The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-15 00:00:00

.MPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The Coln River Water Bill was read a second time.

The following bills were read a third time and passed .
Midland Great Western Railway (Ireland), Great Southern
of India Railway, Chard Railway, Midland Railway (Bur-
ton-upon-Trent Branches and Deviation), Wednes Gas and
Water, Midland Railway (Rowsley and Beaton. Lines),
Midland Railway (Station in St. Pancras).
THE EXPEDITION FROM GENOA.

The Marquis of NORMANBY said he hail given notice
privately to the noble lord that it was his intention this
evening to ask a question relative to the departure of an
armed expedition from the waters of Genoa. He,
wished to know whether the Government would
lay upon the table any report they might
have received from Sir J. Hudson. The expedition left .the
place notoriously for the purpose of carrying on military
operations in Sicily. He had no wish to rais9 the question
as to the policy which had been adopted by the Government,
but he simply wished for any information that was in the
possession of the Government, and which could be given
without detriment to the public service.

Lord WODEHOUSE said there was no objection to lay-
ing the report that had been received from Sir J. Hudson
on the table. He must however state, for the information
of the noble marquis, that some time since a remonstrance
had been addressed by this Government to the Government
of Piedmont against any such expedition as that which hotd
taken place.

NAVAL RESERVES. 1
Lord CHELMSFORD, in the absence of his 110b6
and learned friend (Lord Lyndhurst), moved for
returns mentioned by the noble and learned lord in
speech the other evening. He understood there would
no objection to the returns alluded to. 1
The returns were ordered.
THE DECAYED GUNBOATS.
The Earl of HARDWICKE rose for the purpose of
moving for a return of all the vessels or gunboats beige.,
1,000 tons burden built by contract since the year 18512,
with the names and residences of the contractors of ea h
vessel, showing at the sometime the year of their cons -
tion, the price contracted for, together with their prey t
ti
condition as to seaworthiness. He was induced to m e
this motion in consequence of a report which had been r
a ome time current that a number of small vessels built in
the last four or five years, under the sanction of the CroWn,
had turned out to be in such a decayed condition that they
were not supposed to be fit for any operation until they
should undergo further repair. This report had naturally
produced in the country a feeling of indignation, becaUse
it was felt that some neglect existed, either on the part iof
the Government who made the contract, or on the part or
the contractors, or on the part of both combined, where y
a large sum of money had been lost to the country; a d
the hope and belief that the maritime defences of the coun-
try were daily strengthening and improving had at once
been destroyed. This was a matter of very grave conside-
ration. (Hear, hear.) He was bound to say that the pre-
sent Government were not iraplicated in this matter, as the
contracts occurred before theytame into office, and he had
no doubt that the noble duke at the head of the Admiralty
felt as much disposed as himself to remedy so great a grie-
vance. The contractors, no doubt, undertook to perform
that of which notice was given them, by the document
known as the specification of work. That document 'he
had not moved for, though it would be necessary, if the
return he now asked far were granted, to enable their lord-
ships to judge of the case ; and he should, therefore, on a
future oceasion move for it. From what had passed in
another place he understood that it was well known to the
Government at the time the contract was made that there
was in the merchants' building-yards no timber of a de-
scription fit for the intended work, but only such timber
as was described as unseasoned. If it turned out to be the
case that the contractors made the agreement with the clear
engagement to perform the very best work at the very best
price, and that the specification contained words to that
effect, while, at the same time, the Government were aware
that the timber was unfit for use, then the Government were
more to blame in the transaction than the contractors ; be-
cause, if it was necessary to run up a number of vessels for
temporary use, it would have been easy to have framed such
a specification as would have allowed of vessels being Wilt
for a temporary purpose at a moderate cost. Nevertheless,
the contractors theraselves were also blameable if they gave
their names out to the public as agreeing to use the best
material and perform the best work. The great difficUlty
was to know who was the responsible party. He was
aware that the Board of Admiralty was responsible its a
board, but it almost always happened that the country had
net got what it wanted—knowledge combined with responsi-
bility. There was really no sound responsibility where the
responsible party did not know his business. While a civi-
lian was at the head of the Board of Admiralty there was
always difficulty in grappling with questions connected with
the management of the maritime forces of the country. How-
ever, he apprehended that in this case the real party respon-
sible was the Surveyor of the Navy, who had, since these
boats had rotted, changed his name, and become " Control-
ler." He wanted to know whether the Controller was re-
sponsible for what had taken place. That functionary was
bred a seaman, and was a highly respectable officer, and he
was placed in the position of Surveyor of the Navy, for
which situation a person should be selected who was brought
up from his earliest life, as apprentiee in the building-yard,
to the use of the adze. Formerly Surveyors of the Navy
knew something of their business ; they were thoroughly
acquainted with shipbuilding in all its details; but Sir
James Graham introduced a new sys'em, and as one re-
sult of Whig jobbery Sir William Symonds was
made Surveyor of the Navy. Sir William was an ex-
cellent' officer and a worthy man, but he was quite igno-
rant of shipbuilding, and in his new office proved an
entire failure. He was succeeded by Sir Baldwin Walker,
who might be an able naval officer and an admirable ad-
ministrator, but who knew nothing of construction. The
consequence was that knowledge and responsibility did not
exist together ; but he trusted that what had occurred would
induce the Board of Admiralty to give the office of Sur-
veyor of the Navy to some man who was practically ac-
quainted with shipbuilding,. He was told that a few gun-
boats had been examined and found in a decayed state, and
that two had been actually broken up ; but he was afraid
that the whole were more cr less worthless. Information
had reached him to the effect that the 16 which hid been
put upon the slip at Portsmouth were utterly rot ten, and
that the repair of the remainder would cost as much as I heir
original construction. The fact that the gunboats were
built of green timber was not the only one deserving of at-
tention. Evidence had been given as to the fastenings,
which he could not help saying was of the most frightful
description. He hoped the house would grant his return,
which he protnistrl to follow up by an attempt to discover
the guilty parties ; for the matter was too serious a one to
be overlooked, whether the blame lay at the door of a ras-
cally contractor or an ignorant surveyor.
The Duke of SO?' ERSET—There can be no object ion
to give The information which the noble earl desires, asd
which, indeed, has already been moved for in the other
House of Parliament. One part of the return, however,
it would be very difficult to make. We have at present
no fewer than 162 gunboats, and to be able to give an
account of their seaworthiness we would require to have
them brought into dock, stripped, and examined. That
cannot be done with regard to the whole of them, as your
lordships will see when I state how they are distri-
buted. There are 53 divided into three divisions in dif-
ferent ports at home—at Hasler, 45 ;in commission at Pem-
broke and elsewhere, 8 ; in China, 21; North America, 3;
Mediterranean, 3; south-east coast of America, 2; con-
nected with the Coastguard, 14 ; in course of construction,
10. When the present Board of Admiralty came into office
we heard a great deal about the gunboats, particularly
those at 'Lagar, and we thought it our duty to have then
inspected. Certainly a considerable amount of decay was
found in them. I believe, indeed, the defect had been dis-
covered some months before, and at the time of our inspec-
tion some workmen were already engaged In repairing them.
More hands were put on, and during the whole of the sum-
mer there were 100 men employed. Of the 45 gunboats at
Hasler 23 have been thoroughly repaired ; six more are in
hand; so that 29 are either repaired or in a state of pro-
gress. We have been told that it was a mistake to keep the
gunboats out of the water, but some of those afloat are quite
as much decayed as those at Hasler. The one class does
not seem to be more exempt from decay than the other. At
the same time we have had gunboats constantly at work in
China and with our coastguard, and, as far as we know, thEry
have been, and are, perfectly efficient; so that the matter is
not quite so serious as some people suppose, nor is it correct
to say that no reliance whatever can be placed upon any of

_ .
the gunboats. I admit, however, that great blame rest

somewhere for the mode in which these vessels were eon

strutted. But we must look back to the circumstances
which then existed. We commenced the Russian war with
no gunboats. We were then engaged in repairing ships and
replacing sailing by steam vessels. Your lordships may be
aware that in the private builders' yards there is at any
moment but a small stock of timber, and therefore when this
pressure arose the builders had great difficulty in obtaining
timber, and when they did get it it was very small. Under
these circumstances the Governmentoffered not only the con-
tract price, but also a bonus for each gunboat that was com-
pleted within a certain time; so th 4. the builders had the
advantage not only of the contract, but also of the bonus.
however, was not much to their profit, because the
shipwrights in the Thames, being bound by no engage •
ments, demanded an increase of wages ; and this, combined
with the rise in the price of timber, led to the ruin of
many of the contractors. As regards what took place in
1854-55, I speak quite independently. lamin no way re-
sponsible for what the Government did then, but I have
inquired into what occurred, and I have been told that

in many of these yards there were two inspectors, a chief
inspector, and a leading man tinder him, to watch the pro.
gress of the work. They ware, however, working day and
night, it was during the winter, in many cases snow Was
upon the ground, and thus under this pressure opportuni-
ties wire offered to dishonest workmen to commit the fraud
which has been referred to by cutting off the bolts. What
makes that offence more flagrant is that the copper was
supplied ii log langths by the Achuiralty to be cut up for

bolts as it was required by the builders. So far as we have
gone we have found only two or three vessels in which this
fraud has been committed, and Tani" therefore disposed to
attribute it not to the contractors, but to some o' the work-
men who may have been introduced into the ards under
the pressure of the period. That question of he bolts was
broUght under the notice of the Admiralty , my about two
months ago, since which time I have ins uted inquiries
with a view to taking such legal proceed • gs as may raise
the whole question, and, if possible, bring to light the guilty
parties. What the noble earl said about the Surveyor of
the Navy is not applicable to this case. At that time great
exertions were being made in our dockyards to fit out ves-
sels rapidly; there were a number of vessels to be built, and
contracts and specifications to be drawn up, and the Sur-
veyor of the Navy, as he was then called, could not himself
visit the private yards and inspect the works which were
going on there. He was much more usefully employed in
overlooking the great works which were going on in our
dockyards. 411 he could do was to employ the best men he
could get as inspectors. With the advice and concurrence
of the superintendents of the different yards he took the
best leading men and workmen, and sent them to the dif-
ferent contractors' yards to inspect the work which was
going on there. That I believe is the system which has
always prevailed, and I know no better one which could be
adopted. If you are building a house you must trust to
the clerk of the works, and if he chooses to connect him-
self with the contractor and permit him to put in bad tim-
ber, you are quite helpless until you find it out some time
afterwards. In the same manner, in the case of build-
ing a ship, if the man or men whom you appoint at inspec-
tors enter into connivance with the builders—l do not say
that that was the case in this instance—but, if they do, I
do not see what resource you have or by what means you
can protect yourselves. The noble earl complains that the
Surveyor of the Navy :s not a practical shipwright.
That question has been discussed over and over again. We
have had shipbuilders as surveyors of the navy, and
naval men have complained of them, that thougk they could
build a ship they knew nothing about fitting it, and that
the vessels which they constructed were not suited to go to
sea. In the last arrangement which has been madethe Ad-
miralty took this course. They appointed a practical ship-.
builder to attend to the construction of the hulls, a practical
engineer to look after the machinery, and a naval man to
act with them and to be guided by their advice. So far as
I can learn, although, of course, great improvements may
still be made, and I think naval architecture is making very
rapid progress, the ships which have been built under this
system are very satisfactory. The Channel fleet has, as your
lordships are aware, been at sea in one or two gales, and it
has been tried, although not very seriously, yet enough to
enable naval officers to judge of the qualities of the ships of
which it is composed. As soon as it arrived in port I wrote
to the captain of each vessel, and asked him t 3 tell me what
he thought of her and of her behaviour while she had been
under his command, and what, if any, improvements he could
suggest in her build. Upon the whole, the reports which I
have received in reply are most satisfactory, and do great
credit to the builders of these vessels, because they show that
they are very efficient ships and have under somewhat diffi-
cult circumstances behaved very well. Therefore, I think,
in opposition to the view of the noble earl, that the system
which we have got is, upon the whole, a good system. The
reason for changing the title of the Surveyor of the Navy
to that of "Controller of the Navy" is, to show that he is not
actually a shipbuilder, but that he is to overlook the other
two departments, and to bring the practical knowledge of a
seaman to the technical information of the shipbuilder
and the scientific information of the engineer, and by the
combination of the three to give to naval men the assurance
that they will have placed under their command the best
ships that can be constructed. It is impossible that any of
these officers should give to the dockyards the practical in-
spection which is necessary, and, therefore I had intended
to connect with the department of the Controller an officer
who should visit the dockyards, see what is going on, and
communicate with the Admiralty more readily than can be
done under the existing system. The reason why I have
yet made no such appointment is, that a commission upon
this subject has been moved for in another place, and I
thought that it would be better and more respectful to Par-
liament to wait for its report than at once to carry out my
own idea. (Hear.) It has been said that many of these gun-
boats were constructed of green wood. That, however, is
not the worst, for in many cases not only was the wood
which was used green, but the sap was not properly re-
moved from it. That was a much greater fault, because it
was hardly to be expected that in private yards there should
be a proper supply of seasoned timber; but the material
which was used might in all cases have been properly pre-
pared for use. In order to prevent similar occurrences in
future, we have laid down a rule that when any builder ap-
plies to the Board of Admiralty for a contract for building
ships, the Board shall send a person to visit his yard to see
what stock of timber and what slip accommodation he has
got. By watching the quantity of timber they kept, and by
giving the contracts to those builders who kept the largest
quantity of suitable timber, the Admiralty hoped to secure
the use of proper materials in the construction of their
vessels. The iron-coated vessels which are now being
built are not vessels in which the green wood materially
enters, the timber that is used for their sides being foreign
timber. The gunboats to be put up this year will be sound
anal well-ssasoned and of a somewhat better class than those
we now possess. They will be able to take a part in our
colonial service, in which their employment will often save
the country the expense of maintaining the larger vessels.
Reference has been made to the timber in our dockyards.
To a great extent that timber consists of foreign oak and
teak, which are all well seasoned. Of gnglish oak there is
not a suffieient supply in the market to meet the wants of
the dockyards ; but there are certain purposes for which we
are obliged to use that article. We are anxious to obtain
timber from all parts of the world. Your lordships may not
all be aware that last year there were added to our navy 17
ships of the line, nine frigates, three corvettes, and seven
sloops. If we had gone on building at that rate the whole
of our seasoned timber would have been exhausted. But as
regards our present operations, we are putting vessels on
the frames rather to season them than to launch them with
the ra ,idity we have lately done. My lords, I know of no
other point to which I need now advert. I have statedwhy
we cannot give the information now asked for with respect
to every gunboat, but only as to those of them that have
been examined. But in the statement which will be pro-
duced the words " not examined" will be entered against
those vessels which have not undergone inspection. One-
half of the mortar-boats are built of iron. As to the wooden
mortar-boats, we have not yet gone over the whole of them,
and are not, therefore, able to state what is their condition.
The Marquis of TOWNSHEND said it had been reported
' that the workmen, in driving the copper bolts through the
timber of the gunboats, had cut off the middles of the bolts,
put them in their pockets, and sold them for Gd. or ls.
apiece. It anything could make our seamen tremble on
board ship it would be the suspicion that they had beensent
to sea in vessels made of rotten timber, and held together
by such deceptive fastenings. If we must continue liable to
such frauds, it would be better to dispense with copper bolts
altogether, and revert to the old trenail. He trusted that a
searching inquiry would be instituted into these disgraceful
transactions, and that somebody would be made responsible
for them.
The Earl of HARDWICKE was understood to agree to
the verbal amendment of his motion, as suggested by the
First Lord of the Admiralty.
After a few words from the Earl of SUREWSBURY and
TALBOT,
The Duke of SOMERSET said there was a Board of
Construction in former years, but it did not exist now. The
members of the Board of Admiralty used to take part in the
construction of ships, but that system was not found at all
to work well, and it was then determined to make the sur-
veyor responsible for giving aslvico in such matters. At
present, when the board thought more line-of-battle ships
or other vessels were required, they sent to the surveyor,
who called in the practical men under him to prepare the
lines, and then his advice, together with the, plans, was
submitted to the approval of the board.
The motion as amended was then agreed to.
ROAD ACROSS HYDE PARK.

Earl DtCIE presented a petition from many inhabitants
of the districts north and south of Hyde-park, to the west of
Edgeware-road in the former case, and of Sloane-street in
. . _ -

the latter, begging for some more direct communication than
at present existed between the districts lying to the north
and south of Hyde -park. He said the grievance of which
the petitioners complained, the want of any such communi,
cation other than Park-lane, and especially the want of a
carriage-road open at all hours of the day or night, was a
subject which had frequently been brought before the House
of Commons, and in 1855 a committee which sat upon the
subject of metropolitan communications reported in favour
of such a road, placing it in the first class of the schemes
they recommended fur adoption. The evidence of Mr. Pen-
nithorno Wore the committee was strongly in its favour.
Since that time an enormous increase had been made to the
population on both sides of Hyde-park, and on the enuth side
many important public institutions had been erected. There
was the South Kensiiigton Museum, there was the new
garden of the Horticultural Society now progressing, the
projected Exhibition of 18G2, and various hospitals. The
Petitioners now abstained from suggesting any particular
plan, regarding that function as one properly belonging to
the board which had charge of such matters. They were
anxious, however, that, whatever was done, the sanctity of
Rotten- row should be preserved, and that nothing should
be done to interfere with that ride. Every plan that he
had yet heard suggested included a tunnel under Rotten-
row. It was, moreover, not desirable to make a public road
in two close vicinity to Kensington-gardens.
Lord EBURY thought everybody would concur that
this road across Hyde-park was absolutely necessary; and
the necessity of a more direct communication between

he north and south sides of St. James's Park was also

quite evident. At present the whole traffic which caraefroto
Piccadilly or Oxford-street, stied went to Belgravia, had to
go round by Charing-cross, and there to encounter all the
traffic coming from the east end of London, and all that

was going over `Westminster-bridge. lle regretted that
when the footbi idge was made in St. James's Park, two or
three years ago, a carriage Toad was not constructed, which
might have done without injury to the gardens.
Lord LLANOVER said it must bo admitted that there
were hardly any of the great throughfarcs in the metro-
polis capable at present of accommodating suffi-

ciently the traffic that had to pass through them, and seri

ous inconvenience was felt from this cause. But there were
great difficulties in the way of extensive metropolitan im-
provements. On the ono hand, it was often urged that
Parliament ought not to grant money for such objects, but
that they should be wholly provided for out of the local
taxation. That might be fair if the metropolis were on the
same footing as the ether great towns of the empire. But
this was not the case ; for whilst in other cities and bo-
roughs the municipalities had large funds, derived from
various tolls and dues, applicable to the improvements of
the town, here the whole of these coal dues and revenues
from other articles was levied by the Corporation of the
City of London, who expended that vast sum of money
wi4in the City, leaving to the rest of the metropolis no
other resource than to impose a local rate. He did not
know how this matter was dealt with in the bill now be-
fore the House of Commons for the reform of the London
corporation, but it was a point to which the attention of
their lordships ought to be directed with a view to
enabling metropolitan improvements to be carried out. The
widening of the south end of Park-lane, only as far as from
Piccadilly up to Holderness-house, would cost no less than
£lOO,OOO, and it was impossible that such improvements
could be effected out of a local rate.
SELLING AND HAWKING OF GOODS ON SUN-

DAY BILL.

Upon the motion for the recommittal of this bill,

Lord TEYNHAM implored their lordships not to pro-
ceed with the bill, on the ground that they ought to see how
far public and private efforts could succeed in putting down
needless Sunday trading before they attempted to legislate
upon the subject.
Lord CHELMSFORD said that, on a former occasion,
the principle of the bill was fully discussed, and upon a di-
vision, at the instance of the noble lord, was recognised by
a majority. Under these circumstances, he felt he ought
to do no more on the present occasion than move that the
house should resolve itself into committee.

Their lordships then went into committee upon the
Upon the first clause,
Lord TEYNHAM said the noble and learned lord prohi-
bited the sale of vegetables on Sunday, while he permitted
fish, bread, and fruit to be sold ; and observed that if he
left out of the exception list anything material which was
required by people on Sunday, the want of it would be felt
by the community until parliament met again. He might
mention that many horses were kept in a very unnatural
state in London ; and if, for instance, bran happened to be
absolutely required for one of rheso animals on Sunday,
the selling of it would, under the bill, be treatel as a cri-
minal act. But he also objected to the bill because it was
not general in its application. Sunday trading was car-
ried on both in Liverpool and Birmingham, and what was
good for the metropolis was surely also good for those towns.
He also objected to a fine not exceeding 10s. nor less than
55., believing that in nine out of every ten cases it could
not be recovered without levying a distress, the result of
which would be to deprive many poor persons of all the
property they possessed in the world. (Hear.)
_ _

Lord CHELMSFORD contended that the noble lord had
treated him unfairly by saying that ho wished, by the bill,
to oppress the poor trader. He had introduced the bill
for no other object than to meet the-wishes of thousands of
tradesmen who had petitioned their lordship? house upon
the subject.
The clause was then agreed to.
On clause 2,

The Duke of SOMERSET thought that it would be a
great hardship if poor people were not allowed to buy a loaf
of bread after nine o'clock, while newspapers could be pur-
chased up to ten o'clock.
The Earl of EGLINTON suggested that the hour
should be ten instead of nine for closing all shops.
The amendment was adopted, and the clause as amended
agreed to.
Clause 3 was agreed to.
On clause 4,

Lord WODEHOUSE said it seemed to him a harsh
measure that people hawking fruit in the streets should not
be allowed to cry their goods.
Lord CHELMSFORD said that in the particular part of
the metropolis where these cries mostly occurred they were
regarded by the inhabitants as one of the greatest nuisances
possible.

The Bishop of CARLISLE said, that having had ex-
perience of London for some 15 years, and knowing how far
these public cries affected congregations, he felt bound to
say that on many occasions he had had to send out of church
during the administration of the Lord's Supper to stop the
cries of fruit.

The clause was then agreed to, as was also clause 5.

Lord CHELMSFORD said that his noble and learned
friend (Lord Wensleydale), who was not now present,
wished to introduce a clause after the sth, °"e effect that
the term for which a person guilty of a first offence against
the act should be imprisoned should not exceed one calen-
dar month. He saw no objection whatever to the proposed
clause.

The clause was accordingly inserted.
Clauses 6,7, 8, and 9, were agreed to.
Lord TEYNHAM gave notice that lie should take the
sense of the house upon the third reading.
BANKRUPT LAW (SCOTLAND) AMENDMENT

BILL.

In committee on this bill;

Lord CHELMSFORD expressed a hope that their lord-
ships would resist the temptation which the abuse of the
present law held out to them to make the bill retrospective.
With a view to prevent such a step, he would move to omit
the words " has been or."

The LORD CHANCELLOR defended the clause in
which these words occurred.
The committee divided—
Contents
Non-contents 6-1

The words were therefore retained, and the house re•
surned.

THE COMMON LODGING HOUSES (IRELAND;

BILL.

This bill was read a second time.
Offences against the Person Bill was read a third time
and passed.
The Larceny Bill, the Forgery Bill, the Malicious In-
juries to Property Bill, the Coinage Offences Bill, the Ac-
cessories and Abettors Bill, and the Criminal Statute Re-
peal Bill were read a third time and passed.
The Exchequer Bills Bill and the Customs Bill were read
a third time and passed.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following bills were read a third time and passed :
Abergavenny Improvement, Consett District Water,
Leeds Township, and Sovereign Life Assurance Company.
The following bills were considered and ordered for
third reading :—Banbridge Junction Railway; Belfast and
County Down Railway; Belfast, Holywood, and Bangor
Railway; Buildings Improvement Company; Dublin and
Kingstown, and Dublin and Wicklow Railway Companies ;
Egleston Roads; Keith and Dufftown Railway; Mersey
Ducks and Harbour Board ; Upper Mersey Dues, changed
from "Upper Mersey Dues, Purchase, and Conservancy."
The Monklan 1 Railways Bill and the Symington, Biggar,
and Broughton Railway Bill were read a second time.
PETITIONS.

Several petitions were presented against the Wine
Licences Bill, in favour of an alteration in the Irish Poor
Law, in favour of the Metropolitan Gas Bill, against the
Highways Bill, &c.

SHOT-BOATS, &c.
Sir C. NAPIER gave notice that he would ask to-mor-
row a question relative to the building of the shot-boats as
well as the reserve vessels.
THE INSURRECTION IN SICILY.
Mr. HENNESSY gave notice that he would draw the
attention of the house to the money raised for the purpose
of carrying out the insurrection in Sicily.
NEWSPAPERS CONVEYANCE BILL.

Mr. BAINES asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer
whether he intended to proceed that evening with the order
of the day which stood on the paper for the second reading
of the Newspaper Conveyance Bill

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—The

Newspaper Conveyance Bill has not yet been printed, and
has been reserved for the purpose of submitting to the house
at the same time the regulations to be made by authority of
the Treasury, which the adoption of such a bill would re-
quire. But lam obliged to my hon. friend for putting this
question, because it will enable me to state what appears to
be the convenient course to take with respect to the mea-
sure. The reasons on which the bill is founded are chiefly
or entirely departmental and administrative reasons ; but a
portion of the parties affected by it are disposed to contest
those reasons, and to urge that the present system of a stamp
on superficiA instead of a simple stamp on weight, with
the privilege of retransmission, is accompanied by certain
incidents which make it a beneficial and an economical ar-
rangement for the public. That is an allegation which,
howevarit may be opposed to the view of the authorities in
the Post-office department, is yet a fair subject for inquiry,
and I should not like to urge the disposal of a subject of
this kind, without attending to such a fair allegation, which
it is competent for these parties to make, and fairly within
the province of the House of Commons to consider. We
are, however, met by this difficulty. Sir Rowland Hill,
the Secretary to the Post-office, I regret to say, has
been labouring under a severe illness, and an intima-
tion has been made to him on medical authority that
it is absolutely requisite, in order to the public retain
ing his invaluable services, that ho should have leave of
absence for no less than six months. I think it will be im-
possible for the department to state its case on a subject of
this kind in the absence of one who, I may say, has been
the life and soul of all the post-office arrangements in this
country for the last 20 years. Under these circumstances
I have no alternative but to pos inquiry which I
admit to be fairly demanded, and as it is uncertain whether
or not Sir Rowland Hill may recover before the end of the
session, I think it best to drop the bill—(ironical cheers)—
reserving to myself the renewal of it at a future period,
after this inquiry shall have been made. I would therefore
move that the order of the day for the second reading of the