The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-14 00:00:00

the distinct confirmation upon the part of the Governmen

of the arrangement which they had proposed, the whole
affair must fall to the ground. The letter conveying that
intelligence had reached him on the afternoon of Wednes-
day, when the house was engaged in discussing the Census
Bill. His right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer was confined to his house by indisposition, and
could not be seen, while the noble lord at the head of the
Government was detained in the house till 6 o'clock. A
Cabinet meeting had then to be held, at which important
matters were coming on for discussion. The noble lord,
however, made an appointment to meet the two Canadian
representatives on the rising of the house, and it was under
those circumstances, and with only a few minutes for con-
sideration, that the Government were asked to sanction an
arrangement not free from difficulty-, and likely to excite
much discussion and opposition in Parliament. (Hear.)
That being the state of things, the Government had taken
the only course which, in his opinion, was open to them,
and—the representatives of Canada having stated their in-
ability to allow any further time for deliberation—inti-
mated that they did not see their way to an approval of the
arrangement. Since then, however, Mr. Galt and Mr.
Smythe, thinking that a strong feeling of disappointment
might be experienced in Canada if matters were left in their
present unsettled state, had decided upon staying a week
longer in this country. Official application had also, he be-
lieved, been made to have their proposal dealt with with
the least possible delay, and under these circumstances it
was, he thought, desirable that he should abstain from en-
tering into the merits of the question. Any decision at
which the Government might arrive on the matter would,
b e took it for granted,:be subject to the opinion of the bouse,
which must be invited in the course of a week or two at
furthest, when the subject of the Galway contrast came on
for discussion. (Hear.) In answer to the question which
had been put by his hon. friend behind him, with reference
to the regulations by which men engaged in the Inland
Revenue Department Scotland were precluded from
marrying while in the service, he could only repeat what
he had stated on a former occasion, upon the authority of
the chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, that although
there was no positive rule on the subject it was found from
practical experience that unmarried men were more efficient
than married men in wild and exposed parts of the country.
He might add that his hon. friend appeared to him tolabour
under a mistaken impression in supposing that to the cir-
cumstance of unmarried men being preferred for 'such
service was to be attributed the immorality which he
said prevailed in Scotland, as evinced by the large number
of illegitimate births, and for which he seemed to imagine
the Lords of the Treasury were responsible. (A laugh.) He
had been informed that the reorganisation of the preventive
force in Scotland was now under the notice of the Board of
Inland Revenue, and that, while dealing with that ques-
tion, it proposed to consider how far it was necessary to
employ in it unmarried men exclusively.
IRISH BUSINESS.

Mr. SCULLY called attention to the system of legislat-
ing for Ireland at inconvenient hours and at an advanced
period of the session, with the object of asking the First
Lord of the Treasury whether he would adopt means to
remedy or mitigate the evil. They were kept up night after
night and morning after morning till they could endure it
no longer. The Government should fix a particular time for
the discussion of Irish measures. The present system kept
them there every night to the last, and day after day they
were kept there from 12 o'clock in the day till three or four
o'clock the next morning.
Lord PALMERSTON said he did not think the hon.
and learned gentleman was just in his complaint that Irish
affairs did not occupy a sufficiently largo portion of the time
of the house. What had passed that evening was an ex-
ample to the contrary. Eight gentlemen had addressed the
house in pursuance of notices previously given, and on
questions,, four of which were purely Irish. (Hear, and
laughter.) They had brought before them the questions of
the Irish volunteers, of the Galway contract, of the alleged

outrage in a chapel in Ireland, and now the general ques-
tion of legislation for Ireland. His hon. friend appeared to
apprehend that Irish members were subject to such con-
tinued pressure from their Parliamentary duties that they
must inevitably fall asleep upon the benches or die upon
the floornof the house—(laughter)—but those who were
there at four o'clock that morning could not but be aware
that those hon. members displayed a wakefulness, a vita-
lity, and a vigour that must havo relieved their most anx-

ions friends of all apprehension that they would fall into a
state of torpor, or end their lives at-any one sitting of the
house. (Renewed laughter.) It might, indeed, bo true
that bills of great interest affecting the several portions of
the United Kingdom were taken at advanced hours of the
morning, for the pressure of urgent public business would
frequently give rise to inconveniences of that kind. Those
who had watched the business of the session, however,
would be ready to admit that there was no indisposition on
the part of the Government—and certainly there was none
on the'part of the house—to give the fairest consideration
to Irish business, whether it happened to come on at a
morning sitting, or, when possible, at an evening- sitting.
(Bean) Now with respect to the question put to him con-
e arning the Irish volunteers, he had only to say that her
Majesty's Government did not think it expedient, in the
present state of things, to recommend an alteration of the
law so as to organise a volunteer force in Ireland similar to
that which existed in Great Britain. That was no impeach-
men.t of the Irish people, however. It did not arise from
any doubt of their loyalty; but, without entering into any
griat details, he might say, in reference to the statement
made by the hon. member for Danger von, showing the
Wats of mutual feeling which now existed between diffe-
rent sections of the community in Ireland, that were the
volt tnteer system extended to Ireland, it might lead to con-
sequences that every one would regret. (Hear.) Of this,
hol vever, he was certain, that if any sudden national dan-
ger should threl ten us—should there be any sudden neces-
sity for arming and enrolling the population of Ireland for
ate common defence of the country—the whole community
( )f thol country would immediately merge all differences
i nta bne common feeling, and that we should have every
Irishman to whom a weapon could be given, arrayed in one
itank against the common enemy. Those who knew the Irish
character were well aware that there were no men who
could be more easily or more readily converted into discip-
lined troops, and should the necessity arise he had no
doubt the Irish people would vindicate their former na-
tional renown.
He wished next to say a word with re-
ference to the Galway contract, in order to confirm what
had been said respecting it by his hon. friend the Secretary
of the Treasury. The fact was, that between five and six
o'clock on Wednesday, he was told that the gentlemen ho

come, with whom he had made an appointment at the Trea-
sury. On seeing them, they put into his hands a written
statement of the conditions on which they proposed that the
contrad should -be transferred from the Galway to the
Canadian Company►, and they stated that as they were going
to embark for Canada that night, they desired to have the
answer of the Government "aye or no" to that proposi-
tion immediately. He, therefore, conveyed their proposi-
tion to his colleagues in the cabinet, and they immediately
came to that conclusion which any reasonable man, he ap-
apprehended, would have come to under the same circum-
stances. An instant decision was asked for on a question
involving complicated points for consideration, and being
obliged to say "aye" or "no" at once, he said "no"—
(hear, and laughter)—for "yes" would have implied an im-
mediate engagement to matters the consequences of which
could not be immediately foreseen, while the " no" at least
afforded opportunity for further consideration. Their only
answer was, therefore, that under those circumstances they
could not give their consent to the transfer of the contract
from one party to the other. (Hear, hear.) He thought
that was almost everything he had to say, except as to the
question of the hon. and gallant officer respecting the de-
fences. As to thathe might say that his right hon. friend
the Chancellor of the Exchequer would, in the course of his
statement, explain to the house whatever was necessary
with respect to the details of the measures to be proposed,
and he would, therefore, rather reserve any observation on
the subject until his right hon. friend had had an opportu-
nity of making his statement. With reference to the educa-
tion estimates, his right hon. friend, who had immediate
charge of that subject, would make the necessary commu-
nications to the house.
THE PAPER DUTY.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in reply
to the question put to him by the hon. member for Peter-
borough (Mr. 'Whalley), with respect to the intention of
the Government as to the paper duty, said that no doubt It
was a matter of great importance for the Legislature ; but
ho thought the Government would not be juslified in taking
any step different from the course pursued in other matters
of taxation.