that, in addition to instruments worth 10,000l., private subscriptions to the amount of nearly 8,000l. had been raised, the Government resolved on recommending the Committee to grant 2,000l. to carry out the object. It now appeared, however, that the instruments, which were the basis of the whole arrangement, were worth much less than had been represented; and under these circumstances he begged leave to withdraw the Vote. MR. W. WILLIAMS said, he could not help observing that this Vote afforded a pretty fair instance of the careless way in which the public money was wasted. Had it not been for the exposé made by the hon. Member for Malton (Mr. E. Denison), this job would doubtless have been perpetrated. Motion, by leave, withdrawn. (3.) Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a sum, not exceeding 140,000l., be granted to Her Majesty, for the purchase of Burlington House, Piccadilly. THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER said, with regard to this Vote, the Committee must be aware of the great difficulty experienced of late years in regard to the increasing demand for buildings for public purposes. A sum of not less than 11,000l. or 12,000l. was paid annually for the accommodation of public offices of various descriptions. The sale of the Excise Office in Old Broad Street, for which 120,000l. was realised, had tended to increase the difficulty of providing accommodation. The object in getting rid of that building was to concentrate the Excise department and other departments now combined with it in Somerset House. In Somerset House space was afforded to various learned societies, and the obtaining that space for the greater concentration of the public offices would be attended with great economy. It seemed to be the general opinion that these learned societies should depend for the most part on voluntary subscriptions, but that the provision of rooms in which to carry on their business was a fair and suitable contribution on the part of the State, and ought to be extended to certain bodies which had not hitherto enjoyed it. A small Vote had this year, he believed, been taken to provide rooms for the Geographical Society, but it was understood that was only an interim arrangement until the Government had space at their disposal. It was very possible in that event that accommodation would be extended to one or more bodies of the same description as the Ge cal Society. There were, therefor two demands-first, a considera likely to be a growing demand f multiplication of all the public ments; and secondly, a demand part of these learned societies. be supposed that the great pur Kensington would stand in the this Vote, but that view was more than solid. The truth was, dista all-important, and all these socie recently expressed their unanim viction that, if accommodation f meetings and ordinary business we ed at so great a distance as Ken they would be compelled to re Under these circumstances, Her M Government thought it a fortuna when they had the power to se large a site, amounting to near acres and a half, in so admirable a venient a situation as Burlington They thought it an opportunity th not readily recur, while the neces pressing. He would also remind t mittee that at present Marlboroug was occupied by leave of the Cr the advantage of the public, but t would shortly come when it must b ed to its proper purpose. Having fore, examined into the value of th Burlington House, they determined a sum of 140,000l. That sum was refused. The Government stated t would not deviate from terms wh thought just, and it was finally a When the offer was first made, vernment were not involved so d other demands of an extraordinary ter; but a portion of the site, if fit, might be applied in a manner remunerative, being adapted for t age of shops. It would be impo retain the mansion as it stood; great bulk of the building erecte site would be applicable to eithe the two great objects-the conce of public offices, or the affording societies accommodation of whi were in need, and which it w should be given from the public re MR. VERNON SMITH said, h ed that, at such a distance from Street, Burlington House would no well adapted for public offices. gard to these learned societies, 1 his right hon. Friend the Chancell Exchequer would be very careful admitted these bodies, and let i at the accommodation and revocable at the wn. They all knew had been experienced he National Gallery in tion of it having been 1 Academy, and they er to consider the ocBefore proceeding to I mansion, he hoped 1 be submitted, and ucture to be raised in d before the House. OLESWORTH said, De very applicable to ommissions scattered , as well as those sosed rooms at the exent. With regard to ton House, plans were office of the Board of be submitted to the en approved by the e brought under the liament to obtain a he right hon. Gentleectly assured nothing those plans had been ad submitted to the id, that already Par1 200,000l. for the Kensington, and the r that grant was, that e applicable to these , who now thought it ote was proposed by ment, and objected as he now objected ter before Six of the eported progress, and the Chair:-Com -morrow. ed at twelve minutes F LORDS, ly 27, 1854. Schools (Scotland); Ec; Stock in Trade Exc. Rights (Ordnance); Crown (Ireland); Highet). MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL. Bill read 3 (according to order). EARL WALDEGRAVE moved the introduction of a clause providing that if any person, being a Malay, Lascar, or native of the territories under the government of the East India Company, should be brought to the United Kingdom on board ship, and should be found, while in this country, to be in want of food, clothing, or other necessaries, it should be lawful for the Lords of the Admiralty to supply him with necessary relief, and to send him back to, or near to, the port from which he was shipped. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY considered the clause was unnecessary, and that if it were introduced it would not meet the object in view. It was enacted by the East India Company's Act that they should be at the expense of maintaining such persons, if belonging to their territories, while in this country, and of sending them back by ship to their own country; and they had power to prevent sailors going on board ship without giving security that they should be taken back. With regard to persons from the Sandwich Islands and similar places, the clause would not meet their case, for it only referred to Malays and Africans. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE was sorry he could not compliment the noble Lord upon the soundness of his argument. Whatever technical objections might be urged against it, common sense would say that nothing could be more reasonable than the clause proposed by his noble Friend. He could not imagine any greater hardship than to allow merchant shipowners to bring foreign seamen from distant parts of the world, pay them off in the port of London or Liverpool, cast them adrift in the streets, and leave them chargeable to the poor rates or the charity of the public. This was a hardship alike to the sailor and the public; and in his opinion the clause was a most just and useful one. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY said, that the Poor Law Commissioners had been communicated with as to whether they should not bring in a Bill for the correction of the evil complained of. To apply a remedy would be very difficult in any case; but if a mode of doing so could be Laws Repeal; Return-devised, he had no doubt they would be Acts Continuance, &c; glad to adopt it. After all, however, the ; Friendly Societies; evil chiefly applied to very few persons; Poor Law Commisd); Heritable Securi- namely, the natives of those countries al Gallery, &c. (Dublin), which had no Consul or Minister here. In Registration of Births, the case of civilise Amendment negat "That this House, ha On Question, agr SALE OF BE Order of the day into Committee rea THE EARL OF HA "That the House into Committee," two or three Amer posed to introduce the report. The of impose certain rest liquors in public-ho and the question be done without in forts and convenie measure, so far as during which those on the Sunday n had, he believed, 1 of all parties, as t of public order recent Act public gether in Scotla and though a la might interfere w entertained in th VOL. CXXX LORD COLCHESTER hoped the Board of Trade would, at all events, consider the matter before the next Session of Parliament, and see if they could not next Session introduce a measure to remedy this admitted evil. Amendment negatived: Bill passed, and On the suggestion of Lord REDESDALE, "That this House, having adjourned on Monday Gold Wares to be manufactured at a lower Stand- so to order." the case of civilised countries that were that Act had given universal satisf On Question, agreed to, Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the whole House To morrow. SALE OF BEER, &c., BILL. THE EARL OF HARROWBY, in moving, VOL. CXXXV. [THIRD SERIES.] 2 D quiet and social order o so without trenching ad convenience of the classes particularly. public-house in Glasgow. The petitioner complained that there was a great doubt entertained as to the meaning of the words bona fide travellers,' and that the M owned that he re-justices of the peace were not agreed as to what constituted a "bona fide traveller." If, for example, a person were going from this to the Crystal Palace or to Hampstead Heath, some of the justices would say that he was a bona fide traveller, others that he was not. Now, he (the Lord Chancellor) could not but think there was weight in this objection. He would suggest to the noble Earl to use some more comprehensive words to express his meaning as to "bona fide travellers." eat satisfaction such ll as his noble Friend , believing, as he did, s would to a great demain objections to the at no offence to the when he said he felt state the repugnance 1 at legislation which on one part of the I did not press at all part of the community had a tendency to actual pressure, was -the common peoplemed the lower classes the people. It was e measure tended to upper classes, and t of the middle classes the upper classes htest degree affected not prevent him from to any of the club s Street or Pall Mall. all hours on Sunday, Christmas Day, and st as well as in the of HARROWBY: They He was afraid they led private, for they r 700 persons, and to ere, therefore, public, ic as that any person t to enter them. But well upon this objecng as he did the very ling of the country in asure of this descriprone was disposed to considering also that rience of Scotland was al and stringent meahere had had an exking the various social merly existed in that ANCELL ANCELLOR said, he w any obstacle in the ng; but he wished to I's attention to certain ich had already raised in the Act that had tland. He held in his m the proprietor of a arrowby THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE said, he had intended to call attention to the same point. He considered that this Bill was one which ought to be most carefully and attentively considered, inasmuch as it had the appearance, to some extent, of being an infringement on the liberty of the industrious classes. There was no country in the world in which the industrious and working classes had so little real recreation as the working classes of this country had, and we ought certainly to pause before we hastily deprived them of any little they might possess. The subject was one of very great importance, not only in such cases as the noble and learned Lord had alluded to, but also in reference to that very large class of persons who at present travelled by excursion trains on Sunday, to whom the word "traveller" was generally held not to apply. Surely it was a great hardship that these persons should not have the same advantages as other ordinary travellers, and surely it was very unjust to deprive them of the ordinary means of recreation and refreshment. Since these excursion trains had been brought into use there were many people who went down on Sunday to the seaside, arrived at their destination in time for church, and, after attending morning service, devoted the other part of the day to innocent and rational enjoyment of the country; but if we put too great restrictions on these men in the way of refreshment, we should be doing them a very great injustice, and be unnecessarily taking upon ourselves to interfere with their enjoyments. It was absolutely necessary that the meaning of the word "traveller should be properly defined, and it was a monstrous notion that we should go out of our way to call a man by one name when he travelled for pleasure, and another when he travelled him in a totally diff THE EARL OF HA it. LORD ALVANLE why a particular clas admitted into publi times, and other cluded. LORD CAMPBEL Bill, specifying part public-houses on means of preventing arising in respect last Act specified th not be opened on S service, and, on ac of the expression, confusion arose, fi during which differ performed their s better to specify, do, particular hou of great service t the working classe be to the women incalculable. He clined to recomm "Maine Law," might come to th when he travelled for business, and treat, say that he went all the length him in a totally different manner. THE DUKE OF ARGYLL said, he quite understood the difficulty and doubt in reference to the general question of legislation upon that subject at all;-it was a subject of great difficulty and delicacy. At the same time he had no doubt of the immense benefit resulting to the working classes from the operation of the stringent Act already passed. A much more stringent Bill was passed last year restricting the sale of liquors in Scotland upon the Sunday, and he had lately seen remarkable statements from sheriffs of counties and magistrates of boroughs, as to the advantageous effects produced by that Act in diminishing drunkenness. He quite concurred with the noble Marquess in thinking that they ought not to interfere with the amusements and recreations of the working classes; at the same time he did not think that the going into beer-houses was a recreation. THE EARL OF HARROWBY considered it would be very difficult to introduce any positive definition of "travellers" into a Bill of the present description, and feared that we must leave the matter, as it now stood, to the vague common sense of those who were most interested in obeying the law and those whose duty it was to enforce it. LORD ALVANLEY said, he did not see why a particular class of persons should be admitted into public-houses at particular times, and other classes should be excluded. LORD CAMPBELL considered that this Bill, specifying particular hours for closing public-houses on Sunday, would be the means of preventing many difficulties from arising in respect to these places. The last Act specified that public-houses should not be opened on Sunday during afternoon service, and, on account of the obscurity of the expression, constant instances of confusion arose, from the different hours during which different churches and chapels performed their services. It was much better to specify, as this Act proposed to do, particular hours. The Bill would be of great service to the men belonging to the working classes, but the good it would be to the women and children would be incalculable. He was not at present inclined to recommend tho adoption of the "Maine Law," although, perhaps, we might come to that, but he felt bound to proposed Act did. House in Committee accordin reported without Amendment; a read 3a To-morrow. House adjourned till To-morro HOUSE OF COMMO Thursday, July 27, 185 MINUTES.] PUBLIC BILLS.—1° Crime a (Ireland). 2° Acknowledgment of Deeds by M FINCHLEY ROAD ESTATE I Order for Second Reading read Motion made, and Question I "That the Bill be now read time." LORD R. GROSVENOR, in that this Bill be read a second day three months, said, that he c it expedient to arrest the further of the measure. The promoter Bill complained that great exa had been had recourse to, and m representations made with regar provisions. It was said by them attempt had been made to imp the public with respect to its pr and that the House came to the d with an unfair amount of prejud he considered the case was so plai the measure that it required no a dressing up, and that it would h equally clear if the name of Sir Maryon Wilson had never been with it before. The House would mind that five Bills had been al troduced on this subject by that ge all of which had been rejected b ment-one proposing to deal with stead Heath itself, and four of build property abutting on the which would most materially at comfort, health, and enjoyment tens of thousands to whom the afforded the means of recreati therefore hoped he should persu House that, not only as legislator trustees for the public, they ough an end at once to any further at legislation on this subject. This Bill was not at all an uncommon whenever an heir to a tenant for li that, through circumstances wh arisen out of the contemplation 2 D 2 |