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_j| 20 ;iMg%p &dEApEB. [No-311, SATtJitD...
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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.
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Imperial Parliament* Monday, March 3rd. ...
to j » ee > , purchase put augend to / above the rank of captains—Colonel Lindsay thought that purchase ia some f *> rm , or other is inevitable in the army , and that ib prevents jobbery . Already it had crept into the Indian , army ; and in the royal army ifc had secured physical efficiency . Mental efficiency- also might be puoeiH'ed by proper arrangements . —Colonel JNTorth likewise opposed the abolition of the purchase system . On the part of the Governm ent , Mr . Frederick Peel and Lord Palmerston argued that , although promotion by purchase is bad in the abstract , and ought not to be admitted if we were forming an army for the first time , yet that it had becoiae so in-woven ,
by long existence , into oar military system , that it ¦ wauld be difficult ^ and- in some re spects injurious , to remove ib ; that some positive and undoubted evils resulting from the present system should be shown to justify an alteration ; that a change would involve a very large pecuniary loss to the nation ( not only by the repurchase of commissions , but ia the enlarged scale of retirements ); and that promotion by merit would give rise to complaints of unjust preference . Lord P almeraton , however , _ would undertake that a mixed commission of civilians , and military men should be appointed to pursue the inquiry begun by a former commission on army promotion , provided Sir De Lacy Evans would withdraw his motion . — This was agreed to .
. tea Duties . Mr . Macartney moved for a select committee to mqmre into the circumstances attending the payment ofitlie * ery ; large amount of duties upon teas on the 20 tb ; of April , 1855 , by certain persons trading in London and Liverpool , thereby evading ^ the increased . duties proposed by *^ Chancellor , of the Exchequer Snjthe , Budget of the 'same evening , in order to ascerttBin . ^ yhether such persons were enabled to do so in -consequence of ¦> previous information communicated % y some persons connected with the revenue department of the Treasury .- —The Chancellor of the ¦ Exchequer was surprised , at the . course pursued , the chargetreating on niere suspicion . If there was any evidence in support of it , he would not oppose the . motion ; otherwise , he must . —No evidence was . bjOTight forward , and the motion was negatived .
¦ ¦; ¦ ¦¦• '¦ ¦¦ \ ' ¦ ¦; ' ' oxide : . ¦; . ... Sir Erskine Perry , in moving for a return enumerating the territories which have been annexed , or ^ have been proposed to be annexed , to the British -fldnQiniona by the Governor-General of India since the c ] o 3 eof the Punjab war , inquired on what ground of - ' right we had interfered in the State of Oude , if its annexation had taken place . —Mr . Vetoston Smith re-> peated the answer he had given more tlian once , —that a despatch had been , sent to Lord . Dalbiousie with respecb to the mode of dealing with the qnal-administratiori of the kingdom of Oude , which had been left to his ' discr-etipn ; but he declined to enter into details until'tie coiild lay all . ''the papers upon the table , — Aftersom ' e retnarlcs by Mr . Qtway ( who spoke , against -the ) annexation ) , and Mr . Kinnaird , the motion was -iagreedtQ . TheDvnsiiMNGs for Labouring Classes ( Ireland ) Bill was read a second time after some opposition . Wednesday , March 5 th . CHURCH BATES ABOLITION BILL . in the House of Commons Sir "William Clay moved the second reading of this toll . Since the 'decisionof thei House of Lords , church-rates might be ' saiil , to exist no longer , as a rate cannot be made except by a majority of the parishioners . Yet « iratest 3 continue to spring up , and , " to make the law pesffectly clear and harmonious , the present bill waa ' " introduced . The bill abolished church-rates , saving wlaere there are charges upon them , and substituted Voluntary contributions , to . be collected by the "• elvurchwarden , whose office and i > ower are preserved ; Mtd the bill provided that auditorsto be elected by
, the vestry , should control the disbursement of the funds ., Sir William said that his bill , of tast year authorised pew-rents ; but , objections having been made to that provision , he had given it up . —Lord John Manners moved to defer the second reading for six months . He fully acknowledged as a grievance ths right to tax Dissenters for tho maintentmco of the Church , and desired to see that cause of complaint " repressed j but the bill , though professing to substitute ecmb " other provisions / ' in . lieu of church-rates , > ha rfisreb did nothing more than give a superfluous ttUfticjtion to charitable donations , thus abolishing ' without compensation an ancient and universal charge
oni property which hns scoured to the poor the privilege pf a free exercise of religious worship . Th ?* whole oxponao of upholding the fabric of the GfctjfalWwould time be thrown on the shoulders of Churchmen j yet Dissontora , while escaping from all ^ aUniary liability , would bo enabled to interfere in OTory A ^ h gement connoot « d with tfco services of the S H ^ wi 4 thj « . distribution of tanda collected by V *^ 9 ^ pn ^ Ho thorefox'O looked o » the measure aa ^ W ^ : ' ^^' ittHuU ' QtiB--TUo atnondmpnt was so-° ^ W ; » y ^* Staipd-obd' Northoo-ws . —Tho bill was aIaoopposoaby > Mr ? PwMMOND , who auggestod that
Ministers should bring in a bill themselves , and asked whether , if the rate should be abolished , the benefit would go into the pockets of landlords of houses . —Following on the same side , Lord John Russell said he dissented from the proposition that it is a hardship to compel Dissenters to pay Church-rates ; but , had the- bill fulfilled its promise of making " other provision '' for the rates , he would have suppor ted it . All the judges had agreed that there is a legal obligation to repair the parish church ; but the obligation cannot be enforced , and has therefore been evaded . To legalise this evasion was the object of Sir "William Clay's bill , and the amendments of which the Government had given notice .
Sir George Grey ( who spoke immediately after Sir Stafford Northcote ) said Lord John Manners had forgotten the existing state of the law under the decision of the House of Lords . By that decision , churchrates were practically abolished ; and it had been found that abundant means of repairing churches had been derived from voluntary contributions . The Government , therefore , waa forced to acknowledge the abolition in effect of this source of ecclesiastical revenue ; but Ministers were not prepared to enforce the cessation of rates in those pai'ishea where there was still a majority ia favour of them . They proposed that , when rates have been refused in a parish for a given time , and there is an expression of a determined will on the part of the rate-payers not to pay them , they should cease to be levied . This principle ,
which they regarded as a -sound one ; had been embodied in the bill , sanctioned by the heads of the Church , which was introduced into the House of Lords last session by the Archbishop of Canterbury . . In those pla'ce ' 3 where the rates continued , he saw no objection ; to allowing a rate-payer to claim exemption on a declarsttion that he is a Dissenter ; but , although such a person has no right , aftei * such claim of exemption , to take pai ^ t in the imposition of the rate , or to have any other connexion therewith , he could not consent to other disqualifications , such as i"efusing the Dissenter liberty to enter the walls of the church . — Lord Palmerstonsaid the Government conceived their best course to b e in proposing to the House various amendments on the present bill . Lord John Uussell had denominated , church - rates an
ancient property founded on the law of the land ; but it ia a mockery to say that the Church has a property which a majority can withhold . The present Course was the only one open to Government ! ¦ —Mr . Miall made a few observations in favour of the bill ; and Lord John Manners ( who , in hi 3 first speech , had alluded to " the reckle 33 Attorney-General "—an allusion which Sir A . Cockburn indignantly repelled , observing that lie who made it was aot held high in general estimation for sagacity or wisdom ) explained that he did not mean anything personally offensive to the Attorney-General . The House then , divided ) when the amendment was negatived by 221 to 178 , and the bill was read a second time . Tkursdai / , MarcJi 6 th , ontritoH- rates .
In the House of Lobds , the Bishop of Exeter and Lord Portman presented petitions against the abolition of church-rates without , an equivalent . The Bishop spoke emphatically against the bill brought into the lower House " by Sir William Clay , and sanctioned , with certain alterations , by tho Government .
SALARIES OV COUNTY COURT JUDGES . Lord Pqrtman gave notice that on some convenient day after Easter he would move a resolution i * elating to the salaries of the County Court judges . —The Lord Chancellor was understood to say that he had now fiually settled a bill relating to the same subject , and that he intended to introdxice it on Monday next , and then to' postpone the second reading till after Easter . —Lord Brougham strongly deprecated any reduction of the salaries .
EXCHEQUER XILLS PUNDINO BILL . On the motion for the seoond reading of this bill , Earl Grey entered into some criticisms on tho impolicy of the course -which had rendered it necessary to make this further addition to the national debt . Within the financial yenr which had nearly expired , £ 28 , 000 , 000 had been added to that debt , including a loan of . £ 16 , 000 , 000 , and an issue of about £ 7 , 000 , 000 of Exchequer Bills . They were next called upon to agree to a bill whioh sanctioned a further loan of £ 5 , 000 , 000 , making tlie whole addition to the debt within the financial year no loss than £ 28 , 000 , 000 ; and this , as they were told on the highest ' authority ,
only included the expenditure up tp the 1 st of April , the termination of tlie current year . Such a polioy was a departure from that of the Government existing at the commencement of the war , Wo wore then told that a large portion of tho expenses of the war would b © raised by taxation rather than by loans ; but , of tho £ 46 , 000 , 000 wh , ioh , according to a recent statement of tho Chancellor of tho Exohojuoiv tho war had already cost , at lenst £ 80 , 000 , 000 perhaps more—had been raised by loans . Tlu 3 facility of raising money had led to extravagance of expenditure ; all considerations of coonomy in the w « f hoving boon disregarded . Thg four millions
expended for Militia had been totally useless ; for a greater number of recruits to the regular army might have bean obtainedjfor much less money . Then as to fortifications , they were asked for new -works and fortifications at home and abroad to the amount of ; £ l , 700 , 0 Q 0 , being an increase of £ 600 , 000 on last year . The larger portion of theae works had no reference to the war . The vote was for fortifications on the coast , which would certainl y not be required during the present war , and for barracks which would not be completed until after the war had terminated . The fortifications , morover , were constructed c on principles such as are opposed by the best engineers of modern times . He should be glad if Lord Pannmre
• would appoint a commission to take into consideration the system , of earthwork fortifications introduced by Mr . Ferguson , and used with admirable success by the Russians during the siege of Sebastopol . But such a commission should not merely be composed of military men , who are opposed to any innovat ion in their art , but should include civil engineers . —Lord Panmure defended the outlay on the militia , which had given 27 , 000 men to the British army , and had done the garrison duty of the country . The fortifications had long been considered necessary to the defence . —Lord Monteaole thought that a large unnecessary expense had been incurred during the war for purposes not connected with it , and which might
have been postponed ; and he objected to the appropriation to war purposes of £ 34 , 000 , 000 not intended for those purposes , and which , had fallen Tinder the control of Lord Panmure , owing to the consolidation of the war department . This waa a subject for inquiry in the House of Commons . —Lord Stanley of Alderley ( who stated his opinion that the present war had been carried on with Ies 3 suffering to the country and Ies 3 inconvenience to commerce than any other war on record ) said that the whole extraordinary expenditure occasioned by the abou
war— - t £ 50 , 000 , 000—would be raised in nearly equal proportions by increased taxation and by loans . The loans , moreover , differ from all previous loans by ¦ the creation of a . sinking fund , so that they will all be redeemed in about tw e nty years . — -The bill was then read a second time , and subsequently w « nt through all the other stages , and was passed . Previous to this i-esu . lt , Lord Panmure , in answer to the observations of Lord MoNTEAQiE , made some explanations , hut was forced to acknowledge that the appropriation in question could not legally be made as long as the present law exists .
The Consolidated Fund ( £ 1 , 631 , 005 ) Bill waa road a third time and passed .
THE ARMY . —ILLEGITIMACY . In the House of Commons , Major Sibxhori ? asked the Under-Secretary for War whether a claim made for the pay and medal of a soldier who fought at Alma , and who was believed to have been present with his regiment at Inkermann , and reported to have died before Sebastopol on the 7 th day of November , 1854 , had been refused , on the ground that the soldier "was of illegitimate birth?—Mr . Frederick Peel said that , if Major Sibthorp would give him . the name of the soldier in question , he would make an nquiry into the cose .
EDUCATION . Lord John Rcssell moved a series of resolutions on the subject of education . He did so , he eaid , with , a feeling of * great anxiety , as he was embarking on a . sea noted for Bhoals , and covered with the wrecks of many previous adventurers . But the tirae had come when we must endeavour to put this country on a more equal footing with other nations . We must waive tiat proud ambition of which Milton spoko when h « said , " England should not forget her precedence in teaching the nations how to live ;"' ' we must abandon that position with respect to education , because other nations have gone before us iu
establishing ; excellent systems , whioh had beon most successful in their operation , and which had olovutod the character of the nations among whom they wore found . The researches of statistical inquiries of ouo of his predecessors ( Sir John Pakingtom ) had been most accurate , and his statements wore of tho greatest value . From the census of 1851 it appeared that there were about 4 , 000 , 000 childroai and young persons between the ages of five and fifteen , niul , according to tho returns of Mr . Horace Mann , about 2 , 000 , 000 were entei-ed in the school boolcs , 1 , 750 , 00 . 0 of whom were iu attendance j but , considering tho character of tho teachers in some of these solioolf * . it
was doubtful whether what appeared upon the aimuco to be education could bo so considered . With respect to tho education in the schools under tho Gonnuit . teo of Council on Education , which were attonded by upwards of E 00 , 000 children , tho grants from 1839 had been tho cause of a great improvement of education , by tho training schools for toaahora and the general bottoring of elementary education . In the oanton of Berno , one in every four m rec eiving a good education ; in Now England tho proportion is one in five ; and Scotland , in ioxtooi timon at Ion ** , waa famous for her educational hrrangemonts . l * in England one groat obstacle to tho education of tho young ia to bo found in tho curly ago <\ t whioli tho
_J| 20 ;Img%P &Deapeb. [No-311, Sattjitd...
_ j | 20 ; iMg % p & dEApEB . [ No-311 , SATtJitDAY ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 8, 1856, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08031856/page/4/
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