DIGEST OF DOMESTIC NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 317, 14 November 1855, Page 5

DIGEST OF DOMESTIC NEWS.

The inquiry into the conduct of the London police during Uie Hyde Park riots has tewnimited, mid the learned Recorders ol London, Liverpool, and Manchester, who conducted it, cannot, iv consequence of their professional duties demanding immediate attention, make a report diirinir the present Sosion of Parliament. Indeed, if their re-port were now ready, ihe suhject could receive no attention during the few brief days which remain before the adjournment." Theappoiiitment of the commission was conceded by Guveiuniei'i to »-»:ifv the outraged

feelings of the inhabitants of the metropolis, n ml although ihe evidence in some respects has been contradictory, the London police do not pass through the ordeal so creditably as could be wished. But there is only one opinion respectitig! the ability and impartiality with which the investigation has been pursued. Even the closing ohseiviuions of the chief commissioner, relative to the London parks, are admirably adapted to restore the harmony between the different classes, which has been temporarily disturbed by these unfortunate outbreaks. In the next session the affair will have lost alliuteresi, for the Sunday Beer Bill has been pushed through the Commons with such amazing alaelity, that it was carnal to the Upper Jflonse on Thursday m^hi,u\id read a first lime. We never remember such extraordinary haste to repeal an obnoxious enactment. Mob law in this instance has anticipated the tardy forms of legislation, or, rather, has cleared them at a bound. The punishment for the hasty and ill-advised act of last, session is complete. A Polish meeting was announced to take place at St. Martin's Hall, on Wednesday, Sir De Lacy Evans in the chair, for the purpose of procuring the embodiment at the seat of war of a force to consist exclusively of Poles. The name of the chairman and the popularity of the suggestion attracted immense crowds, but the hra»e veteran was too ill to attend, and the part of Hamlet was necessarily omitted. This annoyed the people, whose vexation was reflected in leading articles in the papers of the following morning, and these articles have drawn an explanation from the General himself. The most interesting, aud at the same time, the most distressing feature of the explanation is, that General Evans was really ill.—so ill that all idea of sending him to the Crimea with the chief command is clearly out of the question. His constitution is so shattered that permanent lecovery at his age is very unlikely. " Since my return from the East," he writes, I " have been subject to attacks which leave me fur two or three days unfit for any exertion." He had, it appears, for his coadjutors in this meeting, the Marquis of Breadalbane, the Earl of Shaftesbmy, Lord Kinnaird. Lord Sandon, and others—worthy, well-meaning persons, with a eapacily to talk, but quite out of place, in a movement like this. .The position which Sir De Lacy Evans now holds in this country would have invested anything coming from him with a degree of interest which all the pious lords in the kingdom could not command. The managers °f the meeting acted wisely in refusing to open the doors, and thus ended the burst of sympathy for the Poles. The feeling in favour of. Lord Dundonald's plans has taken strong hold of die public mind. The proof is seen in various forms, — in denunciations of the Government for not adopting them, in expressed regrets at the ahsence of scientific appliances to the business of the war, and in offers o f money to meet Lord Dundmiald's estimate of expense. A practical suggestion appears in the Daily News of yesterday. The writers urges the formation of ». London committee: this committee to procure a certificate of approval of the plans fnim one or two persons of eminence—Professor Faraday or Mr. Robert Stephenson, for instance, and then to open subscriptions. If this arrangement were carried out, the money, no "doubt, would be ready in a week. But the money,after all, is the least consideration. The question is, . would Government permit the adoption of the plan ? If they would nut, certificates of approval ami the raising of money are useless. Government, it is believed, have a strong objection to employ in the work of human destruction - chemical or other scientific agencies. They seem to thiuk tlKit i,, rain ruin on fortresses ami to cut off myriads of human beings, is not the business of science, but of soldiers with W!-;tpoi>s in their hands. Are the enemy equally chivalrous? The infernal machines placed iii the Baltic to destroy our fleet do noi proclaim the fact. Besides, we are hardly consistent with ourselves. Lord Pan inure has tardily consented to ihe introduction into the Crimea ot a new invention for digging the trenches by steam, and the Emperor has consented to look at a baiSo'iii floating in the air, filled with projectiles to hover over and destroy devoted cities. In thus halting midway, we exhibit a squeamish, ness which appears to be at once sentimental and silly. An interesting event look place the other evenin«—ihe installation, at a partiim dinner, ut Luid Canning- as» Governor-General of India.

The speech of the guest was a beautiful expression of modesty and talent, worthy of the great man wh"se name he bears. Genius is rarely hereditary, but Lord Canning is evidently an exception to the rule. This nobleman is rapidly advancing in public estimation, and, judging by the past, there is every reason to believe that he will reward the confidence which the conquerors of India repose in him. It is a trying situation, where a weak man is certain to fall, and where success without commanding abilities is out of the question. It is a singular fact that the same p'tgei which record the compliments and congratulations at this festive board, also inform the public of something much less honorable on the part of the East India Company—an act of petty tyranny towards an Eastern potentate, called the Rajah of-Kurruk-poor, who was obliged to seek protection from the injustice of his superiors in an English Court of Equity. This unfortunate Rajah has been sorely harassed by the Company, who have despoiled him of lands honestly transmitted, and put him to enormous cost in procuring legal redress. But the judicial committee of the Privy Council have amply compensated him, by restoring to him his own, and awarding him at the same time ample compensation for the outlay and loss to which he lias been subjected. The report of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, just issued, which exhibits the statintics of locomotive travelling for the last year, is interesting as regards the companies and the public. The passenger traffic, the goods traffic, profits upon capita! ; these have all increased largely in excess of any former year. But the most gratifying feature of all is the marked decrease as compared with former years in the number of accidents. Of the 111 millions conveyed in the time over which these !eturns extend, only 12 passengers have met with fatal accidents, from causes beyond their own control —-a trore striking proof of improved railway management can hardly be cited. The lecent parliamentary events have been comparatively unimportant. The white bait dinner, it is now understood, will take place on Wednesday next, and the Session will he brought to a close on the loth instant, so as to afford the Queen and the Court the opportunity of visiting Psiris two or three days after.—in which city sh^ is due on Saturday", the 18th instant. "The preparations for her reception are on the most imposing scale. The n<ost striking proceedings of the last few days relate to the new demands for more money for the army in the East. A supplementary credit for three millions was taken by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on account of the civil service, and conceded! The commissariat estimates bad also to be enlarged to the extent of two millions and a half. On the same ev&ning—Thursday,—when these sums were asked for and granted, the Chancellor of the Exchequer entered into a lengthened exposition of the financial position of the nation, in the course of which he showed the existing condition of expenditure and income. The late Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone, in commentingon this statement tendered his successor some sound advice, and' the House parted in good humour. The Limited Liabilities Bill seems in a fair way, with the approval of the House of Lords' of being engrafted on the statute book during the present session—a result for which, a week back, we were hardly prepared. Mr. Lnintr provoked a long discussion on an exhaused subject the Vienna Conference, which gave rise to angry speeches from Mr. Gladstone and some of the members of the Peace Society, but it ended in nothing. The Lords have abandoned to destruction a bill which deserved a better fate—a bill for incorporating tbe " Fibre Company '' on the principle of limited liability. The Fibre Company propose to m.ike paper out of a variety of articles never before applied to such purpose,"and as paper has become extremely dear from thescarcitv of rags, the loss of such a measure amounts,at a tiuielike thepresent,tosomething likea national calamity. If the Limited Liabilities Bill should pass through both Houses this session,—of which there appears to be very little chance, notwithstanding the splendid article in its favour in "the leading journal,—the loss of the bill nowreferred to wilt not be missed, because the same end will be attained by the general measure. Tbe worst that could "have happened in the mutter of tbe scheme for cheapening paper would have been a little mpeifluotis legislation— an evil of which peers and commoners have intense dread when the lequired legislation is for a prac-

ticai purpose. The session, it is now said, will terminate on the 13th or 14th instant, and the interval will he occupied with nothing beyond matters of routine. There is a growing belief that Lord Pulmerston will dissolve during- autumn, probably as soon after the harvest as he can conveniently His Lordship is a shrewd observer of the times and can measure the political horizon as well as most men living. If the allies are fortunate enough to possess themselves of Sebastopol, he will deem the occasion opportune to test his own popularity at the hustings, and forgetting past short-comings in the excitement of such a victory, the country may make a response which will secure him the Premiership for years. No one will regret the dissolution of the present House of Commons. It is Lord Derby's Parliament, and how it was scraped together is matter of painful, unenviable notoriety.— Melbourne Age.