The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-06-08 00:00:00

Emprriat Varlianunt.

HOUSE OF LORDS.--MoNuA.v.
The Marquis of LANSDOi'NE, in reply to 1..,rd 'Broug-
ham, said that no convention had been entered into re-
specting the affairs of Portugal, though a .or6tocol had
been signed by Great Britain, France, and Spain, the
object of which. was the pacification Of that country.
A discussion then arose on a question of appointing the
select committee on the Birmingham and atford.Railway
bill, which ended in a division, when the numbers were—
for the committee, 29; against it, 22; majority, 7.

ROUSE OF COMMONS.—MoNDAy.
The House proceeded to consider the lord's' amend-
ments on the Poor Relief (Ireland) Bill, the .most im-
portant of -which were adopted, after some discussion.
The House afterwards resolved itself into a committee,
..and the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved a resolution
granting an advance of £600,000 in aid of the rates to be
made for the maintenance of the poor in Ireland until
next harvest. .
After some discussion, this resolution was passed with-
out a division.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TunsnAy.
The Earl of LINCOLN moved an address to 'ler Majesty.,
praying her to take into her most gracious consideration
the means by which colonization might be made subsidi-
ary to other measures for the improvement of the social
condition of Ireland. His lordship, in a very long and
able speech, explained that his object was to obtain a
commission to inquire—first, whether colonization could
be applied so. as to relieve those who remained in Ireland ;
secondly, whether it could be applied so as to relieve those
who left Ireland -: anti lastly, whether it could be so con-
ducted as not to interfere with the interests of our colo-
nies.
Mr. Hnwns, as under-secretary of the colonies, in
replying to the motion, admitted most of the principles
contained in his lordship's speech; but diWered from him
as to the expediency of appointing a commission to in-
quire into such a subject. He refused to move any
amendment on:the motion of Lord' Lincoln, and suggested
to the noble lord the propriety of withdrawing it.
A long discussion then took place, in which Mr. Gre-
gcry, Mr. V. Smith, Sir R. Peel, Lord John Rusfeil, Mr.
-Hope, Mr. Hume, Mr. M. O'Connell, Mr. F. Scott, Sir
W. James, Lord .J. Manners, and Mr. Aglionby took
part.
In conclurion the :Aare-5A was agreed to; but
Lord J. RUSSELL intimated that lie should advise Her
Majesty not to issue a commission of inquiry, but to
conduct the inquiry through the agency of the executive
-Government. He expresl;ed his readiness to advise the
governors of our North American colonies to consult
their executive councils and their local assemblies -as to
the plans of emigration to which they would lend their
aid ; and he added that he would lay the result of those
•consultations on the table, along with the opinions of the
administration upon them, early in the next session of '
Parliaiturnt.
Mr. BOUVERIE was bringing before the house the con-
duct of a clergyman of the Established Church, whom
he accused of having refuFed to bury a pauper, when
Mr. HENLEY moved that the house be counted, and
40 members not being present, it stood adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—THURSDAY.
A select committee was nominated and appointed, to
whom was referred the Clergy Offences Bill.
The Lunatic Asylums Bill went through committee,
after which the HeritableJuris,diction (Scotland) Bills, in-
troduced by Lord Campbell, was read a second time.
The Poor-law Supervision (Ireland) Bill was then, after
some discussion, read a second time, to be committed pro
forma on Monday nest.
The Commons' amendments to the Poor-law (Ireland)
Bill were then agreed to, as were those to the Landed Pro-
perty (Ireland) Bill.
A select committee was then appointed, on the motion
of the Marquess of LANSDOWNE, to consider the expedi-
ency of adopting measures for suspending further proceed-
ings on any or all of the railway bills during the present
session, enabling the parties thereto to proceed with them,
under certain conditions, next session of parliament.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—ThuasnAY.
Sir G. GREY moved that the house resolve itself into
committee on the Prisons Bill, and as that bill formed a
part of the general plan of her Majesty's government with
regard to secondary punishments, he thought it advisable
then to state to the house what the scope and object of
that plan were. The object of the Prisons Bill was to
constitute a new board of management for our three great
national prisons, of Milibank, Pentonville, and Parkhurst;
the new board to be similar in its main features to the plan
by which the Pentonville prison was now superintended.
The head commissioner was to be in constant communi-
cation with the Secretary of State, and the duties of the
new commission were to embrace, inter (Ilia, those here-
tofore performed by the Superintendent of Convicts, an
office which it was designed to supersede. The sentence
in the case of criminals is to be divided, the early
portion of it being designed to be of a reformatory
character. With this view it is proposed that the princi-
ple
of punishment carried out in the Pentonville prison
should be made applicable to all convicts who, from
age or other circumstances, may be capable of having
it applied to them. The majority of convicts, after the
expiration of a limited period of solitary confinement,
are to be employed in this country, or in Bermuda and
Gibraltar, on public works. The greeter portion of them
will then be removed to the Australian colonies, where
they will be free men, entitled to the fruits of their la-
bour,
and no longer subjected to the demoralising pro-
cesses which convicts have hitherto undergone in the
penal settlements. In other words, the strictly penal
part of the sentence is to be passed in this country, or in
Gibraltar or Bermuda ; the actual deportation of the con-
victs not to take place so long as they are subject to penal
restraint, whilst, on their arrival in the colonies, they are
to be treated with a view to their dispersion, instead of
their aggregation as heretofore, with all its moralising '
influences. The three great English prisons, with the
county gaols, many of which have recently been enlarged,
together with the Perth Penitentiary in Scotland, and a I
general prison for penal purposes to he erected in Ireland,
are relied upon as affording sufficient accommodation for
all the convicts who may be sentenced to punishment.
The Pentonville system had been found efficient in the
highest degree as a reformatory punishment, but it was
necessary to apply it with every precaution. The Go-
vernment regarded eighteen months as the utmost
term for which it should be inflicted, and six months
as the shortest. *The average period would be twelve
months, subject to curtailment in particular instances, as
the health or mental capacity of the prisoner might seem
to require. He was prepared to accede to a recommenda-
tion which had been made to him by an honourable mem-
ber by adding a clause which would provide that any ex-
pense which should be incurred by the custody of this
class of offenders in county gaols should not fall upon the
county, but should be defrayed by the same source as the
cost of convicts generally was now defrayed from. Such
prisoners as were convicted of offences of a not very hein-
ous character would, as the consequence of good behaviour
during the first stage of their imprisonment, be entitled
to a speedy removal to a distant colony with a conditional
pardon. The scheme which he proposed might be open
to objections, but whatever might be, in the estimation of
some honourable members, its unknown and speculative
evils, they could not possibly equal in number and mag-
nitude those of the system of punishment which it was
intended to abolish; a system which, whilst it had not
had the desired effect in efficiently deterring from crime,
had been prolific in the penal settlements of the utmost
demoralization.
A debate of considerable length followed, in which Vis-
count Mahon, Sir W. Molesworth, Mr. Bankes, and others
took part. The debate was then adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY

In reply to a question from Lord Brougham,
The Marquis of LANDSDOWN expressed his regret that
he was unable, up to that moment, to lay upon the table
of the house the papers which the noble and learned lord
had moved for, relative to the intervention of England,
France, and Spain, in the affairs of Portugal.
Lord BROUGHAM said he was by no means surprised at
the delay.
Lord STANLEY regarded the whole proceedings in this
case as of the greatest importance, not only as they re-
garded Portugal and England, but as they affected the
whole of Europe.
The report on the Naval Prisons Bill was brought up
and agreed to.
Lord MONTEAGLE then moved for the appointment of
a select committee to consider the propriety of adopting
some plan of emigration, with a view to relieve Ireland of
a portion of its redundant population.
Earl GREY could not acquiesce in the appointment of
the committee in the belief that it would realise the noble
lord's own expectations. The difficulty of transferring a
large amount of the population of Ireland to our colonies
was greater than might be supposed, for they would have
to study the disposition of the emigrants, with whom they
-would soon find they could not do as they liked; while,
on the other hand, the adoption of the motion might of
itself act as a check upon the present stream of emigration.
He was not unwilling to give facilities to a well-conducted
system of emigration, and would not therefore oppose the
motion ; but he would not hold out the hope of carrying.
out any plan upon so gigantic a scale as would relieve the
existing pressure in Ireland.
Earl FITZWILLIAM urged the necessity of adopting a
plan of emigration, believing that the potato crop would
again prove a failure this year, and it would require to
grow two acres and a half of wheat to supply the deficiency
occasioned by the failure of one acre of potatoes, in order
-to support the existing population. .
After some observations from Lord MONTEAGLE in
reply, the motion was agreed to, and the committee was
appointed.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—FRIDAY
On the motion of Mr. T. E, Mr. Wortley and
Mr. Cardwell were added to the committee on the Thames
-Conservancy Bill.
Mr. LABOUCHERE, in answer to Mr. S. OtBRN
re-
plied that he had reason to believe, though not inip'
os
s .sion of positive information, that the Irish judges hades
re-
commended a postponement of the assizes in Ireland.
A conversation ensued on the affairs of Portugal, Mr.
HUME'S motion in reference to British interference, at its
close, being definitely fixed for Thursday next..
Subsequently Mr. B. OSDORNE gave notice of his in-
tention, if the motion was not brought on on Monday
next, as originally intended, to move a resolution that it
is hostile to the liberties of Europe, and contrary to the
uniform policy of the British Government, to enter into
any convention or treaty with any foreign power having
_ for its object the maintenance of any particular dynasty
in Portugal, or the suppression of popular opinion by
force of arms.
_ Lord PA LMEIISTON said the papers would prove that
She object of the British Government was, not to estab-