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ferent courts in England. The judges ought to have equal labour and equal responsibility; but he did not know how that was to be obtained, unless the causes were all placed in one list, and each court should take a part of them in succession. The plaintiff had no right to select a tribunal any more than the defendant. It was said that the Court of Common Pleas was an efficient court, but he found, if the whole business were equally divided between the three courts, each one of them would have one-half more to do than the Court of Common Pleas, and four-fifths more than the Court of Exchequer. It was not fair, therefore, to overburthen, as at present, the Court of King's Bench with so much more than an average share of business. He agreed with the hon. Member for Clare, that it was most desirable to carry justice home to every man's door, but he doubted whether it were possible to find a sufficient number of judges to put such a scheme, on the French plan, into execution. He should think it harsh to force a measure of the nature of that then before the House on any people against their inclination; but not believing, after what had been stated by two hon. Members, that this was the case, he should give his assent to the Motion.

Mr. Secretary Peel said, that the proposition of his hon. and learned friend had not been fairly treated. He had proposed to introduce a measure to alter the jurisdiction of the Welsh Courts, and it might have been supposed, as the House had previously been engaged in discussing the twelve propositions of his right hon. friend, that it would, at that late hour, have thought the discussion of one topic at a time enough. The hon. Member for Clare, however, was disappointed that the Bill did not reform the whole practice of all our courts, and he had indulged in many remarks on that subject. He had himself, as a preliminary measure to such a reform, stated his intention to introduce a bill for putting an end to patent offices, and till that, and the question concerning fees were disposed of, the reform of the courts could not be proceeded with. Measures were in contemplation, also, for an equal distribution of business among the courts, and he did not expect that subject would have been brought under the notice of the House, when it was only called on to discuss the question of the Welsh

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Judicature. The House had heard also a great deal about the repugnance of the people of Wales to the measure, but he would like to ask on which of the representatives of that principality the House meant to rely? The declarations of two hon. Members at least showed that the inhabitants were not universally opposed to the measure. The Welsh had no local tribunal which would be taken from them by the Bill. The judges would go into Wales at different periods of the year, as at present, and when it was said that the Welsh were devotedly attached to their local tribunals, it should be remembered, that at present a great number of causes were sent into England to be tried in order to get rid of local prejudices. It ought also to be observed, when it was said that the Welsh would lose their Equity Courts, that, in fact, most of the Equity cases came already up to London to be settled. It was a curious illustration of the Equity Courts of Wales, that they were chiefly of use to stay the irregular proceedings of the Courts of Law. That was not, however, the time for discussing those matters in detail, and he would not go further into them. He could, however, assure those who had expressed themselves so anxious for delay, that there was no design whatever on the part of Government to force this measure on the people of Wales without giving them abundant time to consider it in all its bearings. Such a disposition, he thought, had been satisfactorily evinced already by his right hon. friend, when he gave notice of his intention so early after the commencement of the Session.

Mr. Rice Trevor wished only to state, that he had presented a petition from the county he represented against the change, and in the sentiments of that petition he fully concurred.

The Attorney General professed himself disposed to give all the time for delay which could be conceded consistently with his intention to have it passed through both Houses of Parliament before the expiration of the Session. He wished it to be understood that it was no part of his plan to touch the Palatine Courts of Durham, Chester, and Lancaster. As to what had been said of France, he had compared, not the amount of population in the two kingdoms, but the extent of business done by the judges. He had stated that the twelve judges of England decided as

The Attorney General disavowed having made any disrespectful allusion to Mr. Bentham or his writings, and he could not help thinking that a very insidious application had been made of any expressions he might have uttered. He entertained a high respect for Mr. Bentham, whom he had not the honour to know personally, although he was acquainted with those who were on intimate terms with that gentleman. It did not follow, however, that the respect which he felt for the writer was to extend to an adoption of his opinions. He did speak of a sect, but he had cast no reflections upon its members.

Mr. Hume regretted that he had misunderstood the hon. and learned Gentleman, and was happy to hear him disclaiming any disrespectful intention.

Motion agreed to. Bill ordered to be brought in.

many causes, involving as large an amount | his principles, and labour to attain the of property, as the judges of France; and same exalted character in the estimation that statement, which he would re-affirm, of the civilized world. had not been controverted. He had also distinctly stated, that he meant to propose no alteration in the form of procedure except as to arrests for debt. He could not agree with the hon. Member for Clare in what he had said with respect to special pleading, as he considered the present system unobjectionable, and no man could become a good lawyer without attaining a competent knowledge of it. He knew that there was a sect in this country containing many clever men, who were of a different opinion, but whose theories he regarded as unfounded. He knew one celebrated individual who objected to trial by jury, he knew that that individual had made many proselytes, and perhaps the hon. Member might be one of them. He knew also, that it was very easy to find fault where there was a disposition, and that it was more difficult to defend than to attack, but he would take the liberty of saying, that ordinary talents were sufficient for criticism, while to compose a system required time and genius. When institutions had been matured by time, they modelled the habits of the people to themselves, and therefore, if for no other reason, they were generally de- A Report was laid on the Table concerning the National Vacserving of support. He thought, when the time came for a more complete discussion of all those circumstances, that he should be able to satisfy the hon. Member for Clare, that he was wrong also in his wish to carry cheap justice to every man's door. One disadvantage of many judges was the uncertainty of the law, the decision of one tribunal in France being often at variance with another. As to the measure itself, he would only say that those who were concerned in bringing it forward had undergone the severest labour in preparing it for the legislature ever since the second week in November, which, he submitted, did not manifest any undue or inordinate desire to spare themselves, or to hurry it through the House.

Mr. Hume animadverted on some observations that had fallen from the Attorney General, conveying, as he conceived, a sneer of ridicule, directed against Mr. Bentham and the doctrines advocated by that writer and his followers. Instead of sarcastically reviling such a man as Mr. Bentham, he thought it would be well for the Attorney General if he would cultivate

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Wednesday, March 10.

MINUTES.] Lord ELLENBOROUGH'S

Divorce Bill went

through a Committee.-The Transfer of Aids Bill, and the 12,000,000 Exchequer Bills Bill, were brought up from the Commons and read a first time.

cine Establishment, and ordered to be printed.

TAX ON LEATHER.] The Earl of Roscbery presented a Petition from the Tanners of Linlithgow, praying for a repeal of the remaining Tax upon Leather. The noble Lord observed, that he entirely concurred. in the prayer of the Petition. The remission of the Leather-tax that had already taken place was productive of no benefit to the public, although it took 400,000. out of the Exchequer. It would be better to reimpose the duty formerly remitted, unless their Lordships were prepared to remit the remainder, and get rid of the penalties and restrictions which caused the previous remission to be of no public benefit.

The Earl of Malmesbury said, he could not concur in the propriety of reimposing the Leather-tax, though he agreed with the noble Earl in stating, that the public had derived no benefit from its having been taken off. When Mr. Pitt gave up the 3s. duty on hats, he (Lord Malmesbury) went to his hatter and congratulated him upon the reduction, at the same time expressing a hope that the price of the

article would be lowered. The answer of the hatter was, that the trade had heard with great satisfaction that the 3s. duty had been taken off,-that it had been in contemplation to raise the price of the article; but that, in consequence of the remission of the duty, the price would remain the same. Not only was the price not lowered, but hats were actually 1s. dearer than when the duty was in existence. It must be admitted, however, that the tax was one easily evaded. This afforded a reason for considering the probable effect of a remission of taxation, before taking off a particular tax: it was also a reason why their Lordships should consider seriously before they imposed at tax. As he had said already, he could not agree with the noble Earl in the policy of reimposing the moiety of the Leathertax which had been remitted, for although the public had not been benefitted by its remission, no doubt if it were reimposed the price of boots and shoes would be raised. When he spoke to his shoe-maker on the subject, the invariable answer was, that the advantage of the remission had accrued to the tanner or currier, it had stopped in media viá-the benefit never reached the consumer. He made an exception in favour of the salt-tax, the remission of which had been extremely beneficial to the agricultural population. In that instance the legislature had conferred a real benefit upon the public. But if it imposed the tax upon leather, the people would not only have to pay so much more for their boots and shoes, in proportion to the amount of the tax, they would also have to pay a per centage on account of the reduction of consumption which taxation invariably occasioned.

The Earl of Rosebery did not recommend the re-imposition of the Leather-tax; on the contrary, he thought it advisable to repeal the remaining duty, which gave rise to restrictions that prevented the public from enjoying the benefit of the repeal that had already taken place. The public had derived no advantage hitherto; all the benefit fell into the hands of a few great capitalists.

Earl Stanhope was well aware, that the public did not receive that relief which might reasonably be expected from a reduction of taxation upon the raw material. The evil arose from our want of those municipal regulations which existed on the Continent, and by which corporations and magistrates

were empowered to fix the prices of the necessaries of life. The ancient law of this country gave such a power with respect to two of the prime necessaries of life-bread and beer. The noble Earl opposite smiled at this; but if he looked into the statute passed in the reign of Henry 2nd, he would find the principle recognized. Such regulations were attended with eminent benefit to the continental consumer, whereas here we had all the evils of exclusive corporations and monopolies, and none of the benefits which they might be made to bestow. He quite agreed in the statement that a remission of taxes on the raw material was frequently of no benefit to the consumer: it afforded an undue profit to the capitalist or the retail dealer,—that was all.

Petition ordered to be printed

JEWS.] The Marquis of Lansdown presented a Petition, signed by all the respectable inhabitants residing in the town of Liverpool, of the Jewish persuasion, for the removal of the disabilities under which they laboured. This being the first opportunity which he had enjoyed of stating his opinion on the subject, he should say that he knew of no reason connected with the faith which these individuals professed,or with their personal conduct, which ought to preclude them from a free admission to those equal advantages of a civil nature that had been so wisely extended to others. This was not an occasion on which it would be proper to say more on the subject, and he should only add, that he had seen with satisfaction an intimation that a bill for the relief of the Jews was shortly to be brought into the other House of Parliament.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Wednesday, March 10. MINUTES.] Notice was given by Mr. JEPHSON of a Bill to

amend the 9th Gen. 4th. c. 85, relating to the selection of Juries in New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land:-by Mr. FRANKLAND LEWIS, that he would, on April 17th, move for leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate the laws relative to the payment of the Navy.

Accounts were presented of Proclamations issued and expenses incurred by putting into force the Peace Preservation Acts of the amount of money paid by ships for Medi

terranean Passes.

Accounts were ordered on the motion of Mr. ALDERMAN WAITHMAN, of the number of persons discharged by the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors from the 1st January 1814 to December 31st 1829:-of Mr. D. W. HARVEY, of the number of Informations filed in the Court of Chancery since 1818 having for their object to correct abuses in public charities, and of the number of Petitions presented to the Court:- of Mr. HUME, of the number of Writs or Processes issued by the Solicitor of the Board of Taxes against persons in arrear for Assessed Taxes in Middle

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AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.] Several Petitions were presented on this subject by Mr. Burrel, by Mr. Arkwright, and also by Mr. Denison, who observed that the petition he had to present from the inhabitants of Croydon, Surrey, was, though short, full of serious circumstances. The petitioners stated that they could no longer bear to witness the distressed and even starving condition of the destitute labourers, many of whom were out of employment, and must actually die of want, if they were not relieved. They stated that the taxes on beer, malt, and on hops, might be considered as poll-taxes, falling the heaviest on the poor labourers, who were obliged to consume those articles to support their strength, though at present they could get neither this nor any thing else. The want of those necessaries of life was shortening the existence of thousands of labourers. If these taxes were remitted, beer would be reduced from 5d. to 1d. per quart. He did not make these remarks from any hostility to his Majesty's Ministers, but he must press on their attention the propriety of taking these complaints into their serious consideration. Hewished to enforce these complaints by the strongest language which he could with propriety use, and he should be glad that similar petitions from every distressed district were sent up, as he thought by that means alone would the Government be induced to remit a sufficiency of taxation to give the people permanent relief.

Petitions read and printed.

DUTY ON SPIRITS.] Mr. W. Smith, in presenting a Petition from a body of men who were not numerous, but very important, on account of their wealth, and the sums they paid to the revenue, he meant the English Distillers,observed, that the prayer of their petition was, that no alteration might be made in the discriminating duty now levied on rum, and on English cornspirit. They had been induced to present the petition to the House by observing that a petition had lately been presented to it, praying for a reduction of the duty on rum. When that petition was presented

he had no doubt that many of its allegations were unfounded, and the petitioners began by denying them. Already the price of spirits was ruinously low in this country, and he thought that any further reduction of the duty on colonial spirits would bring them so much within the reach of every class, as almost to supersede the use of our wholesome national beverage. Indeed he regretted very much to observe that spirits were already generally drank instead of beer, and he could not but fear that the change had led to a deterioration. of public morals.

Petition read and printed.

THE STANDARD OF THE CURRENCY.] Mr. Wodehouse asked the right hon. the Master of the Mint, whom he saw in his place, why a copy of the evidence of Mr. Baring, and of the Governor and DeputyGovernor of the Bank of England, relative to the Silver Standard, which the Government had some time back consented to produce, was not laid on the Table. He thought it essential to give the country every possible information on this subject, in order to see if it would afford a means of relieving our distress.

Mr. Herries said, that as far as he was aware, there was every disposition to lay all the evidence obtained by the Government before the House. The occasion on which this evidence was given was peculiar, and perhaps for that reason it might be produced; but in general cases he thought it would be inconvenient to say that communications thus made to the Privy Council were not privileged. He thought that when the papers were produced it would be seen that the Board of Trade had done what was most conducive to the end in view. On looking into the papers he found them divided into four. first consisted of the evidence of Mr. Baring; the second was a statement of information privately communicated to him; and the third was a memorandum of a conversation between him and the Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England, which, from the very first passage in it, was clearly of a confidential nature. He thought that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would readily agree to lay on the Table all the papers that could properly be the means of affording information to the House.

The

Mr. S. Rice thought the explanation of the right hon. Gentleman satisfactory;

and he wished to know whether any information could be afforded as to the quantity of silver specie exported?

Mr. Herries said, that there were not any means of obtaining accurate information upon that subject.

ROMAN CATHOLICS OF GALWAY.] Mr. O'Hara, in presenting two Petitions, one from the Justices of the Peace of the County of Galway, and the other from the Roman Catholic Clergy of the Wardenship of Galway, praying that Roman Catholics might be admitted to the privileges of the Corporation of the Town of Galway, observed, that the petitioners stated, that formerly Catholics were admitted to all the privileges of the Corporation. Their rights were recognised by the Charter of Charles 2nd, and by the Irish House of Commons in 1715. The Act of 4th Geo. 1st was intended only to give Protestants a more ready, and secure, and cheap mode of acquiring their freedom. By the late Act of admitting Roman Catholics to the civil offices of the State, they were certainly entitled also to enter the Corporation of the town of Galway; but that was contrary to the words of the Act of George 1st. The petitioners therefore prayed, and he warmly concurred in their prayer, that Parliament would adopt some means of removing all doubt on the subject, and of giving Roman Catholics an equal right with Protestants to share all the privileges of the Corporation of Galway.

Mr. S. Rice rose, pursuant to the notice he had given, to move for leave to bring in a bill to repeal so much of the Act of the 4th of George 1st as limits the franchise of this corporation to Protestants only. The hon. Member observed, that it was not his intention to go into any argument on the subject at present, particularly in the absence of those hon. Gentlemen who took a part in the discussion when he presented the Petition. Other opportunities would occur for going more fully into it, should it be necessary. He would confine himself, therefore, at present, to merely stating the grounds on which he asked for leave to bring it in. The Protestant merchants and traders could, by the Act of Geo. 1st. claim their freedom as a matter of right, after a residence in the town, but the claim was confined to them exclusively. The privileges of the corporation were limited to Protestants. It seemed

to be the general opinion, that after having passed the bill of the last Session, for the relief of the Roman Catholics, it would be inconsistent with its principle to allow such a distinction to remain on the Statute-book. The only question was, how the inequality should be removed. One mode was by giving the franchise to Catholics as well as Protestants, and the other by taking it from the Protestants; but of the latter mode he could not think for a moment, and it was but justice to the Roman Catholics of that town to repeat what had been said of them by the hon. Member for Clare, that they would never accept any concession at the expense of their Protestant brethren. The hon. Member then moved for leave to bring in the bill.

Mr. Trant did not rise to oppose the Motion, but he wished to guard himself against its being supposed, should he remain silent, that he approved of the measure. What steps he might afterwards take to oppose the bill he did not then know, but he looked with extreme jealousy upon any measures interfering with corporate rights.

Leave given, and Bill ordered to be brought in.

AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL.] Viscount Palmerston rose to submit to the House the Motion of which he had given notice, relative to the Affairs of Portugal. His lordship spoke to the following effect :-I feel that I ought, in the first place, to apologise to the House, for having fixed upon a day which, by the general understanding of all sides, is usually devoted to relaxation from Parliamentary duties; but it has been my misfortune, and not my fault. I have already been obliged twice to postpone my Motion. I have failed in an endeavour to make an arrangement with the Government, which would have enabled me to bring it on to-morrow; and I had no alternative, but either to make my Motion to-day, or else to put it off till April; and I did not think, that under all circumstances, I could with propriety, delay it so long. The Motion with which I shall conclude, will be for further information as to the conduct of the Government, with regard to the affairs of Portugal; and I trust I shall be able to establish such grounds for my Motion, that it will be impossible for the House to refuse to accede to it. There may be many

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