The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-03 00:00:00

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SUN OFFICE, 'Seven o'clock.

CHESTER RACES.
(THIS DAY,)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
DBE STAKES.

Noisy
Lord Alfred
Lady Tatton :

Six ran. Won by balf a length.
MARQUIS 'OF WESTMINSTER'S PLATE.
Jack Sheppard '
Orinocco

Five ran.

Delaine filly waled over.
SELLING STAKES.

Jenny Wren
Punch Box

1

Six ran

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(THIS EVENING.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took Ms.seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH called the attention
of their lordships to the notuicatiouskfrom the War De-
partment which had recently appeiired in the Gazette,
which stated that it was her Majesty's pleasure to give
the officers of the Indian army the same rank and pre-
cedents as the officers in her Majesty's army in every
other part of the world. He wished, however, to ask
whether the position the Indian officers were
henceforward to claim related solely to their
position in society ? for, if so, it seemed to him
that the order ought more properly to have been
communicated by the Lord Chamberlain than through
the War Department." Although this order, if it re-
ferred to the military position of. the officers generally,
Must be a matter of great gratification to the Indian
army, he was afraid it would tend to disappoint the hopes
of these officers, as they entertained a reasonable
expectation that her Majesty's Ministers would have
gone further, by giving them the same brevet rank as the
officers of her Majesty's army. He thought that there
ought to be a perfect reciprocity of rights existing be-
tween the officers of the Indian army and her Ma-
jesty's army. There was a great and growing feeling
of dissatisfaction throughout the country, with respect
to the conduct of the war. That feeling was gradually
assuming features of a very alarming character, and he
feared that unless the Government were determined to
place the best men that were to be found in the com-
mand of all situations in the army and on the staff,
he apprehended that there would arise in this country a
feeling in respect to persons in authority which would
not only be fatal, as it must be, to the Government itself,
but which would go much further, and would endanger
the general construction of the •Gefernment, by which
authority bad hitherto been maintained in this country.
The noble earl then alluded to the memorandum dated
the 30th of April, relating -to the enlistment of
the irmy, and asked whether her Majesty's
Government had any intention of giving the same amount
of bounty as had been offered under a former arrange-
ment ? He had further been inforined that steps had
been taken to engage the services of. gentleman to com-
mand the 1,000 navvies, who, it was reported, were en-
gaged to work in the trenches. The salary it was pro-
posed to give this gentleman-2,0001—was more than
the pay of a lieutenant-general, and was greater than the
whole anion nt of the Quartermaster-General's department,
Lord PANMURE said that the memorandum
which the noble earl first referred to went no further in
its spirit or letter than the conferring upon officers of
the Indian army a social position which, though hitherto
generally recognised, was involved in Boole doubt arid
uncertainty. No one could rejoice more than he did at the
mark of favour conferred by her Majesty upon the officers
of the Indian army, nor could any one be more unwilling
to say anything that could in the slightest degree
detract from the efficiency of that service. He would,
however, take that opportunity of saying that it
was his opinion that the services and distinction
of the Indian army had been sometimes very
unfairly put forward in such a way as to throw
into the shade the services of her Majesty's army. He
did not think that there ought to- be any distinction
made between the two services in respect to 'Beers of
equal merit. In respect to the noble earn:
question as to the bounty to be given to those enlisting
under the order of the 30th April, it was not at present
the intention of her Majesty's Government to increase
that bounty. As long as the wants of the army were
being supplied, he thought it was his duty to economise
the public money as much as possible. If, however, it
were deemed necessary to offer a greater bounty, as
further inducement for the enlistment of recruits, the
Government would of course increase the sum. The
noble lord was understooo to say that. the corps of
navvies engaged in the trenches were to be placed under
the command of General Jones.

(LEFT SPEAKI- NG.)

-----
relief
aged, the sick, and the infirni,the able-bodied pauper
being in no way entitled to parochial relief. The act
of 1845 in no way interfered with this limitation; and it
left the pauper exactly where he wag, so-far a, the defi-
nition " pauper" was concerned. But it established an
entirely new system of parochial relief in Scotland. It
established parochial boards, parochial rates, and gave
power to build workhouses. It empowered the board
to appoint au inspector to visit thepaupers twice a-year,
aid to take care that they should be provided for ac-
cording to the intention of the act. It also required
that those inspectors should report to the local board,
which should in turn report to the central authorities.
In short, it afforded ample machinery for benefiting
paupers, if that machinery were properly put in motion.
But it went still further. It took away from the pauper
the right of appeal he had to a superior court of law, and
it interposed a central authority between the pauper and
his legal appeal, and no pauper could appeal to the conrt
against the parochial authorities unless he bad a certifi-
cate signed by that central authority affirming that the
pauper bad a good case of appeal ; and it was conse-
quently obvious that the real court of appeal was
placed in the hands of the central authority. This
central authority to which he alluded was called
the Board of Supervision ; and if he could prove that
this board had not acted up to its duty, and that the
pauper had been defrauded of his just right and privilege,
and that he was in fact in a worse position than he was
previous to the passing of the act of '45 ; if he could
prove that the board had, so tar at least as the majority
of the papula,ion was concerned, entirely failed in its
objects ; if he could prove that paupers had nu ade-
quate means of redress against injustice on the
part of local authorities, and that no machinery
whatever was in force or was ever attempted to be in-
stituted locally to see that the act was properly carried
into operation, or to render the pauper secure in his abi-
lities under the law, if could show that the pauper had
been treated with absolute contempt, that his complaints
bad been totally disregarded ; if he could show that at
the eleventh hour, when serious consequences had en-
sued, owing to no interference having been taken in due
time, and that circumstances of a different character
bad compelled an inquiry to be at least made ;
if be could . prove that the reports made to that
board were full of misrepresentations, which in-
duced the Government to be!ieve that the act was in
full operation, and that facts he,d been suppressed
which, if stated, would have proved totally the contrary
impression. If he could prove all this he thought he should
succeed in making out a good case for the interference
of the house, for its interference in a cause of humanity
to protect the pauper from a state of things which was
disgraceful in a civilised country. (Hear, hear.)
Now, some of these facts he could prove from
returns made to the house and others upon the authority
of individuals whose integrity and veracity were beyond
questiob. Confining himself, now, exclusively to the
Highlands of Scotland, he might state to the house
that according to a return which he held in his
band, in the case of three towns, between the years
1847 and 1851 no, local inspection or local inquiry what-
ever into the working of the poor-law was made. (Hear).
In the absence of that local inspection, what mode of
appeal was left open to the pauper. It was, of course,
never intended to leave him entirely in the hands
of the local board, because the contemplation of the act
was to protect the pauper against injustice on the part
of local authorities who were ratepayers, and conse-
quently were obviously interested in getting off as
cheaply as possible. Now, if, for instance, a pauper
was denied relief altogether, what appeal had he against
that denial ? His only appeal was to the nearest sheriff,
and as the house must be aware in those mountainous
and scattered districts, the nearest sheriff was removed
for considerable distances ; to reach which would neces-
sitate not only much .time and physical exertion, but in
many cases some expehie. The hon. gentleman read an
extract from a letter, in which it was stated that in
one instance a pauper had to go no less than 200
miles to reach the nearest sheriff to lay his appeal before
him. Again, supposing a pauper bad been ad-
mitted to be entitled to parochial relief, but in
lieu of that a penny a week was given to him, the only
means of redress open to him, was an appeal to the
Court of Supervision, at Edinburgh. But before he
could make that appeal, he must apply to the local
inspector for a printed paper, to fill up with
the particulars of his case, and that printed
paper bail afterwards to be forwarded to the board, if it
ever was forwarded thither, through the same inspector;
so that the unfortunate pauper had no security that his
conplaint would ever reach the proper quarter. In fact
as he had before said, the pauper in Scotland had no
means of immediate appeal. Having now, be
thought, established that there was no supervision
of the poor in that country ; that there was
no local inspection, and that the pauper bad not an
avai'able means of appeal. ,He would next call the at-
tention of the house to several special cases—(hear,
hear) which would illustrate in detail what he
bad stated generally. It was scarcely usual to
bring forward special cases under such circumstances,
but he trusted the house would receive those hp should
lay before them as the beat indications of the mode in
which the poor-law was administered in Scotland. The
hon. gentleman then proceeded to quote the special cases
he bad referred to, and was

[LEFT SPEAKING.]

ARMY BEFORE SRBASTOPOL COll-
- DAY.)