The Sun.
London, England, 1834-03-13 00:00:00

BEER SHOPS.

The noble lord also presented a petition from the
officiating ministers, parish officers, and overseers of Sidg-
ley, against the beer shops. The noble lord trusted that
the petition, coming from such an authority, and relating
to so so so numerous and important a district, would be
attended to, and that the subject would not be suffered to
sleep, but would be taken up and properly settled during
the present session.
Lord DUNDAS presented petitions from Dissenters in
different parts of the country praying for relief.
The Duke of ARGYLE presented a petition from Cam-
bletown against church patronage.
Lord DACRE presented petitions from Pontypool, in
Monmouthshire, and from a parish in Cambridge, praying
for the removal of the disabilities under which the Dis-
senters laboured.

Viscount MELBOURNE presented a prtition from
Inverury against church patronage.

ANNANDALE PEERAGE.

The Earl of SHAFTESBURY presented a petition
from a person named Joseph Johnson, praying that the
case, which was fixed for hearing on the 18th of the
present month, might be postponed.
OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.

The Bishop of ROCHESTER presented petitions from
two parishes in the county of Kent for the better ob-
servance of the Sabbath.
NORTH AMERICAN POSTAGE BILL.

The Duke of RICHMOND, in moving the second read-
ing of this bill,stated,that its objectwas to give permission to
the locul legislature of Canada to reduce their rates of post.
age, lo allow them a moderate postage upon the transmission
of newspapers, and to dotroy the privilege of franking
newspapers, which had existed in that country in the
post-masters from time immemorial.
The bill was then read a second time, and ordered to
he committed.

The Bishop of LONDON presented petitions from pa-
rishes in the counties of Glamorgan, ➢Montgomery, Den-
bigh, and Norfolk, praying for some legislation to enforce
the observance of the Sabbath.

The Earl of DURHAM then rose to present the peti-
tion of which he had given notice; it was from 76 physi-
cians practising in London, and within 7 miles of it, who
were licentiates of the College of Poysicians, complaining
of the by laws which were acted upon by the Fellows—
their exclusion from the library and museum of the Col
lege, 84e. The noble earl said the petition was signed
by more than one half of the physicians who were
practising within the seven miles. While upon such
a subject as this, it was worth the attention of the
house, to see how London was supplied with the higher
branch of the profession, as compared with other capitals;

that was a subject that n aurally forced itself upon one's
attention, when the petition set forth that the public were
the sufferers by the numi;er being limited, on account of
the working of the by laws. In London, where there
was a population of fifteen hundred thousand, there were
only one hundred and eighty practising physicians—in
Berlin where there was a population of 24,900 there were
228 physicians, while in Pariswith its population of 935,000,
there were no fewer than 925 physicians in full practice.
It might be said that Paris was too well supplied, but
that was not the question ; it was rather to see whether,
by the operation of the bye-laws of the College of Lon-
don the public were not forced to go to a lower grade of the
profession than they would otherwise do, if there was a
more liberal supply of the higher. The charter of the,
college was granted so long back as the 10th of Henry
the Eighth, and if it had been acted upon the
college would have been mast beneficial ; but it had
been allowed to fall into disuse, and the corporation
was now entirely governed by the bye laws complained of.
He under.tood that in the 300 years that the college had
existed it had only published eighteen volumes of its
transactions, while another society, which had been
refused a charter through the interference of the col-
lege, had also published eighteen volumes within a period
of 30 years. He (the noble lord) wished only that the
profession should be open to all of any persuasion, and that
the fellowship should not be confined to the graduates of
Oxford and Cambridge ; he also wished that there should
be a just superintendence of the whole medical profession
throughout the kingdom. As the petition was one of
very great importance, he would take the liberty of moving
that the petition be read by the clerk.
The petition was then read at length. The principal
points were embraced in the observations of the noble earl.
Lord MELBOURNE said that without giving an
opinion on the various points that bad been stated by his
noble and learned friend, or upon those contained in the
petition, he thought it was due to the medical body in London
that something should be done with regard to the medical
profession, and probably their lordships would be aware
that there was a committee appointed in order to take the
whole matter into their consideration, and if his noble and
learned friend was desirous of embarking their lordships
into a similar inquiry, he for• one should offer no opposi-
tion to it.—(Hear, hear.)
The Earl of DURHAM said he Lad another petition
to present, which was from the medical practitioners of
Sunderland. With regard to what the noble viscount had
stated, he did not know whether the medical gentle.
men who had intrusted hlm with their petition would
consider it necessary to have a committee of their lord-
ships upon the question. They had stated they were
perfectly aware of the existence of a committee of
the other house of parliament, but they wished that
their case should be brought before their lord-
ships. If any further request should be made,
to him by those gentlemen he would take the first oppor-
tunity of communicating it to their lordships.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH said it appeared to him
from the statement that had been made, and from the
little information that he possessed on the subject,
that this was a question as to the convenience
rather of individuals than the public, for it should, in jus-
tice to the medical profession be stated that the average
mortality in this metropolis was very much smaller than
either in Berlin or Paris, in which it was supposed time wants
of the community were better administered and attended to.
In London the average was one out of 40, in Paris one out
of 32, and in Berlin one out of 35.
The Earl of DURHAM observed that if the noble baron
pushed the matter to that extent the feeling would be de-
cidedly in favour of apothecaries practising to the exclusion
of physicians, because there were by far a greater
number of apothecaries practising in those places than
physicians ; and therefore, according to the noble baron's
statement, the cause of the mortality being less then than
it was in London, would be owing to the apothecaries
being superior:to the physicians.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH confessed he was incompe •
tent to form an opinion upon that subject, inasmuch as he
had never consulted a physician in the whole course of his
life.—(Hear, hear, and laughtor.)
The Maritime Mutiny Bill went through a committee,
and was ordered to be read a third time to morrow.
The Sugar Duties Bill and the Bristol Railway Bill
were read a first time. The house then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the chair at five o'clock.

Mr. BARNARD presented a petition from a person
named George Jones, against the Southampton Railway
Bill.

Mr. GUEST presented petitions from the dissenters of
Merthyr T)dvil, Glamorganshire, and Cardiff.
Mr. MAXWELL presented a petition from the pa-
rochial schoolmasters of Lanark, in Scotland, praying
for an increas.2 of their salaries—(Laughter)—which were
disproportioned to their services. They submitted that
the sum of 601. annually was a fair minimum, and 75/.
the maximum.
Mr. LEWIS moved that a new writ be issued for the
borough of Thirsk, Yorkshire, in the room of Sir R.
Frankland.

Alderman WOOD presented a petition from a congre-
gation of Dissenters in Barbican, City of London.
Air. GILLON gave notice that on the 6th of May
he should move for a committee of inquiry regarding the
certific 'tea for the sale of wine and spirits.

Sir HENRY HARDINGE presented a petition for the
repeal of the malt tax, from the parish of St. Mary Mag-
dalen, Cornwall.
Mr. WILBRAHAM presented a petition from the
Dissenters of Morpeth, county of Chester.
Colonel DAVIES asked whether the evening sitting was
a proper time for the presenting of petitions?
The SPEAKER said that the house commenced sitting
at five o'clock, and until it was prepared to enter into the
business of the evening, it was arranged that petitions
should be presented in the interval.