The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-04 00:00:00

TIMSDAY' rvENTikkid; .r L 1 4; 1854;

I LVIPE HIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORD Y ESTERDAY. )
Their lordships assembled at half-past 4 o'clock.
ROYAL COMMISSION.
The Royal assent was given by commission to the
followin, bills :—Excise Duties ; Customs Duties ; High
Treason (Ireland) ; Accrington Gas and Waterworks ;
Doncaster Cemetery; Havering, Dagenham, &c., Sewers;
Heximm Roads; Trowbridge Roads; Furness Railway;
Shipley Waterworks; Kingston-upon-ThamesGas; Blyth
and Tyne Railway ; North London Railway ; Newport
Improvement ; Nene Valley Drainage and Navigation ;
Ryde Improvement; Manchester Court of Record; Corn-
wall Railway ; Chester, Farndon, and Worthenbury
Road, Birmingham and Midland Institute; Blyth Harbour
Docks ; Cr) stal Palace Company ; Surrey Gas ; Stroud,
Paiuswick, and Gloucester Road ; Hamilton Water-
works ; Cork and Bandon Railway ; Wadsley and Lang-
set Road ; Londonderry Bridge ; Bideford Roads ;
Dudley, Hales° wen, and Bromsgrove Roads ; Tacum-
shin Embankment ; Exhibition of 1851 Commissioners ;
Great Western Railway (station accommodation, &c.) ;
Stamford and Kettering Road ; Bangor Waterworks ;
Bethesda and Llanllechill Improvement ; Beccles Water
and Gas ; Kingston-upon-Hull Improvement ; Hull
Cemetery ; Llandudno Improvement ; London, Tilbury,
and Southend Railway ; Lanark Police and Improve-
ment; Edinburgh Roads ; Londonderry and Enniskillen
Railway ; Birmingham Canal Navigations ; Birming-
ham Improvement ; Chesterfield Market ; Darling-
ton and Barnard Castle Railway ; Dowlais Rail-
way ; East Lancashire, Lancashire and Yorkshire,
and Manchester and Southport Railways ; Edinburgh
Police and Improvement ; East Suffolk Railway ;
Shrewsbury and Chester Railway ; South Sea Company;
South Devon Railway ; Winchester and Petersfield
Road ; Bagenalstown and Wexford Railway (No. 2) ;
Brighton, Cuckfield, &c., Roads ; Ambergate, Notting-
ham, and Boston and Eastern Junction Railway (Ex-
tension into Nottingham, eze.) ; Law Life Assurance
Society ; Bradford Waterworks ; Yeovil Improvement;
Swansea Harbour : Bradford Corporation Waterworks;
Norfolk Railway ; Glasgow Suspension Bridge ; Mallow
and Fermoy Railway ; Hertford and Welwyn Junction
Railway ; Stockton and Darlington Railway.
The Lords Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor,
Earl Delawarr, and Lord Stanley of Aiderley.
The following bills were read a second time :—Stock-
port, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway ; Dublin and
Wicklow, and Dublin and Kingston Railways; West
London Railway ; Bangor and Carnarvon Railway ;
Selkirk and Galashiels Railwap.
The following bills were read a third time and passed:
—North and South Western Junction Railway ; Tralee
and Killarney Railway ; Horncastle and Kirkstead
Junction Railway, Leominster and Kingston Railway.

On the motion' of Lord STANLEY Of ALDERLEY, thG
Customs Duties (Sugar and Spirits) Bill and the
Excise Duties (Sugar) Bill were read a second time.

THE OFFICES OF THE MINISTER FOR WAR
AND THE FOREIGN SECRETARY.

The Earl of MALMESBURY rose, in pursuance of
notice, to ask the intentions of her Majesty's Govern-
ment respecting the public buildings intended for
the department of the Minister for War and the
Secretary for Foreign Affairs. The noble earl said he
wished first to direct the attention of the head of the
Government to a rumour which he believe was well
founded, that the department of the new Minister of
War was about to be stationed at the office now occu-
pied by the Enclosure Commissioners in Whitehall-
gardens. Of course it was necessary that the new
t rimportant thaen
should
houl business
db e
which
Secretary of State should have an office which should be
sufficient
he inw
would
dryh
arvees respect n
ct fora s theac transact ;but
mp
able to show their lordships that a great sacrifice of
public interests would be made if the rumoured change
were to take place. The office of Enclosure Commis-
sioners was one of the most important and usefui of
the public of this country. Within its walls were con-
tained to no less than 50,000 documents, of great value
to the public. In the first place there were about
20,000 maps, which had been drawn at a very great
expense, and could be seen by any person for a very
small sum. These maps were so minute that they might
be called field maps, and any one who wished to obtain
a tracing of one, could do so on the payment of twenty-
five shillings, whereas if he went to a person whose
profession it was to furnish such things it would cost
him seventy or eighty pounds. Another very important
collection of documents in this office consisted of the
exchanges which had been made under the Enclosure-
office. Formerly exchanges could not -ha made without
a very large expense being incurred itt 'proving titles.
Now, when two parties wished to make an exchange
they had simply to produce their documents before the
commissioners, and the exchange was effected generally
for about 4/. in the case of considerable estates. Further,
within these walls remained the original of documents and
draftcopies of corresponding papers furnished to parties,
and these being registered, the office served the purpose of
a registration office. In fact there were in this office 50,000
documents all arranged with as much care as any mu-
seum. Now be understood that the new Minister of
War was to be transferred with all his staff to the office,
and that in consequence the Commissioners of Enclosure
were to be turned out and sent to St. James's-square,
All those documents, which had been in course of ar-
rangement fur two years, were to be removed from the
places in which they were deposited, to a new office
which had been selected for them ; and he spoke, he
believed, under the mark, when he said that a year and
a half or two years must elapse before they could be re-
arranged in their present order. If there were any
pressing necessity for deranging this registration office
the case would be different ; but he had no doubt that
it would cause much less inconvenience to the public, to
send the new Minister of War to St. James-square, than
to remove the office of the Enclosure Commissioners.
He hoped the noble earl opposite (Aberdeen) would
examine the matter himself with the view of ascertain-
ing whether proper arrangements could be made for the
new Secretary of War without interfering with one of
the most useful offices in the country, He wished to
know whether it was the intention of the Government
to do any thing towards the repairing or rebuilding of
the Foreign-office. Their lordships well know its out-
ward appearance. It was a ruinous building which he
could only compare to some of the old palaces in Cala-
bria. It looked ready to fall, and was, in fact, a dis-
grace to the metropolis. (Hear, hear.) Parliament
was, in its generosity, supposed to have given to the Se-
cretary of State for Foreign Affairs a house to live in,
as well as to perform the duties of his office. Formerly
this house was inhabited by the Foreign Secretary, but
since Mr. Canning's time no Secretary of State had re-
sided in it. Yet the Foreign Secretary of State was
obliged to perform the duties of hospitality on a large
scale ; and he quite agreed with Lord Palmerston in his
declaration before the committee of the House of Com-
mons on public salaries, that that Minister carried on
almost as much business in conversation, and in
society as iii his own room. (Hear, hear.) What
was the state of the Foreign-office now t There
was only one room in which its occupant could
see company ; though the diplomatique corps
amounted to above one hundred persons. Two
years ago the ceiling of that room fell in, and had
the Secretary of State been there at the time he would
no doubt have ceased to be a member of the Govern-
ment. (Laughter.) Before a party could be invited,
this room had to be propped up, and the whole office to
be unroofed. (Laughter.) Moreover,' as a noble friend
reminded him, there was no kitchen—(laughter)—a de-
ficiency which of course prevented the possibility of any
suitable hospitality. To him, it appeared very disgrace-
ful to the country that the office should have been
allowed to continue in its present state, and he should
r fromsethe
be very glad to hear from the head of the Government
that a new office was about to be built.
T
that
; when
ht
expedient to separate the office of Secretary of the War
department
saidlonpe so, position
ieoonnf courseiint
whichwa' was found
became
necessary
he Earl
a tol
o f
find that
OABERDEEN
m of
convenient
e e
officer might he placed. Their lordships would easily
conceive that it was of great importance that the office
of Secretary of War should be in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Downing-street and the Horse Guards.
There were only two buildings which complied with
that condition—Gwydyr-nouse
and Pembrokehouse.
Gwydyr-house was occupied by the Poor Law Commis-
sioners, who were in constant communication with the
Secretary of State for the Home Department ; and the
chief commissioner being in the House of Commons, and
the business of this department also much more con-
nected with the House of Commons than that of the
Enclosure Commissioners is, it would have been ex-
tremely inconsistent to remove that office to a distance.
To the Enclosure Commissioners there was not the same
inconvenience ; they were not in constant communica-
tion with any other office or with the House of Com-
mons, and it was thought that they
might, without any
material inconvenience, be removed to a house which
they themselves had strongly represented to the Board of
Works as peculiarly suitable tor them, in St. James's-
square. That house would be rather more than sufficient
to accommodate them. Of course any removal must be
attended with more or less inconvenience ; but he could
Years( as was supposed by
building ; he should imagine that
twelve months would suffice for that purpose. It was
theneo
st c thinkrinoblebe
d i
i it
earl,would
another
o takere-arrange two
the documents which he
described
mechanical operation which might be performed with-
out any great difficulty and with no danger whatever.
If, however, he found on inquiry that the inconvenience
would be any,thing like what the noble earl supposed,
there could be no reason why the proposed arrangement
should be carried out. The noble earl bad been but too
accurate in his description of the state of the Foreign-
( ffice. It was not only disgraceful but dangerous, as he
well knew from his own experience many years ago.
Notwithstanding the annual inspection which it under-
went at the hands of competent persons—builders--
with a view not to repair it, but to ascertain its safety,
it was in a very bad condition. He had himself felt
quite alarmed. At the same time, though this was an
object which had engaged the attention of various Go-
vernments, he could not say that her Majesty's present
Government were prepared to propose to Parliament a
grant for a new building. Plans for a new building
were in course of preparation, and they would probably
be completed in the course of the summer, but he could
not say that the Government were now in a position to
propose the necessary grant for a new building. He
hoped when the noble earl again became a tenant of the
Foreign-office it would be quite fit for his accommoda-
tion. (Laughter )
The Earl of ELLEN BOROUGH said that the Fo-
reign-office they were told was in an extremely danger-
itos long
u'4st
as the Treaty ate' and vNasacause of great anxiety ; but it lasted
of Adrianople itself, which had
secured, it was said, the continuance of peace. (Laugh-
-1 ter.) If diplomacy had secured the continuance of peace,
1
he should have thought better of it than he did before,
and if it now secured the tranquillisation of Europe,
some new building like that alluded to by the noble

earl mig :ht be erected to celebrate that event, with the
100 Rile its mentioned by the noble earl. (Laughter.) He
agreed with the noble earl opposite in thinking that at
the pre sent time it was not at all desirable to lay out a
largest im of money, some 70,000/. or 80,0001., on a mag-
nificen t building for the Foreign-office. That money ex-
pendec i on the war would be more serviceable than if it
were rpended in diplomacy or in objects which would
render I iiplornacy more brilliant. He concurred in the ob-
jection to the removal of the Enclosure Commissioners.
He tho ught that any decent house in Carlton-place
would b e adequate to all the requirements of the Secre-
tary of War, and would suit the public convenience.
(Hear, hear.) With regard to the staff of the office, he
was of opinion that it should be composed of men who
knew war, and had seen service in different parts of the
globe, and taken from all arms of the service, cavalry,
infantry, artillery, and engineers. In his opinion it was
essential if the duties of the office were to be efficiently '
discharged, that the staff should be composed of military
men, of weight and authority in war. If it was thought
right that the head of the department should be a civi-
lian, it was essential that he should hare facilities of
constant communication with military men in the office,
who would advise him, not as his equals or as a board,
but as persons responsible for the advice they gave. If
that were done, he was sure that all the advantage
which the public expected from the severance of the two
offices would not be in vain. (Hear.)
Lord REDESDALE hoped that nothing would be
done with respect to the appropriation of the spare
ground till the subject was fully considered.(Hear.)
Great inconvenience existed from the narrow carriage
passage to the houses of Parliament, and it might be
thought necessary to widen Parliament-street. Great
inconvenience arose also from the scattering of the
public offices, and the continuance of the present build-
ings across Downing-street would be very desirable.
Lord CAMPBELL said that some scheme should be
laid down with respect to the courts of law. (Laughter.)
They could not continue in their present disgraceful
state. They were considered now to be an obstruction
to the cohesion of Sir C. Barry's great plan. They
wanted no splendour or luxury in the courts of law, but
they did want the necessary accommodation for the
judges, the jurymen, and the witnesses who had to at-
tend the courts, and which was quite inadequate at pre-
sent. On a recent occasion three of his learned brethren
of the Queen's Bench were sitting in the Bail Court,
when they were driven out of it by an invasion—not of
the Russians, but of stench that was " sublime."
(Laughter.) Mr. Burke said in his treatise On the
Sublime and Beautiful," that a stench was a source of
the sublime—(laughter)—and if that were so, this was a
sublime stench. (Laughter.) His learned brethren fled
from it as from an enemy. It was intense, pestiferous,
as any of their lordships might, by going there, be able
to judge for himself. (Laughter.) He was frequently
ashamed to show the courts of law to foreigners who
came over to this country. (Hear.)
Lord ST. LEONARDS said that, with very little ex-
pense, the courts of equity in Westminster might be
given up to the courts of law, and the equity courts then
removed to Lincoln's-inn. He objected to the carrying
out of Sir C. Barry's plan in extenso.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said that it was the
fault of his noble and learned friend's colleagues that they
did not sit in the Court of Chancery, for he gave direc-
tions that the courts of law might sit in it when he did
not use it himself.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said that Sir C.
Barry's building was the admiration of all foreigners
who came over to England.
Lord BROUGHAM said that, however excellent the
execution, he retained his fundamental objection to the
barbarism of erecting a Gothic instead of a Grecian
building in the middle of the 19th century.
After a few words from the Earl of MALMESBUBY, the
subject dropped.
WARWICK ASSIZES BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
EDUCATION.

Lord BROTJGHAM gave notice that on the 17th
inst. he would move a series of resolutions upon the
great subject of national education.
CANADA.

The Earl of DERBY gave notice that on to-morrow
he would put a question to the Government7respecting
an important despatch which had been received from
Canada (as was understood) by the Secretary of War.
COURT OF CHANCERY.

Lord ST. LEONARDS said that he had moved for a
return of the number of cases depending in the offices in
the five Masters in Chancery. That return would soon
be printed, and would show the number and nature of
those causes, which he hoped would lead more speedily
than anything else to the winding-up of these cases.
The Masters' offices were abolished by reason of the de-
lay
occasioned in the administration of justice, but some
of them were retained till the business then depending
in them was disposed of, and for this purpose the mas-
ters were empowered to summon all the parties to causes
before them, and if they did not appear, to proceed with
the business themselves, and wind up every case as fast
as possible. They had, therefore, full power to put an
end to these matters. The return, however, stated that
the number of causes depending in the five Masters'
offices was in round numbers 1,200. This was a
great evil, which it was absolutely necessary to put
an end to ; because, if these cases were transferred
to the new system, they would be a clog on the
proceedings of the courts, which ought to be permit-
ted to proceed in the administration of justice unembar-
rassed by any of these old causes. The matters re-
maining in the Masters' offices did not depend on legal
construction, being mostly matters of account and
inquiry ; and their lordships did not need to be told
that the longer matters of this kind were delayed the
greater was the difficulty in settling them. Great im-
provements had been made in the Masters' offices under
the new system no doubt ; but still the delay was not
much less than before the recent act of Parliament
passed. The report of Master Tinney—the first that
had been laid before the house—showed what were the
principal causes of the arrears. It appeared that one
case had been 14 years in the office without the accounts
being taken or the scheme settled, and several other
cases for nearly as long a period. It was a common oc-
currence for parties to get an order referring a case to a
master, and not carry it into his office for a very long
period afterwards. In many cases there bad been no
proceedings for 12 or 18 months, notwithstanding the
attempts of the masters to force the parties on. Of the
private causes, one had been as long as 22, and one 17
years in the master's office. The estates in the other
offices were much in the same condition. To meet this
mischief he proposed that such powers should be given to
the masters to conclude these matters as would leave the
parties without excuse for not proceeding. At present a
great deal of the business in the courtsthough very impor-
tant in itselfconsisted merely of passing accounts, and he
would suggest the appointment of a new officer, in the
vice-chancellor's court and that of the Master of the Rolls,
whose sole duty it should be to pass accounts. This
would greatly accelerate the winding up of estates, and
be the means of getting in more money. Under the
present system there were no fewer than 511 receivers of
accounts in the different courts ; and the appointment
of a new officer to superintend these would greatly pro-
mote despatch. He would also provide that abandoned
causes should be certified by the Masters to the Lord
Chancellor, who should declare them at an end, other-
wise they might be revived as at present. Thera should
also be a power to refer questions of account to account-
ants, who would do in a few days what now occupied
six months. Some amendment was also required in the
mode of appointing conveyancers to assist the court in
questions of title. Whether the delay was with the
subordinate officers or in the chambers of the judge, the
evil was the same ; and means ought to be adopted to
get rid of it. In some cases the masters did not know
how to proceed ; to meet this difficulty he would give
them power to apply to the court for instructions.
Fresh powers were also necessary in cases of abate-
ment and bankruptcy, in order that cases of this kind
might be wound up as speedily as possible. He also
proposed to give greater discretion to the masters
in admitting evidence, so as to obviate the de-
lay in taking accounts. There were other sugges-
tions which ho had reduced to writing, and he would
place the whole in the hands of the Lord Chancellor.
He had not the slightest doubt that greater despatch
would be produced by his simply calling the attention of
their lordships to this subject. Probably when they met
next session they would find a beneficial change in this
respect ; and in this hope he refrained from proposing,
what be should otherwise have done, that the masters
should be formed into a court under the immediate con-
trol of the Lord Chancellor. The noble and learned
lord concluded by moving for a return of the cases pent:-
ing, in continuation of a former return. He hoped the
noble lord on the woolsack would turn his attention to
the matter, and that full power would bo given for ob-
viating the evils complained of.
ith
erye learneds
did
not try by every
Lord BROUGHAM thought the statement that had
been made a very valuable one, and hoped that it would
be placed in a permanent form before their lordships.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said he felt the impor-
tance of the subject as much as any one, but said that
the public ought to be aware that all this delay was
not the delay of the courts, but that of the parties.
When people got involved in a long question of ac
counts, they became weary of it, and would not pro-
ceed. The masters had been doing all they could to
force the parties on, but were unable to do so. In many
cases they had summoned parties, but some excuse
was always offered for not proceeding. It was true they
butin ig ht
as
sips
welluwn ei sehal
would
the l
seie)ga
haveti et
ys btphyaer
teiffeputtingse.c tThere
an
punishingewnedr
eton ot
through
thep) eerrossuuoo.ni
inno-
centths
shouldro pon take
kt eo
as soon
itnh et he
businessk kingdom
'Dams tshoe
enjoyment
much interfered
was quite true that their business was
ts but that
with by the passing of receivership accoun
muchas te
rs themselves interested
pci
lordet ; getting
becauseliep
ca
os
u.tlhda that
notw was disposed
oedfi
remedied
ereddi
eot salarieswthitely:oo
ruwttohutelhder
eeasntpt
peo enter
itinnhttemoirti
tveeosqf.uialentt
to the then sug-
gestions for that purpose.
for it
t o
everye see
would be a real scandal
statement thought
obviate it—although it would only be an
one,appa-
Teenatns t°
if the obstruction arose from the parties, and
what couldof the
tbi done nobleso aasn dtloiVf remove an .
them into his immediate attention,
tliitsloisfica: vedioetulv:
the
ethienddiesli
itol efo directrtmcfr °u‘t%cir.isii eet th,
hmeria. respect
stopeu
woulder:sct t to
o nmteabhieele'abade t positione t (o) f heaavche case
r;ebp(l)lrti
laid upon the table of their lordships' house. The real
cause of the delay arose from the fact that it was not so
was in many cases owing
well worth the while of the solicitors to press forward
indisposition of the parties old cases as to commence new ones. It was only fair,
them-
selves to pay for further proceedings. In conclusion he
bad only to say that he was much obliged to his noble
- and learned friend for his suggestions, and that he should
however,to he inability say
otrh