The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-06 00:00:00

SILVEIi COINAGE.

The Bill for regulating the silver coinage then went
through
be
rougrheaCd a thirdommit imtetewe on Fridayithoutorpo.sition, and was ordered
VENTILATION OF MINES.
Mr. AGLIONRY, in. the absence of Mr. Duncombe,
who was prevented attending the House from ill health,
obtained leave to bring in a Bill to provide for the
better ventilation of mines and collieries, for the protec-
tion of the lives of the persons employed in and about
the same, and to make other provisions relating thereto.
DISTRICT CHAPELS IN IRELAND.
Mr. NAPIER. obtainer' leave to bring in a Bill to
amend the law relating to the endowment of district
chapels in Ireland.
The House adjourned at Ten Minutes to Six o'clock.

BUN'
QUEEN'S BENCH.—(THIS DAY.)
States S I
it
jGrOonver4rnFm------ReAnNt
THE QUEEN V. PARHAM.
This was a writ of quo warrantoyssued by this
has s k n steps to prosecute the
court, to ascertain by what authority.ll r.tPerham held
tia search after Sir John Franklin'stae expedition. It appears
EXPEDITION.—The United
by a telegraphic dispatch from Washirgton, that Captain
the office of judge of twelve distr.ictoun ystecrosu. courts,
under twelve different appointments in Worce n ' Wilkes is to have command of one of the ships. In a
The queation to be decided was whether cne person was letter relative to the search for Sir John Franklin, Capt.
able to bold the appointment of judge of more than one
Wilkes says that time would not permit, this winter, to
district at a time. m die any effort in the Arctic Ocean in search of Sir
Sir F. KELLY, in support of the rule, contended that
the statute bold more than John Franklin, other than for the Navy Department to
a county court, and there. dispatch a smaller vessel from the western coast of
one person could not
jeudngdeerei
one appointment as America to notify to the whale-ships that they should
fore that there ought to be a separate person appointed
be on the look out. Ile adds, that " what is now required
for each district.
per whos o showed o v
wased cause
eeel p e at ge
ea it u
to
et distance trout our shores is not greater than that to
speedyan ed,xthpeiovraoytiaogneomf the
ay Wellington channel. The
Eis.uarope,
theThreelAe,TeTeoeßtNeeEdYe-dGEtreEtiteAeLe,
fulfil the duties of days. If vessels were now fitted, they would be in time
rate appointments, if he was able to
hold office as judge of 100 county courts under 100 sepa- be readily performed in 45
for the season, which opens about the middle of July,
and would be able to explore this channel thoroughly
had succour,
tak eteheyth
each office. If there was a separate appointtmeeenetrttoe
each district there would be 640 judges of coun yhe
said to its furthest extent or navigable point, and, if not to
iu England and Wales. The same observations lav:llraosecteer,taainndwrheetturhenr SsairfelJyohhnacFkrbaenfkelrien
applied to the high-bailiffs and clerks. One person
With tidings." )
could be clerk or high bailiff to several different COMO. later,
A

POST-OFFICE NOTICE.
CHANNEL ISLANDS AND ISLE OF 2,.1AN NEWSPAPERS.
the undermentioned newsp,sp rs printed
and riblished in the Channel Islands and in the Isle of
Man, respectively, may be transmitted through the post
tr,m theselslands to Great Britain and Ireland on pr.-
payment of a postage of one penny; but this privilege
is not to be extended to them if posted in Great Britain
or Ireland for circulation within the United Kingdom:
—" British Press," " Jersey and Guernsey News,"
" Mona's Harald and Fargher's Isle of Man
Advertiser," " Jersey Times," " The Manx Sun," " The
Manx Liberal," " Isle of Man Times," " Star," and the
" Comet." These newspapers, though unstamped, may be
sent by post to the colonies and foreign countries upon
the same conditions as those which apply to newspapers,
simil.rly address, d, forwarded from Great Britain and
Irelan-I. The existing rules contained in instructions
No. 13, 1849, in regard to the transmission by post of
newspaprs other than the above-mentioned, printed and
published in the Channel Islands or in the Isle of Man,
are still in force, it being, however, understood that such
of the newspapers as are printed in these islands in the
French or in the Manx language shall in no way b.,
affected by the restrictions imposed in this notice, or by
the instructions, No. 13, above-mentioned, but shall con-
tinue to enjoy all the privileges, so far as their trans-
mission by post is concerned, which they formerly
posessed.

EMBARKATION CF TROOPS AT GRAVESEND
Yesterday morning a detachment of the 29th Regiment
(Worcestershire), consisting of 3 sergeantsand 235 rank and
tile, with 16 wounen and 20 children, arrived at Gravesend
by the Rochester and Gravesend Railway, from Chatham
garrison, and embarked from the Custom-house-quay, in
boats. on board the ship Minden, 916 tons burden, Captain
Robert Crawford, for the presidency of Bengal; with the
above detachment six men of the Hon. East India Com-
pany's Service, from Warly Barracks, also embarked. In
command of the troops are the following officers, who also
proceed to India :—Brevet-Major Arthur Sir George H.
Stepney, Lieutenant It G. Colvill, Ensign William Con-
grave, and Ensign T. Brown, of the 29th Foot. The day
previous the Commandant of the garrison at Chatham, Col.
James Simpson, with his Brigade-Major (Captain J. S.
Wood), inspected the ship, its provisions, and berths allotted
for the troops during the voyage.
LUDICROUS MISTAKE.—A good lady, who had two
children sick of the measles, went to a friend for the
best remedy, while the friend had just received a note
from another lady inquiring the way to make. pickles.
In the confusion, the lady who had inquired about the
pickles n ceived the remedy for the measles, while the
anxious mother of the sick children read the following:
—Scald them three or four times in hot vinegar, and
sprinkle them well with salt, and in a few days they will
be cured.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, June 5.

Their Lordships met at Five o'clock.
Earl STANHOPE presented petitions in favour o)
an amendment of the poor•laws; also for a repeal o'
the Sala of Beer Act.

Lord STAFFORD presented a petition in favour of
an extension of the jurisdiction of the County Courts.
BANKRUPT LAWS CONSOLIDATION BILL.
Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition from Glasgow
in favour of the Bankruptcy Laws Consolidation Bill.
Lord BROUGHAM, after giving his strenuous sup-
I port to the above petition, presented several petitions on
the same subject. The first was from the bankers, mer-
chants, and traders of Manchester, signed by 3,918 per-
sons, who in the course of ten minutes had sub-cribed
1,000/. for the purpose of defraying tl,e expenses in-
curred in prosecuting the necessary inquiries into the
details of the Bill. The second was a petition from the
same parties in the metropolis, and, as a proof of the
interest which it had excited, ho mentioned as a fact
that eighteen of the first bankers its the metropolis had
each subscribed ten guineas to defray the expenses of
the mercantile community in promoting the success of
the Bill. The third was a petition from the Chamber
of Commerce in London, more commonly known as the
Association for the Protection of Trade in the city of
London. The fourth was the petition of the bankers,
merchants, and traders of the borough of Salford,
signed by eight hundred and twenty-six persons.
He then presented similar petitions from the Man-
chester Association for the Protection of Trade, from
Plymouth, from' Coventry, from Dudley, and some
other places. He then observed that he had so often
entered at length into the description of this Bill that
he would not detain their Lordships long upon it on the
preynt occasion. Their Lordships were all aware that
it had been prepared about eighteen months ago, and
that it consisted of two parts—the one containing a
digest of the existing bankruptcy laws in 367 articles,
and the other containing several improvements on those
existing laws. Though the bankruptcy laws would still
remain capable of improvement—and what human in-
stitution was incapable of it?—the digest of them con-
tained in this Bill would render the task of improvement
more easy and more practicable. This Bill contained
some valuable and important improvements in the
transaction of mercantile affairs ; and, as he had
stated on many previous occasions, the nature of
those improvements, he would now merely state,
first, that they simplified and extended the
present bankruptcy Acts, and next, that they contained
many most important provisions for preventing undue
dealings with the property of bankrupts, for preventing
undue preference from being given to particular creditors,
for preventing undue preference from being given to the
relations of the bankrupt—and a gross case of this kind
had recently come before Mr.. Commissioner Fane, in
which a debt of 1.5001, to the mother of the bankrupt
had been fraudulently set up by the benkrupt—and for
setting aside all conveyances and t quitable mortgages
executed within a certain period before the bankruptcy
as fraudulent preferences given to the creditors who held
such instruments. All transactions of this kind were
carefully guaided against by the new provisions of this
IBill. They would also define certain acts of insolvency
on the part of the trader which would let in the whole
agency of the bankruptcy laws. They likewise contained
several most valuable improvements in the whole juris-
diction of kankruptcy. The original intention of
the Bill had been to appoint a Chief Commissioner of
Bankruptcy, with an increase of 5001. a year to his
salary, and a chief registrar, with an increase of 300/. a
year to his; but that intention was now abandoned. No
rotation of commissioners or registrars appeared to be
necesary, and in the metropolis the number of com-
missioners would be reduced from six to four, and so
with respect to the registrars. The six commissioners
now did not sit above two days in the week, and their
business could be easily transacted by four commis-
sioners, who, instead of sitting six days in the week, like
the judges, would only have to sit four. He had there-
fore, in compliance with the suggestions of his Noble
and Learned Friend who now held the great seal, struck
out of the Bill the clauses for increased salaries to the
Chief Commissioner and to the senior registrar. To
the proposition of restoring arrest on mesne pro-
cess he had not been able to give his consent,
although many of the petitioners had argued
strenuously for it. Debt, if innocent, was a misfor-
tune, and not a fit subject for imprisonment as a punish-
ment. He laid down this principle, that, excepting in
three Cares, imprisonment for debt ought not to be
allowed; and those three cases were, first, where fraud
had been committed by the debtor in contracting the
debt; secondly, where the debtor exhibited contumacy
by refusing to answer questions put to him by the Com-
missioner or his creditors; and, thirdly, where he had
been guilty of gross and wilful extravagance in
contracting debts which he had no reasonable
prospect of paying. In all these cases there was crime,
and crime was a fit subject for imprisonment. But then
the imprisonment should not be for ever; and, there-
fore, a discretionary power was given to the Commis-
sioners, wherever they thought fit to imprison a party
guilty either of fraud, contumacy, or wilful extravagance.
This power of imprisonment had been carefully consi-
dered by the Committee which sat last year, and the
result had been that a considerable change had been
made in the Bill which was submitted this year to a Select
Committee—a change which would give a more efficient
remedy to the creditor, and would be a greaterin-
fliction on the debtor, but only in those cases where too
much lenity was formerly exhibited towards him. Prima
facie the creditor was in the right and the debtor in the
wrong. Prima fade the creditor was the injured, and
the debtor the injuting party. The presumption was
against the debtor, and in favour of the creditor; and
hence he meant to give to the latter every help in his
power for the recovery of his just claims. Many persons
wished to have arrest upon mesne process restored, be-
cause they knew that, if they waited till their debtor
was taken in execution, his funds by that time were pro-
bably exhausted. He objected, however, to the restora-
tion of that process, because under it the creditor often
got too much. Persons subjected to the magical touch
of a sheriff's officer on the shoulder often paid debts
which they did not owe, or compelled their relatives and
friends to pay for them debts which they did not owe.
The parties who advocated the revival of arrest on
mesneexamined
upo n
n eshsaeds
consideration,
inattended
h a d support
accepted
theof
the t
opinion;t e
Bill
, 1 l l and
as
but,ha
i had
Cot
hmemiri
now stood?.uHille
inthtehnat ghrinvensea,
ahni4Fistaolry of the
of the so
in the
e s
el
epro-
gressc t
Committee, in terms precisely similar to those which
he has so often repeated during the present session, and
concluded it by declaring that the result of our various
deliberations had been that the petitioners against the
3111 had come to an understanding with such of their
Lordships (himself among the number) as had had the
management of its progress, and that their Lordships
had come to an understanding with the petitioners, who
originally opposed it. He had the Bill printed at the
close of last session; on the first night of the present he
had reintroduced it, and got it it referred to a Select
Committee. That Committee had been attended by
many gentlemen from the provinces, from Manchester,
Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, and Hull. Many new sug-
gestions were made to the Committee. They were dis-
cussed and rediscussed. Those that were valuable were
accepted; those that were not so were rejected; and at
last all parties came to this conclusion—that the Bill as
it now stood was entitled to the entire and unanimous
and hearty approval even of those who had at first
opposed it. Only one alteration of importance had
since been made in it. He had acceded to the objec-
tion made by his Noble and Learned Friend who held
the great seal, against the creation of an intermediate
Court of Appeal from the decision of a single com-
missioner. There might be too great a leaning among
the commissioners, from courtesy to each other, to con•
firm their own decrees, and therefore, as he had agreed
to dispense with a fifth commissioner, he also agreed to
the proposition that there should be an appeal to such
one of the Vice-Chancellors of the High Court of Chan-
cery as the
Lord Chancellor should appoint from time
to time to sit in Chancery. Re then proceeded to ex-
plain tho reasons which had induced the Committee first
to introduce into, and afterwards to strike out of this
Bill, the clauses ' which were generally known by the
name of the " a:ad:lieu's Clauses." If an insolvent

trader happened to die after a flat was struck egainit
him his estate could bo administered as that of a bank-
rupt; but, iC he died berme the fiat `leis struck, no such
remedy ceuld be had by his creditors, and their only re-
source was a creditor.' suit, which was a very irksome
and very expensive proceeding. To remedy this state
of things he had introduced the deadmen's clauses.
His Noble and Learned Friend had objected to them
oa the ground that if they were made law, there must
be a creditors' proceeding and a bankruptcy pro-
ceeding to. He had given in to that objection,
and had struck out in consequence the deadmen's
clauses. His Noble and Lenrued Friend (Lord Cot-
teriham) had pledged himself to provide a remedy
for the inconvenience of which he complained, and, as a
substitute for the clauses which he had struck out, pro.
posed that in the c7ise of traders only a petition should
be presented wiehout tiling a bill or answer subject to the
rules in the Master's office, and the practice in the Court
of Choneery. The Bill, then, as it now stood, had ob-
tained the unanimous support of all the respectable
classes both in town and country; and they anxiously
prayed that there might be no delay in converting it into
law. As a proof of the necessity which existed tor pass-
ing this measure with as little delay as possible, he men-
tioned the startling fact that 50,000,0001. sterling had
been annually lost for some years past, partly owing to the
distress of the times, partly owing to the imperfect
state of the law affecting insolvency and bankruptcy.
He conceived that to o most important effects would be
produced by this Bill—one upon the law, the other upon
the morals of the country.— (Hear, hear.) In the first
place the new law would make the trader, who gave
credit—and in this commercial country credit must be
given—give a more limited credit than he hitherto had
done; and, in the next, when the debtor found that he
could not elude the legal operations of his creditor, he
could exhibit greater honesty, frugality, and care in all
his dealings. He would be compelled to become more
honest and more prudent, and to square his expenses
more accurately to his means. These two results would
be of inestimable value to the community. He therefore
gave this measure to the House as an important -im-
provement on the present condition of the law, and that
with a pledge, if it should be round that further improve-
ments were necessary, he would be ready to give them
full and mature consideration. He could not conclude
his observations without giving his warmest praise to
Mr. Miller, an officer of the Court of Chancery, who
was the person alto had drawn up this invaluable digest.
13We:ire he sat down he must inform the House of a com-
munication he had received from the Lord Chancellor.
After he had acceded to the suggestion of his Noble
and Learned Friend, that no increase should be made to
the salary of the Chief Commissioner and of the chief
registrar, his Noble and Learned Friend had expressed
his entire approval of this measure. He would not
have pressed it on the attention of their Lordships in
his (the Lord Chancellor's) absence, had he not known
how perilous any delay would be at the present period
of the session.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE expressed the great
satisfaction he felt at hearing from his Noble and
Learned Friend that he thought himself justified in in-
troducing such alterations into the Bill as did not affect
its spirit—[Lord BROUGHA3I—" Its principle"]—altera-
tions which had insured the support of his Noble and
Learned Friend the Lord Chancellor, and of the best and
most learned authorities in that House. So amended and
so altered as he had no doubt the Bill would be, he felt,
with his Noble and Learned Friend opposite, that it was
of the utmost importance that it should advance without
any delay, and should become the law of the land before
the end of the present session. Dry as the details of the
Bill might be, they involved considerations of a most
popular character, involving as they did the most inti-
mate relations of society, into which they would intro-
duce the most sound and practical amendments. For,
when he was told that no means now existed for sepa-
rating the honest from the fraudulent debtor, who was
preying on the resources of the community and making
bad debts every year to the amount of 49,000,0001. —an
amount sufficient to shipwreck the fortunes of any other
country, and attended with a salvage which did not ex-
ceed a fourth or fifth part of that large sum—he could
not but feel that an attempt to remedy such a state of
things, founded as it was on the experience of various
bodit a of men from all parts of the country, all uniting in
approbation of it, was an objt ct of the highest public im-
portance to the country. It was also a matter of the
highest social importance ; and one of the provisions of
this Bill, which he viewed with the highest approbation,
was that i❑ which a mode was prescribed for separating
debtors into three classes—the virtuous debtor, whose
bankruptcy arose from unavoidable losses and misfortunes;
the unfortunate debtor, whose conduct was, neverthe-
less, satisfactory ; and the spendthrift, the outcast, the
speculating, and the fraudulent debtor, whose conduct
was not satisfactory, and whose bankruptcy did not arise
from unavoidable misfortunes. The Commissioners were
hereafter to distinguish in their certificates the bankrupts
who were not to blame for their misfortunes—those who
were unable to meet their engagements, but whose con-
duct was not blameworthy—and those who preyed on
the interests of society, and sacrificed individuals, and
even bodies of men, to their own dishonest and nefarious
projects. Such a change in the law would work a bene-
ficial effect in the constitution of society itself. Consi-
dering, therefore, that the machinery of of this Bill, ap-
proved as it had been by his Neble and Learned Friend
who generally sat on the Woolsack, was a machinery
which would be attended not only with economy in its
own administration, but also with a larger economy to
those individuals who were to be benefited and saved by
its operation—considering also that it would be subject
hereafter to any improvements which experience might
suggest, he did hope that it would be received as a boon
of great value by the commercial interest; and, hoping
so, he trusted that the House would pass it through all
its ranges with as much speed as possible. He gave his
entire concurrence to the Bill, and thought his Noble
and Learned Friend entitled to public gratitude for the
laborious attention which he had bestowed upon it.
Lord WHAHNCLIFFE heard with great satisfac-
tion the statement of the Noble Marquis in reference to
the all before the House, and he hoped the Govern-
ment would give the measure its support in its passage
through the other House of Purliameut. One of the
advantages of this Bill was, that it would effect a saving
of 12.0001. a year in the machinery connected with
bankruptcy.
Lord CAMPBELL would only say, that both in form
and substance, this Bill was a great improvement upon
the existing law last seasisn, and he had no doubt but it
would effect great good.
Lord BROUGHA M said he had, in the former draft
of the Bill, given to the Commissioners the power of im-
prisonment for a year. He had, however, at the sug•
gestion of Noble Lords, taken away this power. He did
so, and chiefly on the ground that the committal of the
bankrupt would arise from his own se temen% The
Commissioners would still have the power to refuse the
ilbankrupt protection, in the event of his conduct meriting
this exercise of the Judge's power. The creditors would
then be enabled to deal with him, and thus justice
would be obtained.

The Bill was then reccmmitted, and th© report re.
ceived.

INCUMBERED ESTATES (IRELAND) BILL.
On the motion of Lord CAMPBELL, the Membered
Estates (Ireland) 13ill was read a first time, and was
ordered to be read a second time on Monday next.
CANADA.
Lord BROUGHAM wished to know whether the
Noble Earl (Grey) had r, ceived any report of the Go-
vernment of Canada having cut down the classes of
claimants for losses, during the rebellion in that colony,
to two—namely, those who had been convicted, and
those who had been imprisoned, at the period of the re-
bellion in question.

Earl GIiEY said his information on the subject re-
ferred to was received from a source which was equally
open to the Noble and Learned Lord, namely the news-
papers. Ire must decline givine any other answer than
this to the question put by the Noble and Learned Lord.
Lord BROUGHAM—Did Lord Elgin send any dis-
patches home on the subject?
Earl GREY—Lord Elgin sent home some news-
papers containing the debates in the house of Assembly,
on the subject, and to these debates he (Earl Grey) was
referred.