The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-02-24 00:00:00

P.4ltLi.l3lEN7'.-IRY INTELLIGENCE.
_ --wow-
110CSE OP LORDS, WIDY ['DAY, Fon. 23.
. •
Mt. Barton, from the Trinity house, rresented Accounts of the
receipts and appropriation of all ru-p:us rates of piltesge from the
Trinity House during the year IBX..
The House then adjourned.
/10USE OF COMMONS, WIDNZIDAT. Fon. 23.
' The requisite number of Members being present. the Speaker
took the Chair at the usual hour, and the 'louse proceeded to
business.
PRIVATE BILLS.
Glom the presentation of a petition by Mr. BYNG, for the con.
structionof a new Collier Dock at Poplar,
Ile. GRENFFLL rose.' He said, that in consequence of the
fettling cohtbited last night upon the subject of initiate Bills. he
thought it right that shareholders in the new Dock Company should
be suprised, (114 t they art not entitled to vo:e on the second reading
or the Bill, nor on any other stage of the business, having a direct
interest in the measure. Ile was sorry that the lion. Member for
Aberdeen (Mr. Horne) did not appear in his place, as he wished
se inquire whether that Ron. Gentleman meant to make any speci-
fic motion on the manner in which private Bills were disposed oh
It that lion. Member did not mean to move upon the subject, he
t'3le. Gerstell) gave notice, that he would tiring the matter before
• the House at an early period. His motion should be founded upon
the principle, that any Member having a direct interest in any pro
sate Bill, was Ipso /n(l3 disqualified from voting upon that Bill.
Mr. BROr<ll-IAII thought, Mit the principle to which his
- Honourable Friend attuned, was one of very great public import-
ance. For his part, he had made it nettle never to rote at all upon
a ty.prigate Bill. and had never deviated from this resolution except
4.• An the ease of the Highgate Charity. In this case he Lod inquired
into the facts. Re discovered it to be a gross job, and therefore
.. Is die had 'given it his opporitior. In this case he had acted, he
V 'll.ttolit, consistently, and with a proper regard to the interest
4. ',Pith he had always felt upon the great subject of education. lie
Shand that the Bill upon the-Highgate Charity was get up by some
interested pensns, some attorneys, who were actuated not by a lore
elf piety, but a defile for the payment of their own bills ; he had
Margie taken a pert on the discussion of this private Bill, and this
a.' how could Honourable Members consistent come
Y Ali cote for private Bills di which they were interested? Still
0
Elea
eotly could they go canvassing. begging, and entreat-
y Vag Hoefottrable Members. who knew nothing of the circumstances,
ilt go come down and vote for those Bills ; yet this was the practice of
0 Inetesueceeding Session. A Member was solicited for his vote and
i Illnseest, meaning-his own corrupt vote, and thecorrupt votes of as
v toil others as he could influence. It was in this view of the gross
jobbing carried on in the passing of rivet° Bills, that ha (Mr.
ofirometem) conscientiously reeolved to take no part in such pro-
ceedings. ilia Honourable Friend, however, would to do hint the
. soofiet to beer testimony that he had before stood with him in the
o: breach, contending far the honour cf the House and the interest of
. 4.ithe country. He did so on the question respecting the Highgate
~.''s barley, but •he was then stopped by theoender feeling of the
Louse. The manner In which private Bills were disposed of,
was tong a matter of notoriety to the public—it was most
thigraceful to the Honk, but it had never been properly ex-
posed. He would how tell an anecdote, which might serve
In some small degree to illustrate it. Before he had the ho.
, nous of sitting in that 'louse, he happened to be retained as
Counsel against a Bill which had been referred to a Committee.
'Fens Committee resembled the Grenville Committee ; it consisted
of twenty gentlemen. who sat every day, from noon until the sitting
of the House, end sometimes an hour afterwards. They took the
eviderre, heard Counsel on both sides, listened when objections
were taken, and replied to, and altogether investigated the return-
staeca of the case, with its much zeal and ability as he had ever
seen any gentle:nen bring to the decision of any subject, however
important.. When the investigation terminated, the party for
whom he (Mr. Brougham) was concerned had sixteen votes out of
tiorty, and when the votes were about to be taken, an Honourable
and Learned Friend of his came down with twenty Members, who
114.1 never heard one word of the investigation, and of course they
outvoted the sixteen who hal taken so much pains to decide upon
i:s merits. This case was rather too bad, and, when it was stated
•to the House, they threw out the Bill. Really it was monstrous
. but gentlemen to vote away themselves, and canvas others to vote
away, the property of others, without any examination. Gentlemen
would shudder to vote away one shilling, as jurors, without ex-
' " itioifilag the case, and yet they vote away the rights and interests of
. individuals in Committees, where they act as jurors, without any
' cmaideration. As to the principle of disqualifying gentlemen who
were interested in private bills, lie tonfesos, he was not quite antis.
Gel. The Members of that House represented their own interests,
and the interests of all other s; heowas not sure, therefore,
that a personal interest shoul'eTdrs).rq'tialify diem front votiing, but
it appeared'quite certain that they had no right, as honest men, or
t street men, to canvass for the votes of others. Some Honoutable
. ' Menibers must vote on private business, but they should examine
the pros and cons, and not decide because A B asked them to vote
one way, and Cil the other way. This certainly;was the most un-
just manner in which any business could be disposed of. Private
' interests were important, but was pubb.e interest nothing, and the
same principle applied to it. Why should the Lords of the Ad.
reiralty vote for the motion of an Ilonounthie Frriend of his, to
diminish the number. of Admiralty Lords ? Why should those
' who fattened on the public purse, vote for motions of public saving
.- an.l economy ? Why should those who bad suns or relatives em.
ployed in the collection of the salt tax, vote for the remission of the
ILI!: tax, though this tax was likely to he remitted in spite of them ?
But they opposed it for this plain reason, that it took the salt out
Sitio porridge. (Heat, hear, and a laugh.) He hoped the House
would take some reps to prevent Members iron voting on private
ILUs in the manner they had been in the halm of doing heretofore.
Mr. BYNG said a few words, in so low a tone that they were not
herd in the gallery.
Mr. BARING thought the subj-et which had been alluded to
o:•e of the utmost importance, not only in relation to the public in-
terest, but as respects the character of that House. It was no-
. puisible to observe the manner in ethic)) private Bills partial that
I km:se. without being shucked. lie (Mr. Baring) considered it a
. ouyonoeful exhibition in a civilized country. Private Bills were
. a/loom or never disposed of upon their merits, but according to
'the influence of individuals who happened to be interested in them.
As his lion. and Learned Friend (Mr. Brougham) had truly
enough observed, if lion. Steinberg were asked, under other cir.
cionstancee, to summit measures of which they were ignorant--if
an lion. Gentleman said to them, a case of mine is coming before
a jury, upon which you are summoned, give me your vote—if such
an implication was made. the impulse of every Member must be to
kick that man downstairs, who could make s request so insulting
to the honour of a gentleman ; yet this was the daily practice of
:Members of that House, with respect to private Bills. lie
(Mr. Baring) could not say with his lion. and Learned Friend,
that he had never voted upon any prisate Bill ; but he could say,
corocientioutdy, that he had never Noted upon a private Bill with.
cur examining into it, and inquiring into its merits ; if he had he
• root have felt dissatisfied with liiinst.lf for having given a dis-
iWeit vote. But if this wri urged by any Hon. Gentleman, the
ready answer was, if you don't conic down and support your
trterids, those at the wino side wiU, and the decision will be equally
t hjectionable. He knew it was ditficult to suggest any mode by
yOtich this grievance could be redressed; but if there was not a
' tots by which it could be redressed, for his part he thought it
' hette: that the disposal of private business should be taken alto-
gettor irons the House of Commons, and lodged in any oiler tri-
bunal, however objectionable. it might be referred to a Cont.•nottee, COO6lit:A:ed like Election Committees, with power to strike
I oF at each aide a certain number of 31 embers, who should be known
to be interested. It would be well too if lion. Gentlemen could be
Yawed into hearing the evidence and arguments : this would
es/abider:ll)ly diminish the evil complained of. If all the eugges-
-130111 which should be given on this subject were found unavailing,
It would be better to give up the jurisdiction altogether. He hoped,
however, that the Right nom Gentlemen opposite would devise
soTe plan to render this leroccodiag unnecessary.
' Colonel DAVIES said, the Members of that Houk were often
directly interested in measures which interested their constituents
' alto. If the Members were disqualified from voting on such a
; Bill, the constituents would lose their voice. It was a question, he
thought, whether the House had any power to prevent a Member'
from voting on a print Bill ? There was some Resolution on the
books of this House to this effect, but were there not Resolutions
' who'll the House bad reason to he ashamed of ? Was there not
the Itembition upon the Middlesex Election, which was expunged
from the Journals by a subsequent vote of the House ? If the
suggestion of the lion Gentleman was acted upon, it would em.
poem. Gentleswea se fp-op with -poreire -the labours of a Commit •
tee by depriving it of those Member who were informed upon the
' isiiiinots before it ; from this a great dettiment to the public busi-
ness must arise. instead of any advantage.
she. CALCIL AFT thought the greatest difficulty must be in
folding out those who were directly interested in private Bills. He
`could not go so far as some Hon. Gentlemen who had preceded
—him, although lie bad taken an active pert in the passing of many
private Bills. and knew how such business was ordinarily trans.
acted. fife hid seldom head complaints made against private BPI*
which passed Parliament, far Gentlemen should recollect that
when a Bill passes through a Committee, it is returned again to
the Dour?, and may be overruled. If any gross injustice took place
in Committees, it was competent for any Honourable Member to I
more the House for the repeal of the Bill. lie really did not see
the good wif.cti would arise from destroying that confidence which
hod always, and must always exist between individuate, who were
acquainted with each other's principles and sentiments. If the
House of Commons was too venal and corrupt to be allowed &jun,_
dieting; over private Bills, why then, in God's name, let the letn.
I bersbe sent about their business altogether. (lieu, hear.) If an
lionouraLle bleu:her gives his confidence to another Honourable
:`,l%eber, upon whose understanding and integrity be may repose,
by as doing he does not beds), his duty to the public not to mdi.
vitioals •If the 'louse is unable to dectdejuatly upon private mea-
sures, what must he expo:ted from them upon public measures,
where the temptation wits infinitely greaten? Whatever may be the
constitution of the House of Commons, or however objectionable
the sets of majorities, he thought it had integrity and good sense
enough at least to be able to decide upon turnpiko and road
)tuba.
Mr. BRIGHT sail, that when it was admitted that Hun. Gen.
dernal voted on Committees, without hearing the nature of the
tokeefirr. undo discussion, it was evidence enough for hint that
Josue' was not done. l'he lion. Member (Mr. Caleraft) had
&sea, why not move that the Bill should be repealed if it has been
muted w \pall! y t That lion. Gentleman had dune so oa one oc-
casion 'Onset( In his long parliamentary career ; but did he con-
slat/ tke was; eapeaac when an Act art' Parlitnicat passed, of