The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-22 00:00:00

but found to be almost impracticable. The commissioners
formed themselves into sub-committees, and it was an
instruction to one of them to endeavour to improve and
simplify the language of the existing statutes. It was
soon found, however, that anything like an entire coo-
solidation and ernandation of the statutes would net he
completed in half a century ; wad theY then made a very
general classificat;on aed coneolidation of them under the
heads of criminal law, property law, mercantile law, and
others. The commissioners made a report at the end of
last session, but they had not been able to produce any-
thing fit for legislation. They found that their work
would be useless unless there was an improved method
of continued legislation ; for if it went on in the manner
in which it was now carried on, all future acts would be
unfit for consolidation. The subject had been much con-
sidered during the last recess, and early in the present
session the commissioners came to the conclueion that
this was a necessary preparatory measure. That. was
what the Government intended to recommend. It was
necessary that such' a measure should commence with
a session of Parliament ; and it was proposed that there
shoald be officers appointed to perform, with regard to
public bills, the duty which was in a great'measure dis-
charged by the examiner of private bills ; and that a
similar officer should be appointed in a similar way by
both houses, with a competent staff. His duty would
not be to interfere with the policy of bills, which of course
rested with the Legislature ; but it continually happened
that even in Government bills, there being no one to see
whether they harmonised with-existing law, or did not
clash with the language of existing statutes, great blun-
ders crept into them every session: It would be the
duty of that officer to look to this, and so put a stop to-
the grosser part of the evil, which went so far that some
acts were obliged to be repeated the very session after
they were passed. He had said that the statute-book
contained 15,000 acts, but many of them would not be
called laws in any other country than this, as they re-
lated to mere matters of administration, which by the
constitution of. this country were dealt with by Parlia-
ment—such acts as related to finance, the administration
-of the army and navy, the Appropriation Act, acts of in-
demnity and others, which were mere annual acts. The
Statute Law Commission—one of whom was Mr. Coal-
son, whose experience in these matters was of great
value—had examined the acts of last session, and it was
found that they were 134 in number of which 68
were not law, properly so called. There was' now
in existence one classification of bills—namely, their se-
paration into public and private bills. It had occurred
to the- commissioners that this classification might be
carried much further, by separating the annual and
temporary acts from the others. That would reduoe
the bulk of legislation to one-third of what it -would
otherwise be • and of that one-third related only to
India and the colonies. By means of this claseifica-
tioia the actual statute law would be reduced to *the
smallest space.. With" that view be proposed to call
attention to the recommendations of the commission,
ers, and the Government early next session proposed
to establish such an officer as he had already described,
and, some kind of committee to he in nommueication
with that officer on the subject of bills in Parliament.
He had a number of bills which had been prepared,
which, however, he had not had time to look at, and
which had been subject to revision. There was a bill
for the consolidation of the law relating to stamps, which
was under the_consideration of the Stamp•office. .But,
with regard to one class of laws, namely, the criminal
law, Lord Wensleydale, the Chief Justice of the Com-
mon Pleas, Sir Fitzroy Kelly, and Mr. Greaves, had
made a consolidation of statutes relating to criminal law.
There were many offences arising out of particularserial
enactments, as the Customs Acts, the Bankruptcy Acts,
which could not be introduced in any general bill of con-
solidation, and which were therefore omitted. Another
classeef offences not included were those relating to re-
ligion.. There were a great many old statutes upon this
subject remaining on the statute book which they de-
sired to repeal, for however applicable they might have'
been to the times iii which they were passed, they-were
wholly unsuited to the habits and usages of the present
time: To consolidate them in any general act it would
be absurd. Under the heads, offences against public
justice, offences against the person, larceny, malicious
injury, and forgery, all the criminal statutes relating to
them were, as the commissioners believed, embodied in
the six bills that had been laid on their lordships'_table.
Besides which, there was embodied in another shor
bill all the acts, relating to the law with regard to
principal and accessory in criminal cases, and in an
eighth bill was consolidated all the acts relating to cri:
minal proceedings on indictments, juries,' &e . These
measures, the commissioners believed, embodied all the
enactments of 40 acts of Parliament. and portions of 150
others, and from his own inspection of them he belies ed
that they did all they professed to do. , There was one
thing that struck 'the commissioners in the preparation
of their bills that was, that they must betaken more upon
trust than bills submitted to Parliament ordinarily were,
seeing that they were not measures for altering but sim-
ply for consolidating existing statutes; atid, to enable"'
-Parliament to pass them with a somewhat less strict in-
vestigation than usual, there would be a short report with.
each of the bills, showing what alteration, if atiy, it pro-
posed to effect in the law. The rule which the COMllliti-
tilonera had laid do•en for their guidance in framing these
bills was to make no change in the law,' but in some feW
cases it had been found that rule could not be adhered to.
It had also been an object with the commissioners to
maintain as nearly as possible the language of the acts
they coneoli dated, but inasmuch, as they found that the
same offences were described sometimes in one set of
words, and at others in another, they had adopted that
set of words which they thought the best, and adhered
to it throughout. At present the written laws of the
country extended over 40 volumes, and ernbraCed seine
15,000 acts of Parliament. The commissioners thought
that the whole might be reduced to about $OO (some
were sanguine enough to say 250) statutes, which might
abbe brought within the eompass of throe or.four mode.
rate sized volumes. Attu thanking the house for their ate
tentiore the noble and learned lord laid the bilis upon tee
table intimatitig that he-propesecl to go no further with
them than the first reading in the present session, and
to leave them to be considered during, the recess.
The bills were then laid upon the-table and rend a first
time.

CONSOLIDATED. FUND (APPROPRIATION)
BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
COURT OF CHANCERY (IREL &ND) RE-
CEIVERS BILL.

, .
On the motion for reading this bill a third time,
The Earl of WICKLOW objected that the measure
was founded on entire ignorance of the state of Irish
property. He especially objected to the clause which
limited the appointment of receivers to properties exceed-
ing 2001. a-year, which he said would be injurious to the
small lenders, and to the borrowers also.
The bill WAS then read a third time and' passed:
The Income and Land Taxes Bill, the Stamp-Duties
Bill, the Racehorse Duty Bill, the' Coast Guard Service
Bill, the Corrupt Practices Prevention Bill, the General
Board of Health Continuance Bill, the Militia Pay Bill,
the Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer Bill, and the Lu-
natic Asylum Act Amenditent Bill were severally read
a-second time. .

BISHOPS' RESIGNATION BILL.
Lord REDESDALE renewed his opposition to the
measure, and moved that it be read a third time that day
three months.

A smart discussion then arose as to the negotiations
which had led to the resignation of the Bishops. of Lon-
don and Durham, which the opponents of the bill asserted
savoured of simony.
The bill was ultimately read a third time on a division,
in which the numbers were—
For the bill

Against it
Majority
Some other business was then despatched, and their
lordship adjourned.

HOUSE Oh` COMMONS.—(YESTEUDAY.)
THE' GERMAN LEGION.
Mr. MURROUGH .rose to put ..a question to the
Clerk of the Ordnance relative to the officers of the
British army having to furnish their huts at their own
expense, whilst the officers of the German Legion had
their huts furnished them at the public expense. The
hon. member commenced by moving the adjournmert
of the house-in order that he might make a statement
with respect to recent occurrences at Aldershot. When
the Foreign Enlistment Bill was brought before the
house in December, 1854, its opponents pointed out to
the Government the deplorable consequences which
would ensue from the introduction of foreign troops into
the service of her Majesty. The anticipations- of those
gentlemen had been fully realised. Not only had the
promise of the Under Secretary for War, that.the men
belonging to the foreign legion, when they returned from
the East, would be sent to some, British colony,
,not
been fulfilled, but it was rumoured out of doors that a
very high and distinguished personage—
Mr. WALPOLE called the hon. member to solar,
The SPEAKER said the hon. member could not enter
into the question.

Mr.-M-URROUGII then moved the adjournment of
the house. Numbers of men were now suffering from
the dirks of these assassins, and he called upan the Go-
vernment to speak out and state what would be done
with the legion. The country was indignant beyond
measure that these foreign troops were countenanced by
those who at in high places. (Cries of "Order !") It
was all very well for hoe. gentlemen to cry '.',Order ! "
but it was their duty, as the representatives of the peo-
ple, to inquire into these matters. .
The SPEAKER said that if the practice of allowing hon,
members to move the adjournment of the house to bring
on questions of the kind were permitted it would be
impossible to proceed with the business of the house.

Mr. MURROUGH.—I thinko-8-1r; tiat no business
of any kind should be proceeded with until we have some
statement from the Government on the important:ques-
tion which I have introduced to the notice of the house.
Are the assassinations at Aldershot to be left unex-
plained ? Are the morals of the army, and indeed of
the country at large, to be corrupted by a band of Ger-
man brigands ? •
Lord PALMERSTON said he should not enter into
the unfortunate occurrence that bad happened at Alder-
shot, not being in possession of sufficient details. The
Gsrtnan Legion bad up to this time conducted them-
selves well, and such an occurrence as that referred to
was not without precedent. As soon as possible ar-
rangements would be made-for disbanding the Legion.
,His lordship explained that, the Legion being enrolled
for only a temporary purpose, the furniture was lent
them when at Shorncliffe, and on their return from the
Crimea the same privilege was continued to them.
THE FOREIGN LEGION.

Ia reply to a question from Mr. NEWDEGITE,
Lord PALMERSTON said that tho Gorman Legion