The Sun.
London, England, 1832-06-07 00:00:00

(PRICE 7D.)

iught to be no matttr of surprise that a repeal of the
Union was demanded.
Mr. O'CONNELL supported the prayer of the petition ;
ind said that the Lord Mayor of Dublin (a high Ascen•
fancy man), who had presided at the meeting, had stated,
that if justice was not rendered to Ireland, he for one
would join in demanding a Repeal of the Union.—Petitio❑
to be printed.
On the motion of Mr. S. RICE, a new writ was ordered
to be issued for Hampshire, in the room of Sir J. Macdo-
nald, who had accepted the office of Commissioner of the
lonian Islands.

'
the very reverse. It was a Bill intended to protect the
.00r against the rich ; to prevent the honest tradesman
rom being defrauded of his just demands by those who
vere dishonest enough to plead the privileges of Parlia-
tient.—(llear, hear.) The Learned Gentleman had
alluded to the power which the Bill would give certain
rich capitalists, or men supposed to hatbitlgreat deal of
ready money. He (Mr. Baring) did not know whether
the Learned Member meant to throw out any insinuation
tgainst him ; but if he did, he could tell him, that he hao
oo claim against the property of any Member of that
House. Having thus, he conceived, replied to all the o'n-
j.ctions of the Learned Gentleman, he would merely ob-
serve, that persona well acquainted with the subject hail
informed him that a man could not be arrested (at least very
speedily) for a debt contracted in the shape of mortgage.
lie was quite willing, however, should the fact prove
otherwise, to introduce a clause with respect to the •o-
curities on landed property, for the purpose of protect.
ing debtors under such circumstances. When he first
proposed to bring in the Bill, it had been his intention,
after a certain period, to allow a Member to be arrested ; but
persons of legal knowledge and experience having taken
objections to the connexion of arrest with the Members
of that House, he now proposed that a Member should
have thirty days' notice of the claim on him, and if in
thirty more it was not satisfied, then his seat would be de
dared vacant, and the creditor would he left to enforce
his claim against him like any other individual. With
respect to the law affecting bankrupts, passed in the 52d
George 111., he believed it had been found extremely alt.
surd and inconvenient. At the present moment the seat
was not filled up fora year and ten days if the bankrupt
refuses to sign it, so that for the whole of that time the
place was without a representative. He proposed in the
present Bill to amend that law, and to declare the seat va.
cant at the expiration of six days from the issue of the
fiat of bankruptcy. Having stated thus much, he was
quite ready to give any other explanation that might be
considered necessary, if the House consented to go into
Committee on the Bill.
Mr. JOHN CAMPBELL assured the Hon. Member
for Thetford that the Member for Kerry was quite right,
in his opinion, with respect to the power of arresting for
mortgage debts; and he thought it would be necessary,
therefore, to introduce a clause to the effect he had men-
tioned. The other parts of the Bill had his most cordial
support, as enforcing the principle of Reform by adding
to the respectability of the House, and enabling them to
gain back the confidence of the people.
Mr. BERNAL hoped the Member for Thetford would
introduce the clause with respect to landed property at
once. He had intended to oppose the motion for the
Speaker's leaving the chair; but as the Hon. Member for
Thetford intimated his disposition to introduce the clause
respecting mortgagees in the Committee, instead of delay-
ing it until the bringing up of the Report, he would re-
frain from doing so.
Mr. LAMBERT, however unpopular it might be, and
however well it might sound that every Member of that
House ought to pay his debts, must oppose the motion for
going into a Committee on this Bill. In his opinion, if
the measure were adopted, it would derogate from the
dignity and independence of the House. Any Member of
that House, who having for necessary and indispensable
purposes, mortgaged his estate, and entered into a bond
giving a warrant to confess judgment, might, if this Bill
were passed, be arrested by any party having the sommand
of money, at a critical moment, tOr political purposes, or
even fur similar purposes by the agents of a foreign power.
Such an abandonment of their privileges would prove a
check to the freedom of debate, and to independence of
sentiment. A respectable merchant, if a Member of Par-
lisment, might, under such circumstances, have a run
made upon him which would not be made were he not a
Member of Parliament. A Member of Pat liament would
thus he placed in a worse situation than anybody else.
Mr. STEPHENSON approved of the principle of the
Bill ; but wished that the Hon. Member for Thetford
would delay proceeding with it, in order that he might
avail himself of the suggestions which had been thrown out
in the course of the present discussion.
Mr. C. FERGUSSON thought that the great evil which
the Bill had been introduced to remedy had arisen from
the total abuse of the law respecting the qualification of
Members. The principle of that law was, that no man
should sit in that House to levy contributions on his coun-
trymen who had not himself the means of contributing,
It was undoubtedly intended by that law to insure that
persons sitting in that House not only should be solvent,
but should be possessed of some property. With respect
to the present measure, he was favourable to the principle
of it ; but it was evident that the details required more
consideration than could that evening be given to them.
Mr. WYNN had hardly ever known a measure intro.
duced into that House respecting which he felt so much
doubt and difficulty. That no Member of that House
should be subject to arrest was one of the most ancient
privileges which the House possessed, and ought not to
be hastily abandoned. With respect to the law of quake
ficatien to which the Honourable Member for Kirkouris
bright had just alluded, it was well known that that law
required the representative of a borough to have landed
property of the value of 3001. a year, and the represen-
tative of a county to have landed property of the value of
6001. a year ; but the actual practice was also well
known. Did Mr. Pitt, or Mr. Fox, or Mr. Sheridan
possess such a qualification ? And would it have been de-
sirable that on that account such men should be excluded
from that House? Would it have been desirable that
men, to whom forty years ago the country looked up 4s
to their political creed, should have been thus deprived
of their Parliamentary character? Reflecting on these
things, he must really pause before he could determine to
give his assent to the proposed measure. The Right Hon.
Gentleman here entered into a statement of some of its,
details; and proceeded to observe, that it was not hard
upon any person who gave credit to a man already
Member of Parliament, that he should be preveotod front
arresting that man, mile knew beforehand of the privilege
by which a Member of Parliament wait protected ; but it
undoubtedly was hard that a Member should be free from
arrest for debts contracted before he became a Member,
and when the creditor, therefore, could have no warning.
If the House went into a Committee on the Bill, he boped
it would only be pro forma, in order that it might be
recommitted on some future day—for, altheugh there was
much in the measure very desirable, there was also much
which required deliberate consideration.
Lord ALTHORP was undoubtedly of opinion that it
was most desirable that insolvent persons should not be
elected to sit, and should not sit in that House. But the
Hon. Member for Thetford must feel that there wets.
many difficulties in the way of adopting the measure under
consideration in its present shape. It was evident that
the effect of the Bill, as it now stood, would be to place
a man who was a Member of Parliament in a worse
situation than a man who was not a Member of Par
liatnent. For the Bill, as it stood, might be applied
to a person being a Member of Parliament, who was,
nevertheless, perfectly solvent—and, notice being giver
to him, under the provisions of the Bill, be might
be expelled from that House, if ha had not the means
of immediately satisfying the demand upon him._
With respect to what had fallen from the Honout -
able Member for Kirkcudbright respecting the law of
qualification, in his (Lord Althorp's) opinion, that law
stood on a very good footing at present. If a Membet
was not the actual and bona fide possessor of a qualifica-
tion, he must at least have sufficient character to be in-
trusted with one.--(A laugh.) It appeared to him that
there were so many difficulties in the way of adopting the
measure in its present shape, that he hoped the Hon.
Member for Thetford would be prevailed upon to rece,o,
eider it. In discussing the question, they ought n9i
to look to the preservation or the abandonment: of In;
vileges of Members as a matter of a peragnal Stature ; they
ought to consider how far the interests of their constituents
might be damaged by 4 diminution of those privilegeo,
Mr. GODSON instanced various cases in whet; the.
operation of the Bill would be injurious.
Mr. BARING proposed that they Amid go it to
Committee pro forma, to fill up the blanks of the I3ilh mitt to have it recommitted this day week, when be would
bring up his clause, and the amendments might be pro-
posed, and the House might deal with the measure as it
thought proper.
After a few words from Mr. WRANGHAM, in oppo-
sition to the Bill, the House divided—
For the Amendment 39
For the Committee
Majority —33
The House then went into the Commiett•epro forma.
Mr. BARING proposed that the Bill should be coin
iiitted on this day fortnight, and that in the mean time
the Bill as reported should be printed.