The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-06 00:00:00

thiERIAL PARLIAMENT

LT.OUSE OF LORDS-- Last Evening,
I:b.e LORD CHANCELLOR ti;ok his ECat upon tha woolliack

at five o'cioce.
RAILWAYS IN THE METROPOLIS.
Earl PO WIS seeing the noble earl, the President of
the Council, in his place, begged to ask whether ho could
stale the course the Government intended to pursue with
respect to the projected railways within the metropolis. Ile
thought it was absolutely necessary that some control
shone(' be exercised over the numberless projects about to be
brought under their consideration.
Earl GRANVILLE said the question was certainly one
of great importance, and it had frequently been under the
consideration of the Government during the recess. They
had arrived at the conclusion that the best way of dealing
with the subj,ct would be found in the recommendation of
the committee which was appointed by their lordships last
year. One of those recommendations was that the Board of
Trade should report on the subject, which had been d one, and
another was that a committee should be appointed by Par-
liament to further consider the subject. In accordance
with that recommendation it was proposed to move
for a committee in the other house, and in the event
of its being done, then he proposed to move for a similar
committee in their lordships' house, and supposing there
should be no objection, the two committees would act as
one, and by that means the subject would receive the best
and most careful consideration.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION.
The Archbishop of YORK moved for copies of two re-
ports of committees of the Ecclesiastical Commission. His
object was to remove from their lordships' mind the Op-
pression that the Ecclesiastical Commission was receiving
much and doing little.
The Earl of RAVENSWORTH complained that the
right rev. prelate had altogether omitted all reference to a
large item set down as the cost of management, which he
believed amounted to something little short of £50,000 per
annum. He thought the time had now arrived when it 1
should be fully considered whether the Ecclesiastical Com- I
mission, as at present constructed, was the best body for
dealing with such large stems of money as came under their
control.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY defended the
committee from the charge of extravagance. There was
the cost of three large establighraents inaluded in the charge
for management, and he did not think their lordships
would consider £50,000 too much, when it was considered
that they had to deal with property valued at £30,000,000.
The Earl of POW IS objected to the large amount charged
for management.
The Bishop of LONDON said the ecclesiastical members
of the Commission were not responsible for the financial
arrangements of the Commission. They were con-
ducted by that portion of it which was presided over
by the noble earl (Chichester), who he saw in his place,
which was termed the " estates committee."
The Earl of CHICHESTER defended the course taken
by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
The Bishop of Si. ASAPH said that the house was not
sufficiently aware of the complicated nature of the property
which came into the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commis-
sioners. This entailed heavy expenses, which were, how-
ever, in great part incurred only once, and ceased when the
arrangements of the property became simplified. He be-
lieved that the disappointment which had been felt in re-
ference to the Ecclesiastical Commission arose from the
exaggerated extectations which had been entertained in
respect to it. He believed that the entire ecclesiastical re-
venues of the country were inadequatefor the payment of the
clergy as they ought to be paid. Nothing satisfactory could
be accomplished without the aid of private liberality,
In reply to Lord CHELMSFORD,
The LORD CHANCELLOR promised within a few
days to lay on the table returns showing the working of
the Act for the sale of the poor livings in the gift of the
Lord Chancellor, He had been fortunate enough to sell
nearly 40 livings. But in consequence of some clauses in
the original bill, which enabled him to augment small liv-
ings, having bean rejected, he had been unable to sell a single
living under £l2O a year in value. The prices obtained for
the livings sold had exceeded his most sanguine expecta-
tions. Twenty or thirty more sales were in progress, and,
upon the whole, ho considered the working of the act had
been most satisfactory.
The motion was then agreed to, and the house adjourned
at a quarter past six o'clock.