The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-19 00:00:00

ALIEN BILL.

Lord SIDMoUTIr, in rising to move the Order
of the Day for the second reading of this Bill,
'said, it was now unnecessary for him to advert to

the undoubted right which appertained to the
prerogative of the Crown, not only to orderfo-
reigners out of the kingdom at pleasure, but also
to prohibit them from entering it. This right
was imprescriptible, and not to be disputed. The
Bill proposed in 1818 did little more than define
and accelerate the niannv in which the preroga-
tive of the Crown. Was to be acted upon. It
would be for their Lordships to consider whe-
ther, since -the Bill of 1818 was passed, any fa-
-vourable alteration had taken placein the circum-
stances of this country, or of .Europe, to render
the measure lessmeceSsarynowthan at that period.
He regretted, however, to .state, that on the con-
trary, the Bill appeared to him now to be more ur-
gently and imperathely called for than at the
time it was first proposed. lie should not shrink
from performing his duty with regard to this
measure, however• Noble Lords might differ with
him upon its general or particular merits. With
this feeling upon his mind, lie should now move
that the Bill be read a second time.

The Earl of DARNLEY apposed the motion.
Ile regretted that be had not been present on the
former occasion to express the sentiments of in-
-dignation he felt at a measure so truly disgraceful
to the character of the country. lie deprecated
the conduct of his Majesty's Ministers in coming
forward year after year, and calling for such a
Bill as this in a period of profound peace.

Lord JIOLL vxD should not now trouble their

Lordships with a repetition of those reasons
which had induced -him to oppose the measure :in

the first instance ; it was needless for him again
to say, that he still thought it cruel, unjust, im-
politic, and unconstitutional; He should not
therefore detain their LordshiPs with a further
-description of it, and perhaps it would be as well
not at that hour of the evening ; he found- it
would be irksome to them to attend to him; nor,
perhaps, would the public feel an interest in the
subject, from the agitated state in which the public
mind now stood. The Bill was, in his opinion,
neither more nor less than a satire and a libel on

the laws of England. It was as much as to say

that the laws of England were not sufficient for the
protection of Englishmen. It was hostile to the
spirit of the Constitntion, and destructive of all the
principles of a free Government. The arguments
of the Noble Viscount in support of the Bill were
simply two—first, he argued, that the power of
sending aliens out of the country, was a preroga-
tive of the Crown ; and secondly, he contended,
that there was a strong presumption, that the
power given •by this Bill would not he abused.—
He ( Lord H.) had made no researches upon the
question of prerogative ; but he was prepared to
maintain, that if it was a wholesome prerogative,
and if it were advantageous for the people that it
should be exercised, then, .and then only it
could be considered as a prerogative belong-
ing- to the first Magistrate of this country.
The Noble Viscount had said, that the power
was not abused—that only nine persons

in all had been sent out of the country

wider the late Alien Bill. He would not say any
thing as to the abuse of the power, but this he
knew, that whatever had been done beyond the
Bill, against the unfortunate objects of it, they
had no opportu*y for redress. He looked upon
it as a contradiction of the spirit of all our laws,
as •snbverting the foundation of British jurispru-
dence to entrust arbitrary power to any man, or
any set of men, on the presumption that it would
not be abused. Nor did he think that it was
any reason, that because an Alien Act was passed
in ISIB, an Alien Act should also be passed in
1 hear !)
The Earl of LIVERPOOL defended the MCa.•
snre, and argued, that, though the power which
it went to give already existed in the Crown by
Common Law, yet it could not be so convenient-
ly- exercised as under the Bill. It was essential
that every State should possess the means of ex-
chiding, and of course of expelling, any person
not possessing the rights and interests of a member
of the State. The same power that was now called
for had been entrusted to the Government at for-

mer times, and he was at a loss to see what there
was in the present state of this Country, of Eu
rope, or of the world, which would afford .a suf-
ficient reason to Parliament to hesitate in con-
tinuing to the Executive Government the posses-
sion of that discretionary power. lie repelled
the charge made against the Austrian G Govern-
milit by the Noble Baron, and contended, that
that Government had exhibited the utmost in-
tegrity of character.
Lord HOLLAND in explanation, said, he sup-
posed it at the Treasury had last nip,-ht received
from the Austrian Government the sums due to
this country, and that that was the foundation of

the eulogitirn bestowed by the Noble Earl on the
integrity of that Power..---(A laugh!)
The Earl of CARNARVON and Lord CALTHORPE
opposed the Bill.
The Howe .then divided when the numbers
were—
Contents
Not Contents
Majority in favour of the second re3dinK.... —lO
The Bill was then read a second time, and or-
dered to be "committed.

The other Orders of the Day were disposed
of, and the House adjourned.
[For the Proceedings in the House of Commons, set the
Fourth Pagr.]