he would otherwise have enjoyed, and the colony would have gained by the introduc tion not only of labourers, but of capitalists from Silesia. The scheme, however, as has been explained by the Commissioners in their report, was rendered abortive, or at any rate suspended by the political convulsions of Germany.* But, my Lords, the severest censure pronounced upon me, by my noble Friend, was for having entirely neglected the subject of emigration to North America, and more especially for not having done anything to fulfil the promise made on behalf of the Government, on the occasion of the Address voted last year by the House of Commons to cause an inquiry to be instituted in the colonies into the best mode of extending and promoting emigration. It is true, my Lords, that I did not in a formal despatch send a copy of the Address of the House of Commons to the governors of the colonies, and direct them to institute the contemplated inquiry into the means of extending emigration; but both before and after that Address was voted, I had been in correspondence with the colonial governors upon this most important subject; and if your Lordships will refer to the papers which have from time to time been laid upon your table, you will see that the means of promoting an extended emigration and the settlement of the lands of Canada and New Bruswick, have constantly occupied the attention of the governors, and no less so my own. My noble Friend, indeed, has himself quoted from my despatches, instructions given by me upon this subject, which would show how little it has been neglected; and he has actually made it a matter of charge against me, that while I have written so strongly in favour of a more regular and systematic occupation of the territory of Canada, no measures of the kind I have recommended have been adopted. My Lords, the reason why no such measures have been carried into effect is, that I still retain the opinion * In making this statement I spoke from mewhich mory as to the effect of a correspondence which noble Friend has taunted me my took place several months ago, and of which I with having expressed in 1845, that it is find, upon referring to it, that my recollection was impossible to administer from Downing not quite accurate. It appears that in this case Street the local affairs of all the colonial the purchase of land by some of the intended emi- dependencies of the British Crown. I engrants formed no part of the plan, and that its object was to obtain for the colony, at a very cheap tertain, and I act upon that opinion, and rate, a party of emigrant labourers, including some that is the reason why I have not attemptskilled in the cultivation of the vine; a farther ob-ed to enforce my own views, though I still ject being to establish a connexion between the continue to believe that if the price of land district of Port Philip and a part of Germany, were raised in Canada-the produce of the whence a large number of settlers might be expected to follow at their own cost. With these sale being devoted to the construction of views it was proposed by a gentleman connected roads and other works necessary for the with the colony that a party of about two hundred profitable occupation of the soil-the purMoravians of Lower Silesia, described as " com- chasers of land would obtain it in reality prising vine-dressers and agricultural and pastoral cheaper than at present, while the settlelabourers, with a few mechanics, and accompanied by one or two principals or educated persons,' ons." ment of the territory, instead of proceedshould be allowed a bounty of 5l. for each person, ing in the desultory manner it now does, to assist them in emigrating to Port Philip. This would be carried forward with regularity, was afterwards changed to a proposal to send four and civilised society would, as it were, hundred people at 21. 10s. It was represented that from their occupations many of the party be gradually pushed forward into the would have been qualified by the existing regula- forests. Though I have seen no reason tions to have demanded the high bounty of 181. to alter my views upon this subject, I each, if they had gone out in consequence of orders certainly am not prepared to press for for foreign labourers, specially transmitted from employers in the colony, and that a very much the adoption of this policy, contrary to larger sum would thus have been paid for a por- the opinion of all who have most local tion of these labourers than was asked for the knowledge and experience against the whole party. The arrangement would therefore judgment of Lord Sydenham, of Sir C. have obviously been highly beneficial to the co- Bagot, of Lord Metcalfe, of Lord Elgin, of lony, as in addition to the labourers skilled in a peculiar branch of industry who were required, it their different Executive Councils, of the would have obtained several more very useful set- Provincial Parliament, and of the vatlers at a cost in all considerably less than that rious land companies, who have all conwhich it would have been considered worth while sidered and agreed in rejecting as impracto incur for the former alone. The small sum of ticable the various plans which have been 1,000l. intended to have been thus applied, was not to have been taken from the moiety of the proposed for the more regular settlement land fund set apart by law for immigration. of large bodies of emigrants. My Lords, been thrown this is a subject upon which the Canadians | Government or the provincial authorities have a right to demand that their views could possibly have anticipated. A large and their judgment, not those of the Bri- and sickly emigration was expected, and, tish Government, should prevail. accordingly, provision was made for assistBut my noble Friend has complained ing more than double the number of sick that, instead of promoting, we have check- that had, in any former year, ed emigration to our North American colo- at once upon the hands of the Governnies; and he has reverted to the subject ment; but, as by the laws last year in he has more than once previously men- force in Canada, and the United States tioned, of the laws for regulating emigra- respectively, emigrants were allowed to tion which the legislatures of those colo- proceed to the former with far worse acnies have lately passed. I have already commodation than to the latter, and, conhad occasion to explain to your Lordships sequently, at a cheaper rate, all the poorthe reasons which rendered the passing of est and most destitute flocked to Canada, some such laws absolutely necessary; and whilst those who were better off, avoiding I confess I heard with great regret the in- contact with such wretched objects, went vidious contrast between the conduct of to the United States. The consequence Canada and of the State of New York was, that almost as soon as the navigation towards the Irish emigrants, which has opened, such crowds of sufferers accumubeen drawn; a contrast more unjust than lated at Grosse Isle, that the accommodaeven the rest of the speech which my tion provided proved utterly insufficient, noble Friend has made this evening. My and the numbers who continued to arrive, noble Friend says, that while Canada sick and dying, were so overwhelming that levies a much heavier tax upon emigrants no exertions that could be made could than New York, she does far less for keep pace with the still increasing dethem. Nothing can be more contrary to mands for aid under such appalling diffithe fact. It may be true that, by the re-culties. But no possible exertions were cent law, the tax charged upon emigrants omitted. The energy and the judgment may be somewhat higher in Canada; but, in return for that tax, Canada provides not only hospital accommodation, but gratuitous conveyance to the distant parts of the province, where they proceed in search of employment, for the emigrants that come to the St. Lawrence. The hospitals provided in New York may be larger and better; but when the relative means of the two countries are compared, the efforts made by Canada are certainly not the least. It is only within these few days that I have received the full details of the sufferings endured by themselves, and occasioned to the colony by the emigrants who last year resorted. to Canada; and I earnestly recommend to your Lordships' attention the report upon this subject of Dr. Douglas, the superintendent of the quarantine establishment in the St. Lawrence, which is included in the papers I have just presented. When you have read that report, I think you will agree with me that it is equally ungrateful and unjust in my noble Friend, to censure the Canadian authorities for their conduct towards the Irish emigrants, when, on the contrary, they are entitled to the very highest praise. It is true that last year great calamities occurred. The extent of emigration, and the amount of sickness, far exceeded what either Her Majesty's displayed, from the Governor General to the most subordinate officers, in carrying into effect, with the utmost promptitude, every arrangement which could be made for the mitigation of the evil, deserve the greatest credit. Above all, our highest admiration is due to the self-devotion with which the clergy, of all persuasions, and the medical officers, exposed themselves to the greatest dangers; and, I deeply regret to say, in too many cases to death, in the discharge of duties the most painful and the most disgusting. After so fearful an experience of the necessity of stringent regulations, my noble Friend has no right to complain of the law which the Canadian Legislature has passed; I trust, however, that in some respects the law will be relaxed; but, even as it stands, the information which has been received shows that it has proved very beneficial. I have been informed, within these two days, by a member of the provincial legislature now in England, that it has effected a marked improvement in the description of emigrants who have proceeded to Canada. My noble Friend has urged, that emigration should not be allowed to proceed without regulation, and at random, but that the emigrants should be directed and assisted by the Government. My Lords, this is what the Government endeavours to 49 Unlawful Oaths Acts {AUG. 10} (Ireland) Continuance, &c. 50 do, and I will add-has done. Arrange- | mation as to the traffic to be expected, and ments are made, and most effectively made, in considering what arrangements might for receiving and directing to the quarters be made for undertaking this great work. where they can obtain employment, the When the means of forming a judgment emigrants who proceed to our North Ame- shall thus be placed within our reach, Her rican colonies. But my noble Friend wants Majesty's Government will not lose a day something more. He wants the Govern- in deliberating on the measures it may be ment to undertake the task of selecting expedient to adopt. and carrying out those who are to emigrate. My Lords, I am convinced that the attempt to do so would be the greatest blow that could be inflicted upon emigration. How, let me ask, is it possible that any machinery of Government officers for selecting and conveying such a multitude as a quarter of a million of emigrants, could do otherwise than prove a failure; while, if such a task were undertaken, those who were sent out would consider the Government responsible for providing for them, and we should have a repetition of all those abuses, and those evils, which arose from the Irish relief works of last year. I repeat that the proper functions of a Government in this matter are not to supersede the efforts of individuals, but rather to guide and assist individual exertion. But my noble Friend thinks we should go still further, and, if I rightly understand him, he contends that Parliament ought to be called upon for a large grant of money for public works to be undertaken in the North American provinces, to give employment to the emigrants. My Lords, upon this subject I think it only necessary now to say, that the question of a large advance of money, taken from the produce of our taxes, for public works on the other side of the Atlantic, is one which, in the present state of our finances, is at least full of difficulty. But when my noble Friend refers to the projected railway from Quebec to Halifax as one which we ought to have considered, I beg to assure him that we have not omitted to do so. The construction of that railway, I agree with him in regarding as an object, not only of colonial, but of imperial interest. It has been viewed in this light by the preceding Administration as well as by ourselves; and officers of the Royal Engineers, under the directions of the Board of Ordnance, have accordingly, for more than two years, been employed in making the survey which is necessary before such a work could be decided upon. The final report of that survey has not yet been received, but it is expected almost immediately. In the meantime the provincial authorities are occupied in collecting infor In conclusion, my Lords, I have only to add that my noble Friend has altogether misunderstood what I said, when he has represented me as having expressed an opinion that we ought to rest satisfied with what has already been accomplished in the way of emigration. On the contrary, my argument was, that though we should proceed upon the same principle as heretofore, yet it was the very nature of measures resting upon a sound principle, that they should be progressive, and that, to use my noble Friend's expression, emigration should beget emigration. I pointed out to you to how great an extent this had already been the case, and that, with regard to Australia, a system of promoting emigration begun seventeen years ago, upon the smallest scale, had gradually been extended, and was now producing results of national importance, with every prospect that in each succeeding period of five or ten years the current of emigration will be found to have become larger and stronger. My Lords, I have no doubt that this will be the case, and that we shall see (if injudicious efforts to accomplish more than can be effected do not mar our prospects) that in the course of a few more years the numbers of our fellow-subjects in the distant regions of the earth are increased to an extent it is impossible now to calculate. Papers laid on the table. UNLAWFUL OATHS ACTS (IRELAND) CONTINUANCE AND AMENDMENT BILL. The LORD CHANCELLOR said, that he rose to move the Second Reading of this Bill, which had for its object the continuance and amendment of certain Acts respecting secret and illegal societies in Ireland. It was almost unnecessary for him to say that those societies were illegal which were bound together by secret and unlawful oaths. The law as it stood, without the aid of further provision, was sufficient to deal with illegal meetings wherever the real character of such meetings could be ascertained; but some definition was necessary as to what these societies were. The great difficulty was in finding out and distinguishing what were secret societies. | alter the provisions of former Acts. ParThere could be no doubt that they had re- ties offending against the law would be cently existed to a very great extent in amenable under the existing statutes. The Ireland for the purpose of promoting and great object was to prevent these illegal organising a conspiracy for seditious and societies from carrying on their practices treasonable purposes. The consequence of in private, and for this purpose means this was that by means of these secret were proposed to enable the police to declubs and societies, an organisation had tect them in their unlawful pursuits. The been completed throughout the country officer, when authorised by the warrant of which had recently led to so much mis- a magistrate, was to be at liberty to conchief, but which had been prevented ex- tinue in the place of meeting as long as tending to the degree that the promoters he considered it expedient to do so. He of it intended. Unless means were found would, of course, check any illegal transacby which these secret societies and clubs tion which was going on during his precould be suppressed, it was vain to look sence; and, what was most important, he for tranquillity in Ireland. There could would be able to inform himself, by an exbe no doubt that many of the outrages amination of books and documents, as to committed, and the recent organisation of the object of the society. This was unthe disaffected for insurrection, originated doubtedly an invasion of the rights and priin these secret societies. The present Bill leges of the Queen's subjects, but it was proposed to continue the two existing Acts an invasion which was not carried further on the subject (the 4th Geo. IV. c. 87; and than the state of Ireland absolutely re2nd and 3rd Vic. c. 74), with some addi- quired; and he believed that, after the tions. To obtain actual information as to fullest consideration had been given to the parties being sworn in members of these proposed measure, it would be found that secret clubs would be a matter of great nothing short of the powers which the Bill difficulty; but still he thought means might provided would enable the Government of be devised by which this might be effected Ireland to prevent the revival of those semore satisfactorily than was the case under cret societies which had produced so much the present state of the law. In the pre- evil, and which required to be checked by sent Bill he proposed a clause, that before the authority of the law. He, therefore, a warrant was issued for the apprehension trusted thot their Lordships would sancof parties as members of such societies, tion the Bill. an oath should be taken by the party giving the information that there was reasonable ground to believe that such oaths were administered, and that the parties were engaged in unlawful or seditious practices. The Bill then authorised any magistrate to issue his warrant; and, under the authority of that warrant, it was proposed to em-posal was the putting down of the Repeal power certain officers to attend the meetings, to restrain them if necessary, and to search for and examine books and papers. It had been suggested that the Bill should go a little further, and give some more immediate remedy against the persons forming these societies. After considering the matter, he conceived that this was not at all necessary. If the societies, as they existed, were illegal, all that was wanted was access to the meetings for the purpose of proving their illegality. The police, having obtained access, would ascertain that illegal practices were carried on, and the societies would then come under the provisions of former Acts. The authorities would, in fact, be armed with all the provisions that could be needed, and to secure that object it was not at all necessary to The EARL of GLENGALL said, it had been his intention-the present state of the House alone prevented him from fulfilling it--to move that a portion of the Act passed in 1833 should be inserted in the measure under consideration; and the purpose for which he meant to make that pro Association which met on Burgh Quay. On learning that measures of that description were about to be introduced, he had hoped that the example set by a former Administration would be followed at the present time; and he could not but express the disappointment which he felt at finding that it had not. Now, having looked over the four or five Acts which, by the Bill before the House, were to be renewed and extended for two years, he had come to the conclusion that the course proposed would not lead to the breaking up of the clubs. Under the 2nd and 3rd Vict., and 4th Geo. IV., it was necessary that the members of the associations to be suppressed should have bound themselves by oaths. The clubs in Ireland had no oaths, though the members understood one an other perfectly well. He would like very much to be better informed on that subject, and would be glad if the noble and learned Lord opposite (Lord Campbell) would state whether or not magistrates, and other authorities, in Ireland could, under the provisions of the Bill, bring members of the clubs to justice as of fenders against the law. seized, and those who had them for that illegal purpose were liable to be imprisoned, brought to trial, and punished. Without any statute, if people assembled for a seditious or treasonable purpose, and it was proved that they had so assembled, although they might not have administered any illegal oath, or employed any illegal pass-word, still they were amenable to the law, and it was the duty of a magistrate to put the law in force against them. Therefore, the noble Earl might be perfectly tranquil in the discharge of his duty, in which he (Lord Campbell) was sure the noble Earl was most earnest; wherever there appeared to be any conspiracy against or wherever people were apparently combining to violate the law, the noble Earl might fairly believe the parties to be guilty of a crime, and might resort to the means requisite to bring them to punishment. LORD CAMPBELL said, that, as the noble Earl had appealed to him, he felt it his duty to answer the question propounded. The noble Earl seemed to forget altogether that there was such a thing as the common law. There were statutes directed against illegal meetings, which gave tests of illegality; and, without going the existing Government of the country, further, he would observe, that if it could be proved that illegal oaths were administered, or that illegal pass-words were used, meetings at which such things occurred were at once adjudged by the law to be illegal. But, without that, according to LORD REDESDALE thought there was the common law of England, which was also great evil in the habitual renewal of temthe common law of Ireland, if meetings porary measures for the government of were held for any seditious or treasonable Ireland, when experience had proved such purpose they were illegal, and all, there- measures to be permanently necessary. fore, who attended them might be punish- There was nothing either in the 2nd and ed. What was now wanted was, to obtain 3rd Vict., or in the 4th Geo. IV., which, evidence of the purpose for which these after recent experience, ought not to be meetings were assembled. The object of made permanent in its application. At the Bill was to enable police officers, with that period of the Session he would not the sanction of a magistrate, to enter any raise any obstruction to the passing of the house or place where it was supposed or Bill; but he certainly thought that two suspected that an illegal meeting was as-years was an unnecessarily short period sembled, and to ascertain the purposes for for the continuance of the Acts to be rewhich that meeting had been convened. newed. If the parties attending were discovered to be preparing for an insurrection, or for the bearing of arms, or, in fact, to be doing any thing which was illegal, they would be liable to be apprehended; and should they be brought before the noble Earl as a magistrate, he advised the noble Earl immediately to commit them to gaol. He (Lord Campbell) would indemnify him against any consequences which might follow from the granting of the warrant. There was one error prevalent in Ireland to which he wished briefly to allude. The people of that country seemed to suppose that nothing was illegal except what was forbidden by the statute. They appeared to imagine that it was lawful for them to have arms in their hands for the purpose of carrying on an insurrection against the Queen's Government if there were statute to forbid it. Now, the common law forbade this. Wherever arms were found under such circumstances might be no Bill read 2a. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Thursday, August 10, 1848. MINUTES.] PUBLIC BILLS.-1° Commons Inclosure Act Amendment; Militia Pay; Out Pensioners; Fever (Ire- 2 Steam Navigation; Fees (Court of Chancery); Poor Reported.-Court of Justiciary (Scotland); Criminal Law PETITIONS PRESENTED. By Colonel Thompson, from |