The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-24 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
afi five o'clock.

ROYAL ASSENT.

The Royal assent was given by commission to the
.following bills :—The Consolidated Fund (8,000,0001.)
Sill, the Exchequer Bills (1,760,0001.) Bill, The Coast-
ing Trade Bill, the Mutiny Bill, and the Marine Mutiny
3111.
The Lords Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor,
Zen Granville, and Lord Monteagle.
The Bishop of LONDON presented a petition from
bury St. Edmunds against certain provisions in the
Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill.
The Earl of DONOUGHMORE presented a petition
from a place in Ireland praying for the adoption of mea-
sures to relieve counties of the enormous expense at-
tending the trial of prisoners.
Lord CAMPBELL presented petitions from Edin-
h, Glasgow, and the other principal towns of Scot-
ian. against the system of compulsory oaths.
The of HARROWBY presented petitions from
the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, and the Liver-
pool Guardian Society, in favour of the registration of
bills of sale.
METROPOLITAN INTERMENTS.
The Bishop of LONDON gave notice that on Mon-
day next he would present a petition from certain
clergymen calling attention to the great evil which re-
sulted from the recent measure respecting [nett opolitan
interments, and the absolute necessity of adopting new
regulations, with a view to social and sanatory pur-
poses.

THE HAY CONTRACTOR.
The Earl of MALMESBU RY—I wish to ask her
Majesty's Government whether some error has not taken
place with regard to the name of the person who at-
tempted to defraud the Government the. other day with
respect to a contract for hay lam ir.f!irmed that in
another place it has been stated his name is not Sturges,
but Sturgeon. His name and residence I think should
be known, that all the shame which attaches to such
conduct should devolve entirely on him, and not on in-
nocent persons. (gear-)
The Duke of NEWCASTLE—I came down fer the
express purpose of making this explanation to the house ;
and I should say, that upon receiving a letter couched in
the most courteous terms from this gentleman—who I
feel, to a certain extent, has been aggrieved, though un-
intentionally—l wrote to the gentleman of the depart-
ment who was my informant the other evening, and he
has written to say he regrets to find he was wrong in
giving the name of Sturges—the name is Sturgeon. I
understand that hay of more than one contractor was
returned in consequence of its being of inferior quality ;
but the individuals who sent in the hay which has been
so grievously complained of, containing the rubbish stated
by the noble earl (the Earl of Ellenborough), are—:
Thomas Sturgeon and Son, of Grays, Essex. I can only
express my sincere regret that a person of such high re-
spectability as Mr. Sturges, of Orchard-street, Portman-
square, should have felt one moment's pain at this trans-
action.

Lord CAMPBELL.—I am not acquainted with the
merits, or demerits, I should say, of the case. It seems
a very gross one ; but, for the credit of the law of Eng-
land, I should be very sorry if such conduct could not. be
made the subject of criminal prosecution. I have no
doubt by the common law of England these persons are
liable to be prosecuted, and on conviction to be severely
punished. There was a case tried before me respectio,,,,
the monument to Lord Nelson, in connectio❑ with which
a,gross fraud was committed in the metal employed.
Those persons were prosecuted ; they were tried before
me, and I sentenced them to three months' imprison-
ment ; and a much more severe punishment awaits
those convicted of the infamous conduct which has been
imputed to Mr. Sturgeon, of which, as yet, he must be
supposed to be innocent. Upon his conviction, I say
be would merit most condign punishment. (Hear.)
Lord BROUGHAM.—I am exceedingly glad to hear
that my noble and learned friend has come to the conclu-
sion that such an offence is punishable by the law as it
now stands, for it is infinitely to be preferred that we
should proceed on the law as it now is, rather than make
a new law with reference to that particular case. lam
exceedingly happy to find that my noble friend has, I
presume on due consideration of the whole matter, come
to that conclusion, in which, however, he differs, I am
sorry to say, from other learned friends of mine, who
have well considered the matter, and come to the conclu-
sion that it is extremely doubtful whether the individual
is liable to that punishment. This only shows how ex-
tremely inconvenient it is that this house—the court of
criminal review in the last resort—should be on any ac-
count, or under any circumstances whatever, drawn
into a discussion of even a hypothetical case, respecting
a case which may afterwards come before us in our
judicial capacity. (Hear, hear.) My noble and learned
friend has most carefully and safely guarded himself as
far as regards the question of fact, and it is only in the
event of the party being prosecuted and convicted of
the facts alleged that my noble and learned friend can
be understood to have pronounced any opinion what-
ever; and no doubt my noble and learned friend, upo,
the matter of law, when it comes before him,. will
perfectly ready to hear counsel for the prisoner or de-
fendant moot that point, as well as argue on the ques-
tion of fact. (Hear, hear.)
The Duke of NEWCASTLE—I think it right to
repeat, as my noble and learned friend the Lord Chief
Justice was not present the other evening, what I then
stated—that the solicitor to the Treasury is directed to
make full inquiries, and if the facts be such as to war-
rant a prosecution, to prosecute the party. (Hear.)
THE SEAMEN OF NEWCASTLE.

The Earl of ELLENBOROLTGH—My lords, I am
about to present a petition to which I wish to draw the
attention of the house, and especially of her Majesty's
Government. It is a petition for constructing a harbour of
refuge at the mouth of the Tyne, and involves matters of
the greatest importance respecting the impending war
in the Baltic, and perhaps in no inconsiderable degree
respecting the manning of the navy. There have been
various plans at various times for the formation of a
harbour of refuge, and improving the mouth of the
Tyne, and the latter subject has recently been remitted
to the consideration of Mr. Walker, the engineer of the
Admiralty, who has formed a plan for improving the
entrance into that river. I have to state that one-
fourth of the shipwrecks which are heard of on the coast
of England occur within seventy miles of the mouth of
the Tyne, that during last January 110 shipwrecks oc-
curred in three days within twenty miles of that river,
and that not less than thirty-six wrecks took place at
the mouth of the river itself. There are not less than
31 million tons of shipping annually engaged and using
the port of the Tyne, and there are not less than 71
million tons of shipping using the four rivers of the
Tyne, the Tees, the Wear, and the Humber. Access to
the Tyne is of special importance to persons who reside
in the metropolis, because, in consequence of the state of
the bar at the mouth of that river during the prevalence
of east winds are unable to leave the port, and during
three or four weeks of last winter there were not
less than 1,500 vessels detained four weeks contain-
ing 200,000 tons of coal, all required for the imme-
diate use of the metropolis. It is estimated that the cost
of building the proposed piers will be 350,000/e and the
commissioners of the Tyne are able to offer to pay one-
half of that sum. If they are left together to their own
resource's, twenty or thirty years may elapse before the
work is completed, and in the meantime in point of fact,
the intended piers will be little better than artificial reefs,
not improving but deteriorating the navigation of the
river. Your lordships must be aware how very much
the carriage of coal by railways is interfering with and
diminishing the carriage of coal by sea, and it is undoubt-
edly matter of public interest to equalise the facilities for
the conveyance of coal by sea, so as to facilitate the car-
ringe of coal to the metropolis. There are other reasons
which at the present moment render it extremely impor-
tant that the Government should attend to the sugges-
tions of the petitioners in favour of the construction of
these piers. We are involved, my lords, in a war in the
Baltic, which must be carried on to a great extent, and
every year will be carried on to a greater extent, by
means of vessels impelled by steam, and to the port of
Newcastle yon must resort for coal, by which to carry
en that war, because you must go 700 miles to obtain
any other coal but that of Newcastle, equally useful for
purposes of steam on board men of war. If that port
is altered in the manner proposed, not only will coal
vessels at all times be able to leave the harbour, but
all small vessels of war will be able to enter the harbour
and coal within it ; and the importance of that is of the
greatest possible consideration if this war continue. I
am aware it may appear unnecessary to suggest the
continuance of war, not actually declared, as an addi-
tional reason for improving the port from which the
supplies of coal for carrying on the war would be ob-
tained. But, my lords, I confess Ido not look forward
with an sanguine views to the early termination of this
war.,_ I consider if once the foundations of the great
',Vie of nations are broken up, a long time indeed will
eaPee before all the elements which compose the pre-
sent system—the present balance of power—will find
stability. It is, in my opinion, most advisable for the
Governme,4 at the earliest moment to take into view
probable events, and at the earliest moment to en-
deavour to he preparedter for all contingencies. (Hear.)
Bat, my lords, e is another consideration, and one,
as it•seems to me, of
veryla great importance, which it
would be well for
her iesty's Ministers to have in
their view. These ports
produce the finest seamen in
this country ; but I regret to say that hitherto the navy
of
has not had the advantage theira services. There has
among been to a considerable extent them a reluctance
to quit the service to which they are
ng
enter that of her Majesty, Various circumstances, I regret
to say, have occurredlate Years which havebeen o
t f
a somewhat untoward character, and have tended
duce—l would rather not say irritation but a d o prof-
egee of
estrangement between them and the Goyernmentorfthe
country. More than one measure has been passed which
has been extremely ill received by them, and has been
considered to press hardly on their interests. In one
instance—that of the Registration of Seamen Act—l
think they took a very
exaggerated and a very unrea-
sonable view of the provisions of that measure, but the
result was great indisposition on the part of the seamen
to serve at all while the law remeined unaltered, and that
which is on all ocaasions a measure most injurious to the
public and rarely beneficial to the individuals who' resort
to it—a strike ; a measure which must of necessity in,
jure the public, inasmuch as the public wealth consists
of the produce of public labour, which is interrupted
and suspended while the strike lasts, and we rarely
find that the persons engaged in it ultimately derive
any benefit which can compensate for the loss sus,-
taieed. (Hear, hear.) Another meaeuro passed throngs
this house which had a very serious effect on their
feelings towards the Government of the country.
saiely endeavoured to caution your iorelship.s againet-,
the adoption of it. The arrangement by which
f'preigners are allowed to serve in the coasting trade