On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
in regard to the property of married women , and concurred in the suggestion that this bill should be referred to a select committee . —Mr . Spooneb observed that the bill would render wives liable to be sued for the debts of their husbands , and that was a principle which he did not think the House should be asked to assent to . —Mr . Bagwell did not see why , if English married women were to have their property secured to them , their sisters in Ireland were to be excluded from the privilege . —Sir Ebskine Perry ( with whom the bill originated )
consented to Mr . Massey ' s suggestion . —Mr . Miles thought that legislation on the subject should be postponed to next session . —The Attorney-General for Ireland consented to the second reading of the bill , but under protest , as he considered it to be a rashly-constructed measure . It was an attempt , not to amend the law , but to revolutionize it . —Mr . Roebuck defended the bill , and Mr * De Verb opposed it ; and , upon a division , the amendment was negatived by 120 to 65 . —The bill was then read a second time .
The House then went into committee upon the Scientific and Literary Societies Bill , the early clauses of which underwent alterations so important that at length Mr . Hutt , who had charge of the measure , moved that the Chairman leave the chair . On the motion of Mr . Headlam , the order for the second reading of the Medical Profession ( No . 1 ) Bill was discharged . The report of the Committee of Supply was brought np and agreed to .
ELECTION COMMITTEES AND PETITIONS . Mr . Ingham , chairman , reported from the Lambeth committee that Mr . Roupell was duly elected , and that the petition against his return was frivolous and vexatious . ' The Speaker reported that he had received a letter , intimating that it was not intended to proceed with the petition against the recent election for Peterborough . He also stated that he bad received a letter intimating the abandonment of the petition against the recent return for Totness . Thursday , July I 6 tk . In the House of Lords Lord Ellenbobough again brought before their Lordships the prospects of India , and recommended that the Government should at once
contract a loan for 5 , 000 , 000 / . to relieve her finances of the burden which the present mutiny , with all its unfortunate consequences , would cast upon them . —Earl Granvtlle repeated an assurance he had already given that the Governor-General has ample funds at his disposal but he promised that the suggestion should be attended to by the Home Government . He protested against a remark of Lord Ellenborough ' s implying that the President of the Board of Control did not pay attention to his duties . —To this , the Earl of Ellenborough replied that he communicated very extensively with persons connected with India , but never met one of them who had not a thorough distrust of the gentleman who is now at the head of the Board . ( Laughter . ' )
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY CAPITAL BILL . On the motion for the third rending of this bill , Lord St . Leonards objected to the measure , and complained that Redpath should have been allowed to commit forgeries to an enormous amount without the directors taking the trouble to inquire about the matter . At a recent meeting of the company , his ( Lord St . Leonards' ) name had been prominently brought forward by the chairman ; but he had never uttered a single word that would bear the meaning attributed to him on the
occasion . He proposed the omission of certain words for the purpose of restoring the bill to the state in which it was when it came from the House of Commons , so that tho rights of tho preference shareholders should be preserved . —Lord Wensleydale hoped this bill would not preclude the preference shareholders from taking any steps they might be advised to adopt against the directors . — After some further discussion , Lord Stanley of Alderley said the preferenoe shareholders were about onehalf of the entire body , and Were subject to all the conditions of ordinary shareholders .
The House divided on tho mution that the words proposed to be omitted by Lord St . Leonards should stand part of the bill : — Contents ... ... ... ... 43 Non-contents ... ... ... ... 7 Majority against tho amendment ... —30 The bill was then road a third time , and passed . Tho CltOWDKD DwiCI . LIKOS PrisVISNTION BlLL , of Lord SiiAirTESBURY , was re-committed . JOINT STOCK COMPANIES HILL . The House wont into committuo on this bill . —Lord Wbnbleydalk proposed tho introduction of a proviso to the effect that tho depositors and shareholders of tho Newcastle Bank should ho allowed to retain their priority as judgment creditors , —Tho Loud Chancicllor opposed the proposition , which wus negatived , and tho bill passed through committee .
THE NATIONAL SUKVISY . Tho Dulse of Buooliduuh moved nn address to tho Queen , praying that a royal coimniabion should bo issued to inquire into tho whole aubjoct of the national Burvoy , and the eoale or scales on which it should bo made nnd published . —Lord Panmurm concurred in tho object of
the motion , which was agreed to .- ^ The House adjourned at five minutes to eight o ' clock . At the morning sitting of the House of Commons , the Huntingdon Election Committee was discharged , on account of the inability , from ill-health , of Sir Edward Dering ( one of the members ) to attend on it . To testify to the indisposition of Sir Edward , Dr . Latham was examined at the bar of the House . Sir Edward Dering also appeared , and asserted his inability to undergo the labour of the inquiry . It will now be necessary to appoint a new committee . THE RECENT ELECTIONS . Mr . Cobbett called attention to a petition presented by him on the preceding day , from Mr . Merry , M . P ., member for the Falkirk Burghs , complaining that the recognizance in connexion with the petition against his return had not been properly entered into . He moved that a committee of five members should be appointed ' to investigate the matter . —Sir George Grey said the complaint was not made within the proper time , and the House could not interfere . —After some discussion , the motion was withdrawn . Mr . Butt presented another petition from Mr . J . P . Somers , to the effect that bills of indictment had been preferred against the Mayor of Sligo and the poll ^ clerks , founded upon the transactions referred to in the petition against his return , and that such proceedings were calculated to prejudice him ; and he prayed that the House would take the matter into their consideration , the proceedings being against a resolution of the House , passed in 1703 ( which was read by the Clerk ) . —It was ordered that the petition should lie on the table . —Mr . Butt then moved " that the proper officer of the Queen ' s Bench in Ireland return to the House a copy of all the proceedings in the action mentioned in the petition presented on the preceding day from Mr . Somers . " He suggested that further proceedings in the case should be postponed to next Monday , when he would propose that a committee should be appointed to investigate the subject , and report on the course which the House of Commons ought to pursue . —Sir George Grey , considering that they were bound to proceed with caution , mcved as an amendment , " That both petitions be referred to a committee to be appointed to inquire into the subject , and report to the House how far in their opinion the privilege of the House had been interfered with b y the proceedings in question . " — Mr . Butt accepted this amendment . He wished to ask whether it was true , as stated in the papers that morning , that the Crown Solicitor had been directed to prepare bills of indictment against the Mayor of Sligo . —The Attorney General for Ireland said he had given instructions to the Crown Solicitor that there should be no Crown prosecution unless for a breach of the peace . He apprehended the statement alluded to had reference to bills of indictment preferred by a private individual . —The amendment was agreed , to . The House then went into committee on the Lunatics ( Scotland ) Bill , when progress was made up to the 16 th clause . queen ' s county election . In the evening , the Speaker announced the receipt of a letter , stating that it was not intended to proceed with the petition complaining of an undue return at the late election for Queen ' s County . INDIA . Sir Charles Napier inquired of the First Lord of the Admiralty if , in the event of the Government deciding to send troops to India by steam , he had one screw ship in commission either at Sheerness , Portsmouth , or Plymouth , fit to carry troops and ready for immediate service . —Sir Charles Wood : «? Certainly not ; not a single ship in commission is fit to carry troops to China . The ships are calculated for homo defence , not for conveyance of troops . They are screw ships of the line . "Mr . Vansittart inquired whether it was true that the Lieutcnant-Governor of tho North-western provinces of
India had issued a proclamation offering an amnesty to all the mutineers who might lay down their arms , and that the Governor-General , disapproving of the offer , had recalled it . —Mr . Vkunon Smith replied that such a proclamation was issued , and disapproved ; and that tho Governor-General had rescinded it . He had not heard that Mr . Colvin had been recalled or that ho had resigned , and ho hoped not , for Mr . Colvin wns a valuable ofllcor , and , with this exception , had always acted with decision and prudence
NATIONAL EDUCATION . Sir John Paiunoton gave notice that , as soon as tho Government would give him a day , ho intended to move an address to her Majesty , praying for tho issue of a commission to inquire into tho stato of national education .
NKW WRITS . Colonel FmcNGii moved that tho Speaker do issue his writ to tho Clerk of Iho Crown in Ireland to niako out a now writ for tho electing a burgess for tho borough of Gnlway in tho room of Mr . Anthony OTlnhorty , unseated . — -Lord Lovainm moved , by way of amendment , that tho writ bo suspended till next Thursday . —This was agreed to , tho motion being withdrawn . Mr . SciiOLiuaicu ) tlion moved that tho Speaker do not issue his warrant to tho Clerk of tho Crowrt in
Ireland to make out a new writ for the electing of a knight of the shire for the county of Mayo before next Thursday . — -After a short discussion , in which an attempt was made to discuss the report of the committee , the motion was agreed toi THE MILITIA . In answer to Mr . Disraeli , Lord Palkerston said that , notwithstanding the recent disastrous news from India , the militia would not be called out this year . THE ASSIZE CIRCUITS . In answer to Mr . Warren , Sir George Grey said the Commissioners on the Assize arrangements were considering their report . — Sir John Pakington , as one of the commission , said the report was agreed to , though not yet framed . He added that Mr . Warren had been misled by rumour with respect to certain alterations in the circuits which were said to be contemplated .
THE PERSIAN WAR . Mr . Roebuck moved the following resolutions : — " That the war with Persia was declared , prosecuted , and concluded without information of such transactions being communicated to Parliament ; while expensive armaments were equipped without the sanction of a vote of this House . That it is the opinion of this House , that such conduct tends to weaken its just authority , and to dispense with its constitutional control over the finances of the country , and renders it requisite for this House to express its strong reprobation of such a course of proceeding . " No doubt , said Mr . Roebuck , it is the prerogative of the Crown to declare war ; but the House o £ Commons is called upon to defray the expenses , and
therefore has a right to be heard on the question . The course now taken was calculated to injure the character of the House in the eyes of the country , and the charge he was making against the so-called Liberal Premier was that he had done what no . Minister had ever dared to do before . The Governor-General of India had declared war while the home Parliament was not sitting ; troops were withdrawn , to send to the Persian Gulf ; and he believed that in consequence of that denuding of our Eastern Empire the present revolt had burst out . It was reported that the Government had been warned of the danger of that step ; but it was taken . War was declared and carried out without the sanction of the people ' s representatives ; and in the
March of the present year a peace was concluded . The first intimation that Parliament received of the circumstance was the demand to pay the bill . Had anything of the kind ever taken place before ? They were now called upon to supply nearly a million of money for that war , and he would say that never had the House of Commons been treated with such contempt . If they were prepared to put up with the insult—for it was nothing else —^ they might as well at once go back to their constituencies . The noble Lord had obtained a majority in the country , God knew how . { A laugh . ) He was allowed to do more than any other man , but he ( Mr . Roebuck ) felt it his
duty to lift up his voice against the course of proceeding ; that had been adopted in the case of the Persian war . They might lose India through the conduct of the Prime Minister . ( Cries of " No , up . " ) He understood that cry ; it was thoroughly English . What it meant was that they were able to meet any emergency , and he agreed to that assertion ; but they would not deny that the mutiny in India is a great emergency . ( Hear , hear . ") The noble Lord had dealt with the House of Commons as if it had no existence , and had chosen for so doing the time the most dangerous for England that had occurred since the declaration of independence by America .
The Chancellor of thk Exchequer contended that there was no doubt of the power of the Crown to declare war without the sanction of Parliament , or of the right of the Governor-General of India to commence hostilities in the East . No notice had been given to the House of the former expedition to Bushire and Karrak . Mr . Roebuck , therefore , had no ground for maintaining that an irregularity had been committed or a slight offered to Parliament . It was also incorrect to assert that the withdrawal of troops from India
to the Persian Gulf had led to tho present state of things in India . No disaffection had appeared in Bombay or Madras , the presidencies nearest to Persia . If tho native troops had been hostile to tho British Government at tho time of tho wor , they would have had an opportunity of showing it ; but , on the contrary , thoy had fought bravely against tho Persians . As to tho disaffection in India , there was liltlo doubt that it would very shortly bo crushed . — Mr . Nishkt attributed tho mutiny to tho employment of high castea in tho army , and to tho paucity of oflicore .
Mr . Henry Bailliw believed that tho House of Commons was to bo looked upon as thoguardlnn of the public purso , and yet , as appeared by tho paper in tho hands of members , a largo expenditure was being incurred while Parliament was sitting without tho House of Commons having been consulted . It whs clear from tho correspondence that tho war arose from tho roftisiil of tho demand for tho dismissal of tho Persian Primo Minister , for in all other points , including compensation to tho inhabitants of Herat , Persia- liad nlronily yielded . The war began ; then followed tho negotiations , and at last a treaty of poaco was concluded by tho surrender of tl . o demand for tho dismissal of tho Persian Primo Miniator , by tho abandonment of tho compensation offered , and by the oxpon-
Untitled Article
Sro . 382 , Juey 18 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . _ Jg 7 _
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), July 18, 1857, page 677, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2201/page/5/
-