The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-07 00:00:00

ROXBURGH ELECTION COMMITTEE.

The Clerk of the Committee appeared at the Bar with
the reduced list for the Committee to try the merits of the
Roxburgh election. The names were called over by the
Clerk at the table as follows :—Mr. Benjamin Hall, Mr.
James Duff, Lord William Bentinck, Mr. C. A. Walker,
Mr. William Marshall, Sir T. C. Style, Mr. Charles W.
Packe, Mr. William Bagge, Mr. Edward Strutt, Sir C. B.
Vere, Right Hon. J. A. Murray.—(Cheers.)
The Committee was then sworn at the table, and with-
drew for the purpose of choosing a Chairman.
Mr. WYNN begged to call the attention of the
Speaker to the fact that the Act of Pariiament required
that the reduced list should be presented to the House half
an hoar after the termination of the ballot. Now half an
hour had not elapsed since the third ballot had been taken,

and therercre the Counsel should be admonished that they
w: .r.; not complying with the terms 0f the Act.
IPSWICH ELECTION. i

The reduced list for the Committee upon this election
was then handed in and called over by the clerk. The
names were as follows :—Mr. M. N. Parker, J. W. Brams-
ton, T. E. Winning-ton, the Hon. J. C. Westenra,
Richard Jenkins, William Evans, Sir Robert Heron,
R. B. Hale, H. Broadlcy, and Robert Archbold. The
Cortaniace having been sworn, withdrew.
_ _ _

SALFORD ELECTION.
The Reduced List for the Committee upon this
Election was then handed in, and having been called over
by the Clerk, the following were the names of the Mem-
bers for.ning it :—Henry Salwey, Nicholas Fitzsimon,
J. R. Ormsby Gore, Lord Maidstone, Alexander
Ellice, J. Heathcote, the Earl of Euston, Thomas
Bowes, Lord Charles S. Manners, W. N. Macnamara,
and the Hon. John Bruce O'Niel. The Committee having
been sworn, withdre.v.
JOINT STOCK BANKS.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose to
move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law with respect
to clerical members of Joint Stock Banks. He said his mo-
tion was rendered necessary in consequence of a late decision
in the Court of Exchequer, by which it appeared that it was
unlawful for a Clergyman in Orders to be a member of any
Joint Stock Company. It appeared that in 1717 a Bill
was introduced in the other House, which afterwards
passed into a law, which prohibited all spiritual persons from
engaging in any trade for gain or profit, and imposing a pe-
nalty upon any one transgressing the law. In that Act, there
was a provision upon which the late decision was founded.
The result of this state of the law would be, that if any
Clergyman became a proprietor of Stock in any of those
Companies, not being Charter Companies, but being Joint
Stock partnerships, that the Companies in question would be
incapacitated from recovering any just or lawful debt,and it
might be pleaded inbartoany attempt madetorecoveradebt
from persons who had been engaged in business with them,
that there was a clergyman a member of the Company ;
:hut lie was engaged in trading, contrary to the intent and
meaning, of the 57 Geo. 111., and consequently they were
not entitled to recover a just debt. He (the Chancellor of
the Exchequer) believed that construction to hare been
put upon the Act quite unexpectedly. No individual
ever imagined the prohibition justly put against Clergymen
trading for the purpose of profit was to be a prohibition
against their investing money in a species of stock, in
Joint Stock Companies, like any other stock. The Bill he
asked leave to introduce was founded on proceedings
that had lately taken place in the Court of Exchequer.
In that case the Northern and Central Bank, a Bank with
which the public had been too familiar, having taken pro-
cee&nsi,s to recover payment of a bill of exchange from a
person cf the name of Franklin, Mr. Franklin pleaded there
veers two clergymen belonging to the Joint Stock Company,
end that consequently the Company were not entitled to re-
Ms cr ; and the Court of Exchequer held that that was a
good plea. He, therefore, trusted the House would s'e
it was ahsolute'y necessary that the state of the law should
be altered. The construction put en the Act by the Court
of Exchequer was in point of fact a surprise on the whole
world, and therefore he thought the Bill which he intended
to introduce ought to be passed into a law. The conse-
quence of the decision of the Court of Exchequer would
he, that not only penalty and loss would be inflicted
on the clergyman who might be a member of the
Company, but penalty end loss would be inflicted on every
individual who mieht be concerned in those Companies ;
therefore, if the case was good on the first hypothesis, it
beanie doubly impertant as aen,licable to the second. It
was not only en behalf of these Joint Stock Banks that be
asked lea: e to introduce the Bill, but. on behalf of all
jaii4 stock partnerships, 81101 as Canal Companies, Rsil-
nest Corop tides, and others, which, not bring ineorpt rated,
would come a ithio the decision of the Lea! ned Judges.
Parties miaht be ruined to an extent scarcely calculable.
To cite the II 1:1%0.ore idea of whit might he the result,
if this state of the law were armed to continue, he might
stote that tiler, were lOS Joint Stock Banks in operation,
c irr t ing on 1 usiness through 474 branches, having a
coeital, censistieg of 2.771000 shares, and a no-
minal capital of C 6,000,000/. If the low of the Court of
ExcLequt r were to be held corteet by the invalidation o!
(In , single s: ate of 5/. hilly, preceedings- might be
i :validated to a tncst serious extent. Having stated
the nature ef the etil which he meaet to remove,
lie would now explsin the neture of the remedy which he
intended to propose. That !comedy, if operative at nil,
most be retrospective. If it were only prospective,
it would not prevett the inconveaience and evil which
roAllt ilr:7.e feom procee lints which had already been
ador ed. Toe object was to ealry lot, .:{T,ct the contract
i:ecortial; to the understantruig of the part es at the
tiina it was e::tetcl itlto. If that object cure
ii t cattle], it would be a premium to p_rties to
take adk.ova,c et' a ! ircornstance of which they were
not awera at the time they entered into the contract,
• in order to free themst Ives from its ohligation. In Bills of
1 an analaaeus chorecter, which had been introduced with a
re trot; cctive operation, it hid been usu l to introduce a
sa ein :. el use with r3.p. et-to exist ng• ,11. ts ; hut it was not
is t.,:d dto int l uee such a clause into this Bill, or it

putlei to &feat a cnntract by pFedit,g
a filet of which the:, w•-2r; ignorant at the time tbe contract
wz.n. entered into. A clause. was introduced into the Bill to
a: and costs to p .rties who Lel instituted proce,,div,g!;.
Th,sa were the main provis'o :s. At the same time it was
right to mention that the Holt', bad a right to consider
the Bill in rAerchee to the great question now under
cocci leration. As to the law of !:artrn:rsinip, there was a
orreetion in re,peet to the banking laws of some incoave-
n ences which hat been found to arirn Whilst the Bill was to •
,true a r..ttosp,ceti; e he proposed that it should not
be i-:erp,tall Aet, but that it should on'y lint until the next
s ssi.ma of Purl ametit. The same coarse had been taken
ith respect to a BL of an analogous character introduced
in 1323. AB ll was lnought into Pi.rliament preventing
actions beiog brought against the Clergy, an i it was
ottiy for a period.—( Hear, hear.) For the
sane reason, he rrop:ased that the Bill should not be a
porpetu rl one, but to give a he nedy retrospective in its
on. ration, o ly s,,a jog to the patties engaged in the actions
right c f rn'e'ving costs at the tin retioo of the Court.
i ing et:de:some ito xjain ol.; eta he had in
'.O v, 1,0 t is (31)1 tn he ,ho:11,1 move
le,vo to
,brieg -*to a Bill to leg tizea c ntuin Coo-
n-,.ts which had been, cr might he, entered in:o by
ecet.tin hankers, or sharchold•rs of blanking co-pa:um:l:hips.
Mr. WARBURTON begged to ask the BLitt Hon.
Gin,tleinan whether it was his intention to intrAuce any
cl use to pt.:went Clergywea Lo!ding offices as Managers or
D-r.n.nors of tionte Companies
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sit:el
t!t-re. as no prohibitory ci is in the B 1. Its object was
o•i%e taliAity to contracts which had lite). been made.
I:" the House would det-rn it e%p•tnlient to it such
:1 ;:n-ov.s.on, he would lie ready to discuss the qlestion, lan t
tim present was not the prap;:r time. The subject could
be more prod,- rly introduced when the Church Bill, now
in:on the table of the House, was brought forward. In that
kill there were curtain clauses to prohibit clergymen inter-
ing in trade, and if it were considered necessary a clause
rni,,ht be introduced to prevent their acting as Directors or
Managers of these Companies. His Hon. Friend must be
awrre that at the present mom nt there was no prohibition
to Clergynien being mernlyrs of chartered Compar,ir2s. He
would take the University Life Insurance Company, awl
he found that the Archbishop of Canterbury was at its
that the 'Vice-Presidents wen: all Bishops. and that
many of the Directors were Clergymen of the Established
Church. Whatever the policy of the law might be, he
could only repeat that the present was not the proper time.
Mr. THOMAS ATTWOOD Loped the Right Hon.
Gentleman would reflect a little before he gave effect to
such a Bill. Forty years ago all Joint-stock Banks were
deemed a nuisance by law, and the shares were not trans-
ferable. He hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman would not
persevere in his present proposition.
Mr. HINDLEY thought the BM ought to have a re-
trospective effect.

Love was then given to bring in the Bill.
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS (SCOTLAND).
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then
moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the establishment of
additional parochial schools in certain parishes in the
Highlands of Scotland. The Right lion. Gentleman
stated that he had been induced to introduce this measure
in consequence of a deputation having waited upon him on
the subject. From the representations of that deputation
he was convinced that further schools were required ; but
for the purpose of increasing them it was found necessary
that the law should be altered, because as it at present
stood, schools could not be established in the dif-
ferent parishes in the Highlands of Scotland upon
the same system as they at present existed. He,
therefore, asked for leave to bring in the present
Bill, to enable him to carry the engagements he had
entered into with the deputation into effect.—( Hear.)
It was only right. that he should say that he had been in
communication with the Committee of the General As-
sembly. They had made a proposition to him that those
schools should not be in the nature of ordinary parochial
schools, but that they should be under their direction. He
intended to establish no new principle whatever ; he meant
that they should he established on the same principle as
the ordinary parochial schools, and on these grounds
he founded his motion.
Mr. HUME was perfectly aware that no man, who had
att: coded to the Reports which had lately been laid upon
the table with respect to this subject could doubt for a
moment that it was absolutely necessary for the Govern-
ment to extend the means of education in Scotland. It
ant-oared that in many n,.;.,t,..9 in F.m.l.lncl
were more children enjoying education than in many
parishes in Scotland, a fact of which he was not at all