Cheaper to compromise for a sum less than demanded, than resist by law, even successfully, demands, which are made only because something may be gained, and nothing lost. Such the state, that those, with the best intentions, act under an apprehension of the law, yield to importunity where every dictate of policy and real humanity would impel to a steady and inflexible denial of relief. Such the state, that compromise is more prudent, because the recent practice of the law has habituated the courts to a profuse administration of funds, for the wise application of which they are the most unfit and incapable sources of authority. And here it was necessary to advert to a peculiarity in the law of Scotland, that a person claiming relief, was entitled to sue for it in forma pauperis, that he could be subjected to no costs in the event of his claim being unsuccessful and vexatious; but whether that claim were vexatious or well founded, the parish was subjected in great expense; unless it yielded instantly to the demand, it could not be avoided, but by unconditional acquiescence. He could state, that in some parts of the country, this grievance had risen to such a height, that there were persons calling themselves "agents for the poor," who busied themselves in inciting the lower orders to make demands in forma pauperis. Every chance was in favour of the applicant, and this most mischievous instigator; the latter recovered his expenses against the parish; and in this consisted the temptation to him that he might gain a good deal while he incurred no risk under cover of the claim in forma pauperis. Besides, the dreadful evil of poor-rates was, that all classes receiving aid were blended under the name of poor; the really necessitous, with the idle and capable; the modest, humble, and inoffending, with the profligate, undeserving, and presumptuous, charity was suppressed; it ought to be excited and regenerated. He hoped that parliament would not refuse by a timely interference to infuse a healthful action into the system of that country [Hear, hear!]-It was necessary to advert to the provisions of the law in respect of jurisdiction. It had established a local or parochial jurisdiction composed of heritors and kirksessions in country parishes; of. kirksessions and magistrates in towns. kirksessions, somewhat resembling English vestries. This body acted as a jury on (VOL. XXXIX.) the parochial subject of relief to the poor, and this applicable to funds such as might be termed ordinary as well as where assessments had obtained; but it was an important peculiarity that assessmentwas imposed by this local body chiefly composed of those who paid it, thus nearly amounting to a self-assessment, and it was most important to observe, that such was the fundamental provision of the law, and those who best knew the interests of the country, and understood this subject, would be most zealous, that this principle should be preserved and fortified. The great evil felt was the control of that local jurisdiction; it was, in some instances, an actual and direct control and interference of judicial authority; in some instances less direct, but in all apprehended if not actual, and such apprehended interference had all the baneful consequences of positive control. Local jurisdiction, acted upon a knowledge of local circumstances and rights, tempered by justice; on a knowledge of wants and interests of individuals, and of the community. When such jurisdiction ceased to be local, it ceased to be wise. A superior judicatory must act upon a strict rule of law and right, each judge interpreting the law by his own discretion; however, vicious the practice to which he might appeal, necessarily disregarding all dictates of discretion, of policy, or original intent in the law. The public mind was enlightened on this subject, but unhappily such an impulse had been given to pauperism, that the most profound views could not, unaided, impose any restraint upon the counteracting force of demands, made under the perverted practice of the law, which all joined in condemning. The progress of truth could not operate, because still there was a quarter into which it could not be heard, because courts of law could not listen to it [Hear!]. Thus a disgraceful conflict between an enlightened public opinion and a strict judicial duty, acted against the spirit of the old law, and while this conflict proceeded, pauperism and profligacy would step in ; and it would be vain to say after that they should ever be extirpated [Hear!]. It was his object to prevent such conflict, to reconcile public opinion and the law, and to relieve the administrators of the law from such an odious duty; to provide that they should cease to be the instruments of inflicting a calamity on the country abhorrent to their sacred stations. Therefore take (5 B) away control of local jurisdiction, say that it never did exist in a sound interpretation of the law, and that it never should. As the local jurisdiction was the only safe one, make it final and absolute [Hear!]. This brought him to state precisely the import of the measure. A doubt had arisen how far the interference of a superior judicatory in control of the parochial judi. catory was or was not authorized by law, whether justices of the peace, sheriffs, in the court of session could exercise a controlling power upon a sound construction of any statutory provision respecting the maintenance of the poor. There was no doubt that such a power had been exercised, but it had now been called in question, and different judges had acted upon a different estimate of the power residing in them. His object was to engraft a measure upon this doubt as to the existing law and to declare that no such control was founded in law, that no appeal from the parochial jurisdiction was legal, upon two points, 1st, the right to relief, 2nd, the amount of relief where it was granted. The measure would be an enabling statute, putting it in the power of those best qualified to act wisely, and in whom the law had already reposed confidence from the earliest periods, to act in a full exercise of their discretion founded upon the best opportunities of knowledge, and prompted by humane feelings. The existing law and practice was disabling. If this bill ever became a statute, examples of signal benefit would speedily be seen, a happy contrast displayed, and he was persuaded that an universal triumph of genuine over supposed benevolence would be established. Charity would be revived, now almost unknown, liberality unfettered, and all the generous impulses of the human heart permitted to act with discrimination and wisdom [Hear! hear!]. The hon. member here enlarged with warmth upon the happy effects which he anticipated to the lower orders, showing how the measure was one of real humanity, and how superficial those views were which could attribute to it severity, or a disposition to injure or oppress, that the poor would not only be perfectly safe, but that those who deserved it would experience all the kindness which could result from a well directed and discriminating benevolence. He concluded by saying that it was impossible to hope that a perfect system could result from any measure where so much suffering was inseparable from human nature, but it was of the utmost moment to gain the great general principle to which his anxious endeavours were directed, and there could be no doubt that wisdom and liberality acting under the protection of the law, and not as now, under the apprehension and dread of its impolitic interference, would speedily arrest the march of the existing evil, and mature a practice eminently beneficial to all ranks in the community, but in particular to the humbler classes, whose interests it ought to be the especial care of parliament at all times to guard [Hear! hear!]. The Lord Advocate said, he should not oppose the commitment of the bill, but it appeared to him that the measure would not be attended with that advantage which the hon. member supposed. The bill was then committed, and several amendments were moved by Mr. Kennedy. ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND ACCOUNTS BILL.] The Lord Advocate moved the order of the day for the second reading of this bill for the purpose of postponing it to Thursday next. Mr. J. P. Grant suggested the propriety of postponing the second reading to a later period. The bill introduced by the learned lord last session, to which the present bill was similar, had been almost universally disapproved of in Scotland. He wished that those who were interested in the measure might have time to consider it. The Lord Advocate said, he had withdrawn the measure last session for the purpose of giving time to take it into consideration, and early in the present session he had given notice that he would bring it forward again. In all the petitions from the burghs of Scotland the principal grievance complained of was, the want of a check on the expenditure of the magistrates. A notice of a motion had been given for referring these petitions to a committee. Now, if this bill should pass into a law, one of the principal grievances of the petitioners would be removed. This was ostensibly the great object which they wished, but the true object was parliamentary reform. Lord A. Hamilton said, that in every one of the petitions, it was not the impossibility of forcing the magistrates to account, but the self-election of the ma 1477] Convention with America. gistrates, of which they principally complained. If the learned lord's bill were as effectual as it would be the reverse for controlling the expenditure of the magistrates, he should still say, that the petiThere tioners would not be satisfied. never was a bill brought into that House more universally reprobated by those affected by it than the one in question. Mr. Primrose said, he had received an application for the printed bill from the magistrates of Stirling, which he had sent down to them, but no answer had yet been returned to him. In that burgh auditors were appointed by the guildery and incorporated trades; the funds of the burgh were in a flourishing state, and they conceived the appointing auditors under the control of the persons interested in the expenditure the best remedy for the evil which it was the object of the learned lord's bill to guard against. He concluded with moving, as an amendment, that the bill be read a second time on the 10th of May. Mr. Hume said, he had also sent down the bill to his constituents, who had not had time to consider it, Mr. W. Douglas agreed that the bill of last year was not considered in Scotland a sufficient remedy for the evil, and hoped that an opportunity would now be given to the persons interested to peruse the bill as rectified by the learned lord. The Lord Advocate said, that the persons interested in this measure, after being enlightened by the discussion on the second reading, would be better able to judge of the alterations which might be necessary and which might be proposed in the committee. Sir James Mackintosh observed, that the object of the learned lord, in hurrying on the second reading, seemed to be, to deliver political lectures in that House for the benefit of the people of Scotland. He, for one, was not desirous of instructing the inhabitants of Stirling and Aberdeen in the best method of controlling their magistrates; he was desirous of receiving information from them, and not of conveying information to them. Lord Castlereagh thought the information from Scotland might be more advantageously considered in the committee. Mr. Forbes observed, that this bill was a minor point with the burgesses of Scotland; their object was a certain reform of the burghs. He would not say whether such a reform might not be de sirable; but if the burghs of Scotland ob- Mr. Finlay said, that no measure had The bill was ordered to be read a second time on the 10th of May. FRIENDLY AND PAROCHIAL BENEFIT Mr. F. Lewis objected to several parts Sir R. Wilson objected to some of the Mr. Courtenay was sensible that the bill as it now stood was liable to objections; but he was persuaded that they might be remedied in the committee. The poor persons who refused to subscribe, were not subject to the penalties alluded to by the hon. general, but were to be considered as extravagant and improvident persons, in the sense of the act regarding The bill was read a second time. the poor passed in the present session. CONVENTION WITH AMERICA.] The House having resolved itself into a ComMr. Robinson said, that the measure he mittee on the Convention with America, had to propose, was simple and short, and not liable to objection. The committee was aware, that by a Convention with the United States, the Americans possessed the right of fishing on the coasts of a considerable part of his majesty's North American possessions. This right they had, by the recent convention renounced. It so happened, however, that there was no municipal law to enforce this treaty, and if American vessels should be found carrying on the fishery in the harbour of Halifax, or on the coast of Labrador, or any other place from which the convention excluded them, they could not be condemned by any law now in existence. His object was, to give his majesty the power to enforce an observance of that treaty, as well as to issue regulations for the carrying on of the fishery in those parts of our coasts which remained open to the subjects of the United States. There was another subject, respecting which he should have to make a motion hereafter, viz. the renewal of the Commercial Convention of 1815, which made it necessary to continue the regulations under that treaty. The measure he should now propose was, to give his majesty's council power to issue instructions to his naval commanders, and other officers in that part of the world, to carry the provisions of the treaty respecting the fishery into effect: as the distance of place, and the intricacy of details required, would render a more distinct law ineffectual. The chairman was then directed to move for leave to bring in a bill to regulate the taking of fish on the coast of Labrador, and other parts of North America.-Leave was given. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Tuesday, April 27. to the moral improvement of those whom he employed, there he should propose, that the proprietor be exempted from the payment of the assessed taxes. Such an exemption would act as a stimulus to all the manufacturers, and, in his opinion, would be attended by the most beneficial results. Sir George Hill had strong doubts of the utility of such a bill; the hon. gentleman had not shown any grounds for it; there were no petitions before them on the subject, neither were there any returns of the number of factories in Ireland, nor of the number of children employed in them. The hon. member wished, that several philanthropic societies, with whose existence a great part of the House was not acquainted, should have the power of entering into the different factories, and of classifying men and women according to their views and notions. This was so novel a proceeding, that some very extraordinary grounds should be shown for it. Then, if these societies were satisfied, and if they certified their satisfaction with the internal regulation of the factories, the proprietors were to be exempted from the assessed taxes. This was even more novel than the proceeding to which he had before alluded, and required, if pos sible, stronger reasons in order to defend it. money were annually made to them. Mr. Croker said, that upon a former occasion he had expressed his dissent to the enactment of any laws which went to benefit either England or Ireland separately; that dissent he must again repeat, because he could not see any reason for not extending a measure which was beneficial in one country, to the natives of the other. Sir John Newport spoke in behalf of the bill. With regard to two of the societies, to whose existence the hon. baronet had CHILDREN IN FACTORIES (IRELAND) alluded with such contempt, he was not, BILL.] Mr. W. Parnell moved for leave perhaps, aware that they had been recog to bring in a Bill for the Protection, Edu-nized by the House, and that grants of cation, and Morals, of the Children employed in the Cotton and other Factories in Ireland. The hon. member proceeded to explain the objects which he wished to attain by it. Those objects were, the safety, defence, and civilization of the country. In order to effect them, he should move, that certain visitors be appointed, with power to investigate the internal state of the Irish factories, and report the state of education and morals, in which they found the children employed in them. He should then propose that one of those reports should be made to the secretary of state for the home department, another to the Society for the Suppression of Vice, another to the Society for the Education of the Poor, and a fourth to the Bible Society. Wherever these reports gave a satisfactory account of the attention which the proprietor paid Mr. G. Philips objected to the vesting of such power in Bible societies and societies for the suppression of vice. The state of things in Ireland must be very different from the state of things in England, if such a system could be at all beneficial; an attempt at compulsory education could not possibly succeed in this country, nor did he think it likely to prosper in the sister island. Leave was given to bring in the bill. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Wednesday, April 28. Mr. COURT OF KING'S BENCH.] Denman rose, pursuant to notice, to move for leave to bring in a bill for facilitating the dispatch of business in the court of King's-bench. He would shortly state the objects which this bill purported should embrace. The first was to allow one of the judges to sit and hear causes at nisi prius, while the three others were sitting in banco. The second was to empower the judges to pass sentence at the assizes on many of those in which at present the judgment was delivered in term. By this means a great deal of time might be saved. The third was one of small importance: it was to allow the court to sit on the 30th of January. In bringing forward this measure he begged he might not be understood as meaning to cast any reflection upon any of the learned judges now in that court. Nothing could be further from his intention. So far from thinking that they omitted any thing in the discharge of their duty, he thought they already gave too much of their time to the public; and he conceived that, with the regulations which his bill would embrace, it would be better if they did not extend beyond the regular time. He also felt it necessary to say, that the learned judges themselves fully approved of the propriety of the measure.-Leave was given. SINKING FUND.] Mr. Grenfell rose, in pursuance of notice, to move that there be laid before the House, certain accounts to enable it to judge how far it might be expedient to apply the sinking fund of the year towards any loan to be raised for the public service. By a clause in the Sinking Fund act, it was provided that the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt might, in the case of a loan to government, use a portion of the capital in their hands for the purchase of certain portions of such loan, that was, that they might be subscribers. This clause was called Mr. Fox's. It was proposed by that gentleman, and readily adopted by Mr. Pitt. Now, the operation of that clause it might be of great importance for the House to consider. He had not heard from any official source that a loan was to be taken up. It was, however, very currently stated and believed in the course of the day. He had heard various accounts of it. Some stated that it was to be for 18,000,000t., others for 20,000,000l., and the highest amount he had heard was 25,000,000l. Now, supposing the loan to be taken up at 18,000,000l., and that this clause of the 26th of the king were to be carried into effect; what would be the consequence? The chancellor of the exchequer would go to the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt, for 15,000,000/. (taking that as the amount of the sinking fund in their hands), and would have only to go into the city for the loan of 3,000,000l. In case the loan were to be for 25,000,000l., the chancellor would have only to borrow 10,000,000l., taking the additional 15,000,000l. from the commissioners. He wished the House to consider, whether it might be advisable to borrow the whole of the sum intended to be taken up, when part of it might be obtained in the way he had mentioned. He then moved, that there be laid before the House an account, showing the amount of all sums of money invested in the hands of the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt, for the purchase of capital stock in any of the public funds, together with the amount of all such capital stock, with the interest thereon, since the 15th of June, 1816, to the present time."-This was put and carried. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Thursday, April 29. SALT LAWS.] On the motion of Dr. Phillimore, the resolutions of the salt duties committee were then read. They stated the repeal of the laws on this subject to be highly expedient; and that the then state of the finances alone prevented the committee's recommending that repeal. Dr. Phillimore said, he conceived that the resolutions just read would furnish the best apology for his obtruding himself on the attention of the House. They had heard that nothing short of the state of the finances prevented the committee appointed to examine into this question recommending the immediate repeal of these duties. The income of the country within the last year was increased 3,000,000l.: if the committee, then, came to so strong a resolution last year, he was unwilling to think the House would be now disinclined to enter on the subject. In the spirit of those very resolutions, he |