The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-03 00:00:00

•MPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HORSE OF LORDS---(YESTERDAY,)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.
The Earl of FEVERSHAM presented a petition from
the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Council of York, against
the Registration of Assurances Bill.
The Archbishop of YORK presented a petition against
the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays.
Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition against the
Burghs (Scotland) Bill.
The LORD CHANCELLOR laid on the table the
second report of the Common Law Commission.
Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the
merchants of London, praying for amendment of the
bankruptcy laws.
The Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND presented a
petition from Gateshead on Indian affairs.

TRANSPORTATION.
Earl GR.Livy g-ave notice that on Friday next he would
!nove that an address be presented to her Majesty, pray-
111g that no alteration be made in the regulations for the
transportation of convicts before a full account of any
contemplated changes be laid before Parliament.

INDIA.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE, pursuant to notice, pre-
,,aented a petition from the corporation of cutle
and
public Sheffield on the subject of the internal improvement
public works in India. The petitioners were one of
the
most ancient corporations in this country, and of all
countries in the world to which the cutlery of England
was exported India was the largest consumer. It was,
therefore, natural that the cutlers of Sheffield should
take a deep interest in any measure affecting India;
nd hhe
he believed that the
prayer of the petition which ad to present was in accordance with public opinion in
Oils country. The petitioners first pointed out that it
Was the imperative duty of the Government of India
to promote the cultivation of the soil ; and they sug-
gested that there should be a more permanent fixing
of the land tax. There had been a controversy as
-to the extent to which this tax pressed upqn 'the
People and obstructed their progress. The next
thPoint to which the petitioners directed attention was
e financial proceedings of the Government. One of
e great difficulties of the Indian Government was,
that they had to provide some millions of money ;
and,_.
among other methods, they adopted the course of ad
0 _
bodice
money by hypothecation upon the goods f ldia. When his noble friend (the Earl of Ellen-
rough) was at the head of the government of India he
ii,l'oek steps to put an end to that practice,. and sent a
cilspatch strongly recommending that it should be dis-
enlitillued order was issued in 1850 which entirely
awboolished thempractice and• it was to be hoped that it
origiuld not be evived Under any circumstances. It was
tiallY adoprted when the company
F°rPoration Since the last act passed, the trade of I
that thela
had incr was still a trading
oiedp2au4o per cent., and it was now to behopedd.
I d means, through theeosorrti--
'.:linorY channels, Yof remitting their money without resort-
in !lig to so objectionable a practice
the
the
in the position of traders. The next point to whichas
that
as placing m
pbfoett.iitliosidnsers ailluded was the. most important—it internal improvement A good deal had beietnwsaid on
India , ° the question. The Government and the East
and tia-
07enLarlYi saidtt that great deal had been done
rsea f achievement ; whilst on
the other hand nseveereecerlcismo said it was a scandal both
I. ,the In government and the country that so little
h7Ol been effected. (Hear.) Neither of these state-
ease' he believed, veed the correct view of the
•,ase• Within the laesotnteny years there had, no doubt,
tu"til:,,,greater desire to promote internal improvements,n
donestill all had not been done that ought to have been
great aTllhuevia' lower province of Bengal
streams • consisted of a
tract through which two enormous
teaiut.‘ . of the continent found their way, and it
3,o,„„lined about 40,000,000 of souls. There were.
Was
svui tulles of embankment on the rivers, but it
acoll a most dilapidated state. Some years. ago
ioto rtlialission was issued for the purpose of examining
Lo,._
..e embankments, and informing the Government
Thew tar it was was
to repair and renew them.
t,Leorinaission was composed of a fourth-rate Englisha
eie6ciiesi , a captain in the Indian service, and foeue gentleman, and their sole report was that they
th_ . the works in an efficient state, and they
as 2 p t the best thing to be done was to leave them "in
131:11'.p of nature."
chokedugh.) There were some canals,
then "Y were so as to be almost useless
killene,eaiotnotth2oe roads, there was the grand trunk road)
years ago, from Calcutta up the Valley try. ,ma'ages, 1,450 miles into the interior of the coun-
the G -Lue expenditure, which had been authorised by
I,6oopr,nment, upon this road, amounted to about
cation, ro.. It was the great military line of communi-
; a_o,lit. tehere were several wide and deep streams to
WithT!tn.re were scarcely any bridges. Two bridges,
'somaaoo miles of Calcutta, had been washed away some
Plate them, and not
the single effort had been made to re-
the douse eln• In the evidence before the committee of
lodia, jt of Commons in 1841, upon the roads in
Nee am Was stated, by
Sutle'
J Calcutta a gentleman of great experi-
let:gue:e that occasion durin the
fr J war, it wa, thought
on one
osuegehote desirable
operations,
send"ns, t
01 O 0
whichofficers
the
Peat trunk
tl,toadhavto traverrin ;Zia.% a directP line. The officers
e clays V y ~, 0
°f. four • j . ''21:10 bei.alirms'
the rate
and it was necessary
Lo miles an hour . ers, who travelled. at
to,asted adyantagea
of , but notwithstanding all thet_e
,keacere arrived at their
the trunk road, only 30 of h
at% ,the East Jumna an
in time. In
canals,
were two great irrigating
large 4104 been ,_, n.a and the West Jumna. These
cono eteua had oKen in hand by the Government, and
n
urns bun v, been expended on them. The canals
eTte !lund.ree,h,the Ganges extended, in length over_ a, this klild ;"8. There was no doubt but that works lia-Ted, aucl note of the greatest value. Ithalb
of had to
Could
liv:tithOUt force, thatt
works,Governmentthe
while they
but it,: bear the
atteliti
hl.'4ord expenses was convinced, from
k their interest ?
in spite not
of all
Z3(4erti°4l'eullte taadd given. to the matter, that thethlnavdiinagn
obst since steadily, raistnerseenveriegly, ,and iforspiworks of
Pliblie'es, deVo+,..—dtliie necessary m
echir! UtilitY• The time had been,
that r°4lY. couldwith difficulty mum lr thesu indeed,
necessarys
sums the;
That these things
conk' as now no longer thehe case.
Ivaitt. he done, and that t
fact would show.
peopleof India 'were not
•ko I,it'g in enterprise the following
e of the rivers, from resources Peo4'.'lglish engineer had succeeded in buildinurgeaesseuns--
hrel'oli bridge over o
ee)? Unconnected with Governm
te
e'eY and the necessary peoples ongt.e.thHerefohradexecuting
kath tivork, and, by dint. of perseverance, had carried the
r to a successful issue.
NV Duke of NORFOLK hereassentpinregsetnottehdet
jooitnhteiarddlorreds;
of ii,° her Majesty's reply,.
tic% houses, requesting her to appoint a royal cora-
iit o,l°ll to inquire into the existence. of corrupt practices
I,i_Qe borough of Hull and the city of Canterbury.]
tre`g,,, 0 Earl of ELLENBOROUGH expressed theinetxe:
z'et,'t P satis. faction with which those. who took an .
inte-
nt the affairs of India must view the extension of
trust interest generally throughout the country). and he
4ted • they would receive t
the that the assistance
\rtio4hesion of parties so influential as those from
V0,,14 the noble lord had presented a
He
could petition,
'"(I lead beneficial results. (Hear.) • •
ekaito
ere, understand the pleasure with which the petition-
ltdv tarded the abolition of the pernicious
''aaellyeisthg money in India on the hypothecationsyogftegmoodesf
144 }I em which bad interfered greatly with commerce
4ael Ocl Crippled the energies of the. honest trader. He
1.4430,4-138 W anticipated so certainly the. argtuhmetnhtes
hadand
kt -,,liag of the Government on this point, a q 'trill,
F. 4_ issued a notice of the approaching abrogation
hie this j Practice ; but that step was not well receive
Ille e-°/41trY, and indeed he believed there was no one
'llolBe,-re, of the Government of India that gave more
r
41)preillIgn dissatisfaction to the board of directors ;
with-
Zlt f,‘ erislons, however, had proved to be entirely
hofis "nliclation ; and trade was now free to that extetnhte.
etatsnoble friend had adverted very strongly to
linger °t the roads—a subject which had been brought
„I'dt „his (Lord Ellenborough's) notice on the very
•'°olatit•-•'• that he spent in India. He had disembarked
14ttato zlinetY miles from Calcutta, and as there was nod
Re 0 -4 to take him forward, he intimated that he woul t
Ly tlili at once by land. This proposal was laughed
here
'"ore °a° to whom he mentioned it. They saidreno
rears roads : and if there had been, there were
walk
all the °f couv ey an ce, so that if he went he must lk
Itt Was rilvaY• (A laugh.) Six or eight weeks afterwards
had.• to 8 -eCeSSary for him to proceed up the country,
, ok , . „ andhe
14 1 elm nine days to prepare his dauk, though
ba,llß,'Ygataherecthpalanquins, and though he travelled with
cadet. He had found a great
lo e,,re„.4ce betweaennint}:ienyroaads in different tall'l,-‘4e places they were as good as in England, but '
parts of
but
N.,t4 I'lly were nearly impassable. By means, how-
'lleeof the assistance of Mr. Grey, the active postmats.tere-
eslt h.4ll,:etch_rnyeveere greatly improved, and in a little time
but cart' possible to send officers as rapiudnlyknasowthne,
ilt
8' Wheel carriages were formerly
ti1v,11411,4_,.11e,n.0b1e earl) had had his palanquin placed on
1 ',VI and instead of being carried, was pushed along,
1,.11158 to means he had increased his speed from flour_
ila_lk °„seven miles hour. When the noble lord
''et4 o' 'urther carryianng out railways in India, he must
call his
I„,Retseil,_ attention to the fact, ythat diplomatic ar-
hnleeli ib ,rewould first be necessary;
thatbecae there were
117tUerIt's` resi several native states. would greatly im-
tht bozi t_ io• It had been his (Lord Ellenborough's)
L netir_ o
.nave established an arrangement
.with all
li°had ao es,' Princes of the nature of a Zollverem , ,iid. he
Ote +.7 succeeded as to reduce the duties on the principal
e°lZlol,aapinerfoderate sum. Not only were the roads in many
4eh ectly crenellated, but there were no bridges,
kilo' v°ll the moat t. ,eatien. „._. important strategetical lines of corn-
oti`: quoula
__ For instance, there was a stream between
t)'•, would !la the Sutlej, which, when the waters were
lai°isideriagTlP an army for three days. (Hear,
it was
chewed stooiellicheapness of labour in India,i il such g that the Government should havew
I/id ouilit apathy with regard to public works. We
e,,0u1eet0,.."; d something for our civil reputation.
ee_'4e the d'' had done everything for ourselves only
4_osidted jeo.asties which had preceded our own had not
preset
ke,'°_,elrB.own wants, but the wants of posterity.
'ts7teeve t'itl!r
iiired to leave something behind them to
eo.a try itkin . Line from oblivion he desired that his
Dstoo ethiu„
_•:nt be associated in the future of India with
thie 6 e
of i_zipt with the permanent good of the
that the j_."t nation. At the present moment he feared
,at whilem_Partial judgment of all historians would be
ma while
the possessors of one of the most
a''aiKohl)ll4,
a'''.ll4' e. Aires in the world and the successors of
fie get the Au
we might have been
u.l.4,_,nuletztraaatehrailavcinle t of soldiers, they would condemn our
rig been amongst the very meanest of
th:'cliareleg.tiF3ll4l.4,oA4Vil:ChLahLetEeild heard with great pleasure
night,
and he trusted that the re-