The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-10 00:00:00

THE su-N, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENUNG, MAY 10, 1862.

I MPE DIAL l'A RUA ME NT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—YESTERDAY.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock. _ _ _

PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The following bills were read a second time :—Dablin
(Borough) Fire Brigade, Limerick Markets, North Devon
Railway and Dock, Rathmines and Rathgar Improvement,
and Launceston, and South Devon Railway.
THIRD READINGS.

The following bills were read a third time and passed :
The Cirencester District Roads and Much Wenlock and
Severn Junction Railway.
NOXIOUS VAPOURS.

The Earl of DERBY rose to move for the appointment
of a select committee to inquire into the injury resulting from
noxious vapours evolved in certain manufacturing pro-
cesses, and also for the purpose of inquiring into the state
of the law relating thereto. The noble lord said he should
offer no apology for bringing forward a subject, which,
both in an economic and sanitary point of view, was pressing
itself upon the attention of Parliament. Having referrad
to the steps that had already been taken by the other House
of Parliament with respect to smoke and other nuisances,
which had existed in the metropolis, and which had to a
great extent been abated in consequence of those acts,
the noble lord proceeded to notice tho dangerous
system which was carried on to a great extent
in many places in the North where the process of calico
printing was actively carried on. It was well known that a
great quantity of arsenic and white lead entered into that
process, and the refuse of those works in many cases was
turned into the adjacent rivers and streams, rendering
them dangerous in the highest degree. He had
lately had the pleasure of seeing a gentleman
who would be acknowledged by their lordships to be a
very high authority on the subject. Dr. Lyon Playfair,
who had been down to examine the state of the water in
one of those districts, and that gentleman found on exa-
mining the bottom of one of the reservoirs that in one
pound of the mud there were no less than from
10 to _l3 grains of arsenic. Such being the
state of matters, he thought it became the
duty of Parliament to take the subject into their serious
consideration. (Hear, hear.) His present intention, how-
ever, was not to deal with certain streams, but it was con-
fined to the consideration of the noxious vapours evaporated
from' certain manufactories. The law on the subject was at
present totally inadequate to meet the evil. In dealing
with the subject he proposed to consider, first, the
amount of injury inflicted, next its preventability, and, in
conclusion, the inadequacy of the existing law. The manu-
facture of alum was carried on to a great extent in St.
Helen's, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Glasgow, and other
places, and the noxious vapours emitted by these
manufactories was most destructive to vegetable
life. In the neighbourhood of St. Helen's the damage
to timber in the surrounding districts was inconceivable,
and many of the poor persons who frequently depended
upon the produce of a few fruit trees to pay their rent had
had those trees entirely destroyed ; and, owing to the exist-
in; state of the law, the poor people were absolutely and
entirely without redress.
Earl GRAN VILLE said that feeling the great import.
ance of the question which his noble friend had handled in
so able a manner as to completely dispel any apprehensions
that might have been entertained of his motion by the
manufacturing interest, the Government were quite pre-
pared to give it their assent.
After a few observations from Lord RAVENSWORTH, the
motion was agreed to, the committee to be nominated on a
future day.

The Bills of Exchange (Ireland) Act, 1861, Amendment
Bill was read a second time, and the Transfer of Stocks
(Ireland) Bill a third time and passsed.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The Lords' amendments to the Bradford Corporation
Water Bill were considered and agreed to, and the bill was
ordered to be read a third time. The British Plato Glass
Company Bill, and Webb and Craig's Patent Bill were
read a third time and passed, and the Tyne General Ferry
Bill was read a second time.
PETITIONS.

Several petitions were presented against the abolition of
church rates, against the Highways Bill, against the impo-
sition of the income tax on incomes under £l5O a-year, and
against the inquisitorial character of the tax; by Mr. M.
GIBSON from the inhabitants of Ashton-under-Lyne,
praying that a law might be passed to prevent the obtain-
ing of licences for the sale of spirituous liquors without the
consent of ratepayers ; against the appointment of the police
in Ireland as registrars of births and deaths, against the
Public-houses Licenses (Scotland) Act, &c.

crown, and that their opinion had been founded on a full
knowledge of all the merits of the case.

Lord J. MANNERS and Mr. COLLIER trusted that the
motion would not be persevered in after the discussion
which had taken place. (Cries of "Divide.")
Sir J. HAY, in deference to the wishes of the house,
withdrew the motion.

The subject then dropped•
TIIE RECORD OFFICE.

Mr. COCHRANE called the attention of the house to
the state of the Reccrd-office, and said that the right hon.
gentleman opposite (Mr. Cowper) by his statement the
other evening had conveyed an erroneous impression to the
house, and he quoted the report of the Master of the Rolls
to show that an alteration in the present Record .office was
desirable. The learned judge said that the apartments
in which some of the public records were kept were unfitted
for that purpose, being old, damp, and unsafe. He (Mr.
Cochrane) could speak from personal inspection of the in-
efficiency of the places where the public papers were depo-
sited.
Mr. COWPER admitted the statement of the hon. mem-
ber to be correct, but did not see how it was to be remedied.
Plans had been prepared for an additional wing to the pre-
sent Record-office, but as yet no money had been voted for
the work.
THE DISTRESS IN THE COTTON MANU-
FACTORIES.

Mr. A. EGERTON, in accordance with notice, called
attention to the subject of the wide-spread distress now pre-
vailing in the cotton-manufacturing districts. At the pre-
sent moment, he observed, there wero not less than 58,000
operatives in those districts entirely without work, whilst a
still large numbers were working short time. The disti ess
was most severely felt in Manchester, Preston, Rochdale,
Wigan, and some other places; but in Bolton and Bury it
was not quite so great, in consequence of the operations of
the French Treaty. Whilst thiswas the existing state of
things, he was sorry. to say that the cotton imports at Liver
pool showed a falling off as to encourage no hope of any
immediate improvement. It had been suggested in some
quarters that an effort might be made by an appeal to na-
tional charity for the purpose of affording relief ; but his
own opinion was that the time had not yet arrived for re-
sorting to any such measure as that. There was a general
feeling in the district that the poor-law was harshly
administered, that the labour test was imposed unne-
cessarily, and that certain rigid rules which
had been laid down by the board required to be relaxed. He
should be glad, therefore, to have information upon these
questions, and also as to whether all had been done in the
administration of the poor law that could be done with the
view of meeting the emergency of the case. The hon. gen-
tleman also inquired whether any reductions had been de-
cided upon in the Indian tariff affecting cotton, and if so
when they would come into operation.
Mr. POTTER also bore testimony to the extent and seve-
rity of the destitution prevailing in the cotton districts, and
stated it as his conviction that no system of public charity
or poor-law relief would be adequate to grapple with the
evil. He recommended that an inquiry should be instituted
by the Government by means of a Royal commission or a
select committee of the house.

kir C. WOOD stated that he was in possession of no
more recent information from India than that which was
contained in the published telegraphic despatches; but he
believed the condition of Indian finance was such as to ad.•
mit of a considerable reduction in the scale of duties affect-
ing cotton.

Mr. VILLIERS acknowledged the extent of the suffering,
and expressed his admiration of the noble manner in which
it had been borne. He assured the house that he had availed
himself of all the means at his command to become
thoroughly acquainted with the state of the workpeople in
the cotton districts, and the measures adopted by the poor-
law guardians and overseers to meet the difficulty. Appre-
hending the pressure that must be experienced if the un-
fortunate contest in America continued much longer, early
in the year he addressed a circular to every union in the
cotton districts and the districts connected by business
with the American trade, expressing his anticipations
of approaching suffering, and requesting them to make
all the provision in their power for an unusual occur-
rence of distress. And in the majority of cases the an-
swers he received assured him that the guardians were
ready to meet any emergency that might arise by means
of their ordinary resources. He was happy to say that
the returns forwarded weekly to the Poor-law Depart-
ment showed that there had been some diminution of dis-
tress at the close of last month, although ho was quite ready
to admit that many and great privations were endured by a
large number of persons. He believed, however, there were
ample resources in the public rates for the relief of distress,
even if it should continue to spread to a greater extent. The
present rate of expenditure for the relief of the poor in Lan-
cashire was ls. 10d. in the pound on the rateable value,
which was considerably less than the amount levied in the
agricultural county of Suffolk or the manufacturing town of
Sheffield. With regard to the labour test, be did not believe
it was unnecessarily or harshly imposed ; and such was the
high feeling of the people of Lancashire generally that he
thought they weuld rather dp work than receive parish re-
lief. But seeing no prospect of a cessation of the distress,
the Poor-law Board had instructed experienced persons to
proceed at once to the cotton districts to inquire into the
mode of administering the law, and whether it was carried
out in a just and proper spirit, as well as to bring into har-
monious action with the guardians the voluntary relief com-
mittees who were now occupied in doing so much good.
From all the information that had reached him, there was
no reason to complain of the authorities on the spot, and he
was satisfied that no greater harm could be inflicted on the
poor themselves than by creating distrust in their minds in
that respect.

Mr. BRIGIIT complimented Mr. Egerton on the able
manner in which he had brought the question under the
notice of the house. Although there was great and growing
distress in the cotton districts, it was not so universal as
many persons at a distance supposed, whilst it was more
severe in some towns than in others. The suffering in Lan-
cashire in 1840 and 1841 was much greater than at the pre-
sent moment, and although he was not sure that so many
persons were then out of work, it had continued for a much
longer period after a season of much less preceding pros-
perity. But there was no doubt that the case was
growing worse, and must continue to grow worse. lie con-
s!dered that, in these painful circumstances, the boards of
guardians ought to exercise a wide discretion in regard to
the treatment of this grave case. It was necessary, too,
that other assistance should be given than that which the
guardians could supply by means of rates; and a commit-
tee formed in every parish might collect subscriptions in
aid from those who were not on the verge of destitution
themselves, but had larger means, and perhaps did not pay
rates in proportion to their wealth. At present he thought
that even if the distress continued for some months to come
Lancashire was well able to take care of itself without send-
ing the hat round the country. Turning then to a recent
speech of the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Bright animadverted
with some severity upon the statement of the noble earl,
that he hoped in a few months the Northern States of
America would permit the Southern States to become inde-
pendent, and the effect of which, he observed, had been
most injurious. For the day on which that speech reached
Manchester the whole cotton trade was checked, yarn fell
from 7 to 10 per cent., and the trade of Manchester had
suffered greatly. If he might give the noble earl a piece of
advice it would be in the words of Hosea Biglow's grand-
father—more forcibly than grammatically expressed—when
he said— .

" Don't never prophesy unlep.9 you know."

Mr. HIBBERT, the newly-elected member for Oldham,
said that, although the people in tho distressed dietriota bore
their sufferings with great fortitude, they thought the Poor
Law Board should suspend their labour-test, which at pre-
sent greatly interfered with the distribution of relief.
General LINDSAY, speaking on behalf of the board of
guardians, relief committee, and town of Wigan, disavowed
all desire on their part to resort for relief to the Consoli-
dated Fund until the means afforded by the poor rates and
private benevolence had been exhausted. He thought the
speech of the President of the Poor Law Board was calcu-
lated to be most useful, especially in fortifying the guar-
dians in doing their duty. The determination of the Go-
vernment to send down a competent person to make inqui-
ries on the spot was a wise one, and would be attended
with valuable results.
Mr. BAZLEY also urged the necessity of mitigating or
relaxing the rigid labour-test, and providing an indepen-
dent supply of cotton by opening up communication with
the interior of India through the improvement of the Ueda-
very river,
_ _ .

Mr. GILPIN denied that the wish was generally enter-
tained by the boards of guardians to dispense with or relax
the labour-test, or that the terra "rigid" was justly appli-
cable to any of the regulations of the Poor Law Board.
The Marquis of Hartington, Mr. W. Egerton, Sir M.
Farquhar, and Sir G. Grey also addressed the house, the
Home Secretary taking occasion to speak in high terms of
the patience, fortitude, forbearance, judgment, and right
feeling which had characterised the demeanour of the
working classes in this crisis of their sufferings.
The subject then dropped.
ROYAL COURT OF JERSEY.

In answer to Mr. Sergeant PIGOTT,
Sir G. GREY sated that the question of the reform of
the constitution and procedure of the Royal Court of Jer-
sey had better be left for the present in the hands of the
States of the island, and that he did not contemplate in..
troducing any measure on the subject.

SUPPLY.
The house having gone into committee of supply, re-
sumed the consideration of the civil service estimates.
DILLWYN moved that the vote of £116,695 for the
Department of Science and Art be reduced by the sum of
£7,106 ; but on a division the motion was negatived by 111
to 48, and the vote agreed to.
on the motion of Sir R, PEEL, leave was given to Driug

in a bill to continue and amend the Peace Preservation
(Ireland) Act, 135 G ; and a bill to provide for the superan-
nuation allowances and gratuities to officers of poor law
unions in Ireland.
Leave was also given to the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER to introduce a bill to enable the trustees of
the British Museum to remove portions of their collection.
The house then adjourned.

SPORTING IN7 ELLIG.ENCE.

NEWMARKET FIRST SPRING MEETING.
FRIDAY.

Sweepstakes of 100 sovs each, la ft. for 4-yr-olds and up-
wards ; weight for age. D.I. 7 subs,
Count F. de Lagrange's Palestro, 4 yrs, Bst
(H. Grimshaw) 1
Mr. G. W. Fitzwilliam's Wallace, 5 yrs, Bst 91b

(G. Fordham) 2
Mr. Saxon's Brown Duchess, 4 yrs, 7st 10lb (Midgley) 3

Betting—Even on Palestro.
The favourite made the running, followed by Wallace
and Brown Duchess to the site of the Old Duke's Stand,
where Wallace got to his head, and a close race home be-
tween the pair ensued, Palestro, who ran out at the finish,
winning by a head. Brown Duchess, who was never in the
race, trotted in some 50 lengths in their rear.

Plato of 50 'sovs, for maiden 2-yr-olds ; colts, Bst 71b;

fillies, Bst 41b. The winner to be sold for 200 sous; last

half of R,M.
Mr. R. Ten Broeck's Batsman .(G. Fordham) 1
Lord Westmoreland's Joyful colt (J. Goater) 2
Mr. Flutter's Strawberry Hill (Bullock) 3

The following also ran :—Alarm f, Odine, Outpost,
Boeotia, Vedette colt, The Village Belle, Hesperus, and
Star and Garter. ,

Betting-5 to 2 each agst the Lady Love colt and. Joyful

)It, and 5 to 1 agst Batsman.

The start was delayed awhile through Boeotia jumping
round several times when on the point of starting, and the
Vedette colt bolting to the left across the flat. When the
flag was lowered Strawberry Hill slipped his horses and
came on with a strong lead, followed on the upper ground
by Bo3otia, the Joyful colt, Batsman, and Odine with
the others in close attendance. On reaching the dip
Strawberry Hill gave way to the Joyful colt, who car-
ried on the running into the cords, where she was
joined by Batsman, and the three finished a fine race
home. Batsman, getting up in the last stride, won cleverly
by a head, Strawberry Hill was an indifferent third, Star
and Garter and Odine, side by side, were fourth and fifth,
close up; the Vedette colt next. Lord Westmoreland
claimed the winner, and Mr, Flutter claimed the Joyful
colt.

Sweepstakes of 10 sovs each ; 2-yr-olds 6st 101 b, 3-yr-olds
Bst 101 b, fillies and geldings allowed 31b. The winner to
be sold for 50 sovs. First half of Ab. M. 6 subs.
Count F. de Lagrange's Maubourquet, 2 yrs, Est 101 b
(Hunter) 1
Mr. Hodgman's Lady Wilson colt, 2 yrs, 6st 101 b
(J. Reeves) 2
Mr. H. barley's Disappointment, 3 yrs, Bst 101 b
(Custance) 3
Mr. Lowther's Camberwell, 3 yrs, Bst 101 b.... (Rogers) 4
Mr. Jos. Dawson's The Abbess, 2 yrs, Est 71b (C. Gray) 5
Count Batthyany's The Temple, 2 yrs, Est 71b
(Wheatley) 6
Betting-6 to 4 agst Maubourquet, sto 2 agst The Abbess,
and 5 to 1 agst any other.
Immediately the flag was lowered Maubourquet was in
action and came on with a clear lead, Camberwell going on
second, with Disappointment at his side, and the Lady Wil•
son colt lying up with them. On entering the cords Cam-
berwell dropped back, and his place in attendance upon the
favourite was taken by Mr. Hodgman's colt. The latter
made his effort a few strides from home, and headed Dis-
appointment, but failed to reach the Frenchman, who
won a good race by a length ; half a length separated
the second and third, and the others passed the 'post as
placed.

Match-100 soya, h ft. T.Y.C.
Lord Westmoreland's Knight of the Bath, Bst 71b
(J. Goater) t
Mr. Payne's Bandage, Bst (G. Fordham) t

Betting-2 to lon Bandage, who made the running to
half way in the cords, where he was caught by Knight of
the Bath, the pair running locked together to the end, and
finishing with a dead heat.