The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-11 00:00:00

or two to offer. The one related to the question of bribery; tions ; for not every one worth a thousand pounds could
and he thought he understood the noble lord to say, that if deposit it any time.
a sitting member was deprived of his seat in come- Mr. T. KENNEDY said a few words in favour of the
queue° of bribery, by himself or agents, the candi- ballot.
date opposed to him, if he had two-thirds of the votes given Lord J. RUSSELL said his bill comprised provisions as
for the sitting member, was to have the seat. He doubted to petitions and agents. And it was provided that every
whether that could be called an entirely constitutional pro- candidate should have only one authorised agent, and be
posal, because he considered the fact of a sitting member responsible for no other. (Hear.)
losing his seat for bribery was no proof whatever of a candi- Leave was given to bring in the bill.
date who opposed him having the majority of the votes of THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT.
the eleotors. He feared it would be extremely difficult Mr. BAINES, in rising to move for leave to bring in a
to say that because A had been unseated for bribery, B bill to amend the laws relating to the settlement, removal,
therefore had a majority of the votes of the electors. But and the chargeability of the poor in England and Wales,
he thought the greatest difficulty" would be found "in the said he hoped the house would allow him very respectfully
clause which attempted to define undue influence. Why,
to request their indulgence while he endeavoured to bring
they all knew that a look or a frown was sufficient to inti- before them, with as much simplicity and brevity as pos-
midate some voters. He contended it was utterly impossible, a subject of great difficulty and perplexity, and cer-
sible to define what was called "undue influence," and espe- tainly of great importance. (Hear.) He believed that it
cially by a clause in an act of Parliament. He thought that was a subject important to all classes—to those engaged in
part of the bills would lead to litigation of a very disagree- commerce and agriculture, to employers as well as to la-
able character, and not to any very successful result. On bourers, and above all to that class which, in the situation
the question of undue influence or intimidation, he would he had the honour to hold, he considered himself the pecu-
refer the house to the opinion of the right how. gentleman liar advocate in that house—the destitute poor. (Hear.)
the member for Edinburgh (Mr. Macaulay), who had laid Within the last ten years a very unusual degree of public
it down that it was impossible to find any statutory remedy attention has been bestowed on that subject, and within
for that evil, and that they could only hope to get rid of it that time he might say with truth, that a greater amount
by adopting the ballot. (Cheers.) He would also with of accurate information with respect to it had been
confidence refer the noble lord to the opinion on that sub" obtained than at any former time. (Hear, hear.) In
ject of his right hon. colleague in the Cabinet, the member the years 1844, 1845. and 1846, earnest discussions took
for Southwark (Sir W. Molesworth). He was glad, how- place in that house, and in the year 1847 a committee
ever, to find that they were this session to have an effort was appointed to investigate the whole subject of the
made to put down the offence of bribery. The hon. and law of settlement and removal. That committee con-
learned gentleman the member for East Suffolk, who re- sisted of gentlemen admirably qualified to conduct such
presented him (Mr. M. Gibson) in that house—(a laugh)— inquiries; and, inasmuch as he should have to lay some
since he had a residence in that county, had given notice stress on their recommendations, the house would pardon
of his intention to bring forward a similar measure ; and, him if he stated the names. Mr. Charles Buller was the
with the great legal knowledge of the hon. and learned chairman, and the other members were the present First
member, he (Mr. M. Gibson) had no doubt the house would Lord of thei Admiralty (Sir James Graham), Sir George
proceed in this matter with considerable advantage. But Grey, Mr. Henley, Mr. W. Miles, Mr. Bankes, Lord Harry
he had a very strong belief that the sole remedy for all the Vane, Mr. Evelyn Denison, Mr. George Poulett Scrope,
three offences of bribery, treating, and intimidation was Mr. C. Villiers, Mr. Aldam, Mr. Bodkin, Mr. Duncombe,
to be found in secret voting. (Hear.)
Mr. Round, and Mr. Borthwick. They investigated the
Sir F. KELLY thanked the noble lord for having taken subject most fully, and they had the advantage of examin-
up the subject of bribery and corruption. He assured the
ins, witnesses from all parts of the country, and particu-
laaqy persons who were conversant with the administration
nobfroralehilo that he would receive every possible assistance
his (Sir
(Sir F. Kelly's) friends, to carry out a measure of the poor-laws. In the year 1848 Mr. Charles Buller,
sdescribedby tihmepneobnlge who in the meantime had become President of the Poor-
calculated to pat a
lord. He agreed with
hp thoinithe es
the system of imposing law Board, in order to obtain still further light on this
penalties had failed of its effect. What they ought to subject, determined to send out into different parts of the
do was to facilitate the means by which bribery could be country eight gentlemen, all duly qualified to conduct such
easily detected, and this would deter parties from being an inquiry with efficiency, to inquire into the law of
guilty of it. He conceived it would be a most unconstitu- settlement and removal in fourteen counties of the country,
tional matter to give to an election committee the power chiefly agricultural. They did inquire very minutely and
of saying that persons who bad only two-thirds of the elaborately, and reports were presented and laid on the
voters had been duly elected. (Hear, hear.) He heard table of the house, and afterwards distributed among the
with great satisfaction the noble lord's statement of his in- members, fall of important evidence as to the working of
tendon to give to the election committee assessors. It the law, and peculiarly valuable, as especial pains had
would simplify the proceeding before such committee, and been taken to obtain information from those who were
give to their decisions that which did not attach to them practically acquainted with the administration of the
—uniformity. (Hear.) existing law. When these reports, parliamentary and
Colonel SII3THORP considered that this movement in
official, had been all laid before this house, an opinion was,
he thought, very naturally expressed in various quarters,
reference to bribery was nothing more than an effort to that inasmuch as all the information that could be hoped
screen the Ministers of the Crown from the consequences for was obtained, it became the duty of the Government,
of their conduct in reference to Eastern affairs. Bribery difficult and complicated as the subject was, to grapple
—why, the very Treasury stinks of it. (Laughter.) He with it, and do their best to arrive at some improvement
would tell the Treasury Bench that he had exercised bene- of the existing law ; for all agreed on this, perhaps the
volence in the course of the last year, and he would do so ony point on which they wero agreed, that nothing could
again next year, in spite of the Treasury Bench or that bed worse or more indefensible than the existing law.
house. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) He repudiated any- (Cheers.) Inquiries were made of the Government from
thing like undue influence. The right hon. member for time to time as to their intentions to originate such a mea-
Manchester said that the only way to get rid of undue in-
sure, and last session, it would be remembered, notices
finance was the ballot. Oh, the ballot ! why, it was the
of motion were given on both sides of the house—one by
most contemptible—the most un-English mode of proceed- the hon. member for Berkshire, and the other by the hon,
tion that could be adopted. He looked upon the introduc- member for Stafford—of resolutions proposing to affirm
tion of this measure as a sort of political subterfuge on the
part of Ministers. (A laugh.) this proposition, that the law of settlement and removal
ought be al:ashed an area of cea en-
Mr. HUME thought that the house and the country were laraed.to fi ,
ous In the other hd the
ofe ntha rg
Parliame , Lordbilit Bery ners .
indebted to any man who proposed measures for putting actually introduced a bill affirming that principle ; and it
down bribery at elections, because the value of that house was only on a distinct pledge being given by the Govern-
depended on the conviction entertained by the public that ment, that they would consider the subject with a view to
it represented the honest sentiments of the community at introducing some measure this session, that the bill was
large. (Hear.) He believed that the bribery which had withdrawn. It was in redemption of that pledge that he
recently taken
.place, and the exposures of that bribery had now the honour to stand before them to explain as
which had been made, convinced many people that the time simply and as shortly as he could the bill which the Govern-
had come when some remedy for the evil should be de- ment thought fit to submit to Parliament. He was quite
wised. There were two points which had been overlooked sure of this, that he had the honour of speaking in the
by the noble lord—the first was the punishment of agents presence of a great number of gentlemen whom it would
convicted of bribery, and, secondly, the punishment of be perfectly vain in him to endeavour to instruct in any
those who were proved to have been bribed. Candidates way as to the law of settlement. Very much to the ad-
might often shelter themselves under the conduct of their vantage of the country they had themselves taken an active
agents, and until the agents were punished by suspension part in the administration of that law. But there were
for ever the enormity of bribery would not be corrected, other gentlemen who had not•perhaps paid the same atten-
In the case of the bribed, it would be well if a tribunal tion to the subject, and there were many out of doors who
having summary jurisdiction were appointed, with power seemed to him to entertain very erroneous opinions with
to disqualify those proved guilty of bribery for 10 or 12 respect to it. He should, therefore, very shortly, and
years. (Hear, hear.) His own opinion was that the only avoiding everything like technicality, state what he con-
remedy for putting down bribery would be found to be the ceived to be the substance of the present law of settlement
ballot. The noble lord would decidedly give a crowning and removal, and the manner in which it operated. It
triumph to his previous career by introducing the ballot— was well known that the area of chargeability under our
at least permitting it to be exercised by any constituency, law for the support of the poor was a parish—not the parish
two-thirds of whom should prefer that mode of polling even in the ecclesiastical sense of the term, for under the
their votes. (Hear, hear.) poor law, "parish" was used to designate every place
Mr. PACKE approved of the idea of giving assessors to maintaining poor. There were different divisions, in dif-
the Parliamentary committees in future. He wished to ferent parts of the country, having different names, but
call attention to the practice of treating, and to suggest a he was speaking now of "parish" under the poor law. Of
remedy for that evil. The elections at present occupied such parishes there were no fewer than 14,614. Those dis-
two days—the day of nomination, and the day of polling, tricts varied infinitely in size and population. For in-
on which days riot and drunkenness widely prevailed. It stance, in the county of Durham there was a parish of
would certainly be a great improvement if the public- 53,000 acres, and in the adjoining county of Northumber-
houses in the locality where the election took place were land a parish of five acres. With regard to population,
compelled to remain closed on those two days—(laughter) there were many parishes extremely populous, and there
—as by these means much immorality)
would be effectually were other parishes the populations of which were very
small indeed. There were no fewer than 7,000 parishes
prevented. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.
the population of which were less than 300 each, and very
Mr. H. BERKELEY was glad to see the noble lord pro- nearly 800 parishes the population of which were less thau
greasing in the cause of reform, though he should regret at 50 each These were facts which were vry material with
the same time that his pace was so tardy. The noble lord . regard icy the inquiryilitnwtoawhich the house wastirileow
reenter;
spoke of intimidation by violence ; but did he not know ing (Hear, he well known that there were such things as intimidation of tenants by land- the of settlement 'and remosval originated with a staptutseenof
lords, and of tradesmen by customers? The noble lord was the fourteenth year of Charles 11., in 1662, the effect of
evidently on the brink of the ballot, but was afraid to take which, coupled with subsequent acts of Parliament, was
the final step. Secrecy at the polling-booth was the only this, that if a person became destitute in any parish in
protection to the voter ; and the number of election peti- this countiy, not that of his legal settlement, upon be-
tions tried last year demonstrated the necessity for the coming chargeable he was liable to be removed by warrant -
ballot. No man received money for a vote until after he of justices —by force, if necessary—to the place of his
had recorded it—the great mass of evidence last year went legal settlement. A settlement, as hon. gentlemen were
to prove that. So that, with the protection of the ballot, aware, had been acquired in a variety of ways—by
no man would give money either before or after, inasmuch serving an office, by apprenticeship, by hiring for service,
as he would not know how the vote was recorded. The by renting a tenement, andiceship,
otherwise ; and effect of
ballot wan, however, a measure of time : and the day was the law of Charles, coupled with other statutes, was this
certain to arrive when the people of this country would —that if a person bcame destitute in any parish but that
stand astonished that such an act of justice should have
been so long denied them. (Hear, hear.) of his legal settlement, he, on becoming chargeable, was
liable to be removed by the warrant of justices, and by
Mr. PHINN said that treating should be placed on the force if necessary, to the parish of his legal settlement.
same footing as bribery. He thought that good would be That was the principle of the law. Many people were
done by the withholding the publication of the poll book under a misapprehension upon this subject; they thought
for some time after the election. The preliminary corn- settlement conferred a right to relief. That was a mis-
mittee would act as an impediment to justice. He asked take ;by the law of England destitution conferred the
that the compromising of election petitions should be pre- right to relief. (Hear, hear.) If a person who had no
vented, and that a public prosecutor should be appointed. settlement—a foreigner for instance— was destitute in a
And he also advocated inquiry on the spot, instead of bring- parish, he must bo relieved there. So with regard to a
ing witnesses to London.
very large class of persons who had no settlement, or
Mr. MILES thought that in any measure which the whose settlement could not be ascertained, they must
house might adopt, provision should be made to check the be relieved where they became destitute. If a person
scandalous intimidation which, at the last election, had who had a settlement became destitute in the parish
prevailed in Clare and in other parts of Ireland, and which of his settlement, then the removal did not attach as
had been a disgrace to that country. He thought the a condition of relief ; but, if he became destitute in
clause proposed by the noble lord would not touch spirt- any other parish, the relief operated as a penalty upon
tual intimidation. (Hear, hear.) If they were to have him, because it necessitated his removal to the place of
assessors to guide the decisions of the election committees, his legal settlement. Such a man was, therefore, in
they should at least be men of such standing as would con- a worse position than the destitute foreigner, or a
vince the country that their decisions were not influenced person whose settlement was not known. The latter
by party feelings,
might be relieved when he became destitute, and as long
Mr. RICH would also suggest to the noble lord that the as he continued so, while a man who had a settlement at
assessors should possess higher legal attainments than bar- the other extremity of the country, if he received a single
risters of ten years' standing did, and the number of ten farthing, or a single loaf of bread, as relief from the over-
night be reduced to three or four who would form a seer, was liable to be removed by a justice's warrant to his
of aid to Parliament on private bills and other matters,eorPs legal settlement as the condition of that relief. There was,
Mr. WARNER would regret if the house could
not however, a further consequence of this law. If the man
who had been removed, in the case he had just put, to .the
confer a permanent jurisdiction in election matters other end of the country, ventured forth again from the
some older body than a committee of the house, for re
to
of his settlement, and came to the place from which
thought everything should give way before the extreme' e had been removed, and there by any accident—such as
importance of an investigation on the spot. He hoped that the stagnation of trade, became destitute again, he as the
if assessors were appointed to advise committees of the law stood at this moment, was liable to be treated' under
house, they would be men of the highest legal standing tae
Act as a vagrant, and might be sent to gaol
Ile thought, however, that intimidation would never be
successfully put down unless there were vote by ballot, and
i.s kepta to hard labour as an idle and disorderly person,
he believed, a correct and compendious view of
and that the publication of the state of the poll in the the laww was,
settlement as it stood. at present. (Hear, hear.)
middle of the day was one great source of bribery. He He had now to call the attention of the house to some of
thought a measure might be introduced by which votes the effects of this state of thin s His belief, after looking
might be taken at the residences of the voters, or they most carefully and anxiously g.
into the subject,that
might get a stamped form from the relieving officer, which there was no one class of they community which was,wts not
they might fill up, and send by post as a record of their prejudiced to a greater or less extent by the existing law.
vote.
IVith the permission of the house h would
Mr. P. PHILLIMORE congratulated the noble lord on attention to its effect upon that most important
draw
relation of
having brought forward a bill, with an object which every all—the relation between the employer
and the labourer.
lover of truth and honour must applaud. He, however, By the operation of the present law of settlement, a great
thought there were some points of difficulty in the pro- many labourers were kept in their own parishes, instead of
posed meaanre. He agreed with the hon. member for going to other parishes where they would be able to obtain
Bath (Mr. Phinn) that, considering there were members of remunerative work. Cases frequently happened which he
the house most eminent in the legal profession, they would would illustrate by a supposition which, he had no doubt,
answer the purpose intended by the noble lord far better had been exemplified within the knowledge of many hon.
than a tribunal of assessors. He thought also the noble gentlemen. A farmer was in want of a labourer; two men
lord should introduce into his measure a clause, with the presented themselves to him ; one of them was an idle,
view of calling on every member taking his seat in that worthless, slovenly labourer, but a seteed inhabitant of the
house, to declare on his honour that no bribery had to his farmer's parish ; the other was an industrious, sober, skilful
knowledge taken place during his election. (Hear.) man, anon-settled inhabitant of the parish. Now, what were
Mr BALL said the country would never be perfectly they to think of a state of the law which actually made the
satisfied with the integrity of the house until a candid de- farmer take the worthless labourer and reject the good one?
claration was required from every member, that he had (Hear.) Yet t' lat was the case. The farmer reasoned with
not spent one shilling, directly or indirectly, in bribery or himself in this manner :—" This idle, worthless man will
treating. With respect to the suggestion of the hon, do some work, to be sure; he is settled in my parish; if
member for Bath, he would carry it further. He thought he goes into the workhouse I shall have to maintain him
as they bad so many legalgentlemen in the house, it would and his wife and family ; therefore, the best thing I can do
not be a bad plan to make use of them. They all knew in will be to give him some kind of job out of the workhouse,
election petitions how the time of the committee was oc- and put up with him instead of taking the more skilful
copied by long speeches, and the large sums that had to be man." Now, this system operated, in the first place, to
paid in the shape of retainers, fees, refreshers, and such give the farmer an inferior kind of labour. As this was
like. Now, he thought if the legal gentlemen in the house the case in thousands of parishes, what an effect it must
were to conduct the cases before the committees, each have upon the productive agricultural industry of the
taking the cases belonging to their own party, the business country ! The system must, also, have a most pernicious
would be done a great deal better and a great deal cheaper effect in the way of example upon the character of the
at the same time. (Laughter.)
labourer. What could they think of a system of law which
Sir, B. HALL tendered his thanks for the bills, but taught the idle and unskilful labourer to rely upon the ac-
thought Lord J. Russell had been too lenient as regarded ciclent of being settled in a parish instead of upon his
agents. Adverting to the country attorneys who mixed sobriety and skill, and which discouraged these charac-
themselves up in elections, he suggested a clause, that if teristicsin the man who possessed them? When theyremem-
they were caught tripping they should be at once struck off bared that these cases might be numbered by hundreds and
the rolls. He was strongly opposed to the assessors being by thousands, he left the house to imagine what the aggro-
members of that house,
gate effect must be upon the productive industry of the
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE expressed his opinion that under country and the character of the labourers. Under such
no circumstances ought a petition, once presented, to be a system neither capital nor labour in this country could
allowed to be withdrawn, and that the recognisance sys- be said to meet with its just return. He had seen peti-
te tn ought to be amended. He wished the lawyers were tions presented to that house from the farming districts,
not to be let in, as they bothered the members and mysti- especially since the repeal of the corn laws, complaining
fled the objects.!t
of the hardship that, while farmers were exposed to unre-
r:,saSisrs*Te. TROLLOPE was also an advocate for in* troduc- stricted competition with respect to the commodity_ in
u%szin. preliminary measure in a much more stringent which they dealt, they should not have the advantage of
Sir J. free trade in labour. He thought their complaint was
am
" A.LMSLPY thought
in thethe measures were a step most reasonable, and that it behoved the Legislature to
punishment of
right direction. But he recommended that the consider how the grievance might be remedied. The only
expensive, throughbribing voters should be made easy and in- commodity the labourer possessed washis labour ; and the medium of the county courts. could it be said that he enjoyed free trade when he could
Mr. NAPtgat
the people was thee:fnf
sidered that the moral education of not take that labour to the best market, but was
practices, but he adinTst.ual twa
edhay
tt thin
uppress election mai- obliged to remain in hia own parish ? He (Mr. Bahasa)
good. He urged that bill was likely to do was not sure that he had stated the strongest part of
against the intimidation practised
ought to be granted tho case with regard to the labourer, but what he had
Mr- AZZIK. and Mr. H.
in I l d stated would be verified by the observation and expel
After some observations, by at
rienee of many honourable gentlemen. (Hear, hear.)
BENTINCK,
The present law, however, operated most injuri-
Mr. H.
tion a ainst DRhiUMMOND said it yeast
lion• friend the ins me that the peti- ously with regard to the residences of the labourers.
gs mber rn
for East Surrey He would show the house bow the ritv of settlement gave
was groundless, but his hon. friend
_had forgotten to state a direct interest to prevent residences for labourers being
how it came to be abandoned. rlis hon.
porters had got up a counter Petition a friend's sup- erected in parishes where, by the combination of a few
gainst himself, and landlords, such erection could be prevented. Nearly every
for the purpose of the other being withdrawn.
A. laugh.) one of
the' present modes of creating a settlement required
He believed the real remedy for the evils of the( existing a residence of a certain duration in the parish; by pre-
system was the revival of the annual Parliaments—which venting, therefore, the residence of a labourer in a parish,
used to be the system until the Whigs came in with their the chance of his becoming settled there;
Septennial Act. (Laughter.) you prevented
and covenants were accordingly not unusually inserted in
Mr. J. O'CONNELL agreed with the right hon. and leases that the lessee should not build, or permit to be
learned member for Dublin University, that it was neces- built, any labourers' cottages on his farm, (Hear.) There
nary to protect Irish voters against intimidation, but it was was actually a case on the books wherein a farmer had had
the intimidation of their landlords. He was persuaded an action brought against him by the parish for having
that the only true remedy against corruption and intimi- "made new parishioners," that was to say, for having
elation was the ballot ; and that all this patchwork hired two farm servants for a year, and so created two pos-
would prove utterly in- sible additional claimants on the rates. (Hear.) There
legislation, session after session,
effectual.
. were a great many parishes in the country called close
; a aa a Mtalfa KING doubted the wisdom of requiring.deposit parishes, •''d a.. 101 tkesthousand pounds for which the recognisance& were cated parishes,
Iles, bY which very expressive designation was inch.
wherein there was but one landlord, or,
- litywrati: lt might prevent the presentation of peti• - perhaps, two or three, who, by combination among them.
,„---:•4' -t
/ a's '-` ."',t.... ',,,..,
'3., , , 'i.,V..4

441..

to the house on the 2nd of May, and on the 7th of the same
month was agreed to without amendment."
Fifty years afterwards Adam Smith delivered an opinion
on the subject, which was perfectly familiar to the house,
but which could not be too frequently cited, because it
was the oeinion of a great man, of a great authority on
the subject—a man of peculiar sagacity, and having the
great advantage in the matter of perfect impartiality—.
writing, as he did, in Scotland—wit-le relation to the state
of our institutions in England :
"To remove a man who has committed no misdemeanour
from the perish where he chooses to reside is an evident vio-
lation of natural liberty and justice. There is scarcely a poor
man in England of 40 years of age, I will venture to say, who
has not in some part of his life felt himself most cruelly op-
pressed by this ill-contrived law of settlements . . . . .
Let the same natural liberty of exercising what species of in-
dustry they please be restored to all his Majesty's subjects—
that is, break down the exclusive privileges of corporations,
and repeal the statute of apprenticeship, both which are
really encroachments upon natural liberty, and add to these
repeal of the law of settlements, so that a poor workman,
when thrown out of employment either in one trade or in one
place, may seek for it in another trade or in another place,
without the fear either of a prosecution or of a removal."
The house was aware that the wiser legislation of later
years had removed two of these impediments to the exer-
cise of the industry of the labouring man—the exclusive
monopoly of corporations and the statute of apprentices.
It was for the house now to decide what should become of
the third impediment this denounced. (Hear, hear.) He
would now quote another authority of importance—one
followed with implicit deference by many members of that
house, and regarded with respect by all—Mr. Pitt. On
the 12th of Fbruary, 1796, Mr. Pitt thus expressed him-
self on this subject :
" The laws of settlement prevent the workman from going
to that market where he can dispose of his industry to the
greatest advantage, and prevent the capitalist from employ-
ing the person who is qualified to procure him the best re-
turns for his advances. These laws have at once increased the
burdens of the poor, and have drawn from the collective
resources of the State to supply wants which their operation
has occasioned, and to alleviate a poverty which they tend to
perpetuate I conceive that to promote the free
circulation of labour, and to remove the obstacles by which
industry is prohibited from availing itself of its resources,
would go far to remedy the evils and diminish the necessity
of applying for relief to the poor-rates. In the course of a
few years this freedom from the impolitic restraint which these
laws impose will in part supply the purposes for which these
laws were instituted. The advantages will be widely diffused,
the wealth of the nation will be increased, and the poor man
rendered not only more comfortable, but more virtuous."
The last authority to which he would call the attention of
the house was that of a resolution agreed to by a commit-
tee of the house which sat in the year 1847. That committee
sat 50 years after Mr. Pitt had used the expressions which
he had before quoted, and therefore their experience was
of later date. That committee had examined persons best
qualified to give all the requisite information, end after
the most careful inquiry they had agreed to asresolution—
" That the law o f settlement and removal is generally pro-
ductive of hardship to the poor, and injurious to the working
classes by impeding the free circulation of labour. That it is
injurious to the employers of labour, and impedes the im-
provement of agriculture. That it is injurious to the rate-
payers, by occasioning expense in litigation and removal of
paupers. That the power of removing destitute poor per-
sons from one parish to another in England and Wales be
abolished."
Mr. HENLEY.—Was the report of that committee laid
on the table of the house ?
Mr. BAINES believed not ; but the resolution which he
had just read to the house was one which had been agreed
to, and Ler Majesty's Government were of opinion that the
resolutions of that committee were perfectly right. They
had arrived at that opinion on the grounds which he hail
already stated to the house, and upon some other grounds
which he did not think it necessary to state. The only real
remedy, they thought, for such a state of things as he had
described was to take away entirely the power of com-
pulsory removal, and, by the first clause of the bill which
he was asking permission of the house to introduce it was
enacted, " That from the passing of this bill it shall not be
lawful to remove by force any poor person, upon the ground
of settlement, from any parish in England or Wales."
The committee which sat in 1847, having inquired into the
question of forcible removal, tai ned their attention to
another subject connected with the system, and that sub-
ject was the area of chargeability. At present the area of
chargeability was the area of the parish, and he had already
adverted to the great difference of size between various
parishes. There was abundant evidence before that com-
mittee of the evil of close parishes, and the en bject to
which it became necessary to extend the inquiry was as to
whether, if the law allowing forcible removal were abo-
lished, it would not be also expedient to alter the area of
chargeability ; or, if this were not done, whether the poor
man would be any better off than before. If any parish
had no place in which a poor man could be sheltered, there
was as complete an escape from any expense of maintain-
ing a pauper as under the present la w. An evil which
would necessarily result from this would be, that poor men
would be caged up in buildings such as he had already de-
scribed, and in which, in a moral point of view, there was
as much danger and evil as described by gr. A'Beckett.
To this danger, however, another might be added in regard
to the sanitary effects of such a state of things. Eames,
such as he ha l described, were the favourite haunts of all
pestilential diseases, with cholera itself in the van
~Hear, hear.) He would now ask the house to go with
him into the consideration of whether, under these cir-
cumstances' it might not be desirableto make some al-
teration in the area of chargeability. He would read to
the house the resolutions to which the committee or
1847 had come on that subject. That committee had
resolved—
" That the narrowness of the area of chargeability is one
great source of the evils above adverted to, as well as of
others %rising from the interest of landowners and rate-
payers in preventing the residence within that area of
persons likely to become chargeable. That it is therefore
desirable to extend the area of rating for the relief of the
poor. That unions would form the fittest area for that
purpose."
He was also of opinion that unions formed the fittest area
for levying rates for the relief of the poor, for, although
those unions differed in extent, some being larger and
some smaller tian others, still they were nearly of thesame
size, and at all events there were no such monstrous dis-
crepancies in aze as existed among the parishes. He con-
sidered that tie area of the unions would be more advan-
tageous than a wider area. It was an area next in degree
to that of parishes, and he was of opinion that it was not
desirable to extend the area too much, as it was of the ut-
most importance that ratepayers should look after every
case of distress which came before them.
(Hear, hear.)
There was another thing to be considered, and that was,
that the unions were districts well known to the law, and
in them the ratepayers were represented by the hoard of
guardians who presided over its affairs, and all rates were
levied and expended within the same district and under
the superintendence of the ratepayers or their representa-
tives. There would therefore, he believed, be a great ad-
vantage in saying that chargeability should be attached to
the unions. (Hear, hear.) There were, he was well aware,
some well-meaning persons out of that' house who would
go further than he felt inclined to do, and who were in
favour of a system of national rating, or even to having
recourse to the consolidated fund for the relief of the poor;
but he begged to state that he entertained the most insu-
perable objections to such a proceeding. (Loud cries of
' Hear, hear.") It was his firm conviction that any such
scheme Must inevitably lead to fraud and jobbery of the
very worst description. (Hear, hear.) Such a scheme
would lead to the greatest wastefulness and carelessness.
(Hear, hear.) The direct effect of it would be to bring
about such a degree of pauperism as no man would ever
be able to get rid of. (Hear.) Such a scheme would be
totally inconsistent with the present proposal, which recog-
nised in the fullest possible way the expediency of pre-
serving the system of local self-government. (Hear.) If
such a course were adopted, there would be no local self-
government at all—honest men would become so careless
that they would take no part in the manner in which relief
was bestowed, and those who did concern themselves
would do so with some sinister object. The sum of money
raised for the relief of the distressed ought to be levied and
expended in the same area, and expended under the con-
trol of the contributors or of their representatives. That
was the safest and the justest principle for legislation
upon this subject. One clause in the bill which he wished
to introduce into the house established that unions should
be the area of chargeability, instead of the parishes, as had
hitherto been the case • and he believed that the imme-
diate effect of this enactment would be to get rid of close
parishes, and that it -would be found to act in a satisfac-
tory meaner. Another question which required conside-
ration was as to the manner in which the contributions
were to be raised and the sums to be levied. One plan
would be to have some fixed, uniform scale ; but in the
course of a few years a parish might alter most materially.
There might be a parish, in which a new factory having
sprung up, or mineral springs having been discovered,
might in a few years have made a great variation in the
value of property is the parish ; yet, according to the sup-
position he had started with, the scale of payment would
be invariable. einother circumstance which led him to
suppose that it would not be right to take the returns and
according to them to establish a fixed sum, was that to do
so would be to give close parishes for the future a benefit
on account of the mismanagement of them in times past.
It would be, in point of fact, stereotyping injustice for all
future times. Another alternative was to aim at gradually
introducing a system of equal rating throughout the various
districts. He would admit that there would be a hardship
in introducing such a principle at once—(hear, hear, from
the Opposition benches)—but it was One which be thought
it desirable to aim at ultimately. Her Majesty's Govern-
ment proposed to take 10 years to accomplish that purpose,
but that was purely a matter of detail, and it was compe-
tent to the house to consider and deal with that topic in
committee. The proposal appeared to him to be a fair one,
and he therefore submitted it to the candid consideration
of the house. It was not proposed to make any altera-
tion in the mode of rating in parishes not included in the
unions which were generally of large size and under local
acts, and in which the ratepayers entertained a great
jealousy of their own system. There was not the slightest
intention on the part of the Government to interfere with
them ; in short, they would be left precisely as they were
at present. He had now stated to the house an outline of
if that t plan
had
the plan which he had thought it fit to introduce to their
should
b consideration,e found
infringe
fsr
ih
no
gu
el duregret
vestedvery
been his object to form a plan which would effect the
interests. much
greatest possible amount of good, and which, at the same
time, would inflict the least hardship upon any class ; but
he would defy any man to stir a step in this matter with-
out interfering with some interest. (Hear, hear.) The
great point in such a case was that the interference
should be a maximum in point of quality, and at the same
time justifiable in point of principle. He would repeat
that, to take any course at all, would be to interfere
with some existing interest, but he must add that not to
take some course would be prejudicial to all the interests
of the country. He had referred to two or three topics
which were really only matters of detail, and nothing
!
communication with any gentleman who might be willing
to offer any suggestion on the subject. He should be happy
to receive any suggestion, either in or out of that house,
on the subject. (Hear, hear.) It was his wish to accom-
plish the object he had in view as efficiently as possible,
and he should be delighted if he could introduce a measure
which would conciliate most support, and which would
least interfere with vested interests. (Hear.) He would
only repeat his earnest. request that the house, for the sake
of the commerce and manufactures of this country, of the
employment of labour and capital, and of the destitute
poor, would give the measure he had the honour of pro-
posing to them a calm, candid, and dispassionate con-
sideration.

selves, could effectually prevent the erection of labourers'
cottages in the parish, and where cottages already existed
suffered these to fall into decay, so as, after a time, to have
no labourers whatever resident in theparish. The result of
this was, of course, that the labourers who worked in the
parish had to reside elsewhere, an injustice and hardship
to which the present law of settlement gave every encour-
agement. (Hear.) The evidence before the committee of
1847, and before the commission of 1843, showed more
cases in which, owing to this policy, labourers had to walk
three or four miles to their work in the morning, and three
or four miles home from their work in the evening. (Hear.)
The house must see at once how severely the farmers' in-
terest suffered by this state of things in the depreciation of
labour. It was occasioned by the extra toil to which the
labourer was so needlessly and cruelly exposed. (Hear.)
Nor was the additional toil undergone by the labourer the
only suffering to which the law of settlement exposed
him ; for, compelled to take up his abode in the
" open" parishes, he was placed there amid an overcrowded
population, and, with his family, exposed to all the manifold
evils and wretchedness incident to that condition of over-
crowding. This part of the subject called for the moat se-
rious consideration of the house. He would not then dwell
upon the gross frauds which the system permitted and en-
couraged; his attention was most especially applied, on the
present occasion, to the severe hardships to which the
labouring population was so needlessly exposed by the ex-
isting law. With the permission of the house, he would
read a passage on this subject from the report of one of the
commissioners of 1848, a gentleman now distinguished as
one of the most able and intelligent of the metropolitan
police magistrates—Mr. A'Beckett :
" It is, however, as to their command of their places of re-
sidence, and in the comfort and condition of themselves and
their families, that the labouring classes suffer most severely
from the operation of the law of settlement and removal of
the poor. It is almost impossible to imagine the misery, dirt,
degradation, and comsequent immorality in which a large por-
tion of the labouring classes of this country are at the present
moment living. If it can be shown, as I believe it can, that
much of this moral and physical abasement is caused by the
operation of the existing law of settlement and poor removal,
the necessity for au immediate alt.-ration of the law will be
admitted on all hands. In almost every union where the
course of my inquiry has taken me, I have found some one or
more densely populated parishes in the neighbourhood of
others very thinly inhabited by labourers, and in some in-
stances having scarcely any cottages at all. In the former the
dwellings are for the most part wretched, damp, unwhole-
some, inconvenient, excessively high-rented, and crowded with
inmates to such an extent as to render it impossible that
health or comfort could be enjoyed, or the commonest rules of
decency observed. It is the general result of my inquiries on
this head that the labouring classes are to a great extent demo-
ralised and deprived of domestic comfort by the inducement
offered to owners of property in close parishes to clear their
estates of cottage habitations—an inducement for which the
present law of settlement and removal of the poor must be
held chiefly, if not entirely, responsible. The desire to shift
the burden of parochial chargeability prevails almost co-ex-
tensively with the power, though I have met with some
honourable exceptions, and in many cases I have heard the
motive openly avowed, and the sanction of the law cited as a
justification of conduct involving much unfairness, if not actual
dishonesty, towards, one's neighbours, and great oppression
towards the labouring portion of the community."
Another process to which he would solicit the attention of
the house was the hardships involved in the removal itself.
Let the house consider what that removal was to the un-
fortunate pauper, transferred—forcibly removed, if neces-
sary—under a justice's warrant, from, in many cases, one
end of the kingdom to the other. He was removed in all
probability from a place where he hadformed attachments,
connexions, and occupation, to a place where he was alto-
gether unknown—for he might be removed by reason of the
birth settlement, 60 or 70 years before, of his father or his
grandfather— to a place where he had no chance of the
employment to which he had been accustomed all his life,
and where, consequently, his own prospect was pauperism
for life, and the communication of the taint of hereditary
pauperism to his children. The house, perhaps, was
scarcely aware of the extent to which the system of re-
movals was carried under the present law. According to
the latest returns on the subject—those moved for by Cap-
tain Pelham—it appeared that in 1849 there were no fewer
than 13,867 orders of removal issued inEngland and Wales,
and the average number of each family removed under
these 13,867 removals not being less, certainly, than three
persons, it followed that no fewer than 40,000 persons were,
in this one year, rendered liable to forcible removal from
the place in which they had bean residing to more or less
remote parts of the country. (Hear, hear.) The house
could readily picture to itself the aggregate of misery thus
inflicted upon the unfortunate labouring class by this very
oppressive law. (Hear, hear.) Various provisions had been
enacted by the Legislature for the purpose of mitigating
that misery ; but the law of settlement had largely ope-
rated to frustrate them. An act of George 111., in 1795,
had, indeed, effected one very beneficial modification of the
law of Charles 11. ; for whereas by the latter persons were
removable who were likely to become chargeable, the sta-
tute of George 111. provided that no person should be re-
moved who had not actually become chargeable. But
here, again, the operation of the law of settlement had
frustrated, to a very material extent, the mitigation con-
templated, for whereas, under the former law, a person
would, perhaps, have been removed within 40 clays after
his coming into a parish, under the later law he was
allowed to remain in the parish till he had formed attach-
ments, or connexions, or occupation there, and then, all at
once, upon the occurrence of some matter, he would„be
removed under circumstances entailing far greater hard-
ship than would have been occasioned by removal after
the briefer residence. (Hear, hear.) Let him give a still
more striking illustration of the harsh working of the pre-
sent system :—ln 1846 the present First Lord of the Ad-
miralty, then Home Secretary, carried a measure of most
benevolent intention, rendering persons irremovable from
a parish in which they had resided for five years. Some
benefit had, doubtless, accrued from this act, but it had
been largely frustrated by the practical working of the
system under consideration, and with what cruel effect he
could not better illustrate than by an extract from a letter
addressed to him in 1851 by Mr. Doyle, the able Poor Law
Inspectorfor the Staffordshire and North Wales district :
" But all other injurious effects of the law sink into insig-
nificance when compared with the sufferings to the
poor of which it is the source. In putting upon paper the
plain matter-of-fact details of one or two out of many cases
that have come under my own observation, I can hardly
hope to escape the suspicion of writing under the influence of
exaggerated feelings. Last year, for instance, I was instructed
by your board to inquire into the circumstances connected
with the removal of a man with a family of young children
from a union in Lancashire to a union in North Wales. He
had been in the receipt of good wages, some 255. a-week, in
the parish in which he was on the eve of completing his 'five
years' residence.' From some Cause his employment suddenly
ceased, and he was compelled to apply for relief. The relief
was at once granted, and when accepted an order of removal
was taken out. In the meantime the man again got work and
was busy at his labour, earning the same wages as before,
when he was literally forced away, removed to his parish, a
place he did not even know, where he was utterly friendless,
and where he had as little chance of finding the peculiar em-
ployment to which he was accustomed as if he had been cast
on a desert island. One of the witnesses, in the course of the
inquiry, happened to remark, speaking of this man, He was
more like a madman than anything else he suddenly broke
out, in uncontrollable passion, Yes, and lam more like a
madman,than anything else; it is enough to drive me mad to
be dragged here with my family as I have been.' I turned to
the overseer of the removing parish, who was present, and
asked, What induced him to remove this man under such
circumstances ?" To prevant him from completing his five
years, sir.' It would be easy to multiply cases of this sort,
characterised by more or less hardship to the poor, so as to
prove that one grievous general effect of the Poor Removal
Act is to stimulate officers, guardians, and ratepayers to have
recourse to every means in their power to induce those who
aro liable to become chargeable to break their residence.'
From this district, at least, complaints are constantly made
to your board of such proceedings, and, while investigating
cases referred to me, I have seen quite enough of the means
by which the provisions of the law aro evaded to know how
hopeless it is to attempt to check the prevailing practice, so
long as the inducement to it exists."
(Hear.) Another great evil of the existing system was the
enormous amount of money annually wasted in the litiga-
tion arising out of removals, a waste of which the rate-
payers had most grave cause to complain. (Hear, hear.)
The law on this subject was the most complicated, the most
obscure, the most unsatisfactory that had ever been de-
vised; there were no fewer than 40 statutes on the subject,
while, as to the adjudged cases, they were to be counted
by thousands, and of such a nature as to make confusion
worse confounded. Yet such was the law, and such the
decisions which the poor law overseers were to construe
and administer, as it were, in dealing with the unfortunate
paupers. (Hear, hear.) Observe the ordinary course of
an order for removal. A man has become chargeable on a
parish, say in Middlesex; the overseer finds some reason to
suppose that the man's settlement is in a remote country
parish, say in Northumberland : he accordingly goes before
two magistrates, and obtains an order for the pauper's re-
moval to his supposed parish in Northumberland, the
parish in Northumberland being utterly ignorant, mean-
while, of the 'whole affair ao far ; the order, however,
when made, is transmitted to the Northumberland parish,
with a notice that the Northumberland parish may, if it
thinks fit, appeal within 21 days to the Middlesex Ses-
sions. The Northumberland parish, perhaps, conceives
it more expedient to receive the pauper than to fight
so formidable an opposition ; if, however, it does ap-
peal, it comes up to the Middlesex Sessions with its
counsel, attorney, and witnesses, and there contends
with the Middlesex parish and its counsel, attorney,
and witnesses, at an outlay on each side of not less
than 501., which the loser has to pay. If the Northum-
berland pariah loses, it has to take the pauper and to pay
the 1001. besides ; if the Middlesex parish loses, it has to
keep the pauper and to pay the 1001. besides ; or, in other
words, a sum is squandered, under this law, upon the
lawyers, more than sufficient, perhaps, to maintain the
pauper and his family during the whole period of their
chargeability. (Hear.) Some five years ago the matter
was still worse, for then questions of removal were decided
in the courts of law upon the nicest technicalities, utterly
irrespective of the merits of the case. A measure, how-
ever, which he (Mr. Baines) had carried, had swept away
these mere technicalities, and had, he believed, done some
good so far. (Hear, hear.) Another measure which he
had introduced, giving power to the Poor Law Board to
arbitrate between parishes, had also, he believed, effected
good—(hear)—but, after all, these measures were mere
palliatives which had left a vast amount of litigation,
wasteful expenditure, and individual misery still unre-
medied. One most objectionable feature of the present
system was that scandal to-public justice which exposed
the Court of Queen's Benoh to have its time wasted, its
dignity compromised, and the rarepayers' money squan-
dered, by being called upon to decide whether, perhaps,
some stable boy had been, 50 years ago, hired by one hiring
or by another. He trusted he had now shown sufficient
ground for the changes be desired. (Hear, hear.) He
could say most truly that he had made a minute search
into the opinions of all those persons who might fairly be
considered authorities on questions of this kind, and he
could not find, since the passing of the act of Charles 11.,
any one, whether writer or speaker of reputation, who de-
fended seriously the principles of our law of settlement
and removal. (Hear, hear.) He found, on the other hand,
authorities in his favour, whose views were deserving of
the gravest attention, and to some of these he would ven-
ture very shortly to refer. In 1735 a committee of that
House was appointed to inquire into this subject, and he
found this expression of their views, reported in the ninth
volume of Hansard under that year :
" March 27, 1735.—The Commons appointed a committee
to consider the laws in being relating to the maintenance and
settlement of the poor, and to consider what further provi-
sion might be necessary for their better relief and employ-
ment; and the said committee, having considered and exa-
mined this affair with great care and attention, came to seve-
ral resolutions, among which is the following :—That the laws
relating to the settlement of the poor, and concerning vag-
rants, are very difficult to be executed, and chargeable in
their execution ; vexatious to the poor, and of little advan-
tage to the public, and ineffectual to promote the good ends
for which they wore intended. This resolution was reported ,

Mr. WALPOLE asked if the measure would eztend to
the removal of the Irish poor?
Mr. BAINES was obliged to his right honourable friend
for the question. The bill related to the removal of per-
sons on the ground of settlement, and it was limited to
England and Wales, It did not therefore affect the re.

moval of the Irish poor, because they were removed not on
on the ground of settlement, but on different grounds alto-
gether, and when the question came to be dealt with, the
case of the Irish and the Scotch poor would have to be
considered together. He concluded by moving—" That
leave be given to abolish in England and Wales the com-
pulsory removal of the poor on the ground of settlement,
and to make provision for the more equitable distribution
of the charge of relief in unions." (Loud cheers.)
Sir G. GREY said he had listened with satisfaction to
the clear and able statement of Mr. Baines, and that he
gave his cordial support to the principle of the bill.
Mr. W. MILES wished that a more extended view of the
law had been taken, and that we were not to attack the
poor-law piecemeal. The bill only went to the question of
settlement, but the bill would not be allowed to pass with-
out a full inquiry into the system. He wished for the pro-
duction of certain returns as indispensable to a proper con-
sideration of the measure.
Mr. PACKE thanked the right hon. gentleman for his
clear and lucid statement, and concurred in a great deal
of what the right hon. gentleman said as to the hardship
to the poor man of the present law of removal. He con-
sidered that the change in the area of rating from parishes
to unions would be productive of the grossest injustice.
Another point most material in his mind, was the altera-
tion of the area of rating; and he felt confident that in
many parts of the country that alteration of the area of
rating from parishes to unions would be productive of the
grossest injustice. (Hear.) Land had been purchased,
and was being purchased comparatively free from rates
on one side of a hedge, while on the other the :and
was burdened with poor, and there was consequently a
considerable difference in the purchase money. Therefore
it would be a gross rtibbery upon those persons who
had been purchasing property on the understanding
that it was free from burdens, if the right hon. gentle-
man's bill were to saddle them with very serious charges.
rUa. Under
wtehrees e
increased,
crea sedcircumstances,the area he
of
rateablethog uh t , if the a
property
yre of
a should
also be increased. It was not fair that lauded property
should be exclusively called on to contr. bute to the suste-
nance of the poor. All property in the country without
exception should share in the expense of the maintenance
of the poor. (Hear, hear.)
Lord LGVAINE inquired whether the Gilb.'rt unions
and the parishes under local acts were to be exempted from
the operation of the proposed bill ? He thought that if
there were any part of the country where the administra-
tion of poor relief required amendment it was in the n:e-
tropolis' where some parishes were entirely inhabited by
the rich, and others almost wholly filled with poor ; and
in the latter the rate was, of course, exceedingly heavy.
Mr. BAINES observed, that the Gilbert unions were
not comprised within the bill. The abolition of the poor's
removal would extend to all unions in England and Wales
formed under the Poor Law Amendment Bill,
Mr.HILDYARD said, the present was a subject of great
importance, and required serious consideration. Without
disrespect to the great talent and industry displayed by
the right hon. gentleman, he must say that he could not
altogether concur in the general favour with which the
right hon. gentleman's observations appeared to have been
received. He thought the right hon. gentleman had to a
certain extent exaggerated the evils of the present Poor
Law, and had rather described the state of things existing
20 years ago. (Hear.) The state of the country was now
different from its condition at the period when the report
which had been read to the house was made. That was a
period of very great distress, and therefore any defects in-
herent in the Poor Laws exhibited themselves with great
intensity. Within the last two or three years enor-
mous emigration and other circumstances had, happily,
mitigated the evils of a surplus population. He called the
right hon. gentleman's attention to a serious defect in his
scheme. He understood that as soon as the present bill
passed the poor would become chargeable on the spot where
they resided ; and the consequences of such an enactment
would be, that if a poor man died, leaving a widow and a
burdensome family, immediate means would be had re-
course to in order to get the latter out of one union into
another. This mode of dealing with the poor, namely,
driving them from one parish to another, had actually led
to the law of settlement ; and he was apprehensive that
the right hon. gentleman had not been able to grapple with
this difficulty. He contended that gross injustice would
be done to well-regulated parishes by this proposed law.
Mr. KNIGHT contended that to increase the rate in a
parish was in effect to reduce the value of the property,
and that the measure would prove one of confiscation.
From statistical data he deduced results which went to
show that much error and mystification prevailed respect-
ing the operation of the law of settlement in close and
open parishes. If the principle of equalisation was
adopted, it would be impossible, he said, to stop short of a
national rate. He argued that taking away the Settlement
Act (which was the real Poor Law) would be a hardship
to the poor.
Mr. V. SMITH insisted that the law of settlement was
a curse to the poor man, and as great an evil to the em-
ployer as to the employed, and that, although this mea-
sure might be injurious to some property, it would remedy
a greater injustice.
Sir J. TROLLOPE thought it was a defect in the mea-
sure that it exempted parishes under local acts and Gilbert
unions. He was convinced that the house would consider
the bill, not as a party measure, but as one for the benefit
of the country.
Mr. HENLEY characterised the measure as a confis-
cation of a large portion of the property of the coun-
try, and complained of a union rating, as in Tome cases,
where the union district was large, weakening the control
of the ratepayers. As it affected the poor, if a large pecu-
niary burden was cast upon particular parishes, they would
endeavour to recoup themselves by pulling down dwellings.
Before this question was settled it ought to be known what
was to be done with Ireland. He hoped that ample infor-
mation would be laid befcre the house in order to enable
them to come to a dispassionate judgment.
Sir J. SHELLEY had no good argument in favour of
union rating.
Lord C. HAMILTON complained of the hardship that
would be inflicted upon Irish paupers in England.
Sir J. PAKINGTON could not refrain from expressing
his satisfaction that a subject of so much importance as
that which they were engaged in discussing had been at
length fairly brought under the consideration of the house.
He was one of those persons who had for some years been
of opinion that the law of removal had inflicted great
hardships and great sufferings upon the working classes
of this oountry. He had also long boon of opinion that
if the present law had been abolished, the retention of
the existing system of parochial rating would be attended
with very considerable difficulties. A feeling of alarm
had, however, sprung up in this country—a feeling which
had rapidly increased within the last two years, lest any
changes which might be made in the law of removal while
they had the effect of doing away with some hardships,
would lead to the infliction upon the labouring classes of
others of a character no less severe. That alarm had
been founded upon the efforts which had been made in
numerous parishes of the kingdom to defeat the opera-
tion of the Five Years Act, by forcing parties to change
their residence after a certain period, and thus to de-
prive them of the advantages which that act had been
framed to confer. He understood his right hon. friend
opposite to say, that although he intended to abolish
the law of removal, he did not intend to touch upon
the right of settlement. He (Sir J. Pakington) was
of opinion that that was a most important feature
in the measure, and contributed to relieve it from
the grave objections to which it might otherwise
have been liable. His right hon. friend also proposed to
establish a union instead of a parochial rating. Now, that
proposition was open to the objection of tending materially
to affect the value of property in this country. (Hear,
hear.) He trusted that his right hon. friend opposite
would avail himself of the information thus produced, and
that, if he found there were well founded apprehensions
with respect to the introduction of a system of union rating,
that he would do all in his power to obviate the grounds
upon which those apprehensions were based. He hoped
also that the right hon. gentleman would consider the case
of Ireland, and that he would not shrink from the difficul-
ties which, in dealing with that portion of the United
Kingdom, he undoubtedly would have to encounter.
After some remarks by Mr. Maguire, Mr. Barrow, and
Sir G. Tyler,
Mr. BAINES said he was gratified at the manner in
which the question had been discussed. In reply to the
request for ample time to consider the bill, he should,
without such an appeal, have given ample time for consi-
deration. On the 10th of March the subject would be again
brought forward, and before that he expected a valuable
report would be in the hands of members, which would
throw much light on the subject.
Leave was then given to bring in the bill.
IMPROVEMENT OF TOWNS IN IRELAND.
Leave was given to Sir J. YOUNG to bring in a bill for
the improvement of towns in Ireland, and to Mr. Ross
MOORE to introduce a bill on the same subject.
Mr. I. BUTT moved "That the general committee of
elections do appoint the select committee agreed to, to
inquire into the allegations of the petition of John Patrick
Somers ; and that such select committee consist of five
members."—Agreed to.
The house iadjourned at twenty minutes to one o'clock,
until Monday next.

SPORTING NOTES.

THE PROGRESS OF SPECULATION.
The movements in the Turf Market during the week
have been somewhat important and although at present
it is difficult to determine their origin satisfactorily, yet
their tendency is perceptible and significant. Those
relative to the Star of Surrey and the Chester
Cup are perhaps the most interesting. This horse
steadily advances in popularity and his pretensions to
support are daily vaunted with growing confidence.
The " stable," too, in which he has been recently lo•
cated, and the party into whose possession he has been
transferred have a powerful prestige, and this circum-
stance has undoubtedly produced a telling effect on the
public, and will account for the increased eagerness
which has within the last day or two been evinced to
" get on" him at advantageous terms. At any rate, the
knowledge that he is now the property of Mr. Howard,
and that he is trained by " Honest John," is sufficient to
render backers confident and layers wary. Still the
Star of Surrey encounters violent opposition in certain
well-informed quarters where the belief widely obtains
that he is a confirmed " wind-sucker." Although there
may be some foundation for this report, yet I am in-
clined to believe that the person who recently purchased
him, is too good a judge, and too well-advised, to buy a
horse of that description. That the Star of Surrey
possesses a favourable chance of carrying of the Great
Cestrian prize, I will not attempt to deny, but it is
scarcely more formidable than that of many other ani-
mals that are as leniently handicapped, and have, per-
haps truer titles to support. Among the animals of his
own age the undermentioned are weighted lighter':—
The Duchess of Loraine colt, Bridesmaid, and Miss
Sellon ; and among those "in" with him on in:question-
ably good terms are Toni Sandhurst, Aldford, Black
Doctor, Llanforda, Joe Miller, Cobnut, Muscovite, and
Newminster.
For the last mentioned I still retain my old fancy, a
fancy that is increased by his return to his former position
in the betting. Muscovite must be marked " dangerous."
He is doing strong steady work for either the Chester
Cup or Metropolitan Stakes, and he will prove a most
formidable antagonist for whichever event he is in-
tended.

The most important incident connected with specu-
tion on the Derby is the strong and steady support
which Autocrat still receives. Last Thursday he was
backed for little less than a thousand pounds. A heavy
commiksion is, I understand, in the market to lay
against him when his price is shortened to 3 to 1. Even
this prospect, however, does not discourage his backers.
A FRESH MAN.

Feb. 11.

LIVERPOOL SPRING MEETING, 1854.
Weights for the LIVERPOOL SPRING CUP of 100 sovs. in
specie, by subscription of 10 sovs. each, h ft, with 60
added; one mile and three-quarters. 24 subs.

Age st lb
Colsterdale 6 8 7
Cariboo
Lancashire Lass 4 8 2
Ulster 4 7 10
Dove
Kilquade
Missive
Cleveland
Cabin Boy 4 7 6
Angelo
The Event 5 7 2
Light of the Harem 4 7 2
Escape
Weights for the AINTREE Pr
Age st lb'
Eulogist 4 8 7
Lancashire Lass 4 8 2
Sir Robert
Axwell
War wick
Worcester
The Tempest 5 7 6
Songster 5 7 6
Escape

Age st lb
Charity
Helena (h b)
Lurley
The Speaker, by
Gabbier ........
St Clair
Roebuck 3 5 8
The Medal, by
Pantaleon
Mrs. Humby 3 5 7
Antonia 3 5 6
The Cripple •
Andromache 3 5 0
DATE of 70 sovs. One mile.
Age st lb
Voucher 4 7 4
Game Tommy
The Buck
Lord Lieutenant 4 7 0
Rachet6e 5 6 10
The Speaker
Antonia
Andromache 3 5 2
Daphne

DONCASTER SPRING
ACCEPTANCES FOR THE
Age st lb
Hungerford
King of Trumps 5 8 1
Eulogist 4 7 13
Daniel O'Rourke 5 7 12
Ethelbert
Feversham 4 7 4
The Little Fawn 6 7 2
Lerrywheut
St. Michael 5 7 2
Mr. Sykes 4 7 0
Jack Leeming 6 7 0
Dove
Windsucker
Alonzo
Colsterdale
Lord Fauconberg 4 6 12
Catherine Parr
Radcliffe Hero 4 6 10
Janey 4 6 9
Jack the Giant
Killer 4 6
Need wood a 6
Candlewick
Marchioness
St. Andrew 4 6

MEETING.—MARCH 7.
DONCASTER HANDICAP.
Age st lb
England's Glory 5 6 2
Helena (h b)
Vixen... ....
Light of the Ha-
rem 4 5 12

Pearl ...
Criterion

4 5 12
4 5 10

Village Lass
Middlesborough 3 5 7
King Alfred
Caliph
Baal bec 3 5 6
Midsummer
Ptolemy 3 5 5
Lady Napier 3 5 2
Blakeley
Toggery
Streatlam Fairy 3 5 0
Julius Agricola 3 5 0
St, Clare 3 5 0
Pauline
Sister to Aphro-

date 3 4 9
Antonio 3 4 6

U.—APRIL 27 and 28.
Ec MALTON HANDICAP.
Age st lb
Cabin Boy 4 6 5
The Collier 5 6 4
Bracken 3 6 2
The Event 5 6 2
Birdtrap 4 6 2
Twinkle 3 5 12
Queen's Own 3 5 10
King Alfred 3 5 9
The Jewess .....
Diligent
Phoenix 3 5 3
Bright Phoebus 3 5 2
Jetty Treffz 3 5 0
Monimia • 3 4 10
Penitent 3 4 7
CONVIVIAL HANDICAP.
Age st lb
The Tempest 5 6 9
The Collier 5 6 7
Axwell
Patience
Wings of a Dove 4 6 2
Light of the Harem 4 6 2
Middlesborough 3 5 12
The Jewess
Jetty Treffz
Monimia
Penitent 3 4 10

MALTON MEETIIS
ACCEPTANCES FOR TH
Age st lb
Daniel O'Rourke 5 8 5
Songstress 5 8 3
Vindex 4 7 12
Lough Bawn 6 7 8
St. Michael ..... 5 7 7
Windsucker 5 7 6
Catherine Parr 4 7 4
Colsterdale 6 7 4
Tonic 6 7 3
Dove 4 7 2
Janey 4 7 0
Captain Cornish 4 6 10
Provost Marshal 4 6 9
Miss Agnes 4 6 9
St. Andrew 4 6 7
ACCEPTANCES FOR THE
Age st lb
Daniel O'Rourke 5 8 5
Songstress 5 8 3
Vindes
Catherine Parr 4 7 8
Brocket 4 7 8
Tonio 6 7 7
The Puritan
The General
Ann Eliza 4 7 0
Braxey
CaptairrCornish 4 6 12
Miss Agnes

NOTTINGHAM SPRIT
ACCEPTANCES FOR THE NO7
Age st lb
Windsucker
Alonzo
Jack Leeming
Cariboo
Tickton - 4 7 4'
Surveyor
,Tomboy a 6 10
Landscape 4 6 7
Florist

G MEETING—FEB. 21.
TINGIIAM SPRING HANDICAP.
Age st lb
Wellsbourne (h b) 5 6 7
Vixen 3 6 4
The Event 5 6 0
Old Castoff 5 6 0
Miss Goldschmidt 5 6 0
Criterion
Annabel 3 5 '2
Roebuck ...... 3 5 2

TowEE-Hru.—lt is in contemplation to form a car-
riage roadway for waggonß, &c., to pass over Tower-
bill, instead of, as at present, having to take a circuitous
route.

INDIA AND CHINA MAIL.—The telegraphic accounts
received yesterday from India, represent trade to have
improved at Calcutta, but no mention is made as to the
state of the markets at Bombay. Vrom Madras the
reports are peculiarly distressing. In consequence of
the continued want of rain, there had been a failure of
the crops, and a famine threatened the Presidency. The
markets would, however, soon be supplied from other
places, but in the meantime several riots have taken
place. The revenue of the local Government would
necessarily be greatly reduced by the loss of one of the
principal sources from whence the Treasury is supplied.
From China the advices represent little alteration to
have taken place in the state of general affairs ; neither
the Imperialists nor the insurgents appear to have made
much progress lately. The mails byway of Marseilles will
not arrive in London till Monday next. The present
opportunity will bring much later news from the Australian
colonies, the dates being—Sydney, Nov. 26 ; Mel-
bourne, Nov. 29 ; and Adelaide, Dec. 3, by way of
Singapore.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Fifty thousand Cures have been
effected by Du Barry's delicious Revalenta Arabica Food,
without medicine, inconvenience, or expense (as it saves
fifty times its cost in other remedies).—" Twenty-fiveyears
nervousness, constipation, indigestion, and debility, from
which I had suffered great misery, and which no medi-
cine could remove or relieve, have been effectually cured
by Du Barry's Food in a very short time. W. R.
Reeves, Pool Anthony, Tiverton." " Eight years' dys-
pepsia, nervousness, debility, with cramps,
spasms, and
nausea, for which my servant had consulted the advice
o imany, have been effectually removed by Du Barry's
delicious food in a very short time. I shall be happy.
to answer any inquiries. Rev. John W. Flavel, R d
lington Rectory, Norfolk." QoThree years' excessive
and
nervousness, with pains in my neck and left arm,
general debility, which rendered my life very miserable,
has been radically removed by Dti_Barry, s excellent

ACCEPTANCES FOR THE ]
Age st lb
Alp a 10 7
Tomboy a 10 4
Victress a 10 0
Star of England a 10 0
Nonsuch
Songster
Miss West (h b) a 9 8
May-day
Squire of Malton a 9 7
Beresford
Fazely

lIIRDLE-RACE HANDICAP.
Age st lb
Tom Gurney 6 9 4
Teddesley
Gerald 5 9 4
President
Luck's-all
Friendless Boy a 9 0
Blue Bonnet
Bravo 6 9 0
Galileo 6 8 12
Salopian 5 8 10
Beech-nut

MARSEILLES.—Advices from Marseilles mention a
considerable decline in the price of wheat at that port,
and add that 50 or 60 ship-loads were about to be sent
to England.
ST. PETERSBURC.—The letters from St. Petersburgh
reach to the 2d of February. The fact of several pur-
chases of tallow having taken place indicated that there
are some operators who still doubt the probability of a
blockade. The rate of exchange continued with a de-
clining tendency, and was last quoted 380.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The following mem-
bers of the college, having undergone the necessary exa-
minations, were admitted licentiates in midwifery of the
college at the meeting of the board of examiners on the
Bth inst. :—Messrs. Joseph Walter Raleigh Amesbury,
Hon. East India Company's service, Bengal, diploma of
membership dated May 24, 1850 ; William Gabb Jen-
kins, Aberystwith, April 15, 1852 ; James Ekin, Lon-
don, November 5, 1852 ; John Buck Stedman, Union-
street, Borough, March 5, 1841 ; Henry Cornelius
Thomas, Glocester-street, Pimlico, May 9, 1851; Tho-
mas Dandy, Rufford, Lancashire, April 1, 1853 ; Henry
Pratt, Montreal, June 24, 1853 ; John Ignatius Purcell
Williams, Denbigh, November 4, 1853 ; George Stop-
ford Taylor, Sheffield, February 3, 1854.
THE FIRE IN SOHO.—Yesterday Mr. Bedford, coroner
for Westminster, held an inquest at the Vestry-hall, St.
Anne's Church, respecting the deaths of the eight per-
sons who were killed by the fire which took place on
Tuesday last in Prince's-street, Soho. The particulars of
the calamitous occurrence have already appeared, and
the evidence did not elicit any further facts of interest.
The verdict of the jury was, that W. H. Adams, C. H.
Adams, Sarah Mullins, and the other five persons died
from burning in the house 19, Prince's-street, but that
there was no evidence to show how the fire originated.
The jury added their opinion that better means should
be adopted to secure the efficient use of the parish
engine.

Two OF OIIR CIISTOMERS.—The revenue tables for .
food. Alexa Sturt, Archdeacon of Ross, Bkibbereen."
1851 show the declared value of our exports to Russia —" Fifty years indescribable agony from dyspepsia,
in that year to have been 1,289,7041. To 'Wallachia nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency,
and Moldavia, 284,3481. ; Syria and Palestine, 359,8711. i spasms, sickness at the stomach, and vomittings, has
Egypt (Mediterranean ports), 968,729/. • the rest of en removed by Du Barry's excellent food. Maria Jolly,
Wortham Ling near Diss, Norfolk." Copies of testi-
Turkey, I,937,ola—making a total of 3,540,050/.
Russia took of us cotton manufactures of the value of I monials of 50,000 cures (including those of Lord Stuar
48,846/. ; cotton twist and yarn, 176,271/. ; hardwares de Decies, Major-General Thomas King, Drs. lire,
and cutlery, 86,0441. • lead and shot, 52,640/. ;iron and -
Shorl d and Harvey (gratis). In canisters, with full
t acntiOns llb , 2s. 9d. ; 21b., 45. 6d. ; 51b., 11s. ;
steel, 70,2141. ;machinery' and mill work, 216,052/. ; 11n2s11;1122s. ;' .super-refined, 51b., 225. ; 101 b., 335. The
silk manufactures, 7,422/. ; tin unwrought, 14,130/. ; 101 b.. and 121 b. carriage free. Barry Du Barry and Co.,
tin wares, 8,1671. ; woollen and worsted yarn, 21/,512/.; I 77, Regent-street, London; also, Fortnum, Mason, and
woollen manufactures and hosiery, 34,910/,
Co., purveyors to her Majesty, Piccadilly.