The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-26 00:00:00

INDIA.

Mr. CHEETHAM asked the Secretary of the Board
of Control if it was the intention of hnr Majesty's Go-
vernment to c3nstitute a Board of Public Works in each
Presidency of India, distinct from tle3e Boards now
existing there, whose special duties shall be the construc-
tion of roads, cf works of irrigation and navigable canals,
and the improvement of the navigation of rivers
Mr. H. BAILLIE said it was not the intention of
her Majesty's Government to adopt the course referred
to by the bon. member. If it could be shown that the
Department of Public Works did not discharge the
duties required of them, her Majesty's Government
would consi,ier the best means of providing a suitable
remedy. (Hear.)
THE CAPTURE 01' DELHI.

Mr. BINNAIRD asked the Secretary for War
whether it was in contemplation to issue medals to coee-
memorate the capture of Delhi to all those engaged in
that memorable siege.
General PEEL said her Majesty had directed that a
medal should be granted to all the troops engaged in the
suppression of the mutiny iu India, with a clasp for the
capture of Delhi— cheers)—and also f>r the capture and.
relief of Luck now. (Cheers.)
LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.
Mr. ROEBUCK moved that, in the opinion of this
house, the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ought to
be abolished, and the office of Secretary of State for Ire-
lan lat once created. The hon. and learned gentleman
denied that he was an enemy to Ireland by pursuing the
present course. He had always done his utmost
far Ireland, and by eeing away with this badge of slavery,
and appointieg a Secretary of Sta`e, he was advocating
Ireland's being a portion of this great empire in reality.
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland cost 50,0001. a-year,
without any corresponding benefit. The only persons
interested in its continuance were milliners and tailors,
v he supplied Court dresses.
Mr. GILPIN stconded the moti•;n.
Mr. S. B. MILLAR tnovei the previous question, on
tbo ground that no valid reason hal been given f -r this
change, and secondly, that her Majesty's Government
were net iu a position to give the matter, from pressing
business, their best consideration at present. He
considered such a change should originate v,ith the Go-
veromeat, and not with a private member. A central

_ .._. . .
resident authority in Dublin was essential to the welfare
of Ireland, and he quoted the opinion of the late Duke
of Wellington to that effect. He protested against the
revivals and incessant renewals of this motion for piece-
meal legislation.
Mr. VANCE seconded the amendment.
Cul. FRENCH condemned the course purseed by the
mover of the amendment. The previous question
was an ingenious device to get rid of a matter to which
he (Col. French) considered a tacit admission that ti e
mover and those who voted with him were unable to re-
sist the truth and force of the original resolution. Ile
was surprised the previous question had been moved
from the Ministerial side of the house, because Lord
Eglinton on a fernier occasion declared that the abolition
of the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland would be
beneficial to that country, an opinion in which that
nobleman was joined by many of his present colleagues.
The gallant colonel then referred to the system of excln-
sion of Irishmen from the office of Lord Lieutenant and
Chief Secretary, that had been adopted, though Irish-
men in all quarters of the world, and in every station
had shown themselves equal to Englishmen or
Seotchmen, The cost of the Lord Lieutenant had
been wrongly etated at 50,0031. a-year. It was only
)
35,0001., and he found teat the Home Secretary's office
for England cost 24,0001., the Colonial 29,0001., and
the War-office 121,000/. The question, he repeated, was
one of sufficient importance to be met by a direct nega-
tive ; it was one wbicb could only be considered at the
request of the Minister of the day, who should be able
to til the house what substitute he proposed for the Go-
vernment of the Lord-Lieutenant, and who alone could
assure Ireland that her law courts would be maintained
despite such abolition. Moreover, it was only the Minis-
ter who could state what amount of compensation ought
to be granted to the holders of existing offices, and for
how long it should be granted. If the Minister should
ever feel called upon to bring forward a measure of this
nature, he should ho ready to give it the fullest atten-
tion ; but until such an emergency did arise, he must
decline to consider it upon the mere invitation of a pri-
vate member. (Hear, hear.)
Lord NAAS would endeavour to hew to the house
that the object which the hon. and learned member who
made this motion had in view was not quite so easily at-
tainable as he supposed. There were many difficulties
attending the consideration of this question, which it
appeared to him had not presented themselves to the
mind of the hon. and learned member, but at the same
time he (Lord Neat) should support the amendment of
his hon. and learned friend the member for Armagh, on
the gent gal ground that he did not think it would be
right to adopt a resolution which proposed to make a
great change in the government of Ireland, without
\
being first perfectly certain that the system of govern-
ment to be established in its stead exhibited an improve-
' relent. Now, in discussing this question, he conceived
the hon. and learned gentleman failed to make out that
position, for although the hon. and learned gentleman
had freely expressed his opinions upon many of the in-
c,neeniences and some of the anomalies attending the
existing government, be had not yet shown that the re-
medy he' proposed would remove any of those anomalies
or inconveniences, or that it would supply a better sys-
tem of government than the present. Now, in consider-
, ing this matter, they must dismiso from their censidera-
-1
I Lion what the hon. and learned gentleman had termed
; the finenc:al bearings of the question. If the government
I of the Lord Lieutenant could be shown to be the beat
that could be adopted, the house would certainly not al-
low the element of expense to enter into the consideration
of the question, and therefore whether that mode of go•
vernmeet cot 30,0001., 20,0001., or 40,0001. a-year was
a matter with which the house had nothing to do. Nor
could the oenvenience of a class be allowed to influence
the question, because if it could be shown that the
change would be beneficial to the entire country, no
one set or class of inhabitants would have any right to
complain of its being made. But the difficulties which
he saw in the proposal of the hon. and learned gen-
tleman were none of these. The difficulties he saw
were connected with the administration of the go-
vern,nent itself—difficulties which he did not think
the hon. and learned gentleman sufficiently appre-
ciated. It would be well for the house to consider what
was the system of government that now exists in Ireland.
It was all very well to talk of the similarity between the
law of Ireland and the law of England; but the fact was
that at the present moment there was a greater difference
between the mode of administering the laws of the two
countries than the hon. gentleman appeared to be aware
of. The administration of the Government of Ireland as
cimpared with that of England was essentially based
upon a centralised system. Government influence was
exercised throughout all the ramifications of the system
down to the lowest scale of appointments, and it would
require considerable discretion, considerable ability, and
great energy to do away at once with this system, which
had obtained so long in Ireland. From the period of the
Norman conquest down to the present day the principle
of centralisation had regulated the Irish Government.
Nearly every administrative department, if not all, was
under the control of the Government ; and that circum-
stance alone, if there were no other, was sufficient to
show how difficult it would be to make the change now
proposed. Of this centralised system the Lord-Lieute-
nant was the mainspring and the head ; his duties were
not quite those which had been described by the hone
and learned gentleman. He bad other duties of an im-
portant character to perform—duties requiring as much
sagacity and as much care as those of any member of
the Government of this country. The Lord-Lieutenant
was
upon all important matters of administra-
tion;public disturbance arose the Lord
consulted
when
anyseriuus
Lieutenant was the authority referred to, as shown in
the recent disturbances in Ireland ; whie during the last
general election there were no less than 20,000 armed
wan in motion throughout Ireland, who were all acting
under the direction c
I his excellency. Nor was that all ;
so much was his authority
mixed up with the admini ,tra-
Lion of justice that no pr,soner could be disposed of or
lunatic confined without h e sanction. (A. laugh.) Hon.
members might laugh; but though he did not mean to say
that his authority was exercised in every individual eerie,
yet be did say if any difficulty arose, if any peculiar case
occurred, the consideration of the q uestion was referred
modes
hat the Lord-Lieutenant. (Hear.) Well, now,,i three
o t
8:b.
had been proposed from time to time as
ttTahrye
first was that the Lord-Lieutenant
number
of
his
stitutes for the government of the Lordat
certain
should remove to London with a
ultimatenmaetl iitifolnreolfatnhde
by the
Lieutenant.
proposal had often been made
• rial executive. Teat
lave ith
absorptiona vi
e w t
oo
ft htbeeg o government
who wished to see the government of Ireland
centered in the Home-office ; but for his part he thought
basyntacit:tobswee
it quite impossible that any man could discharge three
extra duties, no matter what amount of energy or &anis