The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-06 00:00:00

PETITIONS.

Mr. DUNCAN presented a letition from AnguEsbire
against any alter atm in the parochial system of educa-
tion in Scotland.

Mr. ANDERSON presented a petition from the
Orkneys praying for some alteration in the Scottish
Poor-19m.

Several petitions were presentel against Sunday la-
bour in th.-Poq-nifice.

Mr. C 'MIST 0 Pll ER presented several petitions from
Lincolnshire complaining of agricultural distress, and
praying for relief.
Mr. HOLLAND presented two petitions from
beach , one in favour or the Parochial Assessments Bill, and
the ether in favour of a reform in the Court of Chancery.
Mr. I3ECKETT preented a petition from Leeds in
favour of the Ten Hours Factory Bill.
Mr. COCKBURN presented a petition frog the Ro-
man Catholics of Kilkenny praying for additional
church accommodation.

Lord JOCELYN presented a petition from King's
Lynn in favour of international arbitration.
Sir J. DUCKWORTH presented a petition from
Lfith in favour'of a remission of the duty on spirits.

Mr. J. B. SMITH presented petitions from Stirling,
Dunfermline, and other places in Scotland, against the
Public Health 1111 for Scotland.

Colonel THOMPSON presented petitions in favour of
the Extramural Interments Bill from Bermondsey, St.
Luke's, Chelsea, the members of the Stock-Exchange,
and St. John's and St. Peter's, Saffron-hill; also a peti-
tion from the board of highways at Bradford, praying
that the 28th Clause of the Highways Bill might remain
unaltered.

Mr. PELHAM presented a petition praying fir the
abolition of the attorneys' certificate duty.
Mr. F. SCOTT presented a petition from a place in
Scotland complaining of agricultural distress, and pray-
ing for a return to protection.
Mr..HUDSON presented two petitions from Sunder-
land, one in favour of the extension of county courts,
and the other praying for certain alterations in the
Merchant Seamen's Bill.

Mr. T. D'EYNCOURT presented a petition from
Lambeth in favour of the Extramural Interment Bill.

Sir GEORGE PECHELL presented a petition from
the attorneys of Brighton against the attorneys' certifi-
cate duty.
Mr. MACKINNON presented a petition from St.
Mary's, Lambeth, in favour of the Government Inter-
ment Bill. •

Mr. COWAN presented two petitions from Edinburgh
against Sunday labour in the Post-office.

AUSTRALIAN COLONIES BILL.

Mr. E. DENISON said the clauses in the Australian
Colonies Government Bill, the clauses forming the Fe-
deral Assembly, were to he considered :at the time this
matter was discussed in Committee, upon the distinct
understanding that those clauses were to be revisel by
the Government. Be wanted to know what view the
Government took upon this point.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said the Government still ad-
hered to the principle involved in the clauses which had
been withdrawn, but they were desirous of giving the'
smaller colonies greater weight in the assembly. Those!
clauses would be laid on the table, when the matter,
would be brought before the House in a regular manner.
AUSTRALIAN COLONIES GOVERNMENT BILL.
Sir. W. MOLESWORTH rose to more that the Bill
be recommitted, for the purpose of omitting all clauses
which empower the Colonial-office to disallow colonial
laws, to cause colonial bills to be reserved, and to in-
struct colonial governors as to their conduct in the kcal
affairs of the colonies; and for the purpose of adding
clauses enumerating and defining imperial and colonial
powers. He said this Bill raised two questions, one of
which was a special question with reference the
Australian colonies, namely, what would be the
best form of government for those colonies?
That question had been fully considered in
Committee, and he would not ask the House to re•
verse their decision upon it. The other question had not
yet been discussed; that was, what amount of self-go-
veenment a colony ought to possess? Now the Noble
Lord (Lord John Russell) bad admitted that a colony
ought to possess the greatest amount of self-goeernment
consistent with the integrity of the mother country.
This Bill would not secure that end. If it passed in its
present shape, there was not a single act which the Co-
lonial Government or the Legis'aeure could do without
tbe express or implied sanction of the Colonial-office. If
this B:11 were to pass, a colonial governor would be a
mere puppet of the Colonial-office, pulled by the
wires in Downing-street. The Colonial-office by
this Bill would have the power to annul any
act of the colonial governor. It was evi-
dent that by this Bill the Colonial-office would continue
to possess all those obnoxious powers which they now
held. He would ask to whom all these vast powers were
to to granted? To persons who bad never had expe-
rience who were obliged to trust to second-hand informa-
tion, who were necessarily ignorant and generally misin-
formed. It would be easy for him to take colony after
colony, and to mention the numerous instances of the
evil effects, both to this country and to the colonies, from
this system. But perhaps the Hon. Gentleman the Under-
Secretary of State for the Colonies was instructed to say
that such errors would never again be committed, that
these powers would be used with the greatest circumspec-
tion. If the menaces of the colonists were unattended to acts
of retaliation on their part might follow, and they perhaps
would lead to the repentance of this country—such, for
instance, as the remonstrances of Canada, the menaces
of New South Wales, the murmurs of New Zealand, and
now the demand of the inhabitants of the Cape of
Good. Hope for free institutions. The Colonial-office
was, in fact, a weak, ill-tempered, and vacillating
ethis country into universal hatred and
authority, which tyrannized over the people, and brought
the position which this country question, therefore, was how they could give the colonies
main-
tained that the inhabi ants self-government
oecncutiptli
the greatest amount of repugnance. The
d.
rights and privileges,and entconsistentitled
to
e certain
wit h
and the maintenance of conditionit of each particular colony,
that which ought to be recon-
ciled with the local
country. The colonial its
possess powers corresponding allegiance with the mother
Parliaments were entitled to
to those enjoyed by the
British Parliament, with tle exception of having an
imperial power, for there couldbeno doubt if they had
wouldinbterconT
oquestion, howrtion of the
distinct empires,
and
dh pfoorwmer
nthoatlotnhey longer
an
i the
amount
British dominions.
was this to be given tTohethnemea.mgerTathhee p
of self-government was not inconsistentgre 4tes•te.
th
purity and integrity of the British
Tee immediate question, then, for them to decide empire.
how to draw the line of demarcation between imperial
and colonial powers; to decide that question they must
determine what were colonial powers, and then those
which were not enumerated must be taken as imperial
powers; or they must first settle what were imperial
powers, and leave those unenumerated to be con-
sidered as colonial powers. Now he proposed to
adopt the latter course, because colonial powers
not so easily determined as imperial.
E
Iy.:cree.2P Ling
those imperial powers he proposed to give the
Colonial Parliament all the power they were possessed
by the British Legislature, and in order to establish
what those imperial
posers were, lie had taken Black-
stone for his guide. In domestic matters the Crown
prerogative a passing its veto
enjosel the preron se
upon all measures
passed by the Legisla-
ture, whether in the
colonies or at home.
Now that prerogative could not be individually exercised
by the Crown, and so Jar as the colonies were con-
cerned, it was delegated to the Home-office, who,
in its turn, some times delegated it to colonial
grer"rs• He proposed to transfer this veto to
tgovernor and council of the colon ).'.—(Hear.)
The Colonial Id be restricted from
Parliament should
touching the royal •reroatte mifioo • me' of which, how-
ever,
ever, he proposed t
•
o tPrangs( ofinfre Colonial Governor.

He proposed to vest all the imperial powers in a person
appointed by the Colonial-office, paid by tbem and re-
sponsible to them, and the colonial powers in an officer
paid and appointed by the Colonial Legislature
To remove the colonial Governor he proposed that an
address to the Crown shall be necessary. With regard
to the colonial Parliaments, he proposed to restrict them
from interfering with any foreign relations, with the
command of the imperial forces, and from violating
certain principles of polity which he held to be
sacred, such as the establishment of slavery,
&c. With these exceptions, he proposed that the
colonial Government should have the same powers as
the Imperial Parliament; and he would establish a
supreme court, which should lhave the power of deciding
all matters connected with the acts of the colonial legis-
lature. In this he was justified' by the example of the
American judicial system. In supporting this sceme of
his he might quote many eminent authors; and if this
country had listened to such doctrines as these she would
never have lost the North American colonies, and he was
entitled to say, he thought, that there was an analogy
between the system of the United States and what ought
to be our colonial system. And in order to give to the
colonies the greatest amount of self-government which
was consistent with the unity and integrity of the em-
pire, he proposed to withdraw all control over the colonial
legislature from the Colonial-office, and to vest it, by
the clauses which he now brought forward, in a separate
tribunal. The Hon. Baronet concluded by moving that
the Bill be now recommitted.

Mr. LABOUCHERE said he agreed that the ma-
nagement of local concerns should be given as
far as possible to these colonies, and that the inter-
ference of the imperial Government should be confined
to those cases where the safety of the imperial interests
was concerned, and where it was necessary to restrain
the colonial inhabitants from acting in a hostile or inju-
rious manner to each other, and it was not to the object
of the lion. Baronet that he offered any opposition, but
his objection was that he was firmly convinced
that the scheme of the Hon. Baronet, and the
machinery by which he proposed to carry it out,
would, so far from having a beneficial effect, introduce
confusion and discontent into every part of our
colonial empire to which ho proposed to extend the
measure. What, in fact, was the principle of
the Bill? The Honourable Gentleman undertook, in
an Act of Parliament to define the prerogatives of
the Crown, and ,he mentioned nineteen instances in
which the colonists were to have no jurisdiction; but
as to all other rights beyond these they were to act
as they pleased. Now he maintained that it was im-
possible in any Act of Parliament to define the rights
of the Crown with precision, or to separate
the imperial with the colonial interest. The
Honourable Baronet had appealed to " Blackstone"
as an authority in support c,f his plan, but he
(Mr. Labouchere) should be sorry if any legal
authority were to say that it was possible
with any accuracy to define or enumerate the preroga-
tives of the Crown. Besides the Hon. Bart. had omitted
some most material and important provisions, without
which the Bill would give rise to the greatest diffi-
culties and toe ndless litigation, viz., the iprin-
ciple of martial law and the principal of escheats.
lie hoped the House would not consent to recommit the
Bill, for he was convinced the scheme of the Honourable
Baronet could not be carried out without involving
themselves in endless difficulties.

Mr. ADDERLEY had never heard so meagre a reply
to an elaborate scheme of Colonial Government. The
Right Hon. Gentleman who had undertaken the defence
of the Government Bill had taken up just 10 minutes to
reply to the clever speech of the Honourable Baronet,
but it would seem that .the Right Honourable Gen-
tleman treated the plan propounded as • a
mad scheme, and it eas unworthy of his serious atten-
tion. But if the Right Hue. Gentleman thought so,
why did he venture to tell the House that the motion
only served to reopen a question which had several
times been decided in Committee. Be (Mr. Adderley)
denied that it was a mad scheme, in that it had been
decided before. It was entirely a new question alto-
gether; what they had been discussing hitherto wai,
whether or no it was the wish a the colonies that
there should be one or two chambers. They had
settled that matter, and now they had to determine what
was the beat plan of carrying out the liberal institutions
that were to be extended to the colonies by the
Bill. They had already decided that the co-
lonies were able to manage their own local
affairs, and all that they were now called uptn to do,
was to put an end to the meddling influence of
the • Colonial-office, so 'that the colonies them-
selves should have the fullest opportunities
of testing the principle of self-government,
The principles laid down sby the Government were nut
carried out; they attempted to give to the colonies a
sort of bastard constitution, something of a cross be-
tween that cf Russia at.d England. They bad
promised to give the colonies a right to govern
their own local affairs, but instead of doing so the Go-
vernment proposed to take the subject in their own
hands and govern, but with a looser rein.
(LEFT SPEAKING.)