The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-10 00:00:00

PRIVATE BILLS,

The following are the principal portions of the
Second Report of the Commons' Select Committee
appointed " to continue the Inquiry into the Private
Business of the House, the expenses attending the
obtaining of all Brivate Bills, including all the ex-
penses of the opponents as well as the promoters of
Bills, and the taxing of expenses relating thereto,"
just printed by order of the House :
" Your Committee have made considerable progress
in their inquiries ; and having obtained full informa-
tion on the subject of fees paid to the House, on the
taxation of costs, and the formation of Committees on
Private Bills, have agreed to the following report
upon these points, reserving the other subjects of their
inquiries for a future report :
" FEES OF THE HOUSE.—It appears that the fees
consist of a great variety of small items, charged on
every stage of the proceedings on Private Bills. These
fees are so complicated as not to be easily understood,
either by the clerk who has to collect them, or
by the parties who have to pay them.
" Since of late years all the officers of the House
have been remunerated by fixed salaries, and all fees
have been carried to the credit of Commissioners
appointed by Act of Parliament to receive them, there
are now no persons individually interested, as for-
merly there were, in the number or amount of these
fees. The House, therefore, is perfectly at liberty to
make any alterations regarding them which it may
think fit.

" The subject has been for some time under the
consideration of Mr. Speaker, and by his desire Mr.
Dorington, the Clerk of the Fees, has laid before the
Committee a table of fees, constructed upon a diffe-
rent priciple, by which it is contemplated to abolish
the present system of charging a great many small
fees on the various proceedings of a Bill, and to
substitute a few larger fees, to be charged on the
principal stages—viz., one fee on presenting the
petition for a Bill, one on going into the Committee
on the Bill, one for each day in Committee, and one
on each of the readings of the Bill, with other minor
alterations and regulations ; and these suggestions
have received the decided approbation of your
Committee.
"Your Committee have also called for an estimate
of the fees to b
scheme, and of
collected under the proposed new
fees, calculatec'a
he income likely to arise from such
equal to that of rti.r amount of business annually
recommend that the the year 1844. Your Committee
with the assumed aheZa be fixed on such a scale as,
po,sim,, nt of business, to produce, as
nearly as
unt received in
years. They, therefor‘e7 submit to the House, that
Mr. Speaker be requested ordinary
adopted table of fees based on thenp.7""lto be Prepared
with a view to such table" VeieniPg es ab"e stateda
House, and brought into operatiO-n by the
commencement of the present sessio'ne'ther from the
may be. , or as soon
as
.._

41 TAXATION OF COSTS. Your Committee have
taken evidence upon the subject, and are satisfied
that no time shout i be lost in establishing an efficient
taxation of Parliamentary costs and charges in ac-
cordance with the opinion above expressed. In order
to effect this object, it will be necessary to pass an
Act in the present session, enabling Mr. Speaker to
appoint a taxing officer or officers, who shall have
all the powers possessed by the taxing masters of the
Court of Chancery, and shall examine and tax, as
well all preliminary expenses incident to applying
to Parliament for Private Bills, as all charges for
soliciting or opposing the same.
Your Committee are of opinion that the fee to
be charged upon the taxation of costs should be as
moderate as shall be compatible with the due per-
formance of the duty ; and further, that every facility
should he afforded both to the promoters and oppo-
nents of Private Bills,
or parties liable to pay such
the relief which such taxation
costs, for obtaining
will afford.
In accordance with this view, your Committee
"

think that the parties who have been engaged either
in promoting or opposing any private Bill, and who
object to the charges of solicitors or agents, should
be at liberty within six months from the termination
of the session of Parliament in which such Bill may
have passed, or within six months next after the
Bills of such solicitors or agents shall have been
lrde-
liveredl to the parties, to apply in writing to .
Speaker, who shall then give the requisite orders fur
the taxation of such charges.
" Your committee also think that the parties should
have power to obtain from their agents and solicitors
the delivery of their bills of charges within a reason-
able time ; they recommend, therefore, that at the ex-
piration of six months from the close of any session of
Parliament, it should be open to any party who has
not received the bill of charges to be claimed from
him for service in respect of any private business
in that session, or of proceedings preliminary
thereto, to apply to Mr. Speaker ; that Mr.
Speaker should have power to give such directions
as he may think fit with respect to the time within which
such Bill shall be delivered ; that Mr. Speaker should
have power from time to time to alter such directions.
and to enlarge the time originally directed, or, under
special circumstanced, altogether to relieve the agent
or solicitor from the operation of the rule, if he shall
see fit to do so ; and that, subject to such discretion of
Mr. Speaker, the original direction shall be conclu-
sive, and the agent or solicitor failing to comply with
the same shall have no power of recovering his charge
against the party.
" Your Committee is further of opinion that the
costs and expenses attendant upon Bills promoted
or opposed by corporations, and public bodies, how-
ever constituted, in trust for and on behalf of the
public, should in all cases be taxed.
" Your Committee, therefore, have requested their
chairman to ask leave of the House to bring in a Bill
to carry those purposes into effect.
" FORMATION OF COMMITTEES OS PRIVATE BILLS.
—Your Committee having taken evidence as to the
present working of Committees on Railway Bills,
and finding a general approval of their efficiency, are
of opinion that all Committees upon opposed Private
Bills should be appointed and constituted in the same
manner as Committees upon Railway Bills.
" Your Committee having had before them the
Bill intituled A. Bill for consolidating in one Act
certain Provisions usually contained in Acts for
Paving, Draining, Cleansing, Lighting, and Improv-
ing Towns,' referred to them by the House, are of
opinion that the measure is not of a character to be
satisfactorily considered by them, and they have,
therefore, requested the Chairman to submit to the
House, whether the order of reference may not be
discharged."

ENCOUNTER BETWEEN SET-
TLERS AND BLACKS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
On the 19th August we were enabled to furnish a brief
account of a collision between a small overland party
and a tribe of blacks on the banks of the River Murray,
in which rencontre a man belonging to the overland party
was slain. We are enabled more fully to state the par-
ticulars. Mr. Thomas Johnson, the "one armed man"
formerly mentioned, long resident at Yass. in New South
Wales, and to whom 14 horses and 51 head of cattle of
the overland herd belonged, has been kind enough to
furnish us with the following interesting recital. The
party of six, including the narrator, Henry Jervis,
George Jervis, John Jones, George Bridges, and Herbert
Elder, were travelling in charge of cattle, horses, and a
provision dray. belonging to himself and Elder, and
bound to Adelaide, when on the morning of the 27th of
June, 11. Jervis and G. Jervis rode away from the party,
and were expected to return in vain all that day and
night. On the 28th the reduced party encamped at a
place called Mount Dispersion, whence they could hear
the sound of an encampment of blacks at some distance
off, on their line of march. On the following morning
Johnson intimated his desire to George Bridges that
they should not proceed until his father-in-law, Henry
Jervis, and his brother-in-law, George Jervis, had re•
joined them. Bridges said he would not wait, and
"hoped they would get a good starving, as they had no
business away." They started accordingly, and soon
arrived at the blacks' encampment. Four or five natives
only were perceptible, and these they passed without
speaking. to. They travelled three or four miles along
the bank of the Murray, followed by the blacks, the
river being on one hand, and a thick scrub on the other.
On crossing a creek, they stopped for a few minutes to
see what the blacks were following them for. In a little
time they started again, when the blacks cooeyed, and
there arose forty or fifty more from the bank of the
river and the creek, making a terrifying roar or shout.
Upon this Elder, Bridges, and Jones took their arms, and
stood alongside the dray; Mr. Johnson was with the
cattle in advance, and all he could see, on looking
round, was, that the blacks with their spears and war
implements had advanced to within about ten rods of
the dray, where they maintained their terrifying
roar without advancing nearer. Mr. Johnson walked
from the cattle towards the dray ; but before he could
reach it Jones had fired a shot, which, however, he said
was an accidental one. Bridges having expressed his
determination to proceed, Mr. Johnson returned to the
cattle, and caught his horse, which was the only one
saddled. By this time Elder had joined him alongside
the cattle, which some dogs belonging to the blacks were
attacking ; but they were not got rid of without scat-
tering the cattle. On looking round towards the dray,
Mr. Johnson saw Bridges handing some beef to the
blacks, and observed that as he turned from them they
speared him in the back and under the right arm, and he
fell to the ground. Elder and Jones were no longer
visible, and he concluded they had been speared too.
Mr. Johnson rode a little way to the right, and could
then see the blacks had full possession of the dray. He
now saw an unarmed black coming towards him, but
I seeing he was followed by two others with a spear each,
he turned his horse's head to cross a creek; but before he
had accomplished the passage, a spear passed over his head
and lodged in the opposite bank. Thence he looked again,
and saw the former contents of the dray upon the ground,
also the speared man, whose dying groans were audible,
but could see nothing of Elder or Jones. Mr. Johnson,
being utterly at a loss to determine what he could do,
remained where he stood for some time ; and having
prayed to God to direct him, he resolved to retreat to a
station forming by Mr. Ross, fifty or sixty miles further
back than where he and his companions had encamped on
the previous night. He was proceeding on his journey in
that direction, when he heard a noise behind, which
alarmed him much ; but he was agreeably surprised at
being overtaken by Elder and Jones, whom he had
given up for lost ; but who had succeeded in catch-
ing two of his (Johnson's) horses, and had taken a
like determination with himself, to retreat towards
Mr. Ross's. They, too, had given up Mr. Johnson for
lost ; but meeting with the track of the mare he was
riding, rightly concluded he had escaped, and that
they might overtake him. Having agreed to go back
to Mr. Rose's station, they had ridden only two or three
miles in that direction when they met H. and G. Jer-
vis, who said they had lost themselves ; which was
almost impossible, as they had the river on one hand,
and a beaten track on the other. On being told that
their relative (Bridges) had been killed, they wanted Mr.
Johnson and the others to turn back ; but as they had
only one gun between them, in the hand of Jones, the
proposal was declined, and they all agreed to go back to
Mr Ross's together. That night they passed in the
bush, on the bank of the Murray, without food or shel-
ter, and on the following morning, having caught their
horses, they mounted and rode as hard as they could
towards the station of Mr. Ross. Most fortunately. on
their way they fell in with a Mr. Maury and a Mr. Cart-
wright, with their party, provision dray, and cattle, and
got a present supply for their wants. Having learned
that Mr. Tooth's party was coming behind, .Johnson and
Elder went to m• et them, and upon asking the assistance
of Mr. Tooth's superintendent, Mr. Newman, the ser-
vices of an armed and well-mounted man was granted,
and Elder was left with Mr. Newman. The armed man,
who had served in the British cavalry, and was very
properly called " the trooper," carried his musket in
" a boot," and had plenty of ammunition. John-
son, too, was furnished with a brace of pis-
tols. When they got back to the encampment
of' Messrs. Maury and Cartwright, they found George
Jervis, and learned from him that his father, ac
companied by Mr. Maury, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Ross, a
Mr. Walker, and two or three other gentlemen, accom•
panied by two blacks, and all well armed, had just gone
off for the scene of the murder and dispersion. Mr John-
son and the trooper determined to overtake them, and
did so after about four miles' travelling. They journeyed
together all that day, and encamped on the bank of the
river at night. Next morning they set out again, and
reached the place where Bridges was murdered about
half an hour before sunset. One of the dogs left with the
dray was still tbere ; the two leading bullocks were missing
but the other four were found entangled in the scrub;
and it was now time to encamp for the night. In the
morning (July 3) all the party went to look for the
remains of poor Bridges, except Jervis, who rode out
in search of the dispersed cattle. After some time they
found a clay mound, which was removed, and a little
below was discovered the naked body of the murdered
man, covered first with long grass, and then with pieces
of wood, the clay being put over all. On taking up
the body it was found to have been speared through and
through. After giving H. Jarvis an opportunity of
seeing the body of his son-in-law, it was again interred
in another grave. After this, the kind gentlemen as-
sisted in recovering the dispersed cattle, and succeeded
so well, that Mr. Johnson recovered all his horses (14).
Next morning he returned with the party to Mr. New-
man, who kindly undertook to supply him with provi-
'.l°", to attempt the recovery of his remaining cattle,
and to conduct him to Adelaide with his own party.
T~ this the gentleman's kind assistance he was indebted for
benefit of all his cattle, except five, and for the
en ,his ,Ltae safe convoy as far as the settled districts
of the River Rufus.—South Australian Re-
giBter.

at the Griffin, Vill
SincinEd
fir. Bedford held an inquest
Villiers-irckt, Strand, on the body of
employ of Mr• Newman, Yis:
William Barker, age I
R
a tcosiittt!lTeahneera,eoienasthede
z d, , month, and was
was seized with a fit on the aisli
i was futind necessary t,
Two bays afterwards,
with his taken home and put to bed.a
hmaade, andtwo wmaesasotovioglueanrtdthhitm..t ay he became raving
while still in bed, he contrived, unse,eneohdy, hwi
to get a small awl by his bed-side
under the clothes, to bore a hole in his throat. andbtleiedn
work the instrument round until he had inflicted a large
circular wound. It was discovered almost immediateFy,
and he was taken to Charing-cross Hospital, where he
died on Thursday last. Mr. Stiggall. the house surgeon,
could not say whether the fever under which he lank
was the result of the injuries or of natural causes, and
the inquest was adjourned for a post mortar; examination.

MAIDSTONE FARMERS' CLUB_ r
SUBSTITUTE FOR, AND PREVENTION OF
DISEASE IN, POTATOES.
(From the Maidstone Journal.)
At the monthly meeting of the Maidstone Farmers'
Club, at the Mitre Inn, on Thursday evening last, at
which the attendance was more numerous than usual,
an interesting conversation took place on the above
important subject. The cultivation of root crops was
the subject under discussion, but as its consideration
was not concluded, but adjourned until the next
meeting, we defer the general report till then. Just
as the meeting was about to separate,
Mr. E. P. HALL begged to call attention to a mat-
ter of some considerable importance, particularly at
the present moment, since now was the time when
alone it could be of any practical utility. During the
whole of the proceedings, although the subject was the
cultivation of roots, no one had mentioned that im-
important root the potato, in the cultivation of
which so serious a difficulty had arisen. His
object in rising was to mention a substitute for
the potato which had been recently much recom-
mended, in order to ascertain before the club sepa-
rated, whether any of the members could support that
recommendation, or discourage it, from the result of
their own experience. He alluded to the Jerusalem
artichoke, the proper season for planting which was
now rapidly passing by. Mr. Hall then read the
following statement:—" The Jerusalem artichoke is
a very productive and valuable vegetable root, re-
sembling the potato, and may be cultivated in the
same manner. The tubers should be planted six-
teen or eighteen inches apart, in rows three
feet apart. The price of the seed is about 4s. per
Winchester bushel. At a time when the potato was
not very extensively cultivated, this root was pretty
largely used as food for man. Few plants are more
hardy, and they will succed in almost any situation,
and will come up, year after year, without planting,
as enough tubers are accidentally left in the ground
to stock it. A patch of ground should be set apart
for the growth of this root, as there is an objection to
its introduction in a regular rotation. Kade states
that a square patch of Jerusalem artichokes in a gar-
den was still productive, at the end of 33 years, throw-
ing out stems from 7 to 10 feet in length, although
the plant had neither received any care nor manure
for a very long time.' " Mr. Tweed, of Woolwich, in-
formed the council of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, that he grew 32 tons per acre from a piece
of ground (unintentionally) manured with stable dung.
They were twice hoed, and the stems ran twelve feet
high. On a piece of ground which was not manured
the crop was only four tons.' Mr. James Gwillam,
of Hartlebury, says on this subject—' I last year
grew, upon one perch of ground, four bags per acre.
The roots were sound and large, and an excellent
substitute for the potato; and as so many unfavour-
able accounts are daily received of the existence of
the disease this favourite vegetable has been pre-
viously affectei with, I strongly recommend the cul-
tivation of the Jerusalem artichoke. What I have
disposed of has been at the ratio of 15s. per hug, or
251. per acre. I have also been informed, but do not
speak from my own experience, that it is a very nu-
tritious food for hogs and store pigs, and when ground
may also be given to horses with success." Mr. Hall
concluded by saying, if any member had tried this
root perhaps he would favour the meeting with his
opinion as to its suitability as a substitute for the
potato.
Dr. PLOMLEY said the Jerusalem artichoke was a
plant which had excited more attention among che-
mists and botanists than almost any other. Boussin-
gault mentioned that it derived the whole of its
nitrogen from the atmosphere, and that although
ammoniacal manures were useful as a stimulus, yet
it did not take a particle of ammonia out of the soil,
so that large crops might be grown of it, without at
all impoverishing the land. It was not so nutritious
as turnips, its nutritive qualities being about the
same as potatoes—namely, about two per cent. It
was, therefore, a very good subtitute for the potato,
without robbing the land as the potato did ; for,in
fact, it had the opposite effect, and it was well known
that land which had grown artichokes year after year
was in a better state afterwards than it was at first.
Mr. BARTLETT said he could bear testimony to the
longevity of the artichoke. He had attempted to
clear a piece of ground from it, and for this pur-
pose tried to kill it with gas lime, but could not.
It grew very luxuriantly, and was a very delicious
vegetable.
Mr. HATCH said he once grew a very small quan-
tity, as an experiment, and found he could never get
rid of it.

Mr. SAXBY wished to know the relative nutritive
value of wheat at 60s. a quarter, and potatoes or
vegetables of that kind at 3s. a sack ?
Mr. Wurrtso said, the properties of wheat and
potatoes were altogether different, and did not admit
of comparison. In wheat, nitrogen and gluten formed
the principal constituents, supplying food for the
flesh and bones. Potatoes supplied food for respira-
tion, the carbon they contained being consumed in
the lungs. It would be impossible to sustain life with
potatoes alone. They must be used with milk, or
some such ingredient, in order to become a substitute
for wheat. It was necessary to have both, or some-
thing answering the purposes of both, in order to
keep up a proper supply of warmth and nutriment,
one being quite as essential to the body as the other.
Mr. DAVIS (Linton) begged to state that cottagers
in that neighbourhood had been supplied with arti-
choke seed by Lord Cornwallis, as a substitute for
potatoes. He would also observe that he had been
very successful in growing potatoes. There was a
great prejudice against this vegetable just now, and
many thought that it was hopeless to attempt to grow
it, but he had last year grown a large crop, and the
best sample he had ever seen, on Coxheath, by putting
into the drills a great quantity of lime. The lime
was put in seven inches deep, covered in, and never
touched afterwards, except to keep the weeds under,
and the crop was most excellent. The sort was
regents—the soil sandy. There had been many of
the nobility visiting at Earl Cornwallis's during the
winter, and they all acknowledged they had never
tasted any like them.
This statement excited, as may be imagined, very
great interest, and we earnestly hope, that under
Providence, the remedy mentioned may be found
generally efficacious in restoring to us this useful and
delicious vegetable.
As to the Jerusalem artichoke, we may add that
the seed tubers may be purchased for Is. per gallon,
and should be planted immediately.

HEALTH OF LONDON ASSOCIA-

TION.
On Wednesday evening a meeting was held in the
theatre of the Western Literary and Scientific Insti-
tution, in Leicester-square, to hear 11. Gavin, Esq.,
M.D., F.R.C.S.E., one of the members of the Health
of London Association, deliver a lecture " On the ne-
cessity of remedial measures to improve the health of
London." The meeting was convened for eight
o'clock, and shortly after that hour Mr. Rogers was
called to the chair.

The CHAIRMAN addressed the meeting at some
length, on the paramount importance of improving,
by every possible means, the health of London, as no-
thing but the strictest attention to cleanliness, the
possession of good air, and a plentiful supply of pure
and wholesome water, could preserve from all the
aggravated horrors of disease the many thousands who
were congregated together in this vast metropolis.
He trusted that the importance of the subject would
be duly estimated, and that the truths which would
be stated to them this evening would have the effect
of thoroughly awakening their attention to a full
sense of the dangers which surrounded them, so that
at their next meeting, which he hoped would be more
numerously attended, they would be prepared to act
with energy and vigour in carrying out the measures
of the health of London Association. The Chairman
concluded by introducing Dr. Gavin to the meeting.
Dr. GAVIN said, that in accordance with a request
which had been made to him by the Secretary of the
Association, he had prepared some remarks on the
subject which the association were zealously engaged
in promoting, and he trusted that he would be able to
induce the public to aid them in a matter of the very
highest importance. He then proceeded to refer to
the necessity for remedial measures, which was too
obvious to the most cursory observer to require him
to do more than simply to call attention to the facts
which the reports of the Government Commissioners
and others had,,from time to time, communicated to
the public; and he might observe that no public
grievance affecting the public health was more deeply
felt than the want of an adequate supply of pure and
wholesome water. The lecturer then referred to
several statistical returns of the deaths in various
towns and districts, as illustrative of the influence of
existing nuisances upon the public health. He
also contrasted these with similar returns made
from parishes in the metropolis, giving the re-
lative mortality as appeared by the returns among
the gentry, and the trading and labouring
classes. He then pointed out that to the want of
fresh air, to the confined condition of the habita-
tions of the poor, and especially to the workshops, in
which so large a portion of their time was necessa-
rily passed, the great mortality that prevailed among
the working classes was necessarily to be traced. He
next adverted to the very defective state of the sew-
erage of the metropolis, and referred especially to the
immense outlay which had been uselessly incurred
in the city of Westminster, under the superintendence
of the Commissioners, who were, under the present
syfesrtetmo ,thaen irresponsible authority. The frightful
consequences which resulted from the defective state
of the sewerage,
osmost
extensively and th e
evidenced horrible n nuisance
the
ee
mortalityo cesspools,f
o f
e houses
.0
se districtsl which were most exposed to those sad
1
F.
connexion with those things, he might re-
lamentably bad state of the ventilation in
155
pure water, too,the e lower
necessary classes.
ecess a r They
to supplypro m 0
toef
things indispensably
at a cheap rate, was one of