The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-25 00:00:00

ROYAL COMMISSION.

Shortly after one o'clock, the Lord Chancellor, the
Earl of Minto, and Lord. Campbell, robed as Lords Com-
missioners, entered the House, and took their seats be-
low the Throne ; the Commons were then summoned to
the bar, and the Royal assent was then given in the usual
form to

THE HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENSION (IRE-
LAND) BILL;
The London and Blackwall Railway (Connecting
Branch) Bill, and
The Edinburgh and Northern Railway (Boscobie,Kelty-
head, and Glencraig Branches) Bill.
The Lords Commissioners then bowed to each other
and retired, and the House resumed the hearing of ju-
dicial business.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at Twelve o'clock.
WINDSOR IMPROVEMENT BILL.
Colonel REID presented a petition from Windsor in
favour of this Bill.

Lord MORPETH stared, in reply to Colonel Salwey,
that the Bill was demanded by a majority of the inhabi-
tants of Windsor, and that it would be of great public
advantage.

Colonel SALWEY hoped the Noble Lord would not
proceed with the Bill in the thin state of the House. An
important public path, used from time immemorial,
would be closed, and much public inconvenience would
result from the passing of the Bill.
Lord MORPETH admitted that one of the public
paths would be closed, but in lieu of it, a large part of
the Home-park, hitherto shut up, would be thrown open
to the public.
Colonel REID contended that the people of Windsor
would be much convenienced by the Bill.
Colonel SALWEY went on to state that when the
great improvements made during the reign of George
the Third were effeeted, the path in question, which ran
directly under the walls of the Castle, and was, there-
fore, some inconvenience to the Crown, was diverted to
its present, course. If it were closed,the people would not
be able to get to Datchet so easy a s they did at present.
He moved that the Bill be read a second time this day
six months.

Mr. EIVART, (as a great admirer of Shakspere,
trusted the Noble Lord would not proceed so hastily
with the Bill.

As the amendment was not seconded it fell to the
ground.
The Bill was then read a second time.

POOR-LAW UNION CHARGES (No. 2) BILL -
Mr. BULLER proceeded to move the second read-
ing of this Bill. No anxiety for legislation at this
late period of the session had induced him,
he assured the House, to introduce four Bills at
this late period of the session.—(Hear, hear.) With
but half-a year's experience in his office, he should not
have introduced these Bills, but he assured the House
that nothing but urgent necessity had induced him to do
so. An important Act passed last session expired in
October, and it would not be well to let it expire without
providing for the continuance of its principles, seeing
that they had worked well. He meant Mr.
Bodkin's Bill for the removal of the poor. In
1846, as the House would remember, an im-
portant Bill was passed with respect to the
removal of the poor ; but it could not be denied that it
had led to much shifting of burdens, yet its effect was
to equalize better than heretofore the division of the
support of the poor. The burdens were not borne in
many places with great forbearance. A Committee
some time ago was appointed, of which he: was the
chairman, and that Committee, though it considered
some details might be altered, yet they came to the
opinion that it was not expedient to alter the
principles of that Bill. They considered that
the area of these burdens should be enlarged.
The measure before the House embraced the principle of
a Bill introduced at the close of ..the last session by Mr.
Bodkin, whose absence he regretted. It would con-
tinue the principle with respect to the irremoveable
poor, namely, making their support chargeable, not upon
the parish, but upon the union, and to continue the laws
respecting vagrancy upon the same footing us they now
stood. No matter was more difficult to deal with than
the question of vagrancy, but at the same time he
was prepared to say that great improvements might
be made. He had indited a letter to the different boards
of guardians on the subject, instructing them to use a
wise discrimination, and to refuse relief where it was not
right to give it; and he was prepared to take the whole
responsibility upon himself. But there was another im-
portant matter in connexion with this, namely, the
charge of the relief of vagrants upon parishes. He found
that the parishes in which the workhouse, or in which the
resideace of the relieving-officer were situated, had a
great disproportion of the expenses thrown upon
them. Many parishes understood the tactics of
these things well, and contrived most ingeniously to
throw the burdens which they should bear upon their
neighbours' shoulders. In South Devon one parish
provided a house for the relieving officer which
was situated in another ; and the result was that
they got rid of much of the burden that would be other-
wise thrown upon them. He was fully persuaded that
the charge fur the maintenance of vagrants should be
wade upon the union, because at present the overseers of
one parish voted against the overseers of another,
in order that they might get rid of their respec-
tive burdens, and continual excitement and ill-feel-
ing were the natural results. The funds, out of
which the expense of carrying these principles
into effect would be defrayed, would be raised by
an equal contribution by the proprietors of all the
rateable property in the union. In this state of
things the questions they had to consider were—first,
should there be one equal assessment? or, secondly, the
old system of averages? Since the passing of the old
Poor-law Act the management of the parishes was
placed in the hands of the collective unions. He had
provided in the Bill for the payment of any debts that
remained in respect of the building of workhouses by
the collective parishes. The expenses of the clerk of
the board of guardians and the medical officers were
as much in the pauperised as the unpauperised
parish. For instance, even the most inde-
pendent workman sought medicine and from the
parish surgeon, because his means did not enable him to
discharge it. The same remark applied to the other
officers of the workhouse—the necessity of such persons
in the one parish was as necessary as in the other; this
showed that the entire charge should be made upon the
union. Much intolerable fraud existed now in the en-
deavours to reduce the average. Great grievances
existed owing to the system of clearance adopted
in many parishes, many of whom not finding it
convenient to support the poor out of the rates, took the
much easier course of sending them away, heedless of
their fate. Many parishes, in order to reduce the ave-
rages, raised private rates—(Hear, hear)—and in this
way no doubt great frauds had been perpetrated. It
was for these reasons that he wished to place all these
matters upon a proper footing, by supporting the entire
poor out of an equal rate upon the property of the
union. After duo consideration and careful inquiry, he
had determined upon embodying this principle in the
Bill. These principles were—the support of the
establishment, the irremoveable poor, and of vu-
grance out of an equalized union-rate.--(Hear.)
The Bill could not be taken into consideration without
reference being made to its general principle, that of
substituting union for parochial rating. The Honour-
able Member was here interrupted by the appearance at
the bar of the House of

Sir Augustus Clifford, the Usher of the Black Rod,
who informed the Speaker that a Commission of the
Lords had been appointed by her Majesty to give her
Royal Assent to several Bills agreed to by both Houses,
and stated that their Lordships requested the immediate
attendance of this House in the House of Peers.

The Speaker then left the Chair and proceeded to the
House of Lords, followed by several Hon. Members.
On his return, he informed the House that the Lords
Commissioners had given the Royal Assent to several
Bills (for which see Lords' report).