The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-27 00:00:00

THE Sllloohi.

Mr. MACAILTNEY asked the First Lord of the Ad-
miralty if he would lay before the house a return of all
repairs made to the machinery of the Simoom subsequent
to her list return from Malta, during which voyage her
engines are believed to have repeatedly failed ; and to state
to the house whether the steam-power of that transport (in
all other respects most excellent) was reported serviceable
previous to the embarkation of the 79th, and, if so, by
whom? Whether any official or other report has reached
him of the progress of the Simoom steamship, so far as
Gibraltar, employed to convey the 79th Highlanders to•
the East, to the effect that the engines of that vessel broke
down five times in four days, first failing within a few
hours of leaving Portsmouth, before the ship reached the
Needles, so that for the last three days she relied altogether
on her sails, dis2onnecting her screw, and raking out her
fires.

Sir J. GRAHAM said no official information had reached
the Admiralty with respett to the Sitnoom, but of all the
transports, he knew for a fact that she was the most con-
venient and comfortable for the troops. At the same time,
he was bound to admit that her engines were not of the
best construction, but in the course of the last 18 months
she has performed a voyage to the Cape, to Canada, while
once or twice she had been out to the Mediterranean.
Under these circumstances, and in the prossure of the
moment, it had been thought advisable to use her
again for the conveyance of troops, and intelligence
had been rocoived that she had safely arrived, with all
well, at Gibraltar.

GUN BOATS.
Mr. F. FITZGERALD wished to ask the First Lord of
the Admiralty whether it was true that her Majesty's
steam guu-boat Cuckoo, Lieutenant Murray commanding,
now fitting out for service in the Baltic, was proceeding to
her destination without any medical officer on board ; and
whether he was aware that, although application had been
made to the Admiralty for the appointment of a surgeon,
no reply had been given to that application.
Sir J. GRAHAM said it was quite true that such an
application had been made to the Admiralty, but it was
not intended that gunboats should be employed against the
enemy except in conjunction with larger vessels.

BLOCKADE OF RUSSIAN PORTS.
Mr. HEADLAM asked the First Lord of the Admiralty
whether an effective blockade is now in force as against
any of the Russian ports in, the Baltic or Black Sea, or,
if not, whether any information can be given as to the in-
tentions of the Government on the subject.
Sir J. GRAHAM replied that both in the Baltic and
the Black Sea it was intended to institute a rigorous
blockade of the Russian coast; and although no official
intelligence had been received of the fact, he had reason to
believe that a blockade of Riga already existed, and an
effective force was on the spot for carrying such blockade
into execution. With respect to the other ports in tho
Baltic or the Black Sea, he had received no such certain
information ; but so soon as he should receive such infer-
na,tion, an official notification of the fact would be given
in the Gazette.
Mr. M. GIBSON asked whether it was intended to com-
mence a vigorous blockade of the Russian coast on the
White Sea?
Sir J. GRAHAM replied that it was not intended at
present to blockade the Russian ports of the White Sea.
COMMANDER IN CHIEF AT MADRAS.

Sir J. W. HOGG wished to ask the President of the
Board of Control, whether, upon the occasion of the
vacancy iu the office of commander in chief at Madras,
caused by the death of General Stanley, it is the intention
of her Majesty's Ministers to advise her Majesty to select
for that appointment an officer from the army of the East
India Company.
Sir C. WOOD replied that the subject had not yet been
brought under the attention of the Government. •
CONVENTION _BETWEEN THE FOUR POWERS.
Lord D. STUART asked Lord J. Russell whether he
would lay upon the table copies of the convention or treaty
lately signed between Austria and Prussia? Also, whe-
ther any convention or protocol relating to the present
state of Europe had been lately signed between England,
France, Prussia, and Austria ; and if so, whether he would
lay it upon the table, or state the general purport thereof
to the house ?
Lord J. RUSSELL said a protocol had been signed at
Vienna between England, France, Austria and Prussia,
the terms of which bad not yet been received in this
country, but whoa they did arrive he should take care
they should be laid upon the table.
WAYS AND MEANS.
The house then went into committee on ways and means,
Mr. WILSON rose to move a resolution of which he
had not given notice respecting the duty on spirits in
Scotland. The gross old duty was 45. OAd. on spirits, and
the gross duty on malt and spirits was a net duty of 53. Oid.
but by the new duty it would be 7s. Sd., with a drawback
of is. Old. This was a state of things considered not jus-
tifiable as between the malt and the spirit distillers,
dutyit was agreed that tho drawback on malt
should e equalised to the drawback on
spirits as it had been under the old duty. There was
no reason whatever to believe that fully incr
taken place in Scotland in illicit distillation
the con-
sumption had greatly exceeded during the past year and
moving his re-
first quarter of the present the consumption in previous
years. The hon. gentleman concluded by
solution.
Col. DUNNI believed the proposed resolution as a
fiscal measure, was an unwise one.
Mr. HTJME could not agree with the hon. member wan
had just sat down ; so far from the measure being an
improper one, he thought Government would be justified
in raising the duty on spirits even much higher, in order
to pnt down illicit distillation.
Mr, O, 13ntla agreed with the bon. member for Mon-