The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-25 00:00:00

WATER SUPPLY BILL.

The Earl of SHAFTESBURY trusted that this Bill
would not preclude the introduction of some other mea-
sure, having for its object the supply of purer water to
the metropolis.

The Earl of DERBY said the only alternative was to
pass or reject the present Bill. He admitted the subject
had not been fully considered, but still the only coarse
left open to the Government, was to propose the pre-
sent measure or postpone legislation. It the measure
were rejected for another year, most likely the public
would be found in the same disadvantageous position
in which they were at present. But thero was
undoubtedly this merit in the Bill, that it pro-
vided a purer supply of water to the people of the
metropolis than was at this moment within their reach.
Lord CAMPBELL expressed a hope that the Govern-
ment would apply their attention to the general subject
of a water supply to the public. The subject had hi-
therto been much neglected, but he did not charge that
neglect on one Government more then another. He
should much like to see measures of this kind originated
in their Lordships' House.
The Bill was then read a second time.

On the motion of Lord COLCHESTER, the Thames
Embankment Bill was read a second time.

The Earl of DONOUGIIMORE presented a petition
from Dr. De Ryshere, complaining of the manner in
which his estate was sold in the Irish Encumbered Es-
tates Court, and moved for a return of the petition, affi-
davits, orders, rental, and particulars of sale, and all other
documents recorded in the Irish Encumbered Estates
Courts relating to the sale of the estate of Dr. D 3 By-
shere. The petition prayed.that the ease might be re-
ferred to a Select Committee of their Lordships' House.
Their Lordships than adjourned.
ELE

CTION INTELLIGENCE.
KING'S LYNN.
Lord Stanley, son of the Premier, and Under-Secre-
Affairs, has issued the following ad-
dtarreys;,f!_r Foreign
"The approaching dissolution of Parliament induces
me again co address you, and I do so the rather, because
duties connected with the office which I hold will render
it impossible for me, go long as the House of Commons
continues its sittings, to solicit your votes in person.
" Chosen by you for the discharge of an important
trust, at a time ~hen neither personally nor politically
had I the honour to be known to any single member of
your constituency, I cannot but remember with feelings
of more than ordinary gratitude the unusual and per-
sonally unmarited confidence which you reposed in me
on that occasion. I hope that in the course of a brief
Parliamentary career I have done nothing to prove my-
self unworthy of such confidence; and it would be to ma
a source of deep regret if a connexion formed under cir-
cumstances so flattering, should be dissolved on a farther
acquaintance. From my side, at least, the separation
will not come.

" But it is not of merely personal matters that I desire
to speak. The state of public affairs is critical; and it is
incumbent upcn you not to bo misled by any misrepre-
seutations9oncerning it.

"A period of nearly six years has now gone by since
the great Conservative party of England was first divided
me hostile sections, by a diffdrence arising on both
sides out of honourable feelings, yet singularly lament-
able in its results. Daring the greater part of this in-
terval the Government of the country has been entrusted
to:an Administration formeston the narrowest basis and un-
supported by the confidence of the people. The want of ad-
ministrative energy displayed by the late Cabinet, though
due in some measure to the circumstances in which they
were placed, has materially retarded the progress of pub-
lic business, and left to their successors a legacy of unac-
complishedreforms. That greater evils did not followfrom
the absence of vigorous and popular Government, is at-
tributable mainly to the interposition of Parliament,
and to the agency of an Opposition at once forbearing
and vigilant. The accession of the present Ministry to
office, occurring at a moment when such an event was
least expected, has been caused by no struggle on their
part for the possession of power, but solely by the in-
ternal weakness and disorganization of their opponents.
Already, in the face of a threatened agitation and a
hostile House of Commons, they have carried through
measures, in every department of public business, the
necessity of which had long been severely felt, and the
utility of which is generally recognised.
"Law has been amended; the defence of the country
provided for; on one great and growing colony repre-
sentative institutions have been conferred; and another
has at last been permitted to enjoy the benefit of a
constitution long promised and vexatiously delayed.
These acts, not in themselves unimportant, are an ear-
nest of what may hereafter be expected from their au-
thors, when the expressed confidence of the country
shall have given them a more secure position, and a wide
scope for action. It is as a supporter and a subordinate
member of this Administration that I now ask your
suffrages.
The designs of the Government will be more fitly
explained in the course of the impending elections, by
the responsible advisers of the Crown. But it may not
be irrelevant here to call your attention to one or two of
the principal questions which during the last three
years have divided the opinions of Parliament.
"The late Prime Minister, at the commencement of
the present session, propounded a scheme intended to
subvert that systeni of national representation which he
himself inaugurated at the passing of the first Reform
Bill. His proposition, condemned by the public voice,
has fallen with its originator. But it is unquestionable that
some inequalities and abuses exist in the distribution of
electoral privileges; and where these can be rectified,
or where an increase of population or of intelligence
renders the actual franchise inadequate to the wants of
the people, I cannot believe that the cause of the consti-
tution is bound np with the maintenance of a system im-
perfect in its details. To questions of this nature, how-
ever, not involving organic changes in the constitution,
I do not ascribe that degree of importance which is
sometimes given them. I believe that the House of
Commons, as at present constituted, represents with
tolerable accuracy the wants and feelings of every class;
and I know that, practically, it opens to talent in every
rank of life the path of distinction in the service of the
State. These advantages are not secured to an equal
extent by any other legislative assembly now existing in
the world.
of,"A measure was introduced in the session of 1851
,
y persons conscientiously held to be a violation
4`°ngious liberty, for which, nevertheless, I felt it my
Inat, rote. I did so because I thought that the as-
neesv ,17 of titular rank in this country, by the nomi-
wise r...2t foreign sovereign, could not be other-
ttexetir_rded than as an encroachment on the
on the
of. the Crown, and as an aggression
aggression loetionality of England. Against this
the only foe:pretest was required, and I supported
ofit
naa
ent
ecti
body in a lass. ',retest which it seemed possible to em-
to titeestit I thought then, and I still continue
and nner in which that law was framed
aeyaterniespo_ansible.
animosity soein_n_bappily calculated to excite reli-
gious
• t another. i''° array one portion of the empire
against
are alone this result the framers of the Act
in question
nnhkter,
partially 'l' the present Government has
already beentaneed in Parliament. It is,
I think,
unquestionable, 6an unduly bY the operation of the
tariff of 184
been throwge proportion of the public
burdens has
the the
• • Pon the land. Such
was certainly
v the oo °t Sir Robert Peel,
who, in repealing
which tril;laws, proposed cora-
pensating measures,
successors. ale not been carried
into effect by his
of foreign corn, With regard to a tax on
the importationtheannot consider it as
b'ectior able
in principle more J
t large. But itin
n any other impost
falling on the public 4-
of the - lineations of taxa-
tion, especially, the: feeling„a .01 in Poeple is to be eon-
sidered; and I have nohesit tt
saying
that
reneer the imp° • .
believe
that feeling to be such as to anion of any
protective duty impossible.
" It is to economy in the national expenditure, and
• that the 're-
vision of the national taxation,farmers of Eng-
land must look for the amelioration of their present
condition.
fed as briefly as
"I have now, gentlemen, stated, of thecould,
my views on the most important questions day,
If you approve of those views, and if you believe
thatl
shall, to the utmost of my ability, continue honestlydo
to
have laid
defend the political prinbiples which I wn
it is for you to put in braids the men/215 carrying