The Express.
London, England, 1861-03-01 00:00:00

/11!.InA OFFWERS;.

i'i reply to the Earl Of Donotuation,
howl HERBERT of LEA said that offiries of tie em-
bodied milititiif 1,4 twoathsweiaid he admitted to the regular
3,nl yor ruititia eliminations rata 30th June next, ander
the miss of th:tober last.
BETH' E3IENT OF NAVAL OFFICER&
Lord I'HELMSVORD moved an address to her Majesty
praying for a copy of the arrangements of the Board of Ad-
miralty (under the teller in council of 25th June, Itt'sl) for
the retirement of naval othives ; red also a copy of the
minute of the Board cm the wow subject of May, In6o.
The ratans was ordered.
_ ISTATETE LAW REVISION BILL

The LORD CHANCELLOR, io moving the second read-
itui of this hill, observed that although it was very short it
rtforreil to a schedule coutaining u vast amount of statutes
and part+ of sLktitte,4. It w..s admitted that the statute
law was in a moat uhsati.factore state. Since Magna
Chartathere hail been upwards of li.OOP public arta reamed,
and of that ponderous collection easy bad been repealed
and many had become obsolete. By our law, although an
set of parliament might become obsolete it was not
thereby repealed—desuetude did not effect repeal, and
any obsolete act might at any time be brought
into emotion by any person. The object of the present
hill was thad to etpurgate this Montrone maw of statutes
and parts of stetutas, expressly repealing those that rare
no longer enforced.
After a few word' more, the bill was read a second time.
METROPOLITAN RAILWAYS.

The Earl of DERBY had given notice that he would call
attention to the inconvenience inflicted oo some of the
',emulation of London. of the poorer class, by certain
public works now in propene. He had also to present a
petition foie, occupiers of property in the with of Padding-
ton. complaining, of the apjustice to whichtbey were esposedl
by the opention, of the Metropolitan Railway Company,
under the powers of the act of parliament, and praying
that so further powers might be granted to that compaey
until it should have given them redress. That. however,
was not exactly the subject on which he now intended to
addrers their lordships, and he would simply move that this
resitiee should lie on the table, without entering into say
detail of the grievaocee to which it referred. Of the other
three petitions he bed to present, one was from the London
Institution, another from the principal inhabitants of Fins-
ben-circus, said the third also from inhabitants of that
neighbourhood, praying to be heard by counsel against the
bull now before parliament for the construction of a railway
station in Fizabtuy-circus. Now. he did not tutted to
T any specificremedy for the grievances complained
orZ: he would state the MO, which was one vitally
affeetem the welfare of a very large portion of the popula-
tioa, who were ettarly amble to obtain for themselves
any protection against, legislative acts injurious to their
islands. It was • alb** which deeply contented the
moral and social coaditien al the metropolis. He had •
retreads° to present tram as individual who bail been for
eleven mare incumbent of ems of the poorest and most
densely peotded parishes is the heart of and who
might, therefore, claim to pommies a tolerable knowledge of
the feelings. wants, and wishes of the population around
him. But, in the tint place. he would call their lordships'
attention to the ampsitade of the mmilertokings now before
parliament, and the extent of the railway bills submitted
to their 000sideratien this maim fle believed he had been
informed that the total length of matey, now in opera
it. the United Kingdoms was betimes 9,000 and 10,000
miles, beside whisk them was already sanctioned by par-
liament a length of 3.000 miles more, which was mew in
or approaching to completion. This year, he
believed there ware 240 sew railway schemes before myths-
seenkcif which 117 were wheels brought forward by new com-
ic. and 1W were brought forward by old companies, for
hnmohes or reetemeines. The old companies extension linen
scskeseed a datum, of more than one <boomed miles, and
the sew amputee' about two thoasandMiles. so that par-
liament was now asked to madam three thousand mile*
of additional railway this semis., an amount equal to one-
third of existing railways is the United Kingdom. Of
coarse, only • smell parties of these railways were in the
metropolis. From as Mlicial document preparid by the Board
et Trade. it appeared thatemompt them nilway schemes, some
of which bail prelim* been abandoned, or would be
alsamktried, there were Olio*a traversing the eery heart
of the nietropoiM sad comprising a total lewd) of up-
wards of 24 miles, besides which in the suburbs, sot in,
eluding Greenwich and Woolwich, there were seven or
eight other schemes, involving 40 or 50 miles of railway.
la the metropolis sued suburbs, therefore, there were 00 or
70 miles of sew railway maimed to be mastaieteill, paw
lag through the most crowded parts of the town. Now
it IMO laid dews be • royal 00[11011410' O. in 146, that if
at any time hereafter it should be advisable to admit
Milways 'Mini the limits there stated, namely, a hat
has the Edgware-rod to Grosvenor-place on the west,
mod cue from Finsbury square to Loodombridge on the
mei, it should be done to conformity with some uniform
plea, carefally kid down wider the authority of government.
and sanctioned by the wisdom of parliament. Now be would
rider to a map annexed to the late report of the Board of
Trade, which showed the railways sow proposed to be made
in Pill. The large spot narked red was the reposed deduct
is Viesharyeamos,and he wadd call attention to
a very short line, extendieg ally half am' from Finabory-
circus to Smith& Id, and called the Metropolitan Extension.
Binds. this, there was • line from the North 'London Rail-
way, which connected the London and North Welders line
with the docks ; it was a line of two sad a half miles, from
leiepleed to Finsbury-circa ; and there was smother
scheme for a gigantic railway station occupying the
whole space of Finsbury-circus and something more.
Now, the parish of St. Bartholomew, Meer-
Uhl; Crippleorite, through which the Metropolitan
Extenaion would psis, contained a population of 4,500 per-
sons by the last census, now exceeding :"..000, while the
number of halms did not exceed 500. There were nine,
ten, or eleven persons in each house, and net a single gen-
tleman's house in the pariah. They were all of the poorest
and lowest clam of shopkeepers, costemiongers, or dock
labourers, and there were not ten families who occupied •
single hones to themselves, though the homes were of
three or four motile only. The incumbent told him
(lord Derby) that the aristocracy of the parish were
Woes who could indulge la the luxury of two
rooms, the great balk of them having but one room.
and that room sometimes divided between more than one
family. Now the railway would sweep away more than
ounhalf of the houses, and nearly half the inhabitants of
that parish, who were of course utterly helpless to tam
steps against such • scheme. There were melons
suggestions—amoupt them that a trust should be sown-
toted, and that the railway company shookl advance to that
trust • NM, the interest of which would be euffieleat to
provide decent dwelling.houses for the parties who bad been
displaced—the trust paying over to the railway company
regularly • stipulated interest for the money advanced.
its object was—before infinite evils were produced, by
numbers being thrown out of house and borne, and by the
overcrowding of the dwellings that were left—that their
'ordains' should very seriously consider the gravity sad On-
portanee of the question, and that the governmest should
take into their consideration whether any and what means
could be adopted to mitigate those evils. He was
not prepared to move anything; hut he could not kelp
thinking that the appointment of a committee of inquiry
into the effect upon the population and social coutlition of
the metropolis of the great extension of railwars through it,
would not be found to be • waste ef their lordships' time—
(bear, beard— and be was quite sore that such an appoint-
ment would he received with gratitude by those who were
prevented front corer's.; forward in any other way to oppose
those 'chimes. (Hear. hear.)
The Earl of EIHA}TESBUBY said be was glad that the
subject had been taken up by the noble earl. lo 1403 he
bad introduced it to the notice of their lordships, by pro-
vosts,/ that the parties who undertook those great works
should be responsible for providing accommodation tend to
that which they destroyed, so that all the benefit should
not he on one side, and all the suffering on the other. He
could not obtain the sanction of their lordships to this,
but had obtained the standing order which required that the
ourohard houses to he destroyed should he recorded is
every railway bill. Those reports hail now been made pe-
riodically for seven yenta, and anything more frightful than
the devastation thus disclosed had never been eidatiittal to
the house. lie was surprised when he observed the calm and
orderly way in which the working classes submitted to
changes which they must consider great acts of oppression.
Another thing was this—that seven-tenths of the pauperism
of this country, arose from habit* of intoximtion, and the
disorder, recklessness. and want of health, arising from in-
dulgence in these habite. During the laid few months, and
particularly during the fearful front of the winter, this was
proved ,n the most indiputable manner. He felt certain,
from inquiries he had made, and he should have felt equally
certain without inquiring from hie loop experience of this
subject, thane very large proportion of thole who appeared
at the einem and received the bounty of the
country were persons who ought not to have bees
io that position. (Hear, hear.) They woo often
in the receipt of its,, :Vie, or 40s. • week. Men with these
wages ought to be able to make provision against na evil
day ; but habits of drinking had brought them down to that
Watt, that ho .IMtUr.I to say, if many of these men,
earning NW. or 40s. • week, hail been searched on Friday
they would he toned without half•a-crown io their
To what was that owing' fa • great measure to =stf
intoxication. He admitted that • large number of peaces
would always be found ready to rola their characters. for-
tunes, health, and friends by indulgeree hi ardent worries;
but still they were booed to improve the condi-
MOO of the poor. IA the. have a %porta-

pity of living in a decent house, consistently with
habits of order and comfort. Let them be toed from evils
which disgusted and contaminated them socially, morally,
at.: physically ; and let them ge to the r sit .4 the evil, soil
introduce • system of things which would be far better than
any improved administration of the present poor law. Let
them make the working man able to maintain himself, to
stand up in his own cause, to depend mem his own right.,
and not to become a pensiener upon the public puree. The
poverty of Loudon and the poverty of the country was not
a necessary and inevitable condition of things. The wages
that were ichl to the "reeking poll,: if this country, and
the labour required were such, that the people of
the country, he verily believed, and he spoke
fr.in long experience of the subject, if they
were prudent, careful, and thrifty in their habits, blight be
the must affluent anti independent working class in the
; world. (Hear, bear.) Nine-tenth' of their misery arose
from habits of intoxication, and be (the Earl of Shaftes-
bury) traced those habits to a great extent, if not altogether,
to the vile and miserable domiciliary condition of the work-
ing clams in the great towns and in the country. He was
extremely glad to find that his noble friend bed taken ap
the question, because he sow hoped that the subject would
receive that atteation which it imperatively demanded.
The Bishop of LONDON said he must express his grati-
tude to the noble earl for bringing a subject with which the
amp( the metropolis were so much connected to their
lo • attention, and also to the noble earl who made a
proposition that theirlonishipe should summon • committee
of their lorsLihipa' house to consider the subject. Their lord-
ships might possibly think that the east end of the town
was in the most poor and wretched condition but he be-
lieved it would be found that near their own doom, in many
home having decent outsides, greater squalor and misery I
would be found than in the east end of London. Near the
place where they were than sitting he had been that
evening informed by the incumbent of St. John's,
Westminster, that when Victoria-street was con-
structed
five thousand persons were displaced. Of these
one porter took refuge on the other side of the river ; but
the ren.aining thremfourthe remained in the panel); an that
the same dwellings received three or four times the num-
ber of inhabitants. Their lordships had not honed any
exaggerated amount of the misery that was produced by
these changes. When the Blackwell Railway was brought
before the House of Common., the committee entered into
practical details, and it was found that the gentleman who
wee the " for of the houses to be taken, being fully
aware the responsibilities of his position, wee not content
to receive the rents of these dwellings only, but he provided •
surgeon to attend upon the people, and& City missionary to
provide for their spirituel wants. The committee resolved
that without his consent the houses should not be pulled
down. He believed that this subject had on to be venti-
lated, and the owners of property would understand what
was required of them in this matter. There was, however,
not wanting proof to show that the clergy of the metro-
polis were loot. active arid watchful in the interests of their
parishioners than of their own private convenience. It only
remained that the owners of property should see whet was
their duty in this matter, and the appointment of a com-
mittee would no doubt have great effect in remedying the
evils complained of.
Earl GRAN V IL LF., after remarking upoc the able manner
in which the subject bad been introduced by the two noble
earls, and the right rev. prelate, said that one of the
difficulties connected with this subject was the un-
willingness of • great portion of the popula-
tion to pay for better lodgings than they had.
He was informed that the inmates of the model
lodging-houses were in many respects people of better
means than those for whom they were constructed. It
might be mid, if this evil be so great, why aggravate it by
the introduction of new railways ? But, in the first place, a
great number of these railways, be understood, were to be
underground railways, which would take only a house or two
here and there, and leave others untouched ,• thus offering to
the per a minimum of disadvantage. The destruction of
small
houses occasioned by these railways would be as
nothing compared with the denstatios effected
by the construction of • new street, which without
affording any compensation whatever, removed • far larger
number of small teeementa. He understood that • certain
number of trains were to be run every day at fares so low,
that, joined to the cheaper rate at which lodgings might be
procured at a distance, the operation of the proposed rail-
ways would really be to extend the area surtsb:e for the
dwellings of the labouring classes. Besides, some of the
districts over which these lines would pass were of so disre-
tenable • character that it would be doing the lower classes
a senile to destroy the existing houses'. (Hear, hear.) He
did sot wish to leegthen the debate, but he was sure that
nothing could be more useful than that the subject should
be ventilated ; and he shared in the hope which had been
expressed by the right rev. prelate who had just spoken.
At the same time he very much doubted whether any great
advantage would arise from • committee of the sort pro-
posed. He did not think, after the great desire which the
public had expressed for some means of relieving the street
traffic of the metropolia, that it would be possible to delay
the paring of the bills, while an inquiry was going on by
which they could see no result. Be would suggest that
the bills should be referred to one committee, or should be
divided into two or three groups, each of which should be
Maned to • committee oompesed of lords who would
Nally attend to the subject. (Hear, beer.)
Berl GREY admitted the Nineteen of the railway sys-
tem, but regretted that the goverment had no plan for the
relief of an admitted evil.

Aftera;Tne ren;;Cusir;a the Marquee of Barn,
Lord REDESDALE observed that 'mitten could set
csa much longer without the establishment of a railway

Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY deprecated opposition
to the peat works of improvement because they involved
displacement of the poor. The proposal of the late govern.
meat for the erection of new law courts would have de-
molished ten times the camber of houses more than those
which would be destroyed by the present railway 'themes.
After some remarks from the LORD CHANCELLOR, the pe•
tition was ordered to lie on the table.

The subject then dropped, and their lordahlpe adjourned
at a quarter to eight o'clock.

EOrSE OF COMMONS.—THURISDAY, Fix 28.
The SIMAILIS took the Asir at 4 ethic&
NOTICES OF MOTIONS.
PIEDMONT.
Mr. HENNESSY postpesed hi question on this subject.l
NEW ZEALAND.
Sir J. TRELAWNY gave notice of a question respecting
New Zealand.
CONVICT EiTABLIBMIYNTS AT BERMUDA.
Lord NAAS caked whether any alienation had recently
fakes place in the arrangements of the convict establish-
ments at Bermuda, whether the treatment of the convicts
bed bean improved, and whether the hulks still existed.
Also whether there was any truth in the report of • mutiny
bawd recently taken place amongst the convicts.
Mr. FORTESCUE replied that there had been no change
recently, except that one bulk load been abolished, but the
other was retained, there sot being sufficient aoxoinmoda-
tion for the prisoners on shore. No report respecting •
mutiny had reached the Colonial-office. He believed that
the account' which gave rise to his noble friend's question
were greatly exaggerated, awl that the chaplain had been
imposed on by the statements of the convicts. There bad
been some thought of sending • eeial commissioner out
to inquire, but that had been abandoned. A distinguished
'officer of engineers was going out as governor, and he had
promised thoroughly to investigate the matter. The office
was now waiting for his report.
GRAND JURIES (IRELAND).
In answer to Mr. Sta.uvss,
Mr. CARDWELL stated that it was sot intended to in-
troduce any grand Jeri bill for Ireland during the present
, swim.

THE RED RWER

Sir L PALK aall7ti the Under Secretary for the
Colonies whether any steps had been takeil by her Majesty's
=meat to open the territory on the Red River and the
bewail, in British North Anwritu, to colonisation
in pursuance of the recommendation of the select committee
ei MU.

Mr. FORTESCUE sali it was not no ouy to open up a
aim 'nips like that of the Red River settlement. The
drat thing to be done was to effect a treader from the Hud-
son's Bay Company. A bill was in preparation, and would
be brought in when the negotiations with Use Hudson's Ray
Company had been completed. It was rather a difficult
matter to arrange, but most probably a bill would be brought
in before the close of the eessiou.
DURHAM ENDOWMENTS.

Mr. TENWILFIES;k;ithe Secretary of State for the
Home Department whether the attention of her Majesty's
government had been turned to the endowments in the
Ms& of the University of Durham, end the educational
results, shown by a return reoently presented to this house ;
sad whether it was intended to take any steps in oon-
ftrattivE said be believed his right hon. Mead the
wry for the Home Department had taken SOON Map
is the matter. What they were be did not know, but he
would answer for himself to-morrow (this day).

THE LATE HARVEST.
On the order for committee of supply,
Mr. CAIRO rose pursuant to notice to can the attention
of the holm to the serum. deficiency of the late harvest, and
the consequent necessity for iocreaaed economy in public ex-
penditure. Within the last Nix months more corn had been
imported than In the ten years between 1820 cad 1830, and
each was the socertainedshundatice of corn abroad that coo
ground existed for apprehending but that the supply would
be quite adequate to the demand in this country. We had
paid for corn from the United States this year mearlytwenty
times as much as last year, or in the mpg's* from various
what-producing countries, 12,200,0001. in excess of what
was pad last year. The season of difficulty wood sacs
pass over, because other countries had not suffered is the
same manner as we had ourselves. The cost of the bread
food of the country was this year sixteen millions more than
it wee in 1839.01), but the circusseaseees of the (*witty were
sow Ivey different from what they were during the previous
ieIIiVIIIIIOII.IIIII. Having maid to all these circumdences
be thoughts pester reduction thee that proposed ought to
be mule Is the public expenditure. and he besought the
house sot to pm one ilea of the .Bastewhich was not
is itself quite iodispemble.