The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-31 00:00:00

as those taxes increased must the expense of collection in- t
crease.
COL DUNNE totally denied that the hon. gentleman
had any right to complain, and contended tla e, on the
contrary, he and other members had a right to complain
of the course that had been taken by the right hon. gen-
tleman.
DISMISSAL OF IRISH POOR-LAW COMMIS-
SIONERS.
Mr. H. BLAND begged to call attention to the circum-
stances under which the reduction of officers acting
under the statutes for the administration of the poor-law
in Ireland had taken place. In the month of June
last the then Secretary for Ireland gave a pledge to
the house that he would make inquiries as to the
reductions that could be made in the poor-law esta-
blishment in Ireland. On that inquiry being made, he
gave a further pledge that certain reductions should take
place, and he (Mr. Bland) now begged to submit to the
house that the reductions proposed were not the most eco-
mical, and were not for the benefit of the establishment.
They bora a religious complexion, and that was calculated
to do considerable injury in Ireland. They,should bear in
mind that nearly all the recipients of relief in Ireland were
of the Catholic creed, and yet out of seven Roman Catholic
administrative officers, five were to be reduced, leaving
only at the most two _Roman Catholic officers, while eleven
officers, independent of the two ex officio commissioners,
were Protestants. The present staff consisted of a chief
.commissioner, two commissioners, a secretary, an assistant
secretary, and sixteen inspectors, and instead of reducing
one of the three commissioners, it was proposed to dismiss
the secretary and assistant secretary, and five out of the
sixteen inspectors ; four out of the five who got notice of
dismissal being Roman Catholics. The right hon. baronet
the late Secretary for -Ireland had stated that the dismis-
sals were to take place from amongst the juniors on the
list, and that no distinction was to be made on account of
religion, but it appeared from a return which he (Mr.
Bland) had obtained of the dates of the appointment of
those officers that such statement was unfounded. Instead
of the juniors being selected for dismissal, there were eight
inspectors all junior to Roman Catholics that were to be
dismissed. (Hear.) It therefore appeared that a return
received from an office with which the right hon. baronet
was connected contradicted a statement which the right
hon. baronet had made to that house. (Hoar.)
' Dr. BRADY also complained that four of the five Roman
Catholic inspectors should have been selected for dismissal,
thus leaving only one Roman Catholic out of the eleven in-
spectors. He hoped the present Chief Secretary would not
follow in the steps of his predecessor, because the appoint-
ments of the right hon. baronet bore the stamp of the
most enlarged bigotry. Under the Medioal Charities Act
the department in Dublin Castle absorbed 7,0001. a year
for carrying out the act, while the medical officers ap-
pointed under it received only 401. a year each, or (allow-
ing three visits to each patient) one penny and one-eighth
of a farthing for each visit or attendance. (Hear.)
Mr. BALL was quite sure that the gentleman at the
head of the Poor-law Department in Ireland, Mr. Power,
was not influenced by any sort of sectarian feeling in the
recommendations he had made, but he (Mr. Ball) greatly
regretted that the right hon. gentleman the late Secretary
for Ireland had not thought of the political aspect of the
question, and the effect which such reductions would pro-
duce in Ireland. He thought it much more important that
one of the commission should be a Roman Catholic than
any of the inspectors, as the absence of any member of
that Church exposed the commission to a certain degree
of suspicion.
Mr. OSBORNE said it had been truly stated that the
reduction was not a voluntary act on the part of the com-
mission; it had been made when the estimates were framed
last year. It appeared that by reducing the first-class of
inspectors, a saving of 1,2001. a year would be effected on
each ; whilst by making reductions in the second-class, the
saving would be only 6001. Consequently, in the first in-
stance the board of commissioners decided that the reduc-
tions should be made in the first-class, which contained 8
gentlemen, of the highest character for efficiency in the
performance of their duties. It was, perhaps, unfortunate
that so many reductions should have been made in this class
as it had given rise to great misconception. The commis-
sioners, however, made the reductions which they felt to
be most proper, and left it to public opinion and to Parlia-
ment to vindicate the course they had taken. Of the 8 in-
spectors in the first-class, 5 were to be reduced, includ-
ing the secretary to the board, Mr. Hanley. In all there
were to be eight reductions, five of the parties being Ro-
man Catholics and three Protestants, besides the assistant-
secretary, the auditor, and the architect, who were all Pro-
testants. Altogether six Protestants would he reduced
and five Roman Catholics, supposing the arrangements pro-
posed to be carried out. No one had imputed to the com-
missioners that they were influenced by sectarian motives
in the exercise of their duties, and in this case it was un-
doubted that they had been actuated by none but the
purest intentions.
Sir J. PAXTON wished to make some suggestions re-
lative to the erection of new works at Aldershott. At
present there were but from 300 to 400 huts constructed,
and there were 800 more to be constructed. He considered
the design to be defective, as about double the quantity
of boards necessary was put on them. The roofing was
bad, and the water, from the boards giving way, would
certainly penetrate into the huts. As soon as the dry wea-
ther set in he thought it likely the roofs would all crack,
and the huts would require some other covering beyond the
roof. Had Government consulted any carpenter in a coun-
try village, he would have shown them how to make a bet-
ter. The ventilation was very defective, the windows
being placed four feet from the ground. He considered the
double boarding and roof boarding of no use. It was a
great pity that the Board of Ordnance had not had one hut
made in perfect condition, to serve as a model for the con-
tractors. Had this been done, he believed half the ex-
pense of raising them would have been saved. Consider-
ing the large quantity of timber to be used in them, he
thought sufficient time for deliberation had not been
given, only three days being allowed for sending in the
estimates. As there wore to be solid wooden foundations
put in, they could not be finished under three months.
He would suggest that the boarding should be single
rather than double, which would conduce both to
the health of the soldiers and the saving of expense.
But he thought huts for 20,000 men were rataoh more
than enough ; it would be far better to have 5,000 men
under tents, en order that the troops might be properly in-
structed in pitching tents and the other duties of the en-
campment.
Colonel KNOX had received a letter from Sir Frederick
Smith, who was charged with the erection of the buildings
at Aldershott. It stated that the intensity of the frost at
the end of February and beginning of March prevented the
use of either concrete or thick brick work for the founda-
tions, and they had no option but to proceed and lay the
sleepers in the ground. The huts raised since wore all on
concrete and brick foundations; those built before would
be underpinned and made good as the season advanced.
He differed from the hon. baronet the member for Coven-
try as to the ventilation, inasmuch as there were two shaft
ventilators in each. He would suggest that the roofs
should be covered with felt, which would be warm in
winter and' keep the sun from them in summer.
Mr. MONSELL said, with reference to the suggestions
for keeping a considerable proportion of the men under
tents, he had to inform the hon. member and the house
that it would be unfortunately necessary to encamp the
troops not only during the summer but the winter months,
from the deficiency of barrack accommodation; and there-
fore it would be absolutely necessary to have huts for the
whole number. With regard to the timber used, nine-tenths
of it was Christiania deal. The Surveyor of the Ord-
nance, who had examined the progress of the works, stated
that they were in a most satisfactory condition, and highly
creditable to the contractors. It had been determined
that the roofs should be covered with asphalte and felt, so
that it might be hoped they would be thoroughly protected
from the weather.
Mr. JOHN M'GREGOR thought it most unsatisfactory
• that the house should now be called upon to adjourn for a
period of seventeen days, looking to the extremely critical
state of affairs, to the anxious expectations as to the
Vienna Conferences and their uncertain issue, to the grow-
ing agitation and discontent of the public mind, and to the
high price of food in the principal towns. They were left
in the most complete ignorance and mystery as to the in-
tentions of the Government with respect to the mode in
which they intended to levy taxes to provide for their
reckless and extravagant expenditure. They had now the
most complimentary Treasury bench ever known ; every-
thing was done in the best manner ; it was impossible for
them to blunder ; yet the country, and Europe in general,
he believed, were of opinion that they bad done every-
thing ill. Government had taken on themselves, he would
not say a criminal, but a vast responsibility, and he must
protest against their adjourning without being placed in
possession of the budget, in the name of the house and the
country.
Sir J. SHELLEY wished to bring under the notice of
the Secretary of State for the Home Department a case
which had appeared in the newspapers under the heading
of " Alleged death from police neglect in the Charing-
cross Hospital." It appeared from the report of an inquest
held on a man named Thomas Gooch, that he left home
one Saturday night, perfectly sober, and stating his inten-
tion to return soon. Nothing was heard of him, however,
by his family, but in the course of the night he was found
in a court in the Haymarket with a wound on his head.
He was then taken to the Vine-street police station, where
he was said to have been 11 hours in a cell without bed-
ding, covering, food, or attention. At the end of that time
he was in such a state that a medical officer who then saw
him immediately ordered him to be taken to the Charing-
cross Hospital. Soon after his arrival there he died.
It appeared from the evidence given at the inquest, that
his stomach contained neither food nor liquor, and the
jury returned a verdict imputing neglect to the police.
Ho thought that his right hon. friend ought to make
some inquiry into the qircumstances of the case ; and he
also wished to call his attention to the circumstance that
all persons brought into the police station, without discri-
mination or classification, were consigned to the same kind
of cells, and that they are not furnished with any descrip-
tion of bedding or covering, but contained nothing but a
hard bench. Ho certainly thought a different arrangement
ought to be made. (Hear, hear.)
Sir G. GREY would inquire into the state of the cells.
He had no doubt that inquiry had already been made into
the case which had been referred to, but as no notice of
the question had been given lie was at present unprepared
to enter into any details with respect to it.
Mr. FREWEN wished to know whether the Govern-
ment had taken, or intended to take, any stops for the ap-
pointment of a new chairman of ways and means, as he
understood that they had lost their former chairman ?
Mr. CRAUFURD wished to know whether it was cor-
rect, as had been stated in the newspapers, that the Hon.
James Kenneth Howard had been appointed to succeed
Mr. Kennedy as Commissioner of Woods and Forests ?
Captain BOLDERO, reverting to the subject of the en-
campment at Aldershott, suggested that the huts employed
there should be such as the troops' could themselves erect
and take down. It was also desirable that the, troops en-
camped there should be taught to sap and mine, make fas-
eines and gabions, bake their own broad, kill their own
meat, and do all those many things which were of the
highest utility to an army engaged in the field, but of
which ninety-nine out of one hundred of the troops who
had gone to the Crimea were ignorant.
Lord PALMERSTON said that the appointment of a new
chairman of ways and means would be moved when the
house met after the Easter holidays. It was quite true
that the llon. James Kenueth Howard was to receive the
appointment to the vacant commissionerehip of the Woods
and Forests.
Mr. CRAUFURD said that he should in that case call
the attention of the house to this appointment soon after
the recess.

MAYNOOTFI COLLEGE.
Mr. SPOONER gavo notice that on Tuesday, May 1,
he should move for a select committee to consider the acts
in reLtion to the college of Mayuootb.

THE BALLOT.
Mr. WILLIAMS gave notice on behalf of the hon.
member for Bristol (Mr. H. Berkeley), that soon after the
Easter recess that hon. member would call the attention
of the house to the subject of the ballot.

NEWSPAPERS.
Mr. COWAN gave notice that in the committee upon
he Newspaper Stamp Bill he would move amendments