The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-24 00:00:00

VENING, MAY 24, 1850.

was absolutely frightful to read of. The sea was strewed
with the bodies of these poor people for miles; and then,
w!isn this butchery had been performed, and these help-
less creatures destroyed—for they had not bows and
arrows, nothing but a sort of blow-pipe with which to
defend themselves—down came her Majesty's Govern-
ment to this Christian assembly, and asked for 201.
a head for slaughtering them! He asked what was the
ground upon which thsy had committed this massacre?
What proof did they possess that these people had in
any way molested our commerce? He had looked
through the papers connected with the affair, and he
had said that these people bad been murdered without a
tittle of evidence that they had ever molested us—with-
out evidence that would have convicted a man in this
country of petty larceny. But the largest sum was for
payment of head-money for the destruction of pirates
upon the coast of China. But where Wa3 the proof that
they were pirates?
Cot. SIB am tiP—They were Free-traders.—(" Hear,
hear," from Col. Chatterton.)
Mr. COBDEN—What was the fact? Somebody sent
word to Hong-Kong that a p'ratical fl 'et was on the
coast of China, and a steamer was then dispatched,
which fired upon them from a distance at which they
were powerless. These people too were said to be
pirates, but we had no proof of their having molested
one uf our vessels on its way to Hong-Kong, Shanglisi,
or any ether Chinese port. He objected to the people
of England being taxed for any such purpose. lie
thought we hed no right whatever to go about offering
to be executioners for other nations. He (Mr.Cobden)
doubted the legality of the claim, because the orders of
the Admiralty were to the effect that English vessels
,hould not molest native vessels, unless English ships or
English commerce was attacked.
Mr. HENRY DRUMMOND was not able to say
why the Government repealed the statute; but when
the Honourable Member asked for proof of these Bornean
pirates being really such. it was enough to say, let him
look for any record of voyages or travels, printed or in
manuscript, that called them anything else.—(Hear.)
Yet now we are to be told they were only innocent
Free-traders.—(" Hear," and a laugh.) They dealt
in men and women, to be sure—(Bear)—and their
last act of trade, betore they were attacked by Sir J.
Brooke, was that they seized upon a body of parsons who
were really trading, and put them all to death. It was
true they carried on war among themselves; the tribes
upon the coast were of a different nation and religion from
those in the interior, who were able to trade, but these
pirates would not let them.—(Hear, hear.) What was
the proof of their being pirates? The judgment of every
competent court; and the House of Commons was not,
fitted to set aside the judgment of the courts in Singa-
pore and elsewhere.—(Hear.) Because Sir J. Brooke
was carrying on most successfully and meritoriously a
most thriving colony, which a certain person wanted to
turn into a matter for his own aggrandisement, taking
shares and making Sir J. Brooke a joint jobber with
him, that man had been an anonymous slanderer of Sir
J. Brooke for the last three years —(Hear, hear) —and
that was the truth of the matter.—( hear, hear.) As to
our having no right to attack persons unless they were
pirates against our commerce, why then did we send
Lord Exmouth out some years ago against pirates who
never touched any person sailing under an English flag?
—(hear.) He (Mr. Drummond) hoped there would be
an opportunity hereafter, as was promised, of going into
the matter fully, when Sir J. Brooke's salary should be
before the House.
Mr. COBDEN said the Hon. Gentleman showed much
more ignorance of geography than he did in reference to
the Seribas and Sakaran tribes. Sir J. Brooke, the
Hon Gentleman said, was carrying on a prosperous co-
lony; but if the Hon. Gentleman meant Labuan, he
would find that Sir James Brooke resided at Sarawak,

his own territory, 300 miles distant, for eleven months
in the year, for which be received, as Governor of that
colony, 2,0001., a year, and as Consul, 500/. a year. He
(Mr. Cobden) had never seen Sir J. Brooke, and had no

personal feeling, therefore, on the subject; but he op:.
posed the grant on public grounds, because he did not
wish the people of this country to be burdened for such
a matter.

Mr. PLO WDEN had lived in China for several years;
but if the Ladrones of the present day were equal to
those of 1809, they committed the greatest atrocities.
The Honourable Gentleman was therefore quite
wrong in suppasing these pirates innocent traders.
He (Mr. Plowden) could bear witness to the atrocities
of the Chinese pirates, and to their daring also, as
he was on board the Daedalus, as an amateur, when
they had possession of the upper part of the Canton
river. Another instance that happened the same year
referred to one of her Majesty's vessels, a sloop of war,
commanded by Captain Wells, which was attacked by a
fleet of 40 piratical junks, who, however, received a ter-
rible thrashing.—(Laughter.) The chief of the pirates
in those days, as the Hon. Member says has taken place
in these, was created a naval officer, with high rank in
the Chinese fleet. Up to that period the pirates had
possession of the inner passage of the Canton river,
where they seized the boats and crews of Indiamen, and
subjected them to the most atrocious punishments.
The Malaya on the coast of Borneo ware equally bad; in
proof of which he needed only refer to the wreck of the
Alceste, during the embassy of Lord Amhurst; and to
the conduct of the crew of a prahu, on board of the Se-
marang, ship of war; all of whom were hung up at the
yardarms of the ship, or hal round shot tied to their
legs, and were flung overboard.—(Laughter and cheers.)
Mr. BRIGH r deprecated the indulgence of merriment
and exultation at such a narration. He argued that the
cause must be very bad when the facts referred to in its
support were dated so far back as 1810.
Mr. I'LOWDEN talc' 1816.

Mr. BUIGHT had never heard of a vote introduced
by a statement so bald end unsatisfactory. The question
was whether the evidence in this case was sufficient to
satisfy courts of justice? If so, why was it not laid be-
fore the House? lle hoped, therefore, that his Hon.
Friend would move the postponement of the vote until
suillei,.nt explanations were given. The proceedings
tinder SirJ. Brooke, and on the coast of China, horrified
the public; it was, therefore, absolutely requisite that
inquiry should bo made into them. The Legislature
professed to be very Christian, and yet it was now pro-
posed to grant 100,000/. to reward indiscriminate
slaughter, without any proven cause.
Sir F. T. BARING deprecated the speeches of the
[lon. Gentleman in stigmatising honourable and gallant
officers without a just cause. The Act of Parliament
required the decision of a court of justice on every single
case, to the effect that the party applied against was a
pirate. That was a better tribunal than the House to
decide such a question.—(Hear.) Taking the Borneo
case, it appeared that Sir C. Rawlinson insisted upan
minute inquiries upon the first application, and finally
decided that the parties were pirates upon the
fullest evidence only. The Right Hon. Gentleman pro-
ceeded to read extracts from this evidence in support of
his proposition that the Saribas who had been destroyed
were pirates. Besides the high legal opinion of Sir C.
Rawlinson, he had also the opinion of the residents of Sin-
gapore as to those parties being pirates. Whatever
might have been the slanders heaped on the British
sailor, they were never before charged with inhumanity.
(Hoar.) If the Hon. Member went to a division he
would do so with every authority of weight against him.
Colonel SIBIIIORP should support her Majesty's
Ministers upon this vote.—(A laugh.) The speech of
the lion. Member for Newport (Mr. Plowdea) had not
satisfied the Hon. Member for the West Riding (Mr.
Cobden), nor did he suppose it would satisfy his "Man
Friday," the Member for Manchester (Mr. Bright.)—
( Alen lauteiter, and cries of '• Oii, oh," and" Order.)—
It was high time that a stop should be put to this out-
of•doors kind of humanity which was put forth upon the
hustings. His should cordially support the vote.
Mr. COBDEN —The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr.
Baring) had spoken as if some ono had attacked the
army and navy. Now, if any one had passed a satirical
refection upon the service it was the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman himself, who had brought in a Bill to abolish
head-money.—(flear.) What he (Mr. Cobden) blamed
the service for was, not that they had done this, but that
they had done it without orders; and what he asked
him was, whether he was correct in saying that the ad•
miral on the station had issued the order he had cited,
and that this order had been confirmed by the Govern-
ment at home, namely, that our ships of war were not to
attack the natives under the plea that they were pirates
unless they had attacked British vessels?

Sir F. BARING said, the ships were sent specifically
for the purpose of this expedition by Sir F. Collier, the
admiral on the station. The orders under which they
acted were to be exceedingly careful as t%) the parties
whom they attacked, but his (Sir F. Baring's) im-
presiinn was that the Hon. Member hal misunderstood
the order.

Mr. COBDEN.—Then that was another reason why
the Committee should defer the vote. The address to
Sir J. Brooke to which the Right Hon. Gentleman re-
E.rrcrl was signed by a very small minority of the Eu-
ropean population of Singapore, which consisted of 190
persons. There had not bean one single proof that the
pirates had ever attackei English vessels.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the payment
was nr&red by Act of Parliament. There was no maxim;
of escaping from the obligation of paying the heid-
money so long as the Act of Parliament was unrepealed.
Lord J. MANNERS deprecated the statement of the
Hon. Member for Manchester, t hat lion. Gentlemen sit-
ting on that (the Opposition) side of the House were
disposed to cheer every unprincipled and bloody senti-
ment.—(Hear, hear, and cries of " Oh, oh.").
nAfter a ficv remarks from Mr. PLOWDEN, explana-

tion, and Mr. ConnEN,
Mr. MACGREGOR said, it was with great reluct-
ance that ho opposed any vote brought forward
u
rwardby the
Government—(Cheers from the Oppositym) ut he
could not support the vote now under consideration. He
believed the time would come when Sir J. Brooke would
be-tried in this country for the massacre, and that gen-
thmen, at the next election, would hear more on this
subject than they would desire.
The O'GORMAN MAHON-was surprised that Hon.
Gentlemen on the Ministerial-side of the House should
be allowed to describe their opponents as the rewarders
of murderers. The li.mse had a great reputation for
twaddle, which he trusted would nut be perpetuated by
the sanction of such proceedings as had taken place
during the present discussion.
Colonel THOUPSON still remained unconvinced that
any English vessel or subject had en molested by these
pirates. did not hear any tangible attempt to state
the name of any vessel or individual that had been at-
tacked, and he could not believe that any such had over
taken place. Ho did not think that the lion. Member
for Newport WAS entitled to all the inferences that
had been drawn from his statement. It was not an
unusal thing for the captured to turn round upon
their csptors in the way he had described, and they
wore not entitled, on that account, to scenic them
of blood-thirstiness. Ho thought the , Honourable
Gentlemen (11c. Plowden) said that the captain
of a British man-of-war—a Christian man, who
would haw, Celt himself injured if he had been called an

infidel—had ord,?red his captives to he run up the yard-

arm, and that such as were wounded he ordered aliot to

be tied to them, and thou thrown overboard. It WAS a

Acme to this country that in the HOUR! of Commons
such transactions should have been stated to have taken
plate and should not have been met with universal repro-
tr.l,tioa.—(Hear, hear,) He cou'd detest himself f,,r ever
h.ving kept company with men who could quietly bear
of such transactions and still call themselves Christians.
But the public, he trusted, wou'd judge of them, and it
would soon be seen whether the opinion of the House or
that of tha public would finally carry the day. He should
like to ascertain whether the transactions w;th China
were in accordance with the orders of ti:e commander on
that station or not. He knew something of Sir F. Col-
lier; he happened to have served under him, 'lnd against
pirated too. That warm-hearted British sailor had given
out orders contrary to the transactions that took place;
and it behoved the House to know by whom those orders
were contravened.

Mr. S. HERBERT thought the whole of the motion
was founded on a misapprehension, and saw no reason
for postponing the vote. The prize money was allotted
according to Act of Parliament and the decision of the
Admiralty Courts, and if Hon. Grtntlemen opposite did
not by address to the Crown attempt to invalidate the
decision of Sir C. Itawlinson, they could not refuse to
vote the money. Without denying the merits of Sir J.
Brooke, he wished to know whether it was true that he
was engaged in mercantile speculations at Sarawak?
Mr. HAWES said all his information was directly
opposed to the reprt of Sir J. Brooke being engaged
in ►mercantile speculations. lie believed it was because
Sir J. Brooke had abstained from entering into mercan-
tile speculations that he had incurred the enmity of
those with whom he was formerly alli,d.
The AT rORNEY-GENERAL said he had advised
Sir J. Brooke, not professionally, to abstain from ap-
plying for a criminal information to refute the'imputa-
tions against him. Sir J. Brooke was a public servant,
and his opinion was that the House of Comtnons was the
place in which charges against him should be preferred.
After a few words from Mr. HERBERT and Colonel
THOMPSON,
The Committee divided, when there appeared—
For the vote ... 145
Against it ... 20
Majority —125
The House then resumed, and the Chairman reported
progress.

The Stamp Duties (No. 2) Bill was read a second
time.

The Exchequer bills (8,558,700) Bill was read a se,
cond time.

On the motion of Sir W. SOMERVILLE, the Mu-
nicipal Corporation (Ireland) Bill was read a second
time.
The'House having resolved itself into Committee
on the

TIMBER DUTIES,
Mr. BROTHERTON moved (at half-past one o'clock)
that the Chairman report progress; and
The gallery was cleared fur a division, but none took
place.
Mr. MITCHELL then moved a resolution—" That it
is expedient that a drawback be allowed on wood im-
ported for the purpose of ship-buildiug."
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved
that the Chairman do now leave the chair. Nothing in
his opinion was so objectionable as a system of draw-
backs; and a great merit of the policy of the Right Hon.
Member for Tamworth was, that it put an end to them.
It was suggested that the measure now proposed should
be confined to vessels surveyed by Lloyd's. Of 10,000
vessels registered there it would apply only to one-third;
and to obtain the boon, parties must come under the
regulations with respect to survey at Lloyd's, involving
much expense and trouble. It was admitted that no
check could be applied to boats, barges, and the smaller
class of vessels not registered at Lloyd's. They were
the fittest objects of the proposed boon, which must
therefore be regarded as of a most partial character. If
they were to recommence the system of drawbacks, he
dirt not see why it should be limited to timber used in
shipbuilding. He did not see how he could refuse to
extend it to timber used in mines and for railway
sleepers. He did not mean to say, if it could Le ho-
nestly done in the way proposed, that the loss to the
revenue from its adoption would be very serious. But
he believed that it would open a door to a large amount
of fraud against which there was no adequate means of
protection. He admitted that the timber duties were in
a most unsatisfactory state—(Hear, hear)—and be hoped
that Hon. G.,ntlemen would not imagine from anything
he had said that he was opposed to a revision of them,
although he certainly was not inclined to add to the
confusion by the adoption of the present triotiou.—(Hear,
hear.) He begged to move tbat the Chairman do now
leave the chair.

Mr. CARDWELL thought that the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman had at least entirely justified the vote which a
majority of the House had come to on a former occa-
sion; because the arguments he had used to-night were
as dissimilar as possible from the arguments which were
formerly used on this subject.—(Hear, hear.) The
Right lion, Gentleman had said that he did not see how
he could resist the extension of the principle to wood
used in mines and in railway sleepers if the present
motion were agreed to. The cases were not at all
aaalogous. The sole ground upon which the Ho-
nourable Member for Bridport rested his motion
was that, having subjected British shipping to free
competition with foreign shipping, the Legisla-
ture ought to remove the impediments which operated
against that free competition. The shipping of foreign
countries was allowed to come in free of duty, but they
imposed a duty upon the raw material of which those
ships were mad?. This was an anomaly, and the only
one of the kind which was to be found in our tariff.—
(Hear, hear.) But the Right lion. Gentleman said there
were difficulties and impediments in carrying it out.
Why not allow the lion. Member to bring in a Bill, and
if, after looking at it, he should find that it did not pro-
tect the revenue, and that he could insert no provision
which would enable hies to do so, then it would be
time enough to, oppose the measure?—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. MITCHELL said, that the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer bad to night laid down the rule that he would
permit no fresh drawback on any article, whereas in his
budget spe. ch he had distinctly pledged himself to agree
to a drawback upon timber, provided it could be done
without loss to the revenue.—(Rear, hear.) He (Mr.
Mitchell) denied that the measure would either open a
door to frauds upon the revenue or exclude the smaller
class of vessels from its benefits.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ex-
plained that what he had said in his budget speech was,
that though he was himself opposed to the system of
drawbacks, yet, after the strong opiuion the House had
expressed on this question, he should feel it to be his
duty to reconsider the matter ; but he did not say
whether he would agree to it.—(Hear.)
Mr. WYLD and Mr. J. L, RICARDO briefly supported
the motion.

The Committee then divided on the question that the
Chairman do leave the chair, when there appeared—
Ayes ... ... 50
Noes ... ... 19

Majority ... —3l
The House accordingly resumed without proceeding
with the resolution in Committee, and the remaining
Orders of the Day having been disposed of, the House
adjourned at a Quarter past Two o'clock.