The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-09 00:00:00

LUNATIC ASYLUMS BILL.

On the motion that this bill be read a third time,
Colonel SIBTHORP objected to the bill being proceeded
with, while the Hackney Carriage Duties Bill, to which he
meant to move amendments, was passed by.
' The house, however, acting under direction of the
Speaker, proceeded with the Lunatic Asylums Bill.
Mr. WALPOLE proposed several amendments, which
were agreed to and embodied in the bill.
Mr. BRADY called attention to the manner in which
the bill would affect medical men. The medical man had

to examine the lunatic patient, investigate the whole of
the circumstances, walk perhaps two or three miles on the
occasion, and make a report, and for all those services and
the trouble he was put to, all he received was 2s. 6d. He
thought the fee a paltry one, and should move that it be
struck out, and that a fee of 102. 6d. be substituted in-
stead.
The SPEAKER informed the hon. member that he was
out of order, and could not, at that stage of the bill, move
his amendment.
The bill was then read a third time and passed.
At this stage of the proceedings,
Colonel SIBTHORP energetically called upon the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer to declare what his intentions
were with respect to the Hackney Carriage Bill, which
was the second order on the paper, but had not yet been
disposed of. If they were not going to take the bill to-
night, he (Col. Sibthorp) should at once move the adjourn-
ment of the house.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that
he knew no hon. gentleman who was more entitled to an
immediate and courteous answer than the gallant colonel.
(Laughter.) His (the Chancellor of the Exchequer's) hon.
friend, the Under Secretary of State, did not propose to
attempt to go forward at present with this bill, but he
would communicate with the hon. and gallant gentleman,
and would endeavour to make such arrangements as would
suit the gallant colonel's convenience. (Laughter.)
The gallant colonel, bowing obsequiously to the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, left the house immediately.
The Crown Suits Bill, Loan Societies Bill, Marriages,
Holy Trinity Church, Hulme, Validity Bill, and Stock in
Trade Exemptions Bill, were passed through committee,
and their third readings fixed for to-day.
MINISTERS' MONEY (IRELAND) BILL.
On the question for the postponement of the second
reading of this bill,
Mr. SULLIVAN protested against the manner in which
this iniquitous measure had been put off night after night,
and charged the Government with being afraid to have an
open discussion on the question. He should, therefore,
avail himself of his right as an independent member, and
move that the bill be read that day three months.
Sir J. YOUNG attributed the delay in the progress of
this measure to the extreme pressure of public business.
Mr. MAGUIRE insisted that the delay had not arisen
from the course stated by the right hon. gentleman, but
from the fear of the Government to encounter discussion,
knowing that at least eight or nine of its members had
avowed their disapproval of this ministers' money. The
Government had continually treated his (Mr. Maguire's)
side of the house with the grossest discourtesy—and this
was only one of the little tricks and dodges which were
practised on them. The hon. member then quoted pas-
sages from speeches delivered by Mr. B. Osborne, Mr.
Monsell, Mr. Keogh, and other members of the Govern-
ment in which they professed their objections to the tax.
Mr. HADFIELD thought it a great pity that bills should
be left upon the paper from day to-day, when there was no
chance of carrying them through.
REGISTRAR OF MEETINGS BILL.

This bill was read a second time.
PUBLIC WORKS ACTS AMENDMENT (IRELAND,

BILL,

h the BILL.hou
On the motion thatse
The bill, after some discussion, passed through com-
mittee.
SMOKE NUISANCE ABATEMENT (METROPOLIS)
go into committee on
this bill,
Mr. SPOONER urged upon the noble lord the Secretary
of State for the Home Department not to persevere any
further with it this session, for it was sure to be vigorously
opposed. The evil which it proposed to remedy was of
long standing, and, if the noble lord had been able to bee%
with it till the end of the session, he could surely bear',
with it a little longer. He could assure him, that while it
would inflict great inconvenience upon the parties affected
by it, it would afford no remedy for the evil with which it
proposed to deal. He begged to move as an amendment,
that the house do go into committee on this day three
months.
mr. MALINS joined in the request that the noble lo'rd
should not proceed this session with the bill, which he be-
lieved to be a perfectly impracticable one. The manufac-
turing interest in the metropolis, as well as those gentle-
men connected with the steam-boats, were deeply interested
in this measure, and he would ask whether it was a fitting
thing to press it forward at two o'clock in the morning,
when no man was fit for legislation ?
Mr. MACKINNON trusted the noble lord would perse-
vere with the bill. He had been twice chairman of a com-
mittee which had inquired into the possibility of affording
relief from this nuisance, and he was perfectly satisfied that
it was not only feasible, but easy, to remedy the evil. The
opposition to the bill proceeded from the disinclination of
manufacturers to incur the expense of altering their fur-
naces, and from the fear of colliery proprietors in the north
lest the measure should increase the use of anthracite coal.
He was satisfied that the welfare of the community de-
manded the passing of this bill.
Mr. PETO said the small steamers above London-bridge
were so numerous that they had become a most intolerable
nuisance from the quantity of smoke emitted by them. He
would undertake to say that there was no difficulty what-
ever in carrying out the provisions of this bill.
Lord PA LMERSTON said, the argument of the hon.
gentleman opposite (Mr. Spooner) was an argument against
all improvement whatever. (Hear.) He said, " Why,
you have borne the evil so long, it is a nuisance of such long
standing, that surely you can continue to endure it (Mr.
Spooner.—" Till next session.") What possible improve-
ment could be effected, if that argument were applied in
every case? (Hear.) Then the hon. gentleman said, this
could not be done—manufacturers could not consume their
smoke. The same thing had been said by the glove trade
and the silk trade, when it was proposed to admit French
gloves and silks. They declared that they could not pos-
sibly compete with the foreigner • but the trade was thrown
open, and they did compete, and successfully too. (Hear.)
The same argument had been used in agriculture, and so it
was in regard to smoke. The manufacturers said they
could not consume their own smoke ; but if Parliament
would only say, " You must do so," the smoke would be
consumed, and the public would be relieved from this
nuisance. (Cheers.) If ever there was a case in which, he
would not say the interests, but the prejudices, of the few
were opposed to the interests of the many, this was
such a case. (Hear, hear.) Here a few, perhaps 100
gentlemen, connected with these different furnaces in
London who wished to make 2,000,000 of their fellow-in-
habitants swallow the smoke which they could not them-
selves consume, and who thereby helped to deface all our
architectural monuments, and to impose the greatest in-
convenience and injury upon the lower class. Here were
the prejudices and ignorance, the affected ignorance, of a
small combination of men set up against the material in-
terest, the physical enjoyment, the health, and the com-
fort of upwards of 2,000,000 of their fellow-men. (Cheers.)
He would not believe that Parliament would back these
smoke-producing monopolists—(laughter)--and he was
ready, therefore, with great confidence to go to a division.
Mr. BLACKETT said that the operation of this bill
would entail very great expense on the manufacturers of
London, and would produce an entire derangement in the
coal trade of the north of England— (a laugh)—and he
therefore objected to any legislation on the subject at this
late period of the session.
Mr. B. CARTER thought it was unadvisable to press
the bill under the circumstances.
Lord D. STUART considered that the bill would inter-
fere very materially with the trade of the metropolis, and
thought that the noble lord had failed to show that there
was any necessity for forcing the bill through the house at
the advanced period of the session. He would suggest
that the bill should be withdrawn and brought forward
when it could receive fair consideration.
Sir B. HALL supported the bill, observing that he had
heard no objection to it except with regard to those pro-
visions relating to gasworks and potteries, which had been
modified by the noble lord.
After a few words from Mr. PELLATT,
The house divided, when there were—
For going into committee
12
Against it
Majority —s4
The house then went into committee on the bill, when
the various clauses were agreed to, and the house resumed.
The Lunatics Care and Treatment Bill and the Ecclesi-
astical Jurisdiction Bill went thmgh committee.