The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-12 00:00:00

THE IRISH SOAP DUTY.

Mr. DAVISON, pursuant to notice, asked the Secretary
of the Tree mry, whether the Government meant to per-
severe in their contemplated measure of prohibiting for
one year, from the sth of July instant, the Irish manu-
facturer of soap from exporting soap to England, whilst
the English manufacturer was to be permitted to export
soap to Ireland during that period, to the manifest injus-
tice of the Irish trade ?

Mr. WILSON replied that the notice prohibiting the
export of Irish soap for a year after the reduction of the
duty, had been given in consequence of its having come to
the knowledge of the Government that extensive prepara-
tions for the manufacture of the article were going Tor-
ward, as it was supposed for the purpose of obtaining the
drawback on exportation. The warning which his notice
conveyed to the Irish soap makers had however been suffi-
cient ; and a very small increase in the quantity made for
exportation had taken place • and it was not therefore
intended to delay the operation of the bill in regard to
Ireland beyond the period originally intended.

IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMY CLOTHING AND
ACCOUTREMENTS.
Lord W. GRAHAM asked the Secretary-at-War whe-
ther any measures were in progress, or under consideration,
for altering the dress, or diminishing the weight of the
accoutrements of the infantry soldier ?
Mr. S. HERBERT stated that several suggestions had
been made with the view of improving the dress and re-
ducing the weight of the accoutrements of the army, and
the attention of Lord Seaton having. been called to the
subject, he had instituted some experiments as to whether
any alteration could be made with advantage in reference
to the nature of the accoutrements and the weight to be
carried, and there was reason to hope that those experi-
ments would result in a reduction of the weight of the
arms and kit, and in other improvements. (Hear.)
THE FRIENDLY SOCIETIES' ACT (IRELAND).
Mr. DAVISON, referring. to the refusal of the Attorney-
General for Ireland to register an Odd Fellows Society
under the Friendly Societies' Act, on the ground that it
was a secret society, asked whether any measure was in
contemplation to place Odd Fellows lodges in Ireland in
the same position as other benefit societies?
Sir J. YOUNG replied that his attention not having
been drawn to the point, he had had no communication
with the law officers of the Crown in Ireland in reference
to it.

PETERBOROUGH ELECTION.
Mr. G. W. FITZWILLIAM inquired of the hon. mem-
ber for Manchester whether he intended, in accordance
with his notice, to bring under the attention of the house
a petition he had presented some time back, from certain
electors of Peterborough, complaining of the exercise of
undue influence at the election for that borough in No-
vember last ; and if so, when ?
Mr. BRIGHT said that the reason he had not brought
the question before the house was that an accident, the
particulars of which he need not detail, had prevented his
receiving the necessary information on which to found a
motion for an inquiry as he proposed. In a day or two he
hoped to be able to renew the notice.
RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF MOLDAVIA AND
'W ALL ACHIA .

Mr. DISRAELI—I wish, sir, to ask two questions of the
to the present state of affairs
in noblethe oEast,rd
opardsiltewrelillaptiguntthem separately, in order that
I may bo more explicit. The first relates to a document
which has reached this metropolis to-day, and which bears
the title of a " Circular dispatch addressed to the diploma-
tic agents of the Court of St. Petersburgh," and is signed
by Count Nesselrode. It is stated in that " circular
dispatch" that the occupation of the principalities by the
Russian force has been occasioned as much by the naval
occupation of the Turkish waters by the combined fleets of
England and France as by the refusal of the Sultan to give
that satisfaction which the Emperor of Russia demands ;
and it says that he will not retire from those principalities
until complete satisfaction is accorded to him by the Sul-
tan, and until also the combined fleets of England and
France shall have left the ports of the Sultan which they
at present occupy. Now, sir, what I wish to know from
the noble lord is whether a copy of that " circular dispatch"
has been presented to her Majesty's Government; and, if
not, then I wish to know whether it is the opinion of her
Majesty's Government that that " circular dispatch" is an
authentic document? (Hear.)

Lord J. RUSSELL—With regard to the document to
which the right honourable gentleman. alludes, I have to
say that, in the last dispatch I saw from the British Mini-
ster at St. Petersburgh, Sir Henry Seymour says that ho
had not then seen the dispatch that is allowed' to have
been written by Count Nesselrode. No doubt, substan-
tially, the " circular dispatch" which the right honourable
gentleman has seen, as published in the public journals,
is an authentic document. I will not enter into the par-
ticulars to which the right honourable gentlemen has re•
ferred; I will merely say that I do not think, in the first
place, that the Russian Government can in any way sub-
stantiate the fact that the entry of the Russian troops into
the principalities was occasioned by the sailing of the
English fleet into the waters of the Porte. (Cheers.) Nor
did I understand from my reading of the document that
it contained any declaration that the matters pending be-
tween Russia and Turkey could not be arranged until the
English and French fleets should have left tho Turkish
waters. (Hear.)

REPORTED AUSTRIAN OCCUPATION OF
BOSNIA.

Mr. DISRAELI—The other question I have to ask the
noble lord is—has her Majesty's Government received any
official intimation as to the reported occupation of Bosnia
by the army of Austria?

Lord J. RUSSELL—No, we have not received any
official intimation of that nature, and indeed the Austrian
Minister has communicated to Lord Clarendon his total
disbelief of any such fact having occurred. (Hear.) Ho
says ho believes that the report has been owing to the oc-
cupation, by Austrian troops, of Peterwaxadin, which is a
fortified town within the Austrian territory. (Hear.)