The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-12 00:00:00

I] WPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.--(YESTERDAY.)
PRITATE BUSINESS.
The SPEAKER took the chair at 12 o'clock.
The following private bills were read a second time
nd committed :—Blyth and Tyne Railway ; Burslem
wind Tunstall Gas ; Caledonian Railway (lines to Gran.
on) ; Cork and Bandon Railway ; Dorset Central Rail-
. way ; Dublin and Wicklow Railway ; Electric Tele- ,
~graph Company ; Ely Valloy Railway ; Fife and
-_Kinross Railway; Great Southern and Western
Railway (capital) ; Great Western and Brent- 1
lord Railway ; Hartlepool Extension and Head-
land Improvement ; Kinross-shire Railway ; Mal-
low and Fermoy Railway ; Metropolitan New
•Streets and Improvements ; Monkland Railways ; Nor-
folk E,tuary acts Amendment ; North Level Drainage ;
_North Staffordshire Railway (Bridgewater Canals) ;
.North-Western Railway; Portadown and Dungannon
Railway ; Portsmouth Railway ; Pulteney Town Har-
bour ; Reading Railways Junction Railway ; Scottish
Central Railway ; Sittingbourne and Sheerness Rail-
way; Stockton New Gas and Stockton Gas Consumers'
Compani:s ; Tweed Fisheries; and Wilmslow and Law-
ton Road Bills.
BIRKENHEAD DOCKS (CONSTRUCTION)
BILL.
On the motion for the second reading of this bill,
Mr. GIBSON withdrew his opposition to the bill.
After some remarks from Mr. HADFIELD,
Mr. G. BUTT said that the bill was substantially the
same as the one rejected by the house last year, and was
one of three bills bearing more or less on the same ques-
tion, viz., the conservancy of the Mersey and dock accom-
modation at Liverpool. Upon the understanding that
the bill should be discussed in committee, he would with-
draw his opposition to the second reading of the bill.
The bill was then read a second time and ordered to
be committed.
BIRKENHEAD DOCKS (MANAGEMENT) BILL.
This bill was read a second time and ordered to be
committed.
MERSEY CONSERVANCY AND DOCKS BILL.
On the motion for the second reading of this bill,
Mr. HORSFALL moved that the bill be read a second
time that day six months. The object of the bill was to
abolish the existing Liverpool Dock Trust, and to trans-
fer its powers to a body of 21 persons to be elected by
the ratepayers. The constitution of the present Dock
Committee embraced 12 members of the Town Council
and 12 members elected by the ratepayers, and
it acted in the most cordial manner for the
good ot the commerce of Liverpool and the country. The
Town Council had the power of exercising he right of
veto over the proceedings of the committee, but they
had only exercised that right 13 times within the last
32 years. The hon. gentleman then entered into the his-
tory of dock accommodation in Liverpool, and added
that already the corporation of that port had expended
for dock accommodation 1,143,0001., and were ready to
expend one million and a half more to make the accom-
modation perfect, and in accordance with the report of
a committee ot this house.
Mr. J. EWART seconded the amendment.
Mr. M. GIBSON said that he had hoped a similar
course would have been pursued in this case as had been
adopted with the two previous bills, and the discussion
taken in committee. The measure was an attempt to
carry ont the recommendations of the Admiralty, the
Tidal Commissioners, a committee of this house, aid
the requirements of an act of Parliament. (Hear, hear.)
The question of town dues and local tolls on shipping
was an incidental one, and did not constitute the prin-
ciple of the bill. The main principle of the bill was to
consolidate the Liverpool and Birkenhead Docks, and to
vest the management and control iu one public and in-
dependentl ;trust- --(bear, bear)—and make the trade
of the port tributary to local interest, which was not the
case under the present management. This, though
a private bill, dealt with important national interests,
connected with the trade and commerce of the country.
The public had a right to demand the-e docks should
be controlled by a responsible public board, and that the
benefits accruing from it sheulJ go towards benefiting
the trade and commerce of the country.
Mr. L. DAVIES supported the second reading of
the hi], on the ground that a sum of 13 millions annu-
ally was involved, affecting the trade and commerce of
the country, and that it was a fit subject for the COLISi•
deration of a committee.
Mr. HARCOURT VERNON supported the sec )rld
reading of the bill, and called upon the hon. member for
Liverpool to withdraw his amendment, and allow the
bill to go to a committee.
Mr. J. EWART defended the present management
of the Liverpool Docks, against which he Fad never
heard a complaint.
Mr. SPOO.NER supported the second reading of the
bill.

Mr. HEADLAM supported the second reading of
the bill, that it might go to a committee, but he objected
t„ the heu-e recognising the principle of one corporation
being able to app:y for powers to transfer the property
of another c')rporation to other hands. In this case it
was the Great Western Railway Company who asked
the house to transfer the management of these docks to
other hands.
The amendment was then withdrawn, and the bill
was read a second time and ordeied to be committed.
LEWES AND UCKFIELD RAILWAY.
Tne adjourned debate on the committal of this bill
was resumed, and after some discussion, in which Sir C.
Burrell, Sir W. Jolliffe, Mr. Harcourt, Sir*J. Shelley,
Mr. Brand, Mr. Bouverie, and Sir J. Pechell took part,
the house divided, when the numbers were—
For the motion
Against it 4B
Majority
The bill was then ordered to be committed.
ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY.
This bill was brought in and read a first time.
NEW MEMBER.
The Right Hon. W. COWPER took the olths
and his seat on his re-election for Hertford.
INCOME AND PROPERTY TAX,
Petitions were presented against the present assess.
meat of the income and property tax.
BREACHES OF TRUST.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL gave notice that on
Friday, the 20th, he would bring in a bill to render
fraudulent breaches by trustees criminal offences.
SIR .ROBERT PEEL AND RUSSIA.
Mr. STAFFORD gave notice that to-morrow he
would ask Mr R. Peel whether the report of a speech
delivered by him on the ill January, at Saltley, near
Birmingham, and reported in The Sun newspaper, was
correct, especially those parts referring to the Grand
Duke Constantine, General Mouravieff, and Prince de
Ligne.