HOME AFFAIRS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 425, 29 November 1856, Page 2

HOME AFFAIRS.

(From the Correspondent of the Empire.), Monday, August 4, 18/54. After many hair-breadth escapes Ministers h*ye contrived to get to the end of the parliamentary sessionjand have not resigned. Whether they ought not to have done so is a question on which politicians may be somewhat divided, but one thing is quite certain, that in trues gone by—though'only by a few years—no Ministry would have retained office that had to sustain one- t quarter of the defeats that the Government had the mortification to undergo during the session just closed. In the days of Pitt, Fox, Canning, Liverpool, &c, one defeat ensured theirVesignation, and neither, power " -nor place would induce them to' remain in office untes-s they"could command a majority in the Houses of Parliament. With the present Government, however, matters are very, different, for. the more defeats they sustain, the greater appears to be their tenacity for place, and the affairs of the nation are in reality not conducted by those at the head of the JSlate, but by a heterogeneous amalgamation of members of every degree and shade of politics. When at the opening of a session the announcements were made in the Royal Speech of^the. various measures intended to be proposed, it was regarded as certain that ere the ses- - sson closed those measures would become the law of the" iand-~*>r Ministers "would regard their occupancy of the' Treasury Benches as a- usurpation not exactly in accordance with" the recognised principles of the Constitution. But liow. the ministerial announcements of the measures to be pro. posed are looked upon merely as an intimation that such and such enactments mig^t, \ in the opinion of Ministers^ be, beneficial, ,Bpt «£they have not sufficient,confidence in! themselves to assert positively ihaWtiiey" would be__improrements, they are; merely thrown out as suggestions for the consideration of the - members generally. This wasniore particularly apparent in the"opening speech of the last session, when a pompous parade was" made of numerous commercial measures, which it was deemed of the utmost importance should be passed, but which, with only two exceptions, the,session closed leaving these important measures precisely in "their original position. It is true they were all propounded' in the Hou>e, and on some of them there were rather lengthened debates; but it was soon found out they were either so antagonistic to general commercial principles, or did not touch the*evils they were intended to remedy, that it was found necessary to withdraw them, or,, if pressed^ they were rejected. Of the closing speech of the session, which, as it was read hy commissior, it is presumed her Majesty «kl not consider of sufficient importance to come from her sea-side residence *o deliver herself, bat little can be said; it was era". pha'tically what i* .known here by, the *exprcsVive term' of,"' 1, milk and w&W." *Of course there was one subject of congratulation—ami it wa< made the most of. When Parliament met we were in the mkUt of the Russian war ; tfmt having been brought to a close is thus dilated upon: - When her Jtlajesty met you in Parliament at the. opening of the session, her. Majesty was engaged, sn cD-opftMtion with her 'allies, the Emperor oj" the French, the King of Sardinia, and the Sultan, in an arduous war, haying for it* object matters ol'-hi^h European importance; 33d j)tr "Majesty appealed to your Jov.tlty and * patriotism Ibr the ntctssary means to cairy on thai war with the Gntsi'gy "und vigour essential to succaujj. > You aiMweiv'] nobly mc appeal then snade to yon: iiii<l her Majwty was enabled to prepare ibr the bptxathm of the expected campaign naval sn'd niiYstnty i'orccn worthy of the yoTxetMiA reputation of this country.

Happily, it became unnecessary to apply those forces to the purposes for which they had been destined. A treaty was concluded, by which tho objects for which the war had been undertaken were fully attained; and an honourable peace has saved Europe- from the calamities, of continued warfare. t .?- '\ * Her Majesty trusts .that jthe benefits resulting" from that peace^wiU be extensivesand permanent, and while the friendships aud alliances, which were cemented by common exertions during tho contest will gain strength by mutual interests in peace, those asperities which* inherently belong to conflict will give place to tho confidence and good.will with which a faithful execution of engagements will inspire those who have learnt to respect each other as antagonists. Her Majesty commands us^ to thank you for your support in the hour of trial, and, to express'to you her fervent hope that the prosperity of her faithful people, which was not materially chXHJked'Ky the. pressure of war,-rnay* continue, and be increased by the genial mflnence.of peace.' So far, good, but whether the public put implicit faith in this ministerial*gratulation I must take leave to doubt.' That there are very many who consider the; terms of peace anything but honourable to * this country is quite certain', and there are very grave reasons for doubting whether^Urisjwtched up peace will be either "beneficial in the end, or, permanent. On the American question, haHkajesty has but "very little to say; pe«B^s under all the circumstances, it would have been inconvenient to have said * more, ex. gr. : — . Her Majesty is engaged in negotiations on the subject of questions in connection with the affairs of' Central America;' and her Majesty hopes that the differences which have arisen pu those matters between, her Majesty's Crovernxnent and that of the United States may be satisfactorily adjusted. ...,-. .The reason's for her Majesty's * hopes * on this subject have not been officially stated. Wft it is. generally supposed that it is connected with* a proposal made by the State of Honduras. If so,' great Britain would surI render one object of contention- —the Island' lof Ruatan—to that State ; receiving assu--1 ranees*that, ths territory- thus surrendered- | will not be • handed over to rival powers, that the property of British subjects will be duly protected, and that Honduras will assist as far as she can in facilitating the transit, and defending the neutrality of the Isthmus. It is also reported, that the United States have consented to join 'in countersigning- these guarantees, and have agreed to some stipulations respecting the t independence and neutrality of Grey town.' After the very ''honourable" and "satisfactory " terms agreed to by-our Government for the conclusion of a peace with Russia, I should not be at all surprised at their agreeing to some such terms as the fore-going—^-or even more, if required bf them— /or the purpose cf keeping Brother Jonathan from taking offence.

As to Colonial affairs, the) r seem to be entirely out of ministerial consideration. We know that we have a Colonial Office "and a Colonial Minister, and we also know that in our financial balance sheet a'pretty considerable amount is put down for th«>ir salaries and expenses, b.ut what they do for it the public have yet to learn. During the whole ,of the session I do not reccollect a single instance of our Australian colonies being mentioned by Ministers, unless an answer- to some -petttnent question was drawn from them by some independent, member. Were it not for Sir John PakirigUmj. Lord Stanley, and one or two other members, I believe we should be allowed to fojiret that we have any Colonial possessions. Of course it would not do to pass them by ■ without mention in the Speech from the Throne, so we are treated to ihe following: We arc commanded by her Majesty to inform you, that her Majesty desires to avail herself of

this occasion to express the pleasure which it afforded her to receive, during the war in which she has been engaged, numerous and honourable S roofs of loyalty and public spirit from her [tvjosty Vlndian territories, and from those colonial possessions which ooutitute so valuable and important a part bf the dominions oi'her Majesty's crowii 1• 1 ■- - > And then we have the Ministerial sum. ming up of the business of the Session ;— Her Majesty has given her cordial assent to the Act for rendering rooro effectual the Police in counties and boroughs in England and Wales, This Act will materially add to the security of person and property, and .will thus afford Lucreased encouragement to the exertions of honest industry. \ Her Majeatyrejoices to think that the Act for the improvement of the internal arrangements of the University of Cambridge will give fresh powers of usefulness to that' ancient and renowned seat of learning. . - >„a The Act for regulating Joint-Stock Companies will afford additional facilities fortjhe advantageous employment of capital, and^^ius tend to promote the development of the miources of the country; while the Acts passed relative to the mercantile laws of England and of Scotland will diminish the inconvenience which the differences of those laws occasion to her Majesty's subject* engaged in trade. Her Majesty has seen -with satisfaction that you have given your attention -to the arrange* ments connected with County Courts. It is her Majesty's anxious wish, that justice should be by all classes of her subjects, with a3 fhiucjh speed and with as little expense as may be consistent with the due investigation of the merits of causes to be tried. Of course her Majesty is exceedingly thankful for the readiness with which the supplies have been granted, and having expressed those thanks in just so many words, dismisses her faithful Lords and Commons to their rural enjoyments, with a fervent prayer that the blessings of Almighty God may attend their steps and prosper their doings for the welfare and happiness of her people. , * | * * So the curtain drops ; arid exeunt omries. At length we may consider the Russian ' war as completely terminated. The official | evacuation of the Crimea has been announced. The , last British soldier has left ! Russian soil, and the Cossacks are agaiu in full possession of Balaclava. Marshal Pelissier has arrived at Marseilles and will reach Paris to-morrow^ and General Codrington arrived in London on Saturday. Just as this last act of the Russian war is brought to a close we receive accounts f ' the Russians arid Turks having coromencejjf their petty misunderstandings. The isle of Serpents at' the mouth of the Danube, evacuated by the Russians at the first commencement of'the war, anil sinceJieJd by tlie Turks, has been invaded by the Russians, who assert their right to it as the island was not included by the treaty relative to the T)anube, At Kars, also, the Russians have re-entered the city with 12,000 men, are completing the destruction of the fortifications, and refuse to" deliver it up, on the plea that the Turks have not vet evacuated the Circassian coast. On both these subjects the" Turkish Government has made representations to the' Western Powers, but &8 the treaty of peace is signed , and pealed, it in very doubtful whether Turkey will obtain any satisfaction. In the absence of all definite settlement by treaty, it would apnear that the Russians are not disqualified from destroying the fortifications of Kar3, Ismail, or Reni, neither are they prevented from re-entering the Isle of Serpents. These are the first fruits of the '* final'and satisfactory " adjustment of the Eastern question. What is to be the next move ? The question of transportation* and the , new system adopted of granting what are termed " tickets-of-leave" to convict*, is again occupying considerable ' attention, ' chiefly in consequence of the numerous andj

- 'serious offences committed by " tieket-of-leave " men. It cannot be denied tiiat the 'fsystern lias some very strenuous advocates; Viiti at the same time, it is equally certain that the record* of our criminal courts show ,thn,Lthe 4 majority of our won»t criminals are those ■ persons who, have been, previously convicled,J and from a< sense- of mistaken '•philanthropy, been pardoned' before their previous term of punishment had transpired. The second report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on transportation, lias just been published, and the preponderance of evidence is on the whole against the present system, and in favour of a return to that of transportation. 'Judges and policemen appear to believe that .this < punishment has a much greater detering effect than any other, and, as regards the criminal himself, bis chances of becoming ,aii honest man are far greater in a foreign', country than<here. In addition to these, "arguments it cannot be doubted that BotQty would feel much more at ease with the it&owledge that ■ such ruffians were safe •acroß3 the sea. instead of prowling about the country with tickets-of-leave, but the great practical difficulty to be solved is, ivhere' are we to • find our penal colonies ? Till lhis.be settled, we must put up the best we can with the present system. The total number of emigrants who sailed fiom Liverpool during the past month was 11,072. Of these 1,918 (of , .whom 1,115 were English, 237 Scotch, 4291 Irish,- and' 91 natives of other countries, and ; 46 cabin passengers, proceeded to Melbourne ; 370 proceeded to Sydney, and the remainder to Canada and the United States.