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easily amused a House evidently jaded with the general dulness of the debate . He compared , . amid great laughter , the self-sacrifice of one half the directors to Thuggee , and said the House would in future look " with curiosity and horror" at each directorcurious to know the fifteen , Thugs and the fifteen victims . His description of Mr . Macaulay ' s speech as a " burst of conversation ; " of Sir Robert Inglis ( sitting opposite below the gangway , but near Ministers ) as " one who very rarely does support any of our amendments , and of Sir Charles Wood , his " ancient antagonist , " as still " doomed" to bring in " a dreary budget , " were delivered well , and had a pleasant effect . In his closing sentence he seemed to reclaim the leadership of the Opposition . Lord John Russell' was brief and pointed in
reply : — There is nothing dishonourable in party , but a party ought to hare a settled purpose . And when a leader like Mr . Disraeli has no settled policy the intelligent members of his party express their own opinions . It is hard to know what Lord Stanley ' s motion means . He says we require further information , but every member who has spoken has given a decided opinion as to the course to be pursued . But Mr . Bright explains Lord Stanley ' s motion to mean the allowance of two years for agitation , at the end of which time government by the Company would cease . ( " Hear , hear , " from Mr . Bright . ) That agitation , urged by unsuccessful lawyers and disappointed placeseekers , might be successful against the Company , but
would it not also risk the Indian empire itself ? for authority would be gradually condemned , opinion gradually subverted , and the foundation of our Indian empire shaken . Mr . Disraeli quoted Lord Grey ' s conduct in 1833 , when danger also existed ; but did Lord Grey postpone his bill for two years , or even for two months ? The " double government" is necessary , for the government of India must be a despotism , and you must have something to check that despotism . But two defects of the present are removed by the Government bill . To obviate the objections to the canvass , Indian officers of experience will be nominated by the Crown , and the patronage has been purified by throwing open the civil service to competition . Besides , by that you prevent the danger to the constitution that would result from that patronage ever coming into the hands of the Crown .
" With respect to the question of the mode in which the government of India has been hitherto conducted , I must say I think the general results are a flourishing condition of India , an improvement in the revenue , an improvement in the trade of the country , greater facilities of transit than were ever known before , and , generally speaking , a flourishing and prosperous empire , upon whose fate you have now to decide . I have seen it stated that we have not found in India those great public works which former Sultans and Emperora of India founded , and that if wo were now to leave India we should leave no monuments
behind us . I entirely differ both from the statement and from the opinion . For my own part , when I look back on tho history of great empires , especially in India and the East , I can sec little to admiro or approve of . I see undoubtedly powerful emperors , who havo established their power by a disregard of all obligations , founding great works for some purpose of vanity and ostentation , and who havo roared those works by the labour of slaves who worn prisoners tnken in . war . Thcso works are in fact tho records of the misery and endurance of thoso prisoners of war who , in our tiinen , are treated with humanity and kindness . ( Cheers . ) But , sir , tiro there no monuments which wo should leave behind us ? Will it not bo
recordod that during our government of India wo havo put an end to thoso desolating wars in which neighbouring princes attacked each othor to tho total ruin of tho people ; that tho scene so eloquently described by Mr . Burko of tho ravage of tho Carnatio has not been ropoated during our tiino , but that instead of thoso things holler notions of law and justice havo been introduced by us among tho people of India ; that if wo have not dono what one honourable gentleman seemed to think it wan tho duty of Uio Kant India Company to do—if wo have not , in " the course of less than a century , changed tho whole character of tho people , yot we havo laid tho foundation for that change of character by which they should hgci that in English entimution , truth and justice aro
to take tho place of falsehood and venality ( clioem ) ; that wo shall have , by means of the education , that wo havo established there , introduced to tho cultivated minds of India a knowledge of tho literature and Hoionco of Europo ; that wo Hhall thereby havo enabled thorn in future , whether they bo governed by Hindoos , or by any other authority , tojudgo that government by abettor tent than those old barbarous rules which porfidioiw conquerors havo taught thorn . ( Loud cheers . ) My belief i . s , sir , that if our rule in India wore destroyed wo should have that consolation , a consolation greater than if wo had built thoso palaces , now stately ruins , which former Hovcreitjnn havo erected
in India . But , nir , my belief and my hopo in , that the govornmont of this country will long continue in India . I hoo no other power that is ho likely to maintain peaeo among tho various naliona which inhabit it . I see no other power that is , ho lilcoly to introduce ) improvements from tiino to time , tending to tho civilization of tho people . Believing such to be our great mission , and deciding , ho far as I tun ooncornod , not to put this power in jeopardy by commuting to two yearn' agitation , uncertainty , and delay , I Hhall certainly vote against tho amendment of thn noblo lord ; and I trunt tho Hbufiowill assent to tho second reading of this bill . " ( Tho noblo lord resumed his neat amidnt loud ohooring . ) It wau then two o ' clock . Tho division took phaco Uunwuiatoly . Thero appeared— .
For Lord Stanley ' s amendment . . 140 Against it . . . . • • • • 323 Majority for Government . . 182 The bill was read a second time without a division . V ADYJ 5 KTISEMENT DUTY . -The House bad some discussion and three divisions on this question last night . Mr . Gladstone explained as a collateral subject the changes he proposed respecting the allowance of increased size to newspapersfrom 1530 inches to 2295—leaving them free to make the increase either through an enlargement of one sheet , or the addition of a supplement . He also adhered to his proposal of reducing the advertisement duty from Is . Gd . to Gd . Mr . Milner Gibson thought that after the resolution against the whole advertisement duty this partial repeal was trifling with the House . If the duty—vexatious as it was—is to be retained at all , Is . Gd . is preferable to Gd . Mr . Gladstone , in reply , defended the advertisement tax . It was unequal ; so was postage . It was at present a tax upon trade and labour , and its reduction would serve small newspapers . This tax was not like the other socalled "taxes on knowledge "—it was a tax on trade and labour . Thus it involved a distinct principle , and if the House granted its reduction they could not consistently refuse the reduction of other duties . Mr . Cobden attributed the difficulty to Mr . Gladstone ' s own unnecessary proposition for repealing the supplement tax . The committee divided , when the repeal of the tax was negatived by 109 to 99 . The division was followed by general conversation , and renewed requests to the Government to concede the total abolition of the tax . Mr . Ceacttjed made a new move . He proposed to substitute in the resolution the cipher 0 for sixpence . Mr . Gladstone opposed this motion ; and Lord John Russell protested against it as irregular . The House had already decided ; and this was an attempt to carry in a thin House what had been rejected in a House containing more than two hundred members . The House then divided , when there appeared—For the word" sixpence" . . . . . 63 ¦ For the " cipher 0 " . ..... 68 Majority for the " cipher 0 " . . . 5 The House again divided on the question , that no duty whatever be inserted in the Bill , when there appeared—Ayes . ... . ¦ . ... . . 70 Noes 61 Majority against the Government . 9 Mr . Gladstone mover ! that all the resolutions , but the last , be reported on Monday , thus promising a renewed division . JAMAICA . The Duke of Newcastle made a statement respecting tho island of Jamaica . The dissension between the Assembly on the one hand , the Governor and the Council on the other , has risen to such a height as to produce a total cessation of internal government . It lias been found that tho constitution of Jamaica , which has existed since the time of Charles IT ., abounds in such anomalies v . s to render any combined action between the Governor and the Assembly impossible ; and the recent conduct of that body in refusing to pass any money bills has resulted in a loss of about 1000 Z . a-day to tho colonial revenue As tho term of office of the present Governor has expired , the Government propose to supply his place by Mr . Barkly , late Governor of Guiana , who will accept tho office at n reduced salary , tho greater portion of which will bo paid nt home . Several other offices , of which there are far too many in tho island , will he shortly abolished , tho present holders receiving a moderate compensation . The debt of tho inland amounts to 700 , 000 ^ , on which interest i . s paid at six per cent . It is proposed that 500 , 000 / . shall be rained , at n lower rate of interest , on tho credit of this country , and that that amount of tho . island debt shall bo paid off , thus oflecting n saving in interest of about 15 , 000 / . u-ycar , a portion of which Having ih ( o ho appropriated na a sinking fund , bo as to pay oil' l ; he debt in a period of thirty years . Tho noblo J ) uko then alluded to refornin in tho constitution , which he hopod might be introduced by tho oxortions of tho now Governor . Tho oilur to tho colonial Legislature will , of eourflo > bo accompanied by certain conditions . If tho credit ; of this country is to bo lent to tho Inland of Jamaica , tho Government htiH a fair claim to call upon them to place their financoH in such a condition as to render tho guarantee practically nominal as rogarda this country , though practicall y real ao regards tho advantage ) to tho colony . Tho conditions which , speaking generally , tho Government propoHo , aro those—to instruct tho Governor to endeavour to obtain from tho Assembly tho abandonment of tho anomalous position which they occupy in connexion with
their finances ; to secure the permanent voting ; tf taxesin the same sense in which they are voted m this country and in other colonies ; to obtain the placing of the- fijMWg under proper restrictions and the management oi paia officers ? , tc ,: secure the proper auditing of accounts , and other financial changes . . , _ Eventually , responsible government , with much modification , might be usefully introduced in Jamaica . >' . Lords Deeby and Gbey expressed- general approval of the plan . ,
TEAKSFEB OF LAND . Mr . Vincent Scully stated to * the House what had been done since 1830 regarding legislative facilities for the transfer of land , and in a speech showing much knowledge of the subject , stated the character of the new bill he has prepared . ' _ Y a The four first clauses propose to allow any owner of land to obtain a parliamentary title to enable him to transfer his land , or any portion of it , at any future period without cost or expense . The first clause enables any landowner to apply to a land tribunal , to be constituted under this act , to have his land brought under the operation ot the act , and if the tribunal think fit to grant his request they will direct a full investigation to be made as to the title and the existing state and circumstances of the title
estate , and if they find that he has a lull as owner , then they may decree that the whole , or any part of it , should be brought" under the provisions of the act , and thenceforth such land would remain under the operation of the act . The next section provides , that when land js once brought under the operation of the act no person shall be at liberty to embarrass it by any future settlement , trust , or charge upon it , without the leave of the land tribunal , nor to create any of those various charges with which the law in Ireland is 6 O familiar , and _ which tend to make the title of land so much more complicated in that country than in England , but not to interfere with the power to grant leases . If the owner shall have occasion the land he will be enabled to do
to raise money upon so by one simple charge , to be called land debentures , which will be issued at his request by the same tribunal . The third clause enables every person having an interest m the land brought under the act , to apply to the court and obtain a certificate , which will be conclusive evidence of the extent of bis interest in the property . And the fourth section authorizes any person who is entered in the register of the court as owner of any estate , to have the estate transferred to any other person by a simple entry on the books of the court . Thus every case that can arise is provided for . The 5 th and 6 th clauses refer to the mode of issuing the debentures . If an estate is worth 1000 Z . ayearthe courton application , may issue debentures to
, , the extent of 10 , 000 Z ., or ten years' value , secured upon it , all having equal priority , bearing the same interest , issued for the same term , and of the same nominal value—which generally would , be small , say 1001 . each . This will enable the owner to raise money at an easy rate of interest —( for as these debentures will afford a first class security they will be doubtless much sought after as a safe investment ); it will also afford facilities for paying off the incumbrance gradually , by buying up the debentures in detail , and a small stamp duty being charged , it would bring a large amount to the revenue . The other * clauses of the bill referred to tho machinery by which the bill is to be carried out , and under the 11 th section the machinery of the Encumbered Estates Act is made available for the purposes
of this measure . The bill , with the consent of tho Government , was referred to the Select Committee on the Registration of Assurance . ABOHTIVE " BALLOT" MOTIONS . Partial crotchets on the Ballot have been brought before the House this week . On Tuesday Mr . Bonham Carteb moved that , instead of disfranchising towns notoriously corrupt , tho Ballot should be used in
the borough for the two succeeding elections . Tho places to which the Bill would apply would be Maldon , Barnstaple , Tynemouth , Cambridge , Canterbury , and Kingston-upon-Hull . Mr . H . Beekeley objected to this homoeopathic dose ; and the impatient House adjourned at seven o ' clock rather than go on with the discussion . On Wednesday , Lord Dudley Stuabt brought on " another ballot mqtion . On the writ being moved for Liverpool , be moved as an amendment that the votes at tho next election be taken by Ballot , In
support of his amendment , ho Bpoke until the clock struck six , when the House , according to rule , adjourned . Lonn LYNnirujtBT oif the ItiJHBrAN Note . — On Monday , in tho House of Lordfi , Lord Lyndhttrst made a " pronouncement . " Ho said : " I bog leave , my lords , to move for a copy of a state paper , published in the Gazette of St . 1 ' otersburg , and signed by Count Nossolrodo , with reference to tlio- negotiations botweon [ Russia and tho Ottoman Porto . As I am nob in any way connected witli her Majesty's Government , I may venture , without creating uny embarrassment , to state that if tho
copy of that document which I have » e < m bo correct , it is one of the most fallacious—ono of tho most illogical—ono of tho most offensive—and ono of tho most insulting documents of that description that I havo over had tho misfortune to read . " Tho Earl of Abickdkkn said , that it would not bo convenient to lay a copy of this noto on tho tablo of tho house- just at tho presont moment , but ho might not bo indisposed to do ho m tho course of a fow days . Hiicokbhion Duty Him ,. — -This Bill passed through Committee lust evening . Bomo conversational opposition wan inado to tho sovoral clauses , but no division waa taken , tho clauses relating tb growing timber Ibcing postponed .
Untitled Article
fi 9 S THE LEA BE R . [ SATUBgAY ^
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Leader (1850-1860), July 2, 1853, page 628, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1993/page/4/
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