The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-02-18 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-WEDNESDAY

The SPEAK ER said, that th

Sergeant

-Arms had a

cnmunication to make to the house touching nrivilege
Sir W. GO SETT then appeared at the bar, and annou

ced that on the 22d of December, 1843, he was served
with notice in an action at the suit of Thomas Howard ;
that an appearance was entered for him on the Ist of Jail.
1841; and that he waited for the declaration to see what
that the declara-

ground of action there

tion was servt d on the 19th of December, that, under the
advice of the law offi,urs of the crown, he had applied for
time to plead to a judge at chambers, and that he

tained until the 1816 of February. The action was one of
trespass, and was grounded on Thomas Howard's deten-
tion in his custody by order of the Louse.
The SoLictron-GENERAL said, that from the informa-
tion he had received. he was disposed to take the same
course as that adopted in 1843. He should move that the
communication of the sergeant be printed with the votes,
and then gave notice of a motion on the subject.
On the motion that the house resolve itself into a com-
mittee of supply.

Captain HARRIS gave an explanation .relative to a
branch of the South Western Railway, in which he con-
sidered an unjust imputation had been thrown on his re-
lative the Earl of Maltries,ury.

Mr. ROEBUCK called attention to the fact, that the
thanks of her .11,jesiy were alleged to have been given to
the Sheriff of Montreal, for his conduct in the late par-
liamentary elections for Canada, though an election peti-
tion against the return for Montreal was pending before
the House of Assembly, in which the conduct of the she-
riff, as returning officer, was impugned.
Mr. HOPE, the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, re-
plied, that a despatch, written immediately after the elec-
tions, had been received from Sir Charles Metcalfe, in
which he adverted to the conduct of the returning-officer,
as having been instrumental, by me,..ns of admirable ar-
rangements, in at once securing, under alarming circum-
stances, the public peace, and also the free exercise of the
franchise.

Lord STANLEY desired Sir Charles Metcalfe to convey
to the returning-officer the thanks of the executive go-
vernment; not, as was supposed, the special thanks of
her Majesty.

Sir It. PEEL, in answer to Mr. Bouverie, reel
there were no negotiations pending with the Brazils rela-
tive to any alteration in its tariff, those actually under
discussion having reference only to the usual treaties of
navigation and commerce.

ed that

Mr. RICARDO and Mr. MILNER GIBSON hoped that
the government would abandon their fruitless policy with
respect to differential duties, especially on sugar.
Sir R. PEEL, in reply to Lord J. Rus,ell, said that he
would not rr:ss for a decision on the resolution he would
propose on Friday, after making his financial statement;
but he trusted that no long delay would take place between
the statement of his plans and the decision of the house
upon them.

Lord J. RUSSELL had adverted to it, because, without
a knowledge of the nature of Sir Robert Peel's intention,
it was impcssible to give intimation of the course he would
himself adopt. If a decision were pressed for on Friday,
he hoped that be would not be accused of taking the house
by surprise by any amendment he might propose.
Sir R. PEEL repeated that he would not ask for a deci-
sion on Friday, though from the importance of the inter-
ests involved, he would postpone all other public business
until the opinions of the house were expressed and defined
on the financial propositions of the government.
Mr. H. GOULBURN, in answer to Mr. Francis Baring,
gave some explanations respecting the arrangements tor
raying the dividends, consequent on the reduction of the
Three-and-a-Half per Cents. ; and also stated that the
whole of the opium compensation had been paid, with the
exception of some fifteen thousand pounds.
A formal vote of Exchequer Bills was taken, in a Corn,
mittee of Supply, and the house adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—THURSDAY.
Lord DALHOUSIE, in presenting the report of the
Railway Department, on the South Eastern District, after
describing the circumstances under which the Railway
Board was constituted, proceeded to explain the miscon
ceptions that bad prevailed as to the duties and the powers
that had been intrusted to the Board. It had been ima-
gined by some that their decisions upon projected railways
would be final ; while by others, less credulous, it was
apprehended that their opinions would be of necessity
adopted by the government, and would, by its support and
influence, acquire the force of positive enactments. For
neither of these rumours was there the slightest founda-
tion. The reports of the Board were never intended to
be used except as aids to Parliament in pursuing its in-
vestigations. It bad been objected, too, that they were a
secret tribunal; but with how much greater force could
they have been charged with usurping the functions of
Parliament if they had adopted the forms of a committee ?
It bad bees said, that they should at least have confronted
the respective parties, that they might discuss their case
before them ; but this course would have been so utterly
impracticable and absurd, that if once tried, it would never
have been repeated. They had been charged too, with
having asserted that a satisfactory inquiry was impossible.
This, however, was a misrepresentation, arising from their
having explained the impossibility of receiving repeated
deputations from the same company, His lordship then
proceeded with much animation to defend the several
members of the Board from the imputation that they had
acted in a spirit of favouritism, or had afforded a corrupt
preference to companies in which they held shares. For
himself, and for every other member of the Board, except
Mr. O'Brien, he denied that they had ever possessed a
single share, and Mr. O'Brien himself bad disposed of all
those he had ever held before the Board entered upon
their duties. He (Mr. O'Brien) was well aware of the
suspicion to which the Board would have been exposed in
consequence of his brother's connexion with the South-
Eastern Railway, and had in consequence abstained as
much as possible from interference when the interests of
that line were under discussion, although it was almost too
absurd to suppose that if even he had had any impure
motive, be could have induced his colleagues to fail in
with his views. His lordship then entered into an expla-
nation of the precautions the Board 114 d taken to prevent
the premature disclosure of their decisions ; and concluded
by assuring the house that, whatever value might be at.