House of Commons Journal Volume 85: 8 July 1830

Jovis, 8 die Julii;Anno 1° Willielmi IV ti Regis, 1830.

PRAYERS.

Return respecting Carnatic Creditors, presented.

THE House being informed that Mr. Parkhouse, from the Commissioners for investigating the Debts of the late Nabobs of the Carnatic, attended at the door, he was called in; and at the bar presented to the House,-Return to an Order of the House, dated the 6th day of this instant July, for a Return, to show (according to the best estimate which can be formed) the amount of Money subject to the Claims of the Creditors of the Nabob of the Carnatic, which, on the 30th April 1830, was invested in the names of the Commissioners for investigating the Claims of such Creditors, or which then remained in the hands of the East India Company:-And then he withdrew.

Ordered, That the said Return do lie upon the Table.

Ramsgate Harbour Account, presented.

The House being informed that Mr. Kirkpatrick, Secretary to the Trustees of Ramsgate Harbour, attended at the door, he was called in; and at the bar presented to the House, pursuant to the directions of an Act of Parliament,-The Royal Harbour of Ramsgate Trust Account, from the 24th June 1828 to the 24th June 1829: -And then he withdrew.

Ordered, That the said Account do lie upon the Table.

Report from Committee on East India Company's Affairs. No. 644.

Mr. Ward reported from the Select Committee appointed to inquire into the present state of the Affairs of the East India Company, and into the Trade between Great Britain, the East Indies and China; and to report their observations thereupon to the House; That they had from time to time reported the Minutes of Evidence, and, having now closed that part of the Inquiry which respects the China Trade, had deemed it expedient to place before the House a Summary of all the Evidence which had been taken upon that subject, with an Appendix; and the Report was brought up; and read.

Ordered, That the Report and Appendix do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Report from Committee on East India Company's Affairs. No. 644.

Mr. Ward reported from the Select Committee appointed to inquire into the present State of the Affairs of the East India Company, and into the Trade between Great Britain, the East Indies and China; and to report their observations thereupon to the House; and who were empowered to report the Minutes of the Evidence taken before them from time to time to the House; That they had made a further progress in the matters to them referred, and examined several other witnesses, the Minutes of whose Evidence they had agreed to report to the House up to the 24th day of June last inclusive; and the Report was brought up, and read.

Ordered, That the Report do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Returns to be made forthwith.

The House was moved, That the Order made upon the 11th day of May last, that there be laid before this House, -Returns from the Commissioners for Paving, &c. the Skinners' Estate district, the Harrison Estate district, and the Hamlet of Highgate district, in the County of Middlesex, of an Account of the Monies received and expended by them for each of the years 1827, 1828 and 1829; particularly distinguishing the Sums paid for paving, for lighting, and for watering; the amount of Salaries to Officers (describing the Officer and amount of Salary), and the Poundage to Collectors; the amount of Rent of any House, Offices, Yard, or Premises; the amount paid for Interest or Annuities:-also, a Statement of the amount of Debt remaining chargeable upon the Rates of the District; and the amount of Rate or Assessment in the pound for each of the said years, might be read; and the same being read;

Ordered, That Returns to the said Order be laid before this House forthwith.

Returns from Turnpike Trusts on the North Road, ordered.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, a Return from the Clerk of the Whetstone Turnpike Trust, in the County of Middlesex, containing Answers to the following Queries:

1. The annual Income of the Trust, taking the average of the last five years; distinguishing the amount arising from Toll, the amount arising from composition for Statute Labour, and the amount from other miscellaneous sources of Income.-2. The amount of Debt for Money borrowed, with which the Trust is chargeable.-3. The length of Road, according to the last measurement, under the charge of the Trust; distinguishing the length of main Road from the lateral Branches.-4. The annual charge for Repairs, upon the average of the last five years.-5. The amount which has been expended during the last seven years for Improvements different from ordinary repairs.- 6. A statement of the nature of the Improvements (if any) now in progress, or proposed to be carried into effect, and their probable expense.-7. Whether the Tolls are collected by the Trustees on their own account, or leased by public auction or tender.-8. Whether Stage Coaches pay Toll on every time of passing the Tollgates.-9. A Scale of the rates of Tolls levied.

Ordered, That there be laid before this House, the like Return from the Clerk of each of the following Trusts:

1. The Metropolis Roads, from Shoreditch to Waltham Cross, in the County of Middlesex;-2. From Waltham Cross to Wadesmill, in the County of Hertford;-3. From Wadesmill to Royston, in the County of Hertford;- 4. Old North Trust, from Royston to Kisby's Hut;- 5. From Kisby's Hut to Alconbury, in the County of Huntingdon;-6. From Galley Corner to Lemsford Mills, Hertfordshire;-7. Lemsford Mills to Welwyn, Stevenage and Caldicott;-8. Stevenage and Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire;-9. Alconbury to Wandsford, in the County of Huntingdon;-10. Wandsford to Stamford, in the County of Northampton;-11. Stamford and Grantham, first district, in the County of Lincoln;-12. Stamford and Grantham, second district;-13. From Foston Bridge to Markham Bridge, in the County of Nottingham;-14. From Bawtry to East Markham, in the County of Nottingham; -15. From Bawtry to Doncaster, in the County of York; -16. From Doncaster to Tadcaster, in the County of York; -17. From Ferrybridge to Boroughbridge, in the County of York;-18. From Tadcaster to Holmoor Lane End;- 19. From Leeds to Harrowgate, County of York;- 20. From Boroughbridge to Peirsebridge, North Riding, County of York;-21. From Middleton to Bowes, County of York;-22. From Thirsk to Northallerton and Easingwold, County of York;-23. Liberty of Ripon, Harrowgate and Hewich, County of York;-24. Boroughbridge to the City of Durham;-25. Durham to Tyne Bridge, in the County of Durham;-26. From Newcastle to Belford, in the County of Northumberland;-27. Belford to Berwick, County of Northumberland;-28. Longhorseley, Morpeth, and Percy's Cross, County of Northumberland;-29. Bowes to Brough, in the County of Westmorland;-30. Heronsyke Trust: Brough to Eamont Bridge, Brougham Bridge, in the County of Westmorland;- 31. From Penrith to Carlisle, first and second districts, in the County of Cumberland.

In Scotland: Counties of Berwick, Haddington, Edinburgh, Roxburgh, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigton.

Petition of Patrick Thompson.

A Petition of Patrick Thompson, late a private in His Majesty's 57th Regiment of foot, quartered at Sydney, in New South Wales, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioner was tried on the 7th day of November 1826, at the Sydney Quarter Sessions, for an alleged felony, in having taken a piece of cloth from a shop, with the intent of obtaining his discharge from the army, was found guilty, and sentenced to be transported for seven years; that, on the 22d day of November 1826, His Excellency Lieutenant-General Darling, by a regimental order, directed the Petitioner to be habited in convict clothing, and to have an iron collar, with spikes in front, and the rear rivetted round the Petitioner's neck, to be connected with chains on each side to iron rings round the ankles, which were also to be united with a chain from one leg to the other; that the Petitioner was to be drummed out of his regiment, and sent, with these irons, to work on the roads for seven years; that the Petitioner was accordingly subjected to this unusual treatment, and was worked in these irons, until an alarming attack of illness induced His Excellency to remove them from the Petitioner's body; that the Petitioner was, on recovery from his illness, transported, agreeably to his original sentence, to the penal settlement of Moreton Bay, where, on his arrival, he was placed in leg-irons, and kept at hard and severe labour; that the Petitioner, not having been sentenced by the Court of Quarter Sessions to this punishment of hard labour in irons, was induced to abscond from employment; but, being shortly compelled to return to the settlement, the Petitioner received one hundred lashes, and was confined in double irons for the remainder of his detention at Moreton Bay, a period of five months; that the Petitioner moreover, being kept very short of food, was compelled to eat the raw Indian corn, and having been detected with two ears thereof in his possession, received a further punishment of one hundred lashes; that the Petitioner was at length discharged by a free pardon, directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to be issued in his behalf; that the Petitioner was removed from Moreton Bay to Sydney, and kept as a prisoner under confinement until the ship Harmony sailed, when the Petitioner was placed on board under escort of a guard, and sent home to England; that, on the Petitioner's arrival, he was directed to proceed to Chatham, where he was confined in the guard-house for nearly nine weeks, when an order from the Horse Guards was transmitted for the Petitioner's discharge from the service; that the Petitioner, notwithstanding his free pardon, is stated by this document to be discharged with "ignominy," which words are inserted in a different hand-writing from that in the body of the said Order; that the Petitioner is thus thrown friendless and pennyless on the world; and praying the House to take his case into their early and serious consideration.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petition for Reform of Parliament.

A Petition of Inhabitants of Ireland, was presented, and read; praying the House to take the subject of the present state of the representation of the people into immediate consideration, with a view to a radical reform of existing abuses, and a complete restoration of the people's rights.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Petition for regulation of Turnpike Trusts (Ireland).

A Petition of Landholders in the county of Dublin, was presented, and read; setting forth, That an Act was passed to amend the general laws for regulating the Turnpike Roads of England, on the 6th of August 1822; that this Act, which is the 3d of George the Fourth, c. 126, contains the following section: "And be it further Enacted, That no toll shall be demanded or taken by virtue of this or any other Act or Acts of Parliament on any Turnpike Road, for any horse, beast, or other cattle or carriage employed only in carrying or conveying (having been employed only in carrying or conveying on the same day) any dung, soil, compost or manure, save lime for improving lands, or any ploughs, harrows, or implements of husbandry (unless laden with some other thing not hereby exempted), or any hay, straw, fodder for cattle, and corn in the straw, which has grown or arisen on land or ground in the occupation of the owner of any such hay, straw, fodder, or corn in the straw, potatoes, or other agricultural produce, and which has not been bought, sold or disposed of; or for any other horses or beasts employed in husbandry going to or returning from plough or harrow, or to or from pasture or watering place, or going to or returning from being shoed or farried;" the Petitioners humbly represent, that the exemptions contained in that section (which exist also in Scotland), would afford material relief to the cultivators of the soil in Ireland, and tend greatly to the improvement of the land in that part of His Majesty's dominions; and the Petitioners therefore humbly pray the House to pass an Act to assimilate the laws of the two countries, as far as regards these exemptions, and thus grant an indulgence to the suffering agriculturists of Ireland, which has produced the most salutary results in the other parts of the United Kingdom.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition against Duties on Stamps, Tobacco, &c. (Ireland.)

A Petition of Inhabitants of Kilmurry, in the barony of West Muskerry, in the county of Cork, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the additional Duty on Stamps, if carried into effect, will prove to be a most oppressive tax, totally destroying the public press in Ireland, the best organ of their wants, and safest guardian of their liberties; that the additional Duty proposed to be levied on home-made Spirits will be felt in Ireland with peculiar pressure; that the Petitioners respectfully submit, that Ireland having no resources but in her soil and climate, they trust the Duty on Tobacco raised in Ireland may be fixed at as low a rate as is consistent with the general interests of the Empire.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition of Custom House Officers, complaining of removal from Dublin to London

A Petition of Hugh Mathew M'Quoid, and several other transferred Tide-waiters from Ireland to the Port of London, was presented, and read; setting forth, That when a Motion was made in the House on the consolidation of the English and Irish Boards, the Petitioners entertained the most sanguine hopes and flattering expectations from the speech on the occasion of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, the good and enlightened statesman Lord Viscount Goderich, that it would not have been ordained and enacted that any officer of His Majesty's Customs, particularly, the inferior and subordinate ones, who for their very limited pay have much labour to perform, to whom in many cases much responsibility is attached, and an arduous service to be executed, holding situations under the House, be allowed to be a pecuniary sufferer by the contemplated change or transfer; and their hopes and expectations were further heightened by the circumstances, which they humbly wish to press on the House, that every Inspector General that subsequently to this Motion visited ex officio their respective stations, unanimously declared the same, and they should not ultimately be any sufferers, or incur any loss, but unfortunately they were placed or inrolled on the redundant list, March the 1st, 1825, at a reduction of two-thirds of their salaries, and then removed to the Port of London at very reduced salaries, and which has deprived them and their families of many little comforts and necessaries, which they feel operate with severity on them in a city like London, wherein, on a moderate computation, the common necessaries of life are 150£. per cent. dearer than in Ireland; stating the particulars of their case; and praying the House that they will be graciously pleased to order that the Petitioners may be paid their redundant pay, back salaries, and be placed on the salaries they had in Ireland.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Petition respecting Orange Processions.

A Petition of Peasants resident near Manorhamilton, in the county of Leitrim, was presented, and read; setting forth, That the Petitioners, who are of the humblest rank, beg leave, with profound respect and humility, to submit to the House a detail of heart-rending injuries and wrongs inflicted on them, for which in vain they have hitherto sought redress; that two young men, the relatives of some of the Petitioners, were wantonly and barbarously murdered, and some of the Petitioners themselves severely wounded at Manorhamilton, in the county of Leitrim, on the 1st of July last, by a number of persons called Orangemen, some of whom were armed with yeomanry muskets and other deadly weapons; stating the particulars of their case; and praying the House to take the same into their consideration, the truth of which they most humbly seek an investigation into, as they humbly submit the same can be proved at the bar of the House, or wherever else the House shall direct; and further praying the House to prescribe some such measure as to them shall seem meet and proper to enable the Petitioners to procure justice for the wrongs and injuries inflicted on them and their fellow sufferers on the occasion above referred to.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table.

Return to be printed. No. 664.

Ordered, That the Return relative to Churches and Chapels and of Places of Worship, not of the Church of England, in so far as regards the county of Lancaster, which was presented to the House upon the 21st day of May last, be printed.

Petition of Danish Claimants.

A Petition of Merchants and others, of Birmingham and its neighbourhood, was presented, and read; complaining of being sufferers by the confiscation of the book debts due to them from the subjects of Denmark and Norway, when the attack upon Copenhagen took place, in the year 1807; stating the particulars of their case; and praying, That the House will be pleased to take the same into consideration, and grant them such relief as to the House may seem meet.

Ordered, That the said Petition do lie upon the Table, and be printed.

The Lords have agreed to

A Message from the Lords, by Mr. Cross and Mr. Trower:

Mr. Speaker,

The Lords have agreed to the several Bills following, without any Amendment; viz.

Assessed Taxes Composition Bill.

A Bill, intituled, An Act to continue Compositions for Assessed Taxes for a further term of one year, and to grant Relief from, and alter and repeal the said Duties in certain cases:

Insolvent Debtors (Ireland) Bill.

A Bill, intituled, An Act to continue for one year, and from thence until the end of the then next Session of Parliament, the Acts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in Ireland:

Rights of Executors Bill.

A Bill, intituled, An Act for making better provision for the disposal of the undisposed of Residues of the Effects of Testators: And also,

Meltham Inclosure Bill, with an Amendment.

The Lords have agreed to the Bill, intituled, An Act to amend an Act of King George the Third, intituled, "An Act for inclosing Lands in the Manor of Meltham, in the Parish of Almondbury, in the West Riding of the County of York," with an Amendment; to which Amendment the Lords desire the concurrence of this House:-And then the Messengers withdrew.

Beer and Cider Duties Repeal Bill, reported.

Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to repeal certain of the Duties on Cider in the United Kingdom, and on Beer and Ale in Great Britain, and to make other Provisions in relation thereto, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Minutes on East India Company's Affairs, delivered. No. 646.

Mr. Spring Rice reported; That he had carried to the Lords the Message of this House of Tuesday last, requesting that their Lordships would be pleased to communicate to this House, a Copy of the Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee appointed by their Lordships in the present Session, to inquire into the present State of the Affairs of the East India Company, and into the Trade between Great Britain, the East Indies and China; and that their Lordships had been pleased to communicate a printed Copy of the said Minutes of Evidence, as desired by this House; and he delivered the said Copy in at the Table.

Ordered, That the said Minutes do lie upon the Table; and be printed.

Report on Sessional Addresses.

Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee of the whole House, to whom it was referred to consider of the usual Sessional Addresses, the Resolutions which they had directed him to report to the House; and the same were read, and agreed to by the House, and are as followeth;

Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to direct to be issued to the Commissioners appointed to carry into execution an Act passed in the fifty-second year of the reign of his Majesty George the Third, intituled, "An Act to repeal an Act passed in the thirty-ninth and fortieth year of his present Majesty, for establishing certain regulations in the Offices of the House of Commons, and to establish other and further regulations in the said Offices," such a sum of money as may, together with the Fees vested in them by the said Act, be sufficient to make good the payment of the Salaries of the Officers of this House, and for Allowances to Retired Officers, according to the provisions of the said Act; and, to assure His Majesty that this House will make good the same.

Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to order such compensation as His Majesty shall think proper to be made to the Clerks who have attended Public Committees of the House of Commons in the present Session, and for preparing Abstracts of Poor Returns; and to assure His Majesty that this House will make good the same.

Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to direct to be issued the sum of £.1,200 to Sir Alexander Cray Grant, Baronet, for his services to this House, in this Session of Parliament, as Chairman of the Committee of the whole House, to whom it was referred to consider of Ways and Means for raising the Supply granted to His Majesty; and to assure His Majesty that this House will make good the same.

Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to direct to be issued to Edward Phillips, Esquire, Mr. Speaker's Secretary, for his services during the present Session, such a sum of money as, together with the Fees of his Office on Private Bills, will amount to the clear sum of £.400; and to assure His Majesty that this House will make good the same.

Resolved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to direct to be issued the clear sum of £.75 to Sir Thomas Edlyne Tomlins, as a compensation for his trouble in compiling Registers for the use of the Committee on expired and expiring Laws, in the present Session of Parliament; and to assure His Majesty that this House will make good the same.

Ordered, That the said Addresses be presented to His Majesty by such Members of this House as are of His Majesty's most honourable Privy Council.

Address respecting Chaplain.

Resolved, Nemine Contradicente, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to confer some dignity in the Church upon the Reverend Francis Dawson, Chaplain to this House.

Ordered, That the said Address be presented to His Majesty by such Members of this House as are of His Majesty's most honourable Privy Council.

Consolidated Fund (£.1,500,000.) Bill, reported.

Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to apply a sum of Money out of the Consolidated Fund for the service of the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Exchequer Bills (£.13,607,600.) Bill, reported.

Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill for raising a Sum of Money by Exchequer Bills, for the service of the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Warehoused Sugar Bill, passed.

Ordered, That the Order of the day, for the third reading of the ingrossed Bill to continue an Act for allowing Sugar to be delivered out of Warehouse to be refined, be now read; and the same being read:-The Bill was read the third time.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass: And that the Title be, An Act to allow, before the fifth day of July One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, Sugar to be delivered out of Warehouse to be refined.

Ordered, That Sir Alexander Grant do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Fishery Acts Continuance Bill, passed.

Ordered, That the Order of the day, for the third reading of the ingrossed Bill to revive, continue, and amend several Acts relating to the Fisheries, be now read; and the same being read:-The Bill was read the third time.

Resolved, That the Bill do pass.

Ordered, That Sir Alexander Grant do carry the Bill to the Lords, and desire their concurrence.

Labourers Wages Bill, deferred.

Ordered, That the Order of the day, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to consider further of the Bill to amend and render more effectual the Provisions of divers Acts for securing to certain Artificers, Workmen and Labourers, in such Acts mentioned, the due Payment of their Wages in Money, be now read; and the same being read;

Resolved, That this House will, To-morrow, resolve itself into the said Committee.

Militia Pay Bill, reported.

Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to defray, for a time to be limited, the charge of the Pay, Clothing, and contingent and other Expenses, of the disembodied Militia in Great Britain and Ireland, and to grant Allowances, in certain cases, to Subaltern Officers, Adjutants, Paymasters, Quartermasters, Surgeons, Assistant Surgeons, Surgeons Mates, and Serjeant Majors of the Militia, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Witnesses (Ireland) Bill, reported.

Sir Alexander Grant reported from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill to explain and amend an Act of the fifty-fifth year of King George the Third, for the Payment of Costs and Charges to Prosecutors and Witnesses in cases of Felony in Ireland, the Amendments which they had made to the Bill; and the Amendments were read, and agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Report of Stage Coach Proprietors Bill, considered.

Ordered, That the Order of the day, for taking into further consideration the Report from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill for the more effectual protection of Mail Contractors and Stage Coach Proprietors against Losses, by the undue concealment of the value of Parcels and Packages delivered to them for Conveyance or Custody, be now read; and the same being read. -The House proceeded to take the Report into further consideration; and the Amendments made by the Committee to the Bill, being read a second time, were agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That the Bill, with the Amendments, be ingrossed; and read the third time To-morrow.

Landward Parishes (Scotland) Bill, deferred. No. 645.

The Order of the day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, upon the Bill to regulate Assessments for the Poor on Tenements, or Apartments therein, let to Vagrants and Poor Persons as Tenants or Lodgers, who thereby acquire a legal Settlement, and claim Aliment in Landward Parishes in Scotland;

Resolved, That this House will, upon this day month, resolve itself into the said Committee.

Ordered, That the Bill, as amended, be printed.

Registrar at Madras Bill, deferred.

The Order of the day being read, for taking into further consideration the Report from the Committee of the whole House, on the Bill for the Relief of the Representatives of Persons who have died intestate in the Presidency of Madras in the East Indies, and for the Relief of the Suitors of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Madras aforesaid;

Ordered, That the Report be taken into further consideration, To-morrow.

Amendments to Rother Levels Drainage Bill agreed to

The House proceeded to take into consideration the Amendments made by the Lords, to the Bill, intituled, An Act to amend an Act of the seventh year of His present Majesty, for more effectually draining and preserving certain Marsh Lands or Low Grounds, in the Parishes of Sandhurst, Newenden, Rolvenden, Tenterden, Wittersham, Ebony, Woodchurch, Appledore and Stone, in the County of Kent, and Ticehurst, Salehurst, Bodiam, Ewhurst, Northiam, Beckly, Peasmarsh, Iden and Playden, in the County of Sussex; and the same were read; and are as followeth;

Pr. 1. 1. 3. Leave out "present" and insert "late," and in the same line, after "Majesty," insert "King George the Fourth."

Pr. 4. 1. ult. Leave out "Seven" and insert "Ten."

Pr. 6. 1. 19. Leave out "Fifty" and insert "Sixty."

Pr. 7. 1. 4. Leave out from "Act" to the first "And" in line 33, and insert Clauses (A.) and (B.)

Clause (A.) "And be it further Enacted, That when and so soon as the Commissioners of the Harbour of Rye shall have so removed the shoals in, and so deepened the said Harbour between Scots Float Sluice and the outer bar of the said Harbour, that upon admitting the tide to the depth of ten feet on the floor of the said sluice, as hereinafter mentioned, the surface of low water of an ordinary spring tide can be reduced, on the seaward side of the said sluice, to a level corresponding with five feet six inches on the floor of the said sluice, it shall be the duty of the sluice-keeper to be from time to time appointed by and under the authority of the Commissioners acting under and by virtue of the said recited Act and this Act, to take charge of and manage the said sluice at the period of twenty minutes after the commencement of the flux of every tide at Scots Float Sluice, to open so many of the scuttles of the said sluice as shall be required to admit through the same, during the remainder of the flux of the same tide, so much water as shall be sufficient to raise the water in the River Rother to the level of not less than ten feet on the floor of the said sluice; and that the said Commissioners of Rother Levels shall, at their own expense, make all such embankments, and do all such works as may be necessary for protecting the lands within the said Levels from being overflowed by the admission of such tidal water; and in case the present scuttles of the said sluice shall at any time hereafter prove insufficient for admitting the water required, additional or new scuttles shall be formed by and at the expense of the Commissioners acting under and by virtue of the said recited Act and this Act: Provided always, That until the said Harbour shall be so deepened as hereinbefore mentioned, the said sluice-keeper shall not be required or compellable to admit more of the tidal water through the said sluice than will raise the water in the said river to the level of eight feet, for the purpose of scour to the said Harbour Channel, as hereinbefore mentioned, on the floor of the said sluice, or such other higher level, not exceeding ten feet, as can be reduced during the ebb of one tide to the said level of five feet six inches; any thing in the said recited Act or order therein mentioned to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding.

Clause (B.) "And be it further Enacted, That if at any time after the said Harbour of Rye shall have been so deepened and cleansed that the tidal water to be admitted into the said River Rother, to the height of ten feet on the floor of the said sluice, can be reduced to a level of five feet six inches during the ebb of one tide as aforesaid, it shall happen that the said Harbour or Harbour Channel below Scots Float Sluice shall, from any cause whatever, become so silted, swarved, or otherwise injured, that the tidal water to be admitted into the River Rother, as before-mentioned, cannot be reduced to the level of five feet six inches on the floor of the said sluice during the ebb of one tide as aforesaid, the said sluice-keeper at Scots Float, or the said Commissioners of the Rother Levels, shall not be required or compelable to raise the tidal water in the said river to the level of ten feet, or to any higher level than can be reduced to the level of five feet six inches on the floor of the said sluice during the ebb of one tide as aforesaid, until the said Harbour or Harbour Channel shall be again deepened and cleansed by or at the expense of the Commissioners of the said Harbour, in the manner and to the extent hereinbefore provided; it being the true intent and meaning of this Act that the said Commissioners of the Rother Levels shall not at any time be required or compellable to admit more tidal water into the said River Rother than will raise the water in the said river to the level of eight feet on the floor of the said sluice, or such higher level, not exceeding ten feet on the flux of any tide, as can be reduced to the level of five feet six inches on the said floor during the ebb of an ordinary spring tide."

Pr. 8. 1. 20. Leave out from "Act" to "And" in pr. 9, 1. 8; and insert Clauses (C.) and (D.)

Clause (C.) "And whereas great damage has lately been done to the said sluice called Scots Float Sluice, and the sluicing or securing gates lately erected, and also to the bridge over the said sluice; Be it further Enacted, That the said Commissioners of the said Levels shall, within two months from the passing of this Act, repair the said sluice, so that it shall be made navigable for barges passing into and from the said River Rother, in the same manner as it existed previous to such damage being done; and that the transome beams and bridge to be re-constructed over or across such sluice shall be of the same height as they respectively were previous to such damage as aforesaid.

Clause (D.) "And whereas, in consequence of the damage lately done to the said sluice, and the great hazard of weakening the same by raising the said transome beams and bridge, it is considered more expedient and advisable, both for the navigation of the said River Rother, and the drainage of the said lands, that the said Commissioners should construct a new navigable run for the passage of barges by the side instead of in the centre of the said sluice, as at present; Be it further Enacted, That the said Commissioners shall, and they are hereby required, on or before the first day of October one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, to construct, on the south-eastern side of the said sluice, called Scots Float, a navigable channel and lock for the passage of barges to and from the said River Rother and Harbour of Rye, such navigable lock not being less than fourteen feet wide, sixty feet long, and of the same depth as the cill of the gates of the present navigable run; and to erect a fixed bridge over such channel on the landward side of landward gates of such lock, the underside of such bridge being of the same height as the underside of the transome beams lately standing across the said sluice, but that no transome or other beams shall be placed over or across the said lock, nor to the seaward of the same, and that when such new lock shall be completed, the right of navigation through the present sluice shall cease and determine; and that the said sluice, called Scots Float Sluice, when so repaired and used as hereinbefore is mentioned, and the said new lock, when erected as aforesaid, shall be and be deemed the lawful sluice of that part of the said River Rother; any thing in the said recited Act of the seventh year of the reign of his late Majesty, or the said verdict, order or decree therein recited to the contrary notwithstanding."

Pr. 9. 1. 19. After "purpose" insert Clause (E.)

Clause (E.) "And be it further Enacted, That when and so soon as the said Harbour shall have been so deepened as aforesaid, that the tidal water, when admitted to the level of ten feet, can be reduced below the level of five feet six inches on the floor of the said sluice, during the ebb of one tide, in manner aforesaid, the said Commissioners of the Rother Levels shall and they are hereby required, upon application being made to them for such purpose by the Commissioners of the said Harbour, to make and put down stop-gates in each of the runs of the said sluice, for the purpose of preserving the water in the said River Rother to the level of five feet six inches on the floor of the said sluice; and that it shall also be the duty of the said sluice-keeper, upon the like application, and so often as the said Commissioners of the Harbour shall direct, to shut the said last-mentioned gates when the water shall have so ebbed off that the surface is within five feet six inches of the floor of the said sluice."

In the Title of the Bill, line l. Leave out from "Act" to "of" in line 2, and in line 2 leave out "present" and insert "late."

The said Amendments, being read a second time, were agreed to by the House.

Ordered, That Mr. Curleis do carry the Bill to the Lords; and acquaint them, that this House hath agreed to the Amendments made by their Lordships.

And then the House adjourned till To-morrow.