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

SPANISH DEBT.

Lord BROUGHAM then rose, pursuant to notice
given on a former occasion, to bring before their Lord-
ships a subject which required the utmost atten-
tion of Parliament, or, if it could be done of
Government ; but he was aware that there was
great difficulty in them to take steps in such a case.
Still there was no reason why the justice of Parliament
should not be applied in a case of hard-
ship and injustice like that he was about to
bring before them. The petition which he had
to present was from Mr. Dempster Hemming,
and Sir Thomas Lethbridge, Bart., and they were the
representatives of a great class of sufferers. The Noble
Lord then proceeded to state that the petitioners were
creditors of the Spanish Government, having lent money
to that country in its great struggle for freedom which
had never been repaid. It could not be alleged that the
Spanish Government was in a state of insolvency, for the
revenue, which some years ago was deficient some six
millions annually, now exhibited a surplus of more than
half a million. The Noble Lord concluded by reading
the prayer of the petition.
The Earl of CLARENDON said that his Noble
Friend had, a few days ago, shown him the petition
which he had just presented, and he believed that the
statement contained in it was not at all over-
charged. He believed that the case was one of
gross injustice, for Spain, as the Noble and Learned
Lord had said, was not in a state of insolvency.
There was no country in Europe whose products were
more in demand than those of Spain. She had the
means of acquiring wealth, and therefore she bad
no right to refuse to pay the just demands made upon
her. But he was glad to observe that Spain had never
adopted the new word which had recently been intro-
duced into the vocabulary of England, for on several
occasions the debt had been admitted, and
arrangements made for payment of the interest.
Owing, however, to the succession of new Ministers, the
claims of the Spanish bondholders had been set aside.
Many persons in this country had invested the savings
of a life in these bonds; foolishly, be admitted, for they
ought to know that advances of money made to foreign
Governments, without the sanction of their own Govern-
ment, must of course be at their own individual risk.
Many millions of the mony of this country had
been sacrificed from losing sight of that pre-
caution. His Noble Friend at the head of the
Foreign Department was now communicating with
the Spanish authorities, aad be sincerely trusted
that the result of the communication would
prove successful. The Spaniards, he knew, were an
honourable people, and he was quite sure the proceed-
ings of their Government were not sanctioned by them.
He hoped that their Lordships would be of opinion that
Spain was not justified in repudiating a debt like the
present.

Lord BROUGUA SI said that he was very glad to
hear what had fallen from his Noble Friend opposite.
Perhaps there should be some arrangement to appoint
some commissioner.
Lord ASHBURTON =do a fiw observations which
were inaudible in the gallery.
DRAINAGE OF LANDS BILL.
On the motion for going into Committee on the
Drainage of Lands Bill.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that he wished
to call their Lordships' attention to one part of the pre-
sent Bill, which he considered defective. He considered
that no provision was wade in the Bill for carrying

off the water that came from the mountains of
Scotland, which would go into the water-
closets, which would be necestarily flooded. lb
thought that provision should be made to prevent that.
Now, if what he d.:Trecated were permitted in his own
neighbourhood, half the town of Tewkesbury would be
carried away.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGII said it would seem
that this was a Scottish Bill, on which two and a-half
millions were applied for by Scotch proprietors, but
half a million had been applied for in England.
Lord CAMPBELL replied that this would only show
that more improvement was going forward in Scotland
than England.

After some further observations from Lord Brougham,
Lord Ashburton, and the Earl of Minto, the Bill passed
through Committee.
The House then resumed.
Messengers came up from the Commons bringing
several Bills.