PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 733, 23 April 1853, Page 3

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

House or Lords.—November 19. QUAKANTINK J,AWS. The Earl of Lonsdale, in answer to a question from Earl St. Germains, said he should be happy to give his noble friend all the information in bin power on this sul>jpct. The circumstances connected with the letter of the '2nd of September to which his noble friend bad referred were these:—lt was represented to the Council by official authority that malignant cholera was raging at Dantzic and several of tha principal ports in the Baltic. The advice under which the Council acted was given by one of the most skilful physicians of the present day. (Bir W. Burnett, we understood, but the noble earl was beard very indistinctly.) His noble friend had complained of the letter of the 2nd of September as an act of severity and restriction on the part of the Privy Council; but if his noble friend would take the 'trouble of referring to the act of the oth George IV., he would find that (the Board of Customs had the power to send to any quarantine station any vessel arriving from a foreign port with any ineffected person on board. The late Quarantine Act allowed the Privy Council to give in each case such orders to the Board of Customs as the case might require, and the letter of the 2nd of September mitigated several provisions of the existing law. His noble friend said that he could not understand that letter. He was surprised at such an assertion, for to him it appeared that its meaning was clear enough. The letter mitigated the act of George IV. very considerably, as it ordered those only who were actually attacked by cholera to be detained on board. He would not enter into any discussion with his noble friend on the subject of contagion and noncontagion, but he knew that eminent physicians had not only differed from one another, but, at different periods, even from themselves on those points. The noble earl here read several conflicting extracts from the reports of the College of Physicians and of the Medical Army Board on the subject of contagion, but they were not audible in the gallery ; and one of them appeared so extraordinary to the Earl of St, Germaiqs

that he interrupted the noble earl and asked him whether he was certain his statement was correct. The Earl of Lonsdale knew that there was a certain number of physicians who denied contagion, but he believed that not mearly three-fourths but nine-tenths of the profession advised all who consulted them to avoid contagion. With regard to the news respecting La Plata, it arrived that day, and had only reached him that morning through the telegraph. He had immediately consulted with the physician attached to the Board of Privy Council, and given orders that the parties should be relieved from quarantine. The physician bad gone down himself, and would communicate such orders as were necessary to the quarantine station. The Earl of St- Germuins.— Has any accommodation been provided for the parties on shore? The Earl of Lonsdale had already stated that he had sent down .orders that the parties shou'd be relieved. He also repeated bis former statement that he had sent down the physician of the board to the quarantine station to give the proper directions. Lord Stanely of Alderly was all but inaudible in the gallery, We understood him to be contrasting the inconsistency of our policy in renewing quarantine restrictions in our own ports with regard to the cholera with our representations at their Sanitary Conference that the cholera was not contagious. The members of the Con ference were of opinion thatchoiera could not be conveyed by contagion, and a report had been made by a congress of American physicians, and had been recently published by the Board of Health in this country, in which it was stated to he their unanimous opinion that no quarantine regulations were of any avail in preventing tbe spread of cholera, as that disease, depended upon atmospheric causes. The Government was not likely to advance the success of the convention by persisting in its course of adopting new and stricter regulations of quarantine. The Earl of Lonsdale.—We have been doing nothing of the kind. The Earl of Malmesbury also protested against the idea that; the representatives of the British Government had been instructed to abolish all regulations of quarantine ; they had only been instructed to mitigate and regulate them, and to render the burden of them less intolerable; and that was their object in attending the SanitaryConferer.ee at Paris. If his noble friend fancied that he could nersuade the representatives of foreign countries to Relieve that cholera and other diseases were m,t contagious, be believed that his noble friend, on trying it, would find that he was very much mistaken. Whether diseases of this kind were infectious or contagious he did not know, but foreign countries were, at any rate, convinced of this—that they were catching. Lord Stanley of Ahlerley again addressed the House; but all that we heard him say was an expression of his conviction thatchoiera was not contagious. Lord Wharncliffe addressed the House, but was almost as inaudible as his predecessor. We understood him to say that nothing could be more preposterous than to subject a vessel to quarantine for yellow fever in our latitude, and in the month of November. The yellow fever depended on the thermometer. It was never known to exist when the thermometer was below a certain point. It was well known in tropical climates it ceased its ravages with milder weather. In New Orleans it was well understood that the first frost put an end to the yellow fever. When we were pressing upon other Governments tbe propriety of relaxing their quarantine laws, it placed us ill an awkward position to be found not relaxing but renewing and increasing our restrictions. Here the conversation dropped. House of Commons, Monday, November 29. buddhism in cevt-on. Sir R. Inglis wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Ist, Whether the connexion between the Queen's Government in Ceylon, and the idolatry of any part of her Majesty's subjects therein be or be not severed? 2nd. Whether the custody of the Buddhist relic be or be not transferred to those who regard it as sacred ? 3rd. Whether any act of the Queen's Government be or be not required to entitle the priest of a Buddhist temple to e erc'se any function in respect of the property of such Buddhist temple ? And, 4th. Whither it be or be :u . the intention of her Majesty's Government te transfer to the Buddhist priests all the concerns of their own 'eligion in Ceylon ? Sir J. Pakinoton said that, in answering the series of questions put to him by his hon. friend, he must beg the indulgence of the House while he made a few explanatory observations, although it was quite impossible, in answering questions of this kind, for him to enter into the complicated details with which they were necessarily surrounded. His hon. friend must be aware that the subject to which his questions referred was one that had occupied the attention of successive administrations in this country, and had caused very considerable difficulty and embarrassment in Ceylon. The Christian community in Ceylon, and also many person* in this coumry, had taken an objection to anything like a connexion between the Government of Great Britain and their representatives in Ceylon, and the system of idolatry there, but it had been very much forgotten by those who had taken an in'crest in this matter that there wcm treaty obligations, which should not be lost sight of. The House no doubt, was aware that the territory of the ancient kings of Candy was acquired by this country in 1815, and a convention was entered into be'ween the Queen's representative and the King of Candy, one of the articles of which declared that the religion of Buddha, professed by the chief and inhabitants of that province, should be inviolable, and that the rites, ministers and places of worship thereof, were to be maintained and protected. Subsequently a proclamation was issued by the Queen's representative, under which he (Sir J. Pakington) was prepared to contend that the obligHtions into which Government had entered by the convention as to the maintenance of the Buddhist religion were not in the least altered. They were to some extent qualified, but the essence of the gcneial obligation to maintain and protect the Buddhists in the exercise of their own religion remained untouched. (Hear.) It had been contended, he believed, by persons in the island—and he had heard it contended cslewhere—that that convention, being made with idolators, was not binding. He could be no party to any such principle. (Cheers.) For this country to acquire a territory under a treaty which involved certain obligations, and then to turn round and contend that those obligations, were entered into wi hj idolators, and therefore were not binding, would be unworthy of a Christian people. But, in answer to the first question of his hon. friend, he was happy to think himself justified in saying that all connexion really with the idolatry of the Buddhists in Ceylon had been long ago discontinued. By the obligations of the treaty we were required to take part in the ceremonies of the Buddhists to assist in their rites, and give them offerings of materials with which those ceremonies were performed. These had been long dis continued, and were finally put an end to by S.r 11. Horton, the Governor of Ceylon, who in 1834 awarded the sum of £3OO a-year in lieu of the contributions before made. But there remained two o:her points—one w;;s the appointment of a pait of the priesthoi-d—----the other was the custody of the Buddhist relic wellknown by the name of "Buddha's tooth." He be lieved thai the attention of the noble lord, the inrmbei for London, when Colonial Seen tary, and subsequently that of Lord Derby, when filling the same office, were directed to the subject; and in 1845 instructions were sent out to the Governor that our connexion with the Buddhist religion should be altogether discontinued. The answer to those instructions was not received until Loid Grey came into office; but that noble lord sent out further instructions to Lord Torrington, the Governor of the colony, that no more connexion should take place between the British and the Buddhist religion, and that the custody of the tooth should be given up. Soon afterwards, the rebellion in Ceylon took place and the custody of the tooth, under the pressure of that rebellion, was resumed; Lord Torrington was obliged to revoke the steps he had taken, and Lord Grey sanctioned the continuance of that state of things until some other arrangements could he made. That created great dissatisfaction among the Christians in Ceylon, and great excitement prevailed; and when he (Sir J. Pakington) came into office he found that state of things existing. He had endeavoured to put an end to it, and he had now to state that, after giving very great consideration to the subject, he was prepared to send out by next mail instructions to the Governor upon it. He must say, however, he was astonished to find there did not exist in the Colonial Office that relation of the facts of the case without which it was impossible for him to issue instructions on a subject of so complicated a nature, with that decision and clearness which he should have liked. The nature of the instructions, however, which he was prepared to send out was this:— The custody of the tooth was to be given up at once and entirely to the Buddhists themselves, the Governor being instructed to provide a safe and proper place of custody for it; and that, the £3OO a year, which wa s before paid, hiving been withdrawn altogether, afte r the instructions of Lord Derby, and, as he (Sir J. Pa. kington) thought, with very great injustice, the Gover-

nor should give the Buddhists land equivalent in value to that amount. As to the third and fourth questions of his hon. friend, he proposed to send out instructions <hat the Governor should desire the Buddhists to act for themselves as to those appointments. At present they appointed a very large majority of those priest*, and he intended to call upon thrin to take measures to appoint the remainder. If any difficulty v/t-.re found on their part as to such appointment, he should then instruct the Governor to tHke the matter into his own hands and provide them with the means of making the appointments. That was the course the .Government meant to take, in the anxious hope of putting an end to these difficulties, and without any hreach of faith; hut considering the difficulties with which the question was surrounded, he should leave a large discretion in the hands of the Governor. Sir R. Incus inquired whether the right hon. gentleman would lay on the table a copy of the despatch embodying the views of the Government on this question? Sir J. Pakington said that, when the despatch was finally drawn, he should have no objection to lay it on the table. Tufsday, November 30. ministers* money (ireland). Mr. Faoan moved a resolution pledging the House to resolve itself into a committee to consider the law relating to ministers' money in Ireland, with the view of repealing that rate or tax; and further to consider the Church Temporalities Act, for the purpose of amending the same, bo as to provide thereby a substitute out of the revenue of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Mr. Walpole thought there were inconveniences belonging to this impost which ought to be removed, and inequalities which, if the impost were suffered to remain, should be alleviated. Houses above £6o a-year were rated at only £6O, and where houses had fallen to decay the assessment still remained. A stronger reason for getting rid of the present impost was that the clergy who received it objected to it as much as the Roman Catholics who paid it. The question was—first, whether the tax should be abolished altogether; secondly, whether it should be thrown upon the funds in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Upon the first point, if put as an abstract question, he should resist the abolition of the impost, which was not on the person, but upon property, and which could not be repealed without injustice. The second proposition, to cast this obnoxious tax upon the funds in the hands of the Ecclesiactical Commissioners, would be an injury to the clergy interested in these funds. Under these circumstances, believing that something ought to be done in this matter, and that what was done should be done with great deliberation, he would not move to negative the motion, hut if Mr. Fagan would consent to his moving the previous question, the Government would, after the recess, bring the subject under the consideration of the House. Mr. Serjeant Murphy observed that specious promises had been made from time to time and nothing done, and he urged Mr. Fagan not to be content with less than a declaration from Mr. Walpole that the law officers of the Crown were about to prepare a bill, which would be laid upon the table after the recess. Mr Napier said that, but for his engagements since the last session, he should have had a bill prepared upon this subject, with which it was the honest desire of the Government to grapple. He described some of the difficulties which embarrassed the undertaking. A desultory conversation followed, after which the House divided, when Mr. Fagan's motion was negatived by a majority of 140 against 94. Wednesday, December 1. The Steamer "Melbourne." Mr. DRUMMONn moved for copies of reports received at the Admiralty from Commander Wolrige, of Her Majesty's ship Inflexible, relative to the Melbourne (late Her Majesty's screw steamer Greenock), now belonging to the Royal Australian Steamship Company, having put into Lisbon in a defective condition. The hon. member referred to the sufferings which had been endured by the passengers on board the Melbourne in consequence of the defective accommodation which had been provided for them. He wished to know whether the Admiralty had received any information respecting the amount of damage that bad been done to the mailbags that were on board, and also whether they had any means of affording protection to the passpngers on ' board the ships that carried Her Majesty's mails? Because, if they had not, the public ought to be warned not to take passages in vessels which had a Government contract, for, in such cases, they would obtain no redress for any grievance they might have to complain of. Mr. Stafford said that there could be no objection on the part of the Admiralty to granting the returns which the hon. member asked for, and he bpgged to teke the opportunity of this motion to say a few words which, if they did not give the exact state of the case as regarded the Melbourne, would, at all events, be far nearer it than that which had appeared in the public papers ; he meant as regarded the Admiralty. And the reason why the public could not possibly be in possession of the whole state of the case was this, that an inquiry had been ordered into the conduct of the captain on his return to this country, which of course, had not yet taken place, though it was known that the company had sent out Captain Henderson with orders to supescde Captain Cox, and to send out the vessel under the charge of the officer next in command, or to act otherwise in the matter as he should thiuk best fitted for carrying on the voyage. The hon. gentlemen had asked if-the Admiralty had received any account of the extent of the injury which had been done to the mails. The facts on that joint would be found fully detailed in the papers which had just been moved for; but, in the meantime, he might state that the accounts which had appeared in the papers of the damage to the mails were very much exaggerated, and that the statement that the mails had been saturated in the brine of the Hay of Biscay was altogether erroneous. ('Hear, hear.) The sta'e of the ca«e with regard to the Admiralty and the Melbourne was this :—The Melbourne was one of four screw steamers which were ordered by the Admiralty in 1045. This vessel, however, was not built till 1848, and was not finally launched till April, 1849. On trial it was found that she sood too deep in the water; and to remedy this her engines, which were .500 horse power, were taken out, and replaced by engines of '250 hor-e power. He had no wish to express a premature opinion of the conduct of the captain ; but this, at lea-.t, he might be permitted to say, that though it was notorious that the Admiralty had found the engines too heavy, and had replaced them by lighter engines, the first thing the captain did was to fake on board 160 tons of pig iron at Woolwich. The responsibility of this rested, of course, with the Company and the captain, and not with the Admiralty. The Admiralty could not be responsible for a ship that was filtered subsequently to its sailing. (Hear, hear.) In the contract between 'he Company and the Government, it was expresMy provided that an Admiralty surveyor should be permitted to suivey the vessel before sailing, and that proper accomodation should be provided on board for an officer to watch over the mails. With respect to accommodation for the passengers, that was left to be arranged between the Company and the passengers themselves. If the accommodation were good, passengers would be more likely to avail themselves of it; and if bad the interests of the Company would suffer from the consequent loss of remuneration. All that the Admiralty was bound to look to was the security of the mails, and the accommodation of the naval officer who was placed on board to watch over them. (Hear, bear.) Mr. Divett said that from the time the Australian Royal Steam Company had commenced its operations till now, there bad been a continual series of complaints against their management; and he thought it was the duty of the Admiralty, who were paying the company an immense sum for the conveyance of the mails, to take every percaution to secure tbe safe and rapid transit of the passengers. (Hear, hear.) He hoped that the Secretary of the Admiralty would take care that there should be a proper investigation in this case. ( Hear.) Mr. Hume wished to know whether any complaint had bpen made to the Admiralty respec ing the conveyance of the mails, to the effect that the company had not fulfilled their agreement with the Admiralty, for that was the point to look to. (Hear, hear.) Mr. A. Duncombe replied, that no such complaint had been received by the Admiralty, and, in the absence of correct information, it would be injudicious in the House to prejudge the case. (Hear, hear.) He bad to request tbe Hon. member to add to his motion the words "also copies of letters from Captain Phillimore, the Government agent on board the vessel." The motion, with this addition, was then agreed to, Thursday, December 2. buddhism ceylon. Mr. Hume moved for copies of certain correspondence respecting Buddhist priests in Ceylon ; urging in

bis r rjfatory remarks, the danger of allowing any interfeience with the prejudices of the Cingalese. Sir. J. Pakington, agreeing with Mr. Hume that we were bound by treaty obligations to abstain fivm interferences with the religious prejudices of the natives of Ceylon, doubted whether the papers moved for, which tbe committee on Ceylon affairs bad (bought proper to exclude from their report, would bear out the bon. member's views. He suggested whether, aftrr what he had said the other night,, and when he now said that he was about to communicate to the governor of the colony a plan which he hoped, while it would do no injustice to the Buddhists, and would conform to our treaty obligations, would be satisfactory to all parties, the production of these paptrs might not mar Mr. Hume's object. Mr. Hume was satisfied with this frank statement, and withdrew his motion. lONIAN ISLES. Mr a Hume then moved for [copies of papers relating to the lonian Islands, accompanying the motion with strong remarks upon the conduct of Sir H. WaTd, the Lord High Commissioner. Sir J. Pakington, who had not the least objection to the motion, complained that Mr. Hume made repeated attacks upon the government of the lonian Islands, without taking steps to bring his charges before tbe House, which, in justice to Sir. H. Ward, he was bound to do. Sir John read extracts from Sir PI. Ward's despatches which tended (to show the refractory despatches, which tended to show the refractory disposition of the exiled members of the Assembly, and his own clemency. Lord John R&ssell observed that the object of the party opposed to Sir H. Ward, appeared to be not to obtain more liberty but to sever the connection with this country. The motion was agreed to. Friday, December 3. cleroy resehvas in canada. Sir W. Moleswortii inquired whether It was the" intention of Government to introduce a measure enabling the Canadian Legislature to dispose of the proceeds of the clergy reserves in fulfilment of the promise made by the late Government. Sir J. Pakinoton, considering that the Representatives of Upper Canada were equally divided on this question, and that the act of 18 tO was a final settlement of the question, declared that Government did not intend to introduce any bill for the purpose. Sir W. Molesworth, then gave notice of his intention to move for leave to bring in such a bill. FniDAY, DECEMBER 10. Affairs'of New South Wales. Sir W, Molesworth put to the Secretary of State for the Colonies a question with reference to the very important petition which bad been presented last sesuion by the Secretary for Ireland from the Legislative Council of the Colony of New South Wales. In that petition the Legislative Council of New South Wales repeated the solemn protest and declaration of their predecessors, the Legislative Council of the whole colony, now divided into New South Wales and Victoria. That solemn declaration was to the effect : 1. That the Imperial Parliament ought not to appropriate any of the monies levied by the authority of the colonial Legislature, as Parliament had done by the schedules to the Imperial Act 13th and 14th Victoria, c. 59. 2. That the revenue arising from public lands should be subject only to the control and appropriation of the colonial Legislature. 3. That the Customs and all other departments should be subjects to the direct supervision and control of the colonial Legislature. 4. That the whole patronage of the colony should bo vested in the Governor and Executive Council, unfettered byin structions from the Secretary of State for tbe Colonies. 5. That no Bills should be reserved for the signification of the pleasure of the Crown, unless affected the prerogative of the Crown or the general interests of the empire. The Legislative Council had also declared, that if these grievances were redressed, they would provide for the whole cost of their internal government, civil and military, and would grant to her Majesty an adequate civil list, instead of the sums appropriated in the schedules to th? Imperial Act of tie I3tb and 14th of Victoria, c. 59. they, therefore, prayed that this House would adopt measures for the early redress of those grievances. As he (Sir W. Molesworth) bad presumed to propose such measures when new constitutions were given to the Australian colonies in ISSO, he would now ask whether it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to take any steps to comply with the prayer of this mosl important petition ? Sir J. Pakington said tbe honourable baronet might recollect that when the important petition to which ho referred was presented to the House last session, he (Sir J. Pakington) had given a pledge that during the then ensuing recess, he would closely and carefully analyse the prayer of that: petition. This pledge he had redeemed ; he had carefully investigated every portion of the petition, and, with his colleagues, had taken into consideration the v< ry important statements it contained, and a full and anxious sense of the growing importance of the Australian colonies, and of the extraordinary circumstances in which those colonies were now placed. (Hear, hear.) The Government after mature deliberation, bad decided upon the extent to which they thought concession to that petition ought to be made, and upon the policy which they thought ought to be adopted towards those colonies ; the honourable baronet, however, would admit the impossibility, in a question of this kind, of entering into an explanation of the views and intentions of Government on so large and complicated a subject. (Hear, hear.) On an early day alter the recess he hoped to be in a position to give a full statement on the subject."

Garten* rem Workino Men.—The possession of a garden, with a disposition to cultivate it, and its nonpossession, with a tendency to undervalue such an appendage to a cottage, constitute a broad line of separation between two great classes of the poor. It is impossible to look even at the humblest dwelling, with a few plants in the window, and a tidy, well-cultiv;,ied garden in the front, without feeling a conviction that its inhabitants must be more happy than their neighbours, whose plots are neglected, and whose rooms are guiltless of green leaves and flowers. We are not disposed to run into the absurd error of thinking that such tastes are always associated with poverty —far from it. But we can affirm, fiom long and close acquaintance with the habits of t!ie poor, that 11 raised stnte of moral feelinpj 13 both tl e cause and effect of a love of nature. The productio is we cultivate have a strong charm and secure the attention with extraordinary power. If, therefore, a working man have a garden at home and loves to cultivate it, he will desert the public-houre for that spot of quiet and cheering occupation. Domestic misery is in tbis way often prevented, and children are trained to find pleasure in a harmless and elevating pursuit.— Ec lee tic. Origin of the Rothschilds. —The late Baron Rothschild was the son of a Jew at Frankfort, of the name of Joseph. He was in humble circumstances, but Very highly thought of for honesty and integrity. At the time when the French crossed the Rhine and entered Germany, the Prince of Hesse Cassel came to Frankfort, and asked Joseph to take charge of his money. Joseph did not much like the undertaking, but the Prince pressed it so much that at last he consented, and the treasures were given him. When the French, entered Frankfort, Joseph buried the Prince's money and jewels in a chest, but did not hide his own, thinking that if they found no money they would be suspicious, and search more earnestly.. The consequence was he lost all his own money. When affairs became more tranquil, and he could again enter into business, he took some of the prince's money and transacted business with it, a 9 he formely used to do with his own, thinking it a pity it should lie quite useless. The Prince of Cassel had heard of the French cruelty in plundering poor Joseph Rothschild, and concluded all his money and jewels were gone. When he went to Frankfort he called on bim and said— "Well. Joseph, all my money has been taken by the French." u Not a farthing," said the honest nan, " I have it all. I have used a little in business. I will return it all to you, with interest on what I have used." " No," said the prince, " keep it. I will not take the interest, and I will not take my money from you for twenty years. Make use of it for that time, and I will only take two per cent, interest for it. The prince told the s'ory to his old friends. Joseph was, in consequence, employed by most of the German princes. He made an immense fortune, his sons became barons of the German Empire, and one of them settled in England. Aristocratic Servents.—Servents in America object to answer a bell: tbey hold it unfit that Christians should be spoken to with a tongue of metal. Stamping or knocking is the usual way of calling them. A gentleman, having a company, rang repeatedly. At last the srrvent came up, put in his head in, and cried, ''The more,you ring, the more luoni come."