The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-06-23 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS.-TUESDAY

The hour went into committee on the C.rn Bill, when
the Earl of WICKLOW moved ,in amendment, that a fixed
duty of :is. should b imposed on foreign wheat, as well
fur the eurpos-s of revenue as for protection.
Lord BROUGHAM contended that a fixed duty would be
a positive tax, raising the price of corn by the whole
amount of the tax. In reference to the motives of those
noble peers who supported the bill in the hope that, by a
coalition, subsequently, they would displace the govern-
ment, he expressed his belief that the present government
was perfectly safe, and there would be no coalition such
as was anticipated.
Lord STANLEY disavowed all knowledge of any coali-
tion whwever. The present bill had been forced on the
country by a very strange combination of parties. For
hit own part he preferred a sliding scale to a fixed duty,
but would vote for the amendment in order to preserve

some port on of protection until the country should have
an opportunity of deciding upon the whole question at the
next general election.

The' Marquis of 11ANSDOWNE was favourable to a fixed
duty, but would sacrifice ha individual ()pillions for the
sake of a final settlement of a question of such importance
to the country.

A discussion ensued, which was chiffly in reference to
the meeting at Lord John Russell's, in Ch.-sham Place,
after which the Committee divided, and the amendment
was negatived by a majority of 140 to 107.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—Tussowy

The house was occtu.ied the whole night in the discus-
sion of the recommendations contained in the minute of
the Board of Trade, of the 6th of June, 1846, on the re-
port of the Commissioners for inquiring into the guage
of rail•4aya. The adoption of those recommendations aas
moved by Sir G. Clerk, and the debate upon them was
ultimately adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—WEDNESDAY.
Sir C. NAPIER, upon the order of the day being read
for the second reading of the Naval Civil Department Bill,
stated, that from the working of the Board of Admiralty,
and the deterioration evidently fallen upon the service, it
was high time that civilians should cease to act as rulers
of the naval affairs of this kingdom. Ee could show from
the registered opin'ons of naval commanders, that naval
men were wanted to conduct the affairs of the navy. The
building of ships was also imperfect. It was impossible
that an officer n.it brought up in a dock-yard could have
the requisite knowledge. Here they were in 1846, and
they had not not advanced an inch in the science of steam-
ship building. To prove this, he would refer to the steam-
frigate Retribution, which only carried fuel for eight days,
and could only fire one gun aft, whereas they should be
able to bring three guns to bear. There was also the case
of the Vulture, respecting which there were two returns,
neither of which agreed wiilt the other. Toe vessels
called steam-frigates were really no such thing ; they were
steam-corvettes, and should be so called. He bad exa-
mined them all, and he could declare that there was not
one of them in as efficient a state as it ought to be. They
all carried their steam-boxes five and six feet above the
level of the water, anti the consequence would be, that if
a war were to take place to morrow, and a shot struck the
steam-box, every soul below would be killed. If the
Lords of the Admiralty would submit to the experiment,
and take their places in a vessel of war with her steam on,
and the steam-box five or six feet above the surface of the
water, and permit him to fire a 21-pound shot through the
boiler, he would venture to say that not a single lord of
the whole board would be forthcoming afterwards.
(Laughter.) The hon. and gallant officer then proceeded
to remark upon the inexpediency of " cutting down"
ships, and converting large vessels into small corvettes.
The average cost of ship-building for the last four years
amou ted to £1,300.000, and for the past year amounted
to £1,600,000. (Hear. hear.) lie did not think such an
outlay was necessary, arid he certainly would not, upon
a future occasion, vote for similar estimates until he had
full and correct returns submitted to him. But this de-
partment of the service could not be efficiently worked
while the Board of Admiralty was constituted as it was at
present. The first lord was a civilian, and he had all the
patronage ; the first sea-lord undertook the ship-building,
another the stores, another the victualling and medical de-
partmenta, another the appoiitment of the officers. Now,
he submitted it was perfectly impossible, from his inex-
perience of nautical matters, and on ace quit of the mul, i-
farious nature of his duties, that the First Lerd of the
Admiralty could efficiently dischvge them, and the con-
sequence woted be that the duties would devolve upon
subordinates, as was the case at present. He believed
that the hest way to reduce the Admiralty to what it ought
to be, would be to have it ruled by three men who could
nor shift the responsibility from one to the other, and who
would not be members of the government, and on that
account liable to be changed by any alteration of the ad-
Ministration.

Lord INGESTRE seconded the motion

Mr. CORRY stated, at the time of the introduction of
this bill, that he could not bold out any prospect of giving
it his support ; and he now found that it was nut better
that he wss lei to expect it would be. But it was diffi-
cult to make out what were the precise objects of the bon.
and gallant officer, as he had often cha,•ged his views ;
but now they had a definite plan proposed by the gallant
_admiral. and he must say that a mote objectionable plan
could not well be conceived. The house, he trusted,
_would excuse him from fo:lowing the gallant commodore
into all the details of the performance of ships, the im-
mersion of paddles in water, &c. These details might be
very proper in themselves, but he denied that the govern-
ment had shear themselves regardless of the interests of
the riavv. As soon as the present government came into
office,.they appointed a commission of scientific men to
inquix: into the best system of ship-building, and in the
course of the last five years fiftv-six ships had been or-
dered. tc_.be built, not by the Surveyors of the Navy.
(Hear, ha;,:.) With regard to the returns which had been
mentioned, he was not responsible for their accuracy.
The right. het!. gentleman having next adverted to the ob-
servations which were made by the noble lord the member
for Stafrirdshite, concluded by moving that the bill be
read a second tine that day six months.
On a division, after a short debate, the bill Was re-
jected-by a majority of 107 to 11.

HOUSE OF ,COMMONS.—TianasnAY.
The early part of the evening was consumed in a discus-
sion on the remaining resolutions respecting the broad
and narrow gxtages. They were ultimately agreed to.
The CHANceitort of the EXCHEQUER gave notice,
that on Monday next he would move a resolution conti-
nuing the existing,sugar dutits from the sth of July to the
sth of August, in the present year. His reason for pro-
posing their continintoce for a month was. that at present,
owing to the length of .tbe debates on the Irish Bill, suffi-
cient time could not be given to that ample discussion of
them, which their importance required, and which must
inevitably
take place on the varioua important amend-
ments which had already been placed on the order book.
The adjourned d bate on the second reading of the Pro.
tection of Life (Ireland) Bill was then r,-I.utned, and was
again allj ,urned. In the course of the debate,
Lord F. EGERTOW ObSfrved that there were certain
broad facts on record which he could not deny. He be-
lieved that there was a
,dimintvion of crime generally
througbput ',eland, but ci;jv in one of the five counties
affected by this hill • while in the Whet' fOltr CQUutiea,