The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-19 00:00:00

MERCANTILE MARINE BILL.

Lord J. MANNERS inquired when it was the inten-
tion of the President of the Board cf Trado to go on
with this Bill.
Mr. CARDWELL also wished to know whether it
was the intention of the Right Ilor. Gentleman to take
any steps to place the Bill before Members in the shape
i❑ which he meant to proceed with it.

Mr. LABOUCHEIiE said, though he wal most
anxious to bring feTward the Bill :still he lifts not pre -
pared to state when he would be able to proceed with the
Bill. With regard to the second question, he was quite
ready to aiihdraw the present Bill, and to lay on the
table (2f the House an amended Bill, if that would be for
the c nvenience of Members.

LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND) BILL.
In antwer to Mr. S. CRAWFORD,

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that he could nt t at
presrnt stLte when the second readit g of this
Bill would be gone on with. On Monday
there was the Australian Colonies Bill ; on
'Thursday next the Stamp Duties Bill, and in thee en-
suing werlc t.o mint to take thy Ecclesiastical Curnmi.-
sion and the Comaiitt:e of Supply.
LOSS OF THE ROYAL ADELAIDE.

In answer to aquestion from Mr. F.FICENCII,

Mr LABOUCEtERE said that he had no reason for
saying that the Royal Adelaide was anything but a w(11-
built ship—he did not think that the accident wad owing
to any want of skill in the captain.
AUSTRALIAN COLONIES GOVERNMENT
BILL.

The House then went int.) Committee on this Bill,
Clauses 3,4, and 5 were agreed to without discussion.
On clause 6 being proposed,
Sir WILLIANI 1110LESWORTII moved, in line 26,
to omit all the words after the word " That," down to
the word " and," in line 39, for the purpose of inserting
these words, " there shall be established in the colonies
of Van I)lemen's Laud and South Australia respec-
tively a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly."
If this amendment were agreed to he should proceed to
propose other amendments by which these two chambers
would to made eleetive. It was admitted that the form
of government at present existing in the colonies ought
to to changed, while it was equally as true that the form
he proposed was the best in theory; but the Govern
meat had ureed certain special reasons why it could not be
applied to Victoria and New South Wales, end he should,
therefore, confiue himself to a consideration of tho)e
spf•cial;y. It was said that the colonists were quite satis-
fied with one chain's( r, and it wou!d, therefore, be an
arbitrary told unjust proceeding to force two upon them.
Now, in the case of the two colonies mentioned
in this amendment, that objection did not
apply, for the colonists themselves were favour-
able to the principle of two chambers.
Within the last few days most important information
had arrived in ads country, in a letter from Sir William
Denison, the Governor of Van Diemen's Land. In that
dispatch Sir William Denison expressed his decided con-
demnation of that part of the Government Bill which
they were now discussing. With regard to the principle
of a second chamber, Sir W. Denison said he doubted
very much whether the evidence in possession of the Go-
vernment was sufficient to prove that the pe )ple of New
South Wales were willing to adopt such a change in the
form of their existing government.—(llear, hear.)
The House hid no evidence that the people of New
South Wa'es wished to alter their institutions in that:par-
ticular. Sir W. Denison also said he would submit that
the welfare of three colonies now about to be called into
political existence must be allowed to outweigh the
indifference of the inhabitants of New South Wales.
Could anything be more unwise than to start those
three colonies with bed institutions simply because New
South Wales was indifferent to reform in the change of
its government? Sir W. Denison was of opinion that a
body constituted like the proposed single chamber,
finding itself in possession of power, it was not at
all probable that they would originate or carry out
changes which would in effect diminish its power.
The lion. Gentleman then proceeded to read a letter
from Sir 11. Young, the Governor of South Australia,
which he argued proved that Sir Henry Young,
and indeed all the colonists of South Aus-
tralia, were opposed to the Government scheme.
He must remind the Committee that their
Bill bad Seen postponed from last session, in order
to give time for information to reach this country, and
now the Bill ought not to be proceeded without the most
valid reasons being shown for the assent of the colonists
If there were any grounds for believing that they
did assent they had been studiously concealed
The working of a single chamber bad been tried in New
South Wales for seven years, and he did not think with
much success. The system of New South Wales was in
direct violation of one of the fundamental principles of
the constitution, which declared that none could be taxed
without the consent of the majority of their representa-
tives. The amount of expenditure per head on the popula-
tion of our colonies depended entirely on the form of
their local Governments, and the expenditure was
greater or less precisely as the Colonial-Ace had more
or less to do with them. It was greater when the Cole-
eial-office had more, and less when it had least to do with
the government of the colonies. The average rate per
heap, when the Colonial-office exercised its powers to ap
point nominees, was 20,. higher than when the colonists
possessed representative institutions in which we had
no nominee,. It was said by the Government, that as
the principle of appointing nominees had been sett!el
with regard to New South Wales it ought to be
considered as settled with respect to tall the
Australian Colonies, so closely were they connecteead,
togethe.z. But there appeared to behe great
misapprehension en this subject, and
sup-
posed that many in tlat House thought ttheerthe eveAuassttrh.
ae-
lien colonies were as closely connected t g
counties of England. That, however,
.wsa wasoe 600 miles
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia
from Sydney, and the capital of Western stern Australia,
was distant 1,700 miles from Sydney, or further
than Constantinople was distant from London.
Such an argument,
therefore, was utterly absurd
on the present occasion. One of the arguments most
relied upon in favour of the Bill was that it contained
'eh allowed the colonies, from time
at provision
iinieto wharai
end their inotittitial) and the

Noble Lord at the head of the Government had ex-
preised his surprize that any on his aide of the :House
should cppose a Bill which was the very embodiment of
liberal principlei. More stress had, however, bean laid
upon this argument than the circumstances just. ified.
This provision would only add to instead of diminishing
the despotic power of the Colonial-office, and h© need
not point to its recent blunders in Ceylon, New South
Wales, and New Zealand, to prove that it was unworthy
of these additional powers. Another argument against
this theory used by lion. Members who opposed it was
that the colonies themselves were fit to receive
the double chamber, and he called upon those
Hon. Member to prove it. Was it in smallness of the
population, or in their ignorance that they deserved this
nodules: ? If it were in the former, he would just point
to the example of America, were the principle prevailed
in many states whose population, at its origin, amounted
to scarcely a third of that of these colonies, and the re-
sult had been to add to the influence of the American
Republic, and to increase the number of its inhabitants.
tie would ask the Committee why they refused to give to
the Australian colonies the same political inst tutionswhich
experience and theory had proved to be suitable to Anglo-
Saxon communities located in the back woods of North
Amric,i? When an English subject set foot in one
American colonies ho lost no political immunity which
he enjoyed in the mother country; bnt when he
et.tered any of our Australian colonies ho relinquished
many of the liberties and privileges, the enjoyment of
which was guaranteed to him in the land of his birth: The
Noble Lord (J. Russell) proposed a chamber consisting
of 24 members, 16 of which should be elected by the
people in the colony, and eight of them should
be nominated by the Colonial-cflice, who should sit in
the came chamber. Ile would ask. was it likely that
the Colonial- 'flies could select out of the materials ex-
isting in those colonies eight Members who would bo
better fitted to sit in the Legislature than than those who
had been e‘eeted by the people in the colonies?
Ile (Sir W. Molesworth) thought they would find the
greatest diffieu ty in that. With these observations he
would leave his amendments in the by ids of the House.
Mr. E. DENISON supported the proposition ef‘the
lion. Baronet the Member for Southwark, and was
(LEFT SPEAEING.)

COURSE OF EXCH
Atnstentam .......... 12 2

Ditto, three months .. 12 3!4
Rotterdam .... • • • • 12 3%
Brussels • • •• ..« 25 $5
Elainburgh • • li.B . 13 13
Paris, 3 dayesight 25 60
Ditto, 3 months 25 60
&families •••• • • • • • 25 6234
80urdeaux......... •
Frankfort on Mains.... 121%
Berlin
Vienna, effec. flo• ••• •• 12 10
Trieste, ditto.... • • .... 12 10
Petereburgh, all. Rble.•
Madrid •• .. • • ........ 49%
Cadiz •• • • 49%
Barcelona • • • • ........
SeTille.. • • •• • • • • • • • •

INGE.—(THIS DAY.)
Gibraltar.. ..
Leghorn .... ••• • • ..... 50 75
Genoa ........ .... 36 10
Venics...... .. • • ....
Naples .. ...• ••...• • • 40ii
Palermo, peroz ........ 122 IA
Messina .............. 1223 i
Lisbon 33%
Oporto.. .• .... 33%
Rio Janeiro • •
Buenos Ayres .. ......
New York, 30 days'aight 44%
Philadelphia ..........
mon 01 MULLION. Pll 01.
Foreign Geld iEbars..LE 17 9
Portugal Gold Coin • . 0 0 •
Spanish Doubloons .. 0 0 0
New Dollars •••• • • 0 4 10%
Sllver is bars .. •• 0 4 n%

ENGLAND.
ight'a Gazette.)
7th and Bth of Victorla.cap. 32, ter
v, the 13th day of Aprll, 1650.

S.
Government debt .- 11,015,100
Other securities .... 2,954,900
Gold coin •nd bullion 15,1 00,773
Silter bullion ...... 243,107

I A 30,044,650
M. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier.
50.
IMILTKCX T .

Government securi-
ties (including Dead
•

Weight Annuity).. 14,209,969
Other securities .... 9,744,702
Notes .............. 9,997,0;5
Gold and slyer coin.. 714,5115

X 34,666,124
f. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier,