The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-07 00:00:00

A trienin ~-') Int

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1845.

Both Houses of Parliament met yesterday morn-
ing, and proceeded to the Palace with the address.
The Lora adjourned to Monday, but the Commons
re-assembled at Half-past Four o'clock.
The SPEAKER read the reply to the address ; after
which, various petitions were presented, and notices
of motions given. Among the last was one by Sir J.
GRAHAM, announcing his intention of bringing in a
Bill to amend the law of settlement on Tuesday.

Sir R. PEEL, although closely pressed by some of
the Opposition Members, refused to give any idea of
the outline of the measure which he intended to in-
troduce on the subject of the Scotch and Irish systems
of banking.
Sir G. GREY asked for the production of the cor-
respondence with the French Government on the
subject of Otaheite.

Sir R. PEEL consented to lay before the House the
results of the correspondence, but refused to produce
the correspondence itself in extenso.
Sir J. GRAHAM announced that it was not his in-
tention to introduce any measure for the regulation
of the Ecclesiastical Courts.

Sir R. PEEL stated that the Governments of Eng-
land, France, and Brazil were mediating between the
Governments of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, with
a view to bring about a cessation of hostilities be-
tween those two Powers.

The CHANCELLOR. of the EXCHEQUER, in answer
to Lord CLEMENTS, explained the grounds on which
an increased allowance was made to the Judges of
Assize in Ireland. _

Lord CraapivlLLE SOMERSET then moved for leave
to bring in six Bills for the consolidation of the laws
relating to railways, and said in reference to the ob-
'ervations of Lord HOWICK on the preceding evening,
that he could see no objection to fourteen days being
allowed, after the reports of the Board of Trade had
been made, for parties to determine whether they
would proceed with the Bills or not.
Lord HOWICK did not think fourteen days suffi-
cient, and he also thought that where there were two
competing lines reported, both reports ought to be
submitted to a committee, and those which had been
unfavourably reported should have precedence of the
others.
After a few words from Mr. HODGSOIq anti Sir G.
GREY, Sir R. PEEL explained that the proposal he
should make was, that parties might present their peti-
tions whenever they pleased, but they should not be
obliged to do so until fourteen days after the making
the report. It was the intention of the Board of
Trade to present the reports in classes, and next
week he would propose to take the Kentish lines. It
was never contemplated that the board should fetter
the control of Parliament.
Colonel SIBTHORP asked whether any of the gen-

tlemen composing the Commission were connected
with railways.
Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET was unable to answer
the question. .
Mr. WARLET complained of the delays caused by
the conduct of barristers before Committees, and
urged on the Government the necessity of providing
some remedy. He also suggested the propriety of
the discussion before the Board of Trade being con-
ducted with open doors.
Mr. IV. E. GLADSTONE defended the conduct of
the Board of Trade, and contended that practically
the experiment had worked well.
After a few words from slme other Hon. Mem-
bers, leave was given to bring in the Bills.
Mr. WALLACH postponed his motion on the sub-
ject of the Scotch Sheriffs' Court Small Debt Act.
Various returns were then ordered to be made on
the motions of different Hon. Members.
On the motion that the answer of her Most Gracious
MAJESTY, to the address of the House of Commons,
be read,

Mr. COBDEN called the attention of the House to
the omission of all allusion to the subject of agricul-
tural distress in the speech from the Throne, and
urged the agricultural Members to join him in calling
for a Select Committee on the subject.
Mr. MILES did not think the farmers were much
inclined to trouble the House with a recital of their
grievances. He was sorry to say that, generally
speaking, the farmers did not trust much to the
House of Commons for an alleviation of their con-
dition.

Mr. M. GrusoN urged the necessity of inquiry,
•and asked Sir R. PEEL if he had given any assurance
that he would not meddle with the existing corn-law.
Mr. BANKES thought some allusion ought to have
been made to the subject in the speech, but would
not vote for a Committee.
Mr. BRIGHT accused the landlords of being hollow
in the professions which they made of commiseration
for the distress existing in the country, inasmuch as
that distress was attributable to their own legislative
measures.
Mr. S. O'BRIEN defended the conduct of the land-
lords, and said that, so far from opposing the motion
for a Committee, he would himself be willing to serve
upon it.

Mr. VILLIERS denied that any of the charges
brought against the landlords by Mr. BRIGHT had
been answered.
Sir R. PEEL deprecated the discussion of such a
subject without notice. He had been asked by the
Hon. Member for Manchester whether he had given
any assurance to any one that Ino further alteration
should be made in the corn-laws. He did not think
the •Right Honourable Gentleman had any right to
put such a question to him without giving
him notice. He had given no assurance incon-
sistent with the declarations which he' had already
made in the House. As to what had been said of
agricultural distress, he regretted it must be admitted
there was considerable distress in some parts of the
country, and he felt sincere sympathy with the suf-
ferers. But he did not believe that it could be as-
serted that there was general agricultural distress.
He thought that the restoration of protection (as it
had been) would be impossible; and he thought that
if it were possible, it would not be a remedy for
agricultural distress, which arose from causes which
the Legislature could not control.
After a few words from Mr. BRIGHT, Lord J.
MANNERS, and Mr. BROTHERTON, the motion was
agreed to, and the House adjourned at a Quarter be-
fore Nine.

relative to railway schemes, rejected The decision of the Government
donbtyhethqsuecsotion
Com-
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acquiesced in by the House. We cannot say that
the debate, which was thus elicited by the speech
of Lord Howtcx. of Wednesday evening, at all
satisfies the misgivings we have so often expressed as
to the beneficial working of the Committee. On the
contrary, it has gone far to confirm them; and we
perceive that Mr. WARLBT and other lion. Members
concur in similar apprehensions. It is very true that
Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET, who is a shrewd and
earnest public functionary, and an excellent man
of business, declared "that it never was the intention
of the Government, nor, as far as he under-
stood their sentiments, of the House, to render
the decisions of the Railway Committee of the
Board of Trade final or conclusive:'
Lordship added, too, that although he would be
disposed to receive the reports of these five &filth-
men with a certain degree of respect and deference,
he should never consider himself tied down, by the
(
terms or the effect of such reports, to concur in
them, either as (the representative of a constituency,
_-:we s lawyweleakewtAtetiefest, IN es tut

Member of the House of Commons. But what was
the Noble Lord's reply to a well-timed and very
reasonable question addressed to him by Colonel SIB-
Tam.? The gallant officer, in allusion to certain
rumours which had got abroad, but in which he dis-
claimed any belief, desired to know whether any of
the gentlemen comprising this Committee were, in
any way, directly or indirectly, themselves ;:otinected
with railway speculations ? Lord G. SOMERSET'S
reply amounted only to this:—
" That the parties most interested in the proceedings be-
fore the Railway Board had always, so far as he knew, ex-
pressed themselves as exceedingly satisfied with the candour
and intelligence with which their schemes had been discussed.
As to whether any of the Committee held shares in any
railway, he really could give his Hon. and Gallant Friend no
information ; but he was quite sure that, if they followed his
advice, they would get rid of all their shares in such undertakings,
if they had any, as soon:as:they possibly could."
It is to be lamented that the Noble Lord was not
in a condition enabling him to give a most distinct
and unqualified, negative to Colonel SIBTHORP'S
query. For our own parts, we cannot, for a moment,
believe that any member of this Committee could be
guilty of the indiscretion and bad taste of remaining
at its board, if he knew himself to possess any such
personal interest in undertakings identical with, or
analogous to, those on the expediency or necessity of
which the Committee has been constituted prelimi-
narily to report. To talk of their now " getting
rid" of any such shares, if they have any, is no way
to get rid of the incalculable degree of odium they
will have incurred, by having adjudicated on the fate
of similar and perhaps conflicting property in the
hands of others. Though we are far from believing
that any member of the Committee can have so far
committed himself, it has surely become necessary
that he should from this day record some public and
distinct disclaimer of any such interest in himself.
If he cannot do so, indeed, then every report he has
been a party to must be considered to have been
tainted by a vicious bias. Another important consi-
deration, powerfully urged by Mr. WAKLEY, who we
suppose will not allow the matter to sleep where the
discussion has left it, was, that there was clearly some
system in action by which early secret information
was conveyed of the decisions of this remarkable
Committee on pending schemes, to favoured parties,
who made their market of such " exclusive intelli-
gence." The Hon. Member alluded to the prevalent
rumour, " that some private information must have
been communicated in the market, or certain parties
would not have made such enormous sums of money
as they were said to have gained during the last few
weeks." And he distinctly added :
" This was quite clear, that certain parties in the City (he
had had this information that morning) who had been en-
gaged in the sale of railway shares, happened to have been
right in their speculations, and not wrong in one instance, for
several weeks past.—(Hear.) One gentleman, on Saturday
se'nnight, made 40,000/. by the sale of shares in that single
day, those shares having gone up from a small premium to
91. or 10/. in the course of a few hours."
If Sir ROBERT PEEL "really could not tell" how
newspapers get hold of reports of Commissions ap-
pointed by Government, before their promulgation,
we must suppose he might as well be sleeping on the
margin of the Polar Ocean as in Whitehall-
gardens, for any knowledge he can obtain

of mal-practices like these. But what won-
der they should prevail, when, as Mr. WAILLET
observed, the proceedings, evidence, and arguments on
these railway projects, are with closed doors, now
that they are remitted to this Board of Trade
management, instead of, as heretofore, being open to
the public. What is the meaning of this alteration P
In spite of all Mr. GLADSTONE could urge, the fact
is significant. Coupled with the manner in which
information oozes out of this new and hermetically
sealed court to certain " wise men in the East," we
do not hesitate to say it is suspicious. We call upon
Mr. WAIELET, Colonel SIBTHONP, and other Hon.
Members, to pursue their wholesome inquisitiveness a
little further. Who knows but the showman's an-
cient denouement is at hand, and that " we shall see—
what we shall see !"

The French papers had not arrived at our usual
hour of going to press.

PUBLIC INCOME AND ExruNurrous.—lt appears from 1
a Parliamentary Paper just issued, that the amount of
money raised in the year ending the sth of January,
1845, by the creation of Funded Dabt, was 18,844,0001.
Of this, 18,348,3001. was raised on Exchequer-bills, and
charged on Supplies. The remainder was charged on
the Consolidated Fund. The amount of Exchequer-
bills issued for the promotion of public works, and in-
cluded in the Funded Debt, was 14,0001. The excess of
Income over Expenditure for the year amounts to the
large sum of 3,356,105/. Bs. 2d. ; and the Balances in
the Exchequer on the sth of January, 1845, to
6,254,1131. 9s. 6id.
PUBLIC INCOME AND EXPEN-

DITURE.
An Account of the Net Public Income of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in the Year ended the
sth day of January, 1845, after abating the Expenditure
thereout defrayed by the several Revenue Departments,
and of the Actual Issues or Payments within the same
Period ; exclusive of the Sums applied to the Redemption
of Funded or paying off Unfunded Debt, and of the Ad-
vances and Re-payments for Local Works, kc.