The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-08 00:00:00

College of Surgeons of England, ari3 for the enfran-
chisement of the members in that instftut.jon.
BUSINESS OF THE SESSIOIN:,

Sir ROBERT PEEL then rose, and said,—Sir, I
think, perhaps, it will be the most convenient course to
the House generally, if, on moving the order of the day,
I fulfil the promise made on a former occasion , and
inform the House what course the Governiment
means to pursue with regard to those legislative
measures of great importance, which, considering the
advanced period of the session, and the great mass of
business yet before the House, must be proceeded with.
But before I allude to the Bills already under the consi-
deration of the House, I shall just answer a question
put to me a few days ago, in respect to
those measures which are connected with railway
legislation. On the part of the Government, I may say
that they have availed themselves of the experience of
the Committees on Railway Bills with respect to that
&pertinent of the Government by which those Bills are
first considered, namely, the Board of Trade, and in
the early part of next session we shall ask the
House to adopt such proceedings as may be neces-
sary for the furtherance of the business of the
country. In the course of this session, it shall either be
r duty, or that of my Noble Friend the President Of the
14aeel of Trade, to lay on the table of the Howse a
mint:te ef the Board of Trade, suggesting an alteratiot:
in the net„:eis of that Board, the general purport of
which will be to,2_,ange in some degree its constitutional
duties. That Board t!st:: stillrequire that all Bills connected
with the subject of raibse.vs be laid before them, and
they will require the report 1;0 r.q.rhant en t whether any
peculiar public injuries will nem:wily be inflicted. by
the passing of such Bills, but the ..9t)ara of Trade will be
relieved from the duty of deciding off thb:n. —(Cheers.)
They can offer no opinion or suggestion on .the respec-
tive merits of any line which can in the slighl4s.t degree
alter the decision of the House. As lam sper.),..'ng
the subject of railways, I will but just I.efer
to an address presented to the Crown, arid A
may be convenient to state at once, that in cortsee
quence of that address, three gentlemen have been ap-
pointed for the purpose of considering and assisting the'
judgment of the Beard of Trade, care being, however,
taken, that in all public projects they shall come to no
final decision. Those gentlemen are Sir Frederick Smith,
Professor Barlow, and Professor Airy, and their con-
duct and scientific abilities are such, that I think the
House can find no fault with their appointment. The
business 3 et before the House, and the Bills still likely 10
be brought in from the other House, is yet so great, that
it may be a great advantage if a positive announcemenst
is made by Government of those measures which they'
intend to adopt. With respect to those I will instance
the more procunent measures, and confine myself, there-
fore, to the greater and more important of them. In the
first place, with respect to the Irish Colleges Bill, this
is one of those which we intend to proceed with.
This is a Bill of great importanae, from the nature of the
subject. We intend to give precedence to the Irish Col-
leges Bill, and we shall attempt to get through this Bill
before we take any steps with regard to
other measures. There is no sl'ecessity for
any further delay in regard to this measure,
and we believe it is better to proceed consecutis,ely with
one Bill to its conclusion, than to delay its progress' for
the sake of attempting to forward other measures. Tha...'
Bill stands for consideration after the question of privi-
lege to-night. I believe that the Hon. Member for
Ripon has a notice of motion for an amendment to be‘
proposed on the bringing up the report on the Irish Col-
leges Bill. If it would be inconvenient for him to post-
pone his motion, or if he would particularly wish to pro-
pose his amendment on the bringing up of the report,
due opportunity will be afforded him for so doing ;
but if it would be equally convenient to him, I
would suggest that he should postpone his motion
until the third reading. If he wishes to propose his
amendment on the bringing up of the report, then he
would propose that the report should be brought up on
Thursday, and that the third reading should be fixed for
the following Mor lay. If he consents to postpone
his motion until the third reading, then I would
propose that the report should be received to-morrow'
or Wednesday, and that the third reading should be
fixed for Thursday. There is another Bill which it is
important should pass, the general principle of which
has been admitted by the House, which has undergone
considerable discussion, and which has received
the sanction of most of the Members connected
with Scotland, which I do not anticipate much
difficulty in passing—l mean the Poor-law Amend-
ment (Scotland) Bill. There is another Bill which I
have reluctantly hitherto postponed for the purpose of
forwarding the Maynooth Bill and the Irish Colleges
Bill, and which I intend to proceed with as speedily as
possible—l mean the Bill for relieving the Jews from
their civil disabilitica.—(Great cheering.) I will
fix some day in the following week for the further pro-
ceeding with that Bill. There are many other most im-
portant Bills for consideration, but I hope the House
will not consider that it is the fault of her Majesty's
Government that more progress has not been made in
these measures. They must have been aware of what
the occupations of the House have been. Ido not
say this by way of complaint, but the House must be
aware that we have omitted ne opportunity of forward-.
g these important measures. There are many Bills.
also which mus be continued. There is, for instance,
the Bills of Exchange Bill, a measure for continuing
the law, making a modification in the usury laws.
It is of the utmost importance that this Bill should bo
continued. There are also several Bills of which my
Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State fo7 the Home
Department has charge Bills respectii sg which
there is not likely to arise any discussion,
which are merely for the renewal or laws
which will expire at the end of the year.
One of these Bills is to continue the laws relating to the
rating of stock ; another is the Turnpike Trusts
Bill. There is also another Bill which it is
necessary should be passed for continuing the laws
regulating the removal of the Irish and Scotch
poor. This measure will be the more necessary.
if my Right Honourable Friend would, as he pro-
poses to do, relinquish for this session his,
Bill for regulating the law of parochial settlement.
In addition to those, there are several other Bills in
respect to which it will make no material difference to
the public to postpone the consideration of them; for
instance, there is the Valuation of Lands Bill, the
Criminal Lunatics Bill, of which latter a good deal
has already been heard in this House; then there
are, besides, the Public Works Bill, which in
some measure applies to Ireland ; the Drainage Bill,
which also in some degree affects parts of Ireland; and,
lastly, there is the Joint-Stock Company's Bill which
also applies to Ireland ; and the Fisheries Bill, I believe,
all of which, it is agreed, shall be forwarded.—(Hear.) I
have, in addition to these, to mention that there
is a matter of business of importance to be dis-
charged, that is, there are no fewer than eighty
exceptions on votes of supply.—(Hear, hear.) Now,.
on no account can these votes of supply be passed over
or postponed ; and, therefore, I do hope that Hon. Mem-
bers who have given notice of these votes, will, in consi-
deration of the advanced period of the session at which
we have now arrived, and the state of public business,
waive their objections, when they recollect that
some time must necessarily elapse before the House can
enter upon the final consideration of the Irish Colleges
Bill, which I did hope the House would have been able
to dispose of this day week.—(Hear, hear.) In making
this statement, her Majesty's Government have also
thought it expedient to make this further arrangement—
namely, that my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of
State for the home Department wishes to have time
for the reconsideration of the Medicine and
Physic Bill, and to have it reprinted.—(Cheers and
laughter from the Opposition.) My Right Honourable
Friend did flatter himself at one time that this Bill had
been so far advanced as to have received the assent of
the House to it this session, and if he could have done
so it would have been very desirable indeed to have re-
lieved the House from all further discussion upon the
matter next session; but the Bill having met with such
very decided opposition, my Right Honourable
Friend has consented to postpone it rather
than further consume the time of the House
upon the question.—(Hear, bear.) The other mea-
sures which we shall find it necessary to postpone are,
the Justices Clerks Bill, the Clerks of Petty Sessions
Bill, and the Parochial Settlement Bill.—(Hear, hear.)
There was: another Bill brought in by the Board of
Trade and the Admiralty—the Merchaats and Seamen's
Bill ; it was in general favour, and they hoped to be able
He to carry it into a law this session. was now only
speaking of the Bills for which her Majesty's Govern-
ment were responsible. He would not refer to Bills
which were under the charge of other Hon. Members.
An Hort. MEMBER—The Coal Trade Bill.
Sir R. PEEL said that they should desire to go into
that Bill.
An Host. MEMBER—The Charitable Trusts Bill.
Sir R. PEEL—That certainly should be proms t Ulf
next session. They did not wish to postpone it from
any doubt entertained on the part of her Majesty's
Government of the great importance of the Bill, but
because it would be likely to lead to a very long discus-
sion. He was not aware that there was any other mea-
sures of any great importance. .
An Hole. MEMBER—The Ecclesiastic:al uourts
ill.
Sir ROBERT PEEL—That is a Bill of which the
Noble Lord opposite (Lord Jolla Russell) had charge.
As he supported a Bill of similar provisions on a former
occasion, he would be inclined to vote for its secend read-
ing now. H
ost found it
If ctehses arisTy,obnleev eLr tohredleessai,
should be p.poned.letdhuponat it
him to enter into an engagement that her Majesty's Go-
vernment would give the measure its support next
session, he would decline to commit the Government
to any support of the Bill at any time.
Mr. H. BERKELEY—What is to be done with the
Small Debts Bill ?

Sir ROBERT PEEL—With regard to that Bill, we
do propose to proceed with it. I regard that Bill of so
much importance to the working and middle classes, that
I think it highly desirable we should pass it in the pre-
sent session—(Hear, hear)—and I have no doubt
we shall be able to do so—(Hear, hear)—by assigning
to it the naprning sittings.—(Hear.) With regard to
the consolidation of the Customs Acts, the House is
aware that we have lately made important changes in
the customs and revenue laws ; but there has
been no consolidation of these Acts since thir-
teen years ago. But we are now prepared to
propose that consolidation, and it will be a great advan-
tage to the commercial body to have all the important
provisions severally set forth in one Act. If, however, it
should be proposed to make any important change in the
customs and revenue laws, I think it would be impossible
to get through the Act which I propose before the end of
the session—(Hear)—but if we be allowed to conso-
lidate the existing Acts into one Bill, without substan-
tially interfering with the enactments as they at present
stand, we shall be able to give ample notice of any
than find necessary, and yet get through
g e w© may
the OW is laticient time.