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

IMPERIAL PARLIANIENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
The house met at 5 o'clock.
THE AUSTRIAN AND PRUSSIAN TREATY.
The Marquis of CLAN RICARDE inquired whether the
Government were prepared to lay on the table the offen-
sive and defensive treaty lately concluded between Austria
and Prussia. It seemed to him, according to the accounts
in the newspapers, to bo very ambiguous in its terms, and
to be capable of an interpretation in favour of Russia. He
also wished to know the precise object of the English Go-
vernment in sending an expedition to Greece, and whether
there was any truth in the rumour that a treaty had been
concluded between Russia and Persia? He was afraid
that our envoy to Persia, a man of great experience as a
public servant, was no longer at his post ; but it was of
the highest importance that a person of experience, cha-
racter, and intelligence should be entrusted with the task
of defending British interests in Teheran at this moment.
The Earl of CLARENDON—In answer to the first
question of my noble friend, respecting the convention that
has been lately concluded between Austria and Prussia, I
have only to say that the negotiations which were carried
on during a considerable length of time between those two
Powers were kept a profound secret from this and other
Governments, and the treaty was only communicated to us
confidentially after the ratifications had been exchanged.
That treaty has since been communicated to the conference
at Vienna at the same time that the Convention entered into
between her Majesty's Government and the Government of
the Emperor of the French and the Ottoman Porte was
communieated'to the conference. That communication took
place on the 23d of this month, and a protocol annexing
the two conventions together was signed on the same day.
That protocol has not yet been received in this country,
but as soon as it is it shall be laid on your lordship's table.
With respect to Greece, I am prepared to lay before the
house the fullest information which we can give on the sub-
ject, and I am only sorry that the extreme pressure of
business in the Foreign-office has prevented one from sooner
laying those papers before your lordships. They are very
voluminous, and it is the desire of her Majesty's Govern-
ment that they should be quite complete. I hope in the
course of three or four days—certainly in the course of
next week—they will be produced ; and I think your lord-
ships will then see that there have been ample grounds for
that measure of coercion which has been reluctantly
adopted towards Greece by her Majesty's Government, in
concert with the Government of France. (Hear, hear.)
With respect to Persia, I would, in the first place, say that
Col. Shiel is not withdrawn from Teheran, but that he is
absent for the recovery of his health. Mr. Thompson our
Chargé d'Affaires at the Persian Court, is a person of great
experience, and of great zeal and intelligence, and we have
every reason to be satisfied with the manner in which
he has conducted the affairs of her Majesty's Government
there during the unavoidable absence of Colonel Shiel. I
have no reason to believe, from the intelligence which we
have received either from Persia or from India, that the
treaty to which my noble friend has alluded, or which has
been mentioned in the papers, has been concluded between
Russia and Persia. The last engagement we know of as
having been entered into by Persia was a declaration of
neutrality—a neutrality based on the ground of a determi-
nation by Persia not to vex or harass Turkey in her war
with Russia; and for that purpose Persia has suspended
all claims, some of them most just, which she has op Tur-
key. We have heard that the Russians have advanced to
a small place on the Sirr, but we have no reason to believe
that and treaty has been concluded between the Czar and
Persia, or between him and Bokhara and Khiva.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY.
Lord LYNDHURST presented a petition from the Uni-
versity of Cambridge, praying that the revenues of the two
spul
ipepdr eto s et sued
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nn
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The Earl of ABERDEEN said the suggestion was de-
serving of attention, though other claims had to be consi-
dered, such as the augmentation of small livings ; but it
should receive consideration.
The Committee on the Railway and Canal Traffic Regu-
lation Bill was, after a rather lengthened discussion upon
various points, postponed till Tuesday. '
LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) BILL.
The Law of Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Bill was read
the third time ; and on the question that it do pass,
The Earl of CLANCARTY moved the omission of the
37th clause, which gave retrospective compensation for
improvements made by tenants. The noble earl contended
that this provision was unjust to landlords, and unneces-
sary for the effectual operation of the bill.
The Earls of DONOUGLIMORE and DESART opposed
the motion, and on a division the numbers were—
For the motion lO
Against it
Majority against —3l
The clause was consequently retained, and the bill was
'then passed.
LEASING POWERS (IRELAND) BILL.
The Leasing Powers (Ireland) Bill was read the third
time ; after which,
Lord MONTEAGLE moved that, with respect to the
grant of agricultural leases, the period- of 21 years be sub-
tituted,for 31; years._ - ,
After a debate, the house divided, and the motion was
carried by a majority of 3 ; the numbers being 17 and 20.
The bill was then passed.
MANNING THE NAVY BILL.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE said that this bill had been
taken the other day without any discussion. He had now to
propose that any objection which any member took to the
bill shOuld be taken before going into committee ; and he
would now proceed to state very shortly the main objects
of the bill. First of all, he wished to state that some misap-
prehension appeared to exist with relation to the title of the
billy It was supposed that his right hon. friend at the head
ottrthe Board of Admiralty intended to adopt some new
modd of manning the navy by the introduction of this mea-
sure.` But the bill, in point of fact, was a pure bill, though
the "Manning the Navy" was the old title which it had
alwa,Ys borne, and which it was thought better to adhere
to in the present instance. It had always been the custom at
the beginning of a war to pass some such measure as the pre-
sent for the regulation of the disposal of the prizes taken in
war. It was unnecessary to state to their lordships that
without an act of Parliament, and without 'the consent, of
course, of the Sovereign, all prizes became the property of
the Crown. It had, owever, been customary of late years
that the prizes should be soled to their captors rather than
carried to the public account. For this purpose, at the
commencement of every war a proclamation owls issued by
her Majesty, and an act of Parliament was passed to regulate
the proceedings which took place in the adjudication of
prizes and in the-distribution of the money the proceeds of
those prizes. As their lordships were aware, the practice
with regard to the army was different. In that case an
order of council was sufficient • and he might say here
that he was in communication with his noble friend the Pay-
master of the Forces on the subject, and that as soon as
the present measure was passed he would be in a condition
to lay before her Majesty the measures which they meant
to propose with regard to the army. Up to the present the
greatest discrepancies had existed with regard to the army,
and it was very desirable that some more uniform plan
should be adopted. With regard to the measure for the
navy, it was always the practice to vary the bill according
to the circumstances of the war in which the country was
engaged. . In the present war there were circumstances
which differed from any former wars, and this necessitated
certain alterations from previous measures. to which he was
about to draw their lordships' attention. In the first place,
this was the first war in which, at its commencement, they
had ever been in such intimate relations with an ally as they
now were with France. That, of course, created a difference
with ,regard to the regulation of prizes, and that very morn-
ing &paper had been circulated and laidupon their lordships',
table, containing the copy of a convention passed between
her Majesty and the Emperor of the French upon the sub-
ject. and a corresponding alteration was made in this bill.
'Then there was great fault found with the operation of
former prize acts, which were attempted to be obviated by
the present bill—the great delay that took place in the dis-
tribution of the prize money. A third complaint, and one
made'with great justice, was the enormous waste which,
.especially during the last war, took place in various parts
of the world, especially in our colonies, in the proceeds of
the prizes. • The next alteration to which he would refer
was an omission. They were ttwale that a proclamation
was issued at the beginning of the war, stating that no
privateers would be allowed, so that the clauses in former
bills which applied to them were now wholly unnecessary.
There was in the present bill theiatsual provision with re-
crard to bounties ; but to give effect to the bounty amuse*,
hadrap i
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ee
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the further intervention of Parliament would be necessary',
as Parliament must vote the sums which were to be ap-
iilhievs
ditosnbsooufutthieesb.
He
to reserve to himself to answer any observations that might
be made to the measure. The,first clause to which, iu pro-
bability, objection would be taken, was the fifteenth. The
provisions of that clause were new in substancq, as in form,
and the alterations were made in consequence of ,the enorz
mous waste which in former wars had taken plc in *the
money that ought to have gone to the 'captor's.'' 'He was
afraid that some highly respectable gentlemen, navy agents
in this country, felt that the clause implied a stigma upon
their profession. Undoubtedly, when alterations of this
kind took place, and parties who had heretofore enjoyed
the exercise of certain rights and privileges were deprived
of them, it was natural they should feel that some stigma
was cast upon them. However, he could say with .regard
to those gentlemen who had lately addressed a memorial
to him upon the subject, that such was not the, intention
'of the Government. At the same time, they did feel that
• the duties devolving upon navy agents were very anoma-
lous, as they acted both as bankers and accountants. It
was proposed, therefore, no longer to devolve these duties
upon the agents;
that instead of providing that the prizes
should be handed over to the navy agents, and that they,
after selling them and deducting their own expenses and
commission, should pay over the remainder to those who
were entitled to them, it was now proposed that the first
class of duties should devolve upon certain public officers,
upon
the
admiral, marshal, or the collector of customs in
the colonies. He
had already stated that no stigma was
intended to bo thrown upon the hated agents as a class; but
it must be remembered that in all classes there were some
not so solvent or respectable as others, and several failures
had taken place which inflicted very severe losses upon the
captors. The losses in the West Indies alone during the
last war amounted to the enormous sum of two millions.
(Hear.) He thought, therefore, that their lordships would
the more readily acquiesce in the alteration now proposed,
because it was a boon more to the men than the officers.
In the late war it was the practice of the navy agents to
make advances to the officers nearly to the whole amount
of the sum to which they were entitled, BO that they bad