The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-09 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 8.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Woolsack
at Five o'clock.

PETITIONS.
The Earl of RODEN presented petitions from places
in the north of Ireland, praying fora grant in aid of
scriptural education; also several petilions against Papal
aggression.
The Earl of GALLOWAY presented several petitions
against Papal aggression.
APPRENTICES TO SEA SERVICE (IRELAND)
BILL.
This Bill was read a third time and passed.
ATTORNEYS AND SOLICITORS REGULATION
ACT
of CLANRICARDE moved that this
AMENDMENT BILL.
BiTllhbee Marquisrea a second time. The purport of the Bill was to
allow attorneys who should serve in the Queen's Univer-
sity, Ireland, four years only instead of five, and to give
certain privileges to persons holding degrees. The Noble
Marquis then went into several details as related to
those colleges. Already the students of those colleges
amounted to 500 and upwards, and he was re-
joiced to find, notwithstanding the opposition made
to these colleges, that they were supported by
the middle classes in Ireland of all religions,
for the returns showed that the students of different re-
ligions bore a nearly exact proportion to the number of
the inhabitants of different religions in Ireland.
Lord MONTEAGLE was rejoiced to hear of the
success of those colleges, and he hoped that nothing
would occur to divert the attention of the people
of Ireland from the boons which these colleges
would confer upon them. Up to a late period
there was a strong feeling on the part of the Ro-
man Catholic laity to support these colleges, not-
withstanding the opposition of the Primate; but in con-
sequence of the introduction of a Bill now before their
Lordships, the remonstrance which the laity had been
prepared to address to Rome had been postponed.
After a few words from the Earl of POWIS,
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE explained the na-
ture of the studies pursued and of the examinations in-
stituted in the Queen's College. Those examinations
rendered them equal to compete with the students of any
universities in the civilized world.
The Bill was then read a second time.
EXPENSES OF PROSECUTION BILL.
This Bill was read a third time and passed.
The Earl of LONSD ALE made some observations on
the subject of the Bill, to which
Lord CR,ANWORTH was replying, when,
Lord CAMPBELL rose to order. Their Lordships
could not discuss a Bill which had passed. Now his
Noble and Learned Friend on the Woolsack had dis-
tinctly said that the Bill had passed. It passed like a
certain Bill elsewhere, without the majority being aware
of it.
Earl FITZWILLIAM contended that the question
had not been put.
The Earl of POWIS was proceeding to object to the
Bill, when
Lord CAMPBELL said that the remembrance of the
Lord Chancellor was with him. The Bill had passed,
and they could not discuss it.
Lord BEAUMONT objected to tho taking advantage
of a matter of form.
Lord CAMPBELL said that it was not a matter of
form but of fact—the Bill had passed.
The Earl of HARROWBY rose to order. There was
no motion before the House.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that certainly
the Noble and Learned Lord on the woolsack, paying
no attention to the Noble Lord on the cross benches,
who had risen to move an amendment, had put the ques-
tion and passed the Bill.
The LORD CHANCELLOR had put the question,
and had looked round the House to see if any Noble
Lord was about to oppose, and seeing that the Noble
Lord, who moved the Bill, nodded his head, thought that
no one was about to oppose it, and he had passed
the Bill. But he would take this opportunity
of requesting their Lordships to pay a little more atten-
tion when questions were put—(hear, hear)—because it
was impossible for him on some occasions to ascertain
amidst the buzz of conversation whether an opposition
to a Bill was intended or not.—(Hear, hear.)
Here the conversation dropped.
Lord CAMOYS presented petitions, some for and
some against the Ecclesiastical Titles Assumption Bill,
but it was impossible to hear the names of the parties
from whom these petitions came.
The Earl of HARROWBY presented a petition from
certain landowners in Lancashire against the Gunpowder
Stores (Liverpool) Exemption Repeal Bill.
Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the
president and other members of the Preston Association
for the Protection of Trade, praying for the extension
of the jurisdiction of the County Courts to cases of bank-
ruptcy. His Lordship also presented a petition from the
attorneys and solicitors of the county of Devon in favour
of a Bill which had already passed their Lordships'
House, and which he hoped and believed would also
pass the other House of Parliament—he meant the Bill
for the amendment of the law of evidence. He also
presented petitions from the attorneys of Winchester,
Stafford, and some other places, but to what effect the
petitions were we have no knowledge.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY presented a petition
from the inhabitants of Edinburgh, in favour of the
Lodging-houses Bill.
MODEL LODGING-HOUSES.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY moved the second
reading of the Model Lodging-house Bill. Ho would
beg to detain their Lordships a short time with a few
preliminary observations, not so much for the purpose
of proving the existence of a great social evil, for that
needed no proof, as in explanation of the means pro-
posed for its mitigation. As the Bill for the improve-
ment of common lodging-houses had recently passed, it
would not be necessary for him to detain their Lordships
with a repetition of those disgusting details which had
been elicited by the previous Bill. The population of
the c ,untry was either stationary or migratory. The
migratory were usually found in common lodging-
houses, and the stationary in private dwellings. It was
with the view of improving more particularly the sta-
tionary population that this Bill was introduced.
He would trouble their Lordships with a slight view
of what the Bill was intended to remedy. From the
inspector's report made in 1842 he took the fol-
lowing description of the parish of St. George
Hanover-square. The inspector's report stated there
were 2,164 families dwelling in 1,465 houses. But
observe how they were distributed:-929 families
had only one room each, 482 families only two rooms,
94 only three rooms, 7 only four rooms, while of the
whole number only one family had seven rooms. Now,
the condition of St. George's parish might betaken as an
example of what was the best condition of parishes; and
if this were so, what must be the state of things in
Shoreditch, Whitechapel, -,St. Luke's, and other parishes
where the poorer classes predominated? But his state-
ment of St. George's parish required to be analysed.
Though 929 families were shown to have but one room,
it said nothing about the very many instances—he could
vouch for the fact from his personal experience—in
which two, three, and four families were found in the
same room. It said nothing of the condition in which
these families lived—of the absence of comfort, decency,
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This state of things was not confined to large towns.
If they pursued the inquiry, they would find it equally
bad in small towns and villages of the coun-
try. In fact, it would be found that the
evils were even of a worse complexion than in large
towns. It was, however, in the power of the Legis-
lature to put a stop, to some extent, to these evils.
The application of the present Bill was to be confined to
towns having upwards of 10,000 souls; but he trusted, if
a beginning wsre made in this way, that their Lordships'
attention would soon be directed to other localities
which the Bill did not reach. Their Lordships would
see that the existing state of things, if permitted to con-
tinue, must in the end lead to pestilence and epidemic!.
In the time of the cholera, he gathered from the in-
spector's report, that in one rural district (in Norfolk,
we understood) the number of deaths by cholera was to
the extent of one-fifth of the inhabitants. Bat that was
nothing compared to a small town in Norfolk (Northesk,
we understood), where, it was reported, the houses wore
damp, dirty, almost roofless, and in a condition of
general discomfort and wretchedness. The report made
by the inspector of this locality to the Board of Health
was, that 52 cases of cholera had occurred in 100 fami-
lies, that one-third of the inhabitants had been attacked
by cholera—a proportion which if applied to the metro-
polis would have numbered more than 700,000
persons. This locality had been purified, and what
was the result after the cleaning and clearing ope-
rations had been performed?— that only four
case of cholera occurred, with a few cases of diarrheas.
The same state of things prevailed in many of the
small towns and villages, and the mischief took its rise
entirely from the domiciliary conduct of the people.
There was a locality no great distance from their
Lordships' House, which he had visited, and which he
should advise their Lordships to visit, in order that they
might see and judge with their own eyes of the existence
of that state of things which he was about to bring be-
fore them. The locality was notorious; but notwith-
standing its notoriety, nothing had been done to remedy
existing evils. He referred to Church-lane, in the parish
of St. Giles (we understood). He would take two
houses from that spot, as exhibiting a fair specimen of
what was to be found in a district where many thousand
persons were living. The picture would present human
nature in a state of wretchedness and degra fation al-
most incredible. In those houses would be found fsthers,
daughters, mothers, sons, brothers—the sick and the
dying—all sleeping and herding together. This was no
exaggerated picture—he spoke from his own personal
knowledge of the fact. In a room in one of
these houses, 13 feet long, 14 feet broad, and 6 feet
high, rented at Bs. per week by the tenant, who
charged three pence per night to lodgers, there were
found 8 males above the age of 20, 5 females above the

age of 20, 4 males under the age of 20, 5 females under
the age of 20—in all 22 persons sleeping in the same
room. He would not detain their Lordships much
longer with such details. He would just state that the
inspector, who was sent over the country by the Board
of Health to bring the towns under the operation of the
Bill, reported that the condition of 161 villages, con-
taining 1,900,000 souls, was uniformly of the same de-
plorable character. He would just wish their Lordships
to consider the ultimate consequences of such a state of
things if not remedied. It was impossible to perambu-
late 4:!ertain districts of the metropolis without seeing the
great est physical degradation among the inhabitants. It
was ilnpossible not to see that their condition induced a
fel:lde) icy towards indulging in intoxicating drinks. All
who in-haled the noxious atmosphere of those districts—
who R3rarabulated these parts only to make observations
—stat.A thit they entered into the feelings of the un-