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    670 ©!) * &**&*?? [Saturday,

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    PARLIAMENT OF THE WEEK. The Saturday sit...

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    Soon The Session Will Be Brought To A Cl...

    Canada is moving ominously . The appointment of Mr . Roebuck as agent in England , and the split in the Liberal party upon the secularization of the Protestant clergy reserves , look very much like signs of growing hostility to the Imperial Government . , Our news columns contain an account of the dreadful havoc which the cholera has made in Grand Canary . The picture is graphically sketched by Vice-Consul Houghton : the state of the suburb of San Jose , and of the town generally , is one of those horrors which happily we are seldom called upon to chronicle . From the extremity of this case , almost created by ignorance and neglect , our own Ministers ought to learn the wicked folly of thwarting their own Board of Health : in sanitary morals Grand

    Canary ought to be the Helot to Westminster . The disclosure of the gross irregularities at the Northwoods Lunatic Asylum , is a memorandum of the slow progress made in perfecting the reform of the Lunacy law . It is thirty-five years since the House of Commons took up the inquisition into Lunatic Asylums ; Commissioners have since been appointed to watch them j and yet we find at this day an Asylum in which a lady has been detained for thirteen years , without a proper warrant ; in which another lady has been detained on the single certificate of her own husband ; in which 105

    persons are detained without the proper legal forms ; and in which the proprietor has rendered himself liable to 280 prosecutions for misdemeanour ! But he is not prosecuted ; on the contrary , the same magistrates that receive the report of these irregularities , renew his licence ; in conjunction , however , with two other gentlemen , who are to . be responsible for the management . But surely the conclusion is the reverse of satisfactory .

    670 ©!) * &**&*?? [Saturday,

    670 ©!) * &**&*?? [ Saturday ,

    Parliament Of The Week. The Saturday Sit...

    PARLIAMENT OF THE WEEK . The Saturday sittings began last week at twelve o'clock . Two bills of some importance were finally disposed of . The Woods and Forests , & c , Bill passed , ¦ with an interchange of compliments between Lord Duncan , who highly approved of the bill , and Lord John Ru ^ ell , who said Lord Duncan ' s opinion was » ' valuable , " as he had been at the head of a committee of inquiry into the subject . The Civil Bills , & c , ( Ireland ) Bill excited considerable opposition from the Liberal Irish Members to the 73 rd — the notice to quit—clause . Lord John Ilussell was in vain asked to dispense with it ; while Tory Irish Members asserted that Irish landlords wo'ikl not ** take advantage" of it . Mr . Reynolds denounced the Irish landlords as the " most cruel , heartless , and persecuting body of men that ever existed in any part of the globe . "

    In reply to a question from Mr . Sharman Crawf ird , Lord John Russkll distinctly stated that the ' extreme views" of a certain party [ the tenant-right party ] , and the " perseverance" with which they attempted to enforce them , " had prevented the application of remedial measures " to the diseased state of the law of landlord and tenant . Sir Ciiahlks Bukkki . i , defended the Irish landlords . After the bill was read a third time , the Opposition rose again upon the question that the bill do now pass . Mr . Reynolds , in reply to Sir Charles Buirell , repeated his attack with great severity . The incriminated unfortunates were warmly vindicated by Lord Naak . Ultimately the bill passed by 51 to G ; ; md the House adjourned until Monday .

    vauous matters , which will be found treated of below , having been disposed of , on Monday night , the House of Commons went into Committee of Supply . The discussion in the Committee arose upon four important items ; and the declarations of Mr . llawen , on the part of the ( Government , who winced under the Financial Reform opposition , are , in a limited sense , sutisfu < tory Mgnn . The first of these voteB ¦ was one of £ 20 , 000 for New Zealand ; the second £ 5000 for the Falkland Islands ; the third of £ 15 , 500 for Hong- Kong ; nnd the fourth of £ 60 , 000 to defray expenses incurred in enforcing the suppression of the ¦ lave trade .

    Mr . Coiii > k . v , in oppoHing the New Zealand vote , said he c . mld not understand why the people of England should bu culled on to pay nil these charges for people living at the antipodes , who , in many revpects , were in a better condition than people here : — " There waa , Urnt , for thn salary of the governor , £ 2500 ; then , for the salary of a lieutenant-governor , £ 800 . Not content with paying the governor , thin country paid the chief justice £ 1000 ; and all this tvaa

    done for u population of 30 , 000 or 40 , 000 cniijfranta . This country alwo paid their bishop £ 600 ; chaplains and tfchoula , £ { M 0 ; it paid their army a » well an their churtih , their judicial establishment , und their governors . There was a nnval force also , of course , to be » up | Huted . Then , for public works and roads , the employment of natives , and miscellaneous expendimrc , a sum of £ 1 O , 9 . 'I 5 was chftrged to the people of this country . Why should they p » y for public works and roadu ? Could not the emigrant

    pay for these , if wootted ? And what was meant by employing natives ? It seemed to him that to charge the people of this country with these items was on principle most indefensible ana unjust . " He protester ! against the payment of the money . Mr . Williams moved that the vote be reduced by £ 600 ; but Mr . Ht / me outstripped his pupil , and proposed to reduce the vote by £ 10 , 935 . Mr . Pltjmpxbb said that it was questionable whether " there was any more beautiful display of Christianity in this country than in New Zealand . Mr . CoBraxput the case in a different light : —

    " He objected to taking the vote under a pretext drawn from missionary labour . He objected also to cover the bloody misdeeds which had often occurred in remote districts , under the plea that a church or a chapel had been built . The Spanish and Portugese did the same ; they planted churches and crosses where they had slaughtered Peruvians and other natives , and the ministrations at their altars were carried on amidst the screams of the victims they were massacring . He objected to the question of the operation of the Christian faith through the Government in distant colonies being brought into

    the discussion . It was no part of the duty of Government or Parliament to extend Christianity either by force of arms , or by paying bishops . " He designated the vote as an " export of so much of the taxes of this country , " which , looked upon as a commercial investment , would not yield 5 per cent . Lord John Russell , in defending the vote , entered into an historical account of our relations with New Zealand , and said we had possessed ourselves of it , and now paid money for its Government , in order that it might be ' brought into a state of civilization and Christianity " : —

    " It appeared to him that , on the whole , they might go on paying for a short time the sums included in the vote ; and he thought that if they did so , they would ere long have the satisfaction of knowing that they had established a flourishing state . ( Hear , hear . )" When the House divided Mr Hume's amendment was rejected by 50 to 23 . Mr . Haweb defended the vote for the Falkland Islands on two grounds : first , that it was a naval station . ; and secondly , that the amount of the vote was very much less than in former years . The Colonial-office , he 6 aid in a deprecating tone , are anxious to reduce expenditure as much as possible . The vote was agreed to .

    The Hong-Kohg vote provoked a more vigorous opposition , Mr . Francis Scott considering this vote as the most extravagant of all our colonial estimates . He described the settlement as a very bad place , filled with Chinese pirates , and not an elevated order of Europeans and Americans . The officers were extravagantly paid . The surveying department received £ 1231 " for surveying about 20 acres of tillage . And , exclaimed Mr . Scott , " the island ia so unhealthy that people will not live there ; if they attempt it , they die . " { Laughter . ) He proposed a reduction of £ 5000 on this vote . Mr . Hawes again rested his defence of the vote upon the fact that the expenditure was greatly reduced ! As nothing satisfactory could be got i ' rom Mr . Hawes , Mr . Hume

    pointedly appealed to Lord Palmbbbton , who at once came to the assistance of his colleague . He told the Houee what they must have known well enough , how it was we got possession of the island as a naval and military station for the protection , of our Chinese trade . But he diplomatically admitted that , as a commercial depot , Hong-Kong had answered to a great extent , though not perhaps at the rate which an earlier expectation had formed of it . But its importance to England was " very great , " both in maintaining our commercial and political relations with the Chinese . After some further discussion , especially with respect to the salarj' of the Governor , a division took place , which nsuited in the defeat of Mr . Scott ' s motion for reduction , by 65 to 39 .

    Upon the vote for the expenses of putting down the ulave trade , Lord Palmerston made a triumphant speech . All opposition vanished . Even Mr . Hume was * ' delighted" at the success of our efforts , though he did grumble a little at the squadron having been used at all . The strong opposition which last year threatened the existence of the Government , had entirely disappeared . Lord PAMtfisnsroN said that the measures for the suppression of the slave trade had been , during the past year , carried out with " greater stringency , " and had been attended with tho " happiest effects " and more " rapid success" than could have been expected . In fact , the trade might be said to be

    almost extinguished on the coa » t of Africa north of the line , with the exception of the two points of Lagos and Porto Novo . The people of the country were desirous to direct their attention to more legitimate traffic . They were now upplying themselves to trude in palm oil , ground nuts , ivory , and oth * r products ; also great progress had been made in the growth of cotton . The efforts of the British had been actively and cordially backed by the Portuguese authorities ; and it might bo said that at Loandu and other stations the slave trade was bo paralyzed that the slave dealers had suspended business or f . ctukrn themselves to Icsb disgraceful means of living The Imuun of Muscat had afforded facilities which in

    former years , he had withheld , and the result wa that a great slave trade carried on in his dominions had been very much repressed . On the coast of Africa , then , rery much had been done to accom plish the object for which we had so long and so energetically laboured . With respect to Brazil , owing to the settlement of our differences with Buenos Ayres , the British cruizers had been enabled to conduct their operations there more actively and more effectivel y : —

    " Earnest communications , moreover , took place with the Government of Brazil , and the consequence was that the Brazilian Government , in September last , passed an additional law for the purpose of suppressing the slave trade , which it declared to be piracy , and for the perne tration of which it enacted more stringent punishment and , altogether , Government had exerted that vigour ' and put forth that power in the suppression of the trade which , in his opinion , it ought long since to have exerted . { Hear . ) The consequence was , that in the the last monthsthehad

    course of eight , y almost extinguished the slave-trade with Brazil , so that the number of slaves brought into Brazil in 1850 , was not half the number imported in former years ; and , taking the first quarter of the present year up to April , he believed that only a very few hundreds of slaves had been landed in Brazil , instead of the several thousands which had been landed there in former years . { Hear , hear . ) In a word the Government of Brazil had of late cooperated most efficiently with us towards accomplishing this great object . { Hear , hear . ) '

    A strong anti-slavery party had sprung up in Brazil ; slave labour was denounced as the bane of agriculture ; it was being discovered that free labour was cheaper ; and since the Government gunpowder factory worked by slaves had blown up , it was thought that free labour would be more secure . The severe losses sustained by individual slave dealers , had induced above 140 to withdraw their capital from the trade . " Thus then , in Africa and Brazil , the origin and destination of the slave trade , had that trade become almost extinguished . " After congratulations from all quarters , the vote was agreed to .

    The clock shortly after struck twelve , and Mr . TJnauHART , who had been the victim of a motion for adjournment at that hour a short time since , determined to take his revenge , and moved that the chairman report progress . Colonel Sibthorp and Mr . Hume supported him , on the giound that it was improper to vote money after twelve . The House divided , and the motion was lost by 10 7 to 26 . Mr . Hume then made a similar motion ; and , under protest , Lord John Russell gave way . The House then resumed , and shortly after adjourned , at a quarter-past one o ' clock . Protection again raised its head in the House of Commons on Tuesday , only to be again signall y defeated . Lord Naas moved that " this House will on

    a fature day resolve itself into a Committee to take into consideration the state of the milling interest in Ireland . " He declared that , unless steps were taken to avert it , the ruin of Irish agriculture was inevitable : — " Last year Ireland imported no less than 2 , 200 , 000 quarters of wheat and 1 , 075 , 000 cwt . of flour . He estimated the entire loss , compared with the state of the corn trade a few years ago , when Ireland exported considerably , would be equal in the whole to £ 2 , 600 , 000 , or one sixth of the entire valuation of the country . He found that the value of 349 mills in Ireland represented a sum of £ 1 , 487 . , running 1876 pairs of stones . Out of 321 mills he found that only 39 were working full time , 81 half time , and 40 one-third time . They employed in working the machinery above 6775 men when on full time , but at present only 2787 men , or not quite half . "

    The returns showed that upon the employment of the corn mills 22 , 512 families depended for their support . And he asserted that the practical effect of the present system was , that while the rich saved about Is . per cwt ., the poor pay nn advance of about Is . lOd . per cwt . He contended that the diatrenH among the milling interest was general ; and he pointed out that the importation of French Hour had increased 54 per cent , in the last two years . The French were not allowed to export French corn , but they had the privilege of grinding foreign corn in bond and exporting it ; and there was nothing to prevent them from grinding the greater part of the wheat we imported from the Mediterranean , and sending us the fine flour : —

    " The real reason why the French beat us was , that they had labour cheaper , and untaxed ; that they enjoyed protective laws ; and that the French Government , instead of throwing every obstucle in the way of their manufacturer , had from time to time taken his cane into consideration , and had done everything they possibly could to increase and foster the production of French flour . " Agricultural distress had been admitted in the speech from the Throne , he had shown that an interest second to none in importance , was even in » 8 < J'I more depressed condition . He did not wish to foster any class ; but he thought that when wheat >»« grown abroad and came into our market , it should bo subjected to the same burdens as wheat grown on our soil . In the same way with the millers , they only desired to protect the home millers againflt ft" unfair competition with foreigners .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 19, 1851, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19071851/page/2/