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82 ®!>e 3LeaHVV. [Saturday, ^
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{The following appeared in our Second Ed...
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The ministers of the Congregational Diss...
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The Government of Hanover refuses to rec...
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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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In Consequence Of The Vote On The Eccles...
demned to a fine of 1000 dollars for as an officer of the Landwehr . The Senate of Turin passed on the 9 th instant the law for abolishing the ecclesiastical privileges , to which the King on the following day gave his assent , and it was immediately published and promulgated as a law of the kingdom . The news was received by joyful crowds . This seems to have annoyed the Government , who ordered the cavalry to clear the streets . Several persons were wounded . , The Stadtholderate of Schleswig-Holstem has appointed the Prussian General Williain to the command of the army of the Duchies , in place of General Bonin . The general has issued a warlike address , saying that the King of Denmark cannot be considered as their king , but only as their duke . ,,
, ^ „ _ The Erfurt sittings have commenced . Almost the first proceeding is a " triumph " of the Gagern party over the Prussian Government , a majority of 125 to 80 accepting the Constitution and its addenda en bloc , notwithstanding the Prussian deaire to neutralize its own work , by the insertion of additional clauses . The Gagern Party are in excellent spirits at " having at last done something ; " but already rumours are afloat of Prussia ' s dissolving the Parliamentas an easy way to escape the increasing complication . monument letter from
A most magnificent ( says a India ) has just been completed in the Catholic Cathedral of Sirdhanna ( about fourteen miles from Meerut ) , to the memory of the celebrated Begum Sombre . The whole height of the monument is about thirty feet , and cost in Rome five thousand guineas . It is surmounted by a beautiful statue of the Begum as large as life , while on the steps of the throne , and leaning on the corner , are Colonel Dyce , a Catholic Archbishop , a native General , and a Dewan — all beautifully chiselled in white marble . "With the single exception of the throne , which is of Siennite , the whole monument is of the most beautiful Carrara marble .
82 ®!>E 3leahvv. [Saturday, ^
82 ®!> e 3 LeaHVV . [ Saturday ,
{The Following Appeared In Our Second Ed...
{ The following appeared in our Second Edition of last week . ] POSTSCRIPT . Satuuday , April 13 . In the House of Lords , last night , Earl Grey moved the third reading of the Convict Prisons Bill . In the debate that ensued Lords Lyttleton , Wodehouse , iLCiiESTEit , and Stanley , expressed their convictions of the necessity of altering our present penal system , but seemed to agree in considering the Government scheme as only a temporary staving off of the real difficulties of the question . Earl Grey in reply combated the objections which had been taken to the system of transportation . He referred to the growth of our Australian colonies as evidence of the advantages to be derived from such a system ; but while he thought that transportation
should not be abandoned , " he was more and more impressed with the conviction that the penal part of the sentence ought to be inflicted at home . " He believed the difficulties in the way of disposing of convicts would be lessened ; that convicts might be still sent advantageously to New South Wales and Western Australia , sending , however , only such as had obtained conditional pardons , and keeping the remainder at Van Diemen ' s Land . He did not anticipate any opposition from " Van Diemen ' s Land , for he already saw that the colony was less averse than in 1846 . The opposition at the Cape arose from that being a free colony .
In the early part of the evening Lord Campbell introduced his bill for the regulation of special pleading . In the House of Commons , last night , Lord John Russell brought forward his motion on public salaries : it ran thus : — th" That a select committee be appointed to inquire into plo salaries and emoluments of offices held during the Pcasure of the Crown by members of either House of sarliamcnt voted in the annual estimates ; into the ralarics and emoluments of judicial officers in the supeiior courts of law and equity in the United Kingdom ;
nto the retiring pensions allotted to the judges ; and also into the expense of diplomatic establishments charged on the Consolidated Fund . " In IS 48 , he said , a committee was appointed to inquire into our military establishments , and , that committee having now nearly completed its labours , he proposed thtit another should bo appointed . The iirst branch of inquiry would bo the salaries of persons holding oilieo at the pleasure of the Crown , and any proposal for the reduction of these could be best considered by a committee composed of independent Members of the House . The second branch was
the salaries of the Judges ; tlie . se had not undergone any investigation for a lonjj time . The last branch of the inquiry related to our diplomatic establishment , and ; vs nineteen years had elapsed since they were put on their present footing , lie thought the time had come when they ought to bo submitted to revision . One member of the Government , at least , should bo placed on the committee , to jLrive any explanations , if necessary . He referred to Mr . Henley ' s notice- of motion for a general revision of salaries , with a view to their reduction , and Mr . i ) israeli's amendment on the present motion , as implying that Government wove not in earnest in their professions of economy . The best answer to this was to show what reductions they had made in the
national expenditure during the last two years . Within that period a reduction of £ 3 , 284 , 658 had been made in the Army , Navy , and Ordnance Estimates . In the Treasury , one junior Lord , two chief clerkships , one senior clerkship , and / our junior clerkships had been abolished , making a saving of £ 5 , 345 a-year . In 1849 a saving of £ 23 , 000 was made in the Paymaster-General ' s office ; in the Customs , by the abolition of offices and reduction of salaries , a saving of £ 64 , 791 had been effected . Lord John justified the salaries of the Treasury : —
" Considering the multifarious duties which are performed by the Treasury Department , as well as the extreme importance of its decisions to the public , and that those duties are discharged by twenty-nine persons at a cost of less than £ 25 , 000 , I cannot believe that a similar instance of efficiency combined with economy can be found in any other country of Europe or America . Seeing these things , I cannot concur in the comments which are made from time to time on the manner in which duties are performed in the public offices of this country by persons holding permanent situations . It was lately asserted by a very clever but whimsical writer that our public offices are an Augean stable which reis
quire an Hercules to cleanse it . My opinion , that public duties for the discharge of which great intelligence and incessant labour are necessary , were never performed more zealously and efficiently than they are performed by the persons holding permanent offices in . the public departments of this country . Those whose duty it is to consider these questions , and to carry reductions into effect , naturally compare the emoluments of persons employed in the public offices with those of persons having similar duties to perform in the Bank of England , the East India-house , and private mercantile establishments . Having made that comparison , I must say it appears to me that in point of salary , and in other respects , the advantage is in favour of the latter . "
He went on to mention other reductions which had been lately made . By the consolidation of the Board of Excise with the Stamps and Taxes , a saving of £ 37 , 000 had already been effected , and when all the measures now in progress were fully carried out the total saving would not be less than £ 100 , 000 . Since 1833 , 2170 persons employed in the Stamps and Excise had been reduced ; making a saving of £ 259 , 650 ayear . These facts prove that Government is earnestly desirous to enforce economy in all the departments
under its controul . The present committee was proposed with the view of ascertaining what reductions can be effected consistently with the efficiency of the public service , but certainly not in accordance with the notions so warmly taken up by some , that a sudden and general reduction of salaries should be made according to some scale which they have formed in their own heads : — " It is absurd to found such a proposition on the present price of corn and bread in the market . If we were to adopt such a principle it would be necessary to have a tariff of salaries varying with seasons of plenty
and scarcity . Next , if the committee went into this question , they would have to consider what reductions there had been in all the expenses persons in public office had to defray . I have an account in detail of what are believed to be the expenses of a clerk receiving £ 150 ayear salary , and there arc not above one or two items at all considerable in which a reduction bad been made . I am speaking of those who are in the permanent service of the Crown . There are various other objections that must be made if it is proposed really and gravely to make reductions on the principle of what is the price of provisions now as compared with another time . Considering
the case of a person who had to live in London , paying rent ibr a house or lodging , and the expenses necessarily attending upon a residence in this metropolis , I think we should find it impracticable to carry out reduction on that principle . " Another point , which he need hardly notice , was the notion , lately started , that the public service would be better carried on if the persons who were to carry it on were altogether removed from the Legislature , and held no seats in either House of Parliament . Such a proposal was quite inconsistent with the machinery of our mode of government . Unless there
were persons in both Houses to propose and defend legislative measures , no proper understanding could be kept up between the majority of Members in Parliament and the Incentive Government . The value of the present system was demonstrated by the harmonious way in which the Poor Law Board had worked . But lie could never believe that a committee of that House , composed of persons of experience , would think of adopting snen a chimerical experiment as the one he had mentioned , lie now left the question in their hands , feeling confident tl'nt an independent committee would deal with it as thev ought to do .
Mr . ]) isuakm moved his amendment , which will bo found in our parliamentary history of the week . Ho contended that they already possessed sufficient information for the revision and regulation of salaries . If they appointed a committee , how were they to obtain more information ? Would they summon the tulles , examine them as to the expense of their circuits and make them produce- their tavern bills and vouchers ? The Cioverninent had access to the very best sources of information , and , therefore , it did not need to ask for a committee . If reductions could bo accomplished , it was the duty of Ministers to propose them at once . Nothing could be moro
unconstitutional than this insidious attempt to shift the responsibility of revising official salaries from Ministers to Parliament . The House of Commons was the guardian of the public purse ; but by this proposal Lord John would cause it to incur the odium which would be attached to extravagant expenditure . To appoint a committee was only to cause unnecessary delay . Lord John himself could settle the whole of the salaries in question in a single day ; whereas the committee would be employed for months without making any actual progress . If this motion were carried , it would be a complete delusion to look for any important reduction of expenditure .
Sir B . Hall supported the motion , but should have supported Mr . Henley ' s motion , had it been brought forward as an amendment . Mr . Hume inferred , from Lord John ' s speech , that no further reductions were intended . He predicted that Ministers would pay no attention to the report of the committee , unless it met their own views . He had been on many committees of this
kind , but never found that Government paid much attention to any recommendation in favour of economy . Lord John had told them of £ 2 , 500 , 000 which had been reduced , but he had said nothing of £ 8 , 000 , 000 a-year which had been added to our expenditure . He was glad to see the spirit of economy in Parliament . There would be more country gentlemen voting with him in favour of economy and retrenchment than at any time since 1822 .
Mr . Henley complained that Lord John had not given the slightest indication of what reductions Government intended to make . No question of this kind could be dealt with properly by anybody but Ministers , who alone possessed the necessary information , or could procure it . He would explain his own views at large when the time came , and meantime supported the amendment . Lord Harry Vane , Mr . Grantley Berkeley , Mr . Herries , Mr . H . Drummond , and Lord John-Manners supported the amendment : Mr . Cockburn , Mr . Bright , and the Chancellor of the Exchequer opposed it .
Lord John Russell , in reply to the complaint that nothing had been mentioned about reduction by Government , said he certainly thought it would be useless to appoint a committee unless he believed that reduction and economy would be the consequence . The House having divided , the numbers were : — For Mr . Disraeli ' s amendment .. .. 159 Against it 250 Majority against it 91 Mr . Horsman moved that the inquiry be extended to the incomes of ecclesiastical dignitaries . After a short discussion , the amendment was negatived by 208 to 95 .
Some other business of little importance having been transacted , the House adjourned at a quarter past twelve o ' clock .
The Ministers Of The Congregational Diss...
The ministers of the Congregational Dissenters Union have disavowed " all connection or future communion " with Dr . Nolan . Mr . John O'Connellhas issued an address "to the Repealers of Ireland , " declaring that if he do not receive decided encouragement within a fortnight , he will abandon the agitation . He says— " I have struggled to the last moment that I could do so , and struggled all but single-handed . I have gone on to the last % and it is only now , when the last appears to be come , that I declare I can do no more . " Mr . Thackeray has been furnishing the excitable Irish with a new " English insult . '' In a recent number of his
" Pendcnnis , " appeared the following sentence : — "The greatest criminal , tyrant , booby , Bluebeard , Catherine Hayes , George Barnwcll , among us need never despair . " All Ireland was in a blaze immediately , outraged at this " unmanly , gross , and cowardly" assault upon the fair Irishwoman , Miss Hayes , the opera-singer . Three Irish newspapers and a member of Parliament opened fire upon the culprit , denouncing " his intention to in suit the Irish nation , " classing him with cutthroats damning him to everlasting infamy , and hoping that if he had any defence to offer that he would hasten to make it . A the Chronicle
letter from the criminal sent to Morning , shows the whole matter to have been like the old story of the Irish officer , who fought a duel with a man who doubted his assertion that anchovies grew on the rocks of Malta , and who , after shooting his opponent , discovered that he meant not anchovies but capers . The Catherine Hayes referred to in " Pendennis , " was a murderess who was executed at Tyburn , and who subsequently perished in a novel written some ten yars back by Mr . Thackeray for " leaser ' s Magazine . " The " prompt and chivalrous espousal" of an injured cause ** is the anchovy-caper question over again . "
The Government Of Hanover Refuses To Rec...
The Government of Hanover refuses to recognize the authority of the tribunal to which it has been summoned by the Erfurt constitutionalists . The Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmftringon abdicated on the Gth of April in fa vour o the King of Prussia . At Munster , in Hanover , M . Temmc , who has been for ton months in close imprisonment on a charge of high treason , has been acquitted by the jury .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 20, 1850, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20041850/page/10/
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