The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-18 00:00:00

MILLWALL CANAL COMPANY.

This bill was read a third time and passed.
DUBLIN TRUNK CONNECTING RAILWAY BILL
This bill was withdrawn.
ThAMES NAVIGATION (RE-COMMITTED) BILL.
The house went into committee on this bill, Mr. DODSON
in the chair.

Clauses 1 to 5 were agreed to.
On clause 6, that one of five additional conservators be
appointed by the Board of Trade,
Mr. AYRTON moved to leave out all after appointed,
and insert "by the Metropolitan Board of Works, who
shall bo at libetty at any time to revoke any appointment
made by them, and to appoint another conservator instead,
when and as they may think fit "
The amendment was negatived without a division, and
the clause was agreed to.
Clauses 7,8, 9, 10, and 11 were agreed to.
On Clause 12, section 1,
- - - •

Mr. AYRTON moved to leave out " or in default" to
"Board of Trade," and insert " the Secretary of the Con-
servators."

After a short discussion, the clause was retained in its
original form.
Clauses 13 and 14 were agreed to.
Clause 15, relative to voting papers, was withdrawn.
Clauses 16 to 43 were agreed to.

On clause 44, with regard to compensation,
Sir G. BOWYER, in reply to Mr. AYRTON, said the
clause did not give the owner any right to compensation
in respect of tolls, because the bill provided for the aboli-
tion of these tolls. But supposing a man had laid out a
good deal of money on any of those weirs, and handed
them over in a very good condition, he had a very fair
right to compensation for the expenditure he had incurred.
" "

Sir W. HEATHOOTE said the learned gentleman's ex-
planation was to him most puzzling. (Hear, hear.) The
abolition of the tolls seemed to him to be the very reason
why compensation should be given.
Mr. AYRTON said the words of the act were that any
person having any estate in any lock, dam, or weir was en-
titled to compensation. In order that they might define
what compensation was to be given for, he moved that
" estate" be left out of the clause.

Mr. LOCKE said that any tolls or right of fishing was
part of the estate, and therefore the clause ought to be
altered or struck out altogether.
Mr. GIBSON said the intention of the committee was
this—that persons who had laid out a good deal of money
on locks, and really laid out more than was really required
should be compensated—that their claim should be consi-
dered.

Mr. AYRTON then withdrew his amendment, on the
understanding that the clause would be amended by mr.
Cave. _ .

-- - -
Clauses 45 to 56 were agreed to.
Mr. AYRTON moved the rejection of Clause 58, but,
after some discussion, the amendmentywas negatived.
Clauses 59, 60, 61, and 62, after a sfiort discussion, wore
agreed to, and the chairman was ordered to report pro-

gress.
An adjournment took place at four o'clock.
The house resumed at six o'clock.
Lord J. MANNERS and Sir S. NORTSCOTE took the oath
and their seats on re-election.
THE JAMAICA COMMISSION.
Mr. J. S. MILL—I beg to give notice that on Thursday
next I shall put the following series of questions to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer :—Whether any steps have
been or will be taken to bring to trial Lieut. Adeockfor un-
lawfully putting to death two men, named Mitchell
.an, d
without trial, and six persons after alleged trial by
court-martial on charges not cognisable by a military court
for flogging without trialMr.JohnAnderson and others, and
authorising one henry Ford to flog many men and women
without trial, one of whom, named John Mullens, died in
consequence. Whether any steps have been or will be taken
to bring to trial Captain Hole for hanging one Donaldson
without trial ; for shooting and permitting to be shot
various persons without trial ; for putting to death by
hanging and shooting thirty-three persons after trial by a
so-called military court for acts not cognisable by a military
court, and without observance of the rules prescribed by
the Articles of War ; for flogging various men and women
without trial ; and for being accessory after the fact to the
unlawful putting to death of numerous persons by soldiers
under his command. Whether any steps have been or will
be taken to bring to trial Lieut. Oxley for putting John
Burdy to death after a similar unlawful trial, and for per-
mitting the men under
his command to fire at unarmed
peasants, and cause the death of several persons. -Whether
any step
been or will be taken to bring to trial En-
sign andCullsenhave
Dr. Morris for putting three men to death
Without
trial, and Dr. Morris for shooting one William
Gray. Whether any steps have been or will be taken to
y magistrate Fife for burning houses
ehaotuht
otfri:al,riaonuds
bring to trial stipendiary
of peasants, putting to
unlawful
fount
being accessory to the e person
putting tow di t
Brand,
apt. to
others. Whether any stepsnheaz
bring to trial Attorney -General taken will be
apt. Lake, and Capt. Field, for sitting as presidents or
embers of alleged courts-martial, by whom numerous
Wh steps
ersons were unlawfully put to death.
have been or will be taken to bringto trial etheGen.r O' any
Connor
for having been accessory before and
nu-
merous unlawful executions, some after the fact to
of them without trial,
and others after the illegal trials already specified. Whether
any steps have been or will be taken to bring to trial Col.

Nelson, brigadier-general in Jamaica, for unlawfully cans-
gto be tried in time of peace, by military courts irregu-
larly composed, for acts alleged to have been done before
the proclamation or beyond the jurisdiction of martial law,
and after such trial to be unlawfully put to death the fol-
lowing persons :—Geo. Wm. Gordon, Edward Fleming,
Sam. Clarke, Wm. Grant, Geo. Macint3sh, Hy. Laurence,
Letitia Geoghan, and six other women, one of them in a
state of pregnancy ; Scipio Cowell, Alex. Taylor, Toby
Butler, Jasper H. Livingstone, and various other persons
who ,had been previously flogged; and about 180 other
alleged rebels ; and for authorising the flogging without
trial of Alex. Phillips, Richd. Clark, and numerous others.
Whether any legal proceedings have been or will be
ordered to be taken against Mr. E. J. Eyre, lately governor
of Jamaica, for complicity in all or any of the above acts,
and particularly for the illegal trial and execution of Mr.
G. W. Gordon. If not, whether her Majesty's Government
are advised that these acts are not offences under the cri-
minal law ?

METROPOLITAN WORKHOUSES.
Mr. G. HARDY, in reply to an inquiry of Mr.
Fawcett, stated that the Government did not contem-
plate introducing any general measure relating to the
infirmaries in the metropolitan workhouses during the pre-
sent session, by reason of the want of time to consider the
subject fully. The condition of those places, however,
should receive immediate attention, and the powers vested
in the Poor-law Board, which had hitherto been in abey-
ance, should be put in force, they being adequate to dealing
with the existing evils. He should also ask the house to
grant to the commissioners the power of altering and en-
larging the sick wards where necessary, without the con-
sent of the,guardians ; and early in the next session he
hoped to be able to bring in a general measure relating to
the workhouses of the metropolis. (The statement of the
right hon. gentleman was received by both sides of the
house with cheers.)

Lord STANLEY stated, in answer to Mr. Greufell, that
he had not seen the paragraphs in the Berlin Borsen Zeitung
to the effect that " the English Cabinet had given it to be
understood that England would not allow any part of
Hanover to be handed over to Prussia, it being the interest
of Great Britain to see the integrity of Hanover ,
main-
tained on account of certain eventual hereditary claims ;
but he assured the house that the statement was absolutely
without foundation.

Mr. GRAVES moved an address to the Queen for a

Royal commission to inquire into the present condition of
the seamen of the mercantile marine, with the view of as-
certaining whether, within the last 20 year; the supply
of British seamen had or had not fallen off either in point
of numbers or of efficiency, and, if in either a continuous
decline should be apparent, then to ascertain furthsr
what were the causes which had led to such decline,
and whether any remedy could be suggested. The
hon. member quoted statistics to show that since the
year 1858 there had been both a proportionate de-
cline in the number and a deterioration in the quality of
the seamen employed in the merchant service, and that the
increase in the number of foreigners sailing in English
ships had been vastly in excess of that in native sailors,
compared with the growth in the amount of tonnage. For
this state of things he suggested that the true remedy

would be the establishment of training ships at various
harbours round the coast, and a revival of the old system
of apprenticeship.

The motion was seconded by Mr. LIDDELL, and opposed
by Mr. HENLEY, who objected to all Government inter-
ference as having a tendency to land us in the French
system, which was essentially a bad one. It was not by
means of training ships that the race of seamen had been
reared who had fought and won our greatest naval battles,
but through lengthened apprenticeship, which brought
men face to face with and accustomed them to danger, and
made them hardy and adventurous sailors. Ile believed
the decline in efficiency was to be traced to the shortening
of the term of apprenticeship to the sea and to the super-
ficial and inadequate knowledge imparted in school ships,
where it was not easier to make a thorough sailor than to
teach swimming on the grass.
_ _

Sir S. NORTHCOTi did not dispute the accuracy of
the representation which had been made of the present
condition of the mercantile marine. The facts were pa-
tent. They were before tho house in returns lying upon
the table. There was no doubt that, relatively to the
quantity of tonnage employed, a falling off had taken place
in numbers within the last few years. It followed, there-
fore, that quality was likely to some extent to be deterio-
rated. The knowledge of these circumstances, however,
made it unnecessary to institute an inquiry by means of a
Royal commission. He admitted that the question required
to be dealt with, and in order to do that the first step
should be to take up the recommendations of the com-
mission appointed whilst Sir J. Pakington was at the
Admiralty on the last occasion ; and he promised that the
subject should receive his careful consideration, and after
looking into it he would make a definite explanation of
the views of the Government respecting it.
Mr. GR!VES having expressed himself satisfied with
tho statement of the President of the Board of Trade, the
motion was by leave withdrawn.