The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-01 00:00:00

]CONDO

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS, May 31.
ROYAL ASSENT.

The House sat to-day, shortly before Four o'c'ock,
for the purpose of giving the Royal assent to the follow-
ing Bills:
Alterations in Pleadings. •
West India Appeals.
Defects in Leases Act Amendment.
Process and Practice (Ireland).
Kew and Petersham Vicarage.
Londonderry and Coleraine Railway.
Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway.
Walsall Improvement and Market Act (1848) Amend-
moat.
The Lords Commissioners were Lord Laegdale, the
Earl of Carlisle, and Earl Minto.
The House then adjourned during pleasure.

Their Lordships re-assembled at live o'clock.
PETITIONS.

The Earl of CARLISLE presented several petitions
praying for an alteration in the law regulating beer-shops.
Lord LYTTELTON presented petitions against Sun-
day labour in the Post-office.
The Marquis of WESTMINSTER presented a peti-
tion from certain inhabitants of the county of Kent in
favour of an extension of the jurisdiction of county
courts; also a petition for additional accommodation to
assistant-surgeons in the Navy.
The Earl of HARDWICKE presented a petition from
Cambridgeshire complaining of agricultural distress.
The Duke of BUCCLEUCH presented several peti-
tions against Sunday labour in the Post-office.
PREVENTION OF SUNDAY FAIRS BILL.
___ _ _

The Earl of CARLISLE moved the second reading
of this bill.—Agreed to.
AUSTRALIAN COLONIES BILL.

Lord LY TTELTON feared it was in vain to ask that
the discussion on this Bill should be taken on going into
Committee, instead of on the second reading.
Earl GREY was understood to oppose the postpone-
ment of the discussion.
In answer to the Earl of FITZ WILLIAM,
Earl GREY said that he had no objection to lay be-
fore the House some most important dispatches which
had been received from Australia, on the subject of emi-
gration, but those dispatches bore but indirectly upon
the Australian Colonies Bill.
Lord MONTEAGLE thought that all documents
relating to emigration and land sales ought to be be-
fore the House before they were called on to discuss the
Bill before the House.
Earl GREY would, in moving the second reading of
the Bill, state his reasons for so doing, and it would
then be competent to his Noble Friend to answer him.
DISTRESS FOR RENT (IRELAND) BILL.
The Earl of LUCAN moved the second reading of
this Bill. The object of the Bill was to re-enact a clause
which had been repealed by the Bill of 1846, a Bill which
had passed in the month of August, when the greater
number of the Noble Lords connected with Ireland
were absent from the House. It was very true
it had been introduced upon the recommendation cf
the Commissioners, but he differed entirely from the
Commissioners on that subject. The law which was
repealed authorised the landlord to distrain growing
crops, and he was convinced that power had never been
abused. The fact of the existence of that law was suffi-
cient to secure the payment of the rent of the landlord,
and its repeal was uncalled for. The repeal had been
most injurious. Tenants now reaped their crops on Sun-
days and during the night, and thus robbed their land-
lords. The Government ought to have provided a re-
medy for this evil, and not have left it to an independent
Member like himself to introduce this measure. The
Landlord and Tenant Bill they had waited in vain
for, and it would afford no adequate remedy to
the evil. The reaping and removal of growing crops
should be made a misdemeanour. The power of
distraint on growing crops existed in England, and it
ought to exist in Ireland, where the landlord had to pay
poor-rates for his smaller tenants, and was liable for
arrears of rates, which was not the case in England. In
England a landlord could get rid of a tenant who owed
six months' rent, which was not the case in Ireland, and
therefore the Irish landlord ought to have the same
remedy against growing crops which the English land-
lord had.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE had no objection to
agree to the second reading of the Bill, for the purpose
of considering in Committee whether it would not be
possible to devise a remedy for that which he admitted
was an evil.
The Marquis of WESTMEATH thought there could
be no injury done to a tenant by giving the landlord the
power of seizing a standing crop, because, if the tenant
were aggrieved, he could sue out a replevin.
The Earl of GLENGALL supported the Bill.
The Bill was then read a second time.
SHERIFF OF WESTMORLAND BILL.
On the motion of the Marquis of LANSDOWNE, this
Bill was read a first time.
SUNDAY TRADING PREVENTION BILL.
The Earl of HARROWBY moved the committal of
this Bill.
Lord BROUGHAM looked upon Bills of this nature
with great anxiety. No man was more convinced than
himself of the necessity of the observance of the Sab-
bath, but ho feared the adoptioa of measures which, by
overdoing it, by straining too hard, should make
the observance of the Sabbath unpopular, and
defeat the object which they all had in view.
He hoped the Bill would be very fully considered in all
its provisions before it received the assent of Parliament.
Why should such a nice distinction as this be introduced,
that you might sell milk and cream, but not tea or sugar?
Now this Bill introduced this distinction. Again, it per-
mitted shaving and hair-dressing before ton o'clock, but
not after. Then newspapers were permitted to
be sold on Sunday, but not Bibles or Prayer-
books. If you wanted to know the odds on the
Derby or the Oaks you might buy Bell's Life in London,
but with regard to a Bible or a Prayer-book—oh, nu!
you must not buy a Bible or a Prayer-book. These
were a few of the anomalies of the Bill, and
he hoped it would receive the greatest consideration
before it was passed. An address, it was incredible, but
it was true—(Cheers)—an address had been voted by
the other House that all Post-office proceedings should
be stopped on a Sunday.—(Hear, and cheers.) All mails
were stopped on a Sunday.
The Earl of HARROWBY—This Bill does not in-
terfere with the Post-office.
Lord BROUGHAM—Did the Noble Lord imagine he
was such an idiot as not to know that ? but he feared
that that Bill might follow this, and he had reason
for his fears when he considered the un-
qualified and outrageous address which had been
agreed to by the other House by a considerable
majority. Of course they would follow it up by an ad-
dress that all ships should lie to on a Sunday. There
was no country in which the Sabbath was better ob-
served than it was in England, and there was no
great city in which tit. Sabbath was less broken than
in London, but he feared that if this course of legislation
was pursued a reaction would be the consequence, and
the Sabbath would be less observed than it was at
present.
The Earl of HARROWBY knew the Noble and
Learned Lord meant to promote the object of the Bill,
but it was evident he had not received the information
which had been laid before the Committee with whom
this Bill had originated, nor could he have personally
made himself aware of the state of certain localities in
the metropolis on Sunday morning, otherwise he would
not have attempted to thwart the measure. With regard
to the exceptions alluded to by the Noble and Learned
Lord, they had arisen from a desire to err rather on the
side of indulgence than of severity. This Bill had re-
ceived the approval of the parties chiefly concerned, the
tradesmen and shopkeepers, who all concurred in a
wish
that shops should be generally closed on Sundays. To
show how such a principle had worked, he would re-
mind the Noble and Learned Lord of the Act for closing.
public-houses on the Sunday morning, which he had
much gratification in saying had been found to work ex-
ceedingly well, and even the very persona on whom it
might be supposed to press with severity had come be-
fore the Committee on this Bill and expressed their satis-
faction with the alteration. He hoped the Noble and
Learned Lord would allow the Bill to go into Committee.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH agreed with his
Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Brougham) in viewing
this subject with great apprehension, lest by pursuing
too extreme a course they should excite a spirit of re-
sistance against more prudent measures. This was a
great measure of moral and religious police, and they
ought to proceed with great caution, especially as it was
not a measure in any way affecting the habits, comfort,
or convenience of Members of that House, or of the upper
or middle classes, but which did affect the habits, com-

forts, and convenience of tho humbler classes of the corn-

munity. The Noble Earl, who had charge of the Bill
had questioned the ability of his Noble Friend to judge
of the necessity of the measure because he had not read
the evidence, but he (Lord Ellenborough), had waded
through the evidence—and a heavier blue book he had
never encountered—and while agreeing that there were
some places in London where regular markets were held
on the Sunday, he urged the House to bear in mind
that if that Bill were passed, they would have a riot in
wererli e
every one of those localities. The Bill gave a
policeman the power at his own discretion to
seise goods exposed for sale in these markets, in
some of
on a
tenstioorday twenty. thournwdaspaberasuorods
to sap pose that such seizarescomuladrnbmg
em.adetwithout ex •
citing' distuorfbalnlee. The Noble Earl ought to go to the
; payment
of a these evils,
think that any
foundation
ef-
fected by any and that was the very kW
wagest on. the Saturday night. He did not
aoetornration of that system could be ef-
but that there ought ation of the masters themselves,
wages should be d to be a legislative enactment that
gnoigohdte.freoutseiratlahoo thoughttiniter the close of work on Fridsy
that it would be productive of
twhheicShaturday night were still
public-houses were
and ifahops for the sale of other al-
lowedar-
ticles to be kept open ono
so
allowed to remain
on
Saturdays to enable the further restricted; restricted;
v instead of
gpou purchases s()et!
Wes than spirituous liquors
the Sunday morning, He
open longer than they now do,
was sure that if the House went into
beingman to
compelledmak a i
I it
so
Bill they would find it was essentially Committee on the
imperfect, and
required great amendment. He thought a slight alt
tion of the Metropolitan Police Act would b c) 21
4 -
sufficient
to remove the more serious evils complained of. I
Cer-
tainly on a subject of so much importance they ought to
bestow the most serious consideration on any proposi-
tion, and if a measure were necessary it ought to pro-
ceed from the Government.
The Bishop of ST. ASAPH said ho had long been
convinced that the Act of Charles 11., which was the
only law of this nature at present in force, was quite in-
adequate to:carry out the object for which it was intended.
The only difference between that Act and the present
measure was, that this Bill placed the administration of
the law in the hands of the police instead of the parish
authorities. With regard to the alarm expressed by the
Noble Earl of its creating riots, he would tell him that

the whole question had been discussed and examined by
one of the Commissioners of Police, and he stated that
there would be no difficulty in carrying it out. With
regard to those places of great resort in Camden-town,
Whitecross-street, and Houndsditch, people had no con-
ception of the extent of the evil. He was occasionally
called on to go to different parts of the metropolis on
Sunday morning; on one occasion he passed through
Lambeth-cut, and a more disgraceful fair be never wit•
nessed, and that was close to the parish church. The
same thing he knew took place in Seymour-street,
Camden-town, where thousands of people as-
sembled every Sunday morning. He knew of no
difficulty the police would have. At present if a
woman had a basket which inconvenienced people, the
police would remove it, and did so constantly without
leading to any riot. That was exactly what this Bill
empowered them to do, only on a more extensive scale.
He was aware that there would be difficulties in the way
of carrying out this Bill, but if any one had asked him
ten years ago whether they would shut upievery gin
shop in London till one o'clock, he should hovel said they
could not, but it bad since been done, and it had been
found a great blessing.
Earl GREY said, he, in common with the Noble and
Learned Lord (Brougham) generally viewed legislation
of this nature with great suspicion, but in this instance
he believed a case had been made out for legillative in-
terference. What they had heard from the Right Rev.
Prelate was entitled to great ,weight, and as it was also
earnestly desired by the parties chiefly concerned, the
shopkeepers themselves, that all shops should be com-
pelled to close on the Sunday morning, he thought the
House ought not to reject the Bill without fully weigh-
ing the reasons which hal urged the Select Oommittee
to recommend it to the House. He felt the less inclined
to oppose the Bill, because it was not to be carried out
through the agency of the common informers—through
whom formerly the greatest oppressions took place.
The power of enforcing the provisions of the Bill would
be placed in the hands of the metropolitan police, and
there was every reason to believe that it would be pro-
perly exercised.
Earl ST. GERMANS said, that he had entertained an
opinion unfavourable to this Bill, but he was induced to
alter that opinion from the evidence which had been laid
before the Committee, and from which evidence he now
thought that the interposition of Parliament was neces-
sary. It appeared that markets and fairs were regu-
larly held in several parts of London, on the Sunday,
and that other practices, detrimental alike to health and
morality, were prevalent. This was well known to the
tradesmen of the metropolis, and some of them had held
a meeting, calling upon Parliament to interpose and put,
them down. That was the feeling of the tradesmen of
the metropolis, and he was persuaded that it was the
feeling of the working classes themselves. The evils of
the present system had arisen greatly from the practice
of paying wages late on Saturday night; but+ now, in
nine cases • out of ten, the wages were .paid early
on Saturday, or on Friday night. The employers say
now that it makes little difference whether they pay
their workpeople on Friday or Saturday. The Noble
Lord opposite had alluded to what he called the impos-
sibility of carrying out this measure. He (Earl St.
Germans) did not believe that there could be any
im-
possibility in carrying it out.—(Hear, hear.) The po-
' lice magistrates examined before the Committee said
that they would find no difficulty in enforcing this mea-
sure, and some improvements had been introduced at
their suggestion. He did not say that it was not sus-
ceptible of improvement, but he approved of the measure
as a whole; and if their Lordships refused to go into
Committee on the Bill, they would disappoint the hopes
of a very large proportion of the inhabitants of the me-
tropolis. For himself, he thought that every man
should at least have one day in the week of cessation,
from his ordinary employment, and he hoped, therefore
that their Lordships would go into Committee.
Lord MOUNTCASHELL said that the only opposition
to the Bill emanated from the Chartist body, and the
petitions they presented, upon examination, were found
to contain a great number of fictitious and forged names.
The great majority of shopkeepers took no part in this
opposition, in fact the Bill was the Bill of the shop-
keepers, and it had emanated from them. It was quite
evident that Sunday trading must be put a stop to. There
was one fact which had not been alluded to. A great
deal of diseased cattle was sold and slaughtered on a
Sunday. When such things took place it was high time
that these practices should be put a stop to.
Their Lordships then went into Committee.
Upon the first clause
Lord ELLENBOROUGH said that he wished to
know at what hour the Sunday was to commence. Wise
it to commence at midnight? It was important to
know that, because a great deal of trading went on after
midnight. Whatever might be done afterwards, in the
first instance he recommended that the Sunday should
be made to commence one hour after midnight.
The Earl of HARROWBY said that the Noble Earl
should recollect that the enforcing of the Bill was not in
the hands of common informers, but of the police.
However, if the Noble Earl persisted in pressing his
amendment, it was hardly worth opposing.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that his desire
was that the law should be observed, and that it should
not be left to the discretien of police officers.
Earl GREY thought, that upon the whole the clause
was better as it stood, but if the amendment was pressed,
it would be better to add a clause declaring at what time
Sunday was to commence.
The clause was then agreed to.
Upon clause 2, which provided exceptions as to the
sale of various articles,
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, he would sug-
gest that the words " bread, butter, and sugar," should
be added to the exceptions. Then again with respect to
the hour of opening shops for the sale of milk or cream,
he thought that nine o'clock on Sunday morning was
too early to open these shops. He would suggest ten
o'clock.
Earl ST. GERMANS said that they should except
fish, and numerable other perishable articles, as well as
fruit, pastry, prepared victuals, &e.
Earl GREY said that the intention was clearly to
draw a distinction between perishable and imperishable
articles.
Lord BROUGHAM indulged in some observations
respecting bread and butter, and morning tea and even-
ing tea, which were very indistinctly heard.
Earl ST. GERMANS said that the sale of milk or
cream was excepted, because milk could only be bought
on Sunday, when butter or tea could be bought on Fri-
day or Saturday.
The Earl of HARROWBY said that this should not
be a subject lightly dealt with. They were dealing with
the happiness of the people. They were bound to
secure to every man on a Sunday as much rest and re-
creation as was consistent with the general comfort and
welfare of the community. He would ask their Lord-
ships to agree to the clause as it stood.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that he would
not move any amendments in Committee, but would re-
serve them for the report. He would, however, ask one
question. Did the words "fermented liquors" apply to
ginger-beer and soda-water?—(Laughter.) They were
to some extent fermented liquors, and in hot weather
were most desirable. When he suggested the insertion.
of the words " bread and butter," it was rejected on the
ground that they were not perishable articles; but were
stamped newspapers perishable articles? He should like
to know if Bell's Life and other Sunday papers were
perishable articles.
The Earl of HARROWBY said that of all perishable
articles newspapers were probably the most perishable;
for generally they were not heard of after the day of
their birth.
The Earl of MOUNTCASHELL said that newspapers
were printed on Saturday, and not made on a Sunday.
The clauses were then agreed to, and their Lordships
resumed.
AUSTRALIAN COLONIES GOVERNMENT BILL.
Upon the order of the day for the second reading of
this Bill,
Earl GREY said that before moving the order of the
day for the second reading of the Australian Colonies
Government Bill, he begged to present a petition from
Australia, very numerously signed, in favour of the
measure.
Earl FITZ WILLIAM said that, considering the pre-
sent state of the House, perhaps it would be better to
postpone the discussion on so important a measure.
Earl GREY said that next week there was abundance
of business, and it bad been publicly announced that
there was to be no opposition to the Bill. He therefore
begged to move the second reading of' the Bill which was
intended to provide for the future government of the
Australian colonies. It was little more arta 70 years
colonies
to,
sle4dmdsheses6 rndtoi
population
during
nsgf;
oatwtwhnwh
edeearsrseel coloniesse
notn lfl y2B
obm4so93yut,founded.eiscitahohwroiesann:snwoiuwnar
number
abBle3trh a
recentnMd
date.ani
ny
IrTo
rapid
hpelt
in
numbers—in numbers now more than 300,000. Their
had the remarkable.
po-
pulationin
creased to 333,910. But their progress in wealth was still
more remarkable. Of that wealth the value of the ex-
ports was the best test. In 1828 the value of the ex-
ports to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land was
181,500/., and in twenty years the value of the exports
had increased to 2,800,0004—Wear, hear.) The num-
ber of emigrants to those colonies was yearly rendering
them of greater importance. Last year the number of
emigrants was no less than 32,000.—(Hear, hear.) The
otwt hgshareeeset
object of the measure was to provide for the constitu-
tional development of the government of these colonies,
and it was now his duty to point out in detail the mode
in which that object was to be accomplished. But be-
fore proceeding to that he must observe, that the leading
principle of the measure was to avoid any great or ex-
perimental change. He now thought it necessary to
remark, that in 1824 a regular form of legislative autho-
rity and judicial power was given to those colonies and
that through the instrumentality of Mr. Huskisson this
Act was considerably improved in 1828. He assured the
Noble Lord (Lord Stanley) that his main and principal
object in pressing the necessity of this Bill was to pre-
vent the evils of jealousy among those colonies which
would be inevitable if the slightest scintillation were af-
forded to ignite the fuel of their local attachment. He
should at the same time remark, that by this Bill the Go
vernment proposed to afford the same privileges to those
colonies as these already afforded to New South Wales,
and that electoral divisions would be established on the
same basis as in that colony, and he felt it necessary to
add that two-thirds of the representatives should be
!ienhleecpetoehwdhesbHrtiytowutaithtile people, and that the Crown was to have
the prerogatihosvonoeuewtooif appointing the remaining one-
third.n
tushhl
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complained
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that
ttpheery thPandd
ni Philip ;
one but
to to
represent
negli-
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that he wtohuelidpr nottwhyei s
e.s furtheror
theirallude
interests,to
and that they did not enjoy I itghhat et stth
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ecessary"-
their mock constitution.
should be redressed, Then,
and ultimately ,the cure was worse
after some time of suf-
fering, it Was deemed