The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1842-03-22 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

HOUSE OF COMMONS—TnuasDAy  When the Wigan election committee were called upon to be sworn at the table; it appeared that Sir James Howard was absent, whereupon the sergeant-at-arms received instructions to take the hon.. member into custody.  Mr. LINDSAY moved, that on April 7th the house should resolve itself into a committee, for the purpose of addressing her Majesty, praying that a sum of money equivalent to the losses of those merchants whose opium had been destroyed by the Chinese authorities, at Canton, who had surrendered no less than 20,283 chests of opium, on the assurance of Captain Elliot that they would be paid for it by the government at honie, should be granted to them. Sir G. STAUNTON seconded the motion, and said that the loss was so serious as to have driven several of the merchants, whose property had been destroyed, to commit suicide. He thought the government was bound in honour to make compensation, .  Sir G. LARPENT took a similar view of the case, and hoped that no financial .difficulty would prevent the Government from doing justice to the sufferers. After some observations from Sir C. NAPIER,  The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the British merchants were in the power of the Chinese, their lives as well as property being ut stake. Under such circumstances, although the course pursued by Captain Elliot was honourable to him, yet still neither the late nor the present Government considered the pledges given by Captain. Elliot binding. Compensation could not be obtained from the Chinese government until the cessation of the war, but in the meantime inquiries were proceeding as to the value of the opium destroyed, which he feared had been greatly exaggerated.' Under these circumstances he opposed the motion. _ _ _ .  Lord PALMERSTON admitted that the merchants had received pledges that her Majesty's Government would endeavour to obtain restitution from the Chinese government, and had been informed that in that case it was only the true value of the opium which could be made good. Under the peculiar circumstances, however, of a great many of the sufferers, he was of opinion that the money obtained from the Vitivagninsawent might be drawn uporo-n afford thpn, Mr. M. Pilau's said that until brought to be given up as a ransom for British subjects, the opium was not within the Chinese jurisdiction. _  Mr. JARDEVE said that if the question were viewed in a mercantile light, all the argument lay on the side of the merchants, who would, he hoped, receive justice at the hands of the Government. _ _ _  Mr. II was decidedly favourable to the motion  .......... „...... , Mr. C. W. WYNNE was of opinion that if the merchants had not a strictly legal right, they had at all events an equi Sir R. PEEL said be rose for the purpose of doing justice to another party—namely, the people of this country. We were embarked in a war with China, with a view to obtain redress for injury and insult, and also to obtain compensation for our merchants. Surely, then, the ransom paid for the city of Canton should be appropriated, in the first instance, to meet the expenses of carrying on the war with vigour; and.if compensation should be given at once to the merchants, why, he would ask, should it not be done by a parliamentary grant. Lord J. RUSSELL was of opinion that there were circumstances which entitled the merchants to favourable consideration, which might be given in a committee of the whole house.  On a division the motion was lost by a majority of 87  LOrd G. SOMERSET moved for leave to bring in a bill for the more effectual inspection of houses licensed by the magistrates in quarter sessions for the reception of insane persons in England and Wales. Mr. WAKLEY thanked the noble lord for the attention he had given to this subject ; but his proposal, after all, amounted only to the appointment of two barristers to inspect hospitals for the medical treatment of persons labouring under this dreadful disease. He requested the noble lord to name a distant day for the second reading; and he (Mr. W.) would then be prepared to enter into the whole subject fully. I lA' 'd 'hat M .SEILEY expressed a wish tna wir. Wakley woulc enter upon his proposed analysis of the conduct of the metropolitan commissioners as soon as possible. He thought the appointment of legal examiners a matter of immense importance, and likely to be attended with beneficial results. Lord G. SOMELISET said he should move the second reading before Easter; but he would give ample time before going into committee. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE moved for a select committee to inquire into the administration of relief to the poor in parishes incorporated under Gilbert's Act, and to report whether it would be expedient or just to repeal those acts for the purpose of substituting in lieu thereof the Poor-Law Amendment Act. Captain PECHELL seconded the motion.  Sir