The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-07 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

. SOUSE OF COMMONS—FEB. 6.
The SPMASEER took the Chair shortly before Four o'clock,
Mr. NVILSFIERE on his re-electiou for Yarmouth took the
oaths and his seat.
Mr. CRAVER from the Treasury presented papers.

Mr. WILLIAM GLADSTONEpresented a petition from Liver.
pool, in favour of the Small Debts' Bill.
Mr. J. JARVIS presented a petition, praying that the shorthand
writer and committee clerk who attended the Brighton Railway
Committee, have leave to attend and give evidence in a cause now
pending in the Court of Exchequer.

CORN-LAWS.
Mr. WALLACE—Sir, I beg leave, in presenting the first
public petition of the Session, to state that I preserve to myself
a right to represent the opinions of my constituents upon
every occasion which I think proper, and whenever they en-
trust me with the presentation of their petitions. Sir, I will not
exercise that right to-slay, because lam aware that it will be done
to.moirow, or soon. However, Sir, I will not, upon this occa-
sion, revive the old practice of merely stating the prayer of
the petition, for 1 have always considered it a very
bad one. I am very happy, Sir, to have the honour
of presenting petition No. 1, praying for the total repeal of the Corn-
laws. This petition, Sir, is from the Chamber of Commerce of Greea-
ock ; and for the benefit of English gentlemen I may state that it is the
largest sea-port town in Scotland. The first paragraph of this petition,
Sir, states that the effect of the Corn.laws is to inflict a
great injustice on the community in general, and tends to
reduce them to absolute want and pauperism.--(Hear, hear.)
The second paragraph states that there is a great deal too
little corn in the country, with plenty of spare manufactures
to send out in exchange, which they have not an oppor-
tunity of doing. The third paragraph states that the ex.
tent of their export trade has both diminished and is diminishing,
and that justice and policy demand that there should be an alteration
in
in the Corn-laws. The fourth paragraph should
be
British
dustry is injured and repressed by the effect of these laws, that the ma-
nufactures in other countries are increased and eneouraged, rm the
d
interests of the labouring classes of the community, by
the excessive
taxation on the manufacturing trade, is oppressed ; and that in point
of fact one of the most material matters for the consideration
of this Parliament, and of every national Parliaent that
takes care of the interests of the people, is the repeal of
laws, without which the people cannot properly bring
up or educate
their children in moral and religious habits. The fifth paragraph
states that these laws have the effect of unduly and unjustly increasing
the incomes of the landlords to the injury of other parties in the
community; and the concluding prayer is the entire repeal of the
Corn-laws.

PUBLIC PETITIONS.
Mr. HUMI3--As the question was likely to be discussed in a day
or two, how far the resolutions of last session, with respect to the
presentation of petitions should be rescinded, perhaps a better under-
standing would take place, if the discussion should come °. to.morrow,
rather than proceed with it to.day. The Honourable Member for
Sheffield, the Honourable Member for Finsbury, and many others
intended to bring the question forward, and he submitted whether it
would not be judicious to give a notice on the subject, in order that
Members might come prepared to have the matter affirmed or
rejected.
The SPEAKER had reason to believe that petitions upon the
subject would be presented, and it was desirable that the matter
should be brought under the consideration of the House as soon as
possible. The question might be raised upon the presentation of
a petition, when the House would have an opportunity of discussing
a matter of the greatest importance.
Mr. WARD said as he had been alluded to he begged to state
that he had not yet received a petition signed by 13,000 of his con.
stituents, in which they humbly prayed that their petitions
should be heard instead of being dismissed in a harsh and
hurried manner. That petition he hoped he would have an oppor.
tunity of presenting to the House to-morrow.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL proposed that the Hon. Member should
give notice that he intended to present the petition to-morrow.
CORN LAWS.
Mr. PINNEY Presented a petition from Brighton, praying for a
repeal of the Corn-laws.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL presented a petition against the
Corn-laws from Edinburgh. The petition emanated from a public
meeting held in that city, which was very numerously attended,
both by agriculturists and manufacturers, and was agreed to almost
unanimously. It was signed by the Lord Prevost on behalf of the
meeting. He entirely concurred is the sentiments expressed in the
petition, and cordially supported its prayer.
THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
Captain PECIIELL concurred in all that had fallen from the Hon.
Member for Greenock with respect to the practice of presenting pe-
titions. That Hon. Member had stated that his petition was one of
a most important character, and be (Captain Pechell) agreed with
him; but the petition which he (Captain redid!) had to present
was one of a very important character, and one which the amend.
ment of last night was intended to embrace, He wished to call
the attention of the Noble Secretary for the Home Department to
this petition, as one of the most cruel and severe cases which had come
before the House. It was the petition of a person named Seabright,
of Brighton, late a sergeant in the 10th Royal Hussars, who stated
that he had been a householder in the borough '23 years, and had
paid all his rates and taxes during that period—that during
the war he had served under Sir Ralph Abereromby
and the Duke of Wellington, and had been twice severely wounded,
and was afterwards discharged with a pension—that after thus
fighting the battles of his country, and retiring to enjoy the
rights of a British subject, lie found himself deprived of
the franchise, under the Plea of haying bean born in Germany
—that he deeply felt this mortification, and could not understand
why as he was called upon to se.'ve as constable, and to contribute
to the rates and taxes of the country, he should be considered unfit
to give a vote for a Member of Parliament, and he therefore

prayed the House to take the case into its serious cot, tiattur4u on.
He (Captain P.) thought that this man, after having ;erved eecs
try for twenty.three years, and retired with a pension for .his ,Beta. \tees,
ought no longer to be considered as an alien—it was hart. that Is this
man from the circumstance of his having been born in amrrnan.
after having served in the 10th Hussars with a German li as t
ficer
its head should be struck off the list of voters by the part r of thee
Hon. Gentlemen opposite. He wished to ask the Noble . L ord if:
some plan could not be adopted for mitigating the expense of these.
people being naturalized. It was a matter deserving the so. "ious
attention of the Noble Lord, that persons of this description,. A nsi-
matter
Jests of her Majesty, should not be deprived of their franeth -c.
This was a ease deserving the serious consideration of the How, ,
and he therefore moved that the petition be printed, and gays
notice that he intended on the 14th of February to bring the
p
before the House.
Mr. PALMER begged to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman, the-
President of the Board of Trade, if it would not be prudent that
some regulation should be entered into, for the purpcsc of re_
venting the overloading of ships in the timber trade from.
North America ? From the great destruction of property that had
taken place in this way during the last few years, it was indis •
pensably necessary that some rule should be adopted to prevent this
misfortune.
Mr. P. THOMSON replied that the Government would give to the
subject the best consideration in their power. The Hon. Gentleman,
however, doubtless was aware that the shipowners would entertain
great objections to any measure of the kind. But from all that he
(Mr. P. T.) had heard on the subject he believed It well deserving the
attention of the Government.
In answer to a question from an Hox.
Mr. P. THOMSON said that gentlemen had been appointed to in-
vestigate the causes of accidents by steam vessels—that they had not
yet made their report—but that when they did it should be laid be-
fore Parliament.