Lords Sitting of 10 August 1857

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS.—3a County Court Judges (Falconer and Yates's) Salaries; Charitable Trusts Acts Continuance; Superannuation Act Amendment; Fraudulent Trustees, &c.; Trustees Relief.
COMMISSION.—The following Bills received the Royal Assent: Militia Ballots Suspension; Public Health Act (Aldershot); Registration of Long Leases (Scotland); Burial of the Dead within the City and Liberties of London; Bill Chamber (Scotland); Commons Inclosure; Turnpike Acts Continuance; Land and Assessed Taxes, &c. (Scotland) Acts Amendment; Christ Church (West Hartlepool); Representative Peers (Ireland); Oxford University; Chatham Lands, &c.; Inclosure Acts Amendment; Portland Harbour; Public Works (Ireland); Bankruptcy and Real Securities (Scotland); Canada and New Brunswick Boundaries.

THE STAMPING OF LETTERS.

  QUESTION.
  LORD CAMPBELLsaid, he wished to call the attention of his noble Friend the Postmaster General to the illegibility of the Post Office stamps on letters. He had before directed his noble Friend's attention to the subject, and he knew that he had been exerting himself to the utmost, with a view to the marks being rendered sufficiently legible. This was sometimes very important for the administration of justice. He (Lord Campbell) had seen the greatest inconvenience resulting from the circumstance that, in the cases to which he referred, the marks were mere blotches, and wholly illegible; and, in a recent trial, at Edinburgh, the necessity for improvement was manifest, it being very important in that case, to ascertain when a particular letter passed through the Post Office. The French letters were stamped in a much

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  better manner than our own, and he did not see why there should be such a difference. He would, therefore, ask his noble Friend what hope there was of any improvement?
  THE DUKE OF ARGYLLsaid, that, in consequence of his attention being directed to this subject, by his noble and learned Friend, he had made inquiries respecting the stamping of letters, and he had ascertained that the real difficulty arose from the great amount of stamping done by manual labour. If his noble and learned Friend were to visit the Post Office at six o'clock, he would witness the marvellous rapidity and accuracy with which the process of stamping was effected on hundreds of thousands of letters. It was very desirable to keep the box open to the latest possible moment, and the pursuit of this object left scarcely sufficient margin for stamping. An infinite number of suggestions, with respect to the stamping of letters, had been sent to the Post Office within the last few months, very much in consequence of the observations made by his noble and learned Friend. There was no doubt that manual labour could never effect the purpose so perfectly as a machine; and he was happy to state, that a machine had been invented by a gentleman connected with the Post Office, which promised to produce a great amendment. The superiority of the foreign stamps might be attributed to the comparatively small correspondence with which foreign post offices had to deal, and, still more, to the use of letter-paper not so highly glazed as that generally used in this country.

  REPRESENTATIVE PEERS (IRELAND).
  LORD MONTEAGLEcalled the attention of their Lordships to the claim of the Earl of Carysfort to be admitted to vote at the election of Representative Peers for Ireland, praying that the Resolution of their Lordships, of the 3rd July last, might be deemed to apply to his claim, and that such claim might be referred to the Lord Chancellor, to consider and report thereon. He considered that where a Peer had established his claim of sitting and voting in their Lordships' House, the same evidence should be held sufficient and the same procedure be adopted in the case of proof of a right of voting for a Representative Peer. The facts to be established were identical. The noble Lord concluded by moving,
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  "That the Petition of the Earl of Carysfort (presented on Thursday last) be referred to the Lord Chancellor, to consider and report thereon, as if it had come under the Standing Order of the 3rd July last."
  LORD REDESDALEsaid, they could not act upon that suggestion without contravening a Resolution which they had adopted in a full House, and after careful consideration. He did not say it was absolutely undesirable that the Resolution should be altered, but it appeared to him that, as the Resolution had been adopted when there was a full attendance of Irish Peers, such an alteration ought not to be made at a time when there was not a single Irish Peer in London.
  LORD CAMPBELLagreed with the noble Lord (Lord Monteagle) that the proper course would be, to alter, in due form, the words of the Standing Order.
  THE LORD CHANCELLORalso agreed with the noble Lord, that the better course would be to alter the Resolution formerly agreed to. He thought there could be no necessity for postponing the matter to another Session of Parliament.
  LORD REDESDALEagain expressed his opinion, that, as no Irish Peer was present, it would be better to postpone the question till next Session.
  LORD MONTEAGLEsaid, that, adopting the suggestion of the noble and learned Lord, he should now give notice that he would, to-morrow, move an alteration of the Standing Order, so as to meet the case.
  Standing Order of the 3rd of July last, to be considered, in order to its being amended.
  House adjourned, at a quarter to Seven o'clock, till To-morrow, halt-past Two o'clock.