The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-13 00:00:00

HOLLAND.-THE INUNDATIONS.

ROTTERDAM, March 10.—Accounts from the Lower
and Upper Rhine, and from the province of North Bra-
bant, continue to be of the most distressing description.
We hear of houses undermined and beaten down by the
inundating waters, while others more capable of re-
sisting their violence, stand with their roofs peering
above the surrounding flood. In one instance, in a
village near Dusseldorf, the inhabitants had
T
e ottohetthiomsee
to effect their escape before the waters dashed in,
sweeping all before them. Many pooreraesatuunredserwtehree
circumstances
men thoughsescdta,apnecde,s
tnei nothtonly
haveso
place m abonefye
n, happily,e
safety
was in the higher
storeys of their dwellings ; and many instances occurred
of people being obliged to seek safety on the roofs of
their cottages, whither no assistance could be conveyed
to them, in consequence of the enormous masses of ice
dashing about on the surface of the encroaching waters.
The village of Veenendaal has suffered severely ; the in-
habitants have left—i.e., have been driven from—their
homes en mane, and may be seen bringing with them
their children, their furniture, and what provisions they
could save, seeking shelter in the neighbouring villages.
The church, which is situated on a rising ground, is al-
most the only building uninjured by the flood, and it is
consequently filled with poor creatures shut ont from
any other shelter.
The King and the Minister of the Interior have al-
ready visited this scene of desolation, and his Majesty
left in the hands of the authorities a thousand florins for
the immediate relief of the homeless inhabitants of
Veenendaal. Collections are being made throughout the
whole country for the same benevolent purpose, and as
there are many Dutchmen prospering in England, it may
be that they also will lend a helping hand in aiding their
distressed fellow-countrymen in this their hour of urgent
need.
In North Brabant the flood is not so general, but it
has broken down the dykes, so that the damage caused
Will prove of a Will charttoter.
-

lAIPERI A L PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.)

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

Lord MONTEAGLE moved for certain stamp re
turns.

The Duke of ARGYLL presented a petition praying
for the closing of public houses during the whole of
Sunday. The noble lord also presented a petition for
the prohibition of distillation from grain.
THE CHARGE OF LIGHT CAVALRY AT
BA L AKLAVA.

The Earl of LIJCAN said that he was anxious to
preface the motion that he was about to make by read-
ing to the house two letters. The first letter was
from the Adjutant-General, in answer to his (the
Earl of Lucan s) application upon Tuesday last for an
investigation of the circumstances of his case, and a re-
consideration of the decision of the General Command-
ing-in-Chief with reference to his (the noble earl's) re-
quest for a court-martial. That letter was as follows :
" Horse Guards, March 12.
"My Lord,—l have had the honour to lay before the
General Commanding-in-Chief your lordship's letter of the
sth inst., in which you express with increased anxiety
your earnest desire, in consequence of the perusal of Field-
Marshal Lord Raglan's letter to the Duke of Newcastle of
the 16th of December, 1851, that your lordship's whole
conduct at Balaklava on the 25th of October last may be
investigated by a court-martial.
" I am desired to assure your lordship that the General
Commanding-in-Chief has given to your case the most
careful and deliberate consideration, and his lordship sees
no grounds for altering the decision which has been already
communicated to your lordship ; that he cannot recom-
mend that your conduct on the 25th of October should be
investigated by a court-martial.
" I have the honour to be, my lord,

" Your lordship's most obedient humble servant,
" G. A. WETHERILL, Adjutant• General.
" Major-General Lord Lucan."
To which I have written this reply :
" Hanover-square, March 12.
"Sir,-1 have just had the honour of receiving your let-
ter, informing me that the General Commanding-in-Chief
adheres to his decision not to allow my conduct on the day
of the action of Balaklava, the 25th of October last, to be
investigated by a court-martial, as I so earnestly prayed.
" I vesture to remark that it is unprecedented that
charges so damaging to a general officer, imputing to him,
as they do, inattention to one order, misconception of a
second, and incapacity to execute Om instructions he had
received, should be brought against him by his Com-
mander-in-Chief without an opportunity of meeting them
being afforded to him. •
" These charges are now for the first time brought under
my notice, four months after the event, and areof so grave
a character that, if well-founded, they should have incapa-
citated me from being continued for an hour longer in a
command for which I had shown myself so wholly unfitted.
" Sir, a great wrong is thus done me, as I confidently
affirm that, had the court-martial been conceded to me, I
should have had no difficulty in establishing the injustice
of the charges contained in Lord Raglan's letter of the 14th
of December, by the testimony of the most distinguished
officers, not only of our own, but also of the French army.
" I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
" LUCAN, Major-General.
" The Adjutant-General."

Under those circumstances, he (the Earl of Lucan) would
move that the papers he had referred to be laid by her
Majesty's Government on the table of the house.

Lord PANMURE said that the proceeding was most
informal, inasmuch as the papers in question were not
in possession of her Majesty's Government. He had,
however, no hesitation in stating that the Government
concurred in the decision of the Commander-in-Chief,
and were ready to justify the decision he had come to,
if their lordships should think this a proper time for
discussing the matter.
Lord LUCAN said, that being most anxious to afford
the noble baron such an opportunity, he now gave notice
that, on this day week, he would move for copies of the
report made by Lord Raglan of the battle of Balaklava,
and also of his (Lord Lucan's) report of the same cir-
cumstance.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said the course of
the noble lord was very irregular. The letter he had
rem!, he presumed, was an official letter, and for a peer
to rise in his place and read such a communication, and
move that it be printed, was, as he had said before,
irregular, and he hoped it would not be drawn into a pre-
cedent.
The subject then dropped.

NVYNDHAINN DIVORCE BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILL.
The report of the amendments were read.
THE TEA DUTIES SISPENSION BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
MUTINY BILL.
This bill was read a second time.

SECRETARIES AND UNDER-SECRETARIES

OF STATE BILL.

Earl GRANVILLE briefly moved the second reading
of this bill.

Earl GREY said he understood that the bill was ren-
dered necessary by the recent consolidation of the old
War-offiee and the new department of the Secretary of
State for War. He could not say that he did not enter-
tain serious doubts whether, even as a temporary measure,
that was, as a whole, the best measure which could be
adopted, nor that it did not fall extremely short of the
general reform of the military departments which he was
convinced was necessary, and the urgent necessity of which
was more and more proved by every day's experience, and
by the new disclosures of mismanagement eehich had ex-
isted. But although, as he said, that measure could not
be considered es effecting all the necessary general
improvements in the military departments, still he
could not brit feel that it was not proposed with that
view by the Government. Shortly after the appointm^nt
of the noble lord the Secretary of State for War tl his
present office, ho said, among other things, that the atten-
tion of her Majesty's Government should be called to the
subject of the constitution of the military departments.
The Minister of War had promise], shortly after his ap-
pointment to office, to consider the means of consolidating,
under one Minister, the whole of the civil administration ;
bat at the same time, lie state? that he could not turn his
attention to that subject until he had directed it to
others of a more pressing nature, affecting our army in the
Crimea, and necessary for repairing the evils existing thine.
He (Earl Grey) thought this perfectly fair and reasonable,
though, as he had stated before, he thought that the at-
tention of the Minister of War would lave been directed
to something more useful than the measure which was now
before them ; still he had no fault to find, and he waited
with patience for that larger measure which ho had pro-
mised, and ho had ne doubt that he would, in due time,
either propose it to that house, if Parliamentary iaterfer-
once was necessary, or advise her Majesty to adopt it of
herself. He wished to call the attention of the house to
this circumstance. If it was only that the present con-
stitution of the military departments was unsatisfactory
—if the Government stated that they intended at an
early period to bring forward some plan for putting
these departments on a more satisfactory footing, then it
appeared to him that it was highly inexpedient, while the
departments continued in their present state, that any mea-
sure of a larger character should be adopted, involving a
large expenditure, which had no reference to the imme-
diate wants of the country. With regard to the expendi-
ture necessary for carrying on the war, no one objected to
her Majesty's Government, though imperfectly constituted,
proposing whatever might be necessary ; but when they
came to largo and extensive plans, involving a very heavy
expenditure, plans which were not to take effect during
the present war, hut had reference to the permanent wants
of the country, the case seemed to him greatly altered ;
and regarding plans of that kind, he could not but say that
he thought, in the present state of the departments, that
a largo expenditure of that kind ought to be avoided.
It was on this account that ho observed with no small
degree of alarm the votes which had been proposed in the
Ordnance estimates in the other House of Parliament,
which, of course, being public documents, he was at
liberty to comment upon in that house. The alarm had
been increased by the manner in which, as ho had bees
iuformod, those votes had been explained. He found that
it was proposed to take a vote of mere than a million
sterling for new works. This was in addition to the sum of
560,000 i. voted last year, s• that altogether the increase in
the two years would amount to nearly 1,600,0001. ; and
these sums, large as they were, did not represent the whole
expense, because a very considerable number of works
which were to be undertaken would not be finished with
the grants proposed to be taken ; therefore the sum in-
volved was ono of very considerable importance. They
were informed that these votes were with a view to the
permanent defence of the country —(hear, hear)—not for
providing for any particular danger in ono year rather than
in another, but for enabling the country to maintain a
proper position of independence. The house would see,
therefore, that they came strictly within the works which,
in his opinion, it was inexpedient, at that moment, to
proceed with. It appeared further that the great bulk
of those works consisted of new barracks and new fortifica-
tions. It had been explained that it was intended to re-
move or put an end, in a great measure, to the present sys-
tem of dividing the troops into comparatively small bodies,
and to erect barracks capable of containing largo numbers
of men. He entirely approved of that design. (Hear.)
It was an alteration in the present system which he had
long thought ought to be adopted. He knew it was inju-
rious to the army to employ troops as an armed police—
(hear, hear)—to divide them into comparatively small de-
tachments. He also thought that, in point of policy, it
was highly injudicious that the preservation of the public
peace should be confided to the army. They knew that,
ix the metropolis, where the police had been established
about 26 years, though we had gone through times of no
ordinary difficulty, in no ono instance had it been necessary
to employ ;the troops against a mob. In former times
that necessity was continually occurring ; but since the
establishment of the metropolitan police, except in some
few cases in which it had been thought proper to have the
troops ready to support the police, in ne one instance had
it been necessaary to use a troop of dragoons to restore
order. Ho thought that the troops ought to be kept only
in situations where, in cases of serious disorder, they could
be called into operation. The railways now presented such
convenience for rapidly concentrating a large body of
troops, in case of emergency, that no difficulty could arise.
But this was not the time for erecting new barracks, which
were not likely to he finished until the present war ended.
They were providing temporary barracks for 50,000 men,
and he could not help thinking that this accommodation,
in addition to that already existing, weuld be amply suffi-
cient to moot the immediate exigencies of the case. The
other object of the votes was to make new fortifications
for the protection of our coasts. No doubt that, in itself,
was a proper object to attend to. (Rear, hear.) No man
could doubt that it was advisable to provide against
any small expedition that might make a descent upon
our coasts; but if we were to point out a time less
necessary than another for such works, it was the pre-
sent, because we were in strict alliance with ono
of the two great maritime powers ; and as to Russia,
with which we were at war, her ports were so pecu-
liarly situated, that we had the means of completely pre-
venting any attack by her. He thought, moreover, that
our experience before Sebastopol had shown how much
might be done, in the way of defence, by mere earthworks.
At the present moment, Sebastopol was infinitely stronger
than, when our operations first commenced. He was afraid
that Russia had shown a superiority to ourselves in many
points of military organisation. He could not deny that she
had not only a much larger army, but that it seemed that
that army was better managed, and better handled, in
proportion to its size, than our own ; and that, with all
our wealth and progress in civilisation, we had reason to
klusix A the Luau= m which we 1144 been outstripped by

comparatively barbarian forces. He believed that if an exi•
gency arose, in a few days, nay in a few hours, the hands
which executed our great railways would be able to put our
maritime towns in such a state of defence, and raise up
earthworks of such a character as would make the works
at Sebastopol appear a mere joke. On those grounds then,
he maintained that these works were not urgently neces-
sary, and not being so, the argument which he submitted
was this, that it was injudicious toproceed with them in a
time of war, when the several departments of the Govern-
ment were necessarily occupied in making arrangements
for the active prosecution of the great war in which this
country was engaged. At such a time as this it was ut-
terly impossible that a great plan for the re-distribution of
the troops in peace, and for fortifying the coasts, could be
considered with that deliberation and care which ought to
be employed. There were a great many questions to be set-
tled, not only as to the most convenient places in which
accommodation could be provided for the troops, but as
to the science of fortification. Present experience had
proved that it would not do to follow the beaten tracks
without carefully inquiring what alterations en former
plans ought to be suggested by the progress of modern
science and modern inventions. He would say, therefore,
that even if these subjects had been properly con-
sidered by the authorities, it was not during war that they
could be satisfactorily dealt with. The Government had
determined to remedcl the civil departments of the army.
They had undertaken to do so in accordance with general
opinion from one end of the country to the other ; for it
tsar evident that sutler the existing organisation those
departments had not been well conducted, and that there
had been a want of judgintn', both in employing the money
which had been voted by Parlkruent from time to time in
k3spieg up these services which were to be employed in war
ant also in the application of those grants since the war,
broke out. He believed that a great pert of the mismanage- -
mant was particularly due to the Ordnance department.
He had no hesitation in saying that from what he knew of
the manner in which that department had been conducted,
under every successive Administration, during the peace up
to the present time, and that, more especially with re-
ference to the manner in which the grants during the 40
years of peace had been expended, there were the greatest
grounds for mistrust. With regard to the fortifica-
tions, it would ill become him, a non-professional man, to
express an opinion as to the works of that kind which had
been undertaken. But this he knew, that with respect to
many works which had been undertaken, he found a ge-
neral concurrence of opinion among men of science, that
those works had been injudiciously planned, and expen-
sively executed. He knew that some of the mistakes
pointed out had been the subject of derision to many fo-
reign engineers, and which a non-professional man could
easily perceive, when pointed out to him, though not
able himself to discover them. He would mention one
case which had been pointed out to him some time e
go.
He was looking at -no of-the new forts for the protection
of Plymouth. Looking to the inner mound, with its
large number of guns, it seemed to him to be a place of
great strength ; but a gentleman pointed out to him that,
though the battery looked very well, it had been the re-
mark of a foreign engiueer, that it wag a "regular shell
trap." It was placed immediately at:the foot of a preci-
pice of rock, so that every shot or shell, fired at that bat-
tery
,must strike it, or break down fragments of the
rock, and in a few minutes kill every man in the battery.
That was a battery erected within the last few years, and
in other works similar errors were to be detected. Then
they came to the case of the barracks. With regard to them,
every man might form an opinion, more so than in the
case of fortifications. He found that tho Cambridge bar-
racks were to be built at an expense of something more
than 37,0001., to accommodate 500 men and 44 horses,
which was at the rate of about 70/. per head, while a two
or three-roomed cottage could be built for that sum—(hear
hear)—and would certainly provide better accommodation'
for six men than was given to the soldiers in the barracks.
He found at Shoeburyness accommodation was to be pro-
vided fur field officers at an expense of not less than 1,20 W.
per man. A good farm house, for a whole family, could
be built for about 8001., or 52 per cent. less than a single
field officer's accommodation. But the accommodation
for our troops was both indifferent and costly. This
being so, was it expedient that we should incur further
expenses until the matter could be considered by authori-
ties competent to form a judgment ? At the present time co
confidence could be placed in the departments. There was
no Master-General of the Ordnance. The Minister of War
had said that all the various offices should be brought
under his own cognizance and control. The question was,
who was responsible ? Surely the war in which we were
now engaged was a sufficient load ; yet he was told it
would be necessary to add to the present weight upon the
public resources a sum not less than from 15,000,0001. to
20,000,000/. for the expenses of the current year. If the
wants of the country were as large as he believed them to
be, he thought they would be able to meet them ; but he
believed that, in public as in private life, borrowed money
was apt to be unwisely expended. Ho thought the esti-
mates laid before Parliament were characterised by reck-
lessness. Ho did not grudge anything necessary to carry
on the war vigorously, but he thought we were throwing
away money by thousands—nay, by hundreds of thou-
sands of pounds —unnecessarily. (Hear.) Ho thought
it was the fault of the Government to act too much upon
impulse, and it was upon that ground that he now objected
to the reckless erection of barracks. He reminded the
house of what occurred at the conclusion of the last 11"31',
when the barracks in this country were sold precipitately,
and he believed the same reaction would now take place if
this course were persevered in. He hoped it was not neces-
sary for him to apologise for bringing this subject forward.
Lord PANMUItE said the noble earl need not have made
any apology whatever for having introduced this subject.
He had listened to his address with that interest which he
always felt in everything that fell from his noble friend,
more especially because he believed that there was no indi-
vidual in that or the other House of Parliament who had
for so many years with so much zeal and assiduity, turned
his attention to the subject then before their lordships. lie
should pass at once to the measure before the house. The
principal part of the speech of his noble friend would be an-
swered by one short piece of information, namely, that Y% it.h
reference to the construction of either barracks or bul-
warks, all that could be suspended, till lie could lay before
their lordships the plans, had been directed to be sus-
pended. (Hear.) With reference to the several points
upon which his noble friend heel touched, ho could not
concur with him that he had condemned fairly the appli-
cation of the vast sums of money that had been voted by
the House of CoMmons. The fret was the fortifications
which we were about to erect for the defence of some of
ow- principal ports. Now, as to those fortifications, he
agree not aree with his noble friend that this was not the
time. (Hear, hear.) As his noble friend stated, the time
would come when a reaction would take place; but lie
(Lord Panniurc) considered, as far as that observation
went, that we were moving in a right direction ; and
he quite agreed, that it would rest upon any Govern-
ingnt who undertook it to be responsible that those
works were done in the most approved manner, ac-
cording to the newest and most approved principles,
and in the most economical manner to be effective. I
(Hear.) With reference to the barracks, his noble friend
thought the principle of collecting troops in one large bar-
' rack, instead of scattering them in smaller barracks over
the country, was objectionable. He (Lord Panmure) en-
tirely approved of the step wo were now taking, and he be-
lieved, if it had been taken some 10 or 15 years ago, we
should not now have to complain of the inadequacy of our
troops to undertake field operations, or to be so little ac-
customed, as they appeared to be, with the habits and
duties of a camp. 25,0001. did seem a large sum to be ex-
pended upon a barracks, but it was a barracks for 10,000
men. His noble friend said we had to rely entirely for
this information upon the Clerk to the Ordnance. He
(Lord Pannsure) had inquired, and be found that an engi-
neer officer, of very considerable experience and reputa-
tion, had been entrusted with a message to 13olgium to in-
spect a very large barracks there, with a view, before the
plans were adopted, to see all that had been done there.
Now, what were the objects of this barracks? It was to
concentrate 10,000 men on a particular point, at whieli
point opportunities would be afforded for the exercising of
that force, consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, in
all the operations of field exercise ; and seeing that the men
learnt the habits and duties of a camp, and giving that
large body of troops, during a time of peace, that prepara-
tion which would best adapt them for a time of war—(hear)
—that means might be adopted in this country for traiuing
our Men, without any one being able to point to those
faults which were recently pointed out. Those faults would
be remedied by the sad experience of the war ; but they
were faults which must not be allowed to occur again.
With reference to expenditure, he entirely concurred with
the noble earl that we ought to consult the skill of those
great contractors who had made their names famous. He
could not see himself why barracks were to be built by
military nations alone, and he had yet to learn that it was
either prudence or wisdom to retain a corps of military
labourers and bricklayers to do that which the people of
this country could do much better. With respect to the
Ordnance Department, it was not his intention to go into
that subject at the present time. All he wished to say was
this, that while ho had given orders upon the one hand
that no new works which could be avoided should be un-
dertaken at the present time, so, on the other, he hail en-
deavoured to be in a position—as he hoped ho should be in
a few days—of laying before the house the scanner in
which he proposed to alter the several establishments of
the army. (Ifear.) He proposed to deal largely with the
Ordnance Department. He proposed to unite all the se-
veral departments of the army under the superintendence
and management of a department of war, and he trusted
to lay before their lordships such a scheme as would be ef-
fectual for that purpose, though, perhaps,it would not go so
far as his noble friend (Earl Grey) thought it ought to go.
(Hear.) With reference to hut barracks, he believedreasons
had arisen to show there was not a necessity for quarter-
ing a large army in this country, as, for that purpose, we
had more barracks than we required • but we had a large
force of militia embodied in this country. It was true, we
had legal means of quartering them—we might quarter
them in billets ; but he did not know one more unpopular
act, or one more oppressive on the part of the Government
or the Parliament, than quartering in billets so large a
force. (Hear.) It was his object to relieve as much as
possible the people of this country from the present system
of billeting. At that moment there was a great body of
militiamen embodied in this country—there were 41,000
effective men embodied—out of whom 10,000 were in bar-
racks, and 34,000 were in quarters. It was for the pur-
pose of taking those men out of quarters that these hut
barracks were being erected, or quickly run up. He be-
lieved that they would be built in such a manner, and be
put into such a condition as that, with proper care being
taken of them, they would last for several years, but if they
should not be required, they might be disposed of in the
market with some advantage to the public service. He had
alluded to that point of his noble friend's speech, because
be wished to assure the public, on the one hand, that the
billeting s7stem would be as speedily as possible lessened;
and he wished to assure the officers of the militia, on the
other—who had the morality of their men at heart as much
as any officers of the regular regiments could have—that
their men would be as speedily released from their present
position as possible—namely, their being on billets. For
these observations he thought the house was indebted to
his noble friend (Earl Grey) for having brought this subject
before them. He would not follow him in the discussion
ou the financial condition of the country ; that would be
discussed on a future occasion. But he would repeat that
their lordships were under an obligation to the noble earl
for bringing the subject forward. (Hear.)
The Earl 'of MALMESBURY entirely agreed with
the intentions of her Majesty's Government in regard to
their crecting barracks at Aldershot for the purpose of
lodging the troops, because it was not sufficient to spend
money in the enlistment and drilling of the soldiers alone
if they did not give them every opportunity of being
brigaded and disciplined, and being looked after as a regu-
lar army.
Earl FITZ WILLIAM wished to know whether any in-
tention existed in the minds of the Government
trusted
it
would be desirable, during the peace which he
would soon be restored to thorn, l
to maintain a larger
esta-
blishment than they had had during the last long peace.
Earl GRANVILLE said it was tho intention of
Government at the close of the war to give a more mili-
tary character to this country, though it was somewhat
premature to answer such a question.
The Earl of ELLY.ANBOOP.Cia l lit year gh Imo

I manufacturing town would have been exposed to absolute
desolation if it had not received the assistance of the mill.
tarp. It would, therefore, be absolutely necessary, in
order to the withdrawing of the soldiers away from the
manufacturing districts, in which disturbances might take
place, that they should, either by arrangements with the
civil bodies who had the power of employing the troops,
or by legislation, have a uniform system of police capable
of protecting the public peace.
Lord PANINIURE was understood to say that, in col-
lecting the 10,000 troops at Aldershot, care would 13,i
taken that the large manufacturing towns should not be
without protection.
The Earl of ELLESMERE said the camp at Aldershot
had his entire approbation.
The bill was then read a second time.

Tlae Exchequer Bills (17,183,000/.) Bill was passes
through committee.
Their lordships then adjourned at five minutes past Z
o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY.
The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before four
o'clock.

NEW ME 'MEER.

Mr. J. FITZGERALD, thenew Solicitor-General
fir Ireland, took the oaths and his seat on his re-election
for Ennis.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The Barnet and Willesden Railway Bill and the Grand
Surrey Canal I3►ll were read a second time, and ordered
t) he committed.
Mr. C, LEGIT moved that it be an instruction to the
committee of selection, that they have power to add the
-members for South Cheshire to the committee on the
Liverpool Docks Bill, if they think fit.
Mr. EWART had been requested to second the mo-
tion. His own opinion was. that there ought to be no
local members in the committee, but the house having
I decided that the members for Liverpool should be on
the committee, it was only fair that Birkenhead, which
had a local interest in the bill, should be represented.
also.
Mr. BOUVERIE objected altogether to local mem•
hers being on committees, but the standing orders of
the house provided otherwise, and the standing orders
ought, therefore, to be adhered to. Cheshire, however,
could not be considered to be locally interested in this
bill, and he must oppose the motion.
The motion was then withdrawn.
PETITIONS.
Mr. THORNE LY presented a petition from the iron.
masters of South Staffordshire against certain provisions
in the new Public Health Bill.
Mr. SCHOLEFIELD presented a petition from the
letter-press printers of Birmingham in favour of the bill
for the repeal of the newspaper stamp.
Mr. S. FITZGERALD presented a petition from a
place in Wales, praying that no person might receive
an ecclesiastical appointment in Wales who was not ac-
quainted with the Welch language.
Mr. A. PELLATT presented a petition from South•
wark in favour of Polish nationality.
Mr. PHINN presented a similar petition from Bath.
Mr. L. HEYWORTH presented a large number of
petitions from various parts of the country, praying for
the total prohibition of the sale of intoxicating drinks
on Sundays.
Mr. COWAN presented a petition from the proprietor
of an Edinburgh newspaper against clause 5 of the
Newspaper Stamp Repeal Bill.
Mr. M. GIBSON presented petitions in favour of the
bill from Manchester and other places.
Mr. LAYARD presented a petition from Durham in
favour of the more vigorous prosecution of the war.
Mr. MIALL presented petitions from various Wes-
leyan bodies against the sale of intoxicating drinks on.
Sundays.
Mr. BROCKLEHURST presented a petition from
Macclesfield, very numerously signed, praying the re•
peal of the act of last session restricting the sale of
intoxicating liquors on Sundays.