The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-25 00:00:00

ELECTION COMMITTEE.

The Committee appointed to try the return for Hun-
tingdon county was sworn at the table of the House.
LUNATICS (SCOTLAND) BILL.

The amendments to this bill were considered.

Mr. C. BRUCE suggested that the new Lunacy
Board should be put into working order, with Sir J.
M'Neil, president of the Scotch Poor Law Board, at its
head.

The LORD ADVOCATE said that ho had consulted
SirJ.ll.`Neil onthe expediency of joining the two boards.
He had expressed his readiness to undertake the dative,

but he considered it inadvisable to join the two boards
tho working of which would be very different.
In reply to a question,

The LORD ADVOCATE said that he had intended
to alter the salaries to be paid to the commissioner
from 1,2001. a year to 1,0001., but he found be was too
late, as the clause was passed. He assured the house
that the commissioners would not be paid more than
1,0001. per annum. (Hear, h .ar.)
Mr. STIRLING moved the omission of clause 113,
which exempted from asses ments Orkney and Shet-
land.

Mr. BLACKBURN suggested that the exemption
should only apply to SheilAnd, which after a discussion
was agreed O. _ _

The other amendments were then agreed to, and the
bill ordered to be read a third time on Monday.
POLICE (SCOTLAND) BILL. _

On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
Sir J. OGILVEY said he had no wish to make any fac-
tious opposition to the bill, but he objected to the prin-
ciple of centralisation it woul I establish, as opposed to
local self government, which was dear to the people of
Scotland, the destruction of which they would not submit
to it if it were possible to avoid it. It as no reason
that because the principle had been introduced into the
Englibh Police Act that it should be applied to Scot-
land, and he thought it should be resisted to prevent
the establishment of a a precedent in future legislation.
Admitting the principle to be applicable to England,
he contended that it was not to Scotland, the circum-
stances connected with the management of the body
being vastly different in the two countries.
The house then went into committee on the bill.
Clause 1, with amendments, was agreed to.
On clause 2,

Sir J. ANDERSON said it was only right that
burghsformin, part of counties should have a voice in the
management ofs the police, and he moved the insertion of
words that the provost of chief magistrate of every
burgh containing 1,000 inhabitants, incorporated with the
county for the purposes of this act, should be a member
of the police committee.
After some discussion the amendment was withdrawn.
On clause 3, relative to the power of the Secretary of
State,
The LORD ADVOCATE said that this and several
other clauses, bearing on the subject, were copied, word
for. word, from the English Act. All the Government
asked for was, that having consented to bear a certain
portion of the expense of the force, the same powers
should be given them in Scotland that they had in
England, where the country gentlemen were
as jealous of centralisation as those of Scotland. The
English bill had been found to work well, and he knew
no reason why its principle sliould not be applied to
Scotland. The learned gentleman then gave several in-
stances of the evils resulting from local eelf•government
in Scotland relative to the police force, and said that all
this bill proposed was to give the Government a certain
amount of superintendence of the police in Scotland,
but not an interference otherwise than to see that the
public interest did not suffer.

- Mr. C. BRUCE supported the establishment of an
efficient police force throughout Scotland. The details
of management should be left in the bands of the
people of Scotland. He also urged the necessity
of a certain number of detectives being kept, either at
the escpense of the Government or of the people of
Scotland.

After a discussion, in which Sir T. E. Cnlebrooke,
Mr. Blackburn, Mr, Black, Ca. Sykes, Mr. W. Ewart,
Sir G. Grey, and other members took part, the com-
mittee divided, when the numbers were—
For the motion
Against it
Majority
The clause was agreed to.

. 74
~ 47
~ -27

Clauses up to 23 were agreed to, with amendments,
when the chairman reported progress, and asked leave
to sit again.
The other orders for the morning sitting were die.
posed of, and the house suspended its sittings at 4 o'clock.
The house resumed at 6 o'clock.
INDIA.

Lord PALMERSTON—I wish to invert the ordinary
course of proceeding, and to ask a question on this side
of the house of the right hon. gentleman the member far
Buckinghamshire. The arrangement made the other
day was, tiAtt we were to give up Monday to the right
hon. gentleman, in order that be might make a motion
on the affairs of India. I suggested to the right hon.
gentleman Monday, rather than to-day, with a ♦iew to
the probability of the next mail from India arriving be-
fore Monday, but I have heard since that the trail is not
likely to be here until some time in the course of Mon-
day, and therefore I suggest to the right hon. gentleman
whether he will take Monday or the next earliest govern-
ment day in the week, so as to make sure that in the
meantime the mail will have arrived, and that the whole
of the country as well as the Directors of the East India
Company may be in possession of whatever news there
may be. We are entirely at the discretion of the right
hon. gentleman as to whether the arrangement shall
stand good for Monday, or whotlier we shall give him
Thursday, if it suit him. Of course the right hon. gen•
tleman will put upon the votes what the motion is that
he intends to make.

Mr. DISRAELI—Upon a question of this kind of
course any intimation by the noble lord will have
from me my grave attention ; but the noble lord
will remember that it was at his own suggestion
tLat delay took place in bringing forward this ques-
tion. Ido not myself anticipate that it is of any
importance that we should receive any fresh intelli-
gence before I bring forward the motion which I intend
to make. I have heard the suggestion of the noble lard
that this matter should be taken into consideration on
Thursday, bu't I hope the noble lord will not be offended
at my saying that I have a firm conviction that it is ler
the public advantage that no delay should take place in
bringing on the discussion of which I have spoken ; and
I hope the noble lord will, therefore, allow me t) avail
myself of the suggestion originally made by him. I will
place on the paper a notice of the motion I propose to
make on Monday, but it will refer only to papers, and
I may say that I have taken this course because I be-
lieve it to be an act of public duty.
CONVEYANCE OF TROOPS TO INDIA. AND