The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-07 00:00:00

TROOPS FOR CHINA.

In reply to an HoN. - -EMBED,
Mr. S. HERBERT said that there were 14,000 troops
despatched to China.

LAW OF RATING.

Sir W. MILES asked the Secretary of State for the Home
Department n hen he proposed to bring in the bill for the
amendment of the law of rating, which he had stated he
had prepared ?

Sir G. C. LEWIS said that'there Was no doubt the pre-
sent system of rating was inc‘rreet, Vat in the pre,' ent stale
of public business. the Government were not prepared to
go on with the bill this session. • - •
MR. WALTER AND ➢IR. HORSMAN. -

Mr. WALTER said that he would move the adjourn-
ment of the house in order to enable him to snake
an el•pt.anaticn of a matter personal to himself, and also
relating to the Luse. He had made a speech at one stage
of the discussion of the Reform Bill. On that occasion
he had , deprecated a dissolution of Parliament as it
stptillir,on the palliti-niol the Reform. BIM 4An article on
the subject of the-. bill had appeared 'in the Ti)iies,
and . the; honeurable: member for Stroud - (31r.
Horsmau) had addressed him a lettcr cn the subject, I:e
was not responsible for any article that appeared in the
Times, and therefoie the article alluded to, which was sup-
posed 'to reflect on the house, was not to be made a matter
of censure to him Personally.

(LEFT SPEAKING.)

WEST INDIAN ENCUMBERED

.E 8 T., I I'ES.

This Court, so ably presided over by Mr. Chief
Commissioner 11. J. Stouor, has frequently been
praised for the excellent manner in which it has
worked, in affording efficient and speedy relief to
persons interested in West Indian Estates. A case
in this Court has been the subject of much com-
ment in legal circles., owing to the reversal of a re-
cent judgment. The 6 lobe remarks upon it :—" It
is not often that a decision affecting the rights of
property is of more importance, within the limits
ofits operation, than that contained in the elabo-
rate judgment of the Privy Council recently deli-
vered by Lord Kingsdowne in the case of Fraser v.
Burgess on appeal from the West Indian Encum-
bered Estates Court. There has always been a
floating, and not incorrect idea, that West Indian.
estates were subject- to very peculiar claims
or liens, resembling more the liabilities of
a trading concern than the burdens of a
landed estate. Consignees—i e. London merchants
who received consignments of sugar and rum,
and made advances for the cultivation of the crops
—have long since been held to have liens for those
advances, not only on the produce which they re-
ceived, but on the estate whence it came. Embol-
dened by their success, managers and agents have
frequently endeavoured to assert similar claims for
advances made by them in the performance of their
duties, and the latter have now been at length 41-
mitted by the Privy Council. In the court below
Mr. H. J. Stor, the Chief Commissioner, in what
Lord Kingsdown terms 'a judgment of remarkable
learning and ability,' had gone through all the au-
thorities and declined the responsibility of extending
the lien in question to managers or others besides the
consignees. He, however, very strongly and credita-
bly recommended to the parties to bring a case so pro-
per for its decision before the Court of Appeal, who
have now,after much argument and consideration, de-
cided (as we have already mentioned) in favour of the
managers. The effect of this decision will un-
doubtedly be to add a heavy burden to many West
Indian estates which have been left unheeded by
owners or mortgagees in the hands of managers and
agents, frequently without requiring any accounts.
It is to be hoped, however, that it will have another
effect of general benefit, namely, that of reconciling
the managers and agents to the immediate intro-
duction of the Incumbered Estates Act in these
colonies where they have hitherto opposed it. The
West Indian proprietors, the mortgagees, the
colonists—especially the negro population—and
lastly the British public, are all deeply interested
in such a result, and after the complete success of a
similar measure in Ireland it is only to be won-
dered that it has not been attained. Certain it is
that until the land is thus freed from its present
fetters, capital, enterprise, and industry will never
be restored to the West Indies."

The United All England Eleven commence their
season on May 14 at Sheffield, and on May 28 the two
Elevens meet for the fray at Lord's. Tarrant, a promising
young player from Cambridge, will, it is said, join the All
England side on that occasion. June 7,8, and 9 are the
days fixed -for the champion 11 to meet another 11 at Traf-
ford Ground, Manchester. During the present month
George Parr is giving the benefit of his professional lec-
tures to Harrow, Jackson to Oxford, and Caffyn to Win-
chester.

OUR COLONIAL EMPIRE.—We have at-present
no fewer than 50 coloniei—viz., South Australia, obtained
by settlement in 1836 ; Western Australian, obtained by
settlement in 1829 ; Antigua, obtained by settlement in
1732 ; Ascension, obtained by settlement in 1827; Barba-
dos, obtained by settlement in 1625; Bermuda, obtained by
settlement in 1609 ; the Bahamas, obtained by settlement in
1629; Ceylon, obtained by capture in 1795; Canada (East
and West), obtained by capture in 1759-69 ; the Cape of
Good Hope, obtained by capture in 1806; Cohimbia, ob-
tained by settlement in 1858; St. Christopher, obtained by
settlement in 1623; Dominica, obtained by cession in. 1763 ;
the Falkland Islands, obtained by settlement in 1842 ;
Guiana, obtained by cession ih 1803; Gambia, obtained by
settlement in 1631;. Gibraltar (military), obtained by cap-
tute in 1704; Gold Coast, obtained by settlement in 1661;
Grenada, obtained by cession in 1763; St. Helena, obtained
e s siboynoo in s s
ion 1670
in and
18452 e rle-
the
by cession in 1673 ; Heligoland, obtained by cession in
1814 ; Honduras, obtainedbys
inent in 1742 ; Hongkong') obtained
three Indian Presidencies, placed under the direct dominion
of the Crown in 1859 ; the lonian Islands, obtained by 035-
siert in 1814; Jamaica, obtained by capture in 1655; La-
buan, obtained by 'session in 1816: St. Lucia, obtained by
capture in 1803 ; Malta, obtained by capture in 1800 ; the
Mauritius, obtained by capture in 1810; Montserras, ob-
tained by settlement in 1632; Natal, obtained by st ttlenaent
in 1824 ; New Brunswick, separated from Nos a Scotia in
1784 ; Nova Scotia, obtained by settlement and capture;
Newfoundland, obtained by settlement in 1608 ; Nevis, ob-
a'n d by settlement in 1628; New Soutl I Wales, obtained
by settlement in 1783 ; New Zealand, ob ainod by settle-
ment in 1839; Mince Edward's Island, )1) a fled by settle-
ment; Queensland, separated from Nev South Wales
1859; Sierra Leone, obt aincd by sottleau ut in 1737 ; Ta -
mania, obtained by s,it actil:nt in 1891; T. bago, obtainer by
cession in 1761; Trinidad, obtained by capture in 1797 ;
Turks and Caicos Islands, formerly included in the BA-.
hamas ; St. Vincent, obtained by cession in 1763 ; Victor a,
senaeated from New South Wales in 1833; and tue Virgiu
Islands, obtained by settlement in 1666.
THE SICILIAN INSURRECTION.—Our Malta cor-
respondent announces the receipt of direct intelligence at
that island to the 26th of April, from Palermo, and to the
27th frbm Messina. The insurgents outside of the town and
in the country districts about Palermo were Maintaining a
fit m position, and a royal regiment is suspected of an incli-
nation to fraternise with them. A Sardinian frigate is
said to have arrived at Palermo, to protect the subjects of
the King of Italy, which fact has encouraged the people
At Messina matters were quiet, but alarm had not yet sut
sided, and most of the shops continued closed. Both here
and at Catania the people were awaiting the result of af-
fairs at Palermo,