The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-01 00:00:00

EVENING,

LONDON, FRIDAY

! small step in the right direction. There was one impor- production of the minutes, he could not give a positive
rtanatpiat to which ha (the Earl of Aberdeen) wished answer without communicating with the members of
i 1:•:, f-;!!' in o.pPei,ll •rtt,ntion of thcir T.,-,rrps. 7.10r0 • t•ba Governmont .7.n. couni,xioa *h 2f:2 the board, : e (lid
than two-thirds of the appeal cases which were brought not think there would be say objection to the produc-
before the House came from Scotland. Now under all tion of them, but thought that, if produced, other papers
the circumstances of the case it was surprising how well would require to be produced at the same time. No
the cases wore disposed of, and he believed that the de- one was more persuaded than ho was of the good inten-
cisions with respect to them had given on the whole tions of the members of the board, but he doubted
very great satisfaction. But still the state of appeals whether, in their eagerness to accomplish a great re-
from Scotland was not altogether unobjectionable. He form, they had not a little too much neglected minor
had no doubt but the Noble and Learned Lord on the advantages which might have been immediately ob-
woolsack would do all that could ho done to effect reform tamed. Upon that point he was not prepared to offer
in that particular branch of the administration of justice. a positive opinion.
The mode in which the English judges had adesinis- Lord MONTEAGLE thought the explanation of the
tered the law on appeals from Scotland, it was admitted, Noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Shaftesbury) fully
had given general satisfaction to that country. But acquitted him of any charge of having neglected his
there was one point particularly to which ho wished to duties.
direct consideration, and that was the manner in which
appeals in some instances stayed execution of the sen-
tence. He believed that up to some years ago the same
was the case in England; but in Scotland the fact of
appeals stopping the execution of the sentence gave en-
couragement, in many instances, to the entering of ap-
peals. He thought the suggestions which he had thrown
out were worthy the Noble and Learned Lord's con-

MINES AND COLLIERIES.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE rose to move for a return of
the names of the inspectors appointed under the Act of
last session for the inspection of collieries, together with
the districts and salaries assigned to them, and the in-
structions issued for their guidance. He believed that
under that Act thirty inspectors had been appointed;
that salaries had been assigned to them—their districts
marked out, and that they had for some time been occu-
pied in the discharge of their duties. As the Commit-
tee had recommended that the greatest publicity should
be given to all information regarding the management
of mines and collieries, he wished to know if Govern-
ment were prepared to produce any, and to lay on the
table this session whatever information they had re-
ceived on the subject in the shape of reports from the
inspectors.
The Earl of CARLISLE said he had no objection to
the motion. The inspectors were to report at the end of
a year, but that period of time had not elapsed since their
appointment. The Government, however, anxious to ob-
tain as much information on the subject as possible, had
directed the inspectors to prepare a general report
from the date of their appointment to the 24th June.
Two reports had been received, and two more were ex-
pected in a few days. Ho had no objection to lay the
two which had been received on the table. He was
happy to say that considerable good had been effected
since the appointment of the inspectors. The proprie-
tors of mines and collieries had received their visits with
great goodwill, and had promptly complied with their
suggestions.
Earl NELSON presented petitions in favour of the
preservation of the Crystal Palace.
On the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR, the
Ecclesiastical Property Retention (Ireland) Bill was read
a third time and passed.
The Nor..rx and LEARNED LORD then presented a pe-
tition from the Associated Law Society, praying that
the salaries of the judges might be paid out of the Con-
solidated Fund instead of out of the Suitors' Fee Fund.
Adjourned.

sidoration.
Lord CR ANWORTH said he did not think they could
venture to make any change in the practice of an appeal
from the Court of Session, Scotland, to that. House,
without great danger; and more especially as the admis
nistration of justice in that place had been acknowledged
to give unmixed satisfaction in Scotland. His own ex-
perience fully satisfied him that the general principles of
the laws of different countries differed much less than
was supposed. The appeals from Scotland, as now con-
ducted, gave general satisfaction, and he did not think
any great change could be effected with advantage. Com-
plicated inquiries into property, and the administration of
justice with respect to important and varied claims,
would alway be tedious and expensive, and that was no
reason why they should not do all they could to make
such improvements as the circumstances of the case
permitted.
The LORD CHANCELLOR, in briefly replying, ob-
served that not long since a deputation from Scotland
had waited on him on the subject of the anomaly of the
law between the two countries in the matter of appeal,
but all the suggestions which had been made by the Fa-
culty of Advocates and others had been inefficacious to
afford a practical remedy, and so matters stood as they
had been. The suggestion, however, of the Noble Earl
with respect to the staying of execution was worth at-
tention, and should receive his serious consideration.
The Bill then before the House would cause a great im-
provement in the administration of justice in the Court
of Chancery here.
The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to
be committed.
MEDICAL CHARITIES (IRELAND) BILL.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE moved the second
reading of the above Bill, the objects of which he briefly
stated. One of the objects of the Bill was to secure
medical advice and assistance to poor persons in places
where the present state of the law would leave them
totally unprovided unless a certain amount of local sub-
scriptions should have been contributed. It was proposed
to put all the medical charities under the supervision of
a central board, and to constitute the Poor-law Commis-
sioners that controlling power. The country was to be
subdivided into districts for the purposes of the Act.
The motion was understood to have been put and
agreed to.
INTRAMURAL INTERMENTS.
Lord MONTEAGLE begged to ask a few questions
of a Noble Earl whom he saw in his place, or his Noble
Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on a
subject of the greatest importance, and upon which it
was fitting some more definite information should he
conveyed to the House than had been already laid before
it. His questions related to interments in the metropo-
lis, a matter of so much consequence that her Majesty
had alluded to it in the Royal Speech at the close of last
session. rafter referring to the Act of last session, and
a report describing the unwholesomeness and dangerous
condition of some of the churchyards of the metropolis,
the Noble Lord asked his Noble Friend opposite (the
Earl of Shaftsbury) what had been the cause of the de-
lay in carrying out the Act—what steps had been taken
to put the Bill of last year in force, or whether matters
were to be lett in their present position?
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY said he felt very deeply
the delay which had occurred between the passing of
the Act referred to and its being carried into full opera-
tion, because the statements made of the condition of
many localities in this vast and crowded metropolis were
by no means exaggerated. Every day's experience con-
vinced the Board of Health of the wisdom and practical
utility of the measure which had been carried. The
Beard of Health had been charged with neglect and de-
lay, but he could fully rebut that accusation by a brief
statement of the progress of their proceedings since the
Act first passed. On the very day it received the Royal
assent the board had met to take proceedings under it, and
they had published advertisements giving all the necessary
notices to parties interested, in order that they might
not be takon by surprise. They had extended the time of
notice from six weeks to two months. Some members
of the board had then gone to Paris. for the purpose of
obtaining all the information they could on the subject,
and had then put themselves in communication with the
cemetery companies of London, as required by the Act ;
but these companies had refused to give them any docu-
ments or any information by which they might arrive at
an estimate of their probable valuation. They had sub-
divided the metropolis also into districts, and made all
the arrangements necessary for carrying the Act into
operation. On the 23d of November the board had pre-
pared a full scheme for bringing the Act into force,
which they had laid before the Treasury. Every one
had approved, not only of the necessity, but the practi-
cability of the plan suggested, which involved the ex-
pediency of the immedaite purchase of all the ceme-
teries. No reply had been received to that proposal
until the 22d of January, upon which a correspond-
ence had taken place, and on the 20th of March the
board had received permission to proceed as they had
suggested, but they were recommended to purchase
the cemeteries not altogether, but separately. They had
then served notice on one of those companies, and the
most tediose proceedings which the Act sanctioned had
been adopted, and these were at the present moment
going on. Up to the moment at which he was address-
ing. their Lordships the awards had not been made. In
the meantime the board proceeded to take estimates for
new cemeteries, and on the 28th of April were commis-
sioned by the Treasury to purchase ground. On the
13th of May the board applied to the Treasury for per-
mission to contract a loan from the Guardian Assurance
Company, and obtained their permission, but they did
not receive the answer of that company till the 18th of
June, when they declined to lend any money to a body
whose existence was limited to a period of five years. On
the 9th of June permission was obtained to negotiate a
loan with the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, but
no answer was received till the 24th, when they said the
security was not sufficient. On the 3d of July copies of
the letters from the directors of the Royal Exchange So-
ciety were sent to the Treasury. On the 10th a final an-
swer was received from the directors, and was forwarded
to the Treasury. Not a moment, he undertook to say, had
been wasted by the board. The proposal made by the board
was that they should have a commission with a permanent
existence and complete control over all funerals. The
Government altered that plan by referring that part
of the' proposal to the Board of Health, and by intro-
ducing a clause with respect to the second part, which
left the plan open to the objections of the Royal Ex-
change Company; and yet the board were told that it
was in consequence of their neglect and of the crudeness
of their scheme that all these difficulties had occurred.
He was never more surprised in his life than he was
when informed that a high authority in the Govern-
ment considered the scheme a bad one. He declared
solemnly that he had never heard from any member of
the Government that they considered the scheme a bad
scheme. The board had compunicated the difficulties
the very instant they were brought to their knowledge;
and ho maintained that it was not owing to the board
that the delays had occurred. He did not care one
straw for any attack made on himself in consequence of
the part he had taken in administering the Act, but he
must say, in defence of his two colleagues, Mr. Chad-
wick and Dr. Southwood Smith, that he never knew two
moro diligent, upright, and intelligent men than they
were. They had not been defended by these who could
have spoken on their behalf, and he felt for them what he
did not feel or care about as regarded himself: In justice
to himself, to his colleagues, to the board, and to the
public, he maintained there ought to be laid on the
table a full and authentic copy of all the correspondence
on the subject, and then it would be seen whether the
Board of Health were justly to be blamed.
The Earl of CARLISLE did not mean to enter into
the merits of the question, because he was not cognizant
of all the different negotiations and transactions which
had taken place between the Board of Health and the
Treasury. With reference to any expression which
might have fallen from the high authority referred to by
the Noble Earl, he was willing to hope that some misap-
prehension existed, because he knew that the members
of the Government generally were most anxious for the
success of this measure, to which they themselves had
been parties. For himself, be had stated his deep re-
gret that circumstances had hitherto prevented a more
rapid progress being made. He needed not to acquaint
the Noble Earl of the circumstances which bad interfered
with public business in the other House, and which had
prevented the introduction of various measures—one on
thie subject, arming others—which otherwise would have
been introduced. He believed that a Bill calculated to re-
move some of the difficulties, though he feared the Noble
Earl would not think it calculated to remove all the dif-
ficulties, was actually in progress through the other
House. With regard to the board, it was well known it
had most obnoxious duties to perform—that it had to
point out defects ande w
call attention to liaaacdheisn,caunrcric,pdeir-
haps it had incurred a considera.nle amouut of obloquy,
cbouttistehqautenocbeloogruytli b e
straightforward dscharge of the du
ties entrusted to it. He did not claim for the members
of it exemption from error, but be believed no other
persons could have been found who would have more
zealously devoted themselves to the management of
all those iuterests with wince Parliament had entrusted
Earl of HARROBY thought the Government
twhetTrmeh'etn W
blame for not having come forward to defend
the members of the Board of Health. He believed the
members of the Government in their Lordships' House
were zealous and sincere in their wish to carry out the
Act, but he had good reason to believe that other mem-
bers of the Government had taken opportunities, not to
promote the pleasure, but to throw difficulties in the way
of it. He wished to know whether there would be any
objection to the production of the Treasury minutes on
the subject.
Eel.' GREY said that the Noble Earl had pronounced
a severe censure on souse members of the Government,
but he submitted that such charges ought not to have
been made, except at the proper time—after notice, and
with full information on the table. With regard to the