Commons Sitting of 1 August 1849

MINUTES.
PETITIONS PRESENTED. By Mr. Hume, from Todmorden, against any Alteration of the Factories Act.—By Mr. Cobden, from Leeds, for Recognition of the Hungarian Republic—By Mr. George Thompson, from Clapham, for Prohibition of Interment in Towns.—From Chelsea, for an Alteration of the Poor Law.

MILITARY OPERATIONS IN THE PUNJAB.
MR. SPEAKER MR. SPEAKER acquainted the House, that he had received from the Right Honourable the Earl of Dalhousie the following letter, in return to the Thanks of this House, transmitted by him to his Lordship, in obedience to the Commands of this House of the 24th day of April last:—
"Simla, June 14th, 1849.
"Sir—I have had the honour of receiving your letter of 25th April, inclosing the Resolutions

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which on the preceding day had been adopted by the House of Commons.
"In obedience to the request of the House, I have communicated those Resolutions to General Lord Gough, G.C.B., and to the several Officers referred to therein.
"On my own part, I beg permission to express the gratitude and pride with which I have received this distinguished mark of the approbation of the House of Commons.—I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient and faithful servant,
"DALHOUSIE.
"To the Right Honourable The Speaker of the House of Commons, &c."

ITALIAN REFUGEES.
MR. MONCKTON MILNESsaid, that it had been mentioned in the public prints that the Governor of Malta had thought fit to prevent certain persons landing in that island, those persons being refugees from Rome. Whatever political opinions might be entertained by different parties respecting their cause, their bravery had undoubtedly excited the admiration of the civilised world. He therefore asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it was true that those persons had not even been allowed to land in Malta, and whether the English authorities were going to imitate that want of hospitality of which there had been such flagrant instances in a neighbouring nation?
MR. HAWESsaid, that the refugees to whom reference had been made consisted of persons who had left both Sicily and Italy, and were not confined to parties who had quitted Rome. They arrived, however, in such crowds at Malta, that it was absolutely necessary for the Governor, acting on his own responsibility for the preservation of the peace and tranquillity of the island, to limit the numbers frequenting it. This was not done with any inconsiderateness; on the contrary, whenever sickness was given as a reason for landing, the parties were at once allowed to disembark, and they received every care and attention from the Governor himself. Nevertheless, considering the crowds of all characters who flocked to the island, the Governor had stated, and he (Mr. Hawes) thought him justified in so doing, that if he were to be responsible for the tranquillity of the place, he must limit the numbers coming there; and, unless the Governor had intimated to the proper authorities not to allow these parties to land to such a great extent, he would probably have been obliged to take other steps which might have appeared more severe.
MR. HUMEthought that even the re-
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port of such a transaction was disgraceful to the country, and he wished to know what number of persons arrived at Malta at any one time?
MR. HAWESsaid, he had received no notice of this last question, but he believed he was right in saying that several hundreds arrived there within a short period, and more were on their way.
Subject dropped.

AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY.
LORD NUGENTwished to put a question to the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs on a subject with respect to which he trusted the noble Lord would not be reluctant to satisfy the anxious feelings of a great part of this nation. He had seen, within the last three or four days, in the public newspapers, what purported to be a proclamation proceeding from the Austrian General, Haynau, and addressed to the populations of Pesth and Buda. This proclamation denounced the punishment of instant death upon the spot to any persons, of either sex, who might be presumed to have taken part in what this general called political offences, such as had never before been made punishable with death by any chief holding a commission under a civilised government. Instant death upon the spot was proclaimed; and the soldiers, who were to be the executioners of the sentence, were also to be the judges of the guilt, for such offence as wearing what might be deemed a revolutionary dress, spreading what might be deemed false reports, and, above all, committing what the general termed insult towards the soldiers. He wished to know whether this proclamation, which he would not trust his own feelings to characterise otherwise than by styling it a most astonishing proclamation, and to which the Foreign Minister's noble nature would doubtless prompt him to affix a much stronger term, was or was not genuine?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONthought it was unnecessary for him to say that Her Majesty's Government, in common with everybody else, must have read the proclamation as it appeared in the newspapers with the deepest pain. He need not say more on that point. In reply to the question put to him, he had to state, that the Government had no official communication of the proclamation in question, and therefore he had no official knowledge as to whether it was genuine or not.
LORD NUGENTwould ask, on this last

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opportunity, should the circumstance turn out to be as reported in the newspapers, and should the Government be made officially cognisant of it, whether the Government would be then prepared, as in the case of the Eliot Convention between the contending parties in Spain, to interpose its good offices, and its authority, if necessary, to stop the perpetration of such horrors, which were never before committed or contemplated in war among civilised communities
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that Her Majesty's Government must reserve to themselves a proper and legitimate discretion to act in accordance with what
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they might think fit as circumstances arose.
Subject at an end.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
Message to attend the Lords Commissioners; the House went, and the Royal Assent was given to several Bills; and afterwards a Speech of the Lords Commissioners was delivered to both Houses by the Lord President.
After which a Commission was read, for proroguing the Parliament until Tuesday the 9th day of October next; and the Parliament was accordingly prorogued until Tuesday the 9th day of October next.
THE END OF SESSION 1849.