The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-13 00:00:00

DELHI PRIZE MONEY.

Colonel SMYTH asked the Secretary of State for War
the cause of the delay in the payment of prize money for
the capture of Delhi to the troops engaged in that service ?
Sir G. C. LEWIS replied that he had no special control
in his department over this distribution of pr ze money, but
he understood there had been no unnecessary delay.
ENGLISH AND IRISH CHANCERY COURTS,
Mr. LONOFIELD asked the Attorney-General when it
was likely that the English and Irish Courts of Law and
Chancery Commissioners would make their report, and
what had caused the delay in their so doing ?
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL replied that the inquiry
was a very large and laborious one, and considering the
avocations of the commissioners he did not think any unne-
cessary delay had taken place. He could not state the
exact time when the report would be ready, but there
would be no unnecessary delay.
PROMOTION OF CRIMEAN COLONELS.

General LINDSAY asked the Secretary of State for War
if it was true, as reported in a military journal, that he had
recently decided to make no alteration either in the position
Or prospects of the officers promoted to the rank of colonel
for distinguished service in the field during the Crimean
war, and who had been deprived of their relative rotation
in the list through the action of the warrant of 1858 ?
Sir G. C. LEWIS explained that the course adopted had
been in accordance with the report of the committee ap-
pointed to inquire into the matter, and to report thereon.
The gallant gentleman, it was true, who was a member of
the committee, had objected to that report ; but the War-
office was of opinion that the course now adopted could not
be departed from with advantage.

TICKETS-OF-LEAVE-THE CONVICT
REDPATH.

Mr. BUTLER asked the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, when it would be convenient to present
to the house the return ordered by the; house on L3d July,
1862, relative to ticket-of-leave prisoners : and, whether he
would object to lay upon the table a list of the cases in
which the conditions of the ticket-of-leave had been dis-
pensed with, and the grounds for dispensing with such
conditions ? He also wished to know whether the convict
Redpath had been set at liberty, and could consequently
return to this country ?
Sir G. GREY replied that the return had already been
laid on the table. As many of the licences were revoked for
bad conduct, he did not see that any good could arise from
furnishing the information specified in the second ques-
tion. The convict Redpa h had been sent out under a
sentence of transportation for life before the passing of the
Penal Servitude Act. He was sent out in August, 1858,
to Western Australia, and had since received a colonial
ticket of leave. The Colonial authorities had no power
to permit him to return to this country; indeed, he could
only return on receiving a free pardon from the Crown,
which, he might add, he was not very likely to receive.

INDIA.
Mr. LIDDELL asked the Secretary of State for India
whether there was any objection to lay upon the table a
copy of a memorandum of observations on the Administra-
tion of India, presented by Lord Canning before his depar-
ture by Dinker Rao, member of Council ?
Sir C. WOOD was not aware that such a memorandum
was in existence, bat would enquire.

ARMY ESTIMATES.
In reply to a question,

Sir G. LEWIS said these estimates would be in the
hands of hon. members early next week.

FEES ON PRIVATE BILLS.
In reply to Colonel W. PATTEN,
Mr. M. GIBSON intimated that he should to-night or
to-morrow move the appointment of a committee to report
on these fees, and if it was possible to modify them.
ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN (IRELAND) BILL.
This bill, on the motion of Sir R. PEEL, was read a
second time, after a short discussion.
DRAINAGE OF LAND (IRELAND) BILL.
The house then went into committee on this bill:

After some amendments the various clauses (except 55)
were agreed to, the house then resumed.

UNION RELIEF AID ACT.(1862) CONTINUANCE

BILL.

Mr. VILLIERS—I have to move for leave to introduce
a bill for the purpose of continuing the operation of the act
that was passed last session, to enable boards of guardians
in certain unions to meet the very serious charge of the re-
lief of the poor, occasioned by the war in America, which
precluded the raw material from the cotton districts, and
which had rendered nearly half a million of our fellow-
countrymen destitute. The bill to which I refer was in-
troduced under some apprehension that under the ordinary
operation of the poor law there would not be adequate
means to provide for the relief of the distress that was ex-
pected to occur. The house is aware that the first resource
in all cases of distress is the property of the district where
the poor are settled, and from which they cannot be re-
moved—a resource which was generally available, and but
seldom found to be inadequate. It was not alleged in this
case that the great and wealthy counties in which the dis-
tress prevailed were unable or unwilling to discharge their
liability of maintaining the poor. This was not alleged on
the part of those who represented the interests of those
countries. On the contrary, those who represented them
emphatically declared that it was the desire of the proprie-
tors, owners, and occupiers of property in Lancashire to
maintain the poor that might be cast upon the rates on that
occasion. And I think, generally speaking, it was the opi-
nion of this house that it was desirable not to depart from
the ancient policy of local liability to meet local wants, and
that the administration of relief should be left in local
hands. There were some opinions entertained by individuals
that the maintenance of the poor of Lancashire should be
charged upon the Consolidated Fund; but that proposition
never received any form or shape in which it could be
submitted to this house, and I don't think it has been
put forward yet in a manner to require attention.
(Hear.) What I understood was the demand last ses-
sion, when the matter was brought before the house,
was that there should be some amendment or modification
of the Poor Law as it existed, in order to enable the guar-
dians to feel certain of possessing the means of relieving
this vast mass of poverty that was unfortunately daily in-
creasing, and, if possible, mitigate the pressure upon the
rates of those who were required to contribute. The house
probably remembers that this subject received considerable
discussion last session, and that there was much observa-
tion made upon the scale of rating for the poor in Lanca-
shire, and it ,vas said that the rating was extremely low,
compared with that of other parts of the country. It seemed
to be very far below vhat was known to exist in other
places, the almost normal state of rating, in which probably
exceeded what would be attained under the greatest state
of distress in Lancashire. It was not denied that this was
the case, and that the rating appeared to be very low, and
that there were many places in the country where for many
years the rates had been higher. But it was said then, and
with great truth, that any rate in the pound which might
be levied for the support of the poor was not a fair crite-
rion of the condition of the people in the distressed districts.
These districts are peculiar. They are unlike many other
manufacturing districts, where other businesses are con-
ducted, and where there is a greater variety of property,
and unlike great and populous towns which are not depen-
dent upon manufacturers, and yet have a large number of
poor to maintain. The peculiarity of what are called the
\
cotton districts is, that they have sprung up with the cot.
ton trade itself ; and these districts, whether we view them
with respect to the condition of the people or the value of the
prosperous, displaying
property,
t,
really do vary with the state of the trade ; and it
afterwards
sutierinthge,
be quite possible at one time to observe these districts
almost beyond wealth and capacity to bear bur-
dens any other districts in the country; and
very shortly
andsam eindciastraitcltes moafy be observed
ctfl'iarbgeesdetphraetsoserddinarily attached to incapable of
beyond all
other places. (Hear, hear.) The consequence is that, though
meeting
ge
you see a very large estimate of rateable property in these
districts, and you imagine there is much wealth from the
population and the property, yet when the trade becomes
much depressed and stagnant there is a large portion of the
property which is available for rating that becomes utterly
valueless. The fear is that by rigorously enforcing - the law
in collecting the rates you may press into the ranks of the
, destitute people who have contributed to the rates before
and who may have been in a good condition, and thereby