The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-26 00:00:00

ties en a qesstion f seeh tff etieg the
iiehts the osepl, et. lei gra—C.l.l,er.)
fierd tallN IllaSelai.L seta the ,rees: siien f the
Hon. aid Learned Gentleman was, no doutt, deserving of
attentien from the temperate maener in which he had
made it. The proposition alas of the lion. and Learnt d
Gentherian on the face of it aplei el a very fair on-.
Still it was evident that there were parte f the
which eppeareal to him (Lord J. Russ; 11) such as caul l,
and such as ought, to be t them now; and yet those were
the very parts with respect to which the county Mem-
bers weuld wish the postponement to take peace. He
owned it appeared to him that the question upon which
the Hon and Learned Gentleman had made up his mind,
and upon which many Hon. Members opposite had made
up their minds—namely, what should he the county
franchise, did not require postpeneincnt —(Cheers any
counter cheers.) The' question ha,l been two years be•
fore the public in Ireland, and the plan of the (Iw:em-
inent was in fact known. If the HOP, and Learned
Member was ready to discuss th.t qu:stion, and d, f r
the consi leratien of more intricate metiers, he was
ready to enter tat) the spirit f his propoein• n But if
he meant tbai the Comeattee should now consider the
reghstrst'on clan-ea and agree te all tle,se parts of the
BPI which conformed to the brought in by Leal
Stanley, and p )stponed altog, ther tee consharation of
the frenciti-e, to th st course he could not consartt.—
(Hear.) It was prop tsed to extend ta e county far chise
in Ireland new enjoyed by little inore thin 30,000, to
200,000. Such was the objeet of the B .1; it wis in fact
a question of principle, and one which the Cwutnittee
was now prepared to discuss.
Mr. F. MACKENZIE thought it vile char that no
concession was to be expected from the Noble Lord.
'rho course pursued by the Opposition hail been charac-
terised as unprecedented; but he rest withered more
than one occasion during his own a xperieoce is which a
similar course had been pursued, and wits success.
The course pursued by the Government, however, was
certainly unprecedented.
Mr. SADLEIR did not r'se te prolong the discus-
sion, but just to remind the lion. Gentleman that this
Bill hal, in fact, no more thee two nee, clauses in it.—
(Hear, hear.) The rest of the claeses were the same as
those in the Bill of last session and two years ago, and
the object of these was clearly indicated in the aaered
title. These two clauses had nothing te do with the
principle af the Bill, but merely le ferred to rating.
There was not the slight• st ground, therefore, for say-
ing that the House bad been taken by surprise.
Colonel CHATTERTON said if he were disposed to
agree to every clause in the Bill, ha should still feel it
his duty, as a Member of that House, t r protest against
the unconstitutional course pursued by the Gavernrnent.
He did not object to an extension of the franchise, but
thought his constituents did not understand the Bill. He
would take that opportanity of repelling the imputation
which had been cast upon him by his Honourable
colleague, who said he did not possess the
confidence of his constituents. He appealed to
any Member whether it would be possible or probable
that a body of 700 or 800 most respectable men would
have used such exertions to obtain for him the honour-
able position which he now hold if such were the case.
It had also been asserted that Protectionist principles
had nothing whatever to do with his reture. This he
denied, for many had given him their support on the
solo condition that he would support protection:.
Mr. ANSTEY could nut take the same low estimate
of the intelligence of the constituency of the people of
Cork as their Hon. and Gallant Representative. There
appeared to be no contest as to the princlsde of the Bill,
or the necessity for immediet • legislation. Why hesitate
then to go into Committee It would be time enough
to postpone clauses when difficulties arose.
Captain HARRIS concluded from the si'ence main-
tained on the other side that a conviction prevailed there
that the conduct of the Government was unjustifiable.
—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and "No, no.") Honourable
Members opposite were pleased to assign motives as in-
fluencing the conduct of those who resistel going on
with the Cemmittee, and professed to be acquainted
alike with their tactics, their meetings, and the state of
their stomachs. One saw the cloven toot of protection
peeping out, and they wound up all by telling them that
they wished to maintain the present franchise, although
this was denied by every Member who had spoken on
his side of the House. lie was one of the sleepy Mem-
bers who were present on Friday night when the Noble
Lord proposed to proceed to-night with a Bill which was
nothing more nor less than a reform Bill for Ireland.—

(Hear, hear.) If the Noble Lord had been proposing a
reform Bill for England would he have acted in the same
manner—would he have given way in such a case? He
believed this to be nothing but the forerunner of an
English reform Bill, and was only intended to test the
feeling of the people.
Mr. W. T. FAGAN denied that he had ever used the
expression that his Hon. and Gallant Colleague (Colonel
Chatterton) did not possess the confidence of his consti-
tuents. He had never stated it, but he bad no hesitation
in stating now that he had not, politically speaking, the
confidence of the citizens of Cork. He also defied any
person to maintain that protection had anything to do
with his election, and if an election should occur in a
few months he would venture to assert that protection
would not find much favour there. With reference to
this Bill, he would only sly that precisely the same Bill
had been printed two years ago, with the exception of
the two clauses, and he had discussed it twelve months
ago with his constituents, who were perfectly familiar
with it.

Lord C. HAMILTON said the Hon. Gentleman ap-
peare I to know that the Bill of last year was to bo the
Government m, aeure; whereas he (Lord C. Hamilton),
not having the advantage of the same confidential com-
munications, was certainly not aware that the Govern-
ment, when they brought forward a Bill for the sole
purpose of withdrawing it, intended to convey to the
public that this was to be their measure for the follow-
g year. Su Is was not, certainly, the ordinary por-
cess. Hon. Members talked of the hill as all but decided
upon laq year, the fact being that not a single vote was
take's upon it. This was certainly a new theory of con-
stitutioual legislation.
Mr. NE WDEG ATE called attention to the fact that
the Roman Catholic elergy bad become converts to Por-
toctionist principles. He was assured that many of
the m were So deeply impressed with the evils under
which their country was suffering that they were willing
to recognise free trade as a great error and to adopt a
sounder policy.
The Committee then divided, when there appeared—
For reporting progress... ... .. 63
Against it 155
Majority ... --92
Mr. ADDERLEY protes.ei against the unconstitu-
tional coarse pursued by the Government, who had left
it a matter of uncertainty whether they were to discuss
the constitutions to be grants I to five of our colonies or
a reform Bill for Ireland. And what was the re Ison
assigned by the Noble Lord at the head of the Govern-
ment for delaying the Australia's Constitution Bill?
That it was necessary to make the parties interested
better acqueiree I with its provisions—the very argu-
ment urged as a ground for postponement in the pre-
sent case.—(Hear, hear.) If large censtitutional mea-
sures like these were to be shuffle' and changed from
place to place, so that the House hardly knew within 48
hours which of two such great questions was t ) be dis-
cussed,•it would be far better to leave legislation entirely
in the hands of the Government, and cenfine themselves
to those Parliaments of which teey had heard
lately. He knew very well that there were many Hon.
Gentlemen opposite who would be pea f.ctly willing to
pass any Bill under heaven the object of which was the
extension of the flanchice. The Lion. Gentleman con-
cluded by moving that the Chairman do now leave the
chair.

Colonel SIBTHORP expressed his determination to
give the measure all the opposition in his power, in con-
sequence of the unhandsome way in which the Govern-
ment had acted. The lion. and Gallant Gentleman re-
ferred to the division of the previous Thursday night,
and observed that if the a lherents of the Treasury had
been excluded the Government would have been left in
a minority. They were now commencing a most dan-
gerous and unconstitutional course, and the duty of the
House was to stop them at once. He hoped his friends
on that side of the House would avail themselves of all
the forms thst Parliament allowed to prevent the Go-
vernment from bullying and over-riding them and the
country.—(Hear.)
Mr. REYNOLDS reminded the House that this was
the sixth division they had had upon the question, and
asked how far such a course was to be proceeded in ?
Hon. Members opposite would feel very much offended if
their conduct %Eli termed factious; but it had teen
qualified by the Hon. Member for Bucks, who hal termed
it a factious proceeding for constitutional purposes. Ho
did not know how the country would take such pro
ceedings. Ile had always looked upon the Hon. Member
for Warwiekahire as the advocate of local and popular
government in Australia, and comparing that with his
conduct on the present occasion towards Ireland,
he must say
that it was somewhat inconsistent. Why,
at one time, he had almost looked upon the Hon. Gen-
tleman as the advocate of the repeal of the union. It
was said that it was distance lent enchantment to the
view, and it w -uld be well fir the people of Ireland if
they were at a distance, as they might then hope for the
sympathies of the Hon. Member for Warwick. They
had been now three hours togas' d in a factious opposi-
tion, and he thought the best thing that could be done
was to leave Hon. Gentlemen on the other side to take
their own course. Like certain animals that should be
nameless, they would cont nue swimming till they cut
their own threats.—(A laugh.) It appeared to him
that they were working out that principle; they had
certainly pushed Ministers to the it saddle•skirts the
other night, and some of his countrymen might probably
imagine that they meant well, but that delusion, if it
existed, would be dispelled by their conduct that night.
The Government had been of late becoming almost poli-
tically insolvent in the eyes of the people of Ireland,
hut the opposite party had again set them up in capital.
It would obtain for the Government great popularity on
the other side of the Channel, and the cry in every one's
mouth would te„that Lord Jehe Russell was fighting
like a game cock for the political privi'eges and fran-
chises of the Irish people.—(A laugh.)
Lord C. HAMILTON hoped the In ti re epic would
understand what was going on in th t II use that night
—he hoped they would understand that there were in
that House Irish and English Members who would not
allow me:sures to be brought forward in a mariner wholly
unprecedented, if not unconstitnti nil.—(hear,
The Bill proposed t.) increase the franchise, and it had
only been introduced to the House on Wednesday last.
It was, in fat, one of the most important Bills intro-
duced as regarded Ireland since the R form Bill, and yet
all the ordinary maees of Parliament had been departed
from with regard to it. He maintained that Ireland wa-
entitled to the same regard and consideration and respect
as any other. part of the empire ; and that due time
should be afforded te the people of Ireland and her re-
preseetaire s to consider its provisiew; more especially
as the whole basis e f the Bill proceefded on what did not
exist—namely, unitorm rating,—( fle,er; hear.)
Mr. DISRAELI said it :night be very convenient to
the Government to endeavour to convey to the people of