27 JANUARY 1855, Page 2

Erhatrs nut Vrturtings it Varliannut.

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS OF TY113 WEEK.

Holm OP Lome. Tuesda JIM. 23. The Vote- of Thanks ; Acknowledgment of AdmicalDundas.read by the Lord Chancellor—The Crimean 3Iedal; Duke of Rich- mond's Motion. Tinasiay, Jan. S. The Vote of Thanks: Acknowledgments of Lord Raglan and General Canrobert read by the Lord Chancellor—Lord John Russell's Resignation announced by the Duke of Newcastle. Friday, Jan. 26. Resignation of Lord John Russell ; Lord Aberdeen's Statement —Newspaper Correspondents at the Camp; Lord Winchilsea's Question.

House or Commons. Tuesday, Jan. 23. Negotiations at Vienna; Lord John Russell's Statement—Public Health ; Sir Benjamin Hall's Bill, leave given—Nui- sances Removal and Diseases Prevention Acts Consolidation and Amendment ; Sir Benjamin Hall's Bill read a first time. Wednesday. Jan. 24. The Vote of Thanks ; Lord Raglan's acknowledgment, read by the Speaker. Thursday, Jan. 25. Lord John Russell's Resignation announced by Mr. Hayter. Friday, Jan. 26. Lord John Russell's Explanation—Conduct of the War; Mr. Roebuck's Motion.

TIME - TABLE.

The Lords.

The CONIMINSIto

Hour of Hour of

Hour of Hour of

Meeting. Adjournment.

Meeting. Adjournment.

Tuesday bh 8k Om Tuesday 4h 6h 45m Wednesday No sitting. Wednesday ...... ...... Noon .... 12h 30m Thursday ...... 5h .... ah 30m Thursday 4h .... 4h 46m Friday 5h .. 8h 40m Friday 4h .... 12b Om Sittings this

Week, 3; Time. 311 10m

Sittings this Week. 4; Time, 12k Om — this

Session. 13; — 29b 35in

— this Session. 14; — 87h 10m

WAR NOTICES.

Several notices of motion respecting the conduct of the war were given on Tuesday in both Houses. Mr. ROP.BUCK gave notice, that he should move on Thursday, for "a Select Committee to inquire into the condition of? our Army before Se- bastopol, and into the conduct of those Departments of the Government whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of that Army." Colonel ADAM gave notice, that be should, on the 6th February, move an address to the Queen "on the progress and maintenance of the pre- sent war."

Mr. RICH gave notice, that he should, on the 6th February, move for "a Select Committee to inquire-into the efficiency of our Military Acade- mies, and other provisions for preparing officers for Regimental and for Staff appointments.' Mr. Daum-mum gave notice, that he should, on Thursday, move for a number of returns. • "An account of the strength of the waggon-train, or other means of moving the stores and munitions of war for the Army provided before the troops left this country ; oopy of a report of any information received at the same period of the nature and strength of the fortifications of Sebastopol, of the numbers and resources of the garrison, and of the distribution and num- bers of the Russian forces in the Crimea and in the adjoining provinces ; accounts of the number of rounds of shot and shell ordered at the same period per gun or mortar of the siege-train ; of the date of the first order given to send out reinforcements, as distinguished from draughts for supplying casualties; of the extent of accommodation for sick and wounded prepared in Scutari before the troops left Varna, and of the means provided for trans- porting them thither from the Crimea ; what field-hospitals were prepared for temporary use, and the names of the persons appointed to carry these or- ders into effect ; copy of the instruction given to the persons sent from this country in charge of the Ordnance' Commissary, and Medical stores, the names of the persons to whom and the places to which they were severally consigned, and the length of time each ship remained after her first arrival before the stores were delivered ; account of the names of the head of the Commissariat Department—what number of deputies, assistants, clerics, con- ductors, treasurer., and accountants, he has under him, their distribution,. and how many of them understand the languages of the people with whom they have to deal."

In the House of Lords, the Earl of ELLE/I:BOROUGH gave notice, that on Thursday next he should move for a return of the number of troops sent out to the Crimea; distinguishing the infantry, cavalry, and sailors,. and also the number of killed, wounded, sick, and otherwise disabled. Earl GREY gave notice, that on Thursday [subsequently postponed to- Thursday the 1st February] he should ask a question of her Mlle Government respecting the orders sent out to the Commander-in-e ie at the Cape of Good Hope to send home the Twelfth-and Ninety-first Regi- ments, The Earl of Worenamme gave notice,. that he should,. on.Thursday, call the attention of the House to the conduct of a portion of the press with reference to the war in the Crimea-' and give Ministers an oppor. tunity of denying that the correspondent of "-the most influential jour- nal" was sent out under the authority of the Government.

On Thursday, Lord Ltrinatrusx gave notice, that he should, on Fri- day the 2d of February, move the following resolution- " That, in the opinion of this House, the expedition to the Crimea was undertaken by her Majesty's Government with inadequate means, and with- out due caution or sufficient inquiry into the nature and extent of the re- sistance to be expected from the enemy ; and that the neglect and misma- nagement of the Government in the conduct of the war has led to the- most disastrous results."

Upon this Lord Ermucsonorran withdrew the notice which he had given on Tuesday.

RESIGNATION OF Loan JOIEN RUSSF.LL.

A much larger number of Members than is usually present at half-past four had assembled in the House of Commons on Thursday, and all the Ministers except Lord. John Russell were present. Mr. ilAYTER rose and said, he had been requested by Lord John Russell to state that he had considered it consistent with his public duty to tender the resigna- tion of his office ; that her Majesty had been graciously pleased to accept it ; and that Lord John would take an early opportunity of stating to the House the grounds on which he had come to that conclusion, Lord PALMERSTON hoping that Members who had motions to propos° would postpone them until the next night, when they would stand in the

same position as they otherwise would do, moved the adjournment of the House. Mr. Day/amour, objected to postponement, unless Mr. Roebuck's motion should have precedence. Sir Jonzi Paxnverron at once agreed to postpone his motion on Education, which stood first, until Tuesday next.

Lord PALMERS'TON, in reply to Mr. Dnimmond, said that Mr. Roebuck had already postponed his motion, which would therefore have prece- dence. It was the wish and intention of the Government to oppose no obstacle to its coming on the first. Mr. ROEBUCK suggested that his coo-

Om should have precedence of orders of the day. Lord PALMERSTON as- sented; and the House adjourned.

In the House of Lords, after Lord LYNDHURST had given notice of his motion, the Duke of Nrweeerte stated what had just taken place in the House oftemmons; and that Lord Aberdeen had gone to Windsor to wait upon her Majesty. -It would be in accordance with precedent if their Lordships would consent to adjourn until the next day : if Lord Winehilsea and Lord Grey would postpone their motions, he would ven- ture to move the adjournment of the House.

The Earl of WINCHILSEA seemed to hesitate. The Earl of DERBY:ill- terposed, and suggested that it would meet with the concurrence of the House if he would have the goodness to postpone his motion. Thus ap- pealed to, Lord WINCH/LSE consented.

Earl GREY remarked that he had already postponed his motion.

Earl Frrzwrnam said, that the House had been informed of the re- signation of the leader of the House of Commons—a person occupying an important station not only in Parliament but in the community at large : but of the cause of that resignation no information whatever had been received. He was about to insist upon the right of Parliament to know those causes, when the Duke of Naweseree observed, that Lord John Russell had not yet made his statement in his place, and that until he had, any comment or any attempt to elicit the cause of his resignation would be unfair to him. Earl Frrzwiemers insisted : the grounds ought to be stated to both HOUSSS at the same time that the fact of the resig- nation is communicated ; but if those who possessed the information would not give it, of course he could not elicit it from them. The Marquis of Leiesnowiee interposed with a conciseness and point that closed the con- versation—

"It is not the duty of any other person to state for my noble friend the reasons for his resignation. It is for my noble friend who has resigned to state the reasons for that resignation, and I have reason to believe that it is his intention to state them tomorrow. And I ask, how can it be maintained that it is competent for us to make that explanation for him which he alone is competent to make ? " The motion of adjournment was agreed to, and the Lords departed.

THE VIENNA NEGOTIATIONS.

Mr. LAYARD inquired whether the Lord President would lay on the table the correspondence with Foreign Powers respecting:the treaty of the 2d December, and especially any document communicated to the Russian Government containing the interpretation placed upon the four points by France and England, not for negotiation, but for peace.

Lord Aim Ruses-ix said, that with respect to the correspondence ge- nerally, it would be unusual and not convenient to lay it on the table; but it might be possible to produce one of the papers referred to, and he would consider the point. As the question had been asked, he would state generally what had occurred. At the end of November, Prince Gortschakoff accepted the four points on behalf of Russia ; on the 2d December, Austria, France and England, signed a treaty ; and on the 28th December, the French Minister read the interpretation placed upon the four points by the Three Powers to the Minister of Russia. With respect In the third point, it was proposed to put an end to the preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea. Prince Gortschakoff declined to adhere to the interpreta- tions on that head until he had received instructions from his Govern- ment. Instructions arrived ; and at a meeting on the 7th or 8th of this month, Prince Gortschakoff read a memorandum containing the views of 11121 Government. The Ministers of France, Austria, and England, said that they had no authority to receive any such memorandum ; and that before proceeding to any negotiation the Russian Minister must assent to the interpretations as a basis of the negotiation. Upon this Prince Gort- schakoff withdrew the memorandum, and simply announced on the part of his Government, the acceptance of the interpretation as a basis of r.e- gotiation, reserving to himself the right of making any observations he might think needful. "The Government of her Majesty have declared that they are ready to enter into any negotiation upon those bases ; but, hitherto, no full power has been given to any Minister to negotiate upon that subject." In reply to further questions, from Sir HENRY WILLOUGHBY and Mr. LAYARD, Lord JOHN RUSSELL explicitly stated that negotiations had not begun upon the bases mentioned above; and, pressed by Mr. BRIGHT to say whether any distinct instructions had been given to prose- cute negotiations for peace' he declined to say anything further than that her Majesty's Government had "expressed their willingness to negotiate on the four points."

Tux CRIMEAN MEDALS.

The Duke of IticiamoNn, in moving for a copy of the order granting medals to the Army in the Crimea, drew attention to the omission of the affair at Balaklava from the roll of our achievements. The country could never forget the conduct of the Highlanders in resisting the attack of a numerically greater body of Russians, nor the splendid conduct of the Light Cavalry under the noble Earl then in his place (Lord Cardigan). "I know I must live to a very late period before I shall ever again have to speak of such actions as those to which I have now alluded." Why was not a clasp given to the men engaged in the battle of Balaklava? why should not the representatives of the fallen receive a medal ? and why are not the sailors who landed included among the recipients ? A medal does what no vote of thanks can do ; it enables the veteran to display on his breast the token that he has done his country some service.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE said, that the dispensation of honours is at- tended with great difficulties : clasps of honour should not be granted for engagements unattended with important results ; in fact, it is a recognized principle that they should only be granted where general actions have led to victory. But although the battle of Balaklava was not one of those actions, yet the men engaged in it are as fully entitled to a mark of merit as those engaged at Alma or Inkerman. There might be EWES doubt, but the benefit of the doubt should be given to those most interested ; and therefore the Queen has directed that a clasp shall be given for the action at Balaklava. The Crimean medal was intended from the first not only for all the officers and soldiers of the Army, but to all the members of the Navy engaged in that part of the world. It is also intended to give the medal to the representatives of all the officers and soldiers who have fallen in the actions in the Crimea ; but as the name of the individual meat be engraved on each medal, three or four months must elapse before the Whole can be completed. The Earl of Ileanwiesis said, that nothing could be more satisfactory than the speech of the Duke of Newcastle ; indeed, what he announce was almost too liberal. If these medals are to be given to officers and seamen who have merely served in the Black Sea, they would not prove al- together acceptable. Decorations are held in high esteem in England because they have been given to those alone who have deserved them; but if they are too liberally distributed, they are likely to have a depre- ciating effect. He recommended a judicious discrimination, which MR alone render honours valuable.

The Earl of ELLENBOROVGH said, he had in his time distributed sixty thousand medals for good service, and he recommended Ministers to adopt the principle on which he had acted—never to grant a medal unless for distinguished services actually performed under fire. When he saw a man wearing a medal, he concluded that he had done good service under fire, and he always felt disposed to raise his bat to such a man. He re- joiced that the medal was conceded to those engaged at Balaklava, and to the seamen • but he doubted the expediency of giving the Crimean medal to all the seamen who happened to be stationed in the Black Sea. Re regretted that there should have been any hesitation in granting this medal— •

" What soldiers and sailors levels promptitude in the acknowledgment of

their gallantry and of the value of their services. They are, of all men in the world, the most sensitive. Honour to them is life ; and life without honour is worthless. The thing which most of all others they desire is per- sonal distinction ; it is for that that they rush into action, braving wounds and death ; and do you think that the men who at Balaklava enacted deeds of heroism to which you can hardly find a parallel are not deserving of such an acknowledgment as I have named ? lean find a parallel to the deeds of Alma, great as those deeds were; I can find a parallel to the deeds of Inker- man, though they were still more remarkable than the deeds enacted on the heights of Alma; but I do not know where I can find a parallel to the deeds of Balaklava. Cavalry has charged artillery before, cavalry has charged infantry on many occasions, and cavalry has charged cavalry ; but I know not the instance, although it may exist, in which cavalry has before charged the cavalry, infantry, and artillery, belonging to a powerful army in position. Lhave never heard of such a thing, and I do not believe it has existed. How is it, then, that it did not at once leap into the noble Duke's mind that it was due to the feelings of our army that they should be re- warded at once as they ought to be rewarded ? The medals for Balaklava should have been instantly struck, not a moment's delay ought to have taken place. When Curtius threw himself armed into the gulf in order by the sacrifice of himself to promote the future welfare of his country, he did not do a deed of more desperate fidelity, he did not do an act of more abso- lute self-devotion, than that done by our cavalry in that memorable charge."

He called attention to the conduct of the Ninety-third Regiment, which, under its gallant commandm} Sir Cohn Campbell—an able general, who enjoyed the confidence of the late Sir Charles Napier, as one fit to com- mand an army, and who enjoys the confidence of the troops—resisted the charge of the enemy's cavalry in one "thin red line." He could not express the regret with which he had witnessed the delay in issuing this medal, and also that for great services at the Cape of Good Hope ; and he trusted that in future Ministers would look into the circumstances of every action at the moment, and grant at once the honours it may deserve.

The Duke of RICHMOND said, he was no advocate for the indiscri- minate distribution of medals. After what had fallen from the Duke of Newcastle, he was willing to withdraw his motion, or to take any other course which might be thought fit.—Motion postponed.

THE BOARD OF HEALTH.

Sir Bmizezem Ham, moved for leave to bring in two bills,—one re- lating to the Sanitary Improvement of Towns by the machinery of the Board of Health ; the other, to the Removal of Nuisances in all parts of the kingdom, including the Metropolis. He proposed to repeal the existing act, but to retain in the new bill such of its provisions as are useful. This bill contains 170 clauses, and it may be divided into three parts,—Iirst, the constitution of the Board of Health ; second, the manner in which the act is to be adopted or applied; third, the powers and duties of local boards. With regard to the Ord% itis pro- posed that the General Board of Health shall remain as at present consti- tuted. Under the second portion of the bill, the act may be adopted or applied. On a requisition from ton ratepayers, the summoning-officer shall call a public meeting; if the meeting is in favour of the adoption of the act, its resolution must be forwarded to the General Board of Health. If there be a difference of opinion, a poll shall be taken ; if the poll be favourable to the adoption of the bill, it will be applied, if not it will fall to the ground. In places having no defined boundaries, the act may be applied on a petition from one-tenth of the ratepayers, should the inhabit-. ants accept a provisional order for the application of the act upon the re- port of an Inspector. Where the registered deaths are at the rate of 23 in 1000, the act may be compulsorily applied. Under the third head, he proposed to take some very large powers ; and if his propositions are sanctioned the necessity of applying to Parliament for local acts will be superseded. Since 1860, there have been prosecuted in the House no fewer than 428 improvement bills relating to water-supply, gas, and mar- kets the probable cost of each was about 20001., exclusive of opposition ; so that 850,000/. has been spent in prosecuting private bills since 1860. Now he proposed to give local boards power to acquire land for drainage- works, water-supply, and the like, with the sanction of Justices assem- bled at a Quarter-Sessions ; exempting such boards from the necessity of appearing in the Houise of Commons. He also proposed to extend the limit of the borrowing powers of local boards to two years' rateable value, repayable in thirty years, and under special circumstances in fifty years; to oblige them to make an annual report of what has been done under the act, to every ratepayer and to the General Board of Health. He proposed that the bill should continue for two years and to the end of the next ses- sion of Parliament.

The second bill is to alter and amend the Nuisances Removal Act ; it is intended to apply to the Metropolis. During the late epidemic, the present act was found to be wholly inadequate by persons who honestly desired to carry out its provisions, and those who desired to enforce them complained of the cumbrous mode of proceeding. He proposed to ex- tend, so far as they are applicable, powers like those possessed -hr the City of London to every part of the kingdom. The Ineal authorities are I o be empowered to remove nuisances ; to deal with houses unfit for hu- man habitation ; to abate nuisances arising from offensive trades, under penalties for neglect of duty ; and to furnish every year an account of their proceedings to every ratepayer.. Sir Benjamin showed, by a refer. ence to the report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the out- break of Cholera at Newcastle, how the amplest powers possessed by the Corporation had remained a dead letter ; and argued thence the necessity of compelling local authorities to use their powers. He proposed that an Inspector of Nuisances should be appointed in every district, with power to inspect premises, and obtain summonses for the hearing of any com- plaint before two Justices. He proposed also to prohibit the use of such houses as are unfit for human habitation ; to inflict penalties on Inspec- tors for neglect of duty ; and to provide for the rendering of an account to the ratepayers of what is done under the bill.

When each of these bills shall have passed the second reading, Sir Ben- jamin will move that they be referred to a Select Committee ; but he was very desirous that they should pass early in the session. Leave given for the bringing in of both bills.

PUBLIC BUSLNESS.

At the recommencement of the session several notices were given, be- sides those which expired within the week.

Mr. GLADSTONE gave notice' that on Monday next he should propose a

resolution, in a Committee of the whole House, with respect to the in- troduction of a measure relating to Newspaper-stamps ; and that, on an early day, he should ask leave to bring in a bill to modify the act com- monly called the Superannuation Act, regulating the pensions of the Civil Service.

. Lord JOHN RUSSELL gave notice of a bill on Education, for Friday ; and at the same time stated that Sir James Graham proposed to go into Committee of Supply on the Navy Estimates next Friday. Mr. LOCKE KING gave notice of a bill on Succession to Real Estate; and Mr. Sergeant SHEE of a bill on Tenant Right.

Mr. COLLIER has given notice that he would call attention to our trade with Russia ; and move, on the 8th February, this resolution- " That, in the opinion of this House, further measures than those hitherto taken should be adopted for injuring the trade of Russia." Sir Jonsr PAxixerrosr has given notice of a bill for the better en- couragement of Education in England and Wales. It stands for the 1st February. Mr. HEYWOOD has given notice of a bill to amend the law as to Mar- riage with a deceased wife's sister or a deceased wife's niece. Fixed for the 1st February.