The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-24 00:00:00

Mr. FOX MAULE differed in opinion from the Hon.
Gentleman who had just sat down.—(Cries of " Order.")
The motion for the second reading was then agreed to.
On the question that the Bill be committed,
Mr. F. MAULE again rose, and said he differed from
the Hon. Gentleman oppositeas to the course they might
take upon questions of this nature. When he made a
statement in that House that was called in question out
of doors, he thought the most manly course to adopt
was to explain that statement, and leave no doubt upon
i
the minds of any parties in reference to t.--(Hear.)
Mr. COBDEN said, if he understood the
.matter
rightly, the Liverpool Financial Reform Associatpn had
Sated that a system prevailed which held
.out an induce-
went for the colonels of regiments to made wit
the
clothing of their men, but the tracts: made no actual
charge against the officers themselves._( Certainly
the system held out such an inducement, a?, d he believed
the country held that opinion.—(Cries of No, no.") He
believed, moreover, the colonels themselves condemned
the system, but, at all events, if. he were a tailoring
colonel—(Laughter)—or
yeceiving cloth
500ing cacolonel r
rather,
be would prefer 4 earectly, than receiving 7501. under the pre-
sent system. With regard to what had fallen from
the Hon. Member for Buckinghamshire, he must remind
the Honourable Gentlemen that when the corn
laws were under discussicn he and others were not
so scrupulous as to answering the tracts of the
Anti-Corn-law Leage, while so far from public opinion
being against the Liverpool Financial Reform Associa-
tion, he could assure the House that kindred societies
had sprung up in almost every town and
village throughout the country.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. A. STAFFORD denied that any member of Sir
Robert Peel's Government ever called attention to
the tracts of the Anti-Corn-law League. De-
nouncing such tracts while the general question
was under discussion was one thing, and
a member of the Government calling especial attention
to them another.—(Hear, hear.) At all events such
a proceeding was not likely to expedite the business of
the House, and he thought this debate would prove it.
Sir DE LACY EVANS thought that the House had
somewhat deviated from the subject before it. The
question was whether this association had addressed
itself to this subject in a spirit which was hostile and
detrimental to the character of the British
army, and he thought it would be found
that those gentlemen in Liverpool who assumed to be
thoroughly acquainted with the matter had put forth
a variety of details, one-half of which were well known
to be inaccurate.—(Hear, hear.) He (Sir De Lacy
Evans) wished a fair and impartial investigation
into that as well as into every other portion
of the affairs connected with the army, but he did
not like to see a variety of attacks sent forth
in the shape of printed tracts by persons who were un-
acquainted with the subject, and who had written in a
spirit which he must say was anything but creditable to
their candour. He thought that the Secretary-at-
War had done no more than his duty upon that oc-
casion in making the statement which he had done.
Mr. M. GIBSON said he drew this inference from
what had passed—that the whole discussion had arisen
from an ill-considered charge having been brought
against a respectable association—(Loud laughter, and
4‘ Oh, oh," from the Opposition benches)—from a charge
which had been brought in that House against an asso-
ciation.—(Laughter.) That charge was in the first in-
stance made hastily; and the Minister who made it had
explained the grounds upon which he was induced
to make the imputation. That was the only course
which a gentleman in his position, he (Mr.
Gibson) thought, could take with reference
to a charge which, without sufficient consideration, he
had thrown out against an association.—(Cries of " No,
no.") The Honourable and Gallant General had fallen
into precisely the same error as the Right Honourable
Gentleman the Secretary-at-War; he had also made a
hasty and ill-considered charge against a respectable as-
sociation.—(A laugh.) He would challenge the Hon. and
Gallant Colonel—(Cries of " General")—he meant the
Hoe. and Gallant General—to prove the inaccuracies of
which he said the association had been guilty. He un •
derstood that the statements with respect to the supply-
ing of clothes by the colonels were not denied.
He believed that a committee of general offi-
cers, upon which committee his Honourable
Friend, the Member for Montrose, sat—(Loud laugh-
ter)—had themselves admitted that the system might
lead to the inference which had been drawn •
and all the association said, if he understood mat-
ters right, was that the system was a bad one, and
might lead to an improper influence, and did
afford an inducement to officers to do certain
things which ho was not aware the association charged
them with actually having done. He hoped for the
future that such hasty imputations would not again be
made upon societies.—(Laughter.) The whole pro-
ceedings he thought had been brought upon themselves
by their sweeping and ill considered censures.—(Oh, oh.
The Bill was then ordered to be committed on Mon
day next.