The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-08 00:00:00

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tiviting

LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1846.

The Lords met at Five o'clock

Lord AsHBURTON moved for returns relating to the im-
portation of foreign corn, which gave rise to a slight dis-
cussion, in the course of which the Duke of RICHMOND pro-
tested against the corn law question being considered as
settled, and was replied to by L,,rd BROUGHAM, who admitted
that the question was not yet settled, but advised the farmers
friends to recommend the farmers:to act as if the question
were settled. After which the returns were agreed to.
The Bishop of EXETER. postponed his motion on the sub-
ject of the Religious Opinions Bill until Monday.
Lord STANLEY then moved the second reading of the
Western Australia Bill.

Earl Gamy regretted that the Bill should have been
brought forward, and felt bound to oppose it.
Lord LitTrELTox supported the Bill.
The Duke of Ricumown gave notier.l that he would move
101' a Select Committee to inquire into the affairs of the
Australian colonies, unless the Government brought forward
some measure to remedy the present dreadful state of affairs
in those colonies.

Lord LYTTELTON said that the matter was at present under
the consideration of the Government.
The Bill was then read a second time.
The Railway Deposits Bill was read a third time and
passed..
The rriendly Societies Bill was read a first time, and or-
liered to be read a second time on Monday.
Lord REDESDALE moved that no Select Committee should
be appointed to consider an opposed railway Bill after Mon-
day, the 20th of July.

The Earl of WicirLow opposed the motion.
The motion was then agreed to.
The Abolition of Deodands Bill was read a third time and
passed.
The Bills on the table were advanced a stage, and their
Lordships adjourned. •
The SPICAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM, in answer to a question from Mr
Roebuck, stated that he had advised her MAJESTY to issue
a Commission.with respect to the state of the law in the
Channel Islands, and that he should have no objection to
lay on the table of the House the reasons for his doing so.
Mr. WATSON then brought forward his motion for a Se-
lect Committee to inquire into the nature and extent of the
taxation of suitors by the collection of fees in the Courts of
Law and Equity.

Mr. HOME seconded the motion.
The ATTORNEY- GENERAL opposed the motion,
Mr. HimlE and Mr. WILLIAMS supported the motion.
Sir J. GRAHAM objected to the motion, because it had
been stated that the object was to impugn the conduct of the
Lord Chancellor. If such had not been stated to be its ob-
ject he should have had no objection to the appointment of a
Committee to inquire into the fees both of the Courts of Law
and Equity.
Mr. F. BARING, in voting for the motion, did not consider
that be was passing a censure upon the Lord Chancellor.
Mr. C. BULLEa, Mr. Escorr, and Sir R. PEEL having ad-
dressed the House, a division took place, when there ap-
peared—For the motion, 65; against it, 80; majority against
the motion, 15.

The Leith Petty Customs Bill and the Railway Companys
Bill were read a second time.

The Salmon Fisheries Bill and the Election Notices (Ire-
land) Bill were also read a second time, and the reports
ordered to be received.

The House adjourned at Eleven o'clock.

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 States, 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 fair and 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 an-
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
and 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 the itter animosity which he has displayed towards
England, we fear, will only make him use it for mischievous
purposes, taking for granted that the Hoitse of Representa-
tives adopts the resolution of the Upper House. Possibly
they will not, and the whole affair as regards notice will
therefore fall to the ground. But a crisis has now arrived
which absolutely prohibits further 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. CRITTENDEZeS remarks on that point deserve the most
serious 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 would 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 givethe notice, it may
become necessary on the part of the British Government to adopt
a resolution to that effect, in order to bring the question to a
speedyissue. 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. Pout

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 pleas 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 provisional committeemen, and
the allottees of shares, and urged the necessity of a speedy
decision being arrived at in the two important cases of
Woca.mErc v. TOBY and WALSTAB 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 costs as between solicitor and cliest exceeding that which
can be recovered from the opposite party, which will,
in the most favourable result, occasion a very
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
committeemen
mwp
perhaps,
addressed r
oe
claim. In the vast majority of cases the letters of applica-
ehtj.
doe
being
provisional
number.
ing,:see dh
uthnbudeort
, court,as i n
the
ee
actionev nt
of theipreoepraerenpmarustiets
must faiL We do think that there will be some difficulty
in procuring the assent of all to permit
to be used where a heavy liabilityinthtehir names
of costs may be incurred, which may
eventually
eeetsharle
prove to be more formidable and harder to be evadedutah
those which at present affect them. Besides, the creditorsaa
of the companies will be enabled to select their victim from
as
beforeplai n ttihEffesv Every one of those
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
must well know that they will have to refund
the whole, less the proportion of the expenses
fairly incurred; there can therefore be no object at present in
suing the allottees, as in the event of success no good would
be obtained, while, on the other hand, should the result be
different, and the former case of NocxEms v. CROSBY con-
firmed by the courts, the consequences must be fearful in the
extreme, as every one of those parties would be collectively
and individually subject to the payment of the full costs on
both sides.
Some assert that, even though the allottees should escape
at law, they would still be held responsible in equity. We do not
think so. Many grounds of defence would be open to them in
equity which cannot be relied on at law, and we scarcely
think there is a single one of the corapanies 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 has 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. There 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 sum,
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 an 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 fide 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 WOOLMER V.
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 disbeliever that an almost unparalleled
scarcity of provisions had been imposed by an omniscient
PuovinrarcE 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 retained 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 misdonbting the genuineness of a
famine cry, and endeavoured to stigmatise as hypocritical,
the voice of national lamentation. Parliamentary returns
stared Lord G. BENTINCK 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 sutsided of the attacks made by a destitute
ratble 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 a dela •
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 Commons 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-
TINCK, 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-
BERT 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 remarkable in the condescension
which the Premier thereby displayed. We are desirous of
avoiding anything like a repetition of facts already an-
nounced by ourselves; our readers areynbappily 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 from
reverting to circumstances already within their knowledge.
It may not, however, be altogether irrelevant to the extra-
Oldinary declarations of the Country Party, as they gro-
tesquely style themselves, to state that prices of all
kinds are still maintained, and that potatoes are now
more scarce than they were daring the preceding month; and
thi,, be it especially remembered, notwithstanding the
large quantities of foreign provisions imported through the
instrumentality of Government ! 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 BENTINCK 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-
bers 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 SUDDEN resort to this extra-
ordinary mode of interference in a matter so peculiarly
delicate ? And is not the very publication of this order
tantamount to an injunction from the High Court of Chan-
cery, 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 not 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 astonishinent to an
assistant-barrister, while addressing a grand jury, that the
people of a given district have had 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 poorer classes are already become so
pressing, that during the greater part of this morning the
Mayor's residenee 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—" and 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
Protectionists are desirous of becoming the object of repro-
bation as well 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 BURL:VANN, 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 charge, 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.

have received thebPettesepapers of Wednesday.
regne et gouron Le
rnc
poTWa,heaneodldLceonßoitrovreersg Rai regne et ne gouve
has been revived by the
Journal des Dtbats and the Constitutionnel,e and from an
eedcoinnttoroversy has, as might
tphe re soi
nnfianl
ialtercationdelight havearmbeenent aebxopuetetperdi,ncdiepgelesn,ertaht
continuancetale of this mise•
between M. GUIZOT and M. THlERwS,hotoas
ee that nothing is so
soulicebrveatz:irtid Royalists,
oanaeaathe
rable personal squabble between the most
likelyo f the
Rt
to I
of the constitutional throne. The treaty of nted supporters
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 c •
raving appe
tite of England." The Constitutionnel is more 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 power in India.
The grand review at Vincennes, in honour of Inaanut
PACHA'S visit, took place on Tuesday, and went off with
great éclat.
Funeral services were performed on Tuesday in several