THE ALIEN BILL.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XV, Issue 1135, 14 May 1858, Page 3

THE ALIEN BILL.

One of our correspondents, under date Febraary 12th, makes the following observations on the above bill : — On the sth instant, both Houses of Parliament agreed upon congratulatory addresses to the Queen on the marriage of the Princess Itcyal. This done, Mr. Roebuck, in the House of Commons, questioned Government as to the communications received from France relative to the Alien Act, and enunciated some tnoroughly English sentiments with his customary smartness. Lerd Palmetston was evidently displeased with the hon. member for Sheffield, whom he accused of''indulging in unbridlsd vituperation against every man living, whether at home or abroad." Mr. Koebuck, thus attacked, became defiant. England, he said, had been threatened before : "The first Napoleon was at the head of the victorious legions of Ulm, of Austerlitz, and of Jena, and yet our ancestors hurled defiance atj bis head, and encountered and conquered him. If, Ijhen, our ancestors were undismayed by the threats of Napo- | leon le grand, surely we may treat with contempt those of Napoleon le petit." On Monday, Lord Palmerston, in obedience to the demand of Count Walewski, introduced his new Alien Bill. At present, in England, conspiracy to commit murder is a misdemeanor ; in Ireland, it is a felony ; and the Premier proposes so far to assimilate the law that in this country the offence shall be felony, punishable at the discretion of the court by various sentences, from penal servitude for life to imprisonment for three years. Although the introduction of this bill has been granted by an overwhelming majority— 299 against 99— this must not be teken as an illustration of what the division -will be on the second reading. _ At present, certainly, the probabilities are that Ministers will succeed, for there is no unanimity on the Conservative side of the House. Mr. Warren boldly opposes the measure. Mr. Napier warmly supports it ; whilst Mr. B'lsraeli votes for its introduction, reserving to himself the right to vote against it on a future occasion. While disunion like this, Lord Palmerston may well smile his satisfaction. The bill, however, creates no new crime, for if it did, he would never have got 299 members of the House of Commons to say "aye" to his proposition. The sole intent of the measure is to remove a given crime from a misdemeanor to a felony, and to increase the punishment for that crime ; thus the question becomes considerably narrowed. It is, however, so narroweef to the great detri ment of the amended bill. In any case it seems to us decidedly objectionable. If there be any concealed pandering to the political necessities of Louis Napoleon, it ought to be kicked out with scorn ; if the utmost that is intended is to protect fereign potentates, even by the fear of penal servitude for life, it is a sham, and unworthy of the occasion and the Government. There is a predominant sentiment in the English mind that, recent events notwithstanding — there is no dynasty which has a right to so little sympathy at our hands as the

Napoleonic— and there is no sovereign who has so little cause to interfere with our laws as Louis Napoleon , nnd tlwiefore the fact only needs to be made known, that it is proposed to retrograde at his request, in order to render the measure hateful to the nation at large. Those who wish to know the merits of this bill need nothing further than Lord John Russell's opinion. "For hundreds of years," snid the Whig statesman, "the cunie of consphacy to murder had been regarded as a misdemeanor, and as far as he knew no subject of this country had ever complained that life was insecure." Again :' It was contrary to humin nature to believe that the punishment which the bill proposed would deter such men as Orsini and Mazzini from conspiracy." And again : "What was wanted was not so much the punishment as the detection of the crime, and this bill would not secure detection." No man imagines that this bill will assist the police in tracing conspiracies ; but this is what Napoleon 111. wants. The thing is an unmitigated sham. And it must not be forgotten that, in whatever danger the Emperor is placed by foreign revolutionaries, England is not responsible for a single one of the exigencies of his position. England ne\er tried to prop the Pope by British bayonets nor helped Louis Napoleon to a French throne. His enemies are ail of his osvn creation.