The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-27 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly before Four
o'clock.
Mr. Crafer presented returns from the Treasury.
SOUTHAMPTON CONSUMERS' GAS-LIGHT
AND COKE BILL.

Mr. MACKINNON moved the second reading of the
Southampton Consumers' Gas Light aNd Coke Bill.
After a short discussion the Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to be committed.
ROCHDALE WATERWORKS BILL

On the motion of Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD,
the Rochdale Waterworks Bill was read a third time,
and passed.

REPORTS.

The reports on the following Bills were considered
and agreed to:—
Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury, and Halstead Rail-
way (Extension to Melford, Lavenham, and Clare).
London and. South-Western Railway (Widening, &c.)
IRISEI POOR-LAW BILL.

Mr. SIIARMAN CRAWFORD presented petitions
from the county of Donegal against certain clauses in
the Irish Poor-law Bill.

POOR-LAWS.

Mr. BANKES presented a petition from Dorset, com-
plaining of the conduct of the Poor-law Commissioners.
MONETARY SYSTEM.

Mr. R. S?OONER presented a petition from Birming-
ham, complaining of the state of the monetary system of
the country, stating the belief of the petitioners, that, if it
existed for any length of time, it would throw out of em-
ployment the labouring classes, and praying that a Com-
mittee might be appointed to inquire into the operation
of the Act of 1844, in order that it might be revised and
corrected.

EDUCATION.
Mr. W. MILES presented a petition from Somerset
against the Government plan of education.
Lord R. GROSVENOR presented similar petitions.
DIRECT TAXATION.
Mr. EWART postponed the motion of which he had
given notice until this day fortnight respecting a system
of direct taxation.

SCOTCH JUDGES.
Mr. WATSON wished to ask the Lord-Advocate
whether he was aware that the Scotch Judges were in
the habit of undertaking the arbitration of private suits,
and receiving fees for the same ; and if so, whether he
approved of such a course ?
The LORD-ADVOCATE said that he was not aware
of anything of the kind having taken place ; and if such
a course had been adopted he need not say that it was
his opinion that such a course was, to say the least of it,
very indiscreet.
LORD DALHOUSIE'S RAILWAYS DISSOLU-
TION ACT.
Mr. NEWDEGATE wished to ask the Right Hon.
Gentleman at the head of the railway department, whe-
ther it was the intention of the Government to bring in
any measure this session to amend Lord Dalhousie's
Act with reference to joint-stock companies?
Mr. STRUTT said that he could not answer the
question, but as far as his department was concerned
there was no such intention.

AUTHORITY OF THE COAST-GUARD TO
STOP PASSENGERS.
Mr. HUDSON wished to put a question to the Go-
vernment, with regard to the authority of the coast-
guard to stop passengers and prevent them from landing.
The lion. Secretary to the Admiralty had answered his
question privately, but ho thought that it would
be
bettere w wished
tohe have
d toptohte
was,an sv
whether
r g Ve n
hne public.
coast-guard rrh e
iqhofunaued furnish
n ivtal
whether
snaohysn
b
such authority as he had mentioned to prevent passen-
gerspfar
ro
tmic
ui anrdmini d
gn;wuateenudluinfdhseaurvce aiehwhapcyh eho stehrj
a tedei dtrieeegn e
t xui
Isatt,
tthh the particular
Government
made ?

1 Mr. WARD said, that the Treasury had the regula-
tiou of the coast guard ; and asked if the Hon. Member
had any complaint to make with regard to the conduct
of the authorities. Such a regulation did exist where
passengers wished to land with their luggage, before a
proper examination had been made.
Mr. HUDSON did not complain of any particular
incivility ; he only wished to know whether such an
authority existed ?
Mr. WARD said that such a regulation, under the
circumstances he had mentioned, did exist, and the
coast guard :were only in the performance of an order
which was enforced all round the coast.
ROYAL COMMISSION.
Sir Augustus Clifford, the esher of the black rod,
here appeared at the table, and summoned the House to
the bar of the House of Peers, to hear the royal assent
given by commission to several Bills (for which see
Lords' report.)
PUBLIC WORKS, IRELAND.
Mr. CORNELIUS O'BRIEN moved that the returns
relating to the Extraordinary Sessions held in and for
the several baronies of the county of Clare, and works
consequent thereon [ordered 9th March] ; and the re-
turn relating to Public Works (Ireland), and proceed-
ings of Liscannon Committee [ordered 20th April] ;
and that relating to presentment passed at Corofin, in
the county of Clare [ordered same day], be made forth•
with.--Agreed to.
CASE OF CAPTAIN WYNNE.
Major MACNAMARA moved that the petition from
Kilmurry, for inquiry into the conduct of Capt. Wynne,
be printed with the votes, and referred to the Select
Committee on Capt. wy
nne's Letters.—Agreed to.
HONORARY MEDALS FOR THE TWEED.
Sir W. JAMES said that he had presented a petition
some days ago for leave to compete for the honorary
medals to be given for the relief of the Tweed.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that a communication bad
been made to the Lords Commissioners of the Ad-
miralty, and that the matter was in the hands of Mr.
Wyon, who was usually considered a competent and
satisfactory authority.
NAVY ENLISTMENT BILL.
Sir C. NAPIER said that regulations had been made
for the manning of our mercantile marine, which is now
by far the most extensive in the world, but no provision
189,569 tons ;
whatever had been made for the enlistment for the navy.
We had now 6,379 ships above a hundred tons,ta com-
prisingrate,
vessels under
rh
steam-
vessels,
comprising 1,355.000 tons, besides 367 registered
11,017
there were
vessels, comprising 8,838 tons ; for while i
, in the navy we hate 100
some vague provision&
sail of the line, beside a
and other smaller vessels, not including
t' nee there was the eyetezu '
steam vessels of war.„iio ... fa
prWophoir-teio—ntttenummboerer ofth frigatesi 150 1

of conscription and inscription, by. the latter of
which every person competent to serve was known,
and by the former it was arranged that every
man in the province was obliged to serve for five
years in the army. There was some similar
provision in Sweden, Russia, and every other country in
Europe except Denmark. But in this country, the
greatest mercantile country in the world, there was
no provision whatever till the Bills introduced
by the Hon. Baronet the Member for Dorchester.
The Right Hon. Gentleman at the head of the Admi-
ralty did not pass the Bill without considerable difficulty.
There was a great opposition to the Bill at the time, but
still in the end it was passed. Ile remembered that a
short time before the Right Hon. Baronet brought in his
forward he addressed a letter to Lord Althorp request-
ing him to introduce some measure into Parliament upon
this subject, but the only answer he received was, that: his
Lordship was extremely anxious that the system of im-
pressment should be made fixed; but it was impossble
to bring the subject forward in the House of Commons,
as but few Members took any interest in it. Yet, not-
withstanding that declaration, the Right Hon. the Mem-
ber for Dorchester brought in his Bill and succeeded in
carrying it. In the session before last, the Right Hon.
Gentleman the Member: or Wiltshire brought forward his
Bill for improving, the Registration Bill, and that was also
carried through the House, but net without considerable
difficulty. Now, if people would only have patience
until the registration of seamen was complete, he had
not the slightest doubt that they would find the Bill
turn out to be of great importance. He would now
take a glance at the provisions of the Bill. It would
appear that it gave Government authority to issue a
proclamation calling upon all seamen in Great Britain
and Ireland to come forward within five days from the
date of the proclamation to enter the navy. That was,
they were to be allowed five days to volunteer, but if
they did not volunteer within that period, they would be
liable to be impressed. At sea the man was only allowed
half-an-hour to make up his mind—rather sharp practice.
The power the Queen possessed at the present moment
he did not think was too much or too little ; for in-
stance, suppose that they wished to increase their navy
by four or five sail of the line, it had been very clearly
proved in 1840 and 1841, when they were desirous of
Increasing their navy in the Mediterranean, and bring-
ing it to a force of seventeen or eighteen sail of the line,
voluntary enlistment was then out of the question. None
of the ships in the Mediterranean could receive men from
Edgland, because they were not to be had under any
circumstances. Three or four sail of the line, which
were in commission, were obliged to remain at Benin
for several months without their complement.
Even the guard-ships were inefficiently manned,
and a Gallant Admiral was called home to ar-
range some plan for obtaining the full complement
of men for the ships. Now the Bill of Sir Jaraes
Graham provided that the seamen were to be
called out by proclamation from the Queen, and that
they were to receive a double rating, and that all the
seamen, actually in port, at the moment when the
proclamation was issued, were also to receive a double
bounty. In the event of the Government requiring
an addition to their force of 2,000 or 3,000 men, they
had no other means of obtaining them, or of manning
two or three ships, but by calling out all the seamen
employed in the merchant service, and paying them the
sum of 300,000/. or 400,0004 Any gentleman who chose to
take that matter into consideration would find it very un-
convenient for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be ob-
liged before he could raise even a single man, to advance
pretty nearly half a million of money. It must also
be inconvenient when only two or three thousand
men were required, that they had to issue a pro-
clamation ; and in case it should be a popular war
and should the men feel a great disposition to come for-
ward themselves, as each man knew very well that upon
the expiration of five days if he did not come forward
he was subject to arrest. It was natural to suppose that
all these men had come forward in order to receive the
high bounty which would be given to them. In such a
case twenty or thirty thousand men might come
forward and not only derange themselves but dis-
organise the whole mercantile marine of the country.
The Bill to which he called the attention of the House
would not be any such expense, it would rather be a
saving. The amendment which he had to propose was
one which, in his opinion, the Government ought to
agree with, and one which they ought to have intro-
duced themselves. It would have given him great satis-
faction if the Government had brought forward
the measure—(Hesr, hear)—but as the Admiralty
had not done so, he felt it to be his duty
to introduce the measure himself. His proposition was,
that her Majesty should call out at any time, in peace or
war, by proclamation, whatever seamen might at any
time be required. They would have to be called on in
rotation, as they had been out of their apprenticeship, for
one, two, three, or four years. They should first try to gain
the number by voluntary means, but, when that failed,
then they should issue a proclamation, calling on those
who had been one year released from their apprentice-
ship to come forward; then, if these were not sufficient,
call on those two years out, and so on. He
would not have any impressment, but be would
have it so ordered that no merchant ships should be
allowed to take any seamen who were thus called out
into their service. This might be called oppression,
and be admitted that it was, but it was
better oppression than the old system of oppression.
His object was to get a number of men as they might
be required for the services of the country, to be called
out by the Queen's proclamation, and thus pre-
vent the necessity of the Chancellor of the Ex-
checrer from parting with a considerable sum of money.
In one of the shit. in which hp was engaged there we,
employed to obtain men an officer who had named a ship
before he was born. Ile had succeeded admirably in re-
placing the men who wereabout to be discharged. liesuc-
ceeded in his object, and when the new men canoe alongside
those who were to be discharged, he thought that there
were fourteen men. They went below to get their
traps, and their messmates went down to take leave of
them. Of course this was a long business. There
was a regular jollification, and when they came
up he believed that there were not more than six
men in the ship, besides the officers, who were not
more or less intoxicated. And as these, for some cause
or other, were engaged when it was necessary to bring
the ship to, the captain himself was obliged to go forward
to let go the anchor. Such was the case with every other
ship in the Downs, and he believed that, in the case of
another war, such a state of things would never be allowed.
He was quite certain this country would never tolerate
the system of impressment again. At 411 events, he
Was certain the seamen would not. stand it ;
,if they did,
all he could say of them was, that they would be great
fools. Then, with regard to pressing men on shore. In the
time of war a man could not walk about the streets of
London without being picked up. No man was safe, no-
body was respected, end had the Speaker himself hap-
pened to be walking near the docks, he would certainly
have been picked up. The House might have been
waiting for their speaker, while the speaker himself
might have been caged up in the press-room of the
guard-ship anchored off the Tower. The men who
were pressed were denied the use of ink or paper, and
before be could find out where he had got
to, he was shipped off to the Nore.—(Hear.)
There was often what they called a hot press,
when the house of any man was entered by
these press-gangs, and men taken away from their
wives and families to foreign countries, when it might
be years before their friends heard of them. He had
endeavoured to show them the system of impressment
as it now existed. He trusted that the Government
would open their eyes to adopt some course which would in-
duce the men to enlist themselves. Even with all the Induce-
ments they could use, they could not wholly succeed. A
north country sailor, who traded to Hull or to Newcas•
tle, regarded the service on board
,4 man-of-war with
horror, and would not, on any persuasion, enter the navy.
He thought they ought to begin at once, and do some-
thing to alter the present condition of things. He be-
lieved that if this amendment were agreed to the seaman
would soon get accustomed with it, and it would
not be considered a hardship. It would place this
country in a positzon to meet any great emergency, that
might arise. He thanked the House for the attention
given to him, and he would now sit down by asking
leave to introduce the Bill.
(LEFT SITTING.)

SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE LORD

LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.

Very unfavourable amounts have been received in
town this day from Dublin, relative to the critical state
of the health of the Earl of Besborough, the Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland.

LATEST PRICES OF SHARES,
IN BANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM

PANIES' STOCK.
From tie Official List,

PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING.
LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 27.

JOINT-STOCK BANKS.

Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid, Prick
Annum. Share.
Y.........................• .••••• ••••••• ................ ............
iustralasia .......... 40 00£S. d. s. d.
40 0 0 -
Brash North American 51. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 44N
commercial of London 6/. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0 -
Dolonial - ..... •.• • • • 51. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 -
Londn and Westminstr 6/. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0 -
London Joint-Stock ••• 61. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 -
Metropolitan
Provincial of Ireland.. 81. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 44yn
Ditto, New... -•• • • 8/. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0 16
National of Ireland .. 51. per cent. 50 0 0 20 0 0 -
Nat. Provncial of Eng. 51. per cent. 100 0 0 35 0 0 U -
Ditto, New. •••• • • • . 51. per cent. 20 0 0 10 0 0
Union of Australia •• - 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 -
Union of London. •• .. 5/. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 ._
CAELN.ELLe.
H
, ..r. Dividend
Samos of 24 per Price.
Names of e,-- 'Dividend, Price. comparae,.
.g Ann..
Companies. 6. Per v]
cf; Annum.
---_--_. -..--- --
___
---- £
---•-_-_-_
X -
Monmouthsh 100 10/.
Ashtn & Olkih 97 51.58.41. p e 70
Mntgonirysh 100 51. -
Ashby -d-la-Z 113 _
_l. -
I_Bo Macclesfield. 100 -
Barnsley.... 160 12
Neath ......100 20/. 340
Basingstoke.. 100 -_-:-.
85 Nottingham. 150 121. -
Brknk&Abrg Is 51
40
Dromford.... 100 141.
- Peak Forest. 78 34
Dudley • • • • •
. 100 41. - Regent's •••• 33 11. 4s. 19
Derby •.
100 61. 63 tltochdale .. • • 85 41. 54
• - •
ii.'llsmre&Chs 133 4/. 55 Shropahire - 125 81. -
Erewash •.. 100, 3' 2 .
1 - Somrset Coal 150 71. 10s. 130
Forth & ClydllCW 4/. - Do.Lk Id St 12 6/. p. c. -
GrandJunctn,loo, 6/. 75 Stffrd & Wore, 1410 28/. 275
Urrand Union,loo, 11. 10s. - ;Shrewsbury.. 125 15/. -
(41arriorgnsh.172, 13%1. - ;Stourbridge.. 145 201. 305
ilistr&Brkly, '00; - I - Strtfrd on Av 79 I/. 108. -
arantham .. 1501 12/. - Severn and} 26 I/. Bs. -
Eludderstleld 571 - - , Wye Itail.
Kennt & Avii! 39 78. 6d. 5 Trnt & Mr-1 50 301. -
Lancaster ... 147 11.10 s. - BeY "• •
Leeds& Livrp ' 100' 341. 520 Thema &Med 19 - -
Leicester ....1140 10/. , 75 Worcstr &)
Leicar &Nthl 83 4/. 36 Birming3 78 21. 42 I
lopapprogb,,l42 701, 530 Wilts Bras, 67 U, u
I

DOCKS.
Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
---
4 a. d. £ a. d.
Commercial ••••• • .• • 2/. per cent. Stock.
East and West India... Si. pr cent. Stock.
East Country
Landon ••• • • •
St. Katharine .........5 per cent. I Stock.
Southampton •• •••• •• 2/. per cent. , 50 0 0 5O 0 0 j 20