The Sun.
London, England, 1826-04-14 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

NEGRO SLAVERY.
Petitions praying for the Abolition of Negro
Slavery were presented from Ashborne and Dartford, Kent, by
Sir E. Knatchbull ; from Oldfield, Bucks, by the Marquis of
Chandos ; from the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses, of the
town of Carmarthen, by Mr. Jones; from Cobham, Surrey, by
Mri H. Sumner ; front the parish of Pulite, Sonierietahlre,
by Mr. Dickinson • from Bewley, Glocestershire, by Lord E.
Somerset; from thei town of Huntley, by Capt. Gordon.

SCOTCH CURRENCY.
•
Petitions were presented against any alteration in the pre.
sent Currency of Scotland, from the farming society of Moray,
by Mr. J. Al. Grant; from the householders of Kirkwall, by
Sir H. Innes; and from the inhabitants of Monteith, Forfar.
shire, by Mr. Mettle.

Mi. fIUSIKISSON said, they had received a great number
of petitions, praying that no alteration should be made in the
currency of Scotland, and it now became his duty to present a
petition of a different description. The petition which he held In
his hand pointed out the great improvement end benefit which
Scotland would derive, if the same system and rule, with re:--
spect to the currency, which prevailed in England, were applied
to the former country. It was not necessary, nor would it be
regular, to enter at present into the argument of the petitioners
which appeared to him to be very forcible. They particularly
applied themselves to the agriculturists of that part of the Unit.
ed ICingdom, and demanded whether their best interests would
not be served by avoiding those fluctuationa, of price which lutist
necessarily occur, until the present system was put an end to.
He would offer no opinion on the subject, as it was at present
under consideration in a Committee of that House, but should
merely discharge his duty by presenting the petition. It was
from the town of Durise, and was signed by 120 respectable in-
habitants.

The petition was then brought up; and after a fed words
from Mr. DUNI)" laid on the table.
The Marquis of CHANDOS presented a petition from the
Coroners' of the County of Buckingham, praying for an increase
of salary.
Mr. IVESTERN presented'a petition from the Owners and
Occupiers of Land in liolderness, Yorkshire, against any alter-
ation in the Corn Laws.
Mr. LITTLETON presented apetition from Thomas
Flau-
nagan against any alteration with respect to the 40s. freeholders
td

Mr. CURWEN moved fur returns of the different speeiesiof
grain shipped and imported to England in 1824, 1825. and
1820 ; also an account of the grain exported from England dur-
ing the same period ; likewise fora return of the quantity of
foreign tallow, henip, and flax. imported into each port of the
United Kingdom during the last year.—Oedired.

SILK TRADE.
Mr. HUSKISSON said, he always regretted when he pre-
sented a petition from any of his constituent*, if he were
obliged to take a different view of the flu t et to which it related
than that which they entertained. That was, however, the case
in the present instance. He had to present two petitions, one
from the Mayor, Bailiffs, anti Burgesses, of the town of Liver-
pool, and the other from the Trustees of the Liverpool docks,
against the Rill now pending in Parliament for the regulation
or the Silk Trade. The petitioners complained that they would
be excluded, under the provisions of that' Bill, front importing
silk goods during a certain period, direct from the Continent;
that privilege being confined to the port of Londen. The fact
was, that it was thought advisable, in the first instance, to allow
the importation of silk goods only into the port of homing.. be-
cause their value could be more easily ascertained in that port
than elsewhere, as every convenience existed there for that pur-
pose. He was sure that the tonnage which would be employed
in that trade at Liverpool would be very trifling, and the loss
which would be sustained during the continuance of the re.
striction must, therefore, be inconsiderable. It was his ditty
to present those petitions, and he was sorry that he could not
support them.
General UASCOVNE said, that the provision- which the
petitioners very justly complained of was at variance with the
Right lion. Gentleman's principles of five trade. Thi% branch
of trade, it appeared, was to be confined to London, le:catiq,
the value of iilk goods could not be properly' ascertained at Li-
verpool. Now he could not conceive why the value of silks
imported could not be as well ascertained in the Otte place as in
the other. He saw no reason why the merchants of Liverpool
~,hooki, tor, two years, be deprived 'of 4 certain portiO4 of

trade. In his opinion, the petitioner< had very good grounds
4,l"complaint.
The petitions were severelly- brought up, laid on the table,
anti ordered to he printed.
Mr. E. WODL:HOUSE presented it petition from certain
Justices of the Peace in the county of Ntirfolk, praying for an
alteration in the Mune Laws:
Mr. A. ELLIS pretiented a petition from the Ship-owasers
of South Shields, praying for the protection of their interests,
which were affectN,l by certain provisions of the Reciprocity Act.
Mr. 110BROUSE presented a petition froth the Merribere
of a Benefit Society called The stns of Albion," against a
provision in the Bill now before the fleuse for the regulation
of benefit societies, which tools from the inembere the power of
deciding any difference by arbitration.
LICENSING SYSTEM.
IVIr. fIU3IE rose to present a
.Petition front M.r. Thomas Ed-
wi.rds, a Dbetoi of LAWS, and a ellagistrate for the county of
Surrey, on the subject of the peesentliceurting syetent —a sub-
ject that must be viewed by all as one of very great itul irtanct.t.
l'he petitioner had selected the priest period, because the
limt. Member for Oxford (. Pr. teecenrt); had introduced a
Bill respecting the lieensing sys:eni; milk, lie -honed that
the suggestions contained in his pAti.ei would not be disre.
girded. It was manifes:!v necessii6. OW well-regulated
houses should be established' for the benet:t.:of the iiitittic, and
a roper power should be given .to ke,p tiietri in a quiet and
ortlerly state. But an atteltive perusid
,or the whole, oe the
evidence taken before the
.conimitiOti on this subject Showed
.that the existing system, so far front hailtal..' the effect of el,-
Couraging the establishment of wesd-regnleted !mime: tin the
public good, had, on the contrary, been u cloak for the exhtt.
lishment of houses of the svotsr description,' They• all 'knew
that when a licence was granted, it raised the value of 'a house
from 5001. to 1,0004 The profitson money thus laid out were
very, greut, and were raised by 'charging the public exorbitant
OM for beer, spirits, &c. It was a very lamentable thing to
find a magistrate speaking, as the petitioner did, of the conduct
pursued by his brother magistrates in granting licences. /le
stated that, on licensing day, he had often witnessed a system of
jobbing altogether disreptitable to peewits holding the situa-
tion of magistrates. Ile stated that there were 20 public.
houses in some streets, while in others there was not one, bee
cause no person had taken the precaution to prepare the ma.
giatrates to grant a licence. Ile (31r. Hume) could not see
why any licence should be required tbr u public-house more
than for a house in which tea and coffee were retailed. 'rite
person who wished to obtain a licence for the sale of tea and
coffee produced his money, ui:d the licence was granted as a
Matter of course ; and it' the :tame practice were adopted with
respect to persons who soli beer and spirits, it would be at.
tended with very great convenience. If any inures were disco-
vered, the law now in existence was sufficiently powerful to
put them down. The petitioner wits anxious, anti No was he,
to do away with the necessity of applying to Magistrates for
licences, as was now the case, and thus to put an end to the
jobbing system which at present prevailed. Tile Hon. Mem-
ber sat down by declaring, that the licensing system preeented
such a temptation generally to jobbing, a.> ought not to be
allowed to continue in the country.
After a few words front Mr. ESTC:OU,ItT, the petition was
read, and ordered to lie on the table.
Mr. BERNAL presented a Petition from George Booth, a
licensed victualler, complaining of personal hardship, anti pray-
ing that the licensing system might be revised.

REPRESENTATION OF EDINBURGH.
Mr. ABERCROMBY could assure the House that previous
to entering on this important question, he had studied it and
found it required some looking Into. He had looked in it,
and had persevered in the performance of his duty to lay it be.
'fore Parliament; he. regretted, however, that it had not fallen
into better hands. He contended, not only against the injus.
tice Of preventing the whole class of freeholders ulthe city of
I Edinburgh, bat against the plan of one representative electing
j. his successor who would do the same in his turn, and thus it
would become hereditary. Out of thirty-three reprettentatives
which the city of Edinburgh had furnished, nineteen had been
amptinted in tqapyo v. It had been asked, if they were to ive
to tstesgove, Aoweeen, sine outer misers ut otertialiii. ails' an-
swer was, that if he succeeded in the case or Edinburgh, his
views would not stop there. He could not reason upon such a
topic with those high-mewled Anti-reformers in Seotiand,, who
rejected every idea of Reform ; but those who sincerely 'feared
thou Reform was remotely connected with Revolution. he par.
ticularly addressed himself. lie proposed to legislate in the
dividual case of Edinburgh, because, the TowleCouncil of Ow
city had the power of sending one Member to the House with.
out the sanction of other con.ributory boroughs, as in the ease
,;of Glasgow. There . was this advantage in the course he
proposed; if any inconvenience were found to arise from
they might be guided by that experience in any fur-
ther measures which might be afterwards proposed. It was
as an experimental measure that he proposed it. He would
assert without fear that the great and Intelligent body whom he
should designate as the reformers of Scotland would not be
jealous of the exclusive application of their
.principles to the
ease of Edinburgh in the first instance. Ile contended that the
measure he was about to propose was a wise measure of reform,
because it was a prudent, safe, and cautious one. He repelled
the charge of having lent himself to the views orthose who held
republican principles, and denied that such a censtruetitte could
be put upon the language of the Petitions. Ile was asked to
point out any case of misconduct on the part of the Town
caunci4 of Edinburgh; in the exercise of their privileges, and
to say whether theteity had not thriven under their regulations.
It had thriven and pospered, but not in consequence of the mea-
sures taken by the town Couneil; on the contrery,he contended
that it had thriven and prospered in spite of the obstructions
thrown In the way of improvement by diet body. Whenever
measures of improvement came before that house, the Town
Council had always been opposed to the inhabitants and house-
holders ; and in all cases the inhabitants end householders had
succeeded against the Town Council. If he felt himeelf bound
to answer the question as to particular acts on the part of this
body, he might easily shew that the property of the city had
been alienated for improper political purposes. Rut he did not
admit the proposition that he was hound to make out any such
charge. It was against the system that he warred, and not
against persons. By an Act of 1469, the.mode which now pre-
vailed, and was called self-election in Scotland, was first intro-
duced. From that period down to the Revolution, the Scotch
Statute Book was full of Acts of Parliament, all of which
were made in consequence of malversation in the boroughs
where that, system of election existed. In the reign of
Charles the Second, these abuses had grown to such a heath,
that a-Commission was appointed to inquire into them. An
Act of Parliament was passed, the preamble of which proved
that the only rational mode of giving a remedy would have
been that, of restoring to the people a system of free dee-
tions. From the year 17114 down to the present time, the ntis.
conduct of these magistrates had at intervals been the constant
subject of complaint; yet no remedy had been applied, and the
evil still continued. The effects of the system heel huen, that it
created a venal and corrupt magistracy, who had lost the respect
of the people, and were unworthy to discharge the dutiLN or
exercise the power originally deputed to them by the law. The
lion. 'and Learned Gentleman then argued that the measure he
wait about to propose would be less opposed to the provisions of
the Union than the abolition of heritable jut iettictioutewhiclt the
Parliament had so long since erected. Ile begged to ask what
it wits that the House should be afraid of in such a measure as
this P Why were they afraid of the people ? lie could under.
stabil any apprehension, it' it were proposed to give the elective
power to on illiterate mob. But the des* fur whom he pro-
posed it were the ethic wed and respectable householders of the
City of Edinburgh. In England. the question of reform was,
whether they should not extend the principle of popular eke-
tions. But in Scotland it remained to be introduced. No such
thing was in existence in that country ; the popular feeling was
never appealed to. Ile defied. any .Gentl,eman in that house
to say that he represented the popular interests of tecethuid.
interests were opposed to the interests of the people, and if they.
The Member* for that Country were sent there by those whine
attended to the latter, they neglected those of their reel consti-
tuents. Was it not a most mortifying reflection fur the people
or Siodand that while the people of England and Ireland en.
they alone were *hat Hot from the privilege of popular
.sincerely implored the House to consider this
must not leave, the Elective Franchise
anitileif they wished to carry the people of Scotland
exclusively in time hands of small privileged ,body whose in.
twat were directly opposed to those of the country at large.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman concluded by moving fur
leave to brieg a Bill,to amend and alter the Representation
alertly irdgu electionsiYi
h them, they
of the City of Ediuburgh.
jalr.W. PUN DAS said, that he was not surprised to seethe
MM. and. Learned.Oentleman appear as the chosen champion
of
this cause, when he had taken the same character two years