The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-23 00:00:00

IRISH POOR LAW.

Sir W. CLAY presented a petition from Bethnal-
green, praying that the principle of the English poor-
law might be extended to Ireland.

COTTON IN INDIA.
Mr. BRIGHT presented several petitions from Man-
chester in favour of encouraging the growth of cotton in
India. The Hon. Member intimated that he had decided
to postpone his motion for a Select Committee on this
subject till after Easter.
POOR REMOVAL ACT.

Mr. REDHEAD YORKE presented a petition from
Bridlington, in Yorkshire, praying for the repeal of the
Poor Removal Act.
INSPECTOR OF RAILWAYS.

Major LAYARI) asked the First Commissioner of the
Railway Board, why the office of Inspector-General of
Railways, so essential for the information and guidance
of the Board, had not yet been filled up. It was now five
months since Sir Charles Paisley's services were dis-
pensed with, and the responsibility now rested with the
former Assistant Inspector, without any increase of
salary.
Mr. STRUTT answered that the terms of the Act did
not require the appointment of such an officer as an
Inspector General. In other respects the statute had
been sufficiently complied with.
SCOTCH REGISTRATION BILL.

Captain GORDON presented several petitions from
Aberdeen and other places in Scotland, praying that
this Bill be not permitted to pass into a law.
LAW OF SETTLEMENT.

Lord J. bIANNERS presented several petitions
against the existing Law of Settlement.
FURLOUGH REGULATIONS IN THE ARMY
AND CIVIL SERVICE OF INDIA.

Mr. EWART said that, seeing the Right Hon.
Baronet the President of the Board of Control in the
House, he would take the opportunity of asking him
whether the Board of Control had received sugges-
tions from the Board of Directors of the East India
Company with respect to the improvement of furlough
regulations in the India army and the civil service, and
w4hether the Government were prepared to act upon
these suggestions.
Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE said that in answer to the
question of the Hon. Member, he might state that the
subject of furlough regulations, both with respect to the
army and the civil service, was under the consideration
of the Board of Control. He need hardly inform the
Hon. Member that a subject so important as a change in
these regulations must demand previous consideration.
Mr, EWART had asked these questions because con-
siderable anxiety prevailed upon the subject.
FLOGGING IN HONG-KONG.
_ _

Dr. BOWRING gate notice that on Thursday he
should ask the Secretary for the Colonies whether he
had received any account of the discontinuance of the
practice of flogging in the colony of Hong-Kong?
POOR LAW IN IRELAND.

An HON. MEMBER, whose name we could not ascer-
tain, presented a petition from Sligo in favour of a
systematic and equal poor-law rating.
BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION
(SCOTLAND) BILL.
Mr. FORBES presented petitions from several Pres-
byteries against certain of the clauses of this Bill.
NOTICE OF MOTION.

Mr. EWART gave notice that next week he would
move for certain returns connected with the public
works in Ireland.
Mr. SPOONER postponed Mr. Muntz's motion re-
specting the small brewers of the Midland Counties till
Tuesday, the 13th of April.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHARITABLE TRUSTS.
Mr. ROMILLY moved for leave to bring in a Bill
for the better administration of the charitable trusts of
the Roman Catholics. It was not his wish to enter into
a lengthened discussion on the principles of the. Bill at
present. He would with the permission of the House
move for leave to introduce his Bill, and reserve the
further discussion until the second reading of the Bill.
The main object sought from the Bill was to obtain a
return of all charitable property of the Roman Catholics
in the Court of Chancery, and to ensure a better admi-
nistration of the funds.
Mr. J. O'CONNELL hoped that the Hon. Member
would name a long date for the second reading of the
Bill, for the purpose of giving the Catholic Members an
opportunity of consulting the Bishops and Clergy of
Ireland, and ascertaining their opinions upon the measure.
The Bill was then ordered to be brought in.
REDUCTION OF THE DUTY ON TEA.
Lord SANDON presented a petition from Liverpool,
very numerously signed, praying for a reduction of the
duty on tea.
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH CHINA.
Viscount SANDON then moved for a Select Com-
mittee on the present state of our commercial relations
with China. He was very gratified that he was saved the
trouble of entering into a lengthened statement of the
reasons which made this investigation necessary, as the
Noble Lord at the head of the Government had inti-
mated to him that it was not his intention to offer any
opposition to the motion. As he (Lord Sandon) did not
wish, therefore, to delay the House from proceeding ,
with the consideration of the Irish poor-law he would not
take up its time at present. He thought, however, that
the subject was one which required investigation, with a
view to ascertain what the obstructions were to the ex-
tension of the China trade. He thought the labours of
the Committee would be attended with the best
results. Their relations with that country were
of a recent date, and he might say merely
experimental, and the altered circumstances which the
recent rupture had brought about made it necessary to
inquire what were the obstructions to the extension of
their commerce, and by what means they could be re-
moved. He would not, however, delay the resumption
of the discussion of the clauses on the Irish Poor-law,
but conclude by moving the appointment of a Select
Committee to investigate the subject.
The motion having been seconded,
Mr. A. HASTIE said if the motion had gone directly
to the object at which it aimed, namely, the reduction
of the tea duties, he should have seconded it with great
pleasure. Looking at the character of the Chinese
to the jealousy with which they viewed the proceedings
of other nations, he feared that the motion as it stood
would not be productive of the good which the Noble
Lord seemed to apprehend from it. The committee if
appointed should confine its inquiries to the tea trade
alone.

The motion was then agreed to.
PUBLIC WORKS IN CLARE.—CAPTAIN WYNN.
Mr. C. O'BRIEN moved the appointment of a Select
Committee to inquire into the conduct of Captain Wynn
during
.his employment in the county of Clare in the
months of November and December, 1846, and January,
1847, as inspector under the Board of Works ; and
into the statements contained in the printed
letters of Captain Wynn and Mr. S. Gamble,
addressed to the Board, and laid on the table of
the House, and report thereon ; and also to inquire into
and report whether the said Board of Works have, or
have not, suppressed certain letters or reports made,
or alleged to have been made, by Captain Wynn to
them, on investigations held at Ennistymon on the
10th, and at Liscanner on the 17th days of De-
cember, 1846 ; and also certain letters, in pos-
session of the Board, connected with these subjects.
He said it would be in the recollection of the House,
that, on the 11th of February, he moved for the produc-
tion of papers relating to the conduct of Captain Wynn,
in his official capacity ; but they were only laid
on the table of the House two days' ago, and he
found them so incorrect, incomplete, and confused as to
be almost useless. He considered this most unfair con-
duct towards one who had occupied a seat in that House
for the last sixteen years, the more especsally as he
and his colleague had during that time supported
the present Government ; it was, therefore, most
improper that difficulties should have been purposely
thrown in his way, and that the Government should
support a public officer who had charged him (Mr. C.
O'Brien) with conduct which, if he had been guilty of it,
would have rendered him unworthy of a seat in that House.
The character of the House was embarked in this sub-
ject, and he hoped that the Secretary for Ireland would

render some explanation of the circumstances of the ;
cs !kr- : • 1,•'! •
written oy Captain 10 nne en the 4ta t t l ebruart and
the 26th of November, 1847, page 209 of the Blue Book,
which stated that the landed proprieturs rendered very
inefficient assistance to the relief committees. He would
say it boldly, that this charge against the Com-
mittee over which he presided was calumnious and
false.—(Hear, hear.) When he wrote those letters he
had only been three weeks in the country, and could not
have known the working of even one half of the Com-
mittees. The only reason for these calumnies was in
order to carry out the measures of the Government.
An outcry was desired against the Irish proprie-
tors, and this was the motive by which he was
actuated, and he wished Hon. Gentlemen to know that
this was a way to get rewarded and to obtain public
money. It would appear that the Clare Journal had
been purchased with the public money. The
next letter was dated on the sth of December of
last year, and was written by Captain Wightman,
of the board of works, in which they were charged with
being assassins. With respect to Mr. J. O'Brien, he
could, in his place, defend himself; but he (Mr. C.
O'Brien) happened to have a letter from the engineer of
the board of works, who was at the same time district
engineer and county engineer, and who was, of course,
cognisant of all the circumstances, and he had
fully stated his opinion that the charge was false.
If the Committee which he moved for were not able to
prove the assertions he had made, he would not occupy
a seat in the House again, but would resign imme-
diately. It was a most unfair thing for the Government
not to allow the Committee to be appointed. He had
constantly supported a Whig Government for a period
of sixteen years, and this was now the reward which he
received at their hands. He hoped, therefore, that these
serious charges involving as they did his character,
should be investigated before a Select Committee, that
an opportunity might be afforded him of showing how
utterly groundless these statements were. One of the
letters which be sent to Captain Wynn—a most im
portant one, to which no answer was returned, but
for which he moved—had been suppressed. The
Honourable Gentleman then referred to several letters
and read extracts from them, among which was the
following:—" I have displaced upwards of 9,400 persons
chosen and placed upon the relief works in seven
baronies; and I have placed upon the list the poor and
starving labourers, who had not been attended to be-
cause nobody had any direct interest in their welfare;
and I trust that this course will meet your approbation."
He particularly requested the attention of the House to
this statement, because when he was asked to furnish a
list he declared that he was unable to furnish it, although
he referred the board to it, well knowing it did not exist
Now this was an imposition on the Government, and
was a fit and proper subject for investigation. 11(
called for a searching inquiry, he wanted no
favour, he wanted nothing but justice, and he
did hope that the House would grant the
Committee which he sought, 'notwithstanding
the indisposition of the Government to grant one.
Major MACNAMARA said he would second the
motion of his Hon. Friend. He could not help com-
plaining of the course which the Government had pur-
sued upon this occasion towards himself and his col-
league.

Mr. LABOUCHERE said that he regretted very
much that the Hon. Gentleman did not postpone for a
very few days the motion of which he had given notice.
for he must remind the House that on the motion

of the Honourable Gentleman certain documents had
been presented to the house, and were now in the course
of being printed, and which, he could assure the House,
would be in the hands of every Member in a few days.
These documents threw great light upon all these trans-
actions, and the House would be able to discuss the ques-
tion with an accurate knowledge of the circumstances.
The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Clare had re-
minded him that the Government of which he (Mr.
Labouchere) was a Member had received general
support from himself and his colleague, and he
had said that it was but an ungrateful and
ungracious return on his part and on the part
of the Government to hare taken a different
course on a question of this description, from that
adopted by those Honourable Members. He could only
say that•he certainly could have no desire to estrange
any supporters from her Majesty's Government
—a Government which had not so numerous a
body of supporters in that House, as to make
him, as a member of that Administration, anxious
to alienate the support of any of those who
honoured them with their assistance. He must say with
regard to a questio❑ of this kind if he wore to alter
that course which in his judgment and conscience, he
felt himself bound to pursue. When reference was made to
the conduct of an officer of that Government—if be shrank
from the defence of a man when he thought his conduct
entitled to the defence and approbation of the Govern-
merit, in order to consult any support in the House of
Commons, he should feel himself disgraced. As an old
servant of the Crown, he had no choice upon this ques-
tion, and he felt bound to defend the honest services of all
acting under him, and to defend in that House to the best
of his ability, those whom he believed to have honestly
discharged their duty to the Crown. He must repeat to
the Honourable Gentlemen that, however much he
might regret having been obliged to pursue a
course which excited warm feelings in the mind
of himself and his colleague, he could not allow
himself. In any consideration of the description
referred to to alter the-course which upon deliberation
he had felt it his duty to adopt. The Hon. Gentleman
bad complained of the delay which had been interposed
to the production of these papers, and said that the
Government did in some way wish to delay the
their production. Nothing could be more erroneous.
He had repeatedly urged upon the Board of Works the
importance of having these papers immediately pro
duced, but they were of that complicated and volu-
minous description, that it was impossible in a shorter
time to lay them on the table of the House. They
were then upon the table of the House, and had been
ordered to be printed, and in the course of two days
they would be in the hands of every Member
of the House. When these papers were printed, then
it would be time enough to consider whether it
was or was nut right to grant a Committee of
that House as, the Honourable Member wished.
In the meantime he would say that he was far from
asserting that it would not be right for that House,
when it should have had an opportunity of considering
the whole case, to assent to an inquiry into the circum-
stances of this ease. He could not, however, consent
to any inquiry which would drive Captain Wynne before
a Committee of that House as a criminal, for it would
render the public officers in Ireland fearful rather of
incurring the displeasure of a Member of Parlia-
ment, than of doing their duty well to the Crown
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.—The works on this great
undertaking are proceeding rapidly in the neighbourhood of
this city. A number of houses in Ritson's-lane and Caldew
Datuside, most of which were occupied by the poorest de-
scription of tenants, have been removed for the construction
of the line in that part of the town. A temporary wooden
bridge has been erected across the Caldew, immediately
above the present structure, for the convenience of the public
whilst the present road is interrupted by the alterations
which will be necessary to admit the passage of the railway
under A.—Car/isle Patriot.

ETHER.—Yesterday afternoon, a very skilful ope-
ration was performed by Dr. Marsden, the senior surgeon of
the Royal Free Hospital, in the Gray's Inn-road (in the
presence of the lion. Walter Ogilvy, Mr. T. W. Cooke, and
other gentlemen), on a long-standing tumour of the upper
lip and jaw-bone, of William Wood, aged sixty-seven, who
had travelled up from Guilford for the express purpose of
having the operation effected. Mr. Cooke, the resident sur-
geon of the hospital, administered the vapour of ether, and
the tumour was removed without the slightest evincement of
pain by the patient, who, on his recovery, very gratefully
expressed his thanks, and was removed to his ward with
every expectation of a perfect cure.