The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-25 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

-
110 USE OP LORDS, April 24.
Their Lordships met at Five o'clock.
SALE OF SPIRITS ON SUNDAY.
The Earl of REDESP, ALE presented a petition from the
inhabitants of the ros;il burgh of Inverness, in public meeting
assembled, praying that a stop might be put to the sale of in-
toxicating lienors on the Sabbath-day.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS.
Messengers from the House of Commons brought up several
Bills, which were laid on the table.
CHARITABLE BEQUESTS ACT.
Lerd BEAUMONT ir:bsented a petition from a person pro-
fessing the Roman Catholic religion, residing in Lancaster,
complaining of le interference of the Roman Catholic bishop
with certain 'moneys bequeathed for charitable purposes, and
rayin g eeat the House would order that the funds should
aPPP.ed for the purposes for which it was intended.
NEWENHAM'S DIVORCE CASE.
Lord BROUGHAM wished to present a petition to their
Lordships which referred to the case of Wm. Burton Newen-
lam- A petition had been presented to that House which,
12ers the suggestion of his Noble and Learned Friend upon the
Woolsack, was set aside on the account of informality. It was con-
sequently withdrasrn, and an amended petition had been framed,
which upon being submitted to his Noble and Learned Friend
bad met with his approval, and he now begged to submit it
to their Lordships' consideration.
Lord CAMPBELL had understood that the parties to that
'petition had never met together as man and wife, but if they
had met together as man and wife in a single instance, and
there had been issue from that marriage, he should most
decidedly oppose the reception of the petition.
THE CORN-LAWS.
The Duke of CLEVELAND held in his band
a p
which he particularly desired to call the
attention
the
landed
Lordships. It was from parties connect/ withpetition
their
ition to
individuals. interest, and was signed by upwards
came from that class of persons who aroedf
o that the
:o'vsrtamyeat.erially affected
by the existing corn-laws, annow- enjoyed might
amount of protection 019' upon the subject were
110 t be reduced. His oleinl;nsnecessary for him to say
too well knowe, to render
toi its
prayer,
but that he
not only thee he assented
heartily ter:incurred
which this country now enjoyed.in their oppostion to the re-
duction. of the protection
He wouldthe
House by going through
the petition,
would just read the heads of it.
notbut weary
he
The Noble Duke then proceeded to do so. Some of the
statements were to the effect that the petitioners were
of opinion that a free trade in corn would be the
rain of the home grower. He concluded by declaring he
believed that the petitioners were right, while that the pro-
ceedings of many representatives were in direct contradiction
of the promises they made at thn last general election.
ABOLITION OF DEODANDS BILL.
Lord CAMPBELL said, in rising to move the order of
Tee dry
upo is
hith s were alris Bill he would say but a very few Words.
Lordspeady aware of the utter inutility of
Inflicting deodands. The formal manner in which they were
imposed before the coroner was such as might be supposed
these
woul sta fire in the Court of Queen's Bench, but
__proceedings were invariably quashed
in that Court.
Mr. Wakley, the coroner for the county of Middlesex, a gen-
tleman of great experience, had assured him, and had autho-
rised him ta say that no benefit whatsoever arose in any in-
stance front deodands under the present law. With regard to
the other Bill, which formed a part of the same measure, it
would be enough to read the preamble, which contained
two assertions.—( Hear.) He asserted,
was
h that
remedyaccordingatfor a
to the present law of deodand there
death caused. Under the present law the doctrine was, that
when death ensued the life of a man was so valuable that no
estimate could be put upon it, and
its
loss. If a accordingly no
remedy was to be obtained for
man had a limb broken onaccount of the negli-
genes of coach proprietors of railway
negligence companies,ha
d
he had a legal remedy to resort
to, but if their
been of a still grosser character, so that death ensued, there
was no remedy to be given to the surviving relations, and the
wi.iiow of the man was thrown upon the world. The general
ride of the English law was, that where there was a wrong
done the law should give seine compensation ; so that in
cases of murder there was net only a punishment to th • crimi-
nal, but a compensation to the surviving relatives. That law
was not put in practice, but he believed that it was admitted
in England, and also in all the continental nations.
He trusted they would allow these Bills to be read a second
time, without offering any opposition to them, as ha would
require again to draw the attention of their Lordships and of
her Majesty's Government to them. He had, within the last
five minutes, been told that the railway interest toes
so enormous in the House of Commons that it
would be utterly impossible for these Bills to have
the chance of succeeding. One company alone, he was told,
could muster as many as eighty votes. It might be that there
were many railway proprietors who were Members of Parlia-
ment also ; but he hoped that they would magnanimously forget
that they were railway directors only, and that they wool
consider that they were citizens and subjects—that they were
men—and, therefore, bound to do full justice to their fellow
men. The Noble Lord concluded by moving the second read-
ing of the Deodands Abolition Bill, and the second reading
of the Death by Accident Compensation Bill.
Lard LYTTELTON said it might be, remembered that last
year he had introduced a Bill having similar objects with those
introduced by the Noble and Learned Lord opposite. He was
glad that the matter had fallen into abler hands than
his own. He would willingly give the measures his sup-
port, and he trusted they would meet with no opposition on
the part of the other branch of the Legislature. The B:11 of
last session, to which he had referred, had received the sanction
of the legal authorities in that House, but he understood that
the legal authorities in the Lower House had met it with
some objections.
Lord BROUGHAM said that he entirely agreed with
the Noble Lords who had already spoken upon this
measure. He (Lord Brougham) was one of those who
attended in Committee upon this subject, and he
could only say, that every attention had been given to
the preparation of these Bills ; and he was therefore sorry to
hear that they were likely to be objected to in the other House.
He considered that if a slight alteration could obviate these ob-
jections, they ought to introduce them. As regarded com-
pensation for the loss of life, the law of England
was an exception to the law of every other country.
The law on the subject had 'seen, that life was so valuable that
no compensation could be given for it. However logical that
might be, he could not give his assent to it. He thought it was
high time that this opprobrium to their law should he rerneve,i,
and he thanked the Noble and Learned Lord for taking the
matter up, and introducing the measure.
After a few words from the LORD CHANCELLOR, to
the effect that they should make themselves satisfied the
grounds on which objections to these Biils had been taken, so
that on technical grounds there might be no pretext here-
after for rejecting them, the Bills were put and severally read
a second time.
LOAN TO THE IRISH PEOPLE.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE presented a petition
in from a,place its Ireland, the name of which did not transpire,
the prayer of which he could not agree, though it was
couched in respectful terms. It concluded with asking Parlia-
ment for an immediate loan of three millions sterling, with an
annual loans ?or the construction of public works an Ireland.
CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL.
The -Earl of ELDON presented several petitions against
the Charitable Trusts Bill. The petitions were from the
Masters of Trinity House in Hull, the masters and wardens
of the Paper Stainers' Corporation of the City of London, from
Middlevnels, in Cheshire, and the rector and churchwardens
of St. Mary, Whitechapel, in the county of Middlesex.
THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said that he was not
about to move that the report of the Select Committee on the
rebuilding of the new Houses of Parliament should be taken
into consideration, in consequence of the opinion which their
Lordships had expressed on the last occasion the subject was
introduced, that it would be better that the matter should be
left in the hands of her Majesty's Government. He would,
therefore, ber, to move that the order of the day should be
discharged. But he would beg leave, before he would de so,
to hear his Noble Friend the Commissioner of Woods and
Forests make some statement on the subject. As yet he had
Made none, and he very much feared that their
Lordships' interests were not properly taken care
of. If he was not deceived, Mr. Barry, in an-
swisr to a question put to him, said that their Lordships
had not any foundation, from the evidence given at the Com-
mittee, for the supposition that they would have their House
ready 'for their reception by the commencement of next ses-
sion. He begged leave to say there was not one Noble Lord on
that Committee who was not led to believe that such would be
the fact. That it would not only be most possible, but
most easy to effect it.—( Hear, hear.) And when they looked
to other countries and saw the works which were daily carried
on of a much greater magnitude, they should conclude that their
interests were not taken care of, especially when they became
aware that the House of Commons had ordered the preparation
of fifteen or twenty rooms for the immediate reception of their
Committees. This might, he had no doubt, be most con-
venient for the dispatch of public business ; but he did say
that it did afford a very strong ground of suspicion
that their Lordships' interests had not been attended
to. Great inconvenience arose to the law Lords,
Who were so good as to sit many hours in the day in that
Rouse for the purpose of the dispatch of public business.
He wished, therefore, to know whether there was any obstacle
at present in existence to prevent the elder and more impor-
taut Members of the Houses of the Legislature from obtaining
titeheutsainsyse accommodation? He wished to learn from his Noble
at Me at was the present condition of the buildings
of th, Irma m?ment, what prospect there was
what messel:4l'l'g speedily finished, and especially
r Lordships getting into
their own Chamber was
sthof their
He did hope that during the,. 11:41"ing of neat sessim
paltry squabbles, wilich nae::".ntr laentike none of those
the works of late, Would 'l7:""xt fito hays impeded
progress,
pfoarrstiuosie
wdeemtoed inthteerm-
fere with their futuresteel to be altogether unworthy of
under the direction of her Nlajesty's GovernmentsfelifficallY
squabbles and disputes were not suffered to exist, not sounelhy
would there no: be any intermission of the works but they
would be- so rapidly advanced as to enable their ardships to
take possession of their new House at the beginning of next
year.

Viscount CANNING, before answering the question of his
Noble Relative on its main grounds, would beg to reply to his
remarks with respect to the House of Commons. On the Ist
of the present month the Speaker had sent notice that
a considerable addition to the number of cemmittee-
roome would be wanted on the 27th instant, and at the
ind.acement of the Speaker and Sergeant-at-Arms, an endea-
vour was made to secure two or three houses in Palace-yard,
but they were ultimately found to be quite insufficient
for the purpose, He then spoke to Mr. Barry,
by whom it was agreed, that the committee-rooms
in the new Houses might be made ready by that time.
With respect to the accommodation of their Lordships, there
were in the new Houses nineteen committee rooms, which
were precisely in the same condition as thi committee
rooms of the Commons at the time Mr. Barry un-
dertook their preparvion, and he believed that if it
were needed, they could be got ready with equal expedition.
If their Lordships should require further accommodation, he
had taken care to guard against that by desiring Mr. Barry
to 0.-tien a further access to their rooms on the river front, to
which their Lordships would have exclusive access. He was
Imrry to say he could not answer some other parts of the
Noble Lords' question, particularly with regard to the time at
which their Lordships' House was likely to be finished. lie
regretted to say that they were not in such a state of forward-
ness as had been expeeted But with regard to the squab-
bles to by hi. Noble Friend, as having taken place be-
il.. regretted
and Mr. Barry, he begged to say that it was
ranch to )
gentlemen
that the differences that had arisen between
these two
men were of a much more serious character than
mere squabble,. It appeared to h• r
been laid upon their Lordshi st.'
were of so momentous a charaPc :tmal;le7tmhat'ethroespeordtifft differences
were
Pla.t.hat unless a Government
investigation were to take
additional' the country would
be put to an enormous
the delay would be much greater.
been clearly shown that the system (1 expense,t!7 believedia
i?„annaadri
apparatus
adopted
se, ultimatelyvbo.e by
Dr. Reid was such as would suit the Hese,e, of
was, in fact, at all feasible, although the
required extended over eight or nine aerea ear
land.—(Hear.) Would their Lordships then peril the
safety of the New Houses by any hasty step ?
He had considered that the best course which could be followed
would be to select three gentlemen, whose eminent positions and
professional and scientific acquirements would ensure a sonnd