The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-23 00:00:00

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THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

Sir THOMAS ACLAND asked the First Lord of
the Admiralty for certain papers relating to the pro-
ceedings of the Admiralty in respect to the Arctic Ex-
pedition ; and whether it was the intention of the
Government to offer any encouragement to other
parties in any way connected with the navi-
gation of those seas to prosecute exertions
for the relief and assistance of Sir John Franklin and
the expedition under his command; and he had also to
express a hope, that if such was their intention, every
effort would he made to announce such intention at the
earliest period on both aides of the Atlantic.

Sir F. BARING said, with reference to the papers
for which the Honourable Member had moved, he (Sir
F. Baring) should present to. day a memorandum
on the subject, and another paper would be prevented at
the next meeting of the House. In reply to the second
question put by the Honourable Baronet, he (Sir F.
Baring) bad to say, that after much consideration, her
Majesty's Government had offered a reward of 20,0001.
to the crew of any vessel who might give efficient assist-
ance to Sir John Franklin.—(Cheers.) That reward
had already been put in print, and would be communi-
cated without delay to the various consuls abroad, and
collectors of customs, for publication.—(Cheers.)
IRISH GRAND JURY LAWS.
Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL said he had given notice
yesterday of his intention to put a question to the Right
Hon. Gt ntleman the Secretary for Ireland as to the inten-
tions of the Government with regard to the proposed
amendment of the Irish grand jury laws. That question
wasress
SCHOOL OF DESIGN.
Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL asked the Hon. Member
for Manchester (Mr. Milner Gibson), who had got a no-
pntohte iq n the paper to-day; therefore he would not
u estion.
no-
tice on the paper for nominating the Committee on the
School of Design, if it was not his intention to put some
Irish Members on that Committee, the Hon. Member
for Dublin University and the Hon. Member fur Belfast
having taken much interest in the matter?
Mr.;111. GIBSON made the Hon. Member an answer,
but it was wholly inaudible in the gallery.
COURT OF SESSION.
Lord CASTLEREAGII wished to ask the Right lion,
Baronet at the head of the Home Department whether
there was any intention whatever, on the part of the
Government, of introducing any measure for the esta-
blishment of regular sessions in certain parts of Ireland?
Sir G. GREY replied that, considering the melancholy
circumstances which had transpired in Ireland, the Go-
vernment felt bound to introduce some such measure as
absolutely necessary, and it was intended, on the very
earliest occasion, to introduce a Bill for that object.
SEIZURE OF THE VESSELS OF THE ARGEN-

TINE REPUBLIC.
Mr. URQUHART wished to ask the Right ion.
Baronet at the bead of the Admiralty whether any steps
had been taken to remedy the mischief which had been
occasioned by the affair, to which he had alluded yester-
day. There bad been no papers or other things found
on board those vessels to justify a declaration of war,
and, therefore, there were no legal grounds for taking
possession of the vessels.
Sir F. BARING said that until the papers at the
Foreign office were laid upon the table the. Hon.
Member must rest satisfied with what his Noble Friend
at the head of the Foreign Department had stated yes-
terday.
COMPENSATION FOR THE CANADIAN
REBELS.

Mr. ROBINSON said that he would take the liberty
of asking whether her Majesty's Government were in
possession of any papers from 'the Governor-General of
Canada, intimating that in the discussion in the Com-
mittee of Colonial Legislation two separate propositions
bad been made that those persons who had been engaged
de facto in the promotion of the rebellion shou'd be ex-
cluded from any share of this compensation, and that
both of these propositions had been negatived by large
majorities.
Sir G. GREY, in reply, said that his Noble Friend at
the head of the Foreign Department was, he regretted
to say, unable from indisposition to be in his place this
evening, and he therefore himself might possibly not be
able to speak on the subject with that accuracy which
was desirable. Thus mucb, however, he could say, that
the Government were not in the possession of any
dispatches, and all the Government knew of the subject
was the information derived from the newspapers. It
was true that his Noble Friend had receivt d a private
letter from the Governor-General of the Canadas, but
Lord Elgin had refrained from sending any official dis-
patches until the usual period.
MUTINY BILL.
On the order of the day being read for the second
reading of this Bill,
Mr. FOX MAULE said that before going into the
consideration of this Bill, he wish©d to inform the
House that he had received a communication from
two members of the Liverpool Financial Association,
impugning his statement that their proceedings were
likely to injure the confidence which the soldier ought
to place in his officer. In order to show that such was
not the case, he would quote a statement from Tract N 0.4,
p. 2, to prove that there had been a most unfounded
assertion that the colonels of regiments and their
quarter. masters were combined to alter the usual attire
of soldiers—their stocks,
shoes, &c., and all the minor
articles of clothing, in order to put money
into their own pockets', Having read the extract, the
Right Hon. Gentlemanexpressly denied that in the first
place there could be any collusion between the com-
mandants of regiments and the quartermasters,"and that,
even if there was, that they
had any power to
alter the clothing of the soldier as described.
(This announcement was followed by loud (sheers from
all sides of the House. With regard to the second state-
ment, it was contained in the first, for if such a
principle had existed in the army the soldier
could not possibly have any confidence in his officer.
He would take leave to express a hope that it was
neither the intention of the Liverpool Fintincial Asso-

elation to call in question the character of the colonels
or quartermasters of our army, nor, still less, their de-
sire to induce any dissatisfaction between the cflkers
of the army and the men.—(Ch, ers.)
Mr. HUME said the language which the Right Hon.
Gentleman had read from the tract bore out the re-
port of a Committee which sat in 1847 upon
this very subject of army clothing, and the
report itself expressed almost in the same words the
anomaly which existed then of the clothing of the army,
if economically effected, produced profit to certain offi-
cers.— (Hear, hear.) The commanding officers had
nothing to do with it; but there was no
doubt that the system was such that if a re-
giment was cheaply clothed, more money would
flow in the pockets of the Colonel than if the cloth were
dear. He did not blame the Colonels for this, but the
system; and he hoped it would soon be got rid of.
Mr. B. DISRAELI said they were not likely to
expedite the business of the House when they
found not only a Member of Parliament, but a Minister
of State, no less indeed than the Secretary at War, en-
tering into combat with the Financial Reform Society.
Possibly they would have the tracts of the Anti-Corn-
law League, the tracts of thh Protectionists, or they
migt have the tractarians of Oxford, answer in
the House if this proceeding were tolerated.—(Hear,
bear, and laughter.) He heel not given that thorough
study to the tracts in question which the Hon. Gentle-
man informed the country he had done. He congratu-
lated the Hon. Gentleman upon the result he had aimed
at, but for himself he had formed a very different
conclusion of the intention and objects of this Financial
Reform Society in Liverpool. He had no doubt whatever
that the intention of the society was to throw a stigma
upon the British army, but he would not condescend to
notice efforts of that kind, respecting which he
thought public opinion was already made up, and
that opinion very properly treated with contempt all
societies whose labours were founded upon misrepresen-
tations, and whose only object was to throw a stigma
upon the well cherished institutions of the country.
Mr. FOX MA ULE 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 opposite as 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
the minds of any parties in reference to it.—(Hear.)
Mr. COBDEN said, if he understood the matter
rightly, the Liverpool Financial Reform Association had
stated that a system prevailed which held out an induce-
ment for the colonels of regiments to job with the
clothing of their armies, but the tracts made no actual
charge against the officers themselves.—(Hear.) Certainly
the system held out such an inducement, and 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 a clothing colonel rather,
he would prefer receiving 5001 a , year di-
rectly, than receiving 750/. 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 discussion 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. An-
nouncing such tracts while the general question
was under discussion was one thing, and
a member of the Government calling especial attention
to them on the other.—(Hear, hear,) At all events such
a proceeding was not likely to expedite the business of
the House, and he thoughl this debate would prove it.
Sir DE LACY EVANS thought that the House had
somewhat deviated from the suttject 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
E. vans) wished a fair and impartial investigation
into that as well as to every other portion
of the officers connected with the army, but he did
not like to see a variety of attacks sent for the
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. Ile thought that the Secretary at
oc-
casion had
in
makingdone n
o more than his
whichduty
kupon a
dthat
done.
thestatement
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
cries of " Oh, oh," from the Opposition benches)—from
a charge which had been brought against an association.
—(Loud laughter.) That charge was in the first in-
stance made hastily; the Minister who made it had ex-
plained 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.
Ho believed that a committee of general offi-
cers was appointed, upon which committee his
lion. Friend, the Member for Montrose, sat—(Loud
laughter)—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 he was not aware the association charged
them with actually having done. He hoped for the
future that such hasty impntations 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.

NAVIGATION LAWS.
Mr. CLAY presented a petition from Hull, signed by
16 out of every 21 members of the Chamber of Com-
merce in favour of the repeal of the navigation-laws.
Mr. LABOUCHERE rose to move that the House
do resolve itself into Committee upon the navigation•
laws, but before doing so said he thought it his duty to
make a statement to the House with regard to an im-
portant alteration which he proposed to make. Ile had
stated to the House that it was his intention
to admit foreign vessels to a share of our
coasting trade, but that he did not attach
much practical importance to that alteration, be-
cause it it was impossible for foreign nations to avail
themselves fully of the advantages which such a pro-
vision would give. He was now bound to state that it
was not his intention to continue that assurance. His
Hon. Friend the Chief of the Commissioners of the
Customs was not prepared to say, at first, that the
clauses would throw any very considerable difficulty—
that no such difficulty and danger would result, or
could with propriety be set in opposition to the course
the Government might think it advisable to
pursue with respect to a matter of great national. policy
like that of the navigation-laws. Upon the faith and
in the full belief of that assurance he made the pro-
pasals he had to the House. His Hon. Friend supplied
him with various Customs regulations which had been
embodied in the Bill before the House, but in the course
of the last few days he had received communications from
his Honourable Friend to the effect that in going
further into these regulations, and in further exam-
ining this question with the most experienced officers'
of the customs he had come to the conclusion that
if the carrying out of the regulations with respect
to the coasting and general trade, yet that
the carrying out of them could not fail to be attended with
extreme difficulty—that it would be a most difficult mat-
ter to frame regulations which would not leave the revenue
exposed to great danger if they were to do away with
the difference between the coasting and general trade
of the country. He said this danger would arise
more from British ships engaged in the trade than from
foreign ships. Under these circumstances he did not
feel called upon to advise the House to throw open the
coasting trade in the way he had originally proposed.
Let it, however, be understood that he ' did not
throw any blame on his Right Honourable Friend ,
at the head of the Customs. On the contrary, he was
found to take any blame that might exist in
respect of this matter upon himself. The
Bill thus very much returned to the same
state in which he proposed it to the House
last session, The course he had adopted he should ima-
gine would in no case interfere with their at once pro-
ceeding with the discussion of the Bill.
Mr. HUME wished to know whether if the trade was
opened entirely, the difficulty mentioned by the :Hon. I
Gentleman would be obviated?

Mr. LABOUCHERE replied that it would not. Great
difficulty would result if foreign vessels were allowed to
undertake a foreign as well as a coasting voyage. It
could not be done with any safety to the revenue.
Mr. GLADSTONE said, having objected to the
clauses referred to by the Hon. Gentleman on the se-
cond reading of the Bill, he did not rise to dispute the
desirability of the course he had adopted. Yet ho could
not refrain from making some remarks upon that
course he had felt it his duty to pursue—
The first was that he had been more successful in jus-
tifying the conclusion he had now announced than in
showing that there were sufficient grounds for
the course originally proposed by him.—(Hear.)
No one iwho had heard Vie retraction of the
Honourable Gentleman but could fail to be
of opinion that tneChief Commissioner of the Cus:
toms was originally against the clauses referred to.
He (Mr. Gladstone) confessed that he saw great incon-
venience if Ministers of the Crown made it
a practice to state the nature and result of
conferences which they had had with persons
connected Kith different departments, who, strictly
speaking, were subordinate functionaries, as the practice
tended to' perplex the public mind as to
who was responsible with respect to public measures

troduced into that House.—(Hear.) lie did not inten d
to tr,uble the House with an amendment, but he coul d
not forbear stating the course he had criginally intended
to purue.
After a few words from Mr. BERRIES,
Mr. ROBINSON stated his intention to oppose the
third reading of it..
The Homie then went into Committee on the Bill,
win n

Mr. LABOUCHERE proposed the introduction of
words into .the first clause, to the (Met that the Bill
shoukl come into effvct on Ist January, 1850, which was
agreed to.

(LEFT SITTING.)

COURSE OF EXCHI
Amster tam •• .. 12 2
INCA), at sight 12 0
Itcttcrdatri .... • • .... 12 2%
Antwerp ..... ........ 25 70
Iltinburgh ......M.B. 13 12%
iiitona•••••••• .. • • ....
Paris, 3 days' sight ...• 25 271/,
Ditto, 3 mouths .... 25 52
rn arseill es •• •• ...• 25 5214
Bourdeaux ..... • 25 55
Frankfort on Maine..., 12114
Petersburgh, Sil.
Vienna, effec. flo • • •... 1 1 36
Trieste, ditto.... • • .... 11 36
Madrid 49
Cadiz • ............ 5014
Barcelona .• ..........
•• e. •• • • •• •• dr, ••

NGE.-(TIIIS DAY.)
Gibraltar.. ••••••
Leghorn ...... 34 20
Genoa 28
gaples .• 40%
Palermo, perm ..•
lieesina • • • • •
Lisbon.. ••• • • • 63 'A
Oporto •. 53%
Rio Janeiro •• . • .... • •
Buenos Ayres ..• • . • • --
New York, 21 days'sight
Philadelphia .. • • • •

PRICKS OF BULLION, PER OE
Foreign Gold in bars.. X 3 17 9
l'ortHgal Gold Coln .. I) 0 0
Spanish Doubloons .. 0 0 0
New Dollars .... •• 0 0 0
Silver le bars ...... • • 0 5 0

DENSE FOGS. —ACCIDENTS.—During the past week
fogs have prevailed in ti.is neighbourhood, more espe-
cially seaward, and that on Wednesday afternoon
and evening was so impenetrable as to cause serious
inconvenience in crossing the river. Indeed, after
half-past seven o'clock, all the boats ceased
running from the landing-stage, with the ex-
ception of those belonging to Woodside, and they,
in order to obviate the risk of collision, only ran hourly
from each side. The William Fawcett, Birkenhead boat,
ran foul of a brig anchored off the landing-stage, and bad
her mast carried away. Yesterday the Dublin mail-boat,
which generally reaches this port at four o'clock in the
morning, did not arrive till after twelve o'clock at noon;
and the Isle of Man and other coasting steamers
were delayed from the same cause. The Cleveland,
Woodside steam-boat, ran into a vessel and kocked off
her figure head. The steamer Royal Victoria, from
Carlisle, in coming up the river, came in contact with
the Loodianah. The steamer lost her cutwater, and the
vessel was slightly damaged. We understand that the
atmosphere inland has been bright and clear. Amongst
the other incidents we may mention that the Tranmere
steamer, Birkenhead, after towing out the Rosendale,
bound for Pernambuco, got lost in a fog, and the captain
was compelled to come to anchor off the Great Orms-
head. With little water or provisions, and a crew aug-
mented by a number of merchants' clerks and others, it
may be supposed the situation of those on board was not
the most comfortable. The steamer got up yesterday
morning, all "as well as could be expected.—Liverpool
Mercury of tbis day.