Rebates anb if3rotrebings in Vatliament.

SYSTEMATIC COLONIZATION AND NATIONAL DISTRESS.

Several petitions having been presented to the House of Commons, on Thursday, in favour of an improved system of colonization, Mr. CHARLES BULLER brought forward the motion of which he had given notice. He began by remarking a characteristic of the present House, that more than any previous House it discourages party strifes ; admo- nished, no doubt, by the warnings of the severe distress which prevails. He guarded himself against being supposed to represent the difficulties of the country as unparalleled or desperate ; but the discussion on Lord Howick's motion, for a Committee of the whole House on the manu- facturing depression, elicited an universal agreement as to the existence and intensity of the distress, and an entire disagreement as to the reme- dies proposed. It could not be denied that the growth of the country in wealth proceeds less rapidly than at a former period. The extent of the evil proves that it has no partial causes, peculiar to particular trades or classes ; and temporary causes do not suffice to account for it. Over-production in manufactures, for instance, does not explain it, be- cause simultaneously with that over-production, not only is capital not withdrawn from other ordinary occupations, but never was there so much capital lying idle ; and simultaneously with the employment of labour in that over-production, there has been a great emigration of labourers, the workhouses are crowded by able-bodied men, and num- bers more cannot obtain employment. Had there not been that over- production, there would only have been less employment of labour and capital. The United States, too, showed the working of the same tem- porary causes, but without producing the same results-

" Since 1836, the history of the trade of the United States has consisted of a series of crises, with intervals of stagnation. I doubt,' says Mr. Everett, in the wise and feeling answer which he recently made to a deputation of holders of State stock, ' I doubt, if in the history of the world, in so short a period, such a transition has been made from a state of high prosperity to one of gene- ral distress, as in the United States within the last six years.' And yet, has there been there any of what we should call distress, among the quiet traders and artisans ? of any inability to employ capital with ordinary profit ? of any general want of employment for labour ? of any great depression of wages ? or of any thing which we should call the extreme of destitution? Have the unscrupulous demagogues of their hustings or their press, ventured to describe such sad scenes as those which official inspection has shown to have been but too frequent at Bolton and Stockport ? Have you heard in that country of human beings living huddled together in defiance of comfort, of shame, and of health, in garrets and in cellars, and in the same hovels with their pigs? Have you heard of large and sudden calls on the bounty of indi. viduals, of parishes, or of the Government ? of workhouses crowded ? of even the gaol resorted to for shelter and maintenance ? of human beings pre- vented from actually dying of starvation in the open streets, or of others allowed to expire from inanition in the obscurity of their own dwelling-places ? The plain fact is, that though hundreds of enterprises have failed, and enormous' amounts of capital have been sacrificed, and credit has been paralysed, and hundreds that were wealthy at sunrise have been beggars ere the same sun was set, and thousands have been suddenly deprived of the work and wages of the day before, yet capital and labour have never failed to find immediate employ- ment in that boundless field."

There must, then, in this country be a deeper-seated permanent cause of suffering : it is the constant accumulation of capital, and the constant increase of population, in the same restricted field of employ- ment. Every year adds its profits to the amount of capital previously accumulated, and certainly leaves the population considerablylargerat its close than it was at its commencement. This fresh amount both of capital and population have to be employed ; and if no further space for their employment be provided, they must compete for a share of the previous amount of profits and wages. New discoveries in nature and art, even in agriculture, do not suffice to keep pace in extending the field of em- ployment with the extension of capital and population : witness the overstocking of professions, the competition between tradesmen, farmers, educated females for whom fit employment is so limited; the deplorable state of the labouring classes manufacturing and agricultural, depicted in the violent recriminations between the Anti-Corn-law lecturers and Farmer's Friends ; the 15,000 milliners in the Metropolis killing them- selves with overwork in close rooms ; all consequences of one leading fact, that every year rolling over our heads adds 300,000 to the popu- lation. Contrast with this picture the 20,000 workpeople of the Lowel factory in the United States: the girls with their pianoforte and circu- lating library, and all with their money saved, on which they could re- treat to comfortable homes if the factory stopped tomorrow ; while with ns every change in the site of a trade or in a fashion involves masses of our people in destitution. Assertions of general improvement in the condition of the people do not disprove the extent of the misery-

" I doubt whether there ever before was in this country such a mass of such intense physical suffering and moral degradation as is to be found in this me- tropolis, in the cellars and garrets of Liverpool and Manchester, and in the yet more wretched allies of Glasgow ; and I have very little doubt that there never before prevailed, in any portion of our population, vice so habitual and so gross as is there to be found. The general comfort of the great body is increased; but so also is the misery of the most wretched. We witness constantly more of the extreme of suffering : we have a positively larger number of the dangerous classes in the country." Even the increased knowledge of the people exacerbates the sense of suffering ; the popular temper grows more and more dangerous to the interests of property and order ; partial knowledge acting on general ignorance begets wild visions of political and social change ; and all efforts to improve the condition of the people must begin with bettering their physical condition—satisfying the simple but expressive cry, " A fair day's wage for a fair day's work." But that could only be done by laying open a wider field of employment, and diminishing that terrible competition of capital with capital and labour with labour which is the permanent cause of the distress. To that end, Mr. Buller desired the Rouse to inquire into the efficacy of colonization as a remedy for dis- tress; not the remedy ; for he did not come into collision with other economical remedies that had been proposed. To free trade he pro- posed colonization as an auxiliary-

You advocates of free trade wish to bring food to the people. I suggest to you at the same time to take your people to the food. You wish to get fresh markets by removing the barriers which now keep you from those that exist throughout the world. 1 call upon you, is addition, to get fresh markets, by calling them into existence in parts of the world which might be made to teem with valu- able customers."

Colonizatiod would perhaps be slower than free trade in the opera- tion of extending the field of employment ; but sorer ; for it is a process entirely depending on this country, and not on the concurrence of others- " Within the last few years no less than eight hostile tariffs have been ragainst us, more or less narrowing the demand for our manufactures. ya thee, that in the present day the restrictive policy of other nations must enter into our consideration, as an element, and no unimportant ele- ment, of commercial policy ; and, though I advise you to set the example of free trade to others, and extend your intercourse with them to the very

utmost, still at the same time take care to be continually creating and enlarging those markets which are under the control of no legislation but your

own. Show the world that if the game of restriction is to be played, no country can play it with such effect and such impunity as Great Britain, which, from the outlying portions of her mighty empire, can command the riches of every zone and every soil and every sea that the earth contains, and can draw with unstinted measure the means of every luxury and the material of every manufacture that the combined extent of other realms can supply. This we have done, or can do, by placing our own people in different portions of our own dominions."

As a remedy, colonization appears to be suggested simply by per- ceiving the evil which is the permanent cause of the distress-

" Here we have capital that can obtain no profitable employment—labour equally kept out from employment by the competition of labour sufficient for

the existing demand, and an utter inability to find any fresh employment in

which that unemployed capital can be turned to account by setting that un- employed labour in motion. In your colonies, on the other hand, you have vast tracts of the most fertile land wanting only capital and labour to cover

them with abundant harvests ; and, from want of that capital and labour, wasting their productive energies in nourishing weeds, or, at best, in giving

shelter and sustenance to beasts. When I ask you to colonize, what do I ask you to do but carry the superfluity of part of one country to repair the de- ficiency of the other ; to cultivate the desert, by applying to it the means that lie idle here; in oue simple word, to convey the plough to the field;the work- man to his work, the hungry to his food."

The benefit is not confined to the removal of the labourer and his conveyance to a place where be can raise the food lie wants : in the colony he becomes a producer, an exporter, and he appears in our markets as a customer-

" Imagine in some village a couple of young married men, of whom one has been brought up as a weaver, and the other as a farm-labourer, but both of

whom are unable to get work. Both are in the workhouse ; and the spade of the one and the loom of the other are equally idle. For the maintenance of these two men and their families, the parish is probably taxed to the amount of 401. a year. The farm-labourer and his family get a passage to Australia or Canada ; perhaps the other farm-labourers of the parish were immediately able to make a better bargain with their master, and get somewhat better wages; but, at any rate, the parish gains 201. a year by being relieved from one of the two pauper families. The emigrant gets good employment ; after providing himself with food in abundance, he finds that he has therewithal to buy him a good coat, instead of the smock-frock he used to wear, and to supply his

children with decent clothing, instead of letting them run about in rags. He sends home aniorder for a good quantity of broad cloth; and this order actually sets the loom of his fellow-pauper to work, and takes him, or helps to take him, out of the workhouse. Thus the emigration of one man relieves the parish of two paupers, and furnishes employment not only for one but for two men. It seems a paradox to assert that removing a portion of your population enables a country to support more inhabitants than it could before."

The settlement of a few handfuls of men in the United States, now swelled to thirteen or fourteen millions, has in this way created great part of our wealth at home-

" If the United States had never been settled and our emigrants had staid at home, do you think it possible that the population of the United Kingdom would have been larger by thirteen or fourteen millions than it now is ?—that we should have had and maintained in as good a state as now forty millions of people within these two islands. Is there any reason for supposing that we

should now have had any additional means of supporting the addition of the

original emigrants? Nay, is it not absolutely certain, that without colonizing the United States, we should not at this moment have been able to maintain anything like the population which at present finds subsistence within the limits of the United Kingdom? How large a portion of that population de- pends on the trade with the United States, which constitutes one-sixth of our

whole external trade ? Without that trade, what would have been the size

and wealth and population of Manchester, and Liverpool, and Glasgow, and Sheffield, and Leeds, and Birmingham, and Wolverhampton—in fact, of all our great manufacturing districts ? What would have been the relative condi- tion of those agricultural districts, whose industry is kept in employment by the demand of that manufacturing population ? what that of this metropolis, so mach of the expenditure of which may indirectly be traced to the wealth created by the American trade ? In fact, what would have been the wealth and population of this country had the United States never been peopled ? "

Had another United States been settled, another eight millions would have been added to our exports, another Lancashire called into exist- ence. In further illustration, Mr. Buller compared what colonial coun- tries do for our trade with that which old countries do ; rejecting from the account countries which, like Mexico or the East Indies, are peo- pled by old races under the dominion of European races, not by actual European settlers-

" I find that the following European nations—Russia, France, Austria, Prussia, the rest of Germany, Cracow, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and Greece, contain altogether a population of 211,130,000; and annually import of our goods to the value of 21,000,0001. On the other hand, our own colonies of St. Helena, the Cape, Mauritius, Australia, the West Indies, and British North America—the eman- cipated colonies, including the United States, Hayti, Brazil Peru, Chili, and those on the La Plata, together with the nominal colony but really independent island of Cuba, contain a total population of rather more than 36,000,000; and the exports to them amount to rather more than the exports to all the European states specified above, with their population of about six times as many. The average consumption of each inhabitant of the Australian colonies is 101. 10s. a head, that of the colonial countries is no less than 12s. a head, while that of the European countries is only 2s. a head. Australia takes more of our goods than &Mitt with its 56,000,000. The comparison holds good with foreign countries and their colonies. Spain takes of our goods 9d. per head for her population ; our worst oostomer among her old colonies, Colombia, takes four times as large a proportion ; whilst her colony of Cuba takes no less than I/. 4s. 4d. per head, being at the rate of more than thirty times as much as Spain. Our civilised neighbours in France take to the amount of Is. tiel. per head ; while Hayti, composed of the liberated Negro slaves of that same France—Hayti, which it is the fashion to represent as become a wilderness of Negro barbarism and sloth, takes 5s. 4d. per head, being four times as much. In 1840, the proportion of the shipping of this country employed was, in trade with old foreign countries, 1,584,512 ; colonial countries, 1,709,319; or with the English colonies alone in North America, the West Indies, and Australia, 1,031,887,"

The question occurred, what was the cost of extending these advan- tages, by bridging over the sea for the transit of the emigrant. He alluded to the old plan of colonization—the disposal of land by free

grants, fatal to the working for wages and preventing the direct benefit of emigration to this country ; and then (with a compliment to its ad-

vocates in the House, and to Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley, for their having to some extent recognized the principles,) he described Mr. Wakefield's system, substituting the sale of waste lands, at a " suf- ficient price," for the gift, devoting the proceeds to emigration, and making the most of emigration by selecting young persons in equal numbers of the opposite sexes. Even a partial trial of those principles has been so successful, that to the Australian colonies, where the sale

of land commenced in 1832, while the emigration of the eight years previous was only 11,711, in the next ten years it was 104,487 : to all

colonies, during the former period, it was 352,580, a yearly average of 44,072 ; in the latter period, 661,039, a yearly average of 66,104. In the nine years beginning in 1833, nearly 2,000,0001. had been realized from the sale of land ; of which 1,100,0001., raised in New South Wales alone, had conveyed out 52,000 selected emigrants. In the United States, with a low price and large exceptional grants, since 1795, when the sales of land began, 23,366,4341. sterling has been realized ; 14,000,0001. in the seven years ending in 1840. Mr. Buller adverted to the expediency of sending out society in a complete form, with its pro- portion of gentry, formerly the practice in our colonies ; discontinued when the establishment of convict colonies threw the discredit of " trans- portation" on emigrating, but recently revived under the new system in the Australian colonies : more men of good family have settled in New Zealand in the three years, since the beginning of 1840, than in British North America in the first thirty years of the present century. He therefore advocated no untried experiment. Nor did he advocate

compulsory emigration ; he deprecated any thing like making emigra- tion an alternative of the workhouse, or even inducing persons to emi-

grate who did not do so spontaneously. But the time was gone when emigration was regarded more as a punishment than was the acceptance of a cadetship-

" The prejudice is gone : and I did imagine that the attempt to appeal to it by the agency of stale nicknames was not likely to be made in our day, had I not been undeceived by some most furious invectives against the gentlemen who signed the City memorial, which were recently delivered at Drury Lane Theatre, on one of those nights on which the legitimate drama is not performed.

I cannot imagine that my esteemed friend the Member for Stockport, who is reported on that occasion to have been very successful in representing the cha- racter of a bereaved grandmother, can help, on sober reflection, feeling some compunction for having condescended to practice on the ignorance of his audi-

ence by the use of claptraps so stale and representations so unfounded, and for bringing the same kind of unjust charges against honest men engaged in an honest cause, as he brushes so indignantly from himself. I most attribute this deviation from his usual candour to the influence of the unseen genius of the place in which he spoke, and suppose that he believed it would be out of keep- ing in a theatre to appeal to men's passions otherwise than by a fiction." (Cheers and laughter.)

He only desired the further carrying out of principles already recog- nized, and necessary preliminary inquiry into some points not yet fax settled,—such as, what is a " sufficient price " for land in the several

colonies ; should the whole, or only a part of the proceeds of the land- sales, be appropriated, to emigration ; " whether the system cannot be

applied to Canada and the Cape of Good Hope ; and whether it might not be advisable, for immediate use, to raise a loan on the security of the future sale of lands ? But he left the consideration of these matters to Government ; not, however, as a question to be discussed by one par- ticular department as a mere matter of detail, or as a mere Colonial question, but as one of general import to the condition of England." Mr. Buller concluded by moving,

" That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that she will take into her most gracious consideration the means by which extensive and systematic colonization may be most effectually rendered available for augmenting the resources of her Majesty's empire, giving additional employ- ment to capital and labour, both in the United Kingdom and in the Colonies, and thereby bettering the condition of her people."' Lord ASHLEY seconded the motion.

Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD totally objected to " the transportation of the people " ; advocating instead, the restoring to the people the actual

possession of land at home, by means of small holdings ; which are very successful in the North of Ireland. There are 15,000,000 of acres in the United Kingdom on which to employ the people. He also advo- cated repeal of the Corn-laws, reduction of the Sugar-duties, reduced expenditure, and reduced taxation. Selecting young persona for emi- gration, was but taking away the life-blood of the country ; and when Mr. Buller talked of the emigrant's sending home a surplus, where was he to get it, when he was expressly made dependent for support on any terms that he could get ? Mr. Crawford moved as an amendment,

" That the resources derivable from the lands, manufactures, and commerce of the United Kingdom, if folly brought into action, are adequate to afford the means of giving employment and supplying food to the whole population ; and that, therefore, before any measures be adopted for removing to fbreign lands any portion of that population, it is the first duty of this House to take into consideration the measures necessary for the better application of these re- sources to the employment and support of the people." Mr. Jon& FIELDEN seconded the amendment.

Mr. GALLY KNIGHT supported the motion ; backing Mr. Boller's ar- guments with quotations from Colonel Torrens and Mr. Wakefield, and the statement of the Times newspaper that an extended scheme of co- * Mr. Buller's speech was spoken of in terms of the highest commendation by almost every Member who followed him. Occupying nearly three hours in the delivery, and filling nine columns of yesterday's Morning Chronicle—close in texture throughout, and full of matter—it was impossible, at the end of the week, to attempt even an outline of it here. But the readers of the Spectator are already informed on the subject of which it treats. As the most masterly and eloquent exposition of that subject that has ever been made in Parliament, or in any popular form, the speech should be printed in an enduring shape, for general circulation.

Ionization could only be conducted under Government superintendence. Contrary to Mr. Buller's opinion, however, he could see no strong ob- jection to the employment of the poor-rates in paying for emigration.

Lord STANLEY professed entire concurrence in the principles and sentiments of Mr. Buller's speech ; but the motion, if it were adopted, he said, would have the effect of raising delusive hopes and exaggerated ex-

pectations, that never could be realized; and be undertook to establish that an efficient system of colonization and emigration was at that moment in operation, and had been for years, under the direct and immediate con- trol and superintendence of her Majesty's Government. Briefly re- marking that to Mr. Crawford's motion he could not assent,—though he thought the great landed proprietors of the country could improve the condition of the labouring classes,—Lord Stanley proceeded to describe the manner in which, by means of agents in every quarter, Govern- ment superintendence is extended to every emigrant to North America, even from Connaught until he reaches his friends in the most remote wilds of Canada ; 34,000 emigrants having been landed at the Govern- ment Agency-office in Quebec during the past year. The total number of persons who emigrated under similar protection during the last two years was 246,936. Emigration to Canada has progressively increased

from 7,439 in 1839 to 44,374 in 1842. At what expense had those tens of thousands been transferred from their native land to a distant colony ?—the total cost amounted to only 12,3881., or 5s. 8d. a head.

If the expectation were held out of very extensive emigration in the hands of Government, would equal good be effected at no greater ex- pense than Government had incurred in that instance ?—

Were they quite certain that direct Government aid would have the effect of increasing the amount of emigration ? And, assuming that it must have that effect, then he;would ask the House, whether they felt thoroughly assured that

it would be quite right, by such a process, to disturb the relations now sub- siating between the demand for labour and the supply ? They were bound

first to ask themselves, would the proposed plan increase emigration ? and, if

so, would the adoption of such a scheme prove favourable to the parties going out ? And again, was it not a plan calculated to paralyze the exertions of those who, at their own expense, were preparing to transfer their wives and families from

the new to the old country? Would it not have the effect of raising the freight and expenses of sending out emigrants ? Would it not likewise expose all those why had exhausted their means in going out to colonies, to all the

evils of undue competition—a competition which they could not have ex- pected, for which they could not be prepared, and with which, therefore, it was

impossible that they could succesfully contend? That was a very serious question in Canada. The people of the United States very readily enter Canada across the border, and be did not hesitate to say that the market had been forestalled: 6,000 citizens went to Canada last year, and 9,500 persons re6migmted to this country.

He remarked that, by the terms of the motion, one would suppose that the intention was, not to send those out to the Colonies who would be likely to prove the most acceptable, but rather those whom we could best spare—the sweepings and refuse of the manufacturing dis- tricts, the old, the impotent, the feeble, the sick of the towns. He went on to ridicule a pamphlet by Mr. Buckingham, in which it was proposed

to expend 5,000,0001. in carrying out a million of emigrants, and to lend them implements of labour, seed, and stock, to be repaid from their

earnings. To him it appeared that nothing would be more unadvisable than that Government should enter into an extended plan:of pauper emigration. All facilities should be given for the introduction of capi- tal into Canada ; but it should at the same time be remembered that the means at the disposal of the Government were exceedingly limited. They could do little more than give every facility for the acquisition of

titles to land, and to see that no obstacles arose in the Surveyor-Gene- ral's department. A great improvement had taken place since Mr. Buller had presented a report on the subject to the late Lord Durham :

almost all his recommendations had already been adoptde. With re- spect to Canada, the danger always was, lest the labourers seeking for employment should outrun the means of occupying them which the colony possessed. Even in the United States,the work of settling waste lands, though no voyage was needed for the emigrants, who merely

passed from East to West, had been overdone ; for the proceeds of land-

sales fell progressively from 25,167,000 dollars in 1836, to 1,024,000 in 1841. The case in our Australian colonies was, however, widely dif- ferent, and the system to be observed wholly dissimilar. The danger there was that capital would exceed the supply of la- bour; and the distance was so great that the poor man could not afford to emigrate : therefore an artificial system must be applied to

those colonies; and that plan, recommended in 1831, and founded upon the suggestions of Mr. Gibbon Wakefield, had generally been found to

work beneficially, and had accomplished its objects. Lord Stanley gave some statistical details showing an amazing progress in the colony of New South Wales since 1832: the population had increased from 50,000 souls to 149,669 in 1841; the imports, from 604,6201. to 2,527,988/. ; the exports, from 384,3441. to 1,023,397/., the revenue, (excluding land- revenue,) from 24,2681. to 549,2881. He did not attribute that prospe-

rity wholly to the system of land-sales, but undoubtedly a great portion of it was owing to that system. It was a system which he would be very sorry to see interfered with, or the principle departed from. But Mr. Buller objected that more had not been done— Was he aware, that not only not one-half, not three-quarters of theproceeds of the land-sales, but more than the whole amount received—upwards of1,000,000/.

above the proceeds of the land-sales—had been applied to the purposes of im-

migration within the last ten years ? The gross proceeds arising from the sale of lands during that period was 1,090,5831., while the sum actually paid for immigration was 951,241/.; and, taking into consideration the expense of the surveys of the land, and the sums expended upon the aborigines, the whole expenditure amounted to 1,200,0001.

He objected to disturbing the act of last year for disposing of lands in Australia and New Zealand, as tending to unsettle the interests of the colonists. He expended much pains in defending the sys- tem of selling land by auction, confirmed by that act ; without which, 893,4901. would have been lost upon the sale of 60,2201. acres in Port

Phillip alone 1 and he read long extracts from a despatch by Sir

George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, to show that a recent falling-off in the sale of lands was not to be ascribed to the high prices of auction-sales, but to reaction after a mania for speculation in all kinds of trade. Mr. Buller asked that Government should take the subject into consideration : why, they had had it under consideration for ten years. Lord Stanley concluded by stating, that he should first negative Mr. Sharman Crawford's amendment, and then move the pre- vious question on Mr. Buller's motion.

Lord HOWICK quarrelled with Lord Stanley's unqualified approval of what had recently been done. We have begun to go on the right track, but we have made little progress. He pointed to the vast extent of fer- tile but uncultivated land :in Canada, with capital waiting here for em- ployment, as proof that if there is danger of an over-supply of labour, there must be something wrong in the system. The great success which bad attended the acting upon Mr. Wakefield's principle made it the duty of the House and the Government to see that there was a progressive advance in the improvement of the system of emigration founded upon that principle. One great advantage which he looked for from emigration was political—its finding a vent for those persons, of great talent, energy, and activity, for whom this country could not find safe employment in time of peace.

Sir ROBERT INGLIS remarked that Lord Stanley's speech treated merely of emigration, and not of colonization ; and Sir Robert proceeded to advocate the sending out of colonies with all the completeness of society, even to its church establishments.

Mr. HUMS pronounced Lord Stanley's speech " sound throughout." The way to make colonies prosperous and to promote emigration was, to give them a good government, to let them have a share in it, and satisfy everybody.

Lord FRANCIS Eazirrow expressed the greatest satisfaction at the discussion ; and he thanked Mr. Buller for a speech which would convey so much sound information to the country.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL could not give his vote in favour of the motion, unless he saw more clearly the means by which the great benefits pro- mised could be attained ; and while so much is done under existing laws, the House should be cautions how it had recourse to new legisla- tion. If the resolution were adopted, would it not be inferred that they did not concur in those means which have been already taken ; and that they had some great plan in contemplation by which the existing evils and the distresses of the people were to be removed ? He thought it of importance, however, that Government should diffuse thoughout the country the utmost amount of information on the subject. For the present, the House had better leave the matter in the hands of Govern- ment ; and he looked to the signs of the time with a confident hope that the country is overcoming its difficulties.

Sir Howes") DOUGLAS ascribed the distress to foreign competition. with British labour ; and though he had never in the whole course of his life listened to an oration with greater pleasure than to Mr. Buller's, he did not entirely agree with it.

Mr. STUART WORTLEY also partially supported Mr. Bailer's views, but was for leaving the matter to Government. Mr. BULLER briefly replied ; remarking that Lord Stanley had made out no case against inquiry. After what had taken place, it was con- trary to any object he had in view to divide the House ; and therefore he begged to withdraw the motion. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD assented to that course, and withdrew his amendment.

The House adjourned shortly after, at a quarter to one o'clock.

THE OPIUM TRADE.

In the House of Commons, on Tuesday, Lord ASHLEY presented three petitions against the opium-trade, from the Wesleyan, Baptist, and London Missionary Societies ; and moved a resolution for its discon- tinuance. Although the war with China is at an end, the great cause of it, the opium-trade, is still in full operation, and carried on with in- creased audacity ; and while it lasts, so long must our political and commercial interests in China remain in a precarious state. A number of predictions and warnings of the evils which have resulted from the opium-trade have been given ; beginning in 1830, with Mr. Marjori- banks, a gentleman who had been seventeen years in the Company's ser- vice, and renewed successively by Captain Alsager, who had made nine voyages to China, Mr. King, an American resident at Canton, Mr. Hamilton Lindsay, and repeatedly by Captain Elliot himself, the Chief Superintendent. Mr. King, in a letter to Captain Elliot, in 1839, showed how the popular sympathy sided with the Government prohi- bition of the traffic- " For newly forty years," said Mr. King, " the British merchants, led on by the East India Company, have been driving a trade in violation of the highest laws and the best interests of the Chinese empire. This course has been pushed so far as to derange its currency, to corrupt its officers, and ruin multitudes of its people. The traffic has become associated in the politics of the country with embarrassments and evil omens ; in its penal code with the axe and the dungeon ; in the breasts of men in private life with the wreck of property, virtue, honour, and happiness. All ranks, from the Emperor on the throne to the people of the humblest hamlets, have felt its sting. To the fact of its descent to the lowest classes of society we are frequent witnesses; and the Court Gazettes are evidence that it has marked out victims for disgrace and ruin even among the Imperial kindred."

Captain Elliot said, in a letter to Lord Palmerston, in 1838- " The vast opium-deliveries at Whampoa, under extremely hazardous cir- cumstances, may certainly, at any moment, produce some grave dilemma."

Proceeding with documentary evidence as to the character of the trade, Lord Ashley quoted Captain Elliot's statement in 1839, that it was passing " from the worst character of forced trade to plain bucca- neering"; Sir Henry Pottinger told the Canton merchants, in December last, that the hostility of the Chinese was produced by the mismanage- ment and ill-treatment of the British ; and Mr. Jardine's evidence before the Select Committee in 1840, that the legitimate traders to China car- ried no arms, while the opium-vessels had each 200 or 150 men and cannon, showed that obstruction to the trade was deliberately resisted by force, and bloodshed if necessary. Lord Ashley turned to the in- jury which the trade has done to legitimate commerce : Mr. Gutzlaff, Sir George Robinson' and Lord Napier state, that the Chinese are most anxious to trade with us ; yet the opium-trade alone has flourished, at the expenie of the legitimate traffic. This was proved by a copious use of statistical figures ; none more conclusive than the following- Tbe following statement was extracted from "An account of the value and quantity of cargoes imported into Canton and Macao, on the tonnage em- ployed annually in the country trade, between the different ports of British India, Canton, and Macao, specifying particularly. the quantities and value of raw cotton and opium, in the following years," signed "J. Thompson," and dated "East India House, let June 1829 "—

Years.Opium. Cotton and Sundries.

1817-18

737.773

2,032,625

1818-19 1,098,250 1,901.568

1819-20

1,116,000 1,248,233 1820-21 1,621,500 910,429 1821-22 1,041,562 1,251,011

1822-23

9.332,250 984,812 1823-24 1,822,150 946,102 1824-25 1,128 750 1,627,389

1825-26 2,445,625 1,479,594 1826-27 2,317.456 1,609.851

1827-28 2,810,874 1.150.537

He could not continue the tables to the present time ; but the House would observe an ascending scale of opium, and descending scale of goods, until, in 1840, the Indian trade amounted in cotton and sundries to 1,000,0001., and in opium to 4,000,000/. • showing that in 1817 the trade in cotton goods, &c. was three times greater ;hen that in opium, and that now the trade in opium was equal to four times that in cotton and sundries.

While the British had possession of Chusan, the Scotland arrived, laden with British manufactures, and a brisk trade began ; but it was stopped on the appearance of two opium-clippers ; the dollars of the natives going to purchase the drug. Major Majoribanks said it was quite a vulgar error to suppose that the Chinese were an anti-commercial people ; and Mr. Dunn, the possessor of the Chinese collection, had written Lord Ashley a letter on this part of the subject-

" The Chinese (he said) are naturally kind and conciliating, and feel keenly when treated with injustice. They possess a strong predilection for commerce, and a great taste for foreign manufactures. The principal barrier to the rapid increase in the consumption of British goods is, I conceive, the opium-trade. . . . . Stop the opium-trade, and you will have their warmest friendship, a friendship that will so facilitate and increase the consumption of your manu- factures, that a few years only would show them to be your best customers." This gentleman (continued Lord Ashley) had been admitted to a free inter- course with the Chinese, because they knew that he had never been engaged in the nefarious traffic of opium ; and bad given him a proof of their kindness by allowing him to bring his interesting collection from different parts of Chins, and put them into teasels without subjecting them to any examination, official or otherwise.

Adverting to the moral bearing of the question, Lord Ashley laid down the principle, that the object of all governments is the mainte- nance of morality ; and he read many extracts from well-known works describing the hideous effects of opium on those addicted to its use. The habit is extending in India, where we are demoralizing our own sub- jects. Its recent introduction into Assam had converted the people from their robust and enterprising state of body and mind; and one-half of the crime in the opium-districts—the murders, rapes, and affrays—have their origin in opium-eating. Yet the growth of the drug is even forced ou the ryot by the ill-paid agents of the Government, who have a commission on the produce; for otherwise, it is observed, the ryot devotes himself to the cultivation of useful and necessary produce. In this manner the district of Benares, called by Mr. Trevelyan the Jamaica of India, from its fitness for the growth of sugar, is forcibly devoted to the cultivation of the poppy. The next class of Lord Ashley's extracts relates to the violent and lawless manner in which the traffic is carried on : e. g.— Extract of a letter dated Macao, 14th June I839—" The opium-trade is not annihilated. It has only, as it were, changed hands, to a class of men prepared to carry on the traffic at all hazards, to overcome all obstacles that may oppose their progress by the weapons of war, and who for this purpose, at this time, both here, at Manilla, and Singapore, are fitting out vessels in such a manner as will defy all the naval power of China." Extract of a letter from a gentle- man at Macao to his friend in London—" Macao, 6th August. Vessels armed to the teeth are employed along the coast, and actually forcing it into the country." A gentleman who had just returned from a seven years' residence in China said—"In 1837-8, the smuggling in the Canton river in schooners and small- craft commenced, and much murder and bloodshed must have taken place. In the night the sound of fire-arms on the river might be heard in the foreign fac- tories; the commanders of the clippers openly boasted of their exploits in firing on the Mandarin boats. The commander of boats," said this gentle- man, "told me they had fired ten barrels into one boat at one time. The very last accounts report six opium-ships at Chusan, and there were now probably thirty or forty armed ships smuggling opium on the coast of China."

The Government is directly cognizant of the trade, and of the man- ner in which it is conducted. A gentleman of great official experience at Bombay stated, in a letter to Lord Ashley, that arms for the opium- clippers were supplied from the Government arsenal! In 1830, the Go- vernor-General in Council wrote to the Directors, that the growth of opium was encouraged ; and Government even made advances for the purpose.

The traffic is the greatest of obstructions to the progress of Chris- tianity and civilization. In the debate respecting the gates of Som- nath, Mr. Macaulay said, " Every act tending to bring Christianity into contempt is high treason against the civilization of the human race." Lord Ashley fully concurred in that sentiment ; and he pro- ceeded to show, on the authority of several missionaries, whose letters he quoted, that opium and the Bible never could enter China together.

A fact which occurred but on Monday last furnished a disgraceful illustration of this point— The Baptist Missionary Society—a society which had done a great deal in effecting the spread of the Gospel in this land, and which had produced some of the most eminent and pious men—met last Wednesday to consider the pro- priety of sending out a missionary to Hong-kong; and at that meeting it had been decided to work through the agency of the American missions, because the public feeling in China was so strong against the English, that if the missionaries must work at all, it must be throu,gli America, which bad kept aloof from this disgraceful traffic. And what had been the result ?—Why, the Baptist Missionary Society of England bad voted 500/. to be put at the dis- posal of the American missionaries for the propagation of the Gospel in China. Lord Ashley proposed, in the first place, utterly to destroy the East India Company's monopoly in the drug, by means of which the Com- pany have forced it on the Chinese market, even in excess of the demand ; and though he did not direct propose to prohibit its growth in India, his opinion was in favour c■19clping so. If prohibited in Guze- rat and Assam, as it had been, it coula' be prohibited in Malwa ; and in Rungapore a prohibited crop had teen forcibly torn up by order of Government. He noticed some objections to his motion. It was said by those who differed from him, that the Chinese were insincere in their protestations against our opium-trade ; and perhaps it was true that the local authorities of China, corrupted by English bribes, were not in earnest: but he did not believe that the Supreme Government

China, which had for sixty years persevered in opposing the traffic, was insincere ; and even if it were, the insincerity of China was no excuse for the criminality of England. It was said that you might equally well forbid the growth of barley for the sake of stopping dis- tillation : but barley was not like opium, convertible only to vicious purposes. He read the names of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in London, subscribed to a paper affirming the injurious effects of opium taken as a luxury. The trade brings dishonour on this country among other states by her perseverance in so discreditable a trade ; which is a bad contrast with the conduct of Spain at Manilla, and of the Dutch at Java, both of which countries have prohibited the export of opium to China. He concluded by moving,

" That it is the opinion of this House, that the continuance of the trade in opium, and the monopoly of its growth in the territories of British India, is destructive of all relations of amity between England and China, injurious to the manufacturing interests of the country by the very serious diminution of legitimate commerce, and utterly inconsistent with the honour and duties of a Christian kingdom ; and that steps be taken, as soon as possible, with due regard to the rights of governments and individuals, to abolish the evil."

Mr. BROTIIERTON seconded the motion ; taking for his principle Mr. Fox's maxim, that " what is morally wrong can never be politically right."

Mr. BINGHAM BARING did not deny the great and palpable evils arising from the traffic, but there had been great exaggerations of those evils. Lord Ashley stated that the cultivation of opium could easily be put down ; but that was an erroneous assumption. Opium is used by the Mahometan population of India, as the only stimulant permitted by their religion ; and grown as it is in Malwa and other native terri- tories, no power that we can raise could prevent its cultivation. An attempt to suppress it in Malwa had already proved unsuccessful— On the cessation of disturbances in British India, when peace was restored, and the people were enabled to return to their ordinary pursuits, then, in spite of the cultivation of the poppy by the Company, the growth was carried on to such an extent elsewhere as to create a danger of the production of the drug at a reduced rate, and of its introduction by smugglers into other parts of the peninsula. In order to avoid such an evil, and in some sort to control the cultivation, the Company attempted to form treaties with the native chide. In some cases they succeeded in this endeavour, but in other instances they were not enabled to obtain the concurrence of the chiefs. A system of smuggling then commenced. Armed bands arose—men accustomed to follow any leader, or to place their swords at the disposal of any party giving them employment : this class sprung up in some parts of the country, and, in ac- cordance with the custom of their fathers and forefathers, they were willing to lend their aid to those who would pay them. It was Sir Charles Metcalfe, who, finding that we were about to create another Pindaree warfare, advised the Government to yield, told them that they would not be successful, and, in lieu of suppressing the cultivation, induced them to establish an export-duty, which should be hxed as high as possible. From this it was evident that the Company bad made every effort to put down smuggling, and had yielded only to an absolute necessity.

In many districts of our own territory, of large extent, the only per- sons to support our interests are a collector and his deputy, and a ma- gistrate and his deputy ; but even if they constituted a machinery suffi- cient for the purpose, what would be the physical results ? There are other drugs infinitely more prejudicial to health, such as an exudation of the hemp-plant, easily collected at certain seasons. It was said that advances are made for the cultivation ; but why ?—simply because pre- payment is the best mode of payment. Lord Ashley said that the mo- nopoly extended the cultivation : the Committee of 1832, on the autho- rity of Mr. Holt Mackenzie, argued in favour of opening the trade, on the ground that a cheap and abundant supply would be the consequence. Lord Ashley suggested no means by which Government could guard the coast of China from the introduction of opium ; and even if this country were to maintain a powerful navy, aided by steamers and all the officials of China, be would defy them to prevent those scenes of rapine and disorder which would result from an attempt to stop the trade. The only remedy for that evil was, that the Emperor should legalize the trade. Hoping that Lord Ashley would not insist on asking the House to affirm an abstract resolution like the present, he would move the previous question.

Sir GEORGE STAUNTON, after careful deliberation, had come to the conclusion, that the continuance of the opium-trade was incompatible with the maintenance of friendly relations between this country and China. He enumerated the several advantages which we possess in the intercourse with China, or which are secured to us by the Nankin treaty,--the importation of tea, which yields a revenue of 4,000,0001. to the State, the opening of four new ports situate in districts remarkable for that produce in which our merchants chiefly desire to trade, the new arrangements for handing over Chinese offenders to Chinese and Bri- tish offenders to British tribunals ; and he asked if those advantages were to be abandoned for the sake of a monopoly in opium ? He urged upon the House the necessity of legislating to carry out that part of the treaty relating to the administration of justice ; for if it were postponed till March next, the intelligence of the settlement could not reach China till the July following, and in the interval our fellow-subjects in that part of the world would be under a kind of Lynch-law. Even if, as some had wished, the trade were legalized under a heavy duty, that would not prevent smuggling : a letter from Chins, dated Canton, 24th December 1842, said- " The opium question is left in state quo, and may yet cause trouble. In England we might set such a subject at rest by legalizing the drug, seeing that better could not be done, but not so in China! if the Emperor, after Laving opposed the introduction of opium with all his strength—after having stigma- tized it as a poison, and cut off the heads of great numbers of people for selling it, and even fur emoking it—were now to turn round and make it a Govern- ment monopoly, and set himself up as the principal vendor and encourager of the evil, I do not think he would be a month longer on his throne. The Em- peror may wink at its being smuggled, but I do not think he can ever consent to legalize it ; and while it thus continues to be a prohibited article, it puts our friendly relations in jeopardy every hour."

Sir George contended, that the law of nations obliges Government to instruct its Consuls to observe the prohibitions which Foreign Govern- ments impose ; and he concluded by exhorting Lord Ashley to imitate the perseverance of his great predecessor, Wilberforce.

Lord JOCELYN agreed with Lord Ashley as to the evils alleged, but not as to the proposed remedy ; and he defended the Indian monopoly of opium, as tending to check the production of the drug and smug- gling. The Indian Government bad stimulated production but to meet the increased demand in China, not to force new markets ; and it was only intended to meet the competition of native states, which would otherwise have driven them out of the market. The monopoly had the farther advantage of tending to keep the drug from the general con- sumption of the people of India. It is not the fact that the agents in India are ill-paid ; and if the eyes of a traveller may be trusted, the ryots in the poppy districts are in better circumstances than the gene- rality of the cultivators of other produce whom he had seen. The con- dition of the Indian revenue is not so flourishing that more than a million should be subjected to an experiment ; nor would he, in sym- pathy for the people of China, tax the overburdened people of India to make good the deficiency. Lord Ashley had mentioned Rungapore as an example of the suppression of the opium-growth ; but it bad been put down with the greatest difficulty. When in 1736, an attempt was made to repress the sin of gin-drinking in this country, "the popu- lace," said M'Culloch, " as in all similar cases, espoused the cause of the smugglers and unlicensed dealers ; informers were hunted down like wild beasts, the officers of revenue were openly assaulted, and drunken- ness, disorder, and crimes increased with fearful rapidity :" if Govern- ment could not carry such a measure here against the wishes of the people, India must bristle with bayonets and her coasts be lined with revenue cruisers to effect the object.

Captain LAYARD supported the motion ; giving his experience of the opium-smoking houses at Singapore ; and of the mutilations inflicted at Whampoa on opium-smugglers, who crawled about the streets of Canton with their hands and feet cat off.

Mr. Ho:wan contended that Lord Ashley's remedy would aggravate the evils. From the earliest period, during the reign of the Moguls, a revenue had been raised from opium in Hindostan. In 1786, the sub- ject had attracted the attention of Lord Cornwallis, who suggested a monopoly as the means of raising the largest amount of revenue with the smallest amount of consumption— In this the Government had succeeded pretty well, and the exports were small till about the years 1814 and 1816: but then a new state of things arose, in con- sequence of the general peace in Europe and the settlement of Central Asia by Lord Hastings, when a new impulse was given to Indian commerce ; and the speculators gave the Government to understand, that soon, if things went on as they were, the opium of British India would be thrown out of the market, and the Government would thus lose its control over the trade, which would be vastly augmented : it was then settled that a bounty should be given to the transference of opium from Malwa to Bombay: and this was shortly the state of the question as far as regarded history.

At present no man can plant opium without an agreement With the Government ; and what restriction could equal that? The monopoly was on these grounds approved of by Mr. Mill the historian. In Malwa, they had, from political reasons, tried the very course recom- mended by Lord Ashley ; and when the monopoly was abolished, the quantity produced increased from 2,500 chests to 10,354. Should India forego the supply of opium, it would be produced in other countries—the Punjab, Java, the Philippine Islands, Egypt, Turkey, and perhaps South America ; and having thrown away a revenue of 1,200,000L, they would find opium growing up in a variety of other soils. Lord Ashley spoke as if the Americans did not deal in opium : why, they had the whole trade in Turkey opium. Mr. Jardine had said that he knew one person deterred from dealing in opium from moral considerations—Mr. Key ; but then, added Mr. Jardine, unfor- tunately he smuggled in every thing else. Mr. Hogg denied that the effects of opium are so disgusting or so demoralizing as those of exces- sive drinking ; and he attributed the bad effects in Assam to the dread- ful climate of that country. The falling-off in the exports to China had been accounted for last year by Mr. Heade ; who, when Sir Robert Peel referred to the great increase in the exports to India, said that the increase arose from the fact that exports to China are now not sent direct, but through Bombay. And it was absurd to compare the trade of this country with China and that with other countries, because we had never dealt with China as a nation, but only with the Hong mer- chants. Mr. Hogg referred to the fact that that the Viceroy and the local authorities at Canton sanctioned the trade for their own emolu- ment; and to the real cause of the alarm expressed by the Chinese Government, the export of Sycee silver in payment for the opium : the same alarm would have been expresssd at a trade in manufactures, so paid for. Tchew-sun recommended that if the opium-trade were le- galized, the drug should be paid for not in silver but in goods. If we could not prevent smuggling on our own coasts, how could we prevent it in China ?

Sir E. COLEBROOKE opposed the motion, but not in very decided terms. Mr. LINDSAY also opposed it ; quoting a long letter from Dr. Colledge, at Cheltenham, condemning the use of opium as a luxury, but stating that it is much and beneficially used in China as a medicine, and placing its abuse in the same category with the abuse of ardent spirits. Mr. Lindsay admitted that peace cannot be maintained so long as armed smuggling continues ; but the remedy is, to legalize the trade.

Mr. HINDLEY here moved the adjournment of the debate : but the motion was rejected, by 118 to 26. The main motion was then sup- ported, on the general ground of morality, by Lord SANDON and by Sir ROBERT INGLIS ; who remarked, that by arrangements now in pro- gress, the Queen's Minister on the coast of China might render the in- troduction of opium for ever impossible.

Sir ROBEET PEEL, observed, that this was a question affecting a re- venue to the amount of 1,200,0001., at a time when a further revenue could only be raised from the scanty earnings of the agricultural la- bourer. When Sir Robert Inglis said there was an opportunity to enable the British negotiator to make some satisfactory arrangement, ought he not to have asked, whether or not such negotiations were now pending ; and if they were, whether there was not a risk that the motion might defeat the hopes entertained from diplomatic interven- tion? The motion embraced two questions,—whether the illegal trade in opium was contrary to the wishes of the Chinese Government ; and whether, by the resolution, the House could prevent the growth of a certain drug? As to the former question, instructions had already been given on the subject to Sir Henry Pottinger. Now, what were Sir Henry Pottinger's feelings towards the Chinese Government ? did he not stand almost alone there? and had he 'not given proof that he was a man in whom the House might confide? (Cheers) From the in- structions given to him by Lord Aberdeen, Sir Robert Peel read a passage— Whatever may be the result of your endeavours to prevail upon the Chinese Government to legalize the sale of opium, it will be right that her Majesty's servants in China should hold themselves aloof from all connexion with so discreditable a traffic. The British merchant, who may be a smuggler, must receive no protection or support in the prosecution of his illegal sale ; and he must be wade aware that he will have to take the consequences of his own conduct. Her Majesty's Government have not the power to put a stop to this trade on the part of the British smuggler ; but they may impede it in some degree by preventing Hong-kong and its waters from being used as a point by the British smuggler, as a starting-point for his illegal acts. That is to say, when Hong-koilg is ceded—until-that the smuggling of opium cannot be prohibited there ; but as soon as it is ceded, you will have power to prevent the importation of opium into Hong-kong for the purpose of exportation into China.' - Under these considerations, it was much better that the matter should be left in the bands of Government. When Sir Robert was called upon to interdict the growth of opium in order to benefit the manufacturers of this country, be was doubly unwilling to sanction the resolution,— first, because it assumed that the growth of opium ought to be stopped because persons in another country could not so control their own ap- petites as to prevent an abuse of it ; and next, as the plant is grown in countries over which we have no control, if the monopoly were abolished, it was impossible to anticipate the evils which might ensue in India. In fact, it was impossible to affirm the resolution with the-im- perfect information possessed by the House. India had a flourishing cotton manufacture, which this country has destroyed.; she was left in undisturbed possession of her agriculture; and if the trade could be legalized, it would be most unjust, for the purpose of opening a market for British manufactures, to adopt measures which would inevitably destroy the agriculture of India. Members were very sensitive on the subject of opium ; but do we not raise a revenue on tobacco, which is very stimulating in its character?—(A Member, " Composing !" tend laughter)—on wine, brandy, and gin ; articles Which are often used in great excess and give rise to many destructive consequences ? They wanted to increase the manufacturing trade with India : but did they not employ children of a young and tender age in the production Of those manufactures ; while they called out about the injury of the opium-trade to health and morals? Sir Robert Peel concluded by recommending Lord Ashley to withdraw his motion.

Mr. ACLAND could not support the motion after Sir Robert 'Peers speech. Lord ASHLEY, with the single remark that Lord Cornwallis's minute of 1786 referred to a different state of things, consented to withdraw his motion, on the representation that it would interfere with pending negotiations. THE ASHBURTON TREATY.

In the House of Lords, on Monday, the Marquis a LANSDOWNE asked whether Government had received any information as to the different construction put by the President of the United States on the 8th article of the treaty of Washington ; and whether the Foreign Secre- tary would object to put the House in possession of the same inforraa- tion ? The Earl of ABERDEEN said that there would be no objection ; and Lord LANSDOWNE having moved for the correspondence between the British Minister at Washington and the American Secretary of State, the papers were ordered. Soon afterwards, Lord Brougham entered the House, and Lord CAMP- BELL informed him what had taken place; expressing an opinion 'that his motion to thank Lord Ashburton for the treaty, which stood for Tues- day, ought to be postponed. Lord BROUGHAM said, that, the papers which had been moved for did not affect his motion, because the matter to which they related (the right of visit) formed no part of the negotia- tions of Lord Ashburton : but he was willing to postpone his motion till Friday. Lord LANSDOWNE observed, that the right must have•been the subject of negotiation, since there was an article of the treaty expressly referring to it. Lord ABERDEEN would not admit that any difference ex- isted with regard to the construction of the 8th article : he was quite posi- tive that the difference which had occurred was 'more apparent than real, and he was sure that no difference existed that could lead to any serious inconvenience or be productive of any unpleasant consequence. Lord BROUGHAM maintained that there was no real difference between the countries : and so did Lord Ass macros ; who added, that during his stay in the United States, he heard nothing but=expressions of sa- tisfaction at the explanations given by this country. It was under- stood that Lord Brougham's motion was postponed to Friday.

Lord Joss RUSSELL drew attention to the subject in the House of Commons ; calling to mind the discrepancy between the opinions -ex- pressed by the President in two messages, and by Sir Robert 'Peel on the first night of the session: and (besides the correspondence-Which-Lord Lansdowne mentioned) Lord John asked whether Government would object to produce any instruction given to Lord Ashburton, or nny'eorre- spondence between Lord Ashburton and Lord Aberdeen ? Sir 'Romer PEEL said, he would have no objection to lay upon the table of the House extracts of the despatch from Lord Aberdeen to ,jr. Fox, which was incorporated in Mr. Webster's letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and also one from Lord Aberdeen to Mr. Event, never yet officially communicated, which had been written in December 1841, and contained the principles of Government on the subject. .Go- vernment had given no instruction to Lord Ashburton sanctioning-him to depart from or modify the principles contained in that despatch of 1841. Sir Robert referred to passages in the recent message of the President, in which he expressed a doubt " whether the apparent dif- ference between the two Governments is not one of definition rather than of principle "• to the passing of the bill for giving full effect 4o the treaty of Washington, and to the Representatives' rejection of the bill for the occupation of the Oregon territory, to prove the good-feel- ing subsisting between the two countries. He afterwards added, that no official communication had passed on the subject of the right of visit.

Mr. Hoses motion is postponed till Monday ; with every prospect of not coming on before the holydays.

REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.

The Registration of Voters Bill was recommitted on Monday, in

order to the reconsideration of the clauses consecutively, after the in- troduction of the new clauses by Sir James Graham. Clauses down to the 44th were discussed with little interest. On the 44th, Mr. GALLY Komar proposed to substitute 20s. for 40s. as the penalty for making frivolous objections. But the original proposition was carried, by 113 to 30.

On clause 58th, which directs appeals from the Revising Barristers to be carried to the Court of Common Pleas, Lord Jowst RUSSELL ob- jected to implicating the Judges in such mere political questions as matters of election-law, as tending to derogate from the high estimation of the Judges, and to endanger the privileges of the House. He would prefer a separate tribunal appointed by a responsible Minister of the Crown, to giving the Court of Common Pleas an appellate jurisdiction over the House. Sir JAMES GRAHAM argued at some length, that the powers given to the Judges could not touch the privileges of the House, being limited to the decision of dry points of law. Lord John Russell had not scrupled to give the Irish Judges an appellate jurisdiction. If a new appellate tribunal were to be made, by whom could it be appointed ? It would be an invidious task for the Speaker ; and if he had proposed to give the nomination to a Minister of the Crown, he questioned whether the House would not have scouted the idea, or whether Lord John Russell himself would have consented to it. Mr. Dense and Sir GEORGE GREY would take the Judges as the best tribunal practicable. Mr. RUTHERFORD objected to placing the definition of the franchise in the hands of the Judges ; and asked, should the Judges and the Committees of the House disagree as to the franchise, whose definition would prevail ? Mr. ROEBUCK would ap- point a single Judge expressly for the purpose of hearing appeals, masted by a barrister. He objected to increasing the business of the Judges : their decisions on appeals from the Quarter-sessions on ques- tions of Poor-law settlement had only helped to render the law a mass of vonfusion ; and prisoners are already confined too long because the Assize business is too mach for the Judges, although assisted by Queen's counsel or sergeants—a competent but unseemly assistance for the sworn Judges of the Crown. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL did not believe that.the privileges of the House could be compromised by the measure :

at the same time he must confess his conviction, that neither now nor alaundred and fifty years hence—should its constitution last so long—

("Hear, hear!" and a laugh)—could the House, in any probability, retain enough of power to support the peculiarly exclusive and ex- tensive claims involved in objections which had been made. What better tribunal could there be than the superior courts of law ?-

" On the part of the profession to which I have the honour to belong," said Sir Frederick Pollock, " I may perhaps be permitted to say, (as in connexion with subjects of this nature it is not uncommon to hear it alluded to as not favourable to enlarged or enlightened statesmanship,) that the battles of the constitution have been fully as often and as successfully fought in courts of law sa in this Rouse; and that to decisions of those courts, given in times when this House was impotent for such purposes, we owe many of our most valued rights. The extinction of slavery itself, under the name of 'villeinage,' was effected, not by legislative enactment, but by judicial decisions, pronounced by learned and sagacious lawyers, who well knew what they were about in thus extending the liberty of the subject, and to a long series of whose decisions we are undoubtedly indebted for many of the main bulwarks of that ancient con- stitution under which it is our happiness to live."

Mr. CHARLES BULLER looked to decisions of the law courts on corporation questions as warnings on the point : all concerned in such cases, on either side, were accustomed to speculate freely on the known political opinions of the Judges. How were the decisions of Judges to be enforced upon Committees of the House ; who were accustomed to decide in a rough manner, on what Members called principles of com- mon sense ?—

Honourable Members said on such occasions, "Sergeant Tbingamy has cited a number of cases on one side, and Mr. Austen has cited just es many on the other ; but we care nothing for cases, we are accustomed never to mind what the lawyers say ; we shall decide according to principles of common sense "; and so they came down and gave a decision, resting partly, perhaps, on facts, and partly on law, but not saying which; and in this rough way a Committee might assuredly upset any decision in the Court of Common Pleas.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL explained, that the Court of Common Pleas was to decide the question of law in each case which should be sent up, with the facts, for its decision ; then the decision was to be sent back to the Tetnrning-officer, and the vote placed on the register ; that decision thenceforward would be binding in that case, and on that vote.

If the vote, therefore, came before a Committee for investigation, they would be bound not to meddle with it ; it would be enforced on them just like any other statute law. As to the political jurisdiction of the

Judges, it is now the fact, that all manner of questions touching the Re- forma Act come before them ; and as to the increase of business, he would venture to say that there would not be six appeals in the year. On a-division, the clause was carried, by 154 to 51.

On clause 73d, which affirms the right of voting in occupiers of 101. 'houses, Mr. HORSMAN moved a proviso, that in the case of a house or building valued jointly with land, the building should separately be worth 51. The proviso was rejected, by 128 to 34.

Mr. ELnancrrown moved an additional clause-

" That no scot and lot voter, whose name is on the register of voters for the current year, shall be prevented from voting by reason of his not having paid any rates demanded of him previous to the day of election."

Sir JAMES GRAHAM objected to placing the scot and lot voters in a better position than that which they occupied before the Reform Act. The clause was negatived, by 81 to 32.

The remaining clauses were agreed to, and the House resumed.

Mroczmartuoos.

A NEW WRIT was ordered, on Tuesday, for the Eastern Division of tilaffieik.in the room of.Major-General Sir Charles Broke Vere, deceased.

01161011 OF•SCOTLAND. Mr. HOPE JOHNSTONE inquired, on Timo- thy, whether Government intended to introduce a bill to settle the doubts respecting the jurisdiction of the Church of' Scotland? Sir JAMES GRAHAM considered 'the questions of law settled by the dicta of the Lords in the judgment on the Auchterarder case, and in the debate on Lord Campbell's resolutions. Government adhered to the terms of his letter to the Moderator of the General Assembly, and had no preaeot Intend= of introducing a bill on the subject.

EDUCATION. Lord Jona RUSSELL is to lay on the table of the Com- mons, on Monday, resolutions on the subject of Education ; and after Easter, he will call for the opinion of the House upon them.

INCOME-TAX. In reply to Lord BROUGHAM, who thought the In- come-tax would realize about 7,500,0001. on the year, Lord Witanw- CLIFFE said, that although there were considerable arrears in the pay- ments, the composition of several large commercial firms had been paid for the whole year during the last quarter. The Duke of WEL- LDIGTON said that the probable amount on the year was now estimated at 4,500,0001.

Corrosi AND WOOL DUTIES. In the House of Lords, on Thursday, Lord MONTEAGLE moved for returns showing the amount 'of cotton and wool imported daring the last seven years, and the duties paid thereon. He deprecated the duties as taxes on raw material. The 111 effect of the duty of 5-16ths on cotton is not to be measured by the mo- ney-payment, but by its operation in the several stages of the manufac- ture, and by the facts that much cotton is now exported in the half- manufactured state of yarn and twist, and that in the declared value of cotton goods exported there was a falling-off of 3,610,5701. between 1840 and 1842. The French manufacturer receives more in bounty on the export than he pays in duty on the raw material : the English ma- nufacturer has no bounty. The exports of cloths made from foreigq wool have fallen from 352,000 pieces in 1833 to 104,000 in 1840 ; those made from English wool from 760,000 to 604,000. He would reduce the tax from 13 to 5 per cent, in conformity with the principle of the new Tariff, that duties on raw material should be only 5 per cent. The Duke of WELLINGTON defended the duties, on the score that 800,0001. of revenue cannot be spared : but, with some amendment, and extending them over ten years, he agreed to the production of the returns.

THE DOGS BILL was thrown out on the second reading in the House of Lords, on Monday.