The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-27 00:00:00

PATENT OFFICE RECORDS.

Mr. TITE asked the First Commissioner of Works,
whether any, and if so, what progress had been made in
erecting offices for the accommodation of the Commissioners
of Patents, and of the collection of books and models rela-
ting to inventions in their custody.

Mr. COWPER said that tho arrangements at present
existing were certainly very inconvenient, the office being
in Southampton-buildings and the museum at South Ken-
sington. Inquiries had been instituted as to the best site
adapted for the purpose, but no site had yet been found
sufficiently suitable to justify its being adopted. He hoped,
however, that before long some arrangement would be made
for obtaining a more convenient site.

RETIREMENT AND PROMOTION OF NAVAL

OFFICERS.

Sir J. PAKINGTON asked the Secretary to the Admi-
ralty when he intended again to bring forward the plan of
the present Board of Admiralty for the retirement and pro-
motion of naval officers.

Lord C. PAGET said he proposed to do so on Friday
night, immediately after the army estimates had been dis-
posed of.

SOLDIERS' KNAPSACKS.

Colonel LINDSAY asked tho Secretary of State for War
if be had received any report respecting the efficiency of the
knapsack invented by Mr. Berington and Colonel Spiller ;
and also if the report was true that it was intended to pro •
vide the Volunteer Force with knapsacks, or to grant them
a certain sum in lieu.

Mr. S. HERBERT said that the question concerning
the knapsacks had been referred, not to a committee of offi-
cers, but to the n.en themselves, whose report was favourable
to that of Colonel Spiller, and not to that of Mr. Berington.
However, a further report was to be made upon the subject.
`With regard to the other part of the question, in case of in-
vasion, knapsacks would be furnished to every volunteer,
or a sum of two guineas in lieu of it.
IRISH APPOINTMENTS.

Mr. CONOLLY moved a vote of censure on the Govern-
ment for its exercise of the Royarprerogative in Crown ap-
pointments in Ireland. The hon. gentleman's motion was
founded chiefly on the Earl of Carlisle's appointment of
Mr. Lyle as Lord Lieutenant of Londonderry, which he de-
scribed as an insult to the magistracy of that county, and a
sufficient ground for the recal of the noble earl.
Mr. GREGORY defended the course of conduct pursued
by the Lord Lieutenant in the appointments made by him.
Mr. CARDWELL explained the circumstances con-
nected with Mr. Lyle's appointment, and eulogised the cha-
racter of the Lord Lieutenant.
Colonel FRENCH thought the appointment improper,
and entered into some details connected with Mr. Lyle's
history.

After some further discussion,
Lord PALMERSTON and the ATTORNEY-GENERAL for
Ireland emphatically repudiated the charges made by Mr.
Conolly, and after a few words in reply from whom,
The question was negatived without a division.

DISTRESS IN ERRIS.
Mr. HENNESSY moved an address to the Crown, with
a view to mitigate the distress prevailing in Erris, and other
districts of Ireland. The hon. gentleman urged the neces-
sity of meeting it by granting out-door relief.
The O'DONOGIIITE having seconded the motion,
Mr. CA RD WELL stated that the law had not been put
in force with full strictness. There was a bill before Parlia-
ment to amend the Irish poor law, and that measure should
not be prejudiced by the peculiar case of Erris.
Mr. M'Evoy, Lord Pertnoy, Mr. Brady, Mr. Maguire, and
Lord C. Hamilton severally supported the proposition.
Mr. CLIVE said the landlords were the parties who
should meet the difficulty.
Mr. LONOFIELD and Colonel DUNNE supported the mo-
tion.

Mr. ESTCOURT said that before he assented to this
resolution the house should have more accurate informa-
tion before them. The first course should be a motion for
facts, and if, upon the return of these facts, it appeared
that the ordinary administration was inadequate, then
they must consider what extraordinary remedies were ne-
cessary to meet the case. If local aid were not sufficient,
then, in an emergency, an application must bo mad. to
the Imperial Government. The first step should be a
select committee of inquiry into facts, and then, if a case
were established, no doubt the report of the committee
would conclude with some proper recommendations.
The house-then divided, when there appeared—
For the motion .... 49
Against it ............................ 84
Majority ........................ —35
The motion was consequently lost.
COLEWORT BARRACKS (PORTSMOUTH.)
Mi. S. HERBERT obtained leave to bring in a bill for
extinguishing certain rights of way through Colewort Bar-
racks, in the borough of Portsmouth.
THE MILITIA.
Mr. S. HERBERT, in moving for leave to bring in a
bill to amend the laws relating to the militia, said that
though not of much force or scope, it was yet of great inte-
rest to the country. The house was aware that for some
years past, owing to the various changes which had been
made in the militia law from time to time, fhe militia itself
was in an unsatisfactory state. He did not mean that it
was inefficient; on the contrary, no force, not being a regu-
ar force, had probably ever attained so great a proficiency
as the militia had, under the officers who had the honour to
command it. But the numbers of the disembodied militia
had fallen signally short of the quota authorised by law ;
and what made the matter more difficult was, that upon
paper there appeared a force a considerable number of which
were never accounted for, and never came to training. The
probability was that a great number of these enlisted in
the line. It was cheaper for men to desert and enlist in the
line than to do so in a legal manner, and as men frequently
enlisted two or three times they got several bounties ; but
if there was a diminution of men it did not arise from any
want of material out of which the militia ought to be crea-
ted. He had a statement of the male adults between the
ages of 18 and 45, the extreme limit within which men were
taken for the army. He found that the number of adults
between the 'ages of 18 and 45 in 1800, was 1,900,000 ; in
1815, 2,329,000; in 1851, 4,167,000 ; and it was computed
by the Registrar-General that the number at the next cen-
sus would be 4,622,000. Therefore, the small number of
120,000 was as nothing compared to the number of adults in
this country of the soldier age, And it was hot difficult to