The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-25 00:00:00

THE SUB-DIVISION OF DIOCESE BILL.

Lord LYTTE LTON gave notice that he should move this
day week that their lordships should go into committee of the
whole house to consider the details of this bill. He dis-
sented from the policy of some of the improvements made
by the select committee. He felt it his duty to endeavour
to reverse them.

Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY supported the pro-
posed additions to the bill.

After some remarks from Lord OVERSTONE, the subject
dropped.

RAILWAY COMPANY MORTGAGES TRANSFER
(SCOTLAND) BILL.
Lord liINNAIRD moved that this bill be read a third
time.

The Duke of MONTR OSE moved a verbal amendment,
and after some discussion the bill, as amended, was read a
third time and passed.

THE EDINBURGH ASSESSMENT BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.
EAST INDIA LOAN BILL.

This bill passed through committee, and was reported to
the house.

PUBLIC OFFICES EXTENSION BILL.
The report of the amendments on this bill were brought
up and agreed to.

EXCISE AND STAMPS BILL.

This bill was read a third time and passed.
OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE.

The Duke of SOMERSET moved for a copy of the
regulations under which masters or mates of merchant
vessels may be enrolled as officers of the Royal
Naval Reserve. He said that there were some
misconceptions in reference to the subject. He con-
sidered that it was indispensably necessary that the
State should be provided with a sufficient number
of men to meet the requirements of the service. There
were only 25 lieutenants on the reserve list ;
but there were 309 admirals on that list, and
100 admirals were now on active service. There were 774
captains on the retired list, and the amount altogether paid for
the naval reserve was £346,000 a-year. Difficulties that
might arise from the necessity of pro-
moting officers might be remedied by the
introduction into the Royal Navy of officers of mer-
cantile marine. It had been objected that offi-
cers brought up in the mercantile marine service
would not feel disposed to enter the Royal Navy in the
time of peace, when there was no prospect of promotion,
but that they would enter the service in the time of war.
He believed that the promotion of this class of men would
shortly undergo a consid arable improvement, and the result
would be that the Royal Navy would eventually be recruited
to a considerable extent from the merchant service. He
trusted their lordships would consider, under these circum-
stances, that there were grounds for promoting the further
progress of the bill introduced into their lordships' house on
this subject.

Lord COLCHESTER made a few remarks.
The Earl of DERBY asked the noble duke whether he
proposed to promote the officers drawn from the merchant
service beyond the rank of lieutenants, and whether he
would not extend that promotion to the rank of captain?
The Duke of SOMERSET said they would be entitled
to continuous promotions, and to honorary rank, but they
would not be entitled to pay or be called for active service.
Ths motion was then agreed to, and their lordships
adjourned at 10 minutes to 6 o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(Tars DAY.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at twelve o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following bills were read a third time and passed :
Conway and Llanrwst Railway (New Title) ; London,
Chatham, and Dover Railway (Lease of Margate Railway,
&c.) ; Margate Roilway (Ramsgate Extension, &c.) ;
Stourbridge Railway (Extension to Smethwick, &c.) ; West
Hartlepool Harbour and Railway (Traffic, &c.)
The following bills were considered and ordered to be
read a third time :—Mold and Denbigh junction Railway ;
North London Railway (Branch to the City) ; North Lon-
don Railway (Widening) ; Somerset Central Railway.
LONDON COAL AND WINE DUTIES BILL.

On the motion for going into committee on the-17ondon
Coal and Wine Dues Continuance Bill,
Mr. AYRTON rose and moved, " That it be an instruc-
tion to the committee on the bill that they have power to
make provision in the bill for continuing the fund provided
by sections 2 and 5 of the Act 11 Geo. 4, c. 64, and for pay-
ing the proceeds thereof to the account to be opened under
the bill ; that it be an instruction to the committee that they
have power to make provision in the bill for transfer-
ring to the Metropolitan Board of Works the lands,
tenements, and hereditaments called the Bridge House
Estates, now vested in the mayor, commonalty, and citizens
of the City of London, subject to any trust affecting the
same, and any charges thereon, and for paying the surplus
income thereof to the account to be opened under the
bill. That it be an instruction to the committee that they
have power to make provision in the bill for transferring
to the Metropolitan Board of Works all lands, tenements,
and hereditaments now vested in the mayor, commonalty,
and citizens of the City of London under any statute for
making improvements within the metropolis (except mar-
kets), subject to the trusts affecting the same, and the re-
payment of any moneys raised by the said corporationander
such statutes, and thereby charged on such lands, tene-
ments, and hereditaments, and for transferring to the
Metropolitan Board of Works all the powers conferred by
such statutes on the said corporation. That it be an

instruction to the committee that they have power to make
provision in the bill for the pament of the metage dues on
grain, fruit, wares, or merchandise received by the mayor,
commonalty, and citizens of the city of London, to the ac-
count to be opened under the bill. That it be an instruction
to the committee that they have power to make provision

in the bill for payment by the conservators of the river
Thames of the surplus of the annual income received by
them to the account to be opened under the bill. The hon.
gentlemen entered at length into the whole question, and
said it resolved itself into whether the house wished to
give the corporation of the City of London the coal
dues, instead of retaining them for purposes to which it had
been applied for the last two hundred years. The origin
of the fund was to rebuild the City of London after the
great fire in 1666. He then entered into an elaborate
description of the corporation fund, and said the whole case
resolved itself on the question, as he had said before, of
giving the whole of the funds to the City, totally disregard-
ing the circumstances under which it was raised. He con-
tended that the inhabitants at large, having paid
off the debts which the corporation fund was orginally
intended to meet, were entitled to full benefit of the redemp-
tion.
Mr. WILLIAMS seconded the motion.
The LORD MAYOR said it would be impossible to go
into the different historical facts alluded to by the hon-
ourable member. The city of London was not so
much affected by the bill has had been represented, but the
real question was should certain important metropolitan
improvements be made for which there was no official fund
out of which the expenses could be liquidated. The city
was not interested to the extent the hon. gentleman wished
the house to believe.
Sir G. C. LEWIS said the hon. gentleman the member
for the Tower Hamlets had addressed to the house a long
series
of complaints respecting himself, as the only indivi-
dual interested for the public
good, and accusing others of
having entered into a conspiray, c 11 principal delinquents
being the Corporation of London ande
the embers of her
Majesty's Government. The principal accusation against
the Government was that they had not brought
in the bill at an earlier period of the session,
and also that they had fixed it for a morning sitting, which
was a perfect invasion of the freedom of debate, and an
arrangement to prevent them being fully heat d. Now, he
did not think there was anything out of the ordinary
course to bring such a bill as the present on before
the house at a morning sitting, and therefore that
disposed of that part of the honourable gentleman's
speech. The bill was not as had been represented, a
job; it was founded on the report of the select committee
which sat last year, which recommended that the
Thames embankment should be constructed out of
the fund raised as coal dues, and the mea-
sure was to
give effect to that recommendation.
(Hear, hear.) He would not attempt to follow the hon.
gentleman in his antique disquisition on the coal duties. The
real quebtiQA to decide was whether the coal dues PllOlll4l