The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-10 00:00:00

,0 that measure.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved the Order of the
Day for taking into consideration the Lords' amend-
ments to the Jamaica Bill. He would state now
generally that he proposed to agree to all the amend-
ments made by their Lordships except one, and that
was merely of a formal nature, owing to a blunder that
was made in the House of Lords.—( Hear, hear.) The
chief alteration was the omission of the first clause, and
it was unnecessary for him to state to the House the argu-
ments upon which that omission was founded. It certainly
did deprive the Bill of a great deal of its power and utility
but it was far better to send the Bill as it was to the
Governor than to send no Bill at all. Another altera-
tion provided that two months should pass after the
meeting of the House of Assembly before the Gover-
nor should have the power to continue any Bills that
were about to expire. The first amendment to
which he had alluded, was of the following nature.
The preamble recited that whereas the altered
state of society consequent upon' the Abolition
of Slavery in Jamaica, required the enactment of
certain measures ; and whereas, the House of Assembly,
by an address, &c.—and so the preamble went on, but
by the amendment made by the House of Lords
the first part of the preamble, excluded the word Ja.
maica ; and it did not appear to what island the Bil
alluded—a mode of proceeding which it was quite neces
sary to correct.—(Hear, and a laugh.) He proposed,
therefore, the introduction of the words, " the Island
of Jamaica."
The other amendments were then agreed to.
Sir ROBERT PEEL said the amendments made to
the Bill restored it to very much the form which be
proposed should be adopted. Ile rose, however, more
for the purpose of expressing his earnest hope that the
House of Assembly of Jamaica would justify the con-
fidence which was now placed in it by the general sense
of Parliament, and that they would realise the expecta-
tions that were entertained that they would not only re-
sume their functions but that they would proceed in that
spirit and temper which would at the same time raise
the Assembly of Jamaica in public estimation in that
country, and show them that the intention of
suspending the Constitution and abolishing their Legis-
lative functions, were not justified by the result. That
was the advice which he (Sir R. Peel) would give the
Assembly of Jamaica, and he trusted that it would be
received by that House in"a proper spirit.—(Hear.)
RIOTS AT BIRMINGHAM.
Sir R. PEEL wished to know from the Noble Lord
what was the number of the men belonging to the
metropolitan police force which had been sent down to
Birmingham. In doing so he would earnestly recom-
mend the utmost caution to the Noble Lord in em-
ploying that force against mobs in any other town. Con-
sidering the high character and efficiency of the body,
he trusted that in employing them in future, the greatest
caution would be taken not to compromise that cha-
racter.—( Hear, hear.)
Lord J. RUSSELL said the question put by the
Right Hon. Bart. rendered it necessary for him to state
the circumstances of the case. What had taken place
was nothing very different from what had taken place in
different parts of the country during the last three
years. The Mayor of Birmingham, accompanied by
two other Magistrates of the town, came to London
expressly to make application to the Home-office for
assistance. They informed him (Lord J. Russell) that as-
semblies of a tumultuous nature were in the habit
of being held every night, and that they had not a suffi-
cient police force to arrest the personsguilty of disorder.
They said they had taken measures to organize such a
force, but as it was not ready they could not call upon
the military to act without a civil force. In com-
pliance with the demand a force of sixty men was sent
down along with the applicants—they, in answer to It!s
question, saying they were perfectly satisfied with the mi-
litary force. It appeared afterwards that on arriving at
Birmingham the Magistrates thought proper unnlF-
diately to arrest certain persons then tumultuous!):
assembled at a place called the Bull-ring- He would
not give any opinion upon the law of the case, as that