Star.
London, England, 1803-04-06 00:00:00

ELECTION PETITIONS.

The CH ewer tt.oe of the EXCMEctyzit, put fuant
to the notice he had given on a former day, role
to move for the adoption of certain amngements
with refpeB to the difpofal of the Petitions com.
*Wog of undue Eledions hill pending. The
Houle had already sited with a degree of expedi-
tion, in the difpofal of the Petitions prefentcd to
them, unparalleled in any former year (fleeted-
kg a General Elation : as on looking to the Jour.
ails on the &Nat, it appeared, that the greaten
nutnber the Houk had ever difpofed of, in the
courfe of any former Sellion, was but twenty-four,
whereas, in this, twenty-two had already been
decided upon. He fincerely trulted the Houle
would not on this account flacken its activity, but
perf in the fame laudable exertion. A time
was approaching when, on account' ofthe neceffary
*Wines of many Members to attend their county
affixes, and during which it was not ufual for the
-Hoare to proceed to Winds of any great impor-
ince, nor to order even a Call of the Houfe :
-during that period, of courfe, it was not to be ex-
.peeled that ballots could be proceeded upon with
tuccefs. However, he trolled that doting the lilt
week of April. and the enfuing month of May,
there would be a fufficient number of Members in
attendance to proceed to ballot two Committees
every week ; by which means ten or more petitions
would be chi-poled of before the riling of Parlia-
ment. The remainder might. for form fake, be
appointed for days in the month of Aug.-3 ; hot
be really difpofed of early in the fucceeding Sefiion.
He concluded by moving, that the Petitions for
the following places be taken into confideration as
fpecified,viz.—
Taunton and Button, - Tharfday, April at.
Stirling and Kirredliright Connate, Thurfday, May 5.
artworks and Bilhup s Cattle Thurfday, May
Fvetham and Salt itctfard, - Thurfd q, May 19.
Newcaltic-undcz-Line and Radnor Ceanty, TM:Nay, May :6.
Ordered accordingly. and that the Houfe be
called over on Thurfday the 28th inftant.

I'ht following Petitions, intended to lie over till
neat S:lion, were ordered, prof/ram, to be taken
into confederation on the following days :
Xingann upon Hsu, Augel t I Windfor - Aa3uft zo
Le, mintier • - a Wertminfter - 11

Sudbury
ja uuldlrfrel . 4 I MilW heyad
Al•lburougl f Herdord •
Hordtnn . 6 Durham
Fltatedburr - 8 Lanckla -
Carnckfcrgus - 9
coduTY C0rm:4866: BILL.

• 3.6

The Order of the Day being read for the fe
eond reading of the County Coroners' further al-
lowance bill,

Mr. Dicxvis prefaced, by a few words, In low
as to he inaudible in the gallery, his motion that
the hill be now read a retold time.

Mr. Nocuous,' exist cried ibme futpiize, thit
bill which the linufa had Lill ycir moll decidedly
rejetted with marks of evid:nt indignation, after
repeated dilcuffions, flinuld now again be brought
forward wi:hout any new ground whatever heing
hated to the Houle. This Bill was founded upon
a petition, purporing to he that of ail the Coro-
:Ars in England and %Vales, yet nevertheicf. lign-
ed only by fitt•en names. There were, Imsvcver,
fifty two counties in Eng: Ind auJ Wales ; and it
was, lie thosaght, pretty extraordinary, that is this
petition scab 1411./t it proldr..l to be, that only is,
s.ut of at 5: (but the whole slurat.‘: was

much greater ), fhould have figned it. This Bin!
had four objeCts, namely, an allowance to the Co.
roner for attending his County Aflizes ; an al-
lowance for attending the Qt_rarter Seffion ; an in-
creafe of fees on taking his inquefts, and a confi-
derable increafe of allowance per mile, for his
travelling charges on Isis duty. But fo unreafon-
able were the whole of thofe charges conlidered ro
be by the friends of this bill, when laft before the
Houfe, that three of them were abaedoned ; and
the only one then attempted to be maintained, was
the extra allowance for travelling charges, though
now the whole were again revised. He coald,
however, fee no jull ground whatever for comply-
ing with any one of thole claims of Coroners,
whofe emoluments were already fo confiderable
that tlw. fituation was univerfally courted ;—and
whenever a vacancy occurred, the choice of the
neeholders was canvaffed with as much zeal and
avidity as if it were an EleCtion for Member of
Parliament. Sure he was, that if thofe very is
Coroners who complained of the utter inadequacy
of their prefent emoluments would refign their fr.
mations to-morrow, every newfpaper in their re-
, fire Rive counties would be crowded with advertife-
, ments from other candidates, foliciting the choice
of the Freeholders, and pledging themfelves to the
molt faithful and indefatigable difcharge of their
duty if fuccefsful. He therefore, for one, could
not fee the neceffity of agitating the public mind,
or creating difcontent, by laying new burthens on
! the people for the emolument of thole men, and
he fhould vote againit the Bill.
Mr. Straw Lsrevee fully coincided in the fen-
timents of Mr. Hobhoufe, and obferved, that the
Coroners, fo far from really feeling their emolu-
ments inadequate, many of them, direly contrary
to law, and to their official oaths, as Led by Depu-
ties, whom they could well afford to pay for doing
their hufinefs. Befides, when they travelled any
dillance on duty, they were always amply reward-
ed for their trouble and ezpence ; and fuch was
their avidity after the emoluments of office, that
he recollected an inflance, where a fhip was wreck-
ed on a part of the coalt near where lie lived, and
feveral of the bodies of the drowned mariners
having floated on Ihore, whole flocks of Coroners
came from various diftritls, like birds of prey, to
pounce upon thole dead bodies, to hold inquefts
as to the obvious caufes of their deaths, and charge
the dirliiCt with their fees. Befides, there was
another caufe which would render the extra al.
lowance for travelling charges much greater than
at firfl is would feem. The Coroners, inand of
being dirperfed generally lived in all the principal
county towns ; fit that in cafe of an accidental
death, or extraordinary death in any remote part
of the county, not only the inconvenience and ex-
pence of fending for the Coroner to a great dif-
tance, were in themfelves great and vexatious,
but very often the health of a vicinage was endan-
gered by the putrefadip of a dead body, before
the arrival of a Coroner, or clfe the ends isf jirfiice
defeated to avoid the expence of his attendance.—
So far was the complaint of inadequate emolu-
ment from being founded, that he knew an in•
fiance of a man offering one hundred pounds to a
Coroner, if he would only give him the firft notice
of the time of his refignatior, that he might have'
the flatt upon a canvars, and two hundred pounds
more if he firecceded. He for there reafons voted',
againft the bill, and thought the Houfe ought to
get rid of it in the molt adive manner. 1
Mr. BORLAND faid, there was certainly nothing
um eafonable in that claufe of the Bill, which went
to increafe the insetting allowance of the Coro-
ners, which food at its prefent rate of 9d. per
mile for above fifty years, and certainly the in.
creafe of price in every neceffary of life fince had
been fuch, as to render any allowance regulated
then, extremely inadequate now. He did not
know how far the lion. Member who brought in
the Bill meant to go on this ground. He under-
flood to double the relent allowance ; that, how.
ever, would certainly be going too far, and very
objeCtionahle. Fourteen.pence a mile, however,
would riot be unrealonable. He felt a frong pre-
judice in his mind in favour of ancient eflablifh-
ments, and certainly the office of Coroner was
formerly one of great importance, and next in
confid:wion to that of the Chief Magifirate of,
the county : and even fill it was one of high im.
portance to the public jufice ; for infante, in
&telling murders, and finding out the crimioals;
and in civil lints, when the Sheriff is party, the
office of appointing a Jury, and exeetning the en-
quiry, devolved on the Coroner. He was, there-
fore, for preferring the refprelability of the office,
and alloying to the perfon holding it every lea.
(curable remuneration.

Mr. SHeRIDAN fupported the Bill, which he
cot:littered a lair and jolt appeal to the feelings of
the Houfe ; and if the claim was a reafimable one,
he would fupport it, independently of all other
conliderations. An Hon. Member had laid, the
Honk ought to het rid of the Bill in the milt
aflive manner pothole. For any thing he had }et
heard from Gentlemen who nppofed it, it was
caller to get rid of i by adivity than by argument.
That Hon. Member had mentioned an inftance,
when he talked of whole flocks of Coroners relort-
ing to the fea-coafls to pounce on drowned bodies.
He teally imagined at firll the lion. Member had
talked of fii,cks of earmoract: ; but he could not
conceive how fo many Coroners could make it
th:ir bufinefs to retort to one place, feeing there
vas only one to each particular diflriel. Conii•
cluing, however, the very great importance of
the office I Coroner, as had been remarked by
another Hon. Member, and that the ends of.
public juftiaki fo materially depended in many
cabs upon his integrity, it would be wile, in his
.'pinion, that his em-iluments lhould be fuck as to
induce rerutable men to fill the office, and place
them above the temptation of taking underhand
fees.
Sir ROBERT XVILLIAMS gated an inftance, where
the conty:t enr an eleetion to the office of Coroner,
con one of the !wiles 40001.
The onefli. n be:rg lcutfly called for, was put,
ts:leti the Houle divided—Ayes, for the fecund
reading, —Noce, 49—Majority, 12.
The Big was read a feeoad tire, and ordered
to be c'n'....aitied lye to-morrow.—Adjourned.

LONDON.