The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY: EVENING, JUNE 16, 1860.-

INDIAN LOCAL ARMY.

Sir DE L. EVANS asked the Secretary of State for India
what was the date of his communication to the Indian Coun-
cil on the subject of the abolition of the local European
army in India ; and whether the council collectively de-
clined expressing their dissent, on the ground of its being
too late to do so.

Sir C. WOOD said he would only repeat what he had
stated on a former occasion, that he was in constant com-
munication with the leading members of the Council of
India, though not in their collective capacity, while the
question of the abolition of the local army was pending.
Whether consulted collectively or not the result was very
much the same. What was essential was that in taking
his part in the Cabinet he should be able to state to his col-
leagues what the opinions of the members of the Indian
Council were on such a great and important subject. The
decision of the Cabinet was come to on May 16, and on the
17th he stated to the council what it was. He said—" You
will be sorry to hear that the Cabinet decided last night
against the maintenance of a local army; but he added
that any member of the council would have an opportunity
of expressing his dissent from that decision if he thought
proper. Several members of the Council got up and ex-
pressed their regtet that they had not been consulted col-
lectively a fortnight before, but said that the division of the
cabinet having been come to, it was too late to attempt to
alter their determination or to express their dissent from
the determination at which they had arrived. He could
not say how many of the council expressed that opinion ;
but many of them did. They had an opportunity of ex-
pressing an opinion on the subject at that time, but they
declined to avail themselves of it.
THE COMMITTEE ON PRECEDENTS.

Mr. E. JAMES wished to know when it was likely that
the report of the committee appointed to search for prece-
dents with regard to the rejection of the paper duties by
the Lords would be in possession of the house. This was a
matter in which the honour of the house was concerned,
and no unnecessary delgy should take place regarding it.
Lord P ALM ER ziT ON—The question might be more
authoritatively answered by the right hon. gentleman the
member for the University of Cambridge. the chairman of
the committee ; but in his absence I am able to state what
I am sure will be satisfactory to the house, that the com-
mittee have devoted the greatest possible attention to the
subject. They have been unremitting in their investiga •
tion, and they have been greatly indebted for the assistance
which they have derived from the officers of this house and
the other house of parliament. (Hear.) I believe I may
state that the right hon. gentleman expects and hopes to be
able to make the report in the course of next week. (Hear.)
SAVOY AND NICE—TREATY OF TURIN.
Mr. KINGLAKE said, as he understood that the noble
lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs was not then in a
position to answer the question which he had put upon the
paper, and as the noble lord expected a communicaticn from
M. Thouvenel on Tuesday next, he thought it better to
postpone that question until the first Friday after the go-
vernment were in possession of M, Thouvenel's note.
Lord J. RUS -.ELL, in answer to a question of an hon.
member, said that with respect to the commercial treaty
with France, he had been informed by Lord Cowley that
very considerable labour had been employed on the task of
bringing ad valorem duties into the shape of specific duties,
but yet it was not likely that it would be accomplished in
the time proposed by the treaty. Lord Cowley, therefore,
expected that some prolongation of the time would be re-
quired, but he was not able to say to what extent. He
(Lord J. Russell) therefore could not give any more definite
answer to the question, but as soon as he heard from Lord
Cowley or the French ambassador he would give the house
every information. It was a task which required a great
deal of inquiry and specific information before it could be
accomplished. In answer to a question of an hon. gentle-
man which had been asked from time to time in the house,
but to which he had not yet been able to reply, with regard
to Senor Escalante, who was imprisoned in Spain for dis-
tributing the Bible. That gentleman was imprisoned for a
considerable time, but in a very indulgent way, while his
trial was pending. The case was brought before the
-' eh decided in hie favour, and he was
set at liberty. Another question had been put to him with
respect to the import of unmanufactured corks from Spain.
The Government had had a correspondence on the subject
with the Spanish Government, the result of which was
that the Spanish Minister of Finance stated that he could
not make out that there was any duty on unmanufactured
corks except in one province—the province of Gerona—and
that he was employed very assiduously in endeavouring to
improve the tariff, and to act in the same liberal spirit to us
as we had done towards Spain in regard to the import of
Spanish wines, which he admitted to be a great benefit to
Spain, but he added that there were protected interests with
which he felt it difficult to deal, and that difficulty he sug-
gested had been felt even in England in the case of the
of the paper duty. (" Hear," and a laugh.)
Mr. S. FITZGERALD inquired whether the proposed
changes in the Spanish tariff were to be effected by a sup-
plementary convention ?
Lord J. RUSSELL —Yes, it will be done by a supple-
mentary convention.
THE IRISH MAIL SERVICE—HOLYHEAD.
Colonel DUNNE asked the Under Secretary to the Tr ea-
sury when the new boats would be put on the Holyhead
station, when the piers at that station would be completed,
and as to overtures said to be made to the Midland and
Chester Railway Companies on that subject.
Mr. LAING replied that the large boats would be placed
on the station on the Ist of August. With regard to the
pier at Holyhead it had not yet been decided whether Mr.
Hawkshaw's plan should to carried out in its integrity, or
whether the permane t structure should be of timber or
stone. The necessity of temporary accommodation had been
urged by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, and
a temporary wooden pier, with sheds, so as to afford some
protection to passengers, was to be erected. As to the ar-
rangements
railway withrailway
company, they were these
The bound by their contract, under
compan they
was
heavy penalties, to make the journay between London and
Dublin in eleven hours ; but those penalties were not to
apply until the requisite accommodation was provided at
Holyhead for carrying the mails direct on board from the
railway without stopping at the station, and this would not
take place for two years. Half an hour's delay had been
allowed in consequence of the company's representation,
but upon the understanding that all parties were to unite
in expediting the service as much as possible; and it was
hoped the time would not be exceeded by more than a quar-
ter of an hour, or twenty minutes.
IRISH POOR REMOVAL.

A question put by Mr. LANIGA.N with reference to the
deportation of an Irish pauper by the poor-law officials of
St. Pancras, led to a protracted discussion, in the course of
which representations were made by hon. members on both
sides of the house of the cruelty of the law of removal, as at
present administered, and of the necessity of an immediate
alteration in that respect, Mr. Disraeli, in urging upon
the Home Secretary the expediency of taking some action
in the matter, expressed a hope that the Irish poor domi-
ciled in England would not be left to the tender mercies
and benignant influences of the metropolitan members.
Ultimately Sir G. C. Lewis promised that an official
inquiry should be institued into the particular case referred
to by Mr. Lanigan.
MEDICAL OFFICERS IN THE ARMY.

Colonel LINDSAY moved an address to her Majesty to
reconsider the 11th clause of the Army Medical Warrant
of October, 1858, as far as related to its retrospective appli-
cation to the medical officers at that time serving in the
ranks affected, having due regard to the efficiency of the
public service. He complained that in numerous instances
the warrant operated with great hardship and injustice in
the case of officers who had served for long periods in the
medical department of the army.
Mr. S. HERBERT defended the warrant, although he
admitted that in some cases its retrospective application
might have inflicted a certain degree of hardship.
After a few words from Colonel DICKSON, the motion
as withdrawn.

VOTES FOR DISQUALIFIED CANDIDATES AT

ELECTIONS.

Mr. BUTT obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend
and declare the law relating to votes given for a disqualified
candidate at parliamentary elections.
SELLING AND HAWKING GOODS ON SUNDAY