The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-11 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LO RDS. -(YESTERDAY. )

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.
2 Lord WENSLEYDALE moved for certain returns
, connected with the Encumbered Estates Court in Ire-
) land.—Agreed to.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
On the motion of Lord REDESDALE, the following bil
vere read a second time, iz.--the Liverpool Exchange,
London D:ck Company, Knigh'on Railway ; Renni-
-tone, Thurlstone, and ()spring Gas ; and Barnetaple
Waterworks Bills,.
LORD CANNING'S PROCLAMATION.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY gave notice that on the
14th May he should move a resolution condemnatory of
-he publication of the despatch of the Governor-General.
(Ironical cheers from the Ministerial side of the house.)
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said it perhap-
might be for the conveniecee of the noble earl if he was
low to lay on the table a copy, in extenso, of the des-
patch. (Cheers.) He would take that opportunity of
correcting a mistake which ex sted with respect to tha.
locumeut. It was quite by accident that the
'ouse only received a part of it on a former occa-
sion, while the whole of the despatch had been produced
in the House of Commons. The fact was that it was in-
tended that the Secretary of the Board of Control should
present extracts to both houses, but from some mistake
the perfect document was accidentally transmitted to
the House of Commons, and a compressed copy was laid
upon their lordships' table.
Lord CLANRICARDE asked whether there was any
ether document in the possession of the Government
which the omitted paragraphs in the proclamation
-• ferred to, and if there was any objection to its produc-
tion.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, notice of the
question ought to have been given. He should prefer
•newering the question to-morrow.
Earl GREY—Perhaps the noble earl will say for the
,nformation of the house, whether the Government had
toy further explanation of Lord Canning's views with
iespect to the publication of the proclamation, in addi-
tion to that now i n possession of the house.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said not a word
had been received from the Governor-General. The
mly letter received was that of the 4th of March. In
tact a month has elapsed during which time Lord Cau-
-1 ning had been completely silent.
Earl GREY—Then he understood that the Govern-
ment had only received the draft of the despatch. They
had no information that the production had ever been
oresentt d at alt.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said he had no
,irect information at all whether the proclamation had
ever been published.
Earl GRANVILLE believed that Mr. Vernon Smith
tad received a private letter from Lord Canning, which
,rnplied that a note accompanied the draft proclamation,
Jitiniating, the Governor-General's intention of explain-
ay. his views in a subsequent despatch.
The Earl of MALMESBURY said the conduct of
qr. V. Smith differed widely from that of the noble
-arl (Clarendon) opposite. That letter ought not to
save been withheld from the Government.
The Earl of DERBY asked whether the noble mar-
qui- (Lansdowne) could say when the let.er was received !
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said the letter to

which alla•ion bad been made was not reveived until
liter the answer bad been given in the other house by
he Chancellor of the Exchequer on Thursday last.
(Hear, bear, from the Opp )sition.)
The subject then dropped.
ANNEXATION IN INDIA.

The Earl of ALBEMARLE postponed the motion of
Nhich he had given notice, as he believed it was in some
legree clnneeted with the subject alluded to in Lord
Canning's proclamation.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—The noble earl hay

lone justice to one governor-general—may I ask him to
lo justice to another I I do not mean myself; for, of
course, I do not expect that—but I mean Lord Dalhousie.
rile motion of the noble earl is the strongest possible
:ensure upon the policy of Lord Dalhousie, which was
-upported by her MsjTsty's late ministers ; but it does
oot state fairly the principle upon which Lord Dalhousie
lid what he did, If his policy is to be censured, let the
orinciple of it be stated in his own words ; and I do re•
-pest that the noble earl, when he does bring forward
uis motion, if he ever does bring it furward, will state
the principle he condemns, in the very words of the noble
marquis who preceded Lord Canning.
CHELSEA HOSPITAL AND WATERWORKS—
EXCHANGE OF LANDS BILL.

This bill was read a second time.
LAW OF PROPERTY AMENDMENT BILL.
This bill passed Lbrough committee.
CUSTOMS DUTIES (No. 2) BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.
EXCISE DUTIES BILL.

r On the motion for the third reading,
Lord MONTEAGLE said he did not object to the
♦ery high rate of duty which it was proposed by the bill
to levy upon Irish spirite, provided only that it could be
~llected. Perhaps he ehould be told that the present
itities were punctually paid ; but he would remind their
lordships that the price of grain had latterly been very
ugh ; and when that was the case the revenue authori-
jos had seldom much to complain of. But in point of
fact smuggling was o❑ the increase ; for while the con-
.nmptio❑ of spirits had of late increased, the number of
gallons taken for home consumption had diminished.
l'he difference must, therefore, have been made up by
spirits smugi,led or illegally distilled. There was another
natter to which he wished to refer. The admirable
body of revenue police had been abolished, and while a
fair provision had been made for its younger members,
:hose who had grown old in the service had been
treated fa a most miserably parsimonious manner. The
Government would save 40,0001. by the proposed ar-
rangement, and they might do an act of justice to these
men for 20,0001. a year. He had no pers nal knowledge
,f any one of these parties, hut he appealed to any noble
lord connected with Ireland whether he had not justly
,fttimated the services of this corps. He should not
make any motion on the suhject,:but be hoped t e Go-
vernment would look into the matter and do what was
just.
The Earl of DONOUGHMORE was understood to
say that his noble friend seemed to think that this mea-
tire would increase illicit distillation in Ireland, but it
was believed that that would not be so. As to the
quantity of spirits consumed in Ireland, it mus.. be
borne in mind that the population bad diminished, for
while in 1841 it was 8,602,000, in 1851 it was only
6,500.000, and at the commencement of this year it wag
oily 6,000,000. He did not deny that the operation of
increased duties was to diminish to acme extent con-
.umption, but it was admitted on all bands that the too
free use of spirits was not good. His noble friend ad-
mitted that the police force bad acted with great effect in
checking illicit distillation, but he could notgo with him in
thinking that illicit distillation had increased in licensed
distilleries. He thought it was wise to put the spirit
duty of the two countries on the same footing.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE thought that this
matter was one of very great importance to Ireland, and
he dreaded lest illicit distillation or the adulteration of
spirits should increase. With reference to that elas,, of
persons to whom his noble friend (Lord Monteagle) had
referred, they had been turned out of the public service
at a time of life when it was almost impossible for them
to devote themselves to anything else, and he recom-
mended their claims to the notice of the Government.
The Earl of DERBY said that, as to the particular
class alluded to who had been superannuated, he must
say to the noble marquis opposite that it was quite suffi-
cient f 'r the Government to have to defend their own
measures without having cast upon them the burden of
defending the measures of the late Government. This
was the second time within a short period when
leading members of the late Government had ac-
cused them for acts of their own. (liter, hear.) The
late President of the Board of Trade had attacked the
Government as to the arrangement for telegraphic com-
munication wi!li India, and had made an admirable
speech, pointing out the superiority of another plan,
without waking to the consciousness that the plan so
objected to was that adopted by the late Government of
which he was a member. (Hear, hear.) The noble
marquis protested as to the injustice of the superannua-
tion.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE—No.
The Earl of DERBY—To the great hardship then in
fleeted on the officers of the revenue police by reason of
the inadequacy of the compensation. It did happen
that that compensation bad not been assigned by the
present Board of Treasury, but by the Gr,vernment of
which the nille marquis was so distinguished a mem-
ber. (Laughter.)
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE—A complaint
had been made before be joined the late Government,
and he had intended to bring it under the notice of his
colleagues.
The Earl of DERBY wondered that the noble mar-
quis had allowed the matter to sleep so long, (A. laugh.)
It Wag at all events very extraordinary that the noble
marquis had accepted office in the government that bad
inflicted such hardship on a body of his countrymen—(a
laugh)—if indeed it were a case of hardship ; but he did
not think it was. Ile thought that these men had
received as much as they were enticed to. Upon the
consolidation of the revenue police with the general
constabulary of Ireland, every man who was fit for
service in the revenue police was transferred to the con-
stabulary police. They then had to deal with those who
were incapable of perfoiming their datiee, and they were
dealt with in this way. All who had served for a period
of time which entitled them to receive less than half of
their pay and emoluments bad assigned to tbem a sum
equal to half of their pay and emoluments, a sum larger
than by any circumstances they were entitled to under
the Superannuation Fund Act. Those who had served
for a longer period, and came under the Superannuation
Act, had assigned to them the utmost amount that the
Lords of the Treasury could assign ; this applied to those
entitled to more than half their emoluments. The
complaint really was not that the government had done too
little for one class, but too much for the other. It was
the old parable of the labourers in the vineyard : their
eye (said the noble earl) is evil because ours is good. A
memorial had been prepared in which superannuation
was calculated upon the basis of pay and allowances,
whilst the government took as their basis fur superannu-
ation, pay and emoluments. "Allowances" included
such items as forage for a horse ; but when a man left
the service he, of course, bad no claim to such an allow-
ance. Nothing could be more unjust than to regulate
superannuation in reference, not to pay and eraolurnente,
but to pay and allowances. What he said was tbi,, that
they had given to those who had only been a short lime
in the service more than they were entitled to, and they
bad given to those who bad been longer in the service
the maximum that they were entitled to claim ; and under
these circumstances he could not see:that the parties bad
been dealt with unfairly. There may have been cases of