The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-29 00:00:00

Turkish ally, but in a manner which was contrary to the
terms of the obligations which the treaty recognising
the independence of Greece imposed upon her.
(Hear.) Under these circumstances the Government of
England and France had thought it necessar to send a
a force to occupy the Piraeus, hut
should the Greek Go-
vernment be sincere in their protestations that they were
opposed to those insurrections, the troops would be ready
to assist them in suppressing such movements ; but this
she must be made to know at once that she would not be
allowed to assist the ally of Russia while professing to be
on terms of amity and friendship with the Sultan of Tur-
key. (Cheers.)
In reply to Mr. BRIGHT,
Lord J. RUSSELL said the papers in reference to the
state of Greece had now been received by Lord Clarendon,
and ho hoped to be
at able
the at
to la
esy
t. them on the table of the
l
house
resebpyl 'y
r hursMdr3. to
the troops alluded to were only
RUSSELLYCo said E,
Lord J.
to occupy the Pianos at present, and not Athens.
In reply to Sir B. HALL,
Lord PALMERSTON said he would endeavour to lay
the papers referring to the Commissioners of Sewers on
the table, either before the recess or immediately after.
Mr. M. GIBSON said although the Government recently
bwohuennd
h,
efor n
tt
eh
ne d say,edket of r
e‘cioenemsisthenisep
been so unfortunate in their measures—(a laugh),—he felt
o
letioigeaskofthberinnogbinleg lir n
al
county rates bill.
Lord PALMERSTON said the bill in question was in
preparation, and would be introduced at an early period.
LETTERS TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS ABROAD.
In reply to Lord D. STUART,
Sir J. GRAHAM said oa every Tuesday a mail made
up in London for the Baltic Fleet, and a messenger was
sent every Tuesday to convey all officers' letters not exceed-
ing half an ounce, at a postage of Bd. for English, Belgian,
and Prussian postages ; soldiers' and sailors' letters are
sent at a rate of 5(.1. Ths arrangement was confined to the
special messenger. In addition to that, mails were made
up and sent by every man-of-war leaving England, and
sailors' and soldiers' letters are sent at the rate of one
penny. There had been three of these mails sent in March,
three in April, and five in May. With regard to the Black
Sea, the French Government had allowed the use of their
conveyances by Marseilles to Constantinople, and the con-
veyance by those means were six times a month, at the
combined rate of English and French letters, which will
amount to pretty nearly the same as letters sent to the
Baltic.
CORRESPONDENTS OF LONDON PIPERS.
In reply to Mr. DIGBY SEYMOUR, who wished to
ask the First Lord of the Admiialty whether it was by
any order of the Government the correspondents of the
London papers would not be allowed to accompany the
expeditionary army to the scene of action ?
Sir J. GRAHAM said he had nothing whatever to do
with the orders or movements of the army.
BARNSTAPLE BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS BILL.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then rose and said
that since the introduction of the above bill and the
four other similar bills, some case, he was bound
to say, had been made out on behalf of the parties
who had given evidence before the commissioners
under the protection of a Parliamentary indemnity.
(Hear.) In addition to that he had learned from members
on both sides of the house—for he hoped such a question
would never be made a party question—that if those bills
were passed there would be a great amount of delay, incon-
venience, and probably after all an unsatisfactory result,
in punishing the parties really guilty. Under these cir-
cumstances he thought it was his duty not to advise the
Government to proceed with those bills. (Hear, hear.)
At the same time he felt that those elections were
a scandal and a disgrace to the country; but he hoped that
the course of legislation now proceeding would teach those
voters that, though Parliament was now unwilling to pro-
ceed with those bills, yet when such offences were proved,
that the offenders should not be allowed to escape. He,
therefore, moved that the order of the day for the second
reading of those bills be discharged. (Hear.)
Sir F. THESIGER, after expressing his approval of the
fair and honourable manner in which his hon. and learned
the Attorney General had conducted this question, said he
felt it was his duty to say that the course adopted by the
Government frilly justified the course he had himself in-
tended to take in reference to this question, and therefore
he should not, of course, now proceed with the amend-
ment he intended to propose.
Mr. W. 0. STANLEY thought the course now taken
by the Government was a very unwise one, and would,
he feared, give rise to an opinion in the country that the
house was trifling with this important question.
Lord J. RUSSELL said it was a disappointment to him
that a measure introduced by him to punish and prevent
bribery was only partially successful ; but he trusted that
the measures which had been referred to a select com-
mittee would have a beneficial effect on future elections.
Mr. G. BUTT said there could be no just reason for
withholding the new writs for Cambridge, Hull, Canter-
bury, Malden, and Barnstaple, now that Government had
decided on withdrawing these bills.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said he should certainly object to
the issue of any writs to the five delinquent boroughs,
at all events during the present session, If the writs
were now issued to those boroughs, the sooner the house
restored the franchise to St. Albans and Sudbury the bet-
ter. (Hear, hear.)
(LEFT SPEAKING.)