The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-19 00:00:00

CASE OF MR. NASH.

Lord LANGDALE then order's i Mr. Charles De
Lacy Nash, t',e secretary to the committee of the Wa-
terford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Dublin Railway Com-
pany, to be called to the bar.
In answer to questions from various Noble Lords, Mr.
Nash said he was not the sem-etary to the company,
but only to a committee of shareholders. He had under-
stood that an order had been made by their Lordahipe
for certain returns, which had not been complied
with. He communicated to the Railway Commissioners
that.:he could give the information required, and he ac-
cordingly made a return. The order for the return
had not been made upon him, and he had never received
any order. He was not aware whether or not an, re-
turn had been made to the order by the officials of the
company.
Lord BROUGHAM—You volunteered the return.
Mr. Nash—l wrote to the Railway Commissioners.
Lord BROUGHAM—As a volunteer you wrote to
the Railway Commissioners, saying you were prepared to
writs, and then they wrote to you ?
Mr. Nash—They wrote to me.
Lord BROUGHAM—But not until you had written
to them first ?

In answer to further questions, Mr. Nash stated that
he had not a copy of that letter. Ile way not certain
whether it was bolded Waterford, Wexford, and Wick-
low Railway. The committee of which he was secre-
tary was merely a committee of shareholders. Lord
Courtown's name was attached to the original return.
He saw the return in the Private Bill Office. He copied
it, and copied Lord Courtown's name too.
Lord BROUGHAM—Now did you copy this literally,
without any addition whatever?
Mr. Nash—l did, my Lord.
Lord BEAUMONT—Was it made by you, or by
your clerk?

Mr. Nash—By myself, two years ago.
Lord BROUGHAM—Who wrote the signature to
this return—" Courtown, Chairman?"
Mr. Nash—l did, my Lord.
Lord BROUGHAM—Is it in your ordinary hand-
writing?
Mr. Nash—lt is, my Lord.
Lord BROUGHAM—WiII you venture to say that
the signature, " Courtown, Chairman," is not such as is
calculated to induce persons to believe that it is a signa-
ture and not a copy ?
Mr. Nash—l did not intend it as an imitation of a
signature.
_

-Lord 13ROUGHAM—Do you not know that in cases
of a copy of a signature it is usual to prefix the word
" Signed " to the copy of the signature?
Mr. Nash—lt is so occasionally, but it is not my
practice.

By Lord BEAUMONT—He thought that the House
would understand that he could not be in possession of
the original, and that their Lordships would understand
that it was a copy.
By Lord BROUGHAM—He never took out of the
Private Bill Office the paper of which the return pur-
ported to be a copy.
The examination with regard t) the signature " Cour-
to a a, Chairman," was then,resumsd, and Lord Broughams
produced the signature attached to the return. and
handed it to
.Mr. Nash, making him if the
Chairman in " Courtoa n, Chairman," was not
different from the chairman of his own
signature, Charles. The documents were subsequently
handed round to the Peers in order that they might
compare them, Mr. Nash contending that the difference
was not very material. In answer to further questions,
Mr. Nash said he had never taken the paper from the
Private 1311 Office, nor had he oar been applied to for
the parer.
He was then ordered to withdraw.
The examination was ordered to be printed, and Mr.
Nash was ordered to attend again on Friday.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOUSE
OF LORDS. AND OF THE JUDICIAL COM-
MITTEN 01' THE PRIVY COUNCIL.
Lord 13ROUG HAM said he had now b call their
Lordships' attention to a subject of the greatest impor-
trteee, indeed of the very highest importance when
(towed in connexion with the administration of justice
in our vast colonial empire. It this country chose to
possess a boundless empire, it was our duty to judge the
folks rightecusly, for unless we bestowed upon them the
inestimable blessings of a good administraion of justice
we could not cepect them to rejoice and be glad in our
dominion. That we did administer justice, generally
speaking, in a superior manner—that our rule over
these countries had been attended with infinite advantage
compared with any detriment that we had caused, all
history bore testimony. Nevertheless, it could not be
dr nied that our judicial system was capable of great im-
provement, and we ought never to allow ourselves to
st ,p by reflecting on the good that had been done, so
long as it could be shown that any defect vises discover-
ab!e or any improvement could be ma 10. That was the
only position he wished to take on the present occasion.
Our present system had many advantage-. He belies ei it
to approach in some respects towards perfsetion, al-
though he feared in other respects it was wide of
that mark.—(Bear, hear.) But having compared
it with other systems he could! hardly find fault
with it, so grit vous were the Inuits of others.
The papers tor which ke moved the other day
gave a comparative view, not only of the state of judi-
cial business in our various possessions. distinguishing
between the Channel Islands and the empire of the East
India Company, but for the purpose of making the com-
parison more effectual he had also moved for a return
casting light on our judicial system nearer home. These
returns all related to the appellate jurisdiction, and
more or less they were calculated to furnish a test of
the excellency of the administration of justice in those
courts from which the appeals proceeded. The returns
embraced the appeals during the last 20 years from the
three great branches of our judicial system in England,
Ireland, and Scotland, and the appeals from the court
of equity. The same returns had been made for the
colonies, the Channel Islands, and our colonial posses-
sionso upw
dons in the East. At first sight it might appear extra •
ordinary that there should be so great a disproportion
between the amount of appeals before their Lordships
caonudrttshaadtCouncil,ards of 100,000,000
and that from the
the number should be so very inferior. There was also
a great disproportion between the appeals from England
mb
nfoi
sr
te,
ringt e
eye
and Ireland and from Scotland. The appeals from Eng-
land heard and delivered during the last 20 years
amounted to 140 from all the camas cf equity, being 7
per year; from Scotland 534. being 26 or 27 per year,
from Ireland 75, bring about 31 per year. But from all
India, with an infinite number of local courts, and three
supreme courts, the number of appeals to the Privy
Council in 10 years was only 66, or little more than six
per year. This was not because the Hindoo was better
pleased with a decision against him than the S'cotchman
ur the Celt, but in consequence of the expense of pro-
secuting an appeal on the other side of the globe being
so much greater than an appeal from Edinburgh or
Dublin. Now as to the result of these proceedings. Of
the 140 English appeals, in 38 the decree or order was
reversed or varlet, being at the rate of about 27i per
cent. In the Scotch appeals there were 153 reversals out
of 534 cases, being about 28 per cent. In the Irish ap•
peals the proportion was much higher, the reversals, out
of 75 appeals, amounting to 34, or 45 per cent. With
respect to writs of error, out of 62 cases there had been
16 reversals. From England there were 41 affirmations
and 7 reversals; from Scotland, 1 affirmation and 2 re-
versals; from Ireland, 21-affirmations and 7 reversals.
Out of 66 cases from the Consistory and Admiralty
Courts of Loudest', 17 had been reversed or altered.
From the Conaistorial Court at York there had been 1
affirmation and 4 reversals ; from the Channels Islands
4 affirmations and 1 reversal ; from the colonies
and plantations, out of 83 appeals, in 32 the
judgment had been reversed or varied. Of
the 6G appeals from the Company's possessions, 43 had
been reversed; and it was somewhat singular that the
great pre portion of revertals were in cases of appeal
from the supreme courts. Out of 41 appeals from the
native courts there had been 21 reversals; while of 25
from the superior courts the: number of reversals
amounted to 22, making a proportion of no less than
seven reversals to one as compared with the appeals
from the courts in this country. There was this differ-
ence between the proceedings by appeal from the supreme
and inferior courts. The law administered with respect
to the supreme courts was nearly our own; but the law
administered in the native courts involved all the nice
ties of Hindoo manners and customs, which were re-
markably puzzling, and it was hardly possible, in this
country, to imagine how so much perjury and forgery
should be imported into the administration of justice,
whether civil or criminal. The result Ras that the
appellate jurisdiction trusted very much to the judgment
or the registrars' courts, and a judge of upper,' almost
inevitably felt himself compelled to give a casting vote
to the judgment below, and only to reverse, alter, or vary
in the case of a clear mss-decision. It was, therefore,
more natural to affirm the decision in the native
than in the supreme courts. and that was one reason
why an appeal was more likely to be made against
the judgment of the supreme than of the native courts.
Of thirtsen appeals from the Supreme Court at Madras
not one had been affirmed. The same was the case with
rest eat to the Supreme Court at Bombay. He had heard
with the greatest delight of many important and valu-
able suggestioes flow India with respect both to the
supreme and native courts, which it' reformed upon sound
principles would be equally advantageous. to the suitor
and the judi;e, and the g .neral administration of justice.
He I a I great :iatisfaltion in B/i. ing that thi- East India
Grupany had ap.ired no expense in anproving tbe educa-
tion of their officers. That education, which was com-
menced by Lord Wellesley, had been carried on in this
country in the admirable establishment at Haileybury.
Great as had been the improvement in that respect, it was
still more necessary to send out good judges; and no
more important duty could devolve upon a Colonial
Minister than the selection of competent persons to
exercise judicial functions. If the means were given
there would be no difficulty in finding properly-qualified
persons. But, from a miserable, paltry saving of a few
hundreds, and the still more unjust economy of
refusing a retiring pension in all the colonies (with the
exception of the East Indies), such men could not be
found, and the result was those disgraceful .sqpbblea

which had sometimes taken place between persons ap-
pointed to judicial offiqes and the Governor. An alter-
ation in this respect would be productive of the greatest
advantage to the administration of justice and to the in-
terests of the colonies. The Noble and Learned Lord
concluded by laying on the table certain resolutions em-
bodying the facts which he had stated, observing, that
he was willing to move their adoption at once, or to
wait until after they had been printed.
The Marquis of LA.NS DO VV NE said that if the reso-
lutions contained a mere statement of facts, he did not
see any objection to them.

Lord BROUGHAM was understood to move that the
resolutions be printed.
POST-OFFICE SUNDAY LABOUR.
The Earl of MALMESBURY, seeing the Noble
Marquis the Postmaster-General in his! place, wished to
put a question of which he had given notice on present-
ing a petition praying for the cessation of all Sunday
labour in the Post-otfi a). On that occasion he stated
that although the petitioners were entitled to be treated
with the greatest respect he dissented from the
prayer of t'leir petition, and did not believe that
they had sufficiently considered the subject. Since that
time he had ascertained the manner in which signatures
were obtained to these petitions. A man was asked
simply whether he was not for keeping holy the Sabbath-
day? Of course his answer was " yes." He was then
asked whether he did not think it a hardship for post-
masters in the country to be compelled to work on Sun-
days when they were not obliged to do so in London?
and the reply would naturally be "yes." In this way
an enormous number of signatures had been obtained in
that part of the country with which he was connected.
He should like to know if' the Noble Earl could say from
his experience whether it would be possible to keep the
post offices generally closed all Sunday, and if so, whe-
ther parties would get their letters as early as at present
on Monday morning?
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said that had his
Noble Friend given him notice of his question, he should
sot have been unprepared with a full answer, consi-
dering how much had been said, and, he would add,
improperly said, about the matter during the recess.
Having been subjected to much abuse and gross misre-
presentation—some Noble Lords, Members of that
House, had even published letters in the newspapers
with very strong opinions, censuring him for what bad
been done—he was only surprised that nothing had
been said in that House, where he could have answered
it. Tha question addressel to him by the Noble Lord
was •t' a different nature to the allegations against him,
and instea i of giving his own opinion, the best answer
he could give would be to lay on the table shortly cer-
tain reports, which would state what had been done with
respect to Sunday labour in the Post-office during the
last few years, and what ts ere the views on the question
of the best authorities of the Post-.office. His own opi-
nion was, that it was quite impossible to disregard the
convenience—the requirements—in fact, what he might
call the absolute necessities of the country, by stopping
the transmission of the mails on the whole of Sunday.
Neither did he think there was any religious or moral
obligation that imposed such a necessity on them. He
would lay the necessary papers on the table with the
more readiness, because he perceived a notice had been
given in the other House calling for information on the
subject. When the returns were on the table he bad no
doubt they would furnish all the information the Noble
Lord required.
The Bishop of OXFORD bad a strong opinion as to
the possibility of stopping the mails on Sunday, but he
would not dismiss the subject at that moment.
Lord BROUGHAM—Do you mean stopping the mails
all user the country?
The Bishop of OXFORD replied in the affirmative.
He only rose, however, to say a few words on the sub-
ject of the parties who signed petitions presented to that
House. The Noble Marquis seemed to say that many
of the petitions had been signel in ignorance of the
question, and through misrepresentation. He had pre-
teuted numerous petitions on the subject from various
quarters, and he could take upon himself to say those
petitions by no means bore the character imputed to
petitions gene rally on the subject of Sunday labour in
the Post-office by the Noble Marquis. They who
signed the petitions he had presented perfectly well
knew what they wactld, and perfectly well knew their
own feelings on the question. The petitioners ex-
pressed no opinion as to the recent alterations ; they
only petitioned in &your of a great principle. They
believed that it would be beneficial to the best in
terests of the country to have the diffsrent post-offices
closed throughout the kingdom on a Sunday. The
petitioners thoroughly knew what they were about, and
neither acted from ignorance or under misrepresentation.
He again repeated he was ready to discuss the question,
but would not unless urged to do so.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE had made no dis-
respectful allusion to the petitioners. No one could feel
deeper respect for those who signed these petitions than
he did, and when the proper time arrived he should be
able to' prove he had done, as far as his duty allowed,
what he could to diminish Sunday labour in the Post-
office. The papers, when produced, would show what
h• had done, and what an immense diminution of Sun-
day labour had taken place. With respect to the pe'i-
tions on the question, they were not all of the same li-
mited character. Some even went so far as to pray for
the total cessation of every sort of labour, including the
stoppage of mail trains from Saturday night to Monday
morning.
Lord BROUGHAM wished to know whether the
packet service was also to be delayed?
The Earl of MALMESBURY could state, from his
personal knowledge, that some of the petitions were
signed in ignorance.

-The Earl of HARROWBY said the petitioners from
Manchester, Liverpool, and the trading districts of Lan-
cashire, had no objection to be placed on the same foot-
ing as the Lond
Lord BROUGHAM remarked by running into ex-
tremes. the great?st mischief was often done. It was
proposed to render the keeping holy the Sabbath-day
the more general, but if matters ware pr. SSE d to an ex-
treme point, it might have the effect of rendering that
unpopular which ought to be popular. If the packet
service was alio to be interfered with, were the packets
to lie like logs on the water all Sunday?
The conversation then dropped.
THE CASE OF MR. RIDER.

The Duke of ARGYLL brought under the notice of
their Lordships the case of Mr. Rider, wl;o had been
deprived of an office in Canada, at the time of the union,
without compensation. Alter an attentive consideration
of the whole case, and a careful perusal of the documents,
be was satisfied Mr. Rider had a valid and solid claim
for recompense against the Imperial Government. Papers
on the subject had been moved for, and when produced,
unless they threw a different light on the subject, he
should, early alter the Easter recess, introduce some
measure on the subject. When he saw such vigourous,
effective, and it might be righteous measures adopted to
secure compensation for injuries at the hands of foreign
Governments, he did hope that the appeal to an indivi-
dual fir redress sgaiust injury by our own Government
would not be neglected.

Earl GREY said an address to her Majosty had al-
ready been moved for papers relating to this matter. He
must say he did not think the reflection on the colonial
government was deserved. The colonial governme❑t
had treated Mr. Rider with consideration and liberality.
The Duke of ARGYLL was sorry to differ with the
Noble Earl on that subject.
Earl GREY said he did not think Mr. Rider had any
case either against the colonial government or tae
Impe-
rial Treasury.
The Earl of MOUNTCASIIELL pottponel his mo-
tion for papers relative to the conduct of the officers and
surgeon of the Sobraon till Friday.
Their Lordships then adjourned.