The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-09 00:00:00

't.ourti)':: 'baton!

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'clock.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
(THIS DAY.)

HOUSIi OF COMMONS.
The SPZAZEN took the Chair at Twelve o'clock.
TURNELNE TRUSTS.
Mr. WILSON P.ATTEIS Moved that Mr. Cornewall
Lewis be added to the Committee to which all turnpike
Bills in England and Wales have hzien referred, and that
the Committee have power to consider the unopposed
Bills which have been referred to them.--..4greed to.
PETITIONS.
Sir H. HALFORD presented petitions from places in
the county of Leicester praying for the establishment Of
county financial boards.
Mr. WILSON PATTEN presented petitions from
places in Lancashire to the same effect.
Lord DUDLEY STUART presented petitions to the
same effect.
Mr. MACKINNON presented a petition from the
Health of Towns Committee against intramural burials.
Sir GEORGE GREY presented two petitions, one
against the Marriage Bill and the other in favour of the
Scotch Marriage Bill.
Mr. W. BROWN presented petitions from places in
Lancashire in favour of the County Rates Bill.
Mr. S. WORTLEY presented a large number of peti-
tions, all in favour of the Bill for legalising marriages
with a deceased wife's sister.
LAND IMPOVEMENT (IRELAND) BILL.
This Bill was brought in and read a first time.
DROPPED NOTICES OF MOTION.

The dropped notices of motion and orders of the day
were re-appointed.

MARRIAGE BILL.

Mr. STUART WORTLEY fixed to-morrow for the
adjourned debate on the Bill for legalising marriages
with a deceased's wife sister, and stated his intention to
bring forward the discussion at any hour.
Sir R. H. INGLIS did not think it would be fair to
take the discussion at any hour, and appealed to the
Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary far the Home De-
partment to interpose his authority to prevent so im-
portant a question coming on at a late hour.
Sir G. GREY could assure the Hon. Baronet that it
would not be gone into at a late hour.
Sir R. H. INGLIS—Not after 10 o'clock.
Sir G. GREY could not. give such a promise.
The debate on the Bill was then adjourned till to-
morrow.

CROWN PROSECUTIONS IN IRELAND.
Mr. KEOGH asked the indulgence of the House while,
in a few words, he entered into an explanation of a per-
sonal character. Last week he brought the subject of
Crown prosecutions in Ireland under the consideration
of the House, and it had since appeared that some of
his remarks had given offence to many gentlemen
in Ireland, particularly Mr. George Bennett, the Crown
prosecutor of the county of Meath, 'and be wished now
to disclaim all intention ;of throwing blame or censure
upon any ore. All that he did was to attack a system,
and he carefully abstained from saying anything of the
individuals engaged in it.--(Hear, hear.)
CHICORY.
Mr. MOFFATT wished to ask the Right Honourable
Baronet the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Go-
♦ernmeat intended to impose any duty on chicory or, to
revise the Excise law?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, if
on inquiry it were found that the use of chicory inter-
fered with the consumption of dety-paid coffee, it would
be advisable to impose a small duty on chicory used for
adulterating coffee. It was not the intention of Govern-
ment, however, to reappoint the Excise survey.
Mr. HENLEY asked if Government also intended
to impose a duty on burnt bread, which was some time
used for adulterating coffee.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied
certainly not. _

ADVERTISING VANS.
Lord DUDLEY STUART wished to ask the Right
Honourable Baronet the Secretary for the Home De-
partment a question of some interest to the
metropolis. It was this—in the event of its being ne-
ceseary to introduce any Bill for amending the Metropo-
litan Police Act, would any clause be introduced into
it to put a stop to the practice of perambulating the
streets of London with huge advertising vans, which had
recently become a most intolerable nuisance?
Sir G. GREY replied that, in the event of the Metro-
politan Police Act being altered, the nuisance referred to
by the Noble Lord would be a very proper subject for
the consideration of the Legislature, with a view to its
abatement.—(Hear, hear.)
DETENTION OF STEAM-VESSELS IN BOMBAY.
Mr. URQUHART said he had given notice of his
intention to ask the First Lord of the Treasury a ques-
tion respecting the detention of the Bombay steam-
vessels, but not seeing the Noble Lord in his place, he
wished to know if any other member of the Government
was prepared to answer it?
Sir G. GREY said his Noble Friend at the head of
the Government would be prepared to give an explana-
tion of the circumstance to-morrow.
EMPLOYMENT OF LABOUR (IRELAND) BILL.
Mr. P. SCROPE moved the second reading of this
, Bill, and in doing so he took occasion to point out to
the House the evils which had resulted in Ireland from
not providing employment for the able-bodied poor at
a small s.ipend, instead of providing them with out-
door relief. It could not be said that the able-bodied
poor of Ireland were averse to work, fur experiments
had been tried in some parts of Ireland, and it was found
that the poor worked very hard when employment
was given to them, and that they preferred it to
out-door relief.—(Elear, hear.) Without having re-
course to the reclamation of the large tracts of waste
lands in Ireland, there were ample means and fields at
the disposal of the guardians for providing work for
their able bodied poor, if the law only permitted them
to do so —(Hear, hear.) The present system imposed
the responsibility of supporting the zesident poor
upon the landlord.--(Hear.) It, therefore held out a
premium to the landlord to get rid of his
poor by clearance, and thus absolve himself from em-
ploying them in the improvement of his estate.—(Hear,
hear.) Something must be done, then, to remedy that
evil. How it could be.doue he could not at that moment
say, but certainly the system of settlement proposed by
Government would never accomplish the object.—(Hear,
hear.) His own measure, however, would, to some ex
tent mitigate the evil ; it made no alteration in the pre-
sent area, but it simply exempted those who found
employment for a certain portion of the poor from being
liable to contribute to the rate for supporting the able-
bodied poor.—(Hear, hear.) It was admitted by the
most practical men in Ireland, that if this principle
were carried out it would set most of the able-bodied
poor to work at once, instead of keeping them idle
in workhouses. The measures:of:improveissent at pre-
sent propounded for the relief of the landed in-
terest of Ireland would be of no avail, for while
landlords had to pay such heavy poor-rates as were im-
posed upon .hem at present they could not pay interest
on borrowed money, and he hoped; therefore, this Bill
would meet with the serious attention of the House
before it were rejected. —(Hear.)
The SPEAKER then put the question, and declared
the Ayes had it, when
Sir W. SOMERVILLE rose, and said, amidst some
laughter, he should oppose the Bill. He fully appre-
ciated the motives of the Honourable Gentleman
for introducing this Bill, and he thought every
Irish Member owed him a deep debt of gratitude
for the constant endeavours he had made to remove some
of the miseries of the Irish people.—(Hear, hear.) He
could assure his Hon. Friend that the Bill would meet
with no contemptible reception from him, but at this
period of the session it was not possible to go fully into
the consideration of the subject, even though the Bill
were referred to a Select Committee, as his Hon. Friend
had suggested.—(Hear, hear.) That system could not
but lead to a direct demoralisation of the country, for
the labourer would naturally give as little as possible of
his labour because he was not working for profit, which
is the legitimate object of all labour,:but for relief, which
he might possibly conceive he was entitled to without
the necessary exertion.—(Hear, hear.) Beside these
objections there was still another, which was, that if
the Bill worked well in some parts of Ireland •it
would be sure to work ill in others, and tend in a
greater or less degree to demoralize the labouring po-
pulation. He would not at present enter into details,
but he might simply refer to the 6th clause to exemplify
its injurious character. Had his Hon. Friend invited
him to a discussion of its several provisions, he should
have been ready to have gone with him, but as he had
taken the coarse of persisting in appointing a fixed day
far the committal of the Bill, he must most decidedly
oppose him, and move that it be committed this day six
months.
The motion having- been put,
Mr. P. SCROPE said that he was willing to refer
the Bill to the Poor-law Commissioners.—(Order, order.)
Mr. F. FRENCH said that he must protest against
the course which his Hon. Friend behind him (Mr. P.
Sorope) had taken. It the circumstances of England
and Ireland had been the' same there might have been
some reason for such a proposition. If they would only
adopt a reasonable view of the case of Ireland, and
listen to the opinions of the residents of Ire-
land, they would know that if the people of
that country were permitted to apply their
Means for the employment of labour, they would save the
whole expense of the staff of the workhouses from one
end of the country. to the other. But instead of thus
judiciously applying the funds derived from the poor-
law, they were paying nearly two millions to soldiers
every year, for the purpose of collecting a rate from
persons who were themselves almost in a state of star-
vation, and whose condition, bad as it was at present,
was likely to be still worse. Nearly one-third of the
land in the west of Ireland was now lying in a
state of waste. In Mayo the grass lands, which
had always been considered one of the strong-
holds of the wealth of Ireland, were now lying
waste. In Tipperary and Connaught the land was al.
meat altogether unoccupied. He had lately met with a
NebleLord, whose brother had extensive estates in the
south and west of Ireland, and he had told him that he
had just come from his brother's agent, and he had told
• him that out of an estate of 8,000 acres he had only
been able to let to the_ amount of 35/. In other districts
the matter was, if possible, stilt worse, and unless some
means of relief were adopted, such as this Bill pointed
out, that the evils of famine and destitution would be
very largely increased.
Mr. SLANEY begged to caution the House against
too hastily adopting a measure which had eminently
failed when adopted in this country.—(Hear, hear.)
All present would remember the terrible state of distress
whicti had been experienced is the southern counties of
England some years ago.—(Hear, hear.) He had been
chairman of a committee appointed to examine into the-
causes of that distress and the means of relieving it. It