The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-12 00:00:00

MOR r INt
.EDITION.

PUNISHMENT OF DEATH.
Lord BROUGHAM moved the second reading of the
Punishment of Death Bill. Ile said that there were
• some offences such as rape, and riots of a certain eescrip-
tien, and some otheroffenceS for which the punishment of
death was inflicted by the law, as it before stood, and
with respect to those offences the present Bill made no
alteration in the punishment. Now, he heartily
a:3roved of the policy of mitigating punishmentS ; instead
of increasing the commission of offences, it bad the effect
' of tending to, and ending in, the diminution, and not the
increase of their number. He should state to their
Lordships a fact which would demonstrate the conse-
quence of the wise and humane provision of the new law.
In the three offences of burglary, rohltery, and horse
stealing, the committals, before the alteration of the law,
in a given number of vears, amounted to 8,774, and
during the same numb'er of years, after the alteraticm
of the law, they amounted to 7,820, being a diminu-
tion of 954, or one ninth part of the whole, although,
during that period, the population had increased by
one-seventh, so that the real diminution was not one
ninth bat one fourth. He would only remind their Lord-
ships, in the next instance, of the crime of forgery, to
which precisely the same observations applied through-
out a period of ten years, He thought it his duty in open-
ing this • measure to the House to state these gratifying
facts. - •

The Marquis of NOILMANBY did not object to the
motion of his Noble and Learned Friend. if he had
not made the motion it was his (the• Marquis of Nor-
manby's) intention to have taken the same step. He
would take that opportunity of reading to their Lord-
ships the result of an investigation he had made (Turing
last vacation upon that subject. In three instances in
which executions had followed conviction within the last
few years, the result in the succeeding-year was a dimi-
nution in the number of capital convictions in relation to
the committals.

Lord BROUGHAM was not aware when he had
r:sen of what the Noble Marquis's intentions were with.
regard to the Bill ; he would therefore censign the
charge of it to the Noble Marquis.
The Marquis of WESTMEATH said that notwith-
still ding the awful odds that were opposed to him, he
wou:d, even if he stood alone, stand up against the en-
actment of a clause which took away from female weak-
ness any protection it could have from ruthless vio-
lence. Parliament ought, before abolishing the punish-
ment of death for the crime of rape, to consult the elder
classes of the female portion of the inhabitants of the
country.—(Hear, hear.) If he stood alone, he would
divide the House on the enactment of the clause.
The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to
be committed on Monday.
Several Bills on the table were then forwarded a stage,
and their Lordships adjourned till Monday.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 11.

The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour.

The following bills w ereread a third time and passed :
The East Ite,tford Court of Requests, the Gainsborough
Small Debts, the Canterbury I'avement, the Dublin Wide
Streets, the Scottish Insurance Company, and New-
ton Heatheote Estate Bills.

Stone's Estate Bill was read a second time and ordered
to be committed.

Mr. GROTE presented forty-two petitions from
London and Westminster, praying for an alteration in
the Corn-laws. Also, a petition to the same effect from
'Worcester. The lion. Member also presented a petition
from an individual of the name of James Surrey, of Bat-
tersea, praying that foreign corn might be ground in
bond for exportation.
Mr. STRUTT presented a petition praying for the
repeal of the Corn-laws.
General JOHNSTONE presented a petition from the
borough of Oldham, very numerously and respectably
signed. The petitioners stated that the Corn-laws were
contrary to every principle of morality and religion ;
and they, prayed that they, and ail taxes upon food,
might be immediately repealed.
Petitions in favour of Church Extension were pre-
sented by Mr. Codrington, from Gloucester ; by Mr.
Palcington, from seventeen places in Nottinghamshire
and Worcestershire ; and by Lord Ingestrie from Staf-
ford and Gloucester.

Petitions in favour of the Corn-law were presented by
Mr. Round, from places in Essex ; by Mr. Dugdale, from
Warwickshire ;by Colonel Rollesten, from-Upton, Not-
tiaghamshire ; by Lord Ingestric from several places
in Staffordshire ; and by Lord Charles Manners from
places in Derbyshire, and from Ashby-de-la 'touch and
three.other places in Leicestershire.
Petitions, praying for a repeal of the Corn-laws, were
presented by' Mr. B. Wood from St. Mary, Rotherhithe ;
by Mr. T. Duncombe, from Finsbury, and three other
districts of the metropolis ; by Mr. Ward, from Preston
and Teddington, in Yorkshire ; by Mr. Dunbar, from
Orkney and Argyleshire ; by Sir John Hobhouse, from
Nottingham and three other places ; by Mr. Gibson
Craig, from Glasgow ; and by Mr. Collins, from War-
wickshire.

Dr. LUSHINGTON presented a petition from the
Minor Canons of St. Paul's Cathedral, complaining that
no compensation had been awarded them under the Ec-
clesiastical Duties and Revenues Bill.

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presentc.d a petition from the
Chamber of Commerce of Glasgow against any alteration
in the Scotch currency.

Mr. MERVYN AitCHDALE presented a petition
from Fermanagh, praying for the restoration of the
Episcopal Sees, and in favour of the Maynooth College
Bill.

Sir J. C. HOBIIOUSE moved for certain returns re-
lating a the Importa6ni of HiltrooNcS.----Ordertid.
Mr. I3INGHAM BARING presented several peti-
tions in favour of Church Extension.

Mr. VILLIERS presented petitions against the Corn-
laws, numerously signed, from Amnstzate, from North-
wich (360 women), from Old Swinford-(Worcestershire).
from Wilstbrd and Bromharn (Wiltshire), from Yeovil
(Somersetshire), from the wool-sawyer; in Bilston, from
Messrs. Hooper and Co. (Eastington Mills, Gloucester-
' shire),fromG uisburough,Langfiwd,andi lepton Hall,York-
shire ; operatives at the Junction Factory, S:.afford ;
from the labourers in the rarish of Haddenham, in the
county of Bucks ; and from the inhabitants of the borough
of Elgin, in Scotland.
Mr. HINDLEY pos'poned to Tresi iy next the mo-
tion of which he had ;even notice, on the Order of the
Day for going into Committee of Supply being read, to
call the attention of the House to the injustice done to
the middle and lowcr classes of society by the present
system of legislation, and particularly by the existing
Corn-laws.

On the motion that the School Sites Bill be read a
third time,

CAMBULDGE ELECTION,

Mr. FRESHFIELI) said he would avail himself of
that opportunity of calling the attention of the House to a
question he believed to be of some importance to the general
business of the House. He saw upon the paper a notice
of the Hon. Member for Sheffield, that. he should move •
that the Attorney-General be directed to prose-
cute the Honouragle. Henry Thomas Manners Sutton
and his agents for bribery at the last election for Cam- .
bridge. The Hon.. Member no doubt had given his
notice upon the supposition that this - was a matter
of privilege. The Honourable Member might' press
his motion, on the ground of the importance
of the subject ; but it he argued that it was
matter of privilege, it would then become necessary
to take the opinion of the Speaker upon the subject. Now,
he (Mr. Freshfield, contended that it was hot a matter
of privilege. It neither related to the conduct of a Mem-
ber of that House, nor was it a matter which in any
degree tended to obstruct the functions of that House.
These matters had sometimes been treated its matters
of privilege if the proceedings were recent; but this par-
ticular motion had reference to a by-gone transaction
of two years' standing. If it was to be treated as a
question of privilege, he hoped they would be faveured
with the Speaker's opinion on the subject.
Mr: WARD said that every one of the arguments
against his motion applied equally to that of the Hon.
Gentleman opposite, respecting the St. Alban's election.
Yet the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. W. Wynn) was so im-
pressed with the opinion that it was a question
of privilege, that he made it a matter of grace
and favour to spare the House a discussion On
Monday, giving notice that he should bring it for-
ward before the orders of the day on Tuesday.
He would therefore submit to the House that the cases
stood in precisely the same position, but even if
there was a doubt on the question of . privi-
legQS, the one case was as doubtful as the
other was represented to be, and he would put it to
the House whether in common justice the same facility
should not be afforded to the examination of the one as
Session
the other.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir E. SUGDEN said there was a cleandistinction
c) not
o-
site the same advantages his party claimed for them-
between the two cases, the one being recent, and
the other a bygone transaction of a irriner Session ;
but as there might be a doubt. whether it was
a question of privilege, and as no objection was made on
the other side that the St. Alban's case was not ques-
tionpress
his
o f privilege,jectio nh. eb
uhtopael
allow
his t
01,1
Toonn Gentlemen'
. Friend
selves.—(Hear, hear.)
The SPEAKER said, that his -opinion having: been
asked whether the motion oF the Hon. Member for
Sheffield was one relating to privilege, he answered that
he had no doubt that it was in no way a matter of privi-
lege. But as the Honourable Member had given notice of
his motion before the other Orders of the Day, there.
could be no objection to his so bringing it forward, but the
Hon. Member could not claim pr •a fence on the ground
that it was matter of privilege. if the question had been
put to him (the Speaker) the other evening, IN hen the
St. Alban's case .was brought on, whether it was matter
of privilege, he should have had very great doubt
about the matter, but he was not inclined to
think it a question of privilege.--(Hear, hear.)
The subject was then postponed by consent until one or •
two Orders of the Day were disposed of.
SCHOOL SITES BILL.
The School Sites' Bill was read a third time and passed.
BANKS OF NSLIE BILL.
On the motion of Mr. C. WOOD the Banks of Issue
Bill was read a third time and passed.
DOG CART BILL.

The Dog Cart Bill was also read a thirl time anti
passed.
Sir R. PEEL moved for and obtained leave to bring in
a Bill to amend the Bill, already in existence, for the
trial of controverted elections.