SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1851. The Parliamentary Session of 1850,

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 507, 22 February 1851, Page 2

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1 85 1. The Parliamentary Session of 1850,

The files of English papers which have last reached us fill up the details of the proceedings during the closing days of the Session, of which we had previously received only secondhand and meagre accounts. 'J here was little in those proceedings, however, that would interest the reader here. The great object evidently was to expedite at a railway speed, (scarcely compatible with any modicum of serious reflection) those measures which it was determined to carry, whirling past a number of other bills with excuses for their abandonment which must have been of more than cobweb flimsiness if thefr were not sufficient to satisfy noble lords and honourable gentlemen who were panting to escape from the heat of the metropolis and the fag of business, for the moors, the lakes, or the streams of their own country, or the diveisified attractions of continental travel. The journals, as usual, contain copious comments on the Session, but — not to speak of their length — they refer so much to matters of limited (that is of home as distinguished from Imperial) concern, and are for the most part directed so decidedly to the object of subserving the interest of one or another of those political parties from whose strifes v\e are at this distance happily enabled to keep ourselves in a great measure free, that their transference to our columns would scarcely be gratifying to any large proportion of our readers. We therefore prefer using in our own way the materials which they furnish, so as to present some general facts and views supplementary to the digests of Parliamentary proceedings, which we have from time to time compiled. The Houses met " for the despatch of business" on Thursday, the 31st of January, and were prorogued on Thursday, the 15th of August. During this period, the Lords held one hundred sittings, occupying two hundred and sixty-one hours ; the Commons, one hundred and fifty-three sittings, extending over one thousand and fifty-three hours. The average duration of the daily sittings of the Commons was seven hours and three quarters in the months of February, March, April, and May ; and nine hours in June, July, arid Augustj when two sittings a day were frequent. Hete was time enough fo,r mature deliberation and extensive action Let us briefly inquire both what was done, and what was left unfinished and therefore inoperative, after it had been begun. Passing by the comparatively few measures which originated in the Upper House, we find' that the total number of uills introduced in the Commons was one hundred and fiftyeight, of which one hundred and one were brought in by the Government, and fifty-seven by private members. Duimg the discussion of these measures, three hundred and twenty-nine divisions took place. The issue was that ninety Bills (seventy-three Ministerial and seventeen Members') received the Royal assent ; and sixty-eight fell to the ground — forty of the Members' bills having been rejected pr withdrawn, and twenty- eight of the Ministerial withdrawn. The general character of the legislation of the Session has beenthus succinctly described by the Times : — "The Session of 1850 will not be remembered either for the unity or the depth of its interest. Even a careful observer of public affairs might be taken a b <ck if he was suddenly challenged to say what has been done. Indeed, nothing has been achieved in any

high or triumphant seme of the word ; no right has been rescued fr m the tyranny of a class, no truth has been vindicated from the obstinacy of faction. But look a little nearer, and the session ju^t over will not be found wanting either in its spint, or in its actual consequence. * * Its principal feature hns been domestic improvement, ihe oidnury work of statesmen, and the meat and drink o-' options. lint such are not the matters that m ike most stir in the world." Amongst the" domestic improvements" here referred to, probably the most valuable were those of a sanitary character ; — enacting in various districts regulations which science had pointed out and experience confirmed as conducive to the public health, but which would not perhaps have so soon obtained efficient legislative sanction if the ravages of Cholera had not roused the parliamentary as well as the public mind to a sense of their urgent necessity. Of these, the most prominent was the Act for Prohibiting Intramural Interments in the Metropolis, which was carried against a more united than creditable opposition on the part of the Metropolitan members, who seemed in this instance to have subordinated the claims of the public welfare to the selfish requirements of the limited but influential classes Whose pecuniary interests were likely to suffer by the measure. .. .The Mercantile Marine Act was confessedly called for to give greater efficiency to our merchant navy, and especially to enable it to meet the growing competition from foreign countries to which it is exposed by the recent application of the principles of free trade to the Navigation Laws. The main objects proposed by it were "to elevate the character of the commanders of merchant vessels, to enforce a better discipline among their crews, and at the same time to promote the general comfortand welfare of British seamen." These objects the Act is generally thought likely to secure, and, since the objection originally urged — that it was of so centralizing a character as to throw the whole management of the shipping interest into the hands of the Board of Trade — was removed by the introduction of piovisions for the establishment of local Boards in the principal ports, it has secured the cordial approbation of a majority of the repesentatives of that interest. . . .Mr. Sothkuon's Friendly J^ocieties' Bill gives to the Odd Fellows, and other Friendly Societies, which collectively number amongst their members nearly half the adult male population of Great Britain and Ireland, an exemption from possible legal penalties and a protection against more tha,n possible frauds, which go far to justify Mr. Roebuck's description of it as " by far the most important measure of the session." ....The gratifying surplus of £200,000 for the last financial ye ir, with indications of continued prosperity in the Revenue, afforded an opportunity for some reduction of taxation, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer's choice of the duty on bricks as that to the removal of which he would appropriate a considerable portion of the surplus, h is given satisfaction to all but those who were disappointed because their claims for reductions which would have been more beneficial to themselves were passed by In addition to these, the 1 enactment of mea ures for the improvement of the administration of justice in the Law and Equity Courts, — for the reconstruction of the Ecclesiastical Commission "in a manner,' says the Times, " to neutralize some prejudices and to secure a better management," — for the adjustment (probably not the less effectively because by a compromise) of some anxious points in the long disputed question of the hours of Factory labour, — for checking the mismanagement by which thousands of small chanties scatteied over the country have been rendered wholly or nearly useless, — and of several unostentatious but practically usefu minor Bills, sowss >ows that the social interests of the people of England have received no unimportant or ineffective share of parliamentary , regard. A nearly similar view may be taken of the legislation for Ireland. No organic change was effected, — no measuie of vast and commanding moment was placed upon the statute book ; yet several steps were taken in a salutary direction. The renewal of the Act against Patty Processions, the alteration in the franchise made to remedy the extraordinary and ominous diminution proved to have taken place in the number of electors, the measures relating to the Land Improvement and Distressed Union Advances, and the amendment of the Act for the Sale of Encumbered Estates which is already working out largely advantageous results, may be particularized as entitled to such commendation. The Colonies obtained an unprecedented amount of regard, the Australian Colonies Bill (whatever its ultimate operation may be) having been discussed, sifted, and deliberated on with an earnestness and minuteness of attention new in the history of law-making for these dependencies. Introduced in the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the bession, it was thus emphatically referred to in the Speaker's Address to Her Majesty on the day of the prorogation :—: — ' In obedience to your Majesty's gracioui recommendation, signified in the speech of the Lords ( ommissioners at the commencement of the Session, we at once addressed ourselves to the consideration of a Bill for the better Government of the Australian Colonies ; and in furtherance of this important object we haTrf invested the Colonial Legislatures with such powers as will enable them to establish (subject to the approval of your Majesty) those forms of representative government which may bejiest adapted to their

wants and circumstances. We confidently look forward to the gradual development of the vast resources of those distant portions"of the empire, and to their increas* ing attachment to this country and its institutions, as thf happy and beneficial results of this measure." Other colonial topics brought before Parliament had relation to the serious charges advanced against Sir Henry Ward (Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands), Sir Jamts Brooke, (Governor of Labuan), and Lord Torrington (Governor of Ceylon). Sir H. Ward was accused of proclaiming martial law in Cephalonia on the occasion of an insurrection so slight as to afford no warrant for so extreme a step, and of having sanctioned cruelties " unequalled by Haynau himself." Sir J. Brooks was accused of havinii sordidly abused his authority to enhance the value of his own private property and of having sacrificed great numbers of natives to extend his territory and confirm his p- wer. And Lord Torkington was accused of general unfitn' ss for his office, of having fomented an insurrection that he might have a pretext for crushing more certainly a disaffected native party, and of numerous acts of wanton and grinding tyranny. Ministers do not appear to have got well through any of these cases 1. But the most rematkable was that of Lord Torrington A select committee had last year investigated it so far as they could, and recommended the appointment of a Royal Commissioner to inquire into the facts on the spot. This year the Committee was re-ap-pointed, and a second time gave the same recO'iimendation. On the last night of the Session Mr. Humk moved that the whole of the evidence should be printed, but the House adopted an amendment proposed by Mr. Hawks, that the evidence should be referred to the Secretary of State for he Colonies an i the Government. This strange decision to suppress the evidence (which the Spectator characterises as " the crowning disgrace of the Session") was ostensibly founded on the confidential nature of part of it, —that is, the same journal tells us, " scandalous letters obtained by scandalous breaches of confidence." At all events, Ministers, aft-r having tried every effort to absolve Lord Tokrington from the imputation of even an error in judgment, found it necessary to recall him. Mr. Hume, not satisfied with this, declared that he would resume the subject next ses>ion by a motion directing the Attorney-General to pros cute his Lordship. It was believed that incidental revelations had been made which cast upon other officers connected with the Ceylon Government accusations not only of irregularities but of very grave crimes. Condensed as this resume of some of the principal doings of the Session Jias been, the space it has occupied obliges us to postpone to a future day, the remarks we intended to offer on what «as commenced but abandoned, and on the anomalous state of political parties exhibited in various significant ways. Meanwhile, we now add the following Hems of information connected with the subject of this article, which we transfer from an elaborately prepared Table of Statistics of the Session published in the Spectator.

Changes in the Rei-rcsen-iaxion. Colchester— Sir G. H. amyth, succeeded by Lord John Manners. | Wind or- -Lord John Kay (Lord of Admiralty) sucj ceeded by Mr Hatched (Solicitor-General for Ireland). Kirkcudbright —Mr. Maitland (Solicitor-General for Scotland) succeeded l>v Mi. Juhn M.ickie. Can/prbwtf—Lord Albert Denison succeeded by Colonel Ro'iiilly. Sliga County —Mr. Ffolaott succeeded by Sir Robert Gore Booth. Lymingion —Colonel Keppel succeeded by Mr. Hutchins. Mayo County—Mr. Dillon Brown succeeded by Mr. Hiygins. Tamtoortn —Sir Robert Peel succeeded by his son Sir Robert Peel. Chester—Sir John Jervis (Attorney-General) succeeded by Mr. Stanley. Lambeth—Mr. Charles Pearson succeeded by Mr. William Williams. Ministerial Changes. Lord Campbell (Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster) becomes Lord Chief Justice or the Court of Queen's Bench, vice Denman, retired. Lord Truro (Sir Thomas Wilde) becomes Lord Chan* cellor, vice Cottenham, retired. Sir John Jervis (Att 'rney-General) becomes Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, vice Wilde, promoted. Sir John Romilly (Solicitor-General) becomes Attorney- General, vice Jervis, promoted. Mr. Cockburn becomes Solicitor-General, vice Romilly promoted. Earl of Carlisle (Chief Commissioner of Woods and Foiests) be. oines Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster, vice Campbell, promoted. Lord Seymour becomes Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, vice Cnrlisle, promoted. Mr. ( ornewall Lewis (Under-Secretary for Home Department) becomes Secretary to the Treasury, vice Tuffnell retired. I Mr. E. P. Bouverie Under-Seeretary for Home Department, vice Lewis, promoted. VOWS RSGISTSRBD FOB NXXT SESSION. The Commons —" That this House will, at the earliest Opportunity in the next session of Parliament, take into its serious consideration the form of the Oath of Abjuration, with a vievr to relieve her "Majesty 1 * subjects professing the Jewish religion." Mr. Hume—That if he should live till next session, he would religiously attend to the Estimates, and refuse all votes proposed after twelve o'clock at night* He should decline sitting in any Committee, in order that he might be in his place every night to watch closely the financial proceedings of the Government. Mr. Biotherton—lt was his intention to turn over a new leaf, as he found that when he gave the Government an inch they took an ell; and he should propose, the first thing next session, that the Speaker do leave the chair every night at twelve o'clock. _^

Colonel Sibthorp— To take an early opportunity o{ calling the attention of the House to ihe irregularity of their sittings, and to prevent Minis>»eis fiom sacrificing the public time, simply— he wished to speaU mildly— to giatify their whims <md suit their own convpni nee.