The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-09 00:00:00

iftritinft ATIL

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1846.

The Lords met at Five o'clock.
Various petitions were presented, and many of the Bills
on the table were forwarded a stage.
The discussion on the Charitable Trusts Bill was axed for
Thursday next.
Their Lordships adjourned before Six o'clock.

The SPEAKER took- the Chair at Four o'clock.
Mr. HUDSON moved the insertion of the clause of which he
had given notice, in ail railway Bills of the present session,
by which new companies were to be incorporated.
Sir G. CLERK' opposed the motion,
Mr. LABOUCHEHE thought the Hon. Member had better
introduce a Bill himself on the subject, or engraft this clause
in Lord DALHOUSIei Bill.
Mr. HUDSON withdrew his motion.
On the motion for the consideration of the report on the
Corn Importation Bill,
Sir C. ButtuELL rose to nddress the House. He thought
thz present corn-law had hitherto worked so well, that it was
impolitic to interfere with it.
Colonel VERNER oppo=eil the measure, believing it
_to be
an e:tp,.s.riment that would shake the whole financial system
of the country.

Sir W. JOLLIFFE considered the measure unjust and impo-
litic, and he should, therefore, give it his decided opposition•
Mr. BANKES rnaintnined that the distress in Ireland was
much greater in 1822 than it was at the present moment,
and contended that unfair arguments had been advanced for
the repeal of the corn-laws, founded noon gross ex-
aggeration.
The Earl of LINCOLN denied that the Government were
guilty of the least exaggeration in the statements which
they made to the House with respect to the great distress
which existed in Ireland.
Mr. FLOYER denied that the rate of wages in Dorset was
so low as they had been represented.
Mr. STAFFORD O'BitteN corroborated the statements of
the Earl of LINCOLN, and bore witness to the strenuous exer-
tions of his Noble Friend the Earl of LINcoLN, who had

alleviated, in a great degree, the distresses of the people in
Ireland.
Mr. LsFaOT denied that distress was general, and read
several letters from, Irish landed proprietors to the same
effect.
Mr. BORTERVICK impugned the conduct of the Prime
Minister in deserting his party, and contended that the
French Government would never adopt the principle of free

trade.
Mr. HENLEY would give the measure his most decided
opposition in every stage.
After a smart personal altercation between Mr. ROEBUCK
and Mr. DISRAEII,
Mr. S. HERBERT addressed the House in favour of the
measure.
Lord GEORGE BENTINCK spoke at some length ; after
which strangers were ordered to withdraw, bat no division
took place, the report being agreed to without it.
The report was then received, and the Bill ordered to be
read a third time on Monday next.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned.

The Senate of the United States, after nine weeks of
tedious discussion, have at last brought their deliberations
on the Oregon question to a close, and adopted a resolution
as mild and inoffensive, and, indeed, friendly, towards
England, as the most sincere advocates of peace in both
countries could desire. With a few exceptions, at least as
far as our attention has been directed to the long
speeches, the language throughout was conciliatory
and prudent. It displayed but little of the animo-
sity which distinguished the harangues in the House
of Representatives. The speakers in general showed that
they were practical men, and resolved to follow a safe and
peaceable line of conduct, in spite of the fiery denunciations
of the mob orators and the no less fiery and warlike mes-
sages of the President. The resolution, adopted by a majo-
rity of 40 to 14, is extremely short, and runs thus :—"Re-
solved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America, in Congress as-
sembled, that the President of the United States
be, and he is hereby authorised, at his discretion, to give to
the British Government the notice required by its said second
article, for the abrogation of the convention of the 6th of
August, 1827." The preamble to this resolution, however,
displays more distinctly the sentiments entertained by the
Senate, and these sentiments, we are bound to say, leave no
doubt as to the honourable motives of that legislative body.
England, as well as the United State•, had the right to
give notice of the termination of joint occupation. This
is a matter regulated by treaty, and either party, therefore,
could adopt such a course without incurring the slightest
blame. The resolution and preamble adopted by the Lower
House showed a spirit entirely different from that of the
Senate; they were all imbued with warlike insinuations—
they partook more of the bullying character of a decision
adopted by an excited multitude, and led to the belief that
the parties sanctioned the notice, not so much with a view
to bring the disputed question to a fairand honourable settle-
ment, as to excite a war between the two countries, unless
America obtained, as the President says is her right, the
.‘ whole of Oregon." How different the language of the
Senate, as seen in the two following paragraphs of the
preamble :

" And whereas it has now become desirable that the respective
claims of the United States and Great Britain should be definitively
settled; and that the said territory may no longer than need be remain
subject to- the evil consequences of the divided allegiance of its Ame-
rican and British population, and of the confusion and conflict of na-
tional Jurisdictions, dangerous to the cherished peace and good un-
derstanding of the two countries ;
With a view, therefore, that steps be taken for the abrogation of
the said convention of the 6th of August, 1827, in the mode prescribed
in its seconi article, and that the attention of the Governments of
both countries may be the more earnestly and immediately directed
to renewed efforts for the amicable settlement of all their differences
ad disputes in respect to the said territory—"
Then follows the resolution which we have already given.
We only regret that any discretion whatever is left to the Pre-
sident, for thabitter animosity which he has displayed towards
England, we fear, will only make him use it for mischievous
purposes, taking for granted that the House of Representa-
tives adopts the resolution of the Upper House. Possibly
they will not, and the whole affair as regards notice will
therefore fail to the ground. But a crisis has now arrived
which absolutely prohibits farther delay. The people on
both sides of the Atlantic are bent on a final settlement, or
its alternative—the American Government is encouraging
emigration to Oregon, in order to outnumber the British settlers
in that quarter, and when such a consummation takes place
a collision would become inevitable. It is the bounden duty
of both Governments to prevent such an unhappy result.
Mr. CnITCENDEN'S remarks on that point deserve the most
sericus attention. " Postponement," said he, " only in-
creased the difficulties of settlement, and made the end worse
than the beginning. He feared that if the notice were
longer delayed collisions weuld ensue from it. If the ques-
tion could not be settled before the next meeting of Congress
he greatly feared that there would be a confict among the
people of Oregon themselves. Confusion and anarchy would
be the only results of delay." Should the President, who
delights in mischief, therefore, refuse to give the notice, it may
become necessary on the part of the British Government to adopt
a resolution to that effect, in ordar to bring the question to a
speedy-issue. Preparations are evidently made by our Govern-
ment for the worst, and it is not fair that the people of the
United Kingdom should be put to great expense, and, at the
same time, kept in a state of uncertainty, as well as intense
anxiety, till it shall please such a reckless man as Mr. POLK
to take a decided course. That he will not do before he has
made preparations for war. Is it right thst England should
look on idly till it shall please the President and his coad-
jutors in the West to begin the game?

On Tuesday we alluded to the unsettled state of the law
respecting the liability of pro,;isional committeemen, and
the allottees of shares, and urged the necessity of a speedy
decision being arrived at in the two important cases of
WOOLMER V. TOBY and WM.STAB V. SPOTTISWOODE. Al-
ready hundreds of actions have actually been commenced,
and thousands more are threatened, which it is to be hoped
the directors will not be so mad as to proceed with until

judgment is pronounced, which will enable all parties
to form a sound opinion with respect to their
rights and liabilities. Should the Court by their
decision affirm the responsibility of allottees, in a
very short time the great majority will be found ready to
come forward and to pay the proportion of the expenses
chargeable against them, and thus a fund will be realised,
by general contribution, for the payment of the debts of the
companies. This payment will not be expedited by actions
being instituted while the law is doubtful as to the result.
Englishmen are not easily frightened, or bullied into
making payments to which they do not consider
themselves responsible ; they will view the proceedings com-
menced with such unseemly haste as affording the strongest
evidence that the parties are conscious of the weakness of
their cause; defences will be taken; heavy costs incurred,
which must lessen the probability of payment, by increasing
enormously the amount of the demand. There will always
be cost: as between solicitor and client exceeding that which
can be recovered from the of posite party, which will,

in the most favourable result, occasion a verb
heavy expense to the company, and, in many cases,
where the amount of the verdict, or costs, cannot be reco-
vered, they will still be responsible to their attorney for
their own costs, exceeding many times the amount of the
claim. In the vast majority of cases the letters of applica-
tion were addressed to the provisional committee, exceed-
ing, perhaps, one hundred in number. Every one of those
committeemen must be joined as plaintiffs, as in the event
•
of the proper parties not being before the court, the action
must fail. We do think that there will be some difficulty
in procuring the assent of all to permit their names
to be used where a heavy liability in the shape
of costs may be, incurred, which may eventually
prove to be more formidable and harder to be evaded than
those which at present affect them. Besides, the creditors
of the companies will be enabled to select their victim from
amongst the goodly number of the plaintiffs. By the fiction
of law, they are supposed to be present in court, and in such
a case a substitution of services would very probably be
granted, so that a continental residence would not yield the
protection it now affords. Should they succeed in obtaining
a verdict for the full amount of the deposit, they
musto whole,well knowless tthhaet
proportion
r t have
.t
he to refund
expenses
fairly incurred; the,raescal:
tttheerce,f,oLetbef no object at present in
sbueinogbtateedel,lowttheiel
9e, on the other hand, success'
no good would
noins4 thec result be
different, and the former case of Yocx2 con-
firmed by the courts, the consequences must be. feKar7tit'lY*
extreme, as every one of those parties would be collectively
and individually subject to the payment of the full costs on
both sides.
at
think
iulSnaick:ymseotwh. a si
liyseichwar
ntocytuahl
groundstal
nt, stillotes
be
been
ohrtfheelilci
deet
relied
enbs
copentohnweasoti abu 1111 ledao
witbnt,eee e scia uin
openshould
echeadesromccanepe
liot
y
yn
think there is a single one of the companies which expired
without coming before Parliament which would stand the
ordeal of a court of equity. Besides, the difficulties of work-
ing such a cause with so large a number of parties would be
nearly insuperable, so that very little probability exists of
the allottees being compelled to pay through the interven-
tion of the Court of Chancery.
If, in order to avoid the sad alternative of bankruptcy or
insolvency, the person against whom a verdict bas been ob
tained should pay the entire amount, he can only proceed
against his brother committeemen to recover back a portion
of the money so paid, by a bill in Chancery:, for a contribu-
tion, and he can only recover from each the proportion of the
amount which would fall on him if every one had paid; thus,
if there were one hundred committeemen, each could only be
called on to pay the one-hundredth part of the sum paid by
the plaintiff, who would thus lose the contribution, which
should be borne by the defaulters, and there is little doubt
that they would be numerous. Thera would be many other
inconveniences in this course sufficient to deter many from
venturing thereon ; and to prove the remedy—a very
inadequate one for the mischief—the person paying, on re-
turning to his home, would therefore suffer far more than
those who are able to remain away. And many will not
venture home, although their prospects may be ruined by the

delay.
What course then can be adopted by which safety can be
secured, or, at least, the parties can ascertain a given sump
which shall be the outside, for which they shall be called on ?
We cannot conceive any, but a voluntary contribution
On the part of the directors and provisional committee-
men, by which a fund may be raised sufficient to pay off the
debts, and this should at once be done, in order to put au end

to the further accumulation of costs. Any sums which may
hereafter be obtained could be divided amongst those who
now advanced money; the demands would be materially
abated when it was known that there was cash in hand ready
for their liquidation. Every expenditure might be scrutinised
n the strictest manner, and nothing paid which was
not justly and bond fife Cue. It is in such a
course alone that there can be any safety for
the provisional committeemen ; and each person should at
once inform the solicitor and secretary of the company to
which he belongs, that he will not consent to have his name
used for the purpose of suing the allottees until
final judgment shall be pronounced in WOCI.MER
TOBY ; and also that he is willing to contribute
to a fund for the purpose of paying off the debts affectirg
the company. The sum to be paid by each, in the first in-
stance, could easily be settled ; a fair estimate may be formed
of the amount required and the number of persons who
will be ready to contribute to it. Should any sum after-
wards be recovered from the allottees, or the other com-
mitteemen who have sought safety in flight, it can be
divided amongst the parties fairly entitled to it. By this
means, all rash and hasty steps by which the responsibility
can be increased will be avoided, and although the loss may
be heavy in many instances, still there will be a terminus
beyond which it cannot go, and which will be far preferable
to the present state of doubt and uncertainty in which they
are involved.

Notwithstanding a mass of evidence sufficient to satisfy the
most leaden-headed disbaliever that an almost unparalleled
scarcity of provisions had been imposed by an omniscient
PROVIDENCE on Ireland, the Protectionists have still pos-
sessed the audacity -to jeer at the visitation as a shib-
boleth. While accounts were reaching this country inces-
santly that mobs of Irish peasantry, reduced by priva-
tion to a most ghastly spectacle of emaciation, were
visible in certain villages, the pampered representatives
of agricultural monopoly ret«ined sufficient presumption,
cruelty, and hardihood, to christen such rumours
as mere indications of a " Government panic." For the con-
tinuance of a most contumacious opposition, for the bolster-
ing up of a most decrepid cause, these Honourable Gentle-
men retrained not from misdoubting the genuineness of a
famine cry, and endeavoured to stigmatise as hypocritical,
the voice of national lamentation. Parliamentary returns
stared Lord G. BENTIRCK in the face, and yet, nevertheless,
this newly-enlisted legislator, attempted with con-
summate nonchalance to disprove the existence of
any scarcity whatever in Ireland. While the intelligence
had scarcely subsided of the attacks made by a destitute
rabble upon provision stores situated in different quarters•of
that kingdom, his Lordship spurned, as ridiculous, the no-
tion that food was difficult of being obtained. The whole
mass of Dublin and provincial newspapers were altogether
unworthy of credit; the local magistracy, who in numerous
instances had interfered to allay the sufferings of the popu-
lace in their vicinity, were equally labouring under n delu-
sion; the various medical officers who had again and again
given their opinion that divers malignant epidemics were
fostered by the insufficiency, or the poisonous qualities,
of the provisions, were incompetent to express any
dispassionate ideas upon the subject. Everything of a
similar nature was chimerical, and everybody leagued to-
gether in a conspiracy to frighten Parliament into some
obnoxious concessions as to the abolition of the corn- laws.
Such was the very probable version of Irish intelligence
promulgated within the Commcns House of Parliament,
and such are the very credible things we are called upon to
believe by the minority squad of Protectionists.
We were not to consider the outcry of many
hundred witnesses, of men who had wandered
among this attenuated people, but we were to place implicit
reliance upon-the impossible statistics of Lord GEORGE BEN-
TIME, which went very barely short of attempting the de-
monstration that black was white, namely, by endeavouring
to argue that what a multitude of eye-witnesses were unani-
mous in calling " starvation" was virtually nothing more
nor less than "repletion." Never was subterfuge more
wanton, never was one assumed with more inef-
fable hardihood. Yet, notwithstanding this, Sir Ro-
EERT PEEL condescended to refute statement after state-
ment, and to expose fallacy after fallacy. In that there was
nothing remarkable, for the refutation was easy enough; but
there was something really fa markable in the condescension
which the Premier thereby displayed. We are desirous of
avoiding anything like a repetition of facts already an-
nounczcl by ourselves; our readers are unhappily familiarised
long since with those wretched occurrences which have,
from time to time, elucidated the existence of scarcity in

Ireland, and consequently we shall sedulously abstain frcm
reverting to circumstances already within their knoxledge.
It may not, however, be altogether irrelevant to the extra-
otdinary declarations of the Country Party, as they gro-
tesquely style themselves, to state that prices of all
kinds are slid maintained, and that potatoes are now
more scarce than they were daring the preceding month; and
this, be it especially remembered, notwithstanding the
large quantities of foreign provisions importetl through the
instrumentality of Government I That is the veritable con-
dition of Ireland at this present moment, according to autho-
rities infinitely more competent to describe the appearance
of that country than Lord GEORGE BENTENCE or all his
valorous adherents. Although we generally coincide in the
aphorism implied in Mrs. Malaprop's opinion that " com-
parisons are oderous," we cannot refrain from placing
the Relief Committees and the Protectionist Mem-

hers in juxta-position—men striving earnestly for the alle-
viation of acute misery, and men throwing ridicule upon the
sufferers. Such, indeed, we might say, without profanity
is the real presentation of the stone and the loaf to the
hungry. But the declarations hitherto, and at present ut-
tered, respecting the scarcity of nutriment in Ireland, have
unexpectedly received the corroboration of the Lord Chan-
cellor of that kingdom, namely, by an important order
issued by him on May 5, 1846, bearing reference to the relief
of the destitute upon estates under the Court of Chancery.
If some unusual mendicancy did not exist upon such estates,
why should Lord Chancellor Suoniu resort to this extra-
ordinary mode of interference in a matter so peculiarly
delicate? And is not the very publication of this order
tantamsunt to an injunction from the High Court of Chan-

eery, upon all guardians to such estates, to stay the on-
ward march of famine by their donations? Is it not
a most solemn official guarantee that starvation does
brood in all quarters of the island ? Every rational
man, every dispassionate man, every conscientiously just
man, would answer in the affirmative. What, again, are the
views upon this subject as expressed by an assistant-barrister
of Tipperary, when addressing the Thurles grand jury only
this very day week, Friday, the Ist instant? Why, he ab-
solutely congratulates the district upon the subordination of

its inhabitants; and he utters the congratulation because,
says he, "It is unfortunately so apparent that a great scarcity
of food at present exists, that is rot available to the people,
and is so diseased as to be insufficient and unable to support
life ! " So far, therefore, is the population in Ireland from
being blessed even with an ordinary proportion of nourish-
ment, that it becomes matter of astonishment to an
assistant-barrister, while addressing a grand jury, that the
people of a given district have bad self control enough to pine
with extreme destitution, and yet remain subservient to the
judicature. Again,—The Cork Reporter of Tuesday declares
that "the wants of the po•;rer classes are already become so
pressing, that during the greater part of this morning the
Mayor's residence was surrounded by men and women, cla-
morous for food or employment." Nevertheless, the Pro-
tectionists would insist upon the fact of these rumoured mi-
series being altogether fallacious—" end yet they are all, all
honourable men." Surely, with so many incontrovertible
facts' all conspiring to testify the reality of this scarcity in
Ireland, such conduct as that pertinaciously adopted by the
so-called supporters of the agricultural interest, becomes
nothing less than actual cruelty—it is like endeavouring to
snatch the rope from a drowning wretch. Unless these
Pretectionists are desirous of becoming the object of repro-
bation as weal as the laughing-stock both of the House and
of the country, they will forthwith terminate their present
system of opposition. It is one thing to advance a principle
—but it is another to stand between a starving multitude
and their salvation..

Two persons named PETER and JOHN BUHLMANN, who
belong to the corps franc, have been arrested at Lucerne, by
orders of the Government, charged with firing at General
DE SONNENBERG. They deny the chsrge, and, as we have
before stated, it is very doubtful whether the General was
fired at at all, as it is suspected that the affair is "got up" by
the Government to bring their opponents into discredit.

We have received the Paris papers of Wednesday.
The old controversy between Le lloi reline et ne gourerne
pas, and Le Rci refine et gourerne, has been revived by the
Journal des Debats and the Constitutionnel, and from an
argument about principles, the controversy has, as might
have been expected, degenerated into a personal altercation
between M. GUIZOT and M. TRIERS, to the infinite delight
of the Republicans and Royalists, who see that nothing is so
likely to serve their cause as the continuance of this mise-
rable personal squabble between the most talented supporters
of the constitutional throne. The treaty of Lahore is also
the subject of comment in most of these papers. The Na-
tional, the Presse, the Quotidienne, as might have been ex-
pected, rail in good set terms at " the vast and craving appe
tite of England." The Constitutionnel is snore just, and
merely observes that Lahore pays dearly for her defeat,
while, at the same time, a compliment is paid to England for
the "energy and cleverness" with which she is "extending
and consolidating" her pox: er in India.

The grand review at Vincennes, in honour of InaAmu
PACHA'S visit, took place on Tuesday, and went off with
great éclat.

iecsinweecr.ienmpeeirformed on Tuesday in several
commemoration of the anniversary of
the chapel of the Inva-
lides.Funeral sery
infirmitiesizzoc,eGasion.
churches in Paris,
7:;tiANcliose health
NAPOLEONS death, particularlyn
All the old soldiers wh
their moving, were pre=ent on this did not prevent
PETIT rerlaced Marshal the Duke D.* General
did not permit him to leave his hed. The
accom-
panied the Princess MATHILDE (married to thiele;
erial household.
DEMIDOFF), who had come to join her prayers to those
autograph letter to
of the old companions of her uncle. Amongst other es
present were observed General GOINIGAIID and the Marquis Persons
pfonrmmemrlpyEabttaaachwerditttoeuthaenlmp
DEKCiItAngMLAOYuz:
Sir R. PEEL, thanking him for the manner in which he
proposed his MAJESTY'S health at the Lord Mayor's banquet.
The Funds declined on the Paris Bourse on Wednesday, the