The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-06 00:00:00

BOROUGH OF SUDBURY.

Mr. REDINGTON said, that as he had given notice
of a motion for Tuesday next respecting the borough of
Sudbury; and es he understood that precedence was to
be giVen to the Orders of the Day, he wished to know
what course the Right Hon. Baronet would adopt with
regard to his (Mr. Redingten's) motion,'dnd-whether he
would allow its precedence ?
Sir R. PEEL said, that when he proposed that the
Orders of the Day should have precedence of motions,
he remarked the absence of the Hon. Gentleman, and
stated that he would not ask for precedence except on
the condition of the Hon. Gentleman's acquiescence, be-
cause ar the Hon. Member had fixed Tuesday, he (Sir
R. Peel), should be unwilling to interfere with him. But
the Noble Lord the Member for London suggested that
the Orders of the Day need not be postponed in conse-
quence of the notice of motion of the Hon. Gentleman.
The House would bear in min& that that was the cause
why he (Sir h. Peel) persevered.— (11Kar, hear.) He
thought the House consente4 that he should take Tues-
-day next, and that he wouldAyt interfere with the mo-
tion of the lion. Gentleman Fif that day.
N rAIEDINGTON said he was not present when the
Bight Him. ilarillet spoke, and he could not lean. pre-
cisely what had pas Eel on the occasion. Ile would state
to the Hoare, s shortly as he could, the views of the
c
mimittoe. The Hon. Gentleman
that.ha would move on-Tui sal,-y, that
h
writ for the borough of Sudbury tinlatt the
issuing of theen gave
benotice, suspended to the 11th
'of June.

MIL BIDDLTLPII. -
Mr. SHIM.; gave notice, that he would postpone till
Monday his question respecting Mr. Biddulph.
NAVY ESTIMATES,
Captain PECIIELL wished to know from the light
Barpuet opposite, whether he would bring on the
Navy Estimates to-morrow, or on -Monday ? The
reason he 'asked the question was, that the Gallant
Commodore, the Member for Marylebone, who was in-
terested in the subject, was in the country, and it would
be's. convenience to him to ascertain the fact.

Sir R. PEEL said, certainly not to morrow, in Con.
sccittek.co of the Income-tax.

APPOINTMENT OF BOROUGH MAGISTRATES
Mr. HUTT presented a petition from Gateshead,
against the recent4ppointment of borough Magistrates.
The Hon. Membe. then proceeded to move for copies
of circulars sent out by the Secretary of State for the
Home Department to the various Town-clerks or Clerks
to the Magistrates, between the months of August and
December, 1841, requiring information as to the
state of the Magistracy in the towns to which such
circulars were sent, as to the number of such
Magistrates, and of those who had qualified them-
selves to. act. He would offer no apology to the House for
bringing under its consideration the subject of which
he had given notice ; for if the view which he took was
correct, it was a matter which imperatively required the
attention of the House of Commons. Fortunately for
the liberty of the people of this country, the right
of nominating municipal Magistrates had never,
till a very recent period, been vested in the Go-
vernment. Up to the year 1836 the municipalities
of England, almost without exception, enjoyed
the right of electing their own Magistrates. The
right was one which had lbeen inherited by the people
from the earliest founders of their institutions, and on
that account perhaps it was entitled to their veneration.
But it had more solid and practical claims on their re-
spect. It was admirably adapted for preserving harmony
between the Government and those who administered the
law throughout the country. Accordingly it was preserved
by the Government of Lord Grey, in the Bill which was
introduced for reforming the Corporations of Scotland ;
and as the Right Hon. Baronet had been a member of
Lord Grey's Government, he must have heard
with interest and satisfaction of the well-weeking
of the system for which he was in part respon-
sible. In 1835 it formed one of the provisions
of the Bill introduced by the Government of
Lord Melbourne for reforming the Corporations in Eng-
land and Wales. The provision received the unanimous
sanction of the House of Commons, but unfortunately,
in one of those angry quarrels which had occurred with
the other House, it was struck out of the Bill.
When the Bill came down from the other House
of Parliament, mutilated in that, as well as in
many other respects, the Noble Lord, then the
leader of that House, though he deplored the
circumstance of this provision being struck out of the
Bill, did not consider it a sufficient reason for rejecting
the measure. He observed that he did not think any
Minister would be found hereafter who would refuse
to the corporations the exercise of this right; and
he remarked, that if any Minister should 'hereafter
be found, he did not doubt but that the House
of Commons would not be slow to censure his
conduct. The Noble Lord further added, that so long
as he held the seals of the Home Office, he should think it
his duty to perpetuate the ancient practice of the land ; and
that no Magistrate should be appointed in the cqeporii-
dons till he had previously consulted with the town council.
With this understanding the Bill passed the House of
Commons, and then it was that the ancient rights,
which they had recently granted to the people of
Scotland by the unanimous sanction of both Houses
of Parliament in 1833, which the people of England
had inherited from the date of their earliest in-
stitutions, which they bad preserved in some Sort or
other through all revolutions for eight hundred
years, were snatched from them at last, and uncondi-
tionally given up. He hoped one day to introduce a
Bill into that House which would restore to the people
of England those ancient rights, for he believed the am-
nicipalities of the country were the only safe sup-
ports of the Constitutioa.—(Hear, hear.) The -Noble
Lord, the then Secretary of State for the Home De-
partment, acted up to the declaration he made. It was
then remarked that his declaration was made before
the Bill had received the sanction of that House. It
had been said, " Yes, it is very fine to consult the corpo-
rations so long as the corporations are of your own po-
litical opinions." There would have been some justice
in the sarcasm if the Noble Lord had made that declare-
don after the result of the municipal elections had been
determined. But he determined on his course before
the Bill had passed that House—before the corporations
had been established—before any man living could pos-
sibly foresee what would be the result of the municipal
elections. It was then that the Noble Lord made that
declaration to the House and to the country, and to that
delaration he adhered. He (Mr. Hutt) could not con-
ceive why that example could not be followed.
He knew very well it might be said that
corporations did not invariaby recommend the fittest
persons to the borough Magistracy. He (Mr. Hutt)
admitted that he thought it not impossible that the
Right Honourable Baronet (Sir JameS Grahatin)
might be prepared to show many instances in
which they had erred ; but did not Lords-
Lieutenant sometimes err in their selections of the Ma-
gistrates for the borough municipalities ? No man would
argue that because they sometimes erred, there-
fore they must never be appealed to.—(Hear, hear.)
Whoever was a good Magistrate for his neighbourhood,
for the municipality in which he resided, was good
enough for a Secretary of State. The Secretary of State,
in the selection of ,borough Magistrates must apply to
some one of local knowledge, and he was sure
be could not find any persons more calculated to
give information than those in authority in the borough.
If he did not apply to them, be must apply to some
of his own partisans, for he could not be acquainted
with the respectable inhabitants of every place.
That course, however contemptible it was, and he consi-
dered it so, had been pursued by the Right llon. Ba-
ronet. He thought such a course was highly to be la-
mented. When they considered that the people of
Scotland enjoyed the power of electing their own
Magistrates by the Act of the year 1833, when
it was considered that the Citizens of London dit4
the same thing; and when the people of this country
had enjoyed for 800 years a similar right—he thought,
under all these circumstances, the House would be of
opinion that the Right Hon. Baronet had taken a Very
improper course, and had most improperly strained the
power of the Crown. He had in his hand a list of
400 Magistrates appointed during the last eight months,
and, such being the case, he should like to know from
what motives the Right on. Baronet had set about this
Magistrate making ? Was it because the Magistrates
were inefficient, or was it because he had documents
showing that justice had been improperly administered?
The Right Hon. Gentleman had evaded the question
with less than his usual address. Would he answer it
to-night ?—(Cheers.) The question, however, had already
been answered in another place.—(Cheers.) It was
customary to speak of the appointment of 'municipal
Magistrates as the act of the Home Secretary ;
every body knew that it was the act of the Home
Secretary, although the Lord Chancellor was no-
minally the person making the appointment. But
the Lord Chancellor himself had declared in another
place the reason of these appointments. They batt the
authority of the Lord High Chancellor himself for stat-
ing the reason of these appointments to be, that the
town councils had recommended too many Liberal
Magistrates to serve the purposes of the present Go-
vernment—(Cheers)—that it was necessary to redress
the balance by making a large number of Conservative
Magistrates, in order to secure to the Conservative party
the privilege of licensing public housesl--(Cheers).—a
power intended to be used for electioneering purposes.—
(Cheering and counter cheering.) Such was reported
to have been the statement made by the Lord High
Chancellor of England in another place. But the Right
Hon. Bart. himself, who seldom indulged in any excess of
frankness, was reported to have made an avowal of a si-
milar nature, in answer to certain persons who had I
waited upon him as a deputation from the Conservative
Association of Devonport. These persons had paid a
visit to the Right Honourable Baronet, to arrange
about the appointment of Conservative Magistrates
for Devonport. These persons had reported that
they were charmed with the condescension and kindness
with which the Right Hon. Baronet had received them ;
and in describing their interview with so distinguished
a personage, they stated that while they were dilating
on the special merits of the Conservative can-
didates for the Magistracy, the Right Honour-
able Baronet had interrupted them by exclaiming—
, " Never, mind about particulars—how many will it
take to swamp them ?''—(Great cheering, laughter, and
cries of "Name, name.") Ha had read the statement in
a Devonport newspaper.—(Cheers, and cries of " Oh I
Oh !" and laughter.) Ile did not wish to take any
unfair account of the transaction. Did he understand
that the Right Hon. Baronet disclaimed it ?
Sir J. GRAHAM—I have not the slightest recol-
lection of it.—(Cheers and laughter.)
Mr. HUTT thought, that as the Right Hon. Baronet
had not the slightest recollection of it, perhaps the
transaction had not taken place—(Cries of " Oh ! oh !")
—but would the Right Lion. Baronet deny that he had
acted on those principles ?—(Loud cheers.) If he had
not done so, had the appointments been made 'because
there had been any complaints made as to the manner
in which justice was administered in the country, or as to
the insufficiency of the existing number of Magistrates ?
He was not going to quarrel with the appointment of
any individual.—(Tory cheers.) He had received, since
he gave notice of his intention to ask the House to look
into this subject, suggestions from various quarters, as to
why this or that man was improper to fill the office in such
or such a place. He gave no heed to any such communi-
cations, and he would do the Right Hon. Baronet the justice
to express his belief that he had never placed upon the
Bench any individual whom he did not think qualified
to fill the office.—(Loud cheers.) As far as he had any
personal knowledge of the appointments, such unques-
tionably was the case—(Cheers)—and whilst ho com-
plained of the large addition which the Right Hon. Ba-
ronet had made to the Magistracy, he admitted that
in no case had he appointed a person who was not
qualified to discharge the duties.—(Loud cheers.)
But, he would ask, when he made the last addition to the
Magistracy of Hull, why did the Right Hon. Baronet
place Dr. Alderson at the head of the list ? That gen-
tleman was highly respectable •, and when he (Mr. Hutt)
had the honour to represent the borough, Dr. Alderson
was of the Liberal party, although, like the Right Hon-
ourable Baronet, his opinions had since undergone
some change.—(Cheers and laughter.) But it was
a great slight to other gentlemen, who were quite as re-
spectable, to have him placed upon that account above
them. With respect to the town which he now had the
honour to represent (the borough of Gateshead), there
were six Magistrates in the borough ; and in number
and efficiency they had appeared quite equal to dis-
charge all the duties of the Magistracy ; and one of them
was a Conservative.—(Great cheering from the Tory
benches.) He (Mr. Hutt) very well understood the
meaning of the cheers. But he would remind Gentle-
men opposite, that there was as great a preponderance of
Liberals in the borough.—(Hear, hear.) The Right
Hononourable Baronet, however, did rot think six
Magistrates enough, and he gave to this fa-
voured town six Conservative Magistrates in addition,
making as many Magistrates as policemen.—(Cheers,
and great laughter.) He asked, why did the Right Hon. 1
Baronet so accomodate a town—why did he give
a town, in which Liberal opinions predeminntO,
a majority of Tory Magistrates ?-1-(Hear;
The Noble Lord-Lieutenant of Durham thought he
could justify the proceedings at Gateshead, by remarking'

that it was a place where revolutionary opinions .pre-
Tailed, and that the inhabitants of Gateshead had; in :.
previous session, of Parliament, returned a gentleman
of revolutionary principles to represent them. He (Mr.
Hutt) was not going to vindicate the character either of
his Hon. Colleague, or of the town of Gateshead.
It appeared that the Noble Lord had made
these observations. He (Mr. Hutt) would wish
the Noble Lord to remember, that in this
free and intelligent country no character was so revolu-
tionary, no character was so dangerous to the public
peace, as that of a man of high station, of princely for.
tune, of great political power, who used these uncommon
advantages in such a way as to alienate from him the
respect and the confidence of his country.—(Hear,
hear.) Let him return to the subject of Gates-
head. When he saw that there, and in other
places similarly situated, political party ran, high
—when he saw that the Right Honourable Baronet
had established there a majority of Tory Magistrates, and
bad scattered between 300 and 400 Magistrates of Tory
opinions in different parts of the country, be must
own that he was very much puzzled to know
on what principle the Right Honourable . Baronet
bad acted ; and he should probably have been puzzled
to this day had it not been for the' candid avowal of the
Noble Lord the Chancellor of England. He now
understood that these Magistrates were appointed
solely for political purposes.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
He hoped no one would doubt his authority.—(Cheers.)
The Right Hon. Gentleman was extremely fond of to
quoque arguments. He (Mr. Hutt) would admit then
that it was true, be would go farther—(Hear, hear)
—for the sake of argument—(Hear, hear)—and would
now admit the Right Hon. Gentleman to say, that in-
stead of having appointed four hundred Magistrates
from feelings of caprice, his predecessor had ap-
pointed a thousand.—(Ministerial.cheers.) But then he
(Mr. Hutt) would ask, what was that to him—(Hear)
—what was 'that to the people of England,
whose interests were deeply involved on the ques-
tion ? For his part he believed that the tit
quoque argument, miserable as it was at best, would not
avail the Right Hon. Baronet on that occasion. This he was
bound to say, that having frequently seen his Noble Friend
(Lord John Russell) on the subject of those appoint-
ments, in consequence of a commission he had received
from the borough of Hull, he had always found his Noble
Friend anxious to see gentlemen of opinions opposed to his
own placed upon the bench of Magistrates. It happened
that the Corporation of Hull had originally recommended
gentlemen exclusively of the Whig party, upon which
the Noble Lord, when the list was presented to him,
said that that should not be.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble
Lord did not approve of making the bench of Magis-
trates the scene of party politics. In consequence of
the statement of the Noble Lord communications toek
place between him and the town council of Hull, and the
result was that gentlemen of the Tory party were placed
upon the Bench. A similar course to his (Mr.
Hutt's) knowledge was pursued by the Marquis
of Normanby. Both those Noblemen were anxious that
the Magistracy should in some sortrepresent the feelings
of the country at large. He believed, however, that it
would be found' the Eight Hon. Baronet opposite
had acted in precisely the opposite way. lie believed it
would be found that the Right Hon. Baronet had placed
upon the Bench almost exclusively Members of one party
(Hear)—and placed them there, as he believed, for
party and political purposes ; a proceeding which would
hardly be found paralleled in our history since the time
of Charles 11. He believed that the system introduced by
the Right Hon. Baronet was full of danger to the country ;
and that was not merely his opinion nor the opinion
of every party with which he might be supposed
to be connected ; he could assure the Right Hon-
ourable Baronet that that was the opinion of men
in every position in life. It was the opinion of Ma-
gistrates of the same political opinions as her Majesty's
Government; it was the opinion of many who agreed
with Government in their general principles of policy,
but who were disgusted with this abuse of the powers
of Government.' The House should remember that
those municipal tribunals were the only Courts of
Justice to which millions could appeal. (Hear.)
The Right Honourable Baronet was a man
'of fo,rtune and high station, who could prosecute a suit
in a dozen courts if he thought proper; but the poor had
practically no other form of civil and criminal jurisdic-
tion than the local tribunals of the country.—(Cheers.)
He was glad to have that assenting cheer. Was it then
right that that tribunal should be political ? He was
glad that at least on one point they could agree.
He was happy to have the concurrence of the Right
Hon. Baronet, that it was neither just nor right that that
tribunal should be a political one; Looking to the state
of society in the country, and to the feelings that
were abroad, they must see that it was not fit
to add to the elements of confusion. The Hon. Member
for Bradbury—(Laughter)—he begged pardon for the
mistake, lie meant the Hon. Member for Bradford
(Mr. Hardy), would do better, instead of answering
by jeers, to get up when be (Mr. Hutt) had
closed his observations, and to reply to those
observations if. he could. With respect to the
Supreme Judges of the land, they were restrained
by their knowledge of the law, by their habitual defe-
rence to the forms of justice, from giving way to
any remarkable political party feeling or bias. But
what did these Borough Justices know about law or its
forms ? They should be raised to their offices for their
personal intelligence and integrity, matters of
which the Secretary of State could know nothing,
but which their townsmen were sure both to know and
appreciate. But they did not suffer their townsmen
to take part in the election of these Magis-
trates to their offices ; they did not care whether
those Magistrates obtained and possessed the confi-
dence of their fellow-townsmen ; all that they cared
for was, that they should be active political partisans.
He protested against this system, and he hoped the
House of Commons would see that the time had come to
oppose it. It was now declared that the nominations of
the %,wn councils were to be set aside ; that every
successive Secretary of State was to appoint as many
Magistrates as suited his purpose, and was to be the
sole judge of' their fitness and character, while an
inquisition was set up on the political opinions of
every Magistrate on the Bench, for the purpose of
swamping them every time those opinions might
be opposed to those of the party in power. He again
protested against the system ; it could be fruitful
of nothing but mischief, and would render the Bench
a scene of violent party and political conflicts,
and produce a system about as respectable and respected
as the system of this House with regard to the trial of
controverted elections.—(Hear, hear.) The whole
system (vas calculated to deprave the character
of the Bench ; it was to the confidence which the
people of England felt in those who were entrusted with
the administration of justice they owed that
High tone of feeling which was their charac-
teristic. Let them destroy this confidence, and the hour
was not far distant when they would deeply lament
it.—(Hear, hear.) He remembered a passage from
Lord Clarendon, which was well worthy of the attention
of the Right Hon. Baronet, and of all who were en-
trusted with the reins of Government in this court-
try.—(Hear.) In tracing the causes of the disasters
which raised the people of England against the
institutions of the country, and which at last drove
them to meet their Sovereign in the field, Lord Cla-
rendon says, " It was not the ship money,
it was not the exaction of forced loans, which smothered
in the hearts of Englishmen those feelings of affection
and loyalty to their Prince, which, in every age and all
circumstances, had been the characteristics of
the race. It was not these things ; it was
the scorn and irreverence into which the Judges
of the land had fallen ; it was the consequence of the
people hearing the Magistrates pronouncing that to
be law which every one knew was not law."
If this course was pursued, and if the sanction of the
House was given to the innovations of the Right Hon.
Baronet, he believed it would be pregnant with disaster
to the country. The Right Honourable Baronet at the
head of the Government, in the course of his elo-
quent peroratioh in his speech on the finances
of the country, took occasion to notice the va-
rious calamities with which the country was visited,
in the course of the last century—the mutiny of
the Nore, the rebellion in Ireland, and the war
abroad ; but if the Secretary of State were
allowed to appoint to the Magistracy political
parties, disgrace and dishonour would befal the country.
He did not think the Right lion. Baronet (Sir R. Peel)
would get up and give his approval to this system.
He was surrounded by those who said it was his duty to
maintain the supremacy of his party under all circum-
stances, but he (Mr. H.) presumed to give him other
advice.—(oh, and laughter.) lie could assure Hon.
Members that interruption was very disagreeable. He
hoped the Hon. and Gallant Officer opposite would per-
mit him to offer a few remarks. He would suggest to
the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel) that he could
not lay the foundation of his power on surer grounds,-
than by securing to the people the equal administration
of the law.—(Ministerial cheers.) He would sug-
gest to him that he could. not raise his name
to a higher pitch than by taking care that no
individual was raised to the Bench of Justice,
whether it was in the Supreme Courts of the
country or in the local tribunals, except those
who possessed the confidence of their fellow-ceuntrymen.
Others might be disposed to give different counsel ' • but
he was sure that he would do better to give up the little
interests of party, which would be fatal to his power and
the permanence of his fame.—(Cheers.)
Mr. JERVIS seconded the motion.

The question having been put,
Sir J. GRAHAM said that when the Hon. Gentleman
who had just sat down gave notice of his motion,
he took the first opportunity of thanking him for
giving that notice. He certainly felt that ho was under
great obligations to the Hon. Gentleman ; for after all
t hat had been said, there and elsewhere, with respect to
his conduct on this particular subject, he felt satisfied
that the Hon. Gentleman was about to bring that con-
duct under the consideration of the House in some
tangible shape. so that he might appeal to its deliberate
judgment, and asscertain whether the House thought it
worthy of reprobation. Now he would just call the at-
tention of the House to the nature of the speech which
the Hon. Gentleman had thought fit to make on that oc-
casion, as a preface to his motion. He had recalled to
the recollection of the House the declaration of the
Noble Lord, the Member for the City of London, at the
time of the passing of the Municipal Corporations Bill,
that any abuse of prerogative on the part of the Secre-
tary.of State, in recommending persons as municipal
Magistrates, would be noticed by that House. Not sa-
tisfied with that, he had gone on to speak of his (Sir
J. Graham's) conduct in terms which he would repeat
to the House, for he had carefully taken them down.
l le had said that his (Sir J. Graham's) course was highly
to be condemned, that he had strained the prerogative of
the Crown—that the interest of the people was deeply
interwoven with the .question now before them—that
there was.,no:,pirAilel- in the history of this country to
tich an abuse of power. since the time of Charles the
Second—and that he hoped that that House would
interpose a check to so great an evil.-41-lear, bear.) +