The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-14 00:00:00

PA RLI AMEN T.

HOUSE OF LORDS, FEE. 13.

The Earl of SIT:1 FTESBUJtY laid on the table an account
of the number of convicts sentenced to transportation on board
of the hulks.—Ordered to be printed.
A person from the India House presented an account of the
sglaries, pensions, and gratuities granted by the East India
Company, and other annual accounts, made up to the latest
date.

Earl GROSVENOR presented a petition from the Mayor
and Corporation of Shaftesbury, praying for relief from the
duty on coals carried coastwise'.
SINECURE . PLACES.

Earl GROSVENOR moved for an account of pensions,
sinecures, and reversions granted during the last year. The
motion, he observed, was precisely the same as that which he
had made last Session, with the exception of the necessary
difference of the dates. This motion being agreed to, the Noble
Earl proceeded to advert to certain offices, the abolition of
which had been recommended by the Report of the Finance
Committee, but spoke in so low a tone of voice that he could
not be distinctly heard below the bar. We understood him to
state, that according to public rumour, a new appointment to
the office of King's Remembrancer of the Exchequer had been
made, in direct violation of the principle laid down in the Re-
port of the Committee, which recommended that that and other
offices executed by deputy should be abolished when the pre-
sent interests vested in them should cease. The Noble Earl
also referred to the offices of Clerk of the Pells and of the Lord
Justice-General of Scotland, and wished to know whether any
regulations had been adopted with respect to them. As to the
office of Clerk of Parliament, he recollected that the Noble
Lord opposite had last year recommended the appointment of
a Committee, which would have to inquire into the duties of
that office, parts of whcih, he understood, it would be proper to
preserve ; but he thought that no time ought to be lost in regu-
lating it, and every other office of the same description.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, that the whole of the cir-
cumstances to which the. Noble Earl had alluded, as exhibit-
ing a violation of the principle established in the Finance Report,
were unfounded. Some of the officers referred to were to be
regulated under the authority of Parliament. One of these
offices, that of Clerk of the Pells, had very important duties,
which had hitherto been discharged by deputy. With regard
to the office of King's Remenibrancer of the Exchequer, the
regulation of which was undertaken by the Treasury, its duties
had also hitherto been wholly executed by deputy; but it was
the intention of Government that this course should no longer be
observed, but that it should be executed altogether by the prin-
cipal. In consequence, however, of the measures recommended
by the Committee being now undergoing a revision in order to
their being carried into effect, a gentleman of the Treasury had,
in the mean time, been appointed to the office of King's Re-
membrancer. But this was a mere temporary appointment,
which had solely for its object the execution of certain duties
which, by law, must be performed until the office be finally regu-
lated. With regard to the office of Justice-General of Scot-
land, that was also one in which regulation was to be applied
as speedily as possible. The regulation of the office of Clerk
of Parliament lay chiefly with their Lordships' house, and he
had no objection to the subject being taken into consideration
in the present session.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN observed, that it had been
recommended, that bills should be introduced for regulating
the offices referred to in the report of the Finance Committee,
and he should have expected that bills would have been brought
down for that purpose as soon as possible, in order that the re-
gulations might be made by Act of Parliament. As yet, how-
ever, no such bills had come before the House.

The Earl of LIVERPOOL reminded the Noble Marquis,
that, by the Act of Pailiatnent already passed, it was compe-
tent for the Treasury to make, in the offices pointed out, such
regulations as appeared to be called for. This was to be done
on the responsibility of the Treasury. What regulations
ought to he made in the office of Rernembranoer of the Exche-
quer, or any other office, could not be explained until the
alterations which might be necessary should be ascertained.
In the mean time it was certain, that no appointments were
made to offices of this description, except such as were per-
fectly temporary and indispensable for the execution of parti-
cular duties. .

vsrN remarked, that the office of
The Var-q uis of. LA NS D 0
Remembrancer, Clerk of the Pens, and others, come under
the general division in the report of offices executed by de-
puty. He was aware, however, that under the Act of Parlia-
ment, it was competent for the Treasury to proceed to regu-
late them in the manner most convenient, consistent with the
spirit of the report. [Here the conversation on this subject
ended.]
THE 'rREAD-MILI4.
The Marquis of LA NSDOWN wished, before he sat down,
to take notice of a report which had reached him, connected
with the subject of prison discipline in general, but more parti-
cularly with the enforcement of hard labour previous to convic-
tion. Nothing of this kind was understood to be contemplated
by the Act which came from the other House of Parliament, and
he was certain that none of their Lordships who sat on the Com-
mittee to which the Bill was referred ever supposed that such an
interpretation was to be given to the law. It was clearly under-
stood that the punishment of the tread-mill was never to be en-'forced except on conviction. On this subject there had been no
difference of opinion in the Cornmittee, and had it ever been sup-
posed that any doubt could arise in the breast of the Magis-
lie was fully convinced that the Committee
trates as to the sense of the clause authorizing the employment
of the tread-mill,
would not have hesitated to add a clause, making it penal for
any Magistrate to sanction such a principle as that of punish-
ment before conviction. He would refer to the words of the
clause, which had been adopted in the presence of 20 Peers,
among whom no doubt whatever prevailed as to its meaning._
The clause made provision for the enforcement of hard labour
as a punishment for convicts in prisons, and for the fair em-
ployment of others. The word "employment" being contra-
, was a sufficient explanation of
dng
the
etimeuaishd
nine from
gefthhaeerldaulaaehour
clause.
Re
knew not whether any core-
spondence had taken place between the Magistrates who
entertained doubts on this question ; but certainly there
could be in the Legislature only one opinion on the mean-
ing of the Act. He hoped this misunderstanding would
be corrected, and that a species of punishment, liable to no
objection in itself, should not be perverted by an undistinguish-
ing application. It was of the utmost importance that the
ignominious stamp of the punishment should be held up as a
disgrace to be attached exclusively to guilt ; and all persons in
authority ought to be restrained by an express law, if neces-
sary, from otherwise applying it.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL completely concurred with the
Noble Marquis in all that he had stated on this subject. He
perfectly agreed with him, that if the punishment of the tread-
mill was applied previous to sentence, such application was a
violation of the letter of die law. The distinction between em-
ployment before, and punishment after conviction, was most
material ; and he would freely say, that if any doubts really
existed among the Magistrates, they ought to be removed alto-
gether by an Act of Parliament, if necessary.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN again expressed his sur-
prise that doubts should be entertained by any person.—Ad-
journed to Monday.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

COA Id DUTIES.

Sir W3l. LEMONprestmted a petition from Padstow, in
Cornwall, against the coasting duty upon coal.
Mr. TRESIAYNE pfaentai similar petition from St-
Auatle, in Cornwall.

Lord FOLKESTONE presented a petition from the Inn-
keepers of New Sarum against the last Licensing Duty Act.
On the motion of Mr. IlumE, the names of Sir John New-
port, Mr. Whitmore, Capt. Moberly, Mr. Gladstone, Sir F.
Baring, Sir G. Clerk, and Mr. Lawley, were added to the
Artisans' Committee.

On the motion of Mr. Goutßunx, the Irish Law Courts
Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on
Monday next.

WAYS AND MEANS.
On the motion of the CHANCXLIOR of the ExcREQuER,
the llouse resolved itself into a Committee of Ways and
Means, and ordered the accounts of the naval and military
pensions, and the. East India half-pay, to be referred to the
said Committee. •

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER proposed in
the Committee, towards raising the supply, that the usual an-
nual duties upon tobacco and snuff, and upon pensions, be con-
tinued.

On the Resolution that the usual annual sugar duties be con-
tinued,

Mr. HUME objected, and expressed a hope that, as in the
salt-tax, a reduction would take place in the sugar duties, which
would increase the consumption, without seriously affecting the
revenue, while it would undoubtedly aflbrd great relief to the
West India interests. He thought that the duty ought to be
fixed at 15s. the cwt., as before the war : indeed, the additional
amount was strictly a war duty.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he
was not aware it was intended to take any objection to the usual
annual duties, and particularly to this branch of revenue, which
yielded an amount of 3,500,000/. per annum. It was, he ap-
prehended, quite irregular to take an objection of this nature
in so summary a way.
Mr. HUME saw no irregularity in the course he had pur-
sued, and complained that the additional war duties hnposed,