The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-28 00:00:00

VICTUALLING THE NAVY.

Mr. FAGAN inquired of. the First Lord of the Ad-
miralty, whether the experiment last winter in the vari-
ous royal victualling yards of curing and salting beef for
the use of the. navy had proved that provisions could be
made uP cheaper iu these yards than they could be sup-
plied in the usual way by Government contractors; and
whether the-Board of Admiralty proposed to continue to
cure and salt beef in the royal victualling yards ?
Sir J. GRAHAM replied that there was no' stronger ad-
vocate for the system of contracting as opposed to any
species of manufacture in the dockyards as a general rule
than he was, but he considered that the particular subject
to which the hon. member's question applied was an ex-
ception to such general rule. It was true that by his ad-
vice the Board of Admiralty last year had recommenced
salting and curing meat in•the dockyards in consequence of
the exorbitant price demanded by the contractors, who
could only be held in check by its being shown to them
that no combination on their part to maintain exorbitant
prices 'would be submitted to. (Hear, hear.) 'He might
add that the experiment had been so successful that it was
intended to continue to cure and salt provisions in the
dockyards.

NAVY RESERVE.
Sir G. TYLER wished to know from the right hon.
baronet whether he intended to bring forward any measure
during the present session for the purpose of establishing
more efficient means for securing a reserve of seamen
for manning the ships of her Majesty's navy than at pre-
sent existed ?
Sir J. GRAHAM could only state to the hon. and gallant
officer and to the house that at this moment there were
44,000 seamen and boys afloat on full pay; that 12,000 had
entered for continuous service within the last six months ;
and that, besides this, the Government had succeeded in
raising coast volunteers to the number of nearly 5,000.
(Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances, he was not
aware of any further measure that was necessary ; it
would, however, be open to the Government, without an
application to Parliament, to consider the important ques-
tion, whether the Coast Guard, in connection with the
Coast Volunteers, might not be brought more immediately
under the control of the Admiralty, and thereby form au
effective reserve. (Hear.)
THE NEW POLICE BILL.

lord the Home Secretary received a deputation from the
Mr. BRlGHTOb;arved that some time ago the noble
representatives of. a large Danaher of the borough towns
against the bill for bring ng the police of the whole
country under the, control of the Home-office, and the im-
pression derived froin what fell from the noble lord at
that interview was, that the bill was to be withdrawn in
deference to the objections generally entertained against
it. But in one of the morning papers, which was gene-
rally supposed to be in some degroe in the confidence of
the Government, he saw the bill spoken of in terms of
approbation, and the noble lord was lauded kir bringing it
forward. Seeing this, and that the bill still remained
upon the order paper, there was some apprehension abroad
that the bill was not intended to be withdrawn, and it
would be very desirable, therefore, if the noble lord would
explain what really were his intentions mien the subject.
Viscount PAMERSTON stated that a deputation, con-
sisting of a number of gentlemen, had certainly waited upon'
him, and urged various objections against certain portions"
of the bill ; and without admitting the force of those ob-
jections, he told the deputation that he could not but ad-
mit the fact that such objections were entertained, that
he attached every value to the principle of local self-govern-
ment, and though he did not think the bill in question in-
fringed that principle, yet if they thought it did, that
would form a material element in guiding his conduct in
the matter— (hear)—and that though he thought the bill
a good one, he should not consider that he was doing good
service to the boroughs they represented to force it upon
them against their will. (Hear, hear.) He had, therefore,
promised to withdraw the bill, reserving to himself the
right to con Sider whether he would 'introduce another,
omittinc, those portithis which were objected to. (Hear.)
He quite agreed that it would be unwise to ask the house
to read a bill a second time, which it was understood at
the time would be liable' to considerable modifications in
committee consequently, the best way would be to with-
draw the present bill; with the view of considering whether
it could be.so modified as to make it acceptable to the
house, and' useful to the country. At present it stood for
Friday, and by that 'day he would consider whether it
would be better to drop the bill altogether for this session
or to re-introduce' it in 'a modified form.
THE PENINSULAR -AND ORIENTAL MAIL
Mr. SEYKO ' - CONTRACT.
whether the Peninsular and Oriental Company had applied
MI, asked the FirstjAord of the Admiralty,
to be released from. the contract for carrying the mails to
India, China, and Australia, and if so, whether he would
lay their application beforethe house, and what' course
her Majesty's Government meant to pursue with regard
to it ?

Sir J. GRAHAM replied that it was true the Peninsular
and Oriental Company had presented a memorial to the
Admiralty, alleging that on account of the great increase
in the rate of freights,. and the high price of coals the
contract under which they conveyed the mails entailed
great loss upon them, and praying to be released from it,
and in consequence of that memorial the Board of Admi-
ralty had come to an arrangement with the company to
investigate the allegations. It would be inconvenient to
lay the memorial before the house, but he hoped the result
of the investigation would be a satisfactory adjustment.
Mr. SE YXOUR inquired who was the person appointed
on the part of the Government to conduct the inquiry.
Sir J. GRAHAM—Two accountants, one of whom is
an officer under thp Accountant-General of the Navy.
Mr. BRIGHT understood that the company had been
making very large profits by their contract in previous
years, and urged that the inquiry should extend to the
years of gain as well as the years of loss.
Sir J. GRAHAM—The Board of Admiralty had come
to no conclusion beyond directing an investigation of the
facts stated in the memorial.
Mr. BRIGHT said the right hon. gentleman had not
answered. his question. What he asked 'was, whether in
the directions given to those who were to carry out the
inquiry the investigation was to be limited to this year, or
whether it was to extend to the results of the contract
dtiring the whole time it had been in force. The house had
a right to know this, 'seeing that it was probable. a vote
would be called for to make good any loss.
Sir J. GRAR A ll—lf the house is called upon for a vote
I shall consider it my duty to enter into the most minute
details of the whole Matter ; but the memorialists having
set forth their losses only and not their gains, the investi-
gation will be in the first instance as to the losses, but be-
fore we decide upon the prayer of the memorial, the ques.
tion of the previous gains must also be taken into consi.
deration.. (Hear, bear.)
FACTORY AND LAW REPORTS.

- _
Colonel DUNNE inquired whether the Secretary of
State for the Home Department had received the reports
of Inspectors of faotories to April, 1851, and when they
would be laid on the table of the house ?
Lord PALMERSTON. said the report had been received
and would be immediately laid before the house, and, in
reply to Mr. Walpole, the noble lord added, that the first
report of the legal commissioners had been presented to
the Home-office, and would shortly be laid on the table.
LAW OF PARTNERSHIP.
Mr. HORSFALL appealed to Mr. Collier to postpone
his motion on this subject, in consequence of the short time
which the report of the commission had been in tlie hands
of members. ' •
Mn COLLIER; then called the attention of the House to.
the law of partnership, and observed that it was not a mere
lawyers' question, but one on which the co-operation of all
classes of members would be advantageous. He briefly
stated the character of the law as it exists, and by which
it is presumed that every partner has a right to bind all
the others to an unlimited extent. It was alleged that it
was in consequence of this law of unlimited liability that
the country had arrived at its present state of prosperity.
He denied that fact. He asserted, on the contrary, that
they were indebted to the breaches of this law for the great
works that had been carried out. Where would have been
their railways, their canals, their docks, and their many
other works, but for the violations of this law ? Even
their greatest work of art in modern days, the Crystal
Palace, would never have been erected if they had confined
themselves to the letter of the law. It was supposed by
some that the existing law was necessary to our commer-
cial prosperity. He, however, said that the gravestones of
unlimited liability were to be found in their prisons and
their courts of bankruptcy. The question was, whether
the present state of the law was satisfactory ?—whether it
rested on a footing that could be depended upon ?—and
whether it was desirable to allow a large class of persons
to invest their money upon a principle of limited liability
without obliging them to make an appeal for a special
license from the Crown. The hon. member for Kidder-
minster (Mr. Lowe) said that nothing could be worse than
a system which, in the first instance, prohibited limited
liability, and, in the second, invested the Government
with power to violate the law. -If the law be right it
ought to be enforced ; if wrong it ought to be repealed.
Mr. Lowe then observed—" I should as soon think of
allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to grant dispen-
sations for smuggling, or the Attorney-General licenses
for gambling." (Hear, hear.) He ventured to
think that the restrictions imposed by the exist-
ing law of unlimited liability were a serious impedi-