The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-15 00:00:00

he had offered to the samap:inciple in the measure for Eng-
land of their.st Session.
Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD, agreeably to notice, rose
to move that in the larger boroughs the qualification should be
reduced from 1,000/. tq 5001., and in the smaller from
5001. to 2501.
The A TTO RNE Y-.G ENE RA L said he proposed that in
the smaller boroughs an alternative qualification should be
given, arising from a house of 20/. yearly value.
Mr. SHAMAN CRAWFORD declined to press his
a:nendment to a division, in consequence of the proposition of
the Attorney-General.
Mr. O'CONNELL suggested, in accordance with the ex-

press wish of a part of hiiConstituents, that the qualification,
so far as regarded Dublin, should be lowered to 5001. He
did not, however, think that this was a very material question,
or one by which the main principles of the Bill were deeply
effected.

The clause, after a short converEation, va3 agreed to.
Clauses 22 to 29 were then pa3sed.
The clauses from 30 to 39 inclusive were ag Cad t 3 withou
observation.

Oa clause 40 being proposed,
Mr. FINCH suggested whether it would not be advisable
to alter_the Bill so as to preclude Members of Parliament from
being elected to the office of Mayor. As a fine was to be im-
posed 'upon persons elected to an office under the Bill declining
to serve, it became necessary to make a special exemption in
the case of Members.

Mr. O'CONNELL hoped the Hon. Member meant to ex-
tend his suggestion to the Recorder of the city of Dublin.—
( Hear, hear.) Certainly never two situations were more in-
compatible than those of recorder and representative, espe-
cially when the house of assembly was situated several hun-
dred miles from the court house.--( Hear.)
An HON. MEMBER thought the Lord Mayor of London
should be included in the exemptiou.—(A laugh.)
The LORD MAYOR-There is no necessity for that, fur I am
nut resident in Ireland, and of course could not be elected to
the office of Mavor.—( A laugh.)
Mr. O'LOGHLEN would consider the suggestion before
bringing up the report.
The clause was then agreed to.—Clause 41 was postponed.
On clause 42 (relating to the fines in case of individuals
not serving offices to which they have been elected) being
proposed,
Mr. WYSE suvested that Members of Parliament should
be exempt from the operation of the clause.
Mr. O'LOGH LEN had no objection to the adoption of the
Hon. Member's suggestion, and would more the alteration of
the clause with that view.

Sir H. PEEL put it to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman
to say, whether the exception ought not to be extended to
half-pay officers of the army and navy. Perhaps the better
course would be to postpone the clause altogether for the pre-
sent, and take into consideration whether some fixed principle
of exception, without naming particular cases, might not be
established.

Lord J. RUSSELL agreed with the Right Hon. Baronet
in the policy of postponing the clause for the present. With
regard to officers of the army and navy, he thought the sug-
gested exception would be unnecessary.
After a few words from Colonel PERCEVAL the clause
vas postponed.

The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, and obtained
leave to sit again to-morrow (this day).
SLAVE TRADE (SPAIN) BILL.
_ . _

Lord PALMERSTON moved the third reading of the
Slave Trade (Spain) Bill.
Mr. F. BUXTON was free to admit that the measure of
which the Noble Lord now moved the third reading was
fraught with a great many advantages, and was likely to be
of considerable importance in regard to the great question to
which it referred, but at the same time it was his firm convic-
tion that it was wanting in one essential particular, absolutely
necessary for the complete and effectual achievement of the
object in view. Slave trading was not made by it a piratical
offence, and until it was so pronounced it would never be put a
stop to.—( Hear.) The point, however, to which he particu-
larly wished to direct the attention of the Noble Lord and the
House was the conduct of Portugal in connection with this sub-
ject. It could not but be manifest to all even the least degree
conversant with the matter, that without a similar treaty
with the Portuguese Government, the one to which the Bill
now under consideration referred would prove nugatory.--
( Hear, hear.) In short, if there was a single flag under which
slave vessels might sail, all that the Government would achieve
by their treaties would be, the transfer of the trade from others
to it, and the practice of slave dealing would go on as briskly
as ever. For this reason, he much wished the Noble Lord
and the Government would turn their immediate attention to
the point, and endeavour to induce the Portuguese Govern-
ment to enter into a treaty similar to that just ratified with
Spain. Negotiations upon the subject had been now pending
for nearly twenty years, but hitherto without any satisfactory
result. If, however, the Noble Lord were to inform the Mi-
nister representing the Portuguese here, that Great Britain
was determined to wait no longer, but to take the suppression
of the trade into her own hands—as she could, if she pleased,
very easily do—he felt confident some understanding would at
length be come to. Should the Portuguese Government re-
fuse to become a party to such a treaty as that to which he
alluded, he trusted the Noble Lord would not hesitate to in-
form them that orders would be given to the British cruisers to
take the pirates wherever they found them ; and he need not
add, he hoped such orders would, in such an event, be given
and acted upon:—(Hear,hear.)

Lord PA-LME tisToN agreed with the Hon. Member in
thinking that the most effectual plan for the suppression of the
slave-trade was for all the nations to make it a piratical offence
and punish it accordingly. It was obvious, however, that this
could only be done by the consent and with the good will of all
the parties concerned, and not by the mere desire of one or two
of them. Other nations, unfortunately, did not view the
trafficing in human life with the same feelings of disgust
and aversion that England did, and the consequence
had been that as yet it had been found impossible to persuade
several of the necessary parties to concur in designating the
trade as a piratical affair, and punishable as such. In the case
of Spain, the British Government originally proposed to affix
to the offence the severest penalty of the law, but it was even-
tually found impossible to persuade its Government to go to
that extent. It agreed to affix to the crime a severe, but not
the severest penalty. Notwithstanding that, however, he
hoped that much more good would result from the treaty
than the Hon. Gentleman seemed to expect. The Portuguese.
flag, it was true, might be made use of for the purposes of
t'ie trade, but it was undeniable that -the power which the
treaty went to give Great Britain, of putting down the trade.
when attempted under the flag of Spain, would be productive
of most beneficial results.—( Hear.) With regard to Portu-
gal, he had only to observe, that the House must not suppose
thot there was no treaty upon the subject between Great
Britain and its Government. There was a treaty, which, as
far as it went, was found tolerably effective, though not en-
tirely so. The defects were first, that the district of country
south of the Niger wa; not included in the limits to
which it extended ; and, secondly, that it did not em-
power the seizm e and condemnation of vessels found
equipped for the trade, though not in flayranti de-
licit,. Upon these parts a negotiation was now pending
with the Portuguese Government; and considering that on
every principle of good faith, and regard to honour, Portugal
was bound to enter into it, he (Lord Palmerston) could not
believe but that all that was desired could be obtained.
The negociation had been protracted in consequence of the
recent change of Government in that country, but he was in
daily expectation of receiving the required treaty duly signed.
He had only, in conclusion, to assure the House that no ex-
ertion would be spared by the British Government to achieve
the total abolition of the slave trade, and from the communica-

tions recently received from Powers not actually engaged in
carrying it on, but whose flags might be made available for
the purpose, when those countries hitherto most concerned in
it discountenanced its continuance, he and the Government
had every reason to expect that their Efforts would be crowned
with complete success.
Colonel SIBTHORP thought it evident that no practical
end had been obtained. A little smoke had been raised, just
to give rise to the supposition that something had been done ;
but as far.as the -suppression of the trade was concerned, it
was evident no advance had been made.
Lord PALM E RSTON observed that the smoke to which
the Hon. and Gallant Member alluded must have got into his
head, and rendered him unable to read the Bill under discus-
sion.—( A laugh.)
Mr. FINCH agreed with the Hon. Member for Weymouth
in thinking that until the traffic in slavcs was madc a piratical
offence, it would never be entirely suppressed.
Mr. F. BUXTON expressed his perfect satisfaction that
the Government were doing, and would continue to do, all in
their power to induce ether nations to join with them in dis-
countenancing the slave. trade. If, in the case of Portugal,
nothing was done, he begged to say, that he would be pre-
pared to call upon the house, by a specific motion, to sanction
British cruisers in seizint, vessels under that flag, in virtue of
the existing treaty._(Hear, hear.) He wished before he sat
down to know from the Noble Lord if any negotiation was
pending to extend the limits of operation in the French treaty,
on the same subject, to those which were to be found in the
Bill before the House ?

Lord PALMERSTON replied, that though the limits
were nct quite as extensive as was desirable, no inconvenience
had as yet resulted from their narrowness. No negotiation
upon the subject was pending.
The Bill was then a third time and passed.
The Letter Stealing (Scotland) Bill was read a third time
and passed.