The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-04 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS.-(YESTERDAY.)

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at 5 o'clock.
BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY BILL.
Lord CHELMSFORD said in the committee on this
bill he should move a clause preventing the bill having a
retrospective operation with respect to non-traders.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The Wye Railway (Extension) ; Trent, Ancholme, and
Grimsby Railway; Belfast and County Down Railway;
Penrith Harbour, Dock, and Railway; Stockton and Dar-
lington Railway (New Railway at Marske, &c.) bills were
read a second time.
The Newgate and Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Mar-
ket, and Great Northern Railway (Purchase of Hertford
Branch) bills were read a third time and passed.
THE GALWAY CONTRACT.
_ _

The Marquis of NORMANBY rose to move an address
for copies of the correspondence between his Excellency the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and her Majesty's Government
on the subject of the contract with the Atlantic Royal Mail
Steam-packet Company. The noble marquis having pre-
sented a petition in favour of the continuance of the mail
service at Galway, said on Thursday week he willingly
acceded to the request for postponement ; but:he was sorry
to say that since that time a topic had been introduced to
prejudice the question by the Government. He then pro-
ceeded to deny that the Irish members had ever contem-
plated entering into any compact to support the budget on
receiving an assurance that the Galway contract would
be renewed for six months. There was a universal feeling
of regret in Ireland at the determination that had been ar-
rived at by the Government, a regret that was ;shared in to
the full extent by the Lord-Lieutenant. This opinion had
not been expressed in any private manner, but had been
made in Dublin to a deputation that had waited on
his lordship relative to the withdrawal of the contract,
He could not refrain from saying that it was most extraor-
dinary that the contract should have been withdrawn at
the moment and the manner it was. The objection
to the vessel was also most irreconcilable, because she had
previously performed the voyage successfully, and within
the time allowed by the contract, and he could not help
hoping that, sooner or later, the prayer of the petition he
had presented would be accomplished.
Earl GRANVILLE said he thought it was irregular
and inconvenient to re-discuss a subject that had been de-
bated in another place. He did not think the noble' lord
had been quite correct in saying that the noble lord
had been the only person alluded to in the com-
pact, Had such a compact been entered into, he
could not but say that it would have been most disgraceful
to all parties, and that the Government had better fall than
be kept on its legs by such a proceeding. (Hear, hear.)
He thought that the noble marquis ought to be the last
man to attack his noble friend the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, and he thought his noble friend the Postmaster-
General would be perfectly ready to defend the course he
had thought it his duty to take. As to the motion of the
noble lord for papers, &c., he had to inform him that there
was no official correspondence of the description alluded to
in the possession of the Government.
The Earl of EGLINTON stated the reasons that induced
him to sanction the contract and urge its acceptance upon
the Government of Lord Derby. His object was solely to
benefit the country at large. He would not touch upon the
subjects alluded to by the noble marquis, but he could not
help thinking that the company had been dealt with in a
hostile spirit, and that in consequence they had suffered in-
justice.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE referred to the lively
and unanimous feeling in Ireland which had arisen on the
cancelling of the contract, and thought it a serious matter
for a Government, without adequate consideration, to pro-
voke the opposition of a whole country, and to put an end
to this service at a moment when events in America ren-
dered it of the utmost importance that the communication
should be kept open.
Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said the chief objec-
tion to the contract with the Galway Company was this—
that, contrary to the universal practice, it was given without
competition—(hear, hear)—and without notice to any of
the great public companies, or to the mercantile community,
that might have enabled them to enter into a competition
for giving the service on the terms most advantageous to
the country. (Hear, hear.) The question itself is divided
into two distinct parts. The first is whether the contract
has been properly performed. If a contract is not fulfilled
by one party, I have never teard that it could be made a
just charge against the other party, that it put an end to it.
But I will go further ; I will admit, if we had pushed the
conditions to an extreme, and terminated the agreement on
the very first omission to fulfil its terms, we should not
have acted with a fair liberality. But a very short history
of the proceedings under the contract will, I hope, satisfy
your lordships that so far from having treated the company
with severity it has been shown more than usual in-
dulgence. (Bear.) 'We have from time to time met every
application the company has made to us. It has from the
first moment been allowed to employ vessels that did not
answer the conditions of the contract ; it was allowed to de-
fer the voyages from once a fortnight to once a month. Then
the company, not having a single vessel fit for the service,
made another application to be allowed to postpone the ser-
vice for four months to the 12th of March. That was also
conceded. But under these circumstances it is quite clear
that it was competent to the Government to terminate the
contract without any imputation of harshness. (Hear.) The
Government, however, said, we will suspend the contract
for the time you yourselves name, but solely and entirely
on this condition, that if at the end of that time you are not
ready with proper vessels, under the terms of the contract,
it will be terminated. It is very inconvenient to the public
service that a contract should be changed, mutilated, and
imperfectly executed ; and that there should be no certainty
of the company having proper vessels ready to perform the
duty, particularly in this service, of which speed is such an
important element. It was most necessary that the vessels
should possess the power and speed that would enable them
to perform the voyages within the time stipulated. But only
once has the voyage to St. John's been performed in six
days since the commencement of the service. In every case
except one the Cunard boats have made shorter voyages
from Queenstown than the steamers from Galway. It there-
fore comes to this, that as far as a direct communication be-
tween Ireland and the United States is concerned, no advan-
tage has been gained by the establishment of the Galway
line of packets ; equal advantage has been derived from the
Cunard steamers from Queenstown, and from the other
lines of steamers that run from Liverpool and Southamp-
ton, calling at Londonderry, without receiving one sixpence
of subsidy. •The company had certainly a right to require
from the Government full and due notice that in the event
of certain circumstances occurring the contract would be
put an end to. My lords, I can refer to the correspond-
ence to show that not once only, but repeatedly, the com-
pany has had such notice. The suspension of the service
from October to March was only granted on the clear under-
standing that if the country had not, at the end of that
period, proper vessels for the recommencement and continu-
ance of the service, the contract would be terminated. And
what was its condition at the end of the term? On the 26th
March the 'company had not a single vessel to go to sea.
But on very urgent representations being made to me of an
accident that had occurred to the Hibernia the company
was allowed to forego a voyage on payment of a fine • but it
was not to be allowed to resume the service unless' it had
efficient vessels. On the 7th May a vessel was offered for
acceptance by the Government. It was the Adriatic. This
steamer fulfilled the conditions of the contract tvtneedsshasdb.peeern-
formed the service admirably. Had all the
e:
equal to the Adriatic no question would have
been
The next vessel, the Columbia, had been CO
straeinnerdaltshed.
she was obliged to go into dock at Liverpool to be repairer.
and the Hibernia, even on her way from Southampton to
Galway, was so injured that it was stated she would not be
fit to go to sea for three months. The company therefore
has not a single efficient vessel but the Adriatic. The Go-
vernment agreed to accept the Parana if the Admiralty sur-
veyor, whom they were bound to consult, reported her fit
for service; but the report the Government received was

On the motion that this bill be reported with amendments,
Lord REDESDALE proposed that his clause for the re-
gistration of places of public worship for Roman Catholics
in Ireland should be added to the bill.
The LORD CHANCELLOR was glad of this opportu-
nity of correcting a misapprehension which had gone abroad,
that he had consented to the two clauses of his noble friend
being added to the bill. He had consented to certain amend-
ments moved by the noble lord, which he thought unneces-
sary but harmless, being introduced with the most laudable
object of preventing clandestineity, and to preserve the evi-
dence of marriage ; but the othertwo clauseshe had strongly
condemned, and, instead of carrying them out, he said he
would rather abandon the bill altogether. The clause was
condemned in Ireland, not only by Roman Catholic priests,
but by persons of all religious persuasions.
The Bishop of DOWN and CONNOR said the clause
was most objectionable in its character, and would have a
very injurious effect.
The clause was negatived without a division.
NEW PROVINCES (NEW ZEALAND) BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS,—YESTERDAY.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
NEW MEMBER.

Lord RIORARD GROSVENOR took the oaths and his seal
on his election for Flintshire.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
__ _ _

The Lords' amendments to the Leeds, Bradford, and
Halifax Junction Railway Bill and Universal Private Tele-
graph Company Bill were considered and agreed to.
The Isle of Wight Water Bill was read a third time and
passed.

that the Parana had not speed enough to perform that ser-

vice. Under these circumstances. I ask my noble friend, had
he been Postmaster-General, could he, with such a report in

his hand, have consented to send out the Parana ? It really

is of vital importance to a service of which speed is such an
essential that the vessels should be sufficiently fast for the

purpose; it is speed alone that makes the service valuable.
I admit that the communication with Newfoundland is a

most important one,and I should be sorry to see it dropped;
but to effect it with advantage the vessels must have speed
enough to perform the voyage within six days. If they
take a longer time than that the communication is of no

advantage. No advantage has been gained by the substitu-
tion of Galway for Liverpool. I must, therefore, contend
that there is no ground for charging the Government with
unduly pressing en a particular company, or with a want
of feeling for the interests of Ireland. The Government is
open to the strongest representations from the mercantile
community generally that it is not advisable to grant sub-
sidies to lines of steamers running to ports of the United
States to which communication already exists, while assist-
ance is refused to steamers from our own ports to those of
Canada. Under these circumstances it would have been
impossible for us to continue any lax indulgence to the Gal-
way Company after the ample notice it had received. I can
only say that her Majesty's Government and all those with
whom I am politically connected have never shown any in-
difference to the feelings or the interests of the Irish people.
The noble marquis who ;ntroduced this motion will, I think,
recollect from what party he received support and from
what party he encountered opposition when he was himself
pursuing a truly liberal policy in Ireland ; and I am there-
fore surprised that he should have ventured to come forward
and endorse the accusations which have been made against
the Government on this subject. I propose shortly to lay
on your lordship? table the whole of the papers connected
with this matter. Ido not wish to withhold one single
letter or iota of the correspomlenee. Your lordships and
the other Houses of Parliament will be able, after reading
those papers, to form your own judgment on the conduct of
the Government, and, however much we may regret the
feeling which prevails in Ireland, I think, upon calm con-
sideration, it will be found that it would not be just to visit
us with condemnation for the course we have adopted. No
man can be more anxious than I am at this moment to see i

IMPERIAL PA_RLIAMENT. an early opportunity offer for promoting a direct and im-
mediate communication between that country and America,
and my only desire is to see it established on the best and
soundest foundation. (Cheers.)
Lord BROUGHAM said it was impossible not to feel
the greatest interest in a subject which had excited a feel-
ing more universal and more intense in the whole of the
sister kingdom than any other question, great or small,
which had arisen in his time. Men of all sects, parties, and
classes, whether employed in agriculture or in trade, had
united with an unexampled unanimity upon this local ques-
tion. He therefore hoped that it would be found possible,
notwithstanding what had passed, to excuse the company to
a certain degree for their partial failure in their contract,
and to renew that contract, provided they could prove their
solvency and their ability to fulfil the conditions into which
they had entered. But he could not sit down without ad-
verting, not to the rumour, but to the positive statement,
upon the authority of a Minister, of an attempt having
been made on the part of certain Irish members of the other
House of Parliament to obtain the continuance of this sub-
vention by threats of an adverse vote, or by promises of a
friendly vote, on a totally different question. The noble
marquis opposite had stated, most justly, that men must be •
extremely unwise and exceedingly foolish if they could
suppose that any such threat would influence his noble
friend at the head of the Government, or that any such
promise would induce him to betray his duty to the
Crown. His noble friend near him had shown that
"action was taken"—for that was the technical expres-
sions—by the body in question long before the time when
this was said to have occurred. All that, no doubt,
made it probable—he did not say more than probable—that
this charge was without foundation. But he should like to
have a better disproof of the charge, and that could only be
given by Father Daly himself, either denying that any Irish
member had authorised him to go to the First Lord of the
Treasury with their threat and their offer, or that any Irish
member connected with the Galway Company had given
him that authority. It was obvious that if any member of
Parliament sent to a Minister to say, "If you don't put
money in a certain place (which used to be held a threaten-
ing letter) take the consequences—we shall vote against
you ; or if you do give that sum to us, the shareholders, we
shall vote for you," a more corrupt proceeding, a more direct
act of offering to be bribed could not be imagined. And
they would in vain in either House of Parliament challenge
the respect of the community if they allowed such a thing
to pass, inasmuch as, while they were prosecuting some poor
voter in a borough for receiving a bribe of £5, they would
be conniving at members of the House of Commons offering
to sell their votes for a bribe of so many thousands. (Hear.)
The facts of the case could be at once asc rtained. Father
Daly might be examined at the bar of the House of Com-
mons, and required to declare whether any member of Par-
liament had authorised him to go to Lord Palmerston with
that joint menace and promise. Let the same person also de-
clare who those members of Parliament were, and then it
might be seen whether or not they happened to have shares
in the Galway Company, which would convert their pro-
mise into an offer to be bribed. If Father Daly chose to say,
" I had no authority, I was merely an intermeddler acting
from over-zeal in a good cause ; I thought I did what I was
bound in duty to do," then those members were acquitted,
and there was no charge against them. But, as long as the
statements made in the other House of Parliament con-
tinued unrefuted and unretracted by Father Daly in his
examination, men would not hesitate to believe that there
was great foundation for the charge. (Hear, hear.)
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said that Father Daly
had called upon him before going to Lord Palmerston, and
asked him to accompany him, which he declined, but dur-
ing the interview he showed him a paper in favour of the
company, signed by 48 members of all parties and shades o
political opinions.
After some further discussion, the subject dropped.
MARRIAGE LAW (IRELAND) AMENDMENT
BILL.