The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-26 00:00:00

BONDED 'CORN.

Col. SEALE brought in the Bill for the grinding of foreign
corn in bond for exportation, which was read a first time.
Lord HILLSBOROUGH presented a petition from
Braintree, Essex, in favour of the rating of small tenements.
Mr. J. E. ELLIOT presented a petition from Galashiels
against any additional endowments to the Church of Scotland.
The Hon. Member also presented a petition from certain electors
of Roxburgshire, stating that the evidence taken before the
Committee relative to that election, and which was ordered to
be laid on the table of the House, was ail ex-parte, no evidence
having been heard on behalf of the sitting Member ; that it
contained exaggerations, and in some cases positive untruths,
by which opinions prejudicial to the petitioners might be
formed. They prayed the House to pass no resolution by way
of censure on them, on evidence derived in this manner, with-
out a full enquiry into all the circumstances attending the late
election at Hawick.
NEGRO SLAVERY.

Sir GEORGE STRICKLAND in the absence of Sir
Eardiey Wilmot, who was prevented attending from severe
indisposition, begged leave to withdraw the notice which stood
for to-morrow, on the subject of the abolition of the negro
apprenticeship system.—Agreed to.
Sir ROBERT PEEL believed the Hon. Gent. had him-
self given a notice upon the subject.
Sir G. STRICKLAND—For the Thursday following.
THE POST OFFICE.

Mr. COLQUHOUN begged to ask the Noble Lord, the
Secretary for Ireland, whether the Irish Government had sanc-
tioned the taxation of a newspaper, the Cashel Missionary He-
rald, in its progress through the Post-office. He believed the
only objection to the paper was, that it was the advocate of
Protestant principles, and was condemned strongly by Dcctor
M'Hale, the Catholic Archbishop of the diocese.
Lord MORPETH had made the necessary enquiries at the
Post-office, the matter not being within his cognizance, or in
his department. From the report of the authorities there,
it appeared that the Paper in question was not known
as a Newspaper, and was therefore charged with postage.
The usual course was then taken of referring to the Stamp-
office, and afterwards to the Treasury, for its sanction. By
the enclosed letter from Lord Lichfield it appeared that his
Lordship said it should be considered as a Newspaper, and
should pass free.—( Hear, hear.)
Colonel PE RCE VAL asked whether the Noble Lord was
aware of the fact that it had been transmitted to him from the
country since its commencement?
Lord M 0 R PET H—l have stated all I know on the sub-
ject—l know nothing whatever of the paper.—( Hear.)
MUTINY BILL.—BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.

Lord HO WIC K moved the Order of the Day for the
House going into a Committee of the whole House on the
Mutiny Bill.
The SPEAKER said it was necessary to call the attention
of the Hon. Member to a resolution passed at the beginning of
the Session, that no motion could be brought on on Fridayslor
Mondays on moving the Order of the Day, unless it had a
direct bearing upon the question before it.
Captain BOLD E RO was not taken by surprise at the ob-
servations that had been made by the Chair. He had given
notice, on his first taking a seat in that House, that he should
move for leave to bring in a Bill relative to military punish-
ment. Some short time since, the Noble Lord opposite
Hovvick) stated to him that when the Mutiny Bill was brought
forward, that would be the proper time for his introducing
his motion. He had waited till the Bill was introduced, and
upon that occasion the Noble Lord had promised him that
he should have an opportunity of bringing his motion for-
ward when the Bill was under discussion fur a second
reading. Tlic! Bill had been read a second time without his
knovvlege, and under such circumstances he trusted the House
would not consider him out of order if be brought his motion
for ward.

Lord HO WICK thought that the Hon. Member had nct
taken a correct view of what had really taken place. The fact
was th it the Mutiny Bill had been read a second time with•
out discussion, upon the understanding that the discus-
sion was to be taken upon the Bill in Committee.
The Honourable Member, therefore, had lost nothing by
the Bill being read a second time. With respect to the objec-
tion now taken, he would respectfully ask the Chair whether
the resolution of the House did not arise more with respect to
the reading of the Order of the Day than bringing thet:ubject in-
vol. ed in the notice of the Hon. Mernter under discussion. He
(Lord H.) presumed that the House had now agreed to the
reading of the Orders of the Day for the House going into
Committee on the Mutiny Bill. For his own part, he had
no objection whatever to the Hon. Member making his mo-
tion, provided he could do so consistently with the rules of
the House.

The SPEAK ER said, that his reason for mentioning the
s&-ject was, that the present was the first case of the kind
that had occurred. He only wished that the House should
come to some clear underst:mding upon the question for his
°Tr! guidance.

Lord J. RUSSELL said the Speaker had no doubt stated
the case very properly, but he (Lord J. Russell) hal always
intended that the Hon. and Gallant Member should bring on
his motion upon that stage of' the Bill. He had no objection
to the motion being proceeded with, and perhaps the Gallant
Gentleman might frame his motion in some other shape. Sup-
pose he was to move an instruction to the Committee to postpone
the punishment clauses ; in such a case he might effect his
object, and at the s2me time avoid coming in collision with
the rules of the House.

Sir R. PEEL said the proposition of the Noble Lord was
so preposterous that it could not f,r a moment be entertained.
Perhaps the Noble Lord would allow the original mo ion to he
brought on, as it was impossible that the [louse could agree
to an instruction to the Committee to postpone the Mutiny
Bill until some other Committee had reported.
Mr. GOULBURN said the motion of the Galiant Member
w;.ls perfectly analogous to the subject which was before the
[louse.

The SPEAKER. made sonic observations which were not
heavd in the rallerv.

Lord JOll N R IiSSE L L wished only to observe, that
he considered they ought to adhere to the ancient rule
of the House, which was, that when the question was
put that the Speaker do leave the Chair, any motion,
made ought to have a direct bearing on the question at issue.
He though' it was according to the ancient rule of the House,
that after the question had been put, that the Speaker do leave
the Chair, no motion be made which had not a direct relation to
the Bill ehich was to be committed. He would not now
object to the motion of the Hon. and Gallant Member
being brought forward on this occasion, and considered as
having a direct relation to the Bill.
IRISH POOR-LAW BILL.

In answer to a question from Mr. LUCAS,
Lord J. RUSSELL said that what he meant to do with the
Irish Relief Bill was, that it should go through the Committee,
and be reported pro forma, in order that it should be printed
with the amendments, and that the Report be taken into con-
sideration on a future day.
Mr. F. FRENCH said, that having seen it reported that
the 46 clause of this Bill relating to Medical Charities was to
be retained, begged to ask the Noble Lord ( Nlorpeth) whe-
ther that report was true ?

Lord MORPETH said it was quite unfounded.
ELECTION COMMITTEES.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that seeing the Noble Lord
(Stanley) opposite, he wished to say that he had no intention
himself to propcse a Committee on the controverted points
before Election Committees ; but if his Noble Friend pro-
posed the Committee, he would give it every assistance.
Lord S 1 ANL E Y said that he had not had time to look
to the points which were in dispute, and he was not prepared
at present to give an answer.
MILITARY PUNISHMENTS.
Captain BA LDER 0, who was for some minutes utterly
inaudible in the gallery in consequence of the noise
made by Members leaving the House, rose to bring forward
his motion respecting rewards and punishments in the army.
A Commission had been appointed on this subject, and com-
posed of honourable and intelligent men. But none of its Mem-
bers appeared favourable to the abolition of coporal punishment.
nor was any medical witness named except or,e, and he, not
upon the general question. This discussion recommended seve-
ral alterations in the system of military punishments. And he,
(Capt. Boldero) moved on this occasion fora Committee to con-
sider whether these alterations had been beneficial to the army.
Let the House compare the system of punishment now carried
on with that practised ten years ago. Then a crime was
visited with 1,000 lashes, which now was punished by only too.
Public opinion was decidedly to to that cruel and revolting
punishment,
and several military friends of his took a greal
pride in carrying on discipline by milder means. He now
asked the House for a Committee to ascertain whether a
substitute could not be found for corporal punishment.
When they looked round and saw the vast improvements that
had of late years taken place in their civil and political relations
it surely might be thoght judicious to extend these improve-
ments to the military department. As a military man he was
conscious of the importance of maintaining discipline. An
army without discipline, was an ungoverned mob in
time of peace, and in time of war was liable to all excesses.
Punishments must bear a relative proportion to the crimp
committed. A prisoner punished for a crime in excess,
received the commiseration of his fellow-men, and that
proved that all punishment ought to be founded upon
the fundamental principles implanted in the human breast
—mercy and justice. It had often been asked why
the British soldier, who was certainly the best in Europe was the
only one who was subjected to the punishment of the lash. The
fact was nine-tenths of the crimes in the British army arose
from drunkenness ; but did no other soldier drink ? Certrinly,
the German soldier drank deeply, but teere was generally a
' glimmering of reason left in him. The French soldier drank
to a certain extent—he drank to a limited degree, and it
was very rare that a French soldier was to be seen drunk.
The British soldier drank till he was beastly drunk—all his

reason flew from him. What was the use of punishment to a
man in a state of intoxication ? Punishment had no ef-
fect on him whatever. The more the punishment, the
more the crime ; the less the punishment the less the crime.
What is the best punishment for a drunkard The best
punishment for a drunkard, as experience has shown, is
to take away from the companionship of his dissipated follies
men—to keep him in prison ; and that sort of confinement had
been proved to have a better effect on the disposition of men
than all the stripes that could be inflicted. He proposed to limit
the inquiry to home service, and he presumed he should be
favoured with the vote of the Honourable and Gallant
Member for Westminster. He thought it would be dan-
gerous to abolish corporal punishment altogether.—( Hear.)
What was the system established by the Gallant Officer
opposite (Sir G. De Lacy Evans) in Spain ? He pro-
mulgated an order that the Provost-marshal, or his as-
sistant, might inflict summary punishment on the British.
He (Captain Boldero) thought that this was contrary
to the Articles of War. The Gallant Officer had em-
powered the Provost-marshal or his assistant to inflict sum-
marily a certain number of stripes on any man, provided the
Provost-marshall either witnessed the offence or had it
proved by competent witnesses. Now this was directly
opposed to the articles of war, which ordered that no
summary punishment should be inflicted, unless in cases
where the Provost-marshall actually witnessed the crime.
What were the opinions of the officers who had served in the
Legion with respect to this proceeding. Brigadier General
Shaw stated that neither he or his fellow-officers approved of
the system of punishing a soldier at the discretion of a subal-
tern, because the subaltern generally knew less about
soldiery than the man whom he punished.—( Hear, hear.)
The Mutiny Act limited the powers of the Provost Marshall,
and he would ask the Hon. and Gallant Officer if the Provost
marshal appointed under him had not frequently exceeded his
powers ; if he had not, in one case, violated the provisions of
the Mutiny Act, by punishing a woman ?—( Hear, hear.) He
had at least seen a statement in the public newspapers to
that effect, and he thought the Gallant Officer was bound,
in justice to his own character and to the cause of
humanity, to contradict that statement, if it were not true.
He had visited the Penitentiary, and was much pleased with
the order and cleanliness of the place—the place was
well ventilated, and there was a degree of comfort
which rendered the punishment almost nominal. In
the Coldbath-fields prison, however, the matter was entirely
different—there, there was the treadmill—there was none at
the Penitentiary. He wanted to know bow it was that ashen
a soldier was sent to the Penitentiary, he should receive a
worse diet than a felon. He was entitled to as much
food as a felon, and ought to have it. He admitted that the
punishment in Coldbath Fields was severe, but when a soldier
was sent there, and put on the treadmill, he ought to be
there for a few hours, but then to put him in solitary
confinement, and even if it were with only bread and water,
fill Lie belly, and then they might abolish flogging. Then, as to
Vie system of rewards, he begged leave to read an extract from
the work of Colonel Napier, which would chew that rewards
properly distributed would tend greatly to promote good
order. Then as to the system of enlistment—
they now enlisted for life, and what was the con-
sequence ? In the Penitentiary that day he had seen a
fine young man who was confined for putting his
hand upon the musket, and sending the ball through his
hand, because, as he said, they held him a prisoner
for life ; had it been for ten years he would have
served with pleasure, but he could not go on without hope.
The pens'on of a soldier bad been seduced from one shil-
ling to sixpence a day. Was not such a proceeding, he
would ask, totally uncalled for, and nnworthy of a Libera IGo-
vernment. To show that during peace corporal punishment
might be dispensed with, he had only to refer to the opinions of
the Committee on the subject, who were adverse in such
cases to the punishment altogether. The reasons given by
that Committe were strong in the extreme, as were those
given by the Gallant Colonel opposite.-_( Hear, hear, hear.)
rt He
le had e
punishment,H o alludedus eto already
its
butefr,hce stt othe e
.h_ad( notis
Hear.)
ase •
r.
yetr)i t of h y
It
t calledwt a e system of
s qthuei quite
e attention
c or
of
impossiblepo
t! conceive the effects of corporal punishment, but the ima-
gmation might guess what they were. At every blow nine
farrows were inflicted in the most sensitive part of the human
frme; and when they recollectee the pride of the British
soldier, they might imagine what his sufferings of mind and
body were. That it did not end there—a long and
tedious illness followed, and mortification and death sometimes
e,osued. Let the House assist him in putting- an end to
that abominable system and they would deserve the best
thanks of the friends of humanity and of the British army.
The Hon. and Gallant Member concluded by moving for the
appointment of a Select Committee to enquire into the pre-
sent system of military rewards and pnnishments.
Sir G. SINCLAIR seconded the motion. He should
1 ke to se.a the lash abolished from British regiments.
Colonel DAVIES should oppose the motion for this
simple reason, that a Committee had been appointed before
that Committee had every species of evidence before
it which could by any possibility be obtained, and lie
therefore did not see that any good result would follow the
appointment of another Committee. —( Hear, hear.) He
thought, however, that the experiment of abolishing altogether
corporal punishment might be safely made. He thought
that if Commissions were reserved for soldiers who
had served ten or twelve years in the army, (the cha-
racter of the soldiery: would be improved, by placing
before them the payment of such a reward for their services
arid this would go further to reform them than the present
system could ever accomplish.
Mr. PO ULTE R rose, and was
(LEFT SPEAKING).