The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-12 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 11.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat upon the
Woolsack at Five o'clock.
The County Cess (Ireland) Bill was read a first time.
The Earl of STRADBROICE presented a petition in
favour of the equalization of local taxation.
ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION BILL.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the second
reading of this Bill. Having introduced it without
making any observations, he would now very briefly
state to their Lordships its nature and scope. Its ob-
ject was to amend the existing Act relating to the Ec-
clesiastical Commission, and to peovide for the more
efficient discharge of, the duties imposed by that Com-
mission. It was not necessary for him to detail circum-
stances with which they were all well acquainted. It
was only requisite to state, that in the year 1835, in
consequence of observations made in and out of Parlia-
ment, and inquiries by the Government as to the amount
of distribution of the Church revenues, it was proposed
to establish a Commission to inquire how those revenues
could be more satisfactorily distributed with benefit to
the Church. In the following year that Commission
made a very valuable report to Parliament, and in 1836,
is order to give effect to the recommendations of that
report, a Commission of 13 members was established,
consisting of the heads of the Church as well as of the
State. This Commission proceeded to carry into exe-
cution the recommendations of the former Commission,
and to devise schemes for that purpose, which having
obtained the sanction of the Privy Council, were
forthwith to take effect. A great many of these
schemes were very beneficially carriel out, but in
1840 changes were made in the constitution of
the Commission which, notwithstanding the best inten-
tions on the part of those who made them, had not im-
proved its aptitude for the business committed, but, on
the contrary, had materially detracted from its utility.
The Commission was enlarged from 13 to no less than 49
members, including the whole bench of Bishops—many
of them being persons who could not possibly attend
from day to day, constantly watching the business,
while others might come in at any time, and knowing
nothing of what had been previously done, throw the
whole into confusion. He thought it would be admitted
that such a Commission was unfit to deal with the nu-
merous delicate, important, and complicated interests
submitted to it. Besides which, there were various
subordinate regulations, such as requiring the chairman
for the time being to vacate the chair whenever his supe-
rior in rank entered the room, all of which were mani-
festly calculated to impair the efficiency of a Commission
which had to deal with such complicated and important
interests. There was now 16,0004 a-year under its
control, arising from the common Episcopal Fund,
besides the revenues from various other sources,
amounting at present to no less than 130,000 L a-year,
and which, within a short time, would amount to the
large sum of 300,0001., derived from all manner of
sources—from leases on lives, leases on years, and from
leases on renewal by fines. It was evident that such
complicated and extensive transactions must require
the closest attention, and that a Commission so en-
larged and so constituted had not proved equal to the
effective superintendence which such matters required,
and that a change ought to be made, with the concurrence
of the Government, of Parliament, and the Right Rev.
Bench of Bishops. A state of things had arisen which
rendered such a change imperative ; and he therefore
had now briefly to state the provisions of the Bill by
which it was intended to amend and alter tho present
law. In order to secure the constant attendance arid
attention which were required by largo pecuniary
matters, it was proposed to appoint three Commissioners
for the management cf estates, to be named the Estates
Commission. The report of the Committee of the Reuse
of Commons, which sat last year, recommended that
there should be three paid Commissioners appointed;
but, after reflecting upon the subject, it bad not been
deemed necessary by the Government that there should
be three paid Commissioners. It was thought quite
sufficient that two of them should receive a salary,
and that it would be possible to get a third
Commissioner, competent for the duties of the
position, who would act without being paid. The Bill
provided for three Commissioners, one of whom 'was
to be paid by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the
other by the Crown, and to receive 1,2001. and 1,0001. a
year respectively.—(Rear.) The Bill further provided,
in order to secure continuous attention to business, that
at least two of these Commissioners should be present at
all important business arrangements adopted by the
Commission. It also appeared 'absolutely necessary
that the offices of treasurer and secretary should not be
held by the same person.—(Hear, hear.) It was, there-
fore, proposed that the duties of treasurer should be
discharged by two of the Commission, and that the
secretary should be an officer appointed by the Commis-
sion; the Bill further provided for the abolition of the
division now existing betty( en the episcopal and common
fund, and that henceforth all funds arising from the
various sources under the management and control of
the Commission should be devoted to the general ob-
jects for which it was established. Another provision
was, that the Bishops might, if they thought proper,
commute their present fluctuating incomes, into fixed
means, with a maximum translation as applied to the
Bishops of Chichester, Exeter, and several others.
After the discussions e hick had taken place on the sub-
ject, and the general attention it had excited, he did not
consider it necessary to detain their Lordships longer,
but having thus briefly explained the leading provisions
of the Bill, he would conclude by moving that it be now
mid a second time.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY said, he rose
with very great satisfaction, to express his concurrence
in the opinion that it was desirable to alter and amend
the constitution of the Ecclesiastical :Commission, and
indeed he should have been glad to have made the al-
teration some time ago, by which the business would
have been assigned to paid and responsible officers, had
he not been deterred by the consideration, that every
thousand pounds taken from the common funds of the
Commission would abstract these funds from the objects
for which they were appointed. Another reason for his
now concurring in the propriety of making this change,
was the great and increasing business of the Commission,
and the many intricate affairs which demanded atten-
tion, and which were likely in future to increase still
further. These facts renderedjt necessary that there
should now be responsible officers, capable of conducting
the business satisfactorily to the Commission and to the
public. While, however, be cordially concurred in the
propriety tf the proposed changes, he must
protest against the charges which had been
made against the Commission as a whole, and
the manner in which it had heretofore con-
ducted the business. He could not concur in these
charges without doing a grievous injustice to many
Right Reverend, Right Honourable, and Noble Friends,
who had given their time and ability to promote the ob-
jects of the Commission at a great sacrifice to them-
selves. Much bad been said about the junction of the
offices of treasurer and secretary, but that was not the
work of the Commission; it was an act of the Imperial
Legislature, and he confessed not a very discreet one,
inasmuch as it had ultimately led to the secretary going
off, leaving a deficiency in his accounts of about 6,000 L
This certainly showed very defective business arrange-
ments; but, at the same time, be felt bound to say of the
secretary, that ap to the last six months of his service,
he had been a faithful, discreet, and zealous officer. He
had, it appeared, entered into large speculations
which he believed would enrich him, and i n order to

meet the calls upon him he used the money in his hands,
believing at the time he should be able to replace it.
He was placed under circumstances of difficulty and
temptation, and he sunk under them. There was an-
other allegation against the Commission to which he
felt it necessary to allude, namely, the charge that
a large and disproportionate portion of the funds
had been expended by the Commission on the repair, en-
largement, and furnishing of episcopal residences. There
were very exaggerated statements abroad on that sub-
ject. For ins, ance, it was said, that after building a new
palace fur the Bishop of Ripon, it had afterwards been
furnished for him, at a cost of between 8,000/. and 9,0001.
This was a gross exaggeration, because the Commission
bad also repaired and enlarged the diocesan residences
of Worcester, Bristol, and Oxford, and the whole ex-
penditure (as we understood) only amounted to about
9,0001.; whereas, it had been stated to be five times that
amoubt. He could only account for this mistake by
supposing, that as property had been charged in various
tarts of the country, to the great disadvantage of the
Church, the parties making these charges had included
these transactions with the building and repairing of
episcopal residences. He regretted very much that such
statements had gone forth, because they had s tend-mc)
to alienate the clergy horn their superiors in rank,
and to produce a feeling of discontent and