The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-05 00:00:00

METROPOLIS LOCAL MANAGEMENT ACT.

Mr. W. WILLIAMS asked the Attorney• General
whether he intended to proceed with the bill to amend
the Metropolis Local Management Act ; and if not, ke
asked Sir B. Hall what means he intended to adopt to rw
move the difficulty caused by conflicting opinions re.
specting the provisions in the said act as regarded the
election of parish officers ?
Sir B. HALL, in the absence of the Attorney• Gene.
ral, answered the question. That hon, and learned
gentleman introduced this bill on the representation of
certain members of that house, with relation to this
question. As soon as he did it objections were
take❑ to it, and it was not now his inten•
tion to proceed with it. The hon. member
for Lambeth had asked him (Sir B. Hall) if he intended
to take any steps to remove the difficulty that was said
to exist relative to conflicting opinions as to the election
of parish officers. The object of the Metropolis Local
Management Act was to supersede all existing vestries at
the time of its passing, and to do that he copied into the
hill a clause from Hothouse's Act, and which clause the
hon. member for Lambeth supported. He (Sir B. Hall)
suggested that an amicable suit (if he might so call it)
should be taken to the Court of Queen's Ben2h for the
decision of the judges on the difficulty complained of,
and that tben,if the decision of the judges was contrary to
what he intended, and he belie/wed was the true constr tie

tine of the clause, on any representation being made to
him to that effect he would consider the case, and would
introduce a bill to settle the question.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE condemned the conduct of the
Government with reference to this act, and the conduct
of the right hon. baronet in recommending litigation to
the various parishes in the metropolis. He described
this act as most unpopular, and called upon the house
not to let the learned Attorney-General withdraw the
bill now before the house.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL charged the hon.;
member for Finsbury with condemning this bill when it
was introduced as an interference with popular rights,
and finding the parishes of the metropolis concurred
with him, he (the Attorney-General) had decided on
withdrawing the bill. The object of this bill was to
enable the new vestries to interfere with the poor and
the Church, and so he framed this bill. If the
honourable member for Finsbury would bring in
a better bill to solve the difficulty complained of and
save litigation, he (the Attorney-General) would be
happy to support him.
After some remarks from Mr. WILKINSON, the
subj eot dropped.
CENTRAL AMERICA.

Viscount GODERICII asked the First Lord of the
Treaeury, whether a document, which had recently ap-
peared, purporting to be a despatch written by the Bri•
tish Minister at WVashingto❑ to the Secretary of State
of the United States, on the 27th day of February last„
with reference to the disputes between this country and
the United States on the subject of Central America, was
authentic ? The hon. viscount having read the despatch
which had reference to the arbitration relative to the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty,
Mr. GLADSTONE, before the question wan answered,
called the attention of the house to the position the
house was placed in with reference to the Central Ame-
rican question, in the course of which he referred to the
first correspondence between the two Governments en
the sulject, and what had occurred in that house
relative to the production of the correspondence.
He had no wish to interfere with the discretion of pro.
ducing certain documents ; but although the noble lord
had informed the house in February the papers should
be produced, they had not yet been laid on the table of
the house ; and the last excuse was that the Foreign-
office had been so much engaged they had not been able
to get them ready. That ought not to be an excuse for
their non-production, and he urged on the noble lord the
injury likely to result From it. He believed the present
American Minister in this country was armed with suf-
ficient powers to carry out the intentions of his coun-
try. He hoped, however, that nothing would occur to
prevent the present kindly relations between the two
countries.

Lord PALMERSTON said the right hon. gentleman
knew the constitution of the various departments of the
Government sufficient to know that they could not be
augmented momentarily to meet temporary pressure.
The right hon. gentleman had spoken lightly of the im•
portant dutes that had lately engaged the attention of
the Foreign Department.
Mr. GLADSTONE said he had not done so.

Lord PALMERSTON said he begged the right hon.
gentleman's pardon, but he had. (Laughter.) After
detailing the amount of business that the Foreign-office
had had lately to discharge, he said he should not then
enter into the question, but wait until the correspon-
dence bad been laid on the table of the house, which he
hoped would be in a few days.
TEIE CRIMEAN COMMISSION REPORT.
Mr. PALK asked it the officers of the Commissariat
Department who considered their conduct iuculpated by
that report might appear before the Military Board of
Inquiry now sitting, and defend their oonduct, as well
as those gallant officers whose names had been so pro.
minently put before the public by that report?
Lord PALMERST')N said yes.

SIR C. NAPIER AND THE CAPTURE OF ACRE.

On the motion for going into supply,
, ,„ . . suUllla rather have desired
to observe silence than unnecessarily to obstruct the busi-
ness of this house by taking advantage of the opportunity
which the motion before the house for going into supply
usually gives to members, Were not the question a matter
that personally concerns myself. The honour of every mem-
ber of this house is regarded by the hous4 as its own pro-
perty, and it is the duty therefore of every member to de-
fend himself from attack when not only his honour is as-
sailed, but his veracity impeached. I should gladly have
avoided the revival of the unhappy controversy which oc-
curred between myself and the hon. and gallant member
for Southwark. The house have heard enough, and more
than enough, of that unhappy affair, and I am sure it is
the last of my wishes needlessly to revive it. But, sir,
during the early part of the recess a letter appeared in the
Times, signed by the hon. and gallant member, which I will
read, and as the name of the ion. and gallant admiral tit*
member for Gloucester is also mentioned, it is utterly im-
possible for us, consistently with our duty, not to reeks
comments upon and to substantiate our veracity. The
letter is in thine terms :

" Sir,—Sir James Graham stated in his speech that I had
advised Sir Robert Stopford not to attack Acre ; and Ad-
miral Berkeley went further, and said that the night before
I told Sir Robert Stopford that if he sent me into the posi-
tion marked out for me my ships would not swim for half an
hour. My reply is not correctly reported, and I have to
request you will give insertion to this letter.
" I stated in my reply that upon my honour I did no such
thing ; and I now beg to say that there is not one word of
truth, or even a shadow of truth, in those statements ; they
were got up to damage me.
"I remain your obedient servant,
"March 15." " CHARLES NAPIER.
Now, Sir, that letter is not only a direct impeachment of
our veracity, but it also ascribes motives to our conduct of
the darkest and roost malignant kind. The house will do
me the justice to remember that to all the numerous at-
tacks that the hon, and gallant member for Southwark has
thought it consistent with his duty to make upon me—
whether in letters or in speeches in taverns or en the hust-
ings—I never give theta the least notice excepting in my
place in Parliament, and then only when placed on my de-
fence. I will now call attention to what were the allega-
tions made by my hon. and gallant friend and myself in the
former debates, and I will point out to the house the evi-
dence which, as I think, will fully sustain those allega-
tions. As the question is to matte's of fact, and the evi-
dence to be adduced in bupport of them, I must rely on the
justice and patience of the house to listen to what I shall
bring forward in support of my allegations. And here, be-
fore I proceed to adduce evidence, I am anxious to preface
what I am about to say with regard to naval operations
before Acre with some observations of my own. I give to
the honourable and gallant admiral the utmost praise io!
his gallantry and ability in Syria on laud; he t
even beyond the limits of his commission in (=duc
t.
ihnei
nc utmost
British credit
in.
foriug thethe e
operations.mffeielittaerfythese
operations
finance in Syria, by th 2 expulsion of the Egyptian force
give iin lasuu sustaining
t
from Syria. The matter which rests between .the gallant
admiral and myself is as to the naval operations before
Acre, and the question arises out of the discussion which
took place as to the conduct of the hon. and gallant officet
when he commanded the Baltic Not. I mash) then some
observations to the effect that I thought there existed ass
erroneous impression that the plan of the naval attack on
Acre was due to the lion, aid gallant officer—an erroneous
impression that the attack took place from his counsel
and advice; but that I had reason to believe from recent
inquiries that the hon. and gallant officer, so far from
having counselled that attack, had objected to it, and
that Sir R. Stopford, the admiral commanding in
Syria, and Sir C. Smith, came to the decision to make
the attack in opposition to the opinion of the honour-
able and gallant officer. That was Ey first allegation.
The next allegation was as to the attack, and the posi-
tion pointed out by Admiral Stopford for the different
ships to take up ; that to the ship of the hon. and gallant
admiral, the Powerful, a particularposition was assigned—

the south-west angle of the fort ; that the hon. and iallant
officer objected to that position, and said if his ship was
placed there it would be sunk ii half an hour. The next
allegation was that on the following day, when the attack
was made, the hon. and gallant officer did not carry into
execution Admiral Stopferd's directions ; that he did net
take up the position assigned to hie ship, but at a consider.
able distance and in a less exposed situation ; and that by
so violating the order of the cosainander-in-chief, he threw
the whole naval operations into confusion. The feerth
allegation was, that the capture of Acre did not take place
immediately in consequence of the bombardment, wasbu
effected by the landing of troops, in which the hent .
gallant admiral took ne part. The last allegation was, that
en the morning after the action the hon• and gallant ad-
miral came on the quarterdeck of Admiral Stctptord's ship,
and expressed a hope that Admiral Stopford was antis-
led with his conduct, and that Admiral Stopford, without
giving the express terms, intimated that he was anything
but satisfied with the position trken by him. These are
the charges to is hich the has. and gallant admiral has
pledged his honour the is neither truth nor the shadow
of truth. To prove ray are
llegations the best evidence ought
to be resorted to, and that would be the evidence of Ad-
miral Stopford, but he is no more. Tke documents and
papers of Admiral Stopford would have been irresistible.
1 made application to his widow, but •I fitAl that the
papers are under seal, in the hands of executors, and that
all the executors are not in England. The parcel cannot
be opened, nor the evidence produced. The secretary of
Admiral Stopford is also dead. The next best witness
would be Admiral Fanshawe, who was cognisant of the
whole proceedings, but he is now in a distant land. The
doctor would be an important witness, but be is also
dead. Then there only remains evidence either of a
secondary character or not of the best character. The boa.
and gallant admiral (Berkeley) was the officer in command
of a line-of-battle ship during the whole of the operations.
lie was cognisant of the greater part of the transactions,
and he was my informant in public and in private. This
a witness, however, might be open to suspicion, as he haseonie