The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-18 00:00:00

and learned gentleman been postponed until the more op-
portune moment, which would have presented itself when
the commissioners had made their report. He maintained
that the conduct of the Government in the admin'stration
of the law relating to party processions in Ireland had been
strictly constitutional and entirely impartial. This he as-
sertedon the authority of the late Attorney-General for Ire-
land. The blame for what had occurred in Belfast did not
fairly attach to the Government, The fact was, the local
mag• tratee had entirely failed in their duty, and the Lord
Lieutenant of the county had himself declared, in the town
of Belfast, that if the mayor had remained at his post, and
the local magistrates had done their duty, the disturbances
would have been suppressed in a few hours. The right
hon, baronet also excused the absence of the Lord Lieute-
nant of Ireland, the Lord Chancellor, and himself from
the country at the time of the riots, and admitted that in
these circumstances General Sir G. Brown was the only
lord justice present, and that upon him alone devolved
the duty of issuing the commission of inquiry. So far as
the conduct of the commissioners was concerned, its pre-
fect impartiality and fairness had been testified in public
courtTh e true cause
Y a leading member
discord
of
that prevailedcorporationin of Belfast.thep..
ro
vince of Ulster was the religious animosity and intolerance
which pervaded the two
parties there, and to this it was
that he attributed the periodical ebullition which had
marked the recent history of Belfast. With regard to the
report of the commissioners, it would be laid upon the table
with the evidence in the course of a few days.
Lord C. HAMILTON denied that the north of Ireland
was the seat of religious discord, or that the same sectarian
dislike existed there as formerly. He charged the Govern-
ment with gross partiality in the administration of the
Party Processions Act, and asserted that 100 banners had
been carried by 100,000 men in Dublin on the occasion of
laying the foundation stone of the O'Connel monument,
and that the Government had not interfered, while if a
single banner were raised by half-a-dozen boys they would
be prosecuted forthwith.
Mr. AIW A-RON recommended the Government to legis-
late for Ireland as they would for an English county, and
to do away altogether with the vice-regal court.
Mr. WHITESIDE held that a more unconstitutional act
could not have been committed than for Sir G. Brown, or
any other single person, to assume an authority which did
not belong to the Sovereign herself. The proper course
would have been, after a certain time had elapsed and the
public excitement had abated, to issue a special commission
for the trial of the rioters, instead of which two sessions
were allowed to pass, and then a commission of inquiry was
sent down. He warned the Government how it continued
to rule Ireland in the interest of a clique, and continued to
excude the local gentry from all share in the administration
of justice. The country would not submit to such a system,
and, however popular the Premier might be, he might find
too late that a loyal and generous people would rise against
his authority and subvert it.

Sir G. GREY replied to the arguments of Mr. White-
side, and defended the conduct of the Irish Government
in the matter of the commission. He contended that simi-
lar commissions had been held in England, and that there
was nothing either illegal or unconstitutional in them.
With regard to the great procession in Dublin in August
last, he denied that the Executive had failed to do their
duty, as the banners used on that occasion were not of a
party character, but were trade or guild emblems, with
national and not political mottoes. He trusted that when
the report of the Belfast commissioners was laid upon the
table it would lead to some useful legislation which would
prevent a recurrence of those disgraceful proceedings by
which the peace had been broken several days in one of the
largest towns in Ireland.
Mr. MAGUIRE said there was no Irishman worthy of
the name who did not regard with horror and indignation
the abominable outbreak of ferocity and fury which had
paralysed the civil power in Belfast. The object of Sir
Hugh Cairns in bringing the subject under the notice of
the house was to break the full force of the censure which
he knew was about to fall upon his constituents.
Mr. HENNESSY ridiculed the idea that green banners
and harps without crowns were treasonable emblems, and
pointed to the fact that they formed portions of the deco-
rations of the very chamber in which they were then
assembled.

Mr. NEWDEGATE asked how it was that the report
of the commissioners had not been laid upon the table on
the first day of the session. The conclusion at which he
had arrived after hearing the debate was that the Party
Processions Act ought either to be enforced or repealed.
After some observations from Major Knox, Sir Henry
Bruce, and Sir P. O'Brien, the subject dropped.
A THREEPENNY POSTAGE-STAMP.

Mr. D. GRIFFITH asked the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer whether he saw any objection to allow a postage
stamp of the rate of 3d., which is now in use for certain
foreign and colonial postage, to be made applicable to the
internal postage of the country.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had
the pleasure of giving the hon. member an answer which,
he hoped, would meet his views in a great degree. He
would not enter into details, but he would say that the
.Post Office and the Treasury had under consideration an
alteration or modification of the present arrangement. A
scale of postage would be adopted which he thought would
confer considerable accommodation on the public, and
would include the change which the hon. member de-
sired. (Hear, hear.)

THE TERMINATION OF THE RECIPROCITY
TREATY.

Mr. WATKIN called attention to the correspondence
respecting the attack on St. Alban's, Vermont, and naval
force on the North American lakes, and moved an address
for copies of all papers in the possession of her Majesty's
Government respecting the " Reciprocity Treaty" and the
" Bonding Act," of dates subsequent to December, 1861.
He stated that the house was without information with
respect to these matters, which involved a trade of ten
millions sterling, and the right of fishing over 1,500 miles
of coast, and that it did seem that in a matter of such
gravity some information should be afforded. Last May it
was stated that there were negotiations proceeding with
reference to this treaty, although the discussions for its
abrogation had commenced in the United States so far
back as 1861. He wished to know whether any explana-
tion had been afforded by the American Ambassador with
respect to an intercepted letter, which stated that a Con-
federate agent had made an arrangement with a Federalist
of importance and position, under which the blockading
squadron was to be passed by five millions pounds of meat,
to be exchanged for five million pounds of cotton. If that
letter was genuine it would appear that, though we had
been rated for breaking the blockade, positively, under the
signature and sanction of President Lincoln, the blockade
Was to be broken and the Confederate army fed. If that
were not true, it ought not to have been published without
explanation. But if any information had been forwarded
by the American Minister, that information had been
withheld.

Mr. KINNAIRD hoped the hon. member would not press
the Government for the production of any papers which
might tend to disturb the good feeling which, on the
assurance of the noble lord at the head of the Government,
they knew now existed.

Mr. LAYARD assured the hon. member that there was
no correspondence to be produced, and that no notice had
been given to her Majesty's Government that the Recipro-
city Treaty was to be abrogated, though resolutions on the
subject had been submitted to Congress.
Mr. PEACOCK pointed out that no answer had been
given to the question as to whether the intercepted letter
was genuine. If such explanation was not given, he hoped
the hon. member would bring the matter forward in a
clear and definite manner on some other occasion.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the American Am-
bassador believed the letter to be genuine, but it did not
follow that what it contained was true.
The motion was then withdrawn, and the house went
into committee of supply pro forma.
GAME LICENCES (IRELAND) BILL.

This bill was read a second time.
DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION (1865)

BILL.
This bill was also read a second time.
PILOTAGE ORDER CONFIRMATION

The house having resolved itself into committee,
Mr. M. GIBSON obtained leave to bring in a bill for
confirming a provisional order made by the Board of Trade
under "The Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act,
1862," relating to the pilotage of the River Tyne.:
The bill was subsequently read a first time.
CIVIL COURTS PROOEDURE (IRELAND) ACT