The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-21 00:00:00

THE IRISH MAILS.

Sir F. HEYGATE asked the Secretary to the Treasury
whether the attention of the Government had been
called to the alleged irregularities which had occurred
during the past six months in the running of the night
mail&from Dublin to Londonderry, and what measures had
been.taken to remedy the evil.

Mr. CHILDERS said certain irregularities had been
complained of, but new and more powerful engines had
been since employed, and, with the exception of two de-
lays, occurred by accident, there had been no complaints.
There was no power in the hands of the Treasury to im-
pose penalties for delay.
THE NEW LAW COURTS.

Mr. C. BENTINCK asked the First Commissioner of
Works whether he would state the names of the gentle-
men appointed to serve on the committee for the selection
of the architects who were to compete for the new Law
Courts ; whether the number of architects was determined,
unaet who was to have the final decision on the merits of
Plans; and, whether he would lay upon the table the
proceedings of the Royal Commission ?
Mr. cos.,-
the judges and
tat said commissions embracing nearly all
and a member from each branch of the legal
profession consider
appointed to no/;d the question, and a committee
compete foi,
the
linate the architects who were to
England, the Justice of It consisted of the Lord Chief-
of..thee Attorney-General, the Chancellor
the Exchequer,
the hon. member for Perth
VI First Co •
muussioner of Works, and
'with the matter werepovsealsvehotninous, but they would be
The papers connected
produced as soon a.s
The names of the architects
-were Mr.a Scott, Mr. Barry,
r. Street, Mr.
Wyatt, nd Mr. Hardwick. W. Hews, Mr.
CORN.
CONSUMPTION MEA.T,
ap-triQeAnsliidDent of the Board
Mr. S. NORTHCOTE asked thrne,
Government
of Trade what amount of info
respecting the consum
could give ption otti7
ntatutisrYtics
corn and meat, at various periods in the present especially
Mr. M. GIBSON said there wore no relianbtleees
which at present could give the information required.
SOUTH KENSINGTON.
Mr. CAVENDISH BENTINCK asked the Chancellor
of the Exchequer what course her Majesty's Government
intended to pursue relative to the vacant ground at South
Kensington and the erection of a building there ; and,
whether any bill was to be introduced this session for the
removal of any of the collections now forming part of the
British Museum.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
Government intended to take two votes with respect to
this subject, but until those votes had been decided he
could not say when the bill would be brought in.
PROCLAMATIONS IN IRELAND.
Mr. S. B. MILLER asked the Attorney General for Ire-
land why the county and city of Armagh had been pro-
elaimi under the Peace Preservation Act without the
inland portion of the county of Louth, which adjoins the
county of Armagh to a large extent, being at the same
timeproclaimed ; and whether there was any intention of
proclaiming
the county of Louth or the portion of it above
referred to.

Tho SOLICITOR-GENERAL for IRELAND said the
course thought best had been pursued in Ireland. There
was no cause at present to proclaim the county of Louth.
CARRIAGE OF TROOP HORSES.
Mr. W. GORE asked the President of the Board of

Trade whether the horses of the Carabineers were moved
on their route to Ireland in cattle trucks ; and, if so, whe-
ther any measures were previously taken to disinfect those
trucks from the seeds of the cattle plague ?
Mr. COWPER said the directors of the London and
North-Western had undertaken that the horses should be
moved in horse-boxes, and the greatest care was to be
exercised with respect to the prevention of infection.
PROVISION FOR PRINCE ALFRED AND
PRINCESS HELENA.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER brought up
a message from her Majesty, asking that provision might
be made for the Princess Helena on the occasion of her
marriage, and Prince Alfred on the occasion of his coming
of age.
The Royal Message is to be taken into consideration on
Thursday next.
STATUE TO LORD PALMERSTON.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said on
IThursday next that he should move an humble address
to her Majesty, praying her Majesty to give directions
that a statue to the late Lord Palmerston be erected in
Westminster Abbey, and that that house make good the
charges thereof.
This motion', was also ordered to be taken into
_consi-
deration on Thursday next.
JAMAICA.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
order for consideration on Thursday would be the bill for
the government of Jamaica.
THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL.
Mr. D. GRIFFITH obtained leave to bring in a bill to
enable the Postmaster-General to sit in the House of Com-
mons.

ARTIZANS' AND LABOURERS' DWELLINGS.
Mr. M. TORRENS obtained leave to bring in a bill to
provide better dwellings for artizans and labourers.
THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
Mr. CLAY rose to move for leave to bring in a bill to
extend the elective franchise in cities and boroughs in
England and Wales by creating an educational franchise.
This qualification, he explained, was that any man of full
age should have the right of submitting himself to be
examined before the Civil Service Commissioners, and,
upon such examination, should receive a certificate, which
he would deliver to the town clerk, or in non-incorporated
boroughs to the officers charged with analogous functions,
and that thereupon he should be placed on the register of
voters for such borough. A payment of one shilling
would have to be made by him upon presenting himself to
the commissioners as a candidate, and a further fee of ono
shilling and sixpence upon obtaining his certificate. The
subjects upon which he would be examined and certifi-
cated would be reading, writing, spelling, and the four
rules of arithmetic.
Mr. GREGORY seconded the proposition, and stated
that he believed in the bill as a good one. It was high
time that some of the elite of the working classes at pre-
sent without a vote were introduced to the franchise. The
measure, ho considered, was calculated to elevate, not to
debase, the constituencies, and for that reason it would re-
ceive his cordial support.
Lord ELCHO said he did not like to enter into the
general question of reform, as ho know that hon. gentle-
men were desirous of resuming the discussion on the
cattle plague. He wished to say a few words with refe-
rence to the hon. member for Hull. Accustomed as they
were to hear upon the subject of reform denunciatory
eloquence from the platform of Birmingham, Manchester,
and Rochdale, he thought it was refreshing to find an
advanced Liberal like the hon. member endeavouring to
do something better towards solving the question of re-
form than palming off upon them a £6 bill as a panacea
for all the political ills of the country. In bringing for-
ward his measure the hon. member was only following
in the wake of the hon. member for Westminster, Mr.
Hare, and others. (Hear, hear.) The hon. member, in addi-
tion to the educational test, would give every man a status
in proportion to his intellect and acquirements. Still he
must say the measure of the hon. member was both novel
and pedantic in some respects, and these were qualities that
did not tend to insure its success. He was afraid the bill
would not be of the permanent character which the hon.
member anticipated, for it might happen that after a time
some hon. members would move to have the standard of
examination lowered. It would also admit a clever man
without character, and he had no doubt CounsellorKelly or
Caseley would pass the proposed examination. Another
objection he entertained to the measure was that it would
not be final. He thought there might be future members
of that house, Viscount Amberley perhaps, who, after
walking two hours through Leeds, might urge that the
working classes were so wise that they should have a vote
without examination. What the Reform Bill of the Go-
vernment was to be no man could tell. Before the meeting
of Parliament they were told it was to be a single barrelled
bill ; now there was a rumour that the measure would
consist of two barrels ; but they were all agreed that it
would be loaded with No. 6..
No hon. member having risen, the Speaker was about to
put the question, when
Mr. HORSMAN said he thought it was duo to the
house that they should have some expression of opinion
from the Government on the proposal of the hon.
member for Hull. He could not understand why the
Government should have such extraordinary reluctance
upon the bill, after having declared Reform to be the
absorbing, overwhelming, supremo question of the day.
(Opposition cheers.) Ho could imagine one excuse for
the reluctance of the Government to speak upon
the question. There must be some degree of soreness at
the bottom of the reluctance. The hon. member must
be an oliject of envy to the Government. (Laughter.)
The hon. member for Hull, like the Government, pledged
himself to introduce a bill at the earliest period of the ses-
sion ; and, unlike the Government, he kept his pledge. The
hon. member, like the Government, promised to extend
the franchise ; but, unlike the Government, he offered them
something better than Lord Russell, who would only give
them a House of Commons elected by the mob. (Cheers
from the Opposition.) If the Chancellor of the Exchequer
were unwilling to pass an opinion upon the bill, he was
surprised that those large and comprehensive reformers
below the gangway, who were all their lives roaring for
intelligence, did not offer some opinion on the bill of the
hon. member which rested the franchise upon intelligence.
(Cheers and laughter.) They were busy enough during
the recess, but the Queen's Speech mesmerised all the large
and comprehensive reformers. The hon. member for Bir-
mingham had been completely stunned by it. (A laugh.)
On coming down to the house the day of the Queen's
Speech, ho met an advanced reformer, and asked him how
they had been treated in it. "Very badly," he replied;
" they have shunted us into a siding; but we won't stand
it, as you will see this evening. Come down at 5 o'clock,
and you will see the hon. member for Birmingham explode."
(Great laughter.) He went down to see the hon. member
explode, but he did not explode. (Renewed laughter.)
When the right hon. gentleman the member for Droitwich
alluded to the remarks of the hon. member the other even-
ing, he was ready enough to explode on Jamaica; he was
also great upon the cattle plague, and went off half-cock
upon Ireland. (Roars of laughter.) But on the subject
for which the whole nation was clamouring at the doors of
Parliament, the temperament of the hon. member was per-
fectly frigid. They had been told what great things the
late election had done, of the new blood it had introduced,
and they were pointed to Westminster, Brighton, and
Lambeth. The reputation of these gentlemen had pre-
ceded them to the house, where they were welcomed
with pride and with pleasure. The house believed what
it was told, that the zeal and sincerity of those gentle-
men were even greater than had been represented. The
house had waited and watched for them to redeem the cha-
racter of the great reform party. They had waited, but
with what result? He could well imagine these gentlemen
assembling around the hon. member for Birmingham at
the Reform Club, and one of them asking him what he was
doing about reform. " Oh," says the hon. member for Bir-
mingham, drawing himself up, " I am waiting for statis-
tics." (Laughter.) Then he turns to the hon. member for
Westminster, with " What are you doing on reform ?"
"Oh," he says, "I am helping the member for Birming-
ham." (Laughter.) Then he goes to the member for Brigh-
ton, and asks, " What are you doing about reform ?" and
"I am helping the member for Westminster" would be the
reply. Turning to the member for Lambeth, he would say,
" And you are probably helping your hon. friends'?" The
member for Lambeth replies, "Probably I am." Then he
meets a candid reformer, and, putting the same question to
the senior member for Brighton, is told that they were
helping the member for Birmingham to smother reform
under a mass of imaginary statistics. Now, they did not
expect on a qualification having intelligence for its basis
any very great assistance from those who went with the
hon. member for Birmingham. They who were with the
hon. member went a great deal further, and every one knew
that intelligence was fatal to agitation—(hear)—but they
did expect from members who had gained high position
and influence in that house, that they would follow reform
with a purer spirit of morality than had distinguished the
question for the last few years, because when men of that
kind were foUnd to have degraded the Parliament they
were intended to adorn, it was nothing short of a national
calamity. (Cheers.)
oTnhfe.CHANCELL OR of the EXCHEQUER—My right
hope he w.
1163
shrinieVirhe has just sat down expressed his hope that
betr a few words from the Treasury bench. I
principal duty
him
also
tuklaith contented with a very few, and I assure
will derive some benefit from them. The
to the see,,,h haveha to perform is to render a just tribute
charac-
terised by great fore.;
member lor
great ingenuity in the
That speech,
this evening from the hon.
speech, as I thought, was clotrac-
nanddl,.bility in statement, and by
above all, by the evident earnestness
sttnhess and sincerity and a
of a difficult subject, but,
npiosition be was in.
sense of the serious nature of
(Hear.) On all these points I thank
for tZttimn..friend for the
eosrpaelecibalal ray c ter oif,'nthz
fprireonpaoswalhhne has
aenxpdrweshsiiochnsfixheeditisheedm,
which related to
made in his own words. My right
just sat down leads me a little beyond the performancesh has
this evening, by the contrast which he has been bene-
volently pleased to imagine between the position of my
hon. friend the member for Hull, who has fulfilled all his
pledges, and that of her Majesty's Government, who ho
seems to think have already, before they have spoken ono
word, contrived to break the whole of them. I cannot
admit that we feel any of that mortification he supposes