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Leader (1850-1860), 14th February 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 146, Untitled Article

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      Member for Glasgow , aad Mr . Humphrey Brown sat foi Salisbury , to saynothing of the Honourable J ? rancis Iiawvey or-lcmL Maidstone . It is difficult to know how an ' iiifusion of new blood , ' by ha lf a dozen elections , can reiti ^ v&j tlte ckaraafeteroL the House . Although Newport lbs chosen ^ a Co * i servative , Mr . Kennard is repjafefcd to be a moafci estimable gentleman ; Mir . JamessClay speaks kuaa bold and popular tone ^ a&J ; he HesssISf&rnber fosJl&iU 1 ; General Codkington will inakV a respectable- 'professional representative of Greenwich ; but we should he sanguine indeed to assume "that tlrese gentlemen will counterbalance the effect of the damaging disclosures iiithe Bankruptcy and Criminal

      Courts . Another bankruptcy is calculated to deepen the eelings of mistrust . Messrs . Fox , Hendejisox , and Co . have been , compelled to surrender , by the refusal of a large creditor to sign the deed for carrying , on . their business under inspection . It is said thaii the . criminal proceedings actuall y instituted aga inst-the Brothers Legendbe and their colleagues intParis ,. for malversation in the management of the Napoleon Docks Company , has had nothing to do with precipitating the bankruptcy of Eos , Henderson , and Co ., although that firm had had some relations with the Nupoleon Docks . How easy it is to glide from Parliament and

      commerce-into the crimirtal courts ! The genius of SkWABD and his colleagues had elevated forgery into ' tbe-character of a " business "—so they call it . Atwexl ,.. one of his accomplices , who lies now muier sentence by an unfortunate mistake , has given . us . some further disclosures ; AiWEivL is " not sure , " for his own part , that he has yet taken to dishonesty as a calling- ; but he is indignant at the crimes of Satvabjd , who has caused eleven men to he transported , including . MA . RKHAM , whose innocence Saward knew , though he refused to prove it , lest he liimseli should be dragged in . However , the gentlemen in " busiaess" did something in subscribing money to assist Markitah ' s wife .

      A case in the Court of Exchequer discloses a class of - i trading not altogether unknown . Wou lee , aitailor , sues Pjropebt , a student at Haileybury , on a : large account for goods—the word " goods " covering , money lent to be squandered , by the boy . Thus , as the Ciiief Bakox remarked , Ihe tailor instigated the son to extract money from ihe parent in a mode " worse than picking a pocket . " The Jury agreed , with the Judge , and refused to recognize the debt . To proceed from bad to worse , Ticc-Chaneellor KiNDEitsLEY has judicially kidnapped Alicia Race , referring her to " guardians , " and ordering her to be brought up ¦ " in t 3 ie Protestant faith , " mamma and Chief Justice Campbexii not-withstanding ! And it is to theso " equity" people thai ; Lord Chancellor Gran worth would hand over the supreme jurisdiction over our wills and wives .

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      Monday , February 9 tk . In tbe Home of Lokds , a bill providing a remedy for frivoloMBsandavexatious lasergpoceedings waagrirttwJuced by LTo « tfc » BKOwaHAM , anddraed a Jst ^ t titnee . TIIK IHkMUBIAN FBfiUgCtFVULlTIES—CtnKA . Refjgring too Lord Lyjth « prst £ , the Earl of GiajtENtjon skated tbtefc ; under trJtetenns * o £ a recent nrrata ^ the TurkiiJfcdi « UBaFvrerc . eine ( Xwere ( Mto discuss-tUayujBton of the DarmfcHn PrincipaHifes , ortany other question

      connected with the future administration of those provinces , in conformity with , the ascertained wish of the population-. He declined to express any opinion himself- on that subject - at ; present ( though * he confessed- to some surprise on reading , tbe recent article in the Mon £ teur ~ ) , oi , to lay on the table a copy of the firman , whicbhad , he "believed , been communicated confidentially to the Government . — -In answer to a series of interpellations from Lord Lyndhuust , the Earl of Derby , the Earl of EmENBOROUGH , and other peers , the Earl of Clarendon promised to produce a variety of returns and correspondence relating to the late proceedings at Canton .

      IRISH CONSTABULARY . The Earl of Leitbim : moved for a copy of the reports made within the last six . months by the police in the county of Longford , relative to considerable numbers of men marching-at nightin that county ; also a copy of a letter addressed by the Earl of Leitrini , on the 20 th December , 1856 , to Sir John Duncan M'Gregor , the Inspector-General of Police in Ireland , requesting information with respect to the marching of men so reported , and the correspondence in reply to that letter ; also certain other papers connected with the same subject . — The motion , as far as the production of some of the papers was concerned , was agreed to .

      tliterajr ^ e&f . tUeir remission within much narnwrT Emits tlfra are now observed , while renderine tW cshaatg ^ B , ggntralfy speaking , unconditional U { tl cotrrse off 16 s speech , Sir George observed that the hint sysiem issifr process of abandonment ; and he stated hbelief thaitthfe . popular alarm with respect to carotW had beeqa some \ rfiat exaggerated , the number of roTh beries-iat 866 being rather less than in 1655 notwiFh standing t * k discharge of soldiers and militiamen i A ^ lAr tnawBCuensued , ' in the course of which Sir Jomt P&mVGTox . r&secved his criticisms on the details of thl i »« sure till future stages ,, but in-the meanwhile con demned the laxity with whiclttickets of leave had been granted sentences remitted

      an * - even , and objected to theover indulgence shown to criminals ; Sir . Collier recommended that all prisoners found guilty for a tliird time should be sentenced to imprisonment for life- Jrr Adderley exhorted , the Government to abrogate the ' ticket-of-leave system- utterly and finally , and Mr . Be . v ~ tinck . made a similar suggestion with' respect to transportation ; Mr . Labotjciiere impressed on the House the impossibility of making a penal settlement anywhere but in "Western Australia , while even there he believed convicts could only be sent in small numbers , and for a short time ; Mr . Monckton Milstes and Mr . J . ft Phdllimore spoke against returning to transportation ' and Mr . Nbwdegate . in favour of it . '

      Mr . Liddell inquired whether there would be any objection on the part of the Government to enter into a contract with the planters . of British Guiana to supply them with convicts , as many estates in Demeiara adapted to the growth of excellent cotton , are perisliing for -want of labour . —No reply was given to this question . After a few more remarks from . Sir Geoege Grey , leave was given to bring in the b 511 . Sir George Gkey then moved for , and obtained , leave to introduce a bill to facilitate the establishment of reformatory schools in England . It was not , he said , the design of the bill to interfere with voluntary institutions , but to enable counties and boroughs to establish such schools out of the county and borough rates . Leave ^ having been given to introduce certain other bills , the House , adjourned at a little after eleven o'clock .

      Tuesday , February 10 th . THE ECCLESIASTICAL ; COURTS . The Lord , Chancellor , in laying on the table three bills for the reform of the Ecclesiastical Courts , gave an outline of the changes he proposed to effect . The principal of these were—to constitute a new court , to be called the Queen ' s Court of Probate , which , except in certain cases , is not to have jurisdiction over real estate , and over -which a judge will preside who will direo * issues on matters of fact , to be > tried **<¦ — j < - » j j to allot to the proctors in thia court , ( tnough hie pfc ^ uld not be sorry to be rid of them altogether , if possible ) all the common form business ,, while the contentious business will be thrown open to solicitors and barristers ; to prove all

      uncontested wills , bequeathing property up to 150 OZ ., in a district court , and contested wills in tbe London Probate Court , the office of Judge being discharged by one of the Tice-Chaucellors ; to dispose of wills below 200 ? . ia the County Courts ; and , with respect to divorce , to al-3 ovr a woman to obtain a decree of separation from hor husband if he should . desert her for three j'ears , giving her , in some cases , a postnuptial , as "well as an antenuptial settlement . * In the case of the doctrinal offences of clergymen , it is not intended to allow a suit to lie promoted A oluntarily by any one person : proceedings are only to bo taken after a certificate lias been obtained , signed by a certain number of persons of standing in the Church . The bill relating to clergy offences , however , was not then laid on the table bv the Lord Chancellor .

      Lord Lyndiiurst made several objections on technical grounds to the Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill , and expressed his regret that the Lord Chancellor had not incorporated in tho Divorce Bill a clause to abolish the action for criminal conversation , which he regarded as a disgrace to the nation . —Tho Bishop of JOxrcrEit expressed a general approval of the measured . —Lord Campbell indicated dissent from s event 1 points ; and more especially objected to the proposals with respect to tho case with which married persons arc to be allowed

      to obtnin a divorce —Lord BitouciirAiu objected largely to many of the provisions of tho Testamentary Bill . — Lord \ v " enslkyi > alje approved of the bills on the whole , and thought tho discussion of details might be left to fl future stage . —Tho Bishop of Ox iron r > urged the necessity of confining the decisions of tho ' Privy Council , in tho cuses of clergymen , to the legal ' part of thn questions at issue , without any reference to the theological .- — Aftov some further brief discussion ( in tho course of ¦ which , the Loi ; r > Ciianoklkok said ho wished to get rid of the l ' rcrogniivo ( Jourt altogether ) , tho bills were rcml n first ilitin tune

      . IMI'KOVKJIKNT OF NEW ACTS . Tho Loud Ciianc : ki . i . oii moved to refer 1 hc second report of tho Statute Law Commission to a select . committee , in order to consider the propositions in that report for the adoption of means to improve the manner inul kngungo of current legislation . Tho Comniissioncra expressed their opinion that a great , ndvnntnge would I * derived from n better supervision in the progress of bilw through Parliament ( hear , hear ) ; that in truth a great portion of tho cvila of our statute book arisen from tuo language of' acts being unnecessarily verbose ; and th *

      THE IRISH POSTAL SERVICE . Tfie Duke of Akgvll , in reply to Lord DraGAura-ox , explained tlie modifications which are about to be made in the Irish postal service ,, in order to remedy the inefficiencies complained of between Dublin and Holyhead . Their Lordships shortly afterwards adjourned .

      ME . OTSKAELI AND THE 'SECRET TREATIT . In the House of Comsions , Mr . Disraeli called attention to the continued absence of Lord Palmerston from the House , and intimated that on the following : night , when he understood lie would be there , lie ( Mr . D > israeli ) should ask permission to make some observations on a contradiction , which Jie received from the Premier , the first evening of tho session , on " a matter of great moment . " GOVEBSTMENT STATEMENTS .

      In answer to Colonel Greville , Mr .-Horsm-vkt- said that the Government had been informed of the great inconvenience which resulted from the arrear of business in the Encumbered Estates Court , and that , as the experiment of trying to worlc the court with two Commissioners had failed—the very existence of tha court being imperilled—tlie Government had determined to appoint a tliird Commissioner , and , if necessary , to increase the staff of the court in order to have the business conducted ¦ with rapidity and efficiency .

      Sir Benjamin Hall , in answer to Mr . Locke , mentioned the position of matters as regards Westminsterbridge . The works remain in abeyance because the Government ia -waiting . for designs ( to -which foreigners may contribute ) for the adjacent improvements , and in order to ascertain the present state of tho bed of the Thames . Mr . "Veunon Smith , in answer to Mr . La yard , stated that the Persian Ambassador possesses full powers to arrange the dispute with England . A selection from the correajiondence will be published . Sir George' Grey , in answer to Sir John Pajcington , stated that it was not intended to bring in a bill this session on tbe subject of church rates . Sir Ciiaules " \ Vooi > , in answer to Mr . Roebuck , stated that tho Gorernmcnt had come to no decision aa

      to sending out a new expedition to- the Arctic Sens . Should it be resolved to send out such an expedition , the House , in accordance with the recommendation of the select committee , would be asked to voto the money before the expedition A \ a 3 fitted out .

      TIIK TIOKICT-OF-LKAVK SYSTEM . Sir Geouoe Ghhy moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the Act Kith and . 17 th Victoria , cap . 9 !> , entitled " An Act to substitute in certain eases otlicr puiiislimcnt in lieu of transportation . " The changes which ha proposed to introduce in tho present bill were tlicae' : —Tirst , to lengthen Ihe term of sentences of penal servitude to an equal duration with that of the periods of transportation for which they were substituted ; secondly , to gi \ r o judges a discretionary power to pus .

      sentencc-8-of intermediate severity between those of ordinary imprisonment and the minimum of transportation ^ thirdly , to allow prisoners sentenced to penal servitude to bo removed to certain colonies—u power which would bo exercised witli great caution , but which might cnablo the . ( ioiforamcnt to sorve tho colonies , and especially Western AuutraHa , and to boiusfit tho convicts who might bo selected for removal to another upbore ; and fourthly , to continuo the practice of mitigating sentences aa a reward for good conduct in prison , but to restrict

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      146 THE LEADER . [ No . 360 , Saturday

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      '¦ ¦ IWEKIMI . PARLIAMENT . —?——

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      SELE' - 'IiliFOKW : OF TUB LOXDON CORPOKATIOJT . A special Court of Common Council was held last Saturday , for tho purpose of receiving a report from the Corporation Inquiry Committee , on the subject of the future management of the corporation . It contained fifty suggestions , some of wliicla were that the number of wards should' be reduced to twenty ; that the Parliamentary franchise should bo tli ' o municipal franchise ; that the number : of common councilmen should bo reduced to one- , hundred and fifty ; that the quorum of the Court should bo thirty , that tho term of tho office of common councilmen should bo for one year ; that tho Lord Mayor shotildi bo elected by tho members of tho livery compantMjB , together with . tlio . municipal electors from , tbo aldormcnwho had neired the onico of sheriff ; that the Sheriff should be elected by the same constituency as tho Lord- Mfcyor , th ! at the Lord Mbyor < and aldermen should bomaHnstratos as at -present , and have the administration , of justice in the justice-rooms nnd continuo to bo

      , commissioners of the Central Criminal Court ; that they Bhould hare the contrrol ' of the city prmona aa well as of the prison : officers j thbt they should exorcise the same duUos-mmspoct to tlio . police as they , now possess : that they should still have tbe appointment of the Recorder and-other law officers that all ' oxclnsivo rights of trading m tho City bo . abolished , a » d'nil ! street tolls < lono away . w . itU . It-m » resolved that tlio report bo printed , next C I COn 8 ldcratiou oC ifc b 0 postponed till the

      F ™ « f . SnAi ^ vinx—With refiirenco this cnao , an _ abatfact of vrhldi we- gave last week , Mr . Shadwdl writes to tho Time to aay that he was not allowed to BtRto in court that tho character bo gnvo of bis former bAtler \ fits not ( fin several Nave inferred ) a good one , but tW oontraTv . '

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 14, 1857, page 146, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2180/page/2/