The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-13 00:00:00

PRIVILEGE.

The Sergeant-at-Arms appeared at the bar of the
House, and stated that an action of trespass having
been commenced against him on the 19th of
January in the previous year, by a Mr. Thomas
Howard, he had now to state that a declara-
tion disclosing the cause of action was filed
against him on the 23d of December, 1844. Under

the advice of the law-officers of the Crown an appli-
cation was made to a judge in chambers on the 24th
of December, 1844, and two months further time to
plead obtained.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that, in con•
sequence of the information that had been received
from the Sergeant-at-Arms, he thought it would be
better to pursue the course that had been pursued in
1843, when a similar communication was made. He
should propose to have the paper printed with the
votes, and he wculd now give notice of a motion on
the subject of those proceedings for to-morrow.
DORCHESTER AND SOUTHAMPTON RAIL-
WAY.

On the motion that the House resolve itself into a
Committee of Supply,
Captain HARRIS said that he wished to address a
few words to the House on a subject which reflected on
himself and a noble relative of his in the other House
(the Earl of Malmesbury) with regard to the Dorches-
ter and Southampton Railway. Certain rumours had
►one abroad that his noble relative had influenced

the Board of Trade with regard to this line, and that
rumour had been strengthened by what had fallen
from the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire. He did not
believe that the Board of Trade could be influenced
in their decisions by any person ; and he would not
have said a word on the subject were it not for what
had been said in the House with respect to it. The
company who undertook the formation of the
railway between Dorchester and Southampton
communicated with his noble relative and him-
self on the subject, and they both saw
the great importance it would be both in a
local and national point of view ; it would place the
defences of the country along the coast on a more
secure footing, for, in case of invasion, cavalry could
be conveyed with the greatest expedition, and the
disembarkation of hostile troops at any point along
the line could best be prevented by cavalry. Oa
public grounds, therefore, as well as on private ones,
they supported the line. A meeting was held on the
subject in the month of May, at which his noble re-
lative and himself attended, when subscriptions were
raised to defray the engineering expenses. A
second meeting was held at Dorchester in July.
Certain resolutions were agreed to, and it was laid
down as the rule that every member should take
shares to the value of 5001. Several meetings were
held in the autumn, and his noble relative having
obtained an interview with Lord Dalhousie, the latter
declined to come to any decision at that time, stating
that he must be guided entirely by the public service.
He had said so much both to vindicate himself and
his noble relative, as he had ever found that the
House was ready to listen wah indulgence on such
subjects as these.—(Hear, hear.)
CANADA.

Mr. ROEBUCK then rose and said, that he had
given notice of a question which he intended to put
to the Government on the subject of the late elec-
tions in Canada. He was reluctant to bring this
question forward, as the Government of Canada at
present was only an experiment, and he was ex-
tremely unwilling to express any opinion upon the
proceedings that were going on in that
country. Circumstances had occurred, however,
which now induced him to allude to the subject.
During the last year Sir C. Metcalfe dissolved the
Parliament of Canada. New elections took place, at
which, particularly in Montreal, disturbances had
occurred. A petition had been presented to the
Legislature of Canada complaining of the legality
of the election, and impugning the conduct of
the returning officer, the sheriff of Montreal.
That subject was at the present moment under the
consideration of the due and proper tribunals, and
what he wanted to know was this —whether her Ma-
jesty's Government had any peculiar circumstances
to state or lay before the House, for the purpose of
explaining the conduct that had been pursued, on
the part of the Colonial Secretary, with re-
s ,ect to the returning officer of the city of Montreal.
He had been given to understand, and he wished to
know whether such was the case, that notwithstand-
ing the complaints that had been made against the
returning officer, the Secretary for the Colonies had
advised that a vote of thanks should be given to him.
Ile wished to know whether the statements that had
been made to him were true—namely, that
the thanks of her Majesty had been given to the
returning officer of the city of Montreal at a time
when his conduct was under the consideration of the
proper tribunal—the House of Assembly ? and if that
question was answered in the affirmative, the next
question he should wish to put would be, whether
there would be any objection to lay before the House
the mode in which those thanks had been conveyed?
Mr. G. W. HOPE said that, as the Honourable
Member had given him notice of the question,
he was prepared to answer it. With respect to
the election petition that was pending, he was
not aware of it. What was known of the
transaction he could state shortly. He was quite
ready to produce the papers that had been adverted
to. It appeared that, previous to the election at
Montreal, an application had been made by the oppo-
sition candidate, in which he stated that the stipen-
diary magistrate thought it would be advantageous to
under military protection. To
commencethis polling
the returning officer would not consent, and in
no ease was military aid resorted to until it became
essentially necessary. It was true that preparations
were made to prevent any disturbance taking place,
large numbers being expected to arrive. The mili-
tary were in readiness, but they acted upon one oc-
casion, and one only. Everything was done by
Mr. Young that could be to secure order and free
access to the poll for both sides ; and according to
the report of Sir Charles Metcalfe, the general peace-
ful manner in which the election was conducted was
owing to the course pursued by the returning officer.
The Governor expressed his gratification that no life
had been sacrificed, and stated that great credit was
due to the troops and to the officers, and that, without
their assistance, it would have been impossible forthe
voters to have exercised the franchise freely, in con-
sequence of the intrusion of non-voters, On the re-
ceipt of that dispatch. which had arrived before the

.
l Canadian Parliament had met, and before, therefore;
i it ~.th-, possible to ascertain what elections would be
petitioned agai2St7 the Noble Lord at the head of
the Colonial Department had felt it his duty
to transmit to the Governor of Canada a dispatch
conveying, not the thanks of her Majesty, but his
own expression of approbation of the conduct of Mr,
Young and Captain Wetherall for the efforts which
they had so successfully made for the preservation of
the public peace ; and he had desired that this expres-
sion of his approbation should be communicated to,
those gentlemen. There had been no thanks returned
in the name of her Majesty, and no statement had
been made beyond the expression of
.the approbation
of the Executive Government to the Exientive
officers for their exertions.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. HUME thought the House ought to have be-
fore them the details of the circumstances which had
led to the extraordinary changes which had recently
taken place in the public mind in Canada. Great dis-
content now reigned in the colony, and it they wished
to preserve the colonies in a state of usefulness to the
country they must govern them according to the
wishes of the majority of their population. While
Sir Char:es Bagot was there unanimity and con-
tentment reigned, but -no sooner bad a change
of .Ministry taken place than discontent arose.
The Governor dismissed his Executive Council,
and for nine months governed without one.
This gave rise to dissatisfaction and discontent.
Hence had arisen those scenes which had taken place
at the elections; and it appeared to him to be
necessary that all the documents connected with the
subject should be laid before Parliament, so as to
enable them to ascertain what had caused these sudden
changes. He protested against the present system of
government.
RAILWAYS.

Mr. WALLACE, seeing the Noble Lord filo
Chancellor of the DucliY of Lancaster in his place,.
would ask him if it was his intention to press the
second reading of the Railway C(4lFrolidtqion Bills
to-morrow. He (Mr. Wallace) considered a" longer
time ought to be granted for the consideration of
measures of so much importance. He was preparud
to propose two additional clauses in those Bills, and
if they were pressed forward he should be obliged to

give notice (it' those clauses to-night ; but he would
much rather postpone his motion to a future day.
Lord GRANVILLE SOMENSET considered it
of great importance that the Bills should pass the
House with as little delay as possible. He felt great
disinclination to put off the Bills. He would move
the Committee to-morrow night, and on this day 'week
would bring up the report.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. WALLACE was perfectly satisfied with the
explanation of the Noble Lord, and would render him
all the assistance in his power.
THE PORTLAND VASE.

Mr. CHRISTOPHER wished to put a question to
his Right Hon. Friend, which: as suggests d by the
wanton destruction of the Portland vase. From the

police reports of that morning, it appeared that the
magistrate had no power to exact from the de-
stroyer of that precious relic of ancient art s
penalty higher than a fine of five pounds, or to
inflict a greater personal punishment than impri-
sonment, with or without hard labour. He begged
to call the attention of his Right Hon. Friend
to this subject, and he wished him to inform the
House whether it was his intention, by legislation or
otherwise, to take measures to prevent the recurrence
of such an outrage ?
Sir R. PEEL said the trustees of the British Mu-
seum intended to hold a meeting on Saturday next,
for the purpose of considering this iniportant subject ;
the result of that meeting would, in all probability,
be some communication on their part to her Majesty's
Government. Ile would, therefore, not express any
opinion till that communication should be made.
COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH BRAZIL.
Mr. BOUVERIE wished to ask a question of her
Majesty's Government on the subject of the commer-
cial treaty between this country and Brazil. It had
been asserted that our commercial intercourse with
that country must rest on a reciprocity treaty,
similar to the one that expired last year, which was at
treaty of that description. An additional reason for
assuming this probability, which amounted indeed
almost to a certainty, was, that more than one-fifth of
the exports of Brazil consisted of the article of sugar.
Now, if the Brazilian Government insisted on a re-
ciprocity treaty in reference to this article ofcommerce,
there was no prospect of any agreement between this
Government and that of Brazil as long as

that frivolous distinction remained on the stitute•
book between slave-grown and free-labour sugar.
He apprehended that the Act passed last year on
the subject had proved nugatory, inasmuch
as the only sugar that had come into
this country unCer that Act was imported
from Venezuela, and was slave-grown, while that
which was expected to arrive would consist, to a great
extent, of North American sugar, from New
Orleans, which was also slave-grown. If, therefore,
this reciprocity treaty was to be concluded, the distinc-
tion must be abandoned, and he could only express
a hope—which was also that of a large majority of the
country—that the Right lion. Gentleman would,
as on many former occasions, put his consistency in
his pocket, and remove this distinction. lie would
put the question, which was this—whether there was
any negotiation, or likely to be any, between this
country and the Brazilian Government for the conclu-
sion of a commercial treaty ?
Sir R. PEEL said that no negotiations were pend-
ing between this country and the Brazilian Govern-
ment on account of any alteration in the tariff of
import duties of that country. There had been a
proposal made to the British Government in respect
of one of the ordinary treaties of commerce, but there
had been no change in the tariff duties.
Mr. RICARDO hoped the Right Hon. Baronet
would abandon the principle of these reciprocity
duties, which made the commerce of this country
dependent on that of others.
Mr. M. GIBSON thought the Government ought
to abandon all attempts at tariff treaties. It must
strike every person that the limits within which the
Government could negotiate with foreign countries
were too narrow to admit of much advantage. The
difficulty did not lie abroad, but at home ; and he
thought a negotiation with a cen•ral society for
the protection of agriyulture would be snore
likely to lead to permanent results than any
treaties with Brazil, or elsewhere. The fact was,
class interests must be consulted before any great
change could be made in the import duties even in
the most necessary articles of human food. It was
the Right lion. Gentleman's adherence to protection
and differential duties hich prevented a successfur
termination to the negotiations with I3razil, and he
did not anticipate the Right Hon. Baronet would
give up these notions. The Right lion. Baronet
must know that when the Brazilian Government was
informed by Mr. Ellice of the amount of duty which
the British Government intended to impose on
foreign sugar, as against British colonial sugar, the
Brazilian Government at once cut short the nego-
tiation. lie did not know whether he was at liberty
to move for the production of the instructions of the
Government to Mr. Ellice, but if the Right Hon-
Baronet would consent, he should be anxious to sea
them on the table of the House.

Lord J. RUSSELL said, as the Right Hon.
Baronet had given notice that on Friday he would
make a stet emerit to the' House of the greatest im-
portance to the commercial .interests of this country,
he was anxious to know what course the Right Hon.
Baronet intended to pursue. Iwo courses might
be taken. A resolution might be moved, which
would leave the House at -liberty either I'o affirm or
reject it; or an amendment might be moved on the
resolution. • 'He wished to know if the Right Hon.
Baronet intended to press the House to a decision on
that day. -
Sir R. FEEL begged to assure the Noble Lord
opposite, in reply to his question, that if it should
appear inconvenient, he would not press the House to
come to a decision on Friday next on- the financial
measures he should propose.—(Hear.) Upon that day
he would endeavour to state to the House, as
clearly as he could, what the views of her Ma-
jesty's Government were with reference to the
financial and commercial policy of the country.—
(Hear, hear.) But, of course, in doing it, he begged
it would be borne in mind that it was of the utmost
importance that the House should come to a decision
at as early a period as possible upon the proposals he
should make; but he would repeat it, that he would
not, if it should be objected to, press the House
to come to a decision on Friday.—(llear, hear.)
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make on that day would depend
upon the course
adopted by the Right lion. Baronet. Such, then,
being the case, he (Lord J. Russell) hoped that the
Right lion. Baronet would consent not to take a vote
on his measure on Friday.
Sir R. PEEL had only to repeat the hope that
the House would see the importance of coming,
with as little delay as would be consistent, to a
decision upon the measure he should have the
honour of proposing on Friday. With respect
to her Majesty's Government, it should be re-
collected that it was their business to give no unne-
cessary delay to the public business ; but at the same
time he would most readily acluiesce in the proposi-
tion of the Noble Lord.—(Hear, hear.)

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY.
The House then resolved itself into a Committee of
Supply.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER an-
nounced that the sum to be proposed by her Majesty's
Government as that neces-ary to meet the demands
of the public service for the coining year, Would be
1.5,400,5001. observable in
Mr. lIUME hoped that the laxity
the Exchequer-bill officers on late occasions wopureldsebnet
checked in future.
Mr. IVTLEJAMS -hoped that, from the