Commons Sitting of 17 November 1852

MORTALITY ON THE COAST OF AFRICA.
MR. H. HERBERTsaid, that a report had appeared in a newspaper stating that all the officers on board the ship Dover on the African station had been carried off by disease. He wished to know whether the Admiralty had received any intelligence on the subject?
MR. STAFFORDsaid, he was happy to state to the House that no confirmation of the report in question had reached the Admiralty, and, indeed, the advices which had been received from the African station would lead to the belief that the rate of mortality was below the average. Admiral Bruce had sent a report to the Admiralty on the mortality prevailing on the African station from the 1st of July, 1851, to the 30th of June, 1852, from which he would take the liberty of reading the following passage:—
"Their Lordships will observe, that among the
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squadron on the west coast of Africa, from July, 1851, to June, 1852, the ratio of mortality from disease has been 16.2 per 1,000 of the mean force employed, an average which, judging from previous years, is below what we might have anticipated, particularly when we consider the arduous nature of the service performed on the station for the twelve months embraced in the return. I cannot help thinking that the fortunate result is, under Providence, in some measure owing to my having made it a rule to change the stations of the ships whose crews were subject to any extraordinary exposure, but more particularly is it attributable to the use of quinine wine, the skill of the medical officers, and the careful attention of the commanders to the general sanitary condition of their respective ships."

MR. VILLIER'S MOTION.
MR. WILSONsaid, he had been requested by his hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton (Mr. C. Villiers) to lay before the House the precise terms of the Motion which he intended to make on the 23rd instant. The Motion would be as follows:—
"That it is the opinion of this House that the improved condition of the Country, and particularly of the Industrious Classes, is mainly the result of recent Commercial Legislation, and especially of the Act of 1846, which established the free admission of Foreign Corn; and that that Act was a wise, just, and beneficial measure:
"That it is the opinion of this House that the maintenance and further extension of the policy of Free Trade, as opposed to that of Protection, will best enable the property and industry of the Nation to bear the burthens to which they are exposed) and will most contribute to the general prosperity, welfare, and contentment of the people:
"That this House is ready to take into its consideration any measures consistent with the principles of these Resolutions which may be laid before it by Her Majesty's Ministers."

CORONERS' INQUESTS (IRELAND).
SIR JOHN YOUNGsaid, he begged to address a question to the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Attorney General for Ireland. In the course of his observations on the previous evening, that right hon. and learned Gentleman had made some remarks upon the course of public justice. Now, he (Sir J. Young) believed there was a general opinion abroad and in that House that the office of Coroner in Ireland required an entire remodelling, and he wished to ask whether it was intended to put this office upon a new footing?
MR. NAPIER: Sir, with regard to the subject matter of this question, and with regard to other matters also, I may state that at the request of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland I have had under my consideration

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the various matters which it is conceived offer an obstruction to criminal procedure in that country. The subject of Coroners' Inquests is an important one; and upon that question I may state that I am preparing measures which I intend to submit to his Excellency. With regard to any immediate measure in connexion with Coroners' Inquests, I think it would be more correct not to bring forward any measure until proceedings which are now pending are brought to a close. But it is my intention to submit a very definite plan for correcting the evil, and which, I trust, will be found satisfactory. I think, with others, that these Coroners' proceedings entail a large expense on the country, and at the same time obstruct the course of public justice.

FREIGHT MONEY (GREENWICH HOSPITAL).
SIR GEORGE PECHELLsaid, he felt himself called upon to condemn the practice of allowing officers in the Navy freight-money for bringing bullion from South America; and as a preliminary to an alteration of the present system, he would beg to move for a Return of the several sums of Freight Money received by the Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital since the 17th day of February, 1851, with the date of such payments, and whether on public or private account; also the name of the ship or vessel in which the treasure was conveyed, and of the captain or officer commanding the same.
MR. STAFFORDsaid, that the proposition of the hon. and gallant Member was one that would go to diminish the emoluments of the naval service. The hon. and gallant Member's plan, he understood, was to the effect that the senior officers should be passed over, and a portion of the freight given to their juniors in the service. This, he believed, would have the effect of taking away a source of ambition from the senior officers. The present system worked, on the whole, well; and he might state that the present Government had not received a single complaint as to the freight since they came into office. He would not, however, withhold the Return which the hon. and gallant Member asked for; but he thought it would be more satisfactory that he should bring forward some substantive Motion on the subject, than merely asking for Returns which could lead to nothing.
Motion agreed to.

FUNERAL OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON,
SIR CHARLES WOODbrought up the Second Report of the Select Committee appointed to consider the circumstances relating to the attendance of the House at the solemnity of the funeral of the Duke of Wellington. The Committee reported that they had proceeded further to inquire respecting the most convenient mode by which Members could proceed to St. Paul's Cathedral, and they stated that arrangements had been made for steamboats to be in waiting at the river esplanade in front of the House at half-past ten o'clock in the morning of Thursday, to convey Members to St. Paul's Wharf; that the city authorities had undertaken that a passage should be kept clear from that place to the great western entrance of St. Paul's Cathedral, where Members could enter the cathedral by the northern door of that entrance, and proceed to the seats allotted them; that steamers would be in waiting at St. Paul's Wharf from three o'clock P.M., and that a passage would be kept clear from the cathedral to the wharf to enable Members to return. The Committee, therefore, recommended that the Members should assemble in the House at ten o'clock on Thursday morning; that they should be called over by counties in the usual way, the names of the counties being drawn by lot; that they should proceed to the steamboats, as far as possible, in the order in which such counties were drawn; and that the clerks and officers of the House, not exceeding thirty in number, should be permitted to accompany them.
MR. WALPOLEsaid, that in order that a record of these proceedings might be inserted in the journals of the House, he would beg to move a Resolution to the following effect:—
"That on the occasion of the Public Funeral of Arthur late Luke of Wellington, Mr. Speaker be deputed to attend the Procession on the part of the House; and that this House, on the same occasion, do attend in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, where Seats have been provided for its Members."
CAPTAIN SCOBELLsaid, he thought there was one omission in the arrangements, inasmuch as no deputation from the Navy was appointed to attend the procession. It was true that the First Lord of the Admiralty would attend; but he would have gone whether he had been a naval man or not, and so with respect to the different Orders of the Bath; though

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there would be a naval man in each class, they would represent the Order of the Bath, and not the Navy. Considering that much of the military proceedings of the great man whose memory they were about to honour were conducted in conjunction with the Navy, he thought that there ought to he a distinct deputation to represent that branch of the service in the procession; and, as a hasty mode of remedying the defect, he would suggest that the Board of Admiralty, being composed entirely of naval men, should be a deputation to represent the Navy.
MR. WALPOLEsaid, it was far from the intention of those who had the regulation of the proceedings to omit that most popular force from being represented on the occasion of the funeral, or to show the slightest disrespect to the Navy. The hon. and gallant Member would observe that throughout the procession it was considered necessary to have deputations representing a great many public bodies. The difficulty was to prevent the procession being inconveniently long upon a winter's day. The Navy he conceived to be fully represented in the person of the First Lord of the Admiralty. He could also inform the hon. and gallant Gentleman, that 200 tickets had been placed at the disposal of that noble Lord for the use of naval officers. He was not aware of any other mode by which Her Majesty's Navy could be represented except by adding one more carriage for the conveyance of four admirals.
MR. MONCKTON MILNESsaid, he would refer to an Order issued that morning, which stated that all naval officers should appear at the funeral in their uniform. He thought it important to ascertain whether officers of both services being Members of that House were expected to appear in their respective uniforms or in their senatorial character.
MR. HUMEhoped, that the respect due to the Commons of England would be considered, and that all Members of that House would appear at the funeral in their ordinary dress—being plain black, and suitable to the solemn occasion.
MR. STAFFORDsaid, there was no wish on the part of the Admiralty to require naval officers being Members of that House to attend the ceremony in uniform.
Ordered, That the Report, together with the Report made yesterday, be printed and delivered forthwith.
The House adjourned at Two o'clock till Friday.