The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-01 00:00:00

OVERCROWDING OF MERCHANT SHIPS.

Mr. WEGUELIN asked the Vice-President of the Board
of Trade whether any regulations had been promulgated
by the Board of Trade to prevent overloading of merchant
ships.

Mr. CAVE said the Board of Trade had no such power.
Certain suggestions had been offered to prevent over-
crowding, but he thought it would be quite impossible to
meet every case. There was greater danger t 3 be appre-
hended from over legislation.
IRISEI REGISTRATION BILL.

In reply to Sir C. O'LOGIILEN,
The Earl of MAYO said the Irish bill would be intro-
duced the day following the passing of the English bill
through committee.
PRISON MINISTERS' ACT.

Mr. MAGUIRE called the attention of the house to the
indignity and contumely with which Catholic Ministers
of religion were treated by the magistrates who had
the government and regulation of certain prisons
confided to their care. The treatment those gentle-
men received who attended the prisoners as an
act of ministerial duty was disgraceful, and
such that ought not to bo directed against any educated
persons. The poor Catholic prisoners, in addition to
the punishment they had to undergo, were, as
matters now stood, refused all moral improve-
ment by the indignity with which their priests
wore treated, and to such a petty extent were matters
carried that whilst four Protestant ladies were admitted
on Sunday to oue of the metropolitan prisons a Roman
Catholic lady, the daughter of a member of one of the
Louses of Legislature, was refused the poor privilege of
playing the harmonium to some poor Roman Catholics in the
same prison on the same day. Feeling deeply the indig-
nity that had been inflicted, he asked the house to affirm
the following resolution :—" That in consequence of
the persistent refusal *or neglect of the autho-
rities having control over certain of the county and
borough prisons of Great Britain to put in operation the
powers given to them by the Prison Ministers Act, it is
necessary they should be compelled by law to make ade-
quate provision for the religious instruction and divine
worship of Catholic prisoners."

Lord E. HOWARD, in seconding the amendment, said
it was gratifying to know that some important places, such
as Preston, Liverpool, and Manchester, had made provi-
sion for Roman Catholic prisoners by the paying Roman
Catholic ministers to attend the prisons. He thought it
would be at once conceded that the greatest good had fol-
lowed the appointment of a Roman Catholic priest to pri-
sons, and such being the case, he hoped the day was not
far distant when such arrangement should become general.
Mr. lIARDY thought the returns already produced
showed there had been no refusals. With respect to the
county of Middlesex difficulties existed, which it was not
at all easy to overcome. He could not give
his assent to the proposal of the honourable
member for Cork, the more so as it was not proposed to
follow it up by legislation, but as an improvement had
already began to show itself, and as it was going on
vary rapidly, he hoped the hon. member for Cork
would persevere with his amendment, which he thought
would do no good, whilst it would interfere with all poor
Roman Catholic prisoners getting that to which they were
entitled, viz., religious instruction.
Mr. MONSELL hoped during the recess the right
hon. gentleman would consider it his duty to introduce a
a bill carrying into effect regulations in England such
as existed in prisons in Ireland, and which would make
Roman Catholic prisoners independent of the feeling of
any bench of magistrates.
Mr. NEWDEGATE objected to the resolution.
Mr. C. FORTESCUE thought that the Roman Catholic
prisoners were only asking for that to which they
had a right, and therefore there could be no "con-
cession" in the matter at all. He thought the
giving to Roman Catholic priests the privilege
of visiting prisoners could only be followed with but cno
effect, and that was good. He hoped eventually all within
prisons, Protestants as well as Roman Catholics, would
have the privilege of attending divine worship in a way
consonant with their own feelings.

Mr. SYNAN supported the resolution, and altogether
denied the statement of the right hon. gentleman the
secretary for the Home Department that 'there had been
any great improvement in the matter since the amend
ment of the Prison Ministers' Act.

Sir C. O'LOGIILEN endeavoured to alter the Parlia-
mentary practice which makes irrevocable the votes of
;entlemen who stray inadvertently into the wrong lobby,
but he was opposed by Mr. Disraeli, Lord ifotham, Mr.
Bouvarie, and others, who urged that Parliamentary rules
are made vigilantibus non dornzientibus; and ho was com-
pelled to withdraw his motion.
The house next took up Ur. Monk's bill fur colforring

the franchise on revenue officers. It was read a second
time some weeks ago under peculiar circumstances, and its
committal was now opposed by

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, whose chief
argument was the importance of keeping apart from poli-
tical strife, and above the suspicion of political bias, the
class which has in its hands the difficult and often delicate
task of administering the revenue laws. He pointed, too,
to the groat power the change would give the permanent
heads of departments, who, if their tenure was long, could
fill the department with men of their own politics, and to
the interference with the discipline of the departments
which must flow from giving revenue officers this direct
influence over members of the house. He doubted
whether the revenue officers themselves wore desirous of
the franchise, and further objected that the bill would not
remove all anomalies of the present system ; for instance,
it would leave the durability of the notice untouched.
Mr. GLADSTONE also opposed the bill on much the
same considerations, —the expediency of keeping apart
from politics the men who collect the revenue, sometimes
by very delicate processes, and the apprehension of in-
creasing class' influence upon the House of Commons,
which he characterised as the scandal of the Reformed
Parliament. Another objection on which he laid much
stress wat that the first nominations to the service now
proposed to be enfrauchis d wore in the hands of members
of Parliament, though no doubt many held them to be a.
nuisance, and he predicted front the change a perpetual
temptation to members to interfere with promotion. The
question, in Mr. Gladstone's opinion, involved much
larger censid rations than the simple enfranchisement of
one class, and there ought to be no legislation except
after very careful inquiry.

The debate which followed, interrupted by an attempt
to "count out," was entirely oae-sided. Sir H. Verney
put the opponents of the bill in the dilemma of consenting
to the enfranchiseMent of all public servants or of dis-
franchising the dockyard men. Mr. Clay testified to the
desire of the revenue officers to be relieved from this dis-
ability, and Mr. Grave 3 acknowledged that if the change
were made members ought to give up their patronage in
these services.

Mr. Otway,Mr. M. Chambers, Mr. Alderman Lusk, and
Mr. P. Wykeham-Martin, also spolt,3 for the bill; and
after Mr. Monk's reply the stage was carried by 79 to 47.
The bill was then passed through committee without any
amendments.

Au Irish controversy occupied the remainder of the
evening.. The adjourned debate on Mr. Sergeant Barry's
bill for prohibiting ttte presence of military at Irish elec-
tions, which corn Lenee 4 same six week back at 1 o'clock
in the morning, was resumed by Mr. Bagwell, who main-
tained that the use of soldiers on these occasions was nut so
much to protect the voters from violence, as to compel
them to vote according to their landlord's dictation. The
same argument was enlarged on by Mr. Synan, Sir I'.
O'Brien, Sir J. Gray, Mr. Esmonde, and lively reciproca-
tions of angry feeling were provoked by occasional refer-
ences to the unfortunate Dungarvan affair. The sole op-
ponent of the bill who spoke was the Attorney-General
for Ireland, and he argued that the power of employing
military was necessary for the preservation of the peace
and the freedom of election.

On a division the bill was thrown out by 95 to 53.
The same fate befell Mr. Mill's Municipal Corporations
(Me'ropolis) Bill, the- second reading of which stood ad-
journed from Wednesday weak. Mr. Mill now said a few
words in reply to the arguments urged against him in the
previous debate, and the bill was at once negatived with-
out a division.

Some other bills were forwarded a stage, and the house
adjourned at' 0 minutes to 2 o'clock.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
ALEXANDRA RACES— Nis DAY.
HANDICAP PLATE.

A Plate of 70 sovs (Handicap); any winner after the pub-
lication of the weights 71b extra ; half a mile.
Carlotta
Rhododendron
Goodfellow a

Six ran.

RACING FIXT I
JU

Chelmsford
Worcester Summer
Kingsbury and Hendon 6
Radcliffe
Carlisle
Newmarket July
Hungerford
Pontefract - 13 1
'Down Royal Corp- 14 1
Reading
Spilsby ll
AUGUST.