DISCUSSION REGARDING ORANGE SOCIETIES IN IRELAND.
During this session a series of parliamentary attacks were directed against the Orange lodges. On the 6th of March, Mr. Shiel moved for the production of addresses presented to the king from certain Orange societies, and the answers which had been returned to them. These papers were granted; but this did not prevent a discussion on the subject, which was distinguished chiefly by the abuse which the Irish opposition poured upon the Orangemen. The subject was again brought forward on the 23rd of March by Mr. Finn, who moved that “a select committee be appointed to inquire into the nature, character, extent, and tendency of Orange lodges, associations, or societies in Ireland, and to report their opinion thereon to the house.” Mr. Maxwell, himself an Orangeman, seconded this motion; he courted the fullest inquiry, with a hope that the committee would be constituted in the most impartial manner. The committee was appointed, and was still proceeding with its inquiries when, on the 4th of August, Mr. Hume brought part of them before the house. He had seen in newspapers portions of the evidence, real or fictitious, taken before the committee, by which it appeared that Orange lodges had been introduced into the army, and existed in thirty or forty regiments of the line. These institutions were in direct violation of general orders issued by the commander-in-chief in 1828 and 1829, which strongly reprobated the practice of holding Orange lodges in regiments. The lodges, he said, had been formed under warrants granted for that purpose by the Duke of Cumberland, who was the grand-master of the Orange body, and a field-marshal. It was true the wan-ants had not the name of his royal highness upon them; but he found it difficult to imagine that he was ignorant of the existence of Orange lodges in the army. Mr. Hume moved a string of eleven resolutions upon this subject. Mr. Patten, the chairman of the committee to which the house had referred the inquiry, complained of the manner in which the subject had been introduced; it was a farce, he said, to appoint a committee to inquire into a subject, if, when a portion of the evidence was printed, and the inquiry was still pending, a member was to be permitted to bring the subject forward in such a manner as must necessarily prejudge the whole question, and at the same time attack the character of individuals. He moved, as an amendment, “That a humble address be presented to his majesty, praying that he will be graciously pleased to direct his royal attention to the nature and extent of the Orange lodges in the army, in contravention of the general orders issued by the commander-in-chief in 1822 and 1829, which strongly prohibit the holding of Orange lodges in regiments: and that his majesty will be graciously pleased to direct an investigation to take place with respect to other secret societies in the army.” In the debate which followed, it was generally admitted that the establishment of lodges in the army was pregnant with mischief and indefensible; but it was maintained, that any use which had been made in this way of warrants for creating lodges had taken place without the knowledge and authority of the grand-master, or the other superior officers of the association. From statements made by the members for Sligo and Cavan, it appeared that noncommissioned officers received warrants signed by those gentlemen and by the Duke of Cumberland, none of whom knew a word about the matter. Colonel Perceval, the member for Sligo, who held the office of grand-treasurer of the grand-lodge, stated that ever since he had held that office it had been his duty to sign warrants in blank, after they had been signed by the grand-secretary, the member for Cavan. In this way, he said, numbers had been sent in parcels to his royal highness, the Duke of Cumberland, who, on seeing his signature and that of the grand-secretary, had appended his own, with the understanding that the warrants were to be applied to purposes conformable to the rules of the association. Lord John Russell condemned this practice, and observed that he could not conceive that the Duke of Cumberland would hesitate, when convinced of the use which had been made of the blank warrants bearing Iris signature, to retire from the association; and he could not conceive otherwise than that he would feel it inconsistent with his duty as a prince of the blood, and filling a high rank in the army, to continue any longer in the situation which in this society he now filled. Lord John Russell suggested that the resolution should not be adopted without giving notice to his royal highness of the debates which had taken place on his conduct as grand-master. This suggestion was adopted; and the discussion was adjourned until the 11th of August. In the interval the Duke of Cumberland addressed a letter to the chairman, in which he denied having issued, or countenanced the issuing, of warrants to soldiers, and stated, that when such a proposal had been made to him he had declined it, on the ground that it was contrary to the orders and regulations of the Horse-guards, and that if any warrants had been so used, they would be annulled. His royal highness, however, did not intimate his intention of abandoning the Orange institutions. When the discussion was resumed on the 11th of August, Mr. Hume withdrew the 5th and 6th resolutions, referring to the general interference of Orange societies in political matters, thus confining the question to their existence in the army. The only disputed matter, indeed, was the last resolution, which stated that the Duke of Cumberland “had signed warrants in his capacity of grand-master of the grand Orange lodge of Ireland, which warrants have been issued for constituting Orange lodges in the army.” Lord John Russell said, that he did not think the letter of the Duke of Cumberland to the chairman of the committee was all that was required of his royal highness; but he did not wish to agree to the resolution stating that his royal highness, in contravention of an order issued from the Horse-guards, had signed warrants, which were issued for constituting Orange lodges in the army. He wished such a clause to be omitted; and he thought the resolution would then satisfy both sides of the house. The resolution, thus modified, was carried by one hundred and eighty-three to forty; and the other resolutions were agreed to without a division.
THE VOTE BY BALLOT, ETC.
During this session, as usual after a general election, the house had to deal with a considerable number of election petitions. Among others petitions were presented from Great Yarmouth, complaining that bribery had been practised at the election for that borough; these petitions were referred to a committee. The fact of these petitions being presented, encouraged Mr. Grote to make his annual motion in favour of vote by ballot. On the 2nd of June he proposed this resolution:—“That it is the opinion of this house that the votes at elections for members of parliament should be taken by way of secret ballot.” This motion, which was supported on the same grounds which had been urged to the house on former occasions, was seconded by Sir William Molesworth. Mr. Gisborne met it by moving the previous question. Lords Howick, Stanley, and Russell, and Sir Robert Peel opposed the motion. Sir Robert Peel expressed his surprise that government, in opposing the motion, should allow it to be set aside by the previous question, instead of meeting it with a direct negative; and Lord John Russell explained that the amendment of the previous question had been moved without any arrangement with him; if it were withdrawn, he was ready to meet it with a direct negative. After some demur, Mr. Gisborne withdrew his amendment; and the motion was directly negatived by three hundred and seventeen votes against one hundred and forty-four.
THE BUDGET.
The budget was brought forward by the chancellor of the exchequer on the 14th of August. He calculated the income of the country for the ensuing year, ending in July, 1836, at £45,500,000, and the expenditure at £44,715,000, leaving a surplus of £835,000. He regretted, however, to add that this surplus, calculated on the ordinary expenditure of the country, would be found to crumble away before the further statement which it was his duty to make. The interest due to the slave-owners, he said, was to be provided for from the 1st of August, 1834. The maximum of the charge to which the country might be liable from that time was £730,000; and supposing that the whole balance of the loan were to be paid up within three months on discount, and that the permanent interest on the whole amount of the stock were at once incurred, this would subject us to a further charge of £250.935, making the total charge for the present year, on account of the West Indian loan, nearly £1000. Against this, as a set off, there was a surplus of £885,000; but the probability was that the amount instead of being £1,000,000 would not exceed a sum between £600,000 and £700,000, so that the actual surplus which might be expected would be from £150,000 to £200,000. The chancellor of the exchequer said, in continuation, that though the country was in a prosperous condition, he could not under existing circumstances be expected to make any great reduction in taxation. There were two or three taxes, however, which he thought might be reduced, and he proposed to reduce the duty on licences, which would cause a loss to the revenue of about £40,000; and on flint-glass, on which there might be a loss of about £70,000. He also proposed to relieve Ireland from the stamp-duty on awards, the loss on which would not exceed £500 a year. The resolutions of the chancellor of the exchequer were agreed to without a division.