns the
treatment to which our two countrymen, Park and Watt,
hive beta exposed. With regard to that part of the subject
we have received the opinion of the crown officers. Their
opinion
tlolais unanimous, and they are of opinion that the
sad imprisonment of Park and Watt was illegal.
(Hear, bear.) In consequence of our having received
Qat opinion, after giving it all the delibeeatims
which so serious • matter requires, we have felt it
oar duty to address a despatch to the minister of the Ring
of Naples, and my noble friend the Secretary of State has
written one demanding compensation for the grievances
which have been experiene d by our two countrymen.
(Hear, hear.) With regard to the international question—
which is totally distinct front the other, and in which other
maritime nations are not less interested than England—we
have not ea yet received the opinion of the crown
officers. In explanation of what might appear an
unreasonable delay I will remind the boom of
what I have before stated, that on Saturday last
some very important documents arrived which were anti-
mitted to the Attorney-General and his oollesoes. The
time of the Attorney-General, however, has been so com-
pletely absorbed for the last few days by the state trial now
going on that it has not been possible for him to give thee
documents the attentive conaderation which they require.
Mr. HEADLAM wished to know whether the right hon.
ggeanatleman would have any objection to lay on the table the
document he bad referred to.

—"The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it
would be inconvenient to do so at present.
COMPENSATION TO THE PROCTORS.
Mr. HADPIELD said that the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer had some nights ago stated that the prostate had
sent in claims for compensation under the Probate Act to the
amount of 250,0001. He wished to know whether the right
hon. gentleman meant a given sum, or an annual charge to
that amount

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he
meant an annual charge of 260,0001. for several years. A
considerable number of claim, had been sent in, but not all,
so that it would not be possible to give any return; but
the Treasury, from the data before them, estimated the pro-
(Oh, eh.) bable amount at 260,0001. per annum for several years.
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.
idi
its
Mr. O. A. HAMILTOMondayN having moved that the house at
Oa/24 do om to ,
Mr. T. DIJRCOMBE said he wished to take that oppor-
tunity of inking his noble friend the member for Tiverton
whethm, In the present unsatisfactory position of the
question of parliamentary reform, he would have any
abjection to lay upon the table of the house a copy
of the bill for the amendment of the laws relating to the
representation, referred to in the speech from the throne at
the oxamencement of the prevent ma'am. The question of
parliamentary reform was now in a most unsatisfactory state.
(" Heir, bear," end a laugh.) He could not recollect any
question on which the house, the sovereign, and the govern-
ment were In so false a position as they were with regard to
this. What happened in 1862 P When the then prime
minister, the noble had the member for the City of London,
had abandoned his finality principle, the Queen in her
spec& from the throw on the 3rd of February, 1862, told
them—. It appeen to me that this is a fitting time for calmly
considering whether ft may not be advisable to make such
amendments in the set of the late reign relating to the repre-
sentation of the Commons in parliament as may be deemed
calculated to carry into more complete effect the principles
upon which that law is founded." In pursuance of that re-
commendation the noble lord brought In a bill; but after
doing so he retired from aloe, and the bill disappeared with
him. It was no great loss, as it did not appear to be
sal iefactory to the country or to the reformers in that house.
Things went on in the same way until 1864. In that year
we stated In an address to the crown—" We humbly
thank your Majesty foe informing us that measures will
be submitted to us for the amendment of the laws relating,
to the representation of the Commonsia parliament.
War was then going on, and It was thought better to curb
the theaseue which was introduced by the noble lord the
member for the City of London, the then leader of the
how' ,• so the matter remained until the preterit melon,
with the exception that during the whole of last year inde-
pendent members were constantly bringing forward bills on
the subject. His hon. friend the member for East Surrey
brought forward two bills ; the noble lord the then member
for Middlesex (Lord Ebury) brought forward another ; and
he himself proposed a bill to provide for more frequent regis-
tration and to do away with the necessity for the payment of
assessed taxes as a qualification. They were told that all
these attempts should be laid aside, as thegovernment Intended
to deal with the whole subject ; so in December last
in their address they again stated : " We humbly thank
your Majesty for informing us, that our attention will be
called to the laws which regulate the representation of the
people in parliament, with a view to consider what amend-
ments may be safely and beneficially made therein." Per-
ham/Mary reform and the India question were the two most
prominent features of her Majesty's speech on that
The India question has been brought forward. The noble
lord the member for Tiverton laid on the table a bill
on the subject. The next question wee parliamentary
reform and he therefore had to ask the noble lord (assuming
that the bill was ready or all bat ready) whether be would
have say objection to lay it on the table P If he did so, he
would show that the government were in earnest on the
subject ; let him give them an explanation of the bill, or, If
the bill was ready, let them have it. This might be an un-
usual tbisg, but the position of the house in reference to the
subject was thalami and unprecedented. When the India
Bill wee laid on the table the present government opposed it,
and to a man voted that it was inexpedient to legislate on the
subject daring this session. (Hear, hear.) What had they
since done? They had introduced a bill on the subject
on which two months ago it was inexpedient to
legislate. If the noble lord would lay on the table the bill of
the late government for parliamentary reform, they would,
in all probability, have a bill from the present government
on that subject also—(" Hear, hear," and a lengh)—or, at
all event", the noble lord the member for the City of Lon-
don will kindly step forward and smead a feather bed foe
the right bon gentleman opposite--(a laugh)—on which his
Dill may safely drop, in the shape of certain reeolutions.
(Laughter.) 'the noble lord now at the head of the govern-
ment had, in another place, complained of the manner in
which this subject had been mentioned in the Queen's
speech for five or six years, and kept dangling before
the eyes of the legislature. He had stated that he and
his colleagues would do them the favour to look into the
subject; but having dons so, be would not pledge himself or
them now, or at any future time, to introduce a bill on the
subject. Where, then, were they to leek for. Reform Bill?
No one could blame the right hon. gentleman opposite or the
noble lord at the head of the government if they did not in-
troduce a bill next year ; they were not pledged to it, and
the more they looked into it the leas they would like it. (A
laugh.) Was this a fittb g al a proper posilion for this
question to stand in ? mare esp when they
were told that the :skewers formed a large ma-
jority la that house. (Hem, hem.) Were they to go am '
ior ever being cajoled in that way ? (Hear, hem.) He
would 'glee this deb. to Lord Derby, that, =lees be was
prepared to propose • satisfactory WI unless he was pre-
pared to give a wide extension of the trineltine, protection to
voters, sad en egtuthistlon of repreameation by a madras-
timid seats, be had much better have it alone; he maid tell
him as bill aided fell abort of these lambdas woad satisfy
the jolt meats sad ex et the mod. (Hem, keez.)
Re tlrestore begged to ped
oak the aphis lasi if be had any
eldeetkm to lay the measure
on the table of the boom (Great
istrALMERSTON—Str, my hon. Mend is perfectly
correct in dating that is the last aria at parliesst the

then ezhitmt govarmasid promised more that owe that they
would to the meant simian of paelimmet propose to this
house • measure of parliamentary mime. My hon. faked
was not quite teohnically correct in the demaiption which he
has given of the manner in which that measure wee
announced in the speech from the throne at the beginning of
this session, for the mange to which he has alluded did not
intimate that there was any bill actually prepared, and that
the attention of parliament would be celled to the subject-
matter of reform. Well, sir, it was our intention to redeem,
in the course et the present session, the pledge which we had
so given. There were two subjects of great importance
with which we had to deal; one was the government of
India, the other parliamentary reform. On considering
which of the two was the most pressing and urgent
in its nature, we thought—we may have been
wrong, but we deliberately thought—that the arrange-
meats for the future government of India under the
circumstances most urgently required to be brought
under the consideration of parliament—(hear, hear)—we
thereto» devoted our attention in the first instance to the
=Dia bill on that subject. We did not, however, ab-
em devoting our attention also to the subject of par-
Ilementosy nine ; but the urgency of Indian affairs, and
meammo of that financial crisis which required the
Amin of parliament before Christmas, so far Weltered with
as intention as to prevent us from actually embodying in
So Sap' of • WI the arrangements which we should
bante WS prepared to propose to parliament. We
haus to Introduce, and laid before the house, a bill
m So migitee of India. We expected abort-sighted
of )—that we should also have =opportunity
this house a measure of parliamentary re-
deem SW however, deemed it right that that should
110114.112ML,T=ority of this house, by cutting
shutter anaptnian thetwe ought het
have em eppeetnnity, during this session, of submitting our
measure to podbount. We, of course, bowed to that deal-
sion,and we tweak bon instead of sitting in the responsible
seats on So albs SS ailho table. (Laughter.) Well, then,
Sir,_ my row to Ms. friend is, in the first place, that
we had Da es fhe amTledied our arrangements in the shape of
a bill as to be din mu if we thought it expedient on consti-
tutional grounds to do so, to lay our bill on the table of the
house. But, even if we had prepared the bill, I very much
doubt whether it would have been the opinion of the house
that a bill of such great importance, bearing upon matters of
such great national interests, should be introduced from any
quarter except the responsible ministers of the crown.
(Hear, hear.) My hon. friend says that there is nothing to
be expected from the present government. Why I have
eertainly understood what has passed in a rather different
sense from what my hon. friend appears to have done. I
rather infer from many things that have come to our know-
ledge that the present government do intend in the course of
the next session, not only to consider that subject, but to
submit to the house the result of their ondAnstion
in a practical measure; and judging, among other
things, from the communications which have passed
between her Majesty's Attorney-Cleneral and his
constituents—(lnghter)—l am led to inter that area out
of office they have tamed theirminds very practically to that
subject, end that they have made such program in it that
there can be little doubt that after the rearm thews
menu to which the Attorney :General alluded—(laughtantenfer
.

and which he eitimmendulTititha attention of his constituents,
will be presented by her agovernment to this house
in the shaped a bill. T4rdaee I think my hon. friend
need not be under the alarm that he wee at first on this sub-
ject. I think he may, on that point at least, repose confi-
deuce in her Majesty's government, and wait with patience
till next session shall produce the fruits of their deliberation.
Mr. L. KING and, as there was now no prospect of the
introduction of a parliamentary reform bill, he hoped the
two bills which he introduced last year, and which were post-
poned, one for the extension of the county ftn-
chiee, and the other for the abolition of the pro•
petty qualparty.i&ation, would meet with the support of the entire
liberal
TRADE WITH CENTRAL ASIA.

Mr. W. B WART wished t;T;iigi;;l the Chancellor of
the Exchequer whether advantage will be taken of the oppor-
tunity afforded by the negotiations with the Chinese govern-
ment at Pekin for opening a way for British and Indian
commerce into Thibet sad other countries under the Chinese
dominion beyond the Hixnalayah Mountains?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said unfortu-
nately there were at pliant no negotiations being carried
on with the Court of Pekin. What might happen he could
not say, but at present they had no means of carrying on any
communications with that court. The hon. gentleman would
remember that when negotiations did take place this country
acted in =hen with three other powere' and of comae any
fresh negotiations that might be entered into would, in
the first instance, reletito some object in which those powers
were equally interested. He need not assure the hon.
member that the government was folly alive to the im-
portance of the subject which he bad introduced, and would
lose no opportunity which might arise of assisting in the
development of Bridah commerce.
THE NEW PASSPORT REGULATIONS.

Mr. M. MILNES rose in pursuance of notice to put a
question to the government respecting the effect of the new
passport regulations in Belgium on British subjects, and to
call the attention of the house to the inconveniences of the
present system of the delivery of passports by the Foreign-
office.

Mr. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD maid, in replying to the
remarks of the hon. gentleman, he must first refer to the
complaint which he had in effect made, that nothing had been
done by the Foreign-office to meet those eases of sudden
emergency and hardship which he referred to in detail on
• farmer evening. The difficulties to which the hon.gentle-
man alluded did not redly exist. At the present moment,
if any person went to the Foreign-office and represented that
he had a relative or child indlepored or dead
in France or Belgium, or stated any other case of emergency,
a passport would be at onosgranted to him without any re-
oommendation whatever. With regard to the yacht clubs
he had to state that applications were made to the French
government to contains to them the privileges they had
hitherto enjoyed. That rreeqqunest was in the first instance re-
fused; but the British am or at Perim fed so
strongly the difficulties and inconveniences whi must min
if that refusal was persisted in, that Count Waleweki under-
took to reconsider the matter,: and asked for the papers
which had hitherto been a sufficient authority for
the members of yacht clubs to land in any wench
port. Those papers bad been sent, and her Majesty's
government were now awaiting tho answer of the
French government. The hon. gentleman spoke almost
with anger of the course which had been adopted by
the Belgian government. Within the last two or three days
her Majesty's government had received • communication
from the Belgian government to the effect that in future the
Belgian consuls in this country would not be allowed to lime
perverts to British subjects. This, however, was not such
an inconvenience as the hon. gentleman might suppose. Of
course it was a
ihal r:dahirge to those who were merely going to
as Belgium ; but those who were in the first In-
stance going to um, with the intention of afterwards
pealing into France, It should be remembered that, under the
regulations which had been recently made by the French
government, en English subject going to the continent with
a Belgian passport would not with that parsport be
allowed to croft the French frontier. The han.
gentleman had probably learnt from them sources
of information which were open to them all that
difficulties having arisen from the muvowneas of the source
from which recommendations for purports could be obtained,
it had now been arramged that • physician, • surgeon, a bar-
rister—in fact, almost any one holding • responsible situa-
tion—might give • recommendation testifying to the Identity
of the party who wished for a passport. As he had before
remarked, the only possible use of such a recommendation
was to certify that the person recommended for a passport
was • British subject. The expense involved was 2a. He
should be glad if the coat were lea., but it was of tome
importance that the passport should be on stamped paper in
order to prevent fraud or forgery. An agent of the British
government was to to established at Dover, one at Folkestone,
one at Southampton, one at Newhaven, and another at
Liverpool. There were also to be agents at one or two points
on the east coast. In fact, there was to be an *gent at every
01100 where it was desirable that there should be one. The
French government had, on their side, appointed French
agents at the ports where passports were to be boned ; and
he hoped the arrangements made would make passports
easily attainable, and cause them to be attended with no more
inconvenience than such a very objectionable system as the
passport system must always involve.