The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-18 00:00:00

the saEctuary afforded by those laws which he new
" audaciously and ungratefully sought to alter." A
committee was then appointed to prepare a petition
in terms of the resolutions, to be forwarded for
preset.tation to Sir J, Anderson.—Scotsman,

TDB SEARCH OF PIERRPS ROUSE IN

BIRMINGHAM..

At the Birmingham Watch Committee on Tues-
day, Mr. E. C. Osborne introduced the subject of
the search of Pierri's house by reminding the
chairman that he bad pledged himself to have some
inquiry on the subject instituted.
The CHAIRMAN said he was not aware he had so
pledged himself, but he was quite ready to take
upon himself the duty of making the requisite in-
quiry, though it was probably rather the duty of
the mayor to take up the question.
Mr. OSBORNE—AII we want to know in the first
instance is simply whether the chief superintendent
had any legal authority for entering the house in
Bath-row, and removing certain papers. Being
our servant, there can be no doubt we have power
to put the question.
The CHAIRMAN—No doubt of that, and with the
leave of the committee I shall do so. You are
aware, Mr. Stephens, that a good deal of conver-
sation has taken place in the town regarding your
right to enter Pierri's house and search it. I want
to know whether you did enter it, and if you did,
under whose authority you did so ?
Mr. Stephens—As I am threatened with an action
I had better reserve my defence, but of course the
committee will understand that I mean no
offence to them. (Hear.)
The !PowN CLERK said that if the Chief Superin-
tendent was threatened with an action it would not
be fair to ask him any question that might affect
his defence.

Mr. OSBORNE thought they might infer that Mr.
Stephens had no authority. However this might
be, the committee were bound to take some notice
of a matter affecting the iiberty of the subject. In
the opinion of some, Mr. Stephens might be justi-
fied in the course he took, but in his (Mr. Osborne's)
opinion no man had a right to take such proceed-
ings unless he obeyed the law. (Hear.) He did
not wish to censure the Chief Superintendent, but
he thought some such resolution as the foilowing
should be adopted :—" That this committee, hav-
ing occasion to believe that the Chief Superintendent
entered the premises of M. Pierri, situate in Bath- j
row, andtook therefrom certain papersand correspon-
dence, without having first obtained the necessary
legal authority for so doing, hereby reoords its
opinion that the Chief Superintendent has by such
conduct been guilty of a violation of the law, which
secures to every resident in this country the right
of protection to his person and property."
The CHAIRMAN said he thought they should not,
after Mr. StEphens's answer, assume that he had
or had not a warrant.
Mr. OSBORNE—If he had a warrant he could not
hesitate saying so for a moment, as that would be
sufficient answer to any action.
Alderman LLOYD thought they should look at the
question iu a common sense way. If au atr...cious
murder were committed in London, and Mr.
Stephens received intelligence that the accused had
lived in Birmingham, would he be justified in
searching that person's house without a warrant,
if the delay of an hour or two became a matter of
importance ? if he would do so in respect of a Lon-
don muider, why not in respect of one committed
at Paris
Mr. DEE said that iu Birmingham and elsewhere
preuuses were dailysearched without warrants. If
they passed Mr. Osborne's resolution they would
place the police in a difficult position.
Tue CHAIRMAN repeated his opinion, that after
the answer of Mr. Stephens it would be unfair
either to blame or to justify him. When the ac-
tion was tried then would be the time to agree to
an expre-sion of opinion.
Mr. CuTeea said he thought they were bound to
enter upon an inquiry iu this matter, as they were
trusted to some eat nt with the liberties of their
fellow burgesses. They ought to ascertain whether
Mr. Stephens acted in this matter as their servant
or the servant of somebody else. If he had acted
in an extraordinary manner, or under extrAneous
authority, say under the authority of the Govern-
ment, the committee ought to know that fact, in
order that they might know what control they
had over their own servants. Matters were now
assuming an alarming appearance. One man had
been apprehended in London ; an Englishman had
been seized and searched in Pads ; and altogether
things were getting so complicated that it became
an important question whether we shotild not keep
ourselves clear of them, and show there was no
complicity on the part of the authorities of Bir-
mingham. He thought, therefore, that not only
as regards the liberty of the subject, but for other
reasons, they should know by whose authority this
searoh was made. If the committee did not do it
the people of Birmingham would not be satisfied.
A town's meeting would most certainly be held.
As to an action, it was absurd to think Mr.
Stephens was afraid of what a man could do to him
who would have his head chopped off in a few
days.

Alderman LLOYD asked Mr. Stephens whether in
this instance he had acted differently to what he
would have done in an ordinary case of murder ?
Mr. STEPHENS replied that he had not, and the
subject then dropped.—Bi: mingham Daily Post.

MARKET NEWB.--(This Day.)