The Sun.
London, England, 1827-05-31 00:00:00

CORPORATION AND TEST ACTS.

Mr. J. SMITH presented a petition from certain Dissen-
ters in Essex, for the repeal of the Test and Corporation
Acts. A similar petition \vas presented from a congrega-
tion in Manchester by Lord STANLEY.
Lord J. STEWART presented similar petitions from
Cardiff and Swansea.

Mr. LYTTLETON presented a similar petition from
Burnley, and observed, that he could see no object in con-
tinuing a grievance which, though not practical, was not
the less a grievance, and the House testified their opinion
as to the little necessity which existed for these laws by
constantly passing Acts of Indemnity.
Sir J. NEWPORT said, that the want of Churches was
one of the grievances which had diminished the number of
Protestants in Ireland. In the parish to which the petition
alluded, there had been a falling off of above 140 Protes-
tants within a very short period.
Lord MILTON said the case now before the House,
was not at all peculiar, it was a part of the system. The
acts of ecclesiastical corruption, which were too gross for
the English Government, were usually perpetrated in
Ireland.

Mr. GOULI3URN defended the conduct of the present
Irish Government with respect to Ecclesiastical Benefices.
Every effort was made to diminish the number of non-re-
sident clergymen, and to abolish pluralities.
Mr. CALCRAFT thought the Test Act a great prac-
tical grievance, inasmuch, as insult was a practical
grievance. Whenever the question should be brought be-
fore the House, he would give a motion for repeal his de-
cided support.
Mr. HUME regretted to find that this important ques-
tion was not to be brought forward this Session. The
First Lord of the Treasury said, he would oppose the re-
peal of those laws, but that 'dm the very reason, he (Mr.
Hume), if it depended on him, would have brought the
case forward, and if the laws were not repealed, during
the present Session, it was very possible they might the
next Session of Parliament.

Lord ALTIIORP declared himself to be a decided op-
ponent to the Tast Act, which he characterised as a hard-
ship, if possible more galling to a conscientious member of
the Church of England, than to a Dissenter. He also ex-
pressed his regret that the subject was not to be brought
under consideration during the present session.
Mr. BROUGHAM agreed with the Member from
Wareham (Mr. Calcraft) and his Noble Friend (Lord
Althorp) that the Test Act was a great practical grievance,
nothing could he more impolitic or unjust than to
exclude a great number of most loyal, industrious
and intelligent persons from office, in consequence of the
opinions they entertained on religious subjects. Feeling
strongly, as he (Mr. Brougham) did, on this subject, he
should give his support to any motion for the repeal of those
laws, when he was assured that such a motion was brought
forward with proper views; but he did not regret that the
discussion of the claims of the Dissenters was nostponed
until tLe next Session. The Dissenters themselves, after s

--EMIGRATION.
Mr. M. FITZGERALD rose to present a petition frOnt
certain land-owners in the county of Kerry, praying that
the House would afford the Means of emigrating from Ind
land to the superabundant population of that country. He
took that opportunity of asking the Hon. Gentleman op-
posite (Mr. Wilmot • Horton) what had been done, Of
'what Government intended to do, for the puipz,se of faci-
litating emigration to British colonies in North America.

Much doubt and misunderstanding prevailed at present on
that important subject; and it was necessary that it should
he placed in a clear and distinct point of view. Feeling
the deep importance of setting the public mind completely
at rest on this question, he trusted that the Hon. Gentle-
man would give such an explanation as would enable all
persons interested in the subject to understand what mea-

•
sures were in contemplation. With respect to the prayer
of the petition, he entirely caincided in it. He felt that
no plan could be pressed on Parliament that would strike
more immediately at the root of the evils snider which Ire-
land was suffering, or would go more directly to put an end
to the appalling distress which existed, in that country,
than the encouragement of emigration. By emigration
alone could the wants of the people of Ireland be met and
satisfied. The great influx of Irish p lupus into this
country would force the subject on the serious consideration
of the House, if it were not spontaneously taken up.
Mr. WILMOT NORTON wished it to be understood
by the country (and he feared it was not understood at
present), that until the Emigration Committee, which had
sat the whole of this Session, and to which the Honour.
able Member belonged, had made its report, and the evi,
deuce was laid before the House, it was perfectly impeee
sible for his Majesty's Government to pledge themselves to
any measure, or in any degree, on this subject. It ap
peared that many persons confounded the proceedings of
this Committee with the acts of Government He wished
it to be understood in Ireland that this Committee was not
the work of Government. Hundreds of letters were daily
received from that country, snaking specific applications on
this subject ; and, therefor..., be wished that those Liao had
an opportunity of circulating the knowledge of the fact
through Ireland would state that he (Mr. Wilmot Horton)
distinctly declared, that the Committee then sitting was
merely a Committee of Inquiry, t'.e investigation in which,
he flattered himself, had been diligently carried on. It
would be for the Government and the: public, when that
Committee had finished its labours, to proceee calmly with
the consideration bf this very important (subject. It was
impossible that the misconception which prevailed with
respect to it could be too soon dispelled in Ireland, Sot•
land, and even in some parts of England. He hoped most
earnestly that the question of his Hon. Friend would lead
to a better understanding on this subject—(Hear.)
Mr. L. FOSTER begged, as a Member of the Com-
mittee, to make a few observations. There was in the
Committee a diversity of opinion on different points; but
its Members all agreed in this,—that the population in v,f • :e
ous parts of Ireland was so dense, that the whole prejace
of the land was insufficient for its support. Where land
was overstocked with cattle, the remedy was easy, and
that remedy produced an advantage to the owner ; but a
superabundant human population was worse than unbene-
fide!. Yet this plain and evident principle had but lately
forced itself on the minds of the Irish landowners. The
truth, however, had been at length impressed on them, and
they now wished to clear their estates from the superfluous
population. One instance had come to his knowledge
where 1,200 individuals were turned loose from the estate
of a gentleman with whom he was acquainted. He did
not mean to blame that individual, for if he had not taken
this step, L. could have derived no income from his pro-
perty ; and he was still less disposed to censure him, as he
had contrived, by a splendid exertion, to give employment
to nearly the whole of these persons whom he had discharged.
He admitted that this was an extreme case. He knew only
of that one instance; but he could assure the House that
the same principle on which it proceeded was in operation.
from north to south, from east to west. The consequence
was, that a number of paupers were thrown on the world,
without any possible means of subsistence. What, then,
became of the population thus turned adrift? A large num-
ber of them resorted to their friends, who were perhaps in
a condition little better than themselves ; others took up
their residence in the vicinity of large towns, where they
dwelt in hovels, in a state of the utmost misery, expectira6,
now and then, a day of employment,—an expectation
which was too often disappointed ; and a great body
of them came over to this country, and would continue
to come here, so long as no other resources presented itself.
The intention of steam, with respect to its operation on
the interests of this country, had not produced a more ex-
traordinary effect in any instance than it had in the
multiplication of paupers. The steam-vessels gave the
greatest facility to the introduction of the poor of Ireland
into England. There were five or six steam-boats plying '
between England and different parts of Ireland. He looked
upon them as great bridges between this and the sister
country, by which the paupers of the latter were enabled
to reach the former. What was the consequenae ? Why,
the whole population of Boulogne, Madrid, or Rome was
less than the proportion of Irish at present in this metro-
polis. If, therefore, some decisive measure were not taken,
the vacuum which might, by partial means, be made in
the population of Ireland and Scotland would speedily be
filled up. He knew a gentleman, not far from London,
who endeavoured, by the operation of an Act lately passed,
to clear his parish from Irish paupers, by sending them to
Ireland at the expense of the parish : but his efforts were
of no avail ; for the paupers walked back again to the same
parish as fast as their legs would carry them. To meet
this evil, the only remedy was, to encourage emigration on
a very extensive scale. At the end of the war, though vast
numbers of men entered the army during its continuance,
and enlistment was a sort of emigration, the population of
the United Kingdom was found to have inerrased to the
extent of 3,000,000. The same thing might be observed
with respect to France, where, at the termination of the
war, the population had increased by 4,000,000 or
5,000,000. Means should be adopted to prevent the
vacuum occasioned by emigration from being filled up,
and to remove from Ireland that class which was most
likely to disturb its peace. A very simple principle of re-
lief had been discussed in the Committee, and was, he be-
lieved, favoured by some of those who composed
namely, that the Irish landlords should take on themselves
the charge of sending the superabundant population across,
the Atlantic.---(There were here cries of " Order," and
the Hon. Member immediately sat down.)
Mr. CALCRAFT said, he should be very sorry to c 4.11
the Hon. Gentleman to order, had his speech not been so
very irregular. The Hon. Gentleman, as a Member of the
emigration committee, was stating fact.. s .sting evidence,
declaring opinions, and pointing out what the House
ought to do, before any person in the House, not belonging
to that committee had an opportunity of knowing what
proceedings had taken place in it. And this, too, was done
by the Hon. Gentleman after the Hon. Member opposite
(Mr. Wilmot Horton) had stated that the Government
would not take any step on this subject until they knew
the sentiments of the committee. He knew very well that the
influx of Irish into this country was a great evil. In some
places it had brought the wages of labour down to/starva-
tion price. He also knew, that the most troublesome,
idle, disorderly, and suffering body of the people in this
country were the Irish, who came here because they were
expelled from the estates of those proprietors, who, having
served their own purposes, sent them adrift.—(Order.)
Sir G. HILL denied that the Irish landowners did any
such thing.

Mr. CALCRAFT was proceeding to address the House,
when
__

m►•. WILMOT HORTON rose, and deprecated this sort
of discussion.
The SPEAKER called the Hon. Gentleman to order.

Mr. CALCRAFT then said, he believed, erter what had
occurred, he was correct in stating, that the Irish landed
proprietors fostered these poor people for their own private
advantage, and now thought fit to send them adrift.—
(Hear, hear.).—He certainly was not to blame if this were
not the fact. He should not, of himself have uttered such
a statement, but it had been made by the Hon. Gentleman
opposite.—(lkar, hear.)—The speech of that lieu. Gen-
tleman was extremely irregular ; and he rose chiefly to ap-
peal to the Speaker and the House, to keep Hon. Gentle-

men within 'what he (Mr. CakraM considered to be the
rules of Parliament.
AP:. S. RICE protested, in the stronget and most de-
cided manner, against the assertion which his Hoe.
Friend had just made.—(Hear, hear.)—When hit Von.
Friend declared that the Irish were the most idle, trouble-
some, and ungovernable people in this country, he must
say that it was directly contrary to the fact.—(Hear..)
Lord MILTON said, he resided in a quarter of the coun-
try where a great part of the field-labour was done by Irish-
men; and so far from being the most idle, the most riot-
ous, and most disorderly part of the population, he cottle
say, and his means of forming an opinion were -consider-
able, that such was not the case.--41Icar.)—He cer-
tainly had never heard any accusation of the kind brought
against them.

Mr. CALCRAFT was going to reply, when he was
interrupted by the SPeOker. He then said, that he would
make this observati
P:n on the motion for printing the peti-
tion ; but Mr. Fitzgerald, on the question being put to
him, answer:ed, that he did not mean to move that it should
be Prinfr:d. —(Laughter).

'THE BANK CIRCULAR.
fir J. WROTTESLEY rose to give notice that, on the
'7th June, he would bring forward a motion for the produc-
tion of a Circular from the Bank of England, which he
took it for granted every Member of that House had seen.
Mr. MANNING (the Bank Director) said, that) per-
haps, he might prevent the necessity of the Ho-
nourable Baronet's motion, as he could assure the House
that there was not the slightest foundation for the statement
that the Circular to which the Hon. Baronet alluded hral
emanated from the Bank of England. " We," said the
Hon. Member, " deny it. We disclaim it. We know
nothing of it. The paper in question has not been issued
by the Bank of England."
The SPEAKER inquired whether, after this state-
ment, the notice of the LI:on. Baronet should stand.
Sir J. WR°TTESIEY said he wished the notice to
remain in the bool" He had no desire to discuss the sub-
ject now, as it 'would be rather awkward to do so in bring-
ing up a r!fr.tion against tha Test and Corporation Acts.—
(A laugh.)—It would, under such circumstances, take up
ten tau'.es more time to arrive at a satisfactory result, than
if tb'.: question were regularly brought forward.
The SPEAKER said, the only question was, whether
the notic2 of the Hon. Baronet should remain ?
Sir J. WROTTESLEY said it was his intention that it
should. He only begged leave to state farther, that the
answer given by the Hen. Member (Mr. Manning) was
not sufficiently satisfactory to him. Though the letter in
question might not have proceeded from the Governor and
Company of the Bank of England, yet it might have come
from some persons connected with that establishment.
Arr. PEARSE rose, and was, we believe, disclaiming
the circular, when

The SPEAKER caned the Hon. Gentleman to order.
An Hon. Member stated that he was not about to discuss
this subject ; but 'ne made an observation which called forth
an answer, ar:d another was about to be given. Now, if
this were T.ot the way to produce irregular discussion, he
really (Fit not know what was.
Tke petitions were then laid on the table.
Nit N. COLTHURST presented a petition from Mr.
W: Walker, who had superintended the Emigration of a
Lumber of persona to the Cape of Good Hope, praying for
relief.

Mr. PENDARVES presented a petition from certain
freeholders of Penrith, on the -subject of Weights and
Measures.

Mr. H. DLINDAS pmented a petition from certain ci-
tizens of Roehester) against the Ale-house Licensing Bill.
—Referred to the Committee on the Bill.
Mr. A, DAWSON presented a petition from certain
merchants, traders, and others, residents of the city of
Dublin, pointing out the great benefit which the agricul-
ture of Ireland would derive from the excavation of a canal
thr,agh the Central counties of Ulster, by which the corn
cif that province might be carried down to the sea-coast.
A survey had been made in 1811, and the apence of
forming. such a canal Was estimated at 370,0001. The
petitioners prayed that Parliament would authorize them
to raise that-sum by way of lottery—a practice which was
very common in the United States of America.

Illr. CALCRAFT said, he did not mean to oppose the
bringing up of thepetitiorr; but • he itrottkl take that op-
portunity of declaring, what feeling strongly that
the orders' ot_the House betuLitavaded by. an Hon.
Gentleman who had. certainly uncle a most disorderly
speech, he had,' iii "thee warmth of the moment, fell too
heavily on an unfortunate people, he was sorry for it.—
(Hear.) He begged leave to express in the strongest man-
ner his regret for having done so.—(Hear, hear.) No
matt-was less Inclined titan himself to hurt the feelings of
the humblest class of people in this realm, be they whom
they might.--(Hear, hear.) 'He was wrong in his ob-
servatiou,because he knew that, so far from the Irish being
the most idle people in.fhis 0044, tbeiy,perforniskrt
great part of the hardest and most laborious work in this
metropolis,—(Hear.) . .
Colonel IL DAVIES, seeing one. of. the Lords of the
Admiralty in his place, would take the present opportu-
nity to put a question to him relative to the recent ap-
pointment of masters and commanders in the line-of-battle
ships. The Hon. Member: was proceeding to make some
observations as to the' unpopularity of the measure in the
Navy, when
The SPEAKER reminded him, that the subject into
which he was evidently going to enter, could not fail to
produce a discussion with the Hon. Gentleman to whom
the question s*as put. He therefore trusted that the Gal-
lant Officer would see the necessity of confining himself,
as closely as he could, to the question which he was about
to put.

Colonel DAVIES informed the Speaker, that in conse-
quence of his observations, he would conclude what he bad
to say with a motion as to the number of appointments of
Masters and Commanders recently made in the Navy.
Mr. S. BOURNE begged to remind the Hon. Member
for Worcester, that it was usual, when such a motion as
that which he had just proposed was made, to give pre-
vious notice of it to the heads of that department of the
public service to whose province it belonged.
Colonel DAVIES replied, that he had mentioned his in-
tention privately to the Lords of the Admiralty, two or
three days ago.
_ _

Mr. CALCRAFT entreated his Hon. Friend to wave
his strict right for the present, and to let the business of
the House proceed with order and regularity.
Mr. S. BOURNE suggested to the Hon. Member for
Worcester, that it was unfair in him to bring on his motion
irregularly that evening, before the discussion of the other
motions which had been regularly appointed for it.
Colonel DAVIES was surprised at the extraordinary in-
terruption which he had met with from the Hon. Member
for Wareham, who had himself spoken six-and-thirty times
at least that evening.—( A laugh.)—He should not think
of putting his question, did he not believe that the appoint-
ment it referred to was extremely reprobated in the navy.
He wished also to know whether it was the intention of
these who had the control of the navy, to allow the officers
in it to sell their commissions, and to sell them to officers in
the army. _ He would not believe that such an intention
could exist in any quarter, unless he heard it positively
stated by his Hon. Friend, the Lord of the Admiralty. He
concluded by moving for a return of the number of masters
and commanders that have recently been appointed to line-
of-battle ships.
Mr. HUME seconded the motion.

Mr. K. DOUGLAS was sure that the gallant officer
who had made this sudden motion would see the inconve-
nience to which the practice must necessarily put him, and
every other member of the Government. It certainly was
the fact, that his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence had
appointed commanders to line-of-battle ships; and his
reason for doing so was, that he conceived that the disci-
pline of the navy would be improved by it, and that em-
ployment would be given to several old officers who had
rendered the country valuable service. As to the second
question which the gallant officer had asked, he could give
no other answer than this—that he knew nothing of any
such intention, and that if it were entertained, he had not
heard of it as yet from his Majesty's Ministers.
The motion was then, by leave, withdrawn.
Mr. G. BANKES brought in a Bill to relieve Roman
Catholics from double assessment to the land-tax.
Read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time
on Friday next.

Mr. W. SMITH presented two petitions, one from the
master manufacturers, and the other from the operative
weavers, of Norwich, complaining of distress, and praying
that the House would pass a bill, enacting some means of
settling wages in the City of Norwich, between the master
manufacturers and the operative weaver, which settlement,
as soon as it was agreed to by both parties, should be con-
sidered binding upon them in future.
Mr. HUME objected to the prayer of this petition.
The relief which was asked for could not be granted by
the Legislature. The master manuff-ctorers ought to have
been above the folly of demanding a law to regulate the
rate of wages, as they must be aware that, if such a law
were passed, various circumstances might happen which
would compel them to break through all its provisions.
Mr. PEEL said, that the operative weavers of Norwich
had requested him to superintend the presentation of
these petitions; asd he had great satisfaction in ac-
ceding to their request, in consequence of the orderly
conduct which they had hitherto exhibited. Delegates
from their body bad waited upon him, to explain the
object which their petition had in view ; and he

Would say this for them, that many of greater intelli-
gence could not have been easily selected for the task which
Was imposed upon them. On his first interview with
them, he had discouraged the. idea that the legislature
could be of any use to the M.. They proposed that in Nor-
wich, and in the district immediately adjacent to it, a
meeting of the master manufacturers should be held; and
that the wages which the majority of them idionld dtcide
upon givinr, to the weaver, should, if aeproved by the wea-
vers, be made binding dpon the minority. He told the de-
legates that. ii such a bill were to pass through Parliament,
it would be destructive to the trade of Norwich, as it would
induce the master manufacturers who did not approve of it
to transfer their capital lo s hhe place where such a law
did not exist. Ti consequence of that suggestion, he ob-
tained an admission from the delegates that such a hiw,
if it were confined to Norwich, would be as injurious as it
would be unjust ; and he then endeavoured to convince
them that such a law would be no less impolitic, if it were
applied to all the manufacturing towns of the kingdom.
From the presentation of this petition he was afraid that
he had not been so successful in his argument with them
as he had at the time anticipated. He trusted, however,
that upon 'consideration they would see the folly of the
Measure, for the success of which they evinced such anxiety
at present.—(Hear.)_

After a feet; words from Mr. H. GURNEY and Mr.
Alder Man Warrffmax, which were inaudible in the gallery,
Mr. JOHN WOOD said, that he hart received a peti-
tion of a similar import from the manufacturing classes of
the town which he had the honour to represent. He was
convinced that their prayer was such as the House could
not accede tt ; and to produce that conviction in the
minds of his constituents, he had sent them copies of the
reports made by the four committees which had already
examined into this subject. He thought that if the House
were to appoint another Committee to take into considera-
tion the prayer of these petitions, it might have the effect
of disabusing the petitioners of the delusions under which
they now laboured.
Mr. C. GRANT admitted, with his Right Honour-
able Friend, the intelligence displayed by the delegates
who had been sent up from Norwich to London to super-
intend the management of this petition. In speaking
to them upon the subject, he felt how unpleasant it was
to oppose a measure which those who were suffering
under great distress, thought well calculated to remove it.
The interview which they had had with his Right Hon.
fiiend opposite (Mr. Peel) had produced this good effect—
that when the delegates waited upon him (Mr. Grant),
they had no longer a wish to have a mere local act affect-
ing only Norwich. They called for a general measure,
affecting the whole kingdom ; and the mention of that
circumstance was a proof how little relief could be expected
to the distress of the petitioners from the remedy which
they had themselves desired. To hope for relief from the
intervention of the legislature as to the rate of wages, was
not only delusive in itself, but was also calculated, if it
could be realized, to aggravate all the inconveniences of our
present condition, when compared with that of foreign powers.
After a few words from Mr. W. HolveoN and Mr.
Motecx, the first petition was brought up.
Mr. W. SMITH, in bringing up the second petition,
said, that, if a temporary Bill for one Session would satisfy
the petitioners, he should have no objection to allow it to
pass. He did not expect that it would be of much
advantage in relieving the distress of the petitioners; but
he was anxious to have it tried, in order that their minds
might be quieted.
Dr. LUSHINGTON hoped that it would not go forth
to the public that the House of Commons had any, the
slightest intention, to approve of such a proposition. Such
a measure would, if passed, be delusive to the petitioners,
and destructive to the interests of the manufacturers at
large.—(Hear, hear.)
The petition was then ordered to be printed.
Lord NUGENT presented a petition from certain Bap-
tists at Wedland, in Buckinghamshire, praying for the re-
peal of the Test and Corporation Acts.
Dr. LUSHINGTON presented similar petitions from
parishes in Suffolk and Southampton.
Colonel DAVIES presented a petition to the same effect
from a parish in Worcestershire.
Mr. GUEST presented three similar petitions from
parishes in Devonshire and Glamorganshire.
MAGISTRATES OF LANCASHIRE.

Dr. LUSHINGTON presented a petition from the
journeymen weavers of Middleton, complaining that they
were frequently unable to obtain justice in their differences
with their masters from the Magistrates, because those
masters themselves were the Magistrates wham they had
to apply to. The Hon. and Learned Member suggested
the necessity of appointing, in every county, only such Ma-
gistrates as should be able to perform the duties of their
Office impartially.

Mr. W. SMITH said, that it would not be difficult to
flame instances in which an equal disregard of the law,
and of the rights of those wbo applied to them, had beta
shown by the Lancashire Magistrates.
Lord STANLEY defended the 'Magistrates of Lancaster.

Mr. PEEL spoke on the same side, and said that there
were very few, if any, instances in which persons carrying
on trade as manufacturers were made Magistrates. In
the course of his official experience he had received no com-
plaints of abuses of power by the Lancashire Magistrates ;
and he believed that no more respectable set of men existed
than those who adorned the commission for that county.
Mr. W. SMITH explained.
Mr. MACQUEEN postponed his motion upon the Law
of Settlement (as we understood the Hon. Gentleman)
until early next Session.
Mr. MABERLY moved for ..opies of additional corres-
pondence between Sir R. Donkin and the Colonial-office,
respecting the Cape of Good Hope.
Mr. W. HORTON was ready to give the papers asked
for, as also those to be moved for by the Hon. Member for
Aberdeen, but deprecated discussion until the matter was
fully before the Heuse.
Mr. FYSHE PALMER was of opinion, that it would
be more convenient, as the papers were granted, to put off
discussion until they were laid upon the table.
Mr. HUME said, that his motion stood rather upon dif-
ferent grounds from that of his Hon. Friend (Mr.
Maberly), because it was for a copy of the order by which
Mr. Greig had been banished from the Cape, and of the
correspondence relative to the withdrawing of the licence
from that gentleman's paper, The South African Com-
mercial Advertiser. Before the Session closed, he had to
submit a motion generally to the House relative to the regu-
lation of the press in those Colonies which possessed no in-
dependent legislature.
Mr. W. HORTON had no objection to giving the copy
of the order in question. Only it was right that he should
observe, that Mr. Greig never had been banished. The
order had been commuted.
Mr. HUME moved for an account of the amount of de-
ductions made from the wages of seamen, and paid into
Greenwich Hospital, under the Acts the 3d, 7th, and Sth
of William 111., since the year 1822 ; dividing the amount
paid by the sailors of his Majesty's ships from that received
from the crews of merchantmen. It was his intention, the
Hon. Member said, to take an early opportunity of laying
the whole circumstances connected with this tax upon sea-
men before Parliament. From the merchant sailors, he
thought it was roost unjustly taken, for they derived no
gain or advantage from Greenwich Hospital at all. The
terms of the original arrangement under which it had been
taken from the sailors of the navy had been broken, for
they had been promised a pension as a right, and that had
afterwards been changed to a pension a.. discretion. The
expence of collecting this tax, too, was most monstrous :
it amounted to no less than 21 per cent. upon the receipt
—a cost which was disgraceful to those who had so long
permitted it.
Mr. HERRIES did not mean to oppose the production
of the return ; but complained that the Hon. Member
should make attacks upon the conduct of officers who were
not in their places.
Ur. HUME said that his motion was made upon due
notice. Why were not the members alluded to in their
places ? He spoke rather too mildly, he thought, of such a
practice, as allowing a tax to cost 21 per cent. collection.
Mr. LOMBE moved, pursuant to notice, that the ap-
pendix to the Report on the administration of the Govern-
ment of the Cape of Good Hope should be printed. The
Hon. Member spoke in so low a tone of voice that we did
not distinctly catch his accompanying observations.
Mr. W. HORTON consented to the production of the
papers, but deprecated any attacks upon the characters of
the Commissioners.

On the motion of Mr. PEEL, the Larcenies Laws'
Consolidation Bill was recommitted, and ordered to be
read a third time on Friday next.
On the motion of Mr. PEEL, the Malicious Injuries
Bill was recommitted, and ordered to be read a third time
on Friday next.

On the motiou of Mr. PEEL, the Remedies against the
Hundreds Bill was recommitted, and the Report was or-
dered to be taken into consideration on Friday next.
On the motion of Mr. PEEL, the Criminal Justice Bill
was recommitted, and was ordered to be read a third time
on Friday next.
Mr. PEEL gave notice that, on Wednesday next, he
would move for leave to bring in a Bill to alter the law
respecting thelollection of money on briefs in churches.
The Destration of Houses (Ireland) Bill was read a

second time, and ordered to be committed ot► after
a few observations from Sir J. Nawvdar and Mr. MOORE.

On the Order of the Day for the second reading of the
Dissenters' Marriages Bill, ,
Mr. ESTCOURT said he intended to oppoie the Bill.
•...

Mr. W. SMITH supported the Bill.
After some discussion, in which Mr. Hume, Mr. H.
Gurney, Mr. Grant, Mr. Warburton, and Mr. Peel took
part, the Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be
committed en Friday next.
Colonel WOOD moved that the Sale of Game Bill be
read
.a second. tilne. Ile did not wish to enter into any
ddtails upon that occasion, but to reserve the discussion of
the principle of the Bill until the third reading, when those
Hon. Members who objected to the Bill, and who were
then absent, should be able to take a part in the discussion.

After a few words from Mr. PEEL, Sir C. BoaaaLL,
Mr. FYSHE PALMER, and Lord Mivrorr, the question was
put by the SPEdEER, when some dissentient voices being
heard, strangers were ordered to withdraw.
On our return to the gallery, we found the numbers to be
—for the second reading 56 ; against it 2 : majority in fa-
vour of the second reading 54.
On the motiun of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, the Penryn elec-
tion bill was read a second time, and ordered to be read a
third time tomorrow (this day) se'nnight.
On the motion of Mr. HERRIES, the House resolved
itself into a Committee upon the Excise Duties Acts.
Mr. HERRIES moved the following resolution: —"That
the Chairman of the Committee be directed to move for
leave to bring in a bill or bills to consolidate and amend all
the laws relating to the collecting and managing the reve-
nues of the Excise of the united kingdom.
The House then resumed, and the CHAIRMAN, having
reported the resolution, obtained leave to bring in the bills.
Mr. HEATHCOTE presented a Petition from the
Mayor and Corporation of Coventry, against the Coventry
election bill, and praying to be heard by_counsel against
the same.

Several of the orders of the day were then postponed,
and the House adjourned at half past eleven o'clock.

STATEMENT RELATIVE TO THE SAL-
MON FISHERIES IN THE RIVER TAY.

All rights of salmon fishery in Scotland, as well as all
rights to land, are derived originally from the Crown,
forming feudal estates in the grantees.
In order to protect the fisheries, and prevent one set of
grantees from obtaining a monopoly at the expense of the
rest, the mode of fishing was, from a very remote period,
regulated by Statutes of the Scotch Parliament, the general
object of which was to prohibit fixed apparatus or ma-
chinery placed in rivers or estuaries, so as to intercept the
salmon in their upward passage to the streams where they
breed ; and under the grants thus regulated, fisheries were
the subject of purchase and sale, at prices corresponding to
what they yielded.
About twenty-five years ago, a new mode of fishing, by
means of what are called stake-nets, was introdv-=,l into
the estuary of the Tay. These were inclosures formed by
nets stretched upon fixed stakes, extending over the bank,
or sands covered by the tide at high water, and left dry at
the ebb.

The introduction of those nets, even upon a limited scale,
was followed by a great diminution of the produce of the
established fisheries. It became obvious that if all the
banks of that extensive estuary were to be occupied in a si-
milar manner, the passage of the salmon upwards would be
almost completely obstructed.
To check this evil, a suit was instituted in the Court of
Session ; and, after a most patient inquiry, the Court de-
cided that stake-nets were illegal, awl that judgment was
affirmed in the House of Lords ; and thus the right of the
proprietors of fisheries in the river to insist upon the re-
moval of all stake-nets in the estuary has been recognised by
the highest judicature in the country.
But a Bill has been introduced into Parliament, by one
clause of which it is proposed to legalise stake-nets in all
estuaries, thereby at once to render the decree of the Comte
of Law of no effect ; and to deprive a number of indivi-
duals of their vested sights. It is pretended that the intro-
duction of stake-nets in the estuary will occasion no injury
whatever to the fishing in the river ; but, on the contrary,
the produce of all the fitheries will be thereby increased ;
and that salmon of superior quality will be brought to
market; and thus it is said to be for the interest of the
public to make them legal.
To suppose that the numbers of salmon in any river will
be permanently increased by the introduction of new and
more effectual means of catching them, is absurd, and it is
equally repugnant to reason and to experience to suppose
that the same number of salmon will be caught in the
higher parts of a river, if the proprietors of lands bounded
by the estuary, having right to fish in a regular manner,
are allowed additional facilities for intercepting them in
their progress upWards.
Upon 'this subject, a plain statement of the fluctuation in
the rental of 010-C4y-fisheries, during those years in which
the experfunent wigs tried?-by the introduction of the stake-
nets, till ultimately- removed, must carry conviction.
In the years 1806 and 1807, the fisheries in the river
Tay, belonging to Lord Gray, were rented at 3,2001. per
annum ; but, from the effects of the stake-nets, the rents of
those fisheries was, in 1809 and 1810, reduced to 2,1001.,
and the stake-nets gradually increasing in number, the rent
in 1811 and 1812 fell to 1,205/.

In 1814, the judgment of the House of Lords being pro-
nounced, ordaining the stake-nets to be removed from the
estuary, the rent of Lord Gray's fisheries then rose to
3,500/., and afterwards the rent rose to 4,0001., at which
his fisheries are now let upon a lease ; and all the fisheries
in the river (with the exception of one or two, which are
productive at a period of the year before the stake-nets can
be used), experienced a similar fluctuation.
In 1812, when the effects of the stake-nets were fully
known, the rental of all the fisheries in the river amounted
to no more than 5,161/. ; but, when the stake-nets were
removed, the rental of those fisheries was 14,5921.

While there was this ruinous defalcation in the rental of
the river fisheries, there was a corresponding increase in that
part of the fisheries in the estuary by means of stake-nets.
Fisheries which had recently before produced a rent of 5/.
or 10/., and some which had produced no rent at all,
yielded many hundred pounds a-year.
It seems, then, to be quite certain that the introduction
of stake-nets will have no other effect than to transfer the
property of the fisheries from one set of individuals to an-
other set. The public have no interest in the matter. The
quantity of salmon brought to market will continue the
same, and the quality will not be superior.
Almost the whole of the salmon caught in the Tay is
sent to the London market. Hence, an accurate statement
of the quantity put on board of the trading vessels, affords
a fair criterion for judging of the produce of the fisheries.
From that it will be found that, during the three years
when stake-nets were in full operation, the total number of
bones of sa'.•non shipped from the Tay was not more than
5,688, of which quantity only 1,688 boxes were the pro-
duce of the river fisheries; the remainder were caught in
the stake-nets.

After the stake-nets were removed, the average quantity
of salmon shipped for London was, for three years, not less
than 6,000 boxes annually, of which 5,000 were supplied
from the river fisheries alone ; and thus the total quantity of
salmon caught in the river and estuary has increased rather
than diminished sinee the removal of the stake-nets.

The comparative quality of the salmon caught in the
rivers and in the estuary can be determined by no test so
fair as the price received for both in the London market.
From a statement of the average prices of salmon, during
six years, it appears that the difference in price upon a box
containing one hundred pounds of salmon, was only six-
pence in favour of the salmon caught in the estuary. The
box of salmon from the estuary producing Si. 175., while
the box of river salmon produced Si. Ws. 6d.
The argument used by the promoters of the Bill founded
upon the supposed interest of the public, is, therefore,
merely a pretext for asking the Legislature to repeal the
ancient laws, and reverse the sentence of the Courts pro-
nounced in a suit between two classes of individuals.

MANCHESTER, MAY 29.—The demand for
goods has decreased, but in so small a degree as
not to affect the prices. Strong goods particu-
larly are said to be less in demand. In prints
there is still much doing, both to the United
States and the Continent. Indeed, if what is
reported be correct, it is probable that America
may have to draw her supply of prints from
England for a considerable time ; it being under-
stood that several individuals,in attempting to
establish print-works in the States, have failed.
Grey cloths, particularlarly those from the power-
loom, are, in consequence of the demand for
prints, still much sought after, and some houses
find a difficulty in supplying the demand. The
buyers for the home trade arc neither so busy nor
so numerous as they were last week, and several
preceding ones ; but, as things generally decline
a little about Whitsuntide, the present slackness
is scarcely unexpected. In yarns there is no
material alteration. Those for exportation con-
tinue dull of sale, as they have been for several
weeks past.