The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-01 00:00:00

T It le

bas
hal not reckoned. i•Bitt. the .Right-Hein.Gent/esnais
iithsr-objections to make to the proposition now before
the 11;ese. He says, either that this is a measure
adopted on principles which will oblige you
t incur a very heavy burden, and to risk the
finances of tae country ; or else that it must be partial
only in its effsess. Now it appeared to him that it was
an argument which, if carried to its full extent, would
apply to all those advances which are made every year.
But, we may say, and may say justly, that we find our-
selves able, from the sums Yarlittinene' has placed at the
disposal of Government, to advance 620,0001., though we
eould not advance a much larger sum. These railways
have applied to the loan commissioners. They have
made out their case. The loan commissioners are read
to say that they would advance the money to them if
they had it in their own hands. It seemed to him, there-
fore, perfectly fair to say that the sum shall be advanced,
and at the same time to say, should other parties
apply to them in the month of August, they
might very well say that they had no funds in
heir hantis, witi,-11 they could consent to apply ito
this object. He would say that this was fair con-
sidering
,the case of Ireland. This was no coin-
tion ease. It might be said, that in the event of grant-
ing this sum that England would be under the obligation
o netval,c- ,oute briber SUM. It was a case of pecu-
liar nature, and one of singular magnitude, and one which
stele, In its necessity, to be immediately met. The
people in Ireland complained, that while they wanted food,
~acre were funds sufficient at their disposal to provide
ttori for all, and which, if properly applied, would make
,he transition easier by making subsistence more easy
10 he obtained. But he (Lord J. Russeli) thought this
was not to be eff cred by a single remedy, for he believed
bat there was no grand panacea for the ills of Ireland.
When appl cation had been made for the improvement of
:he ports and harbours, the relief had been granted with
e view to the people getting subsistence from the
-i3herieg from which so much wholesome and nutritious
food was to be obtained. From that cause there would
be a great advantage. When the farmers petitioned for
means to drain their lands, the assistance had been
granted in order to increase the produce of the soil ;
ind from that there would be a great advantage.
And now, when a benefit was evident from
the assistance to be rendered to railroads in Ireland, he
was ready to render assistance for that purpose also.
Lie thought that he 'lad stated a sufficient reason for his
~position to the measure of the Noble Lord the Mem-
!ter for Lynn; but he might now repeat, that he thought
chat a grant of 16,000,0001. would be too great a drain
an the resources of the country; He had always beet.
'.wady to make a grant for public works, and he had ac-
cordingly given is his adhesion to the plan of his Noble
e'riend the Member for West Yorkshire (Lord Morpeth)
n 1839, in favour of public works in Ireland,
among the most important of which he reckoned
railroads. The same vote had been recommended by Sir
.J. Burgoyne and his late lamented friend Mr. Drummond.
Their arguments were very ably stated in their reports,
to which the Right Hon. Baronet had more than once
referred. Their arguments were, that by the means of
railroads they would give the means of bringing the
tgricultural produce of Ireland to England—that there
would thus be a better market for that produce, and the
itgricultural wealth of Ireland would thus be increased.
'le thought it was stated that 1,200,000 tons of agricul-
-tiral produce 'were annually brought from Ireland to
S:resland; arid the Commissions stated particularly that,
with 'regard to a railroad between Dublin and, Cork,;whieh
.voald pass through a country of average fertility, that
:uch an undertaking would be of the utmost
salue to the country in improving the port
,f Cork. He bad never been of opinion that
he employment of labour upon railways in Ireland
would be of any use in mitigating the distress
which prevailed in that country. On the other hand.
however, he thought the promotion of railways in Ire-
lund would have a very beneficial effect in providing a
emedy against the future:misery of the country, by in-
,ireasirg the agricultural wealth of Ireland, and thereby
calling into operation the labour of thousands, if not of
nillions, who might otherwise sink under such a dis-
tress as that which was now so prevalent in Ireland. He
therefore, that, considering the peculiar state of
Ireland considering the difficulties that they
sad to deal with anti, considering, at the
ame time, that the sum they then proposed
was equal in amount to the sum he mentioned on the
25th of January last, he thought they were justified in
~king for the vote new before the Committee.—(Hear,
sear.) The Right Hon. Baronet said it was no argu-
ment because they had 120,0001. in the Exchequt r
at
seir disposal they ought to advance a moiety of that
-rim. He agreed with the Right Hon. Gentleman,
peaking generally, but Ireland, during the present year,
.armed an exception to the rule. It could not be dealt
with by the ordinary rules of finance ; but the great
lifficulty they had to deal with justified them departing
'rom these rules. It appeared to him, upon those
rouncs, that the vote they asked for was justifiable. The
more so, as since the failure of the potato crop had
been ascertained, he had felt deeply the responsibility
which rested upon Government in connexion with this
question. Government had been attacked on various
grounds, and in various modes, both in that House and
in Ireland, in connexion with this subject. Some of
the people of this country contended that it was a great
waste of public money, and a most unjustifiable pro-
ceeding towards this country, to ask for millions for the
purpose of sustaining Ireland during her present suffer-
ing ; while others in Ireland loudly exclaim against the
rashness of Government in allowing all the burden to fall
upon the landed proprietors, since this country ought not
to be burdened with the whole maintenance of the peo-
-I:e.bnoefdueltirlideludalnuydtyp,
rnetosorsecodnu,gluehpatovhot,huerh,ulatinf
it was
proprietors oflre-
tn
hweyas
could,rieer thtoelegssuathrde
against
m et ha
he recurrencet
hoef
daestiemrmilainractiaolnamoitt)(4,.ovSertmille,nlite,
not to interfere with the supply of food to Ireland; be-
muse he believed, that in consequence of that nontiter-
'erence, in no part of the Continent were corn and
'orovisions to be found cheaper than they were at present
et Ireland. It did not follow because some of the
wople of Ireland had died of starvation, or of
*eta r, that England had not done her best, and made
;;rest sacrifices to assist the landed proprietors in mid-
dating time present distress. He would say a few words
upon the question respecting the commercial state of
he country, and especially as affected by the state of
he currency. His Right lion. Friend the Chancellor of
the Exchequer did not say, as was stated by a former
-pecker, that the danger was past, arid that there was
no longer any danger existing. But from circumstances
which he then stated to the House, he said that he was
induced to take a more cheerful view of the subject ;
those circumstances were, that there had been
no depreciation of the currency through excess ;
on the contrary, that the exchanges on the
s;ontinent were in our favour; that there had been
no such amount of over-speculation in trade as to lead to
,uch an accumulation of stocks as not to allow of the
-ealization of good profits, and that the manufacturers
-f the country were not at present obliged to suspend
their operations for want of orders. Those were in his
lion. Friend's view all favourable to the commercial
state of the country. He (Lord J. Russell) would not
deny the existence of great difficulties arising from the
act that a considerable drain of gold had taken place,
and the uncertainty of the amount which might let be
required. Several Honourable Gentlemen had taken
the present occasion to denounce the principle of
making any payments in specie under these circum-
stances. The Noble Lord then continued.—l heard in
private, and I have heard in speeches in this House to-
night, many statements pointing out the evils of the present
state of things ; but all those who pointed out those evils
-poke vaguely as to the remedy—(Hear, hear)—but a
little consideration will, I think, show that the view
which I take of the statement as to the Act of 1844 is
correct.. They say it is a necessary complement of
the Act of 1819, and that, in fact, it is an improve-
ment upon that Act. For my part I think it is
an improvement upon the Act of 1819 ; for whereas by
the Act of 1819 the pressure would not be experienced
until a later period, and until a state of considerable
danger had arrived, and after two or three millions of
bullion had been sent out, the consequence of the Act of
1844 has been to bring the pressure sooner, and at a
time of greater safety, than it could have occurred un-
der the Act of 1819, and therefore at a time when we
were better prepared for it. If that were a necessary
complement of the Act of 1819, what, I would ask, was
it but a resumption of the system of cash payments,
and of making our currency convertible into gold ? I
cannot understand the medium which the Honourable
Member for Birmingham and others would propose
between payment in specie—between a currency
based on bullion and an unlimited and incon-
vertible paper currency. If they would propose to
remove the Act of 1844, and the Act of 1819,
then they would, in fact, establish a bank restriction,
restricting the issue of specie, and allowing paper
cum my to increase to an unlimited extent. I
can see no alternative but this, and whether
the Act of 1819 or 1844 be in operation is not
material for this point of the case, for it ap-
pears to me that there must be some provisions similar
to those two Acts, in order to avoid the extreme to which
I have alluded. It is not necessary to go into the
whole question as to the Act of 1819, but I must say
that I believe our present measures with regard to the
currency are founded upon sound principles, and that
the measure which is now in operation has had the
wholesome effect of inducing the Bank, at an earlier
period than under the Act of 1819, to take measures of
precaution ; and this will, I think, save us from much
pressure and distress at a future moment.: His Lordship
then proceeded :—For his part, he did not see any other
alternative if a departure were to be made
from the present system of the currency.—(Hear, hear.)
With regard to that question he would only say that the
present measure on the currency was founded on the
soundest principle, and it was his firm belief that in con-
sequence of its operation it had in times past, and would
in future, save them from much 'pressure. He did not
believe that any measure which could be adopted by
that House would be so safe as to let the Act
1844 have its legitimate operation, and nothing
therefore could be further from his thoughts
than to propose any alteration with respect to it.
He was convinced that it had led to mea-
sures of precaution which were necessary, and
hado s
ulecfht
measuresin thepower s
ter
itn
gtehnecy
.Bankor
r relaxation
e
the circumstances of the countryto
warrant. He believed, thereftr
a bullion currency was the
and nb
ee that
might appear to 1.1,
us
as
un .titaksianfgestthecuvrarrernocy
bearings of this important question into cousideratien,
which could be adopted,
meetingpropo s
t,
bees
requirements
substitute
trading
awnhdi which
commercialh he heard
be so etl'ective in
operations of this country.—(
thiote;
(gear, hear, and cries of
"Divide.")
•n
Mr. HUME thcught that the Noble Lord and the
Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel) were both wrong
blaming the Bank directors, and he was unwilling thatl
the House should separate before he entered his protest
against that error. The Right Hon. Gentleman said
the Bauk did not take proper precaution, but from the

statement of the Back seeoutib there was the strongest
, evidence that this precaution had been taken, and that
no accusation of imprudence in the management could be
well founded. He agreed with the Right Hon. Baronet
that it was most dangerous to make such advances as
those proposed, and it was on that ground that he would
give his vote against the Government.
ofL2ArdcuGooErOo.B, GE
HeßEsNaidTioNaCtliooroosnee, aomo dl d 1 obul
ad cries m
eth the
Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for Tamworth in
taking the course which he had taken, it was quite
consistent with that which he had taken three
months ago when "he had introduced a theasure
similar to the one now under discussion. He had not
exaggerated the difference which existed now in the
money market, to that which formerly existed. It was
certain that a 51. note was turned over thirteen times
in the year, and it was clear that a sovereign must be
turned over a greater number of times. He would sup-
port the proposition of the Government, though he
thought that the Government had taken the
fag end of the greater scheme, and also thought with
the Hon. Member for Cambridge that the Government
would be obliged to go on with the principle, and sup-
port all the other railways in Ireland. —(Hear, hear.)
He thought that they had got the sharp end of the
wedge in—(Hear, hear)—and they would soon get the
whole of it. The Government had said that the
money which would be advanced in support of the
railways would be repaid, while the money which
would be otherwise spent would never be repaid.
now that was the very argument which he had used
three months ago.—(Hear, hear.) The Bank of
England hied been much blamed as having been the
occasion of this monetary crisis, they had been told that
corpor stions had no souls. Now it such were the case,
Cabinets might be said to have no hearts, for
there was strange ingratitude on the part of the
Government, in turning against the Bank of
England, who had done them good service.
They had now the extraore 'nary novelty of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer asking the Bank of England to
advance him money to meet the exigencies of the Go-
vernment, and they had, at the same time, the Bank in
such a po4ition, that had it not, in the course of forty-
five hours, received a loan of two millions, in all proba-
bility the dividends would bare gone unpaid.—(Tre-
mendous confusion, and cries of " Divide, divide,"
amidst which the Noble Lord sat down.)
The gallery was then cleared for a division, when there
appeared—
For the resolution 2OB
Against it
Majority -133
The resolution was then agreed to.
Mr. ROEBUCK said that there still remained a vote
of 40,0001. for the fisheries:of Ireland, and he hoped that
at this early period of the morning, the Hon. Gentle-
man would not press the vote.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that this sum was included in the vote of last year of
50,000/., and it was only the application of it to another
purpose that was required by the vote of that evening.
Mr. HUME asked if the vote was granted for last
year, why it had not been expended in that year ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
he had already fully explained this in the course of the
evening. The vote of 50,000/. wasj for public improve-
ments, and only 10,000/. had been spent in the improve-
ment of the Upper Shannon. The remaining 40,000/.
was unexpended, and the House was asked to sanction
the vote of this evening.
The vote was then agreed to.
JUVENILE OFFENDERS BILL.
The House then went into committee on the Juvenile
Offenders Bill, and the report was ordered to be brought
up on Tuesday.
NAVAL PRISONS BILL.
Mr. WARD moved the third reading of this Bill.
Mr. HUME said that the return of naval punishments
would soon be laid on the table.
The several riders of the Bill were then read and
adopted, and the Bill was read a third time and passed.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and
the House adjourned at Two o'clock.

DEFINITION OF A " WRETCH."—One " who scrib-
bles for hire."—" Specimen of a New Dictionary by the
Marquis of Westmeath." See House of Lords' debate, April
22.—Punch.
The Blenheim transport, Lieutenant Edward Ward,
agent, arrived this morning from Dublin with victualling
stores for the navy.
THE DEATH OF AN OFFICER THROUH MAL-
TREATMENT.—Since our remarks appeared (already quoted)
on the death of a young officer in Piershall Barracks, we
have not learned how far the inquiry has proceeded. An Irish
contemporary, however, informs us that the young gentle-
man in question was the second victim to the "fagging '
system practised in the regiment. A correspondent, appa-
rently a private soldier, says:—" Sir—l beg you will
examine Surgeons Stevenson and Lyons, the quarter-
master, barrack•master, riding-master, veterinary sur-
geon, and the servants in connexion with the
officers. Examine also the barrack-master's books for the
damage done to his apartments, and the clothes torn from
his back, for which two officers were put under arrest by
the colonel. (You should have my name were it not for
the dread of the "lash.") You can then judge if his death
was not accelerated by the maltreatment he received.—
Truth." We may mention that the young officer to whose
death we alluded was Mr. Featherston, of the 3d Dragoon
Guards. '‘‘, e are sorry to say that we have no power to
force on an inquiry; but we trust we have said enough to
guide the authorities in their painful duty.—Edinburgh
Chronicle.
THE DUKE AND THE QUACKS.—Observing the
name of his Grace the Duke of Wellington advertised the
other day as the patron and swallower of the pills of one of
the pestiferous tribe of London medical quacks, we used the
liberty of asking the illustrious Duke whether his Grace gave
authority for the publication, and the following characteristic
reply was received in course of post :—" Strathfieldsaye,
April 10, 1847.—F. M. the Duke of Wellington presents his
compliments to Mr. AP-Nab. He has received his letter.
The Duke knows nothing of the person alluded to, or his
pills. No individual of his class has authority to use the
name of the Duke of Wellington in any manner."— G /avow
Constitutional.

TUE END OF THE WORLD.—THE NEW PLANET.—
We give the following from the /Veto York Sun:—" If it be
true that this' Planet,' which could not once be clearly seen
by ordinary telescopes, can now be seen almost by the naked
eye, it certainly is rapidly approaching the earth, and is,
therefore, a comet, not a planet. It is said to travel towards
the earth at the rate of a million and a half miles in twenty-
.four hours. We believe that this announcement, now going
the rounds of the papers, is not verified by actual observa-
tion. It seems to be an idle story, circulated by some wag,
who might have made it more alarming by adding—'Philo-
sophers express apprehensions of its coming in contact with
our earth, and being a very large body, it may annihilate
our globe, and thus fulfil the predictions of the Millerites.'
We make this suggestion for the benefit of editors."

_
SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.—A few days ago, as
one of the gentlemen commoners of Winchester College was
discussiug a barrel of oysters with a friend, he was sur-
prised on finding in his mouth something harder than the
general nature of the oyster. It turned out to be a very
large pearl, valued by a Winchester jeweller at 200 guineas.
Thejeweller affirmed that it was the largest he had ever
seen.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—The anniversary meeting
was held on Thursday, at the Society's Rooms, in Hanover-
square, when the chair was taken by the Earl of Derby, the
President. The report of the auditors announced the total
income of the past year as 8,8431. Bs. Id., whilst there re-
mained in hand a present balance of 2311. 16s. 4d. Of the
former, 3,0821. Ifs. was derived from annual subscriptions,
3,545!. 3s. from admission to the gardens, and 326/. Bs. 6d.
to the promenades. The cost of animals was 3411. 145., and
of provisions 1,9481. 3s. 6d. The report further announced a
decrease in the amount of annual subscriptions of 210/ 155.,
which had also been progressive for some years past ; nor had
cthe
apirdoemr
aebnladepe sr
gbreees
an
hma
do r
be e
esnu cme easdsfuei l in
nthe
mtheirn a e
na tint r aacntdi ons.
the
collection of preparations, without any very material outlay.
The Report of the Council announced the present number of
fellows to be 1,894, and corresponding members, 142.
Amongst the most important contributions to the museum
were presents from the Noble President, Major Godfrey,
S. Auldjo, Esq., General Briggs, &c. The total number of
specimens in the menagerie was 905, of which 341 were
mammalia, 557 birds, and 7 reptiles. The donations to
this department were very numerous, comprising nearly 40
different species of monkeys, and the chief loss was in the
death of the largest giraffe. The total nnmber of visitors,
during the past year, was 94,049, of whom 29,142 were pri-
vileged, whilst 70,903 obtained admission by payment. The
total number of visitors to the promenades was 5,996, making
a total number of 100,045 persons who had attended the
gardens.
We find the following in the Gazette du Midi of
the 16th Don Enrico, on his arrival at Rome, demanded
an audience of the Pope, who, in reply, desired that he
should be presented by the Spanish Ambassador ; but, as
this functionary
.made pretension to being present at every
audience, the Prince declared that he could not admit of any
witness to any conscientious intercourse that might take
place between him and the Sovereign Pontiff. Consequently
he announced hisintention of addressing his Holiness directly
the first time he met him in public."
FAMINE RELIEF FUND,—Thursday the British
Association at the South-Sea House for the Relief of the
Famine in Ireland and Scotland made their report of the
receipt and expenditure, showing that up to the present time
the total amount of subscriptions is 386,9701. 16s. lid., of
which 63,739/. has been transmitted to Scotland, expended
in the purchase of provisions; for Ireland 183,3251.; clothing,
4,350/. ; money sent, 10,0001.; and for seed. 18,0731. Total
expenditure for Ireland and Scotland, 285,7701. 13s. 6d., in-
cluding clerks' fees, &c.. leaving a balance at the disposal of
the association of 101,2001.35. sd.
GLASGOW SPRING CIRCUIT. —At the sitting of
this court on Saturday, John Henry, confectioner in Glas-
gow, was placed at the bar, on the charge of forgery, and
vitiating and altering bank notes issued by the Glasgow
Joint-Stock Banking Company, and effacing or removing,
by means of some chemical substance, the word " Five,"
at each of the two corners near to the top of the note, and
by fraudulently inserting in place of the words so effaced,
the figures " 201." and of uttering the same forged notes
as genuine. The panel pled not guilty to all the charges.
After a trial which occupied nearly nine hours, the jury,
without leaving the box, returned a verdict finding the
prisoner guilty of uttering the forged notes, knowing them
to be so, and guilty in all the cases charged in the indict-
ment. Sentence of transportation for twenty years was pro-
nounced on Monday.—Scotsman.
THE COMMoN COUN cm.—A court was held on Thurs-
day, at which the report of the Police Committee upon the
salary and other emoluments of Mr. D. W. Harvey, the Com-
missioner, was received. The report recommended that Mr.
Harvey's salary should be increased to 1,000/. a year, that he
should have an allowance of 2001. a year tor a house, and be
permitted to reside anywhere within six miles of the Ex-
change. The report spoke in the highest terms of the effi-
ciency of the force, and the value of Mr. Harvey's services.
Mr. Alderman Wood moved that these recommendations be
agreed to, but atter an animated debate an amendment,
moved by Mr. H. L. Taylor, was carried, and the increase of
salary, &c., negatived.
ALLEGED POISONING AT TERBENHAM.—The in-
vestigation relating to the deaths of Mrs. Mary Pearson and
Mrs. Elizabeth Everett, the wives of two farmers at Tebben-
ham, who were murdered by means of arsenic secretly intro-
duced into their food, on the 28th ult., was resumed yes-
terday morning, before Mr. Pilgrim, the Norfolk coroner.
A great mass of evidence was adduced, and the cause of
death in both instances proved to have been poison. Ulti-
mately the inquiry was adjourned, little progress having
been made in dispelling the mystery which surround,. this
singular affair.