The Press. — London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

/t. ' ''t Iztil, ,E ► ',)l /I i ti T L.l , 1 L .; , 4.1 • clO UICU :1 ) ) I• P lib.ka 1 1 2 ,:2 C a 's ' A . l . II q ... ...I ma i; ti 4 ' . OK Ile ft\ 1 .1 \ 7 , . A l F. : • Liii ...: : ..... 19 , 1 ' i/ I 1 .' ' r ' (1:' r • t ' 01, • . c, 'H.): 1 ,... R . )141 Y . • . •''' ' . •.1 ).: I . A ' I . Thlf.f:aß !. .0 81.11 111918 I ,(I; , .Tfr . S., No. 269.—V0L. VI. LO 7 7 18. COMMUTATION OF CHURCH-RATES. WE hope and believe that we are now almost within sight of this most desirable object. It is one which can hardly be expected of any other than a Conservative Ministry; and we have always felt it to be one of the heaviest charges which could be brought against Sir *WIRT PEEL, that, having promised a settlement ofliat question in 1835, he entirely neoo,ad the* Ens favourable opportunity which It* aibintitt by the Conservative Parliament of 1841, and preferred adjusting the quarrels about " Dis senters' Chapels" and Maynooth College, to effecting a fair compromise of this great question, which concerns, more or less, every parish in the fifty-two counties of England and Wales. We repeat, that it is not to be expected that this question should be settled by any other than a Conservative Administration. Lord JOHN RUSSELL and Lord PALMERSTON had, both of them, we believe, tolerably fair intentions towards the Church. But they each relied for support upon the Liberal—i.e., the Dissenting—party. To have brought in a fair Bill—a Bill proposing anything less than total abolition without a sub stitute—would have caused an open quarrel with one half of their own supporters. On the other hand, to have proposed a " whole-hog measure" would have given the Conservatives an oppor tunity of defeating the Bill in the Lords. Thus it was the " Appropriation Clause " over again ; and Lord JOHN RUSSELL and Lord PALMERSTON had learnt a lesson on that subject, in the years 1835-6-7. Hence, when pressed on the question of Church -rates, they always gave evasive answers, and did nothing. Had they proposed a measure, it would either have been too small, and so have been rejected by the Dissenters in the House of Commons; or else too large, and then the House of Lords would have put an im mediate negative upon it. The question properly belongs to the Conser vative party. That party is, as a condition of its very existence, Conservative of the Church. The Liberals and Dissenters know, at the outset, that mere concession—total repeal without a substitute—is not to be expected from such a Government as the present. But the best way to a fair compromise is, for the two opposing parties to meet face to face. The Liberals mean to take Church-rates from the Church, if they can : the Conservatives mean to get a substitute, if they can. Neither party need expect to have just such a bargain as they would wish. Messrs. BRIGHT and Co. will of course declare that they can accept nothing less than total, unconditional repeal. But it may be that there are in Par liament some 50 or 100 reasonable Whigs, who do not want to destroy the Church ; and if these will support a reasonable compromise, the ques tion may yet be settled before the world is a year older. LATES'r EDITION. We fear that, as July ii - losiittbtlie door, it is out of the question to expect positive legislation ,in illte preslntt ses fi of. But +Me 'ootline of plattufal- be fotame, and made Viblic"; and thus men's minds may be prepared: for actnal legiela. tion in the spring of. 1859. In order to help forward, as much as possible, the formation of some such scheme, we shall now describe, as ire , 110 . 0 1 tho l lracipal plans which lbaye been at various: tirpoi, t brought 'forward, wtthin the last few years l , orttof which, probably, there will be selected or compounded, before long, a scheme which may ultimately be embo died in an Act of Parliament. The largest most complete scheme we have seen, is one which could only be brought forward with a reasonable prospect of success, in a Con servative House of Commons ; such as we had in 1841, and such as we may have in 1859 or 1860. It proposes,- 1. To fix a day for the absolute and entire ceasing of all Church -rates • te -1. 1 ,, , 2. To provide a substini the faliniing manner : By charging the maintenance of the fabric of the parish churches upon the county-rate ; just as pfisinikatd building are main tained. • a. If . , . By atitharizing the congregation to make a rate, or to establish a pew-rent, among themselves, for the internal expenses of the church. By commuting the present obligation on the rector to keep the chancel in repair, for a fixed proportion of the cost of maintaining the whole fabric. By assessing upon the overseers of the poor a proper proportion of the current expenses of Divine worship s in payment for that portion of the pews or sittings which is claimed for the use of the poor. This plan, we repeat, is the largest we have seen'; including more particulars than any other. The last item, however startling it may appear, is strictly justifiable. Can it be reasonable that the Legislature shall claim one-half or one-third, of the seats in a church, for the poor, without providing, in any way, for a portion of the ex penses ? A church, to be kept open for Divine service, requires certain attendants—a clerk, organist, sexton, &c. There are also small ex penses, for cleaning, lighting, warming, &c. Now, is it reasonable that the Legislature should say, "'We must have cne-half (or one-third) of " the seats in that church set apart for the poor," without at the same time saying, " and for one "half (or one-third) of the current expenses, "you may apply to the overseer" ? The above is, we repeat, the largest and most complete plan that we have seen. But there are others which effect the main purposes, without embracing so many details. As, for instance,— A Bill has just been printed, for the ca ssidera gun of the Meenhers of both liouses, entitled the "Chord' Charge Bill." Ito provisiimis terg-- 1. That after a certain day, to be named, no Church-rate shall be made or levied in any parish in England or Wales, except for the pay ment of existing debts or life-interests. 2. That all lands now rateable to the county rate shall be subject to an annual charge of two pence in the pound, to be called the Church Charge. _ 3. Such Church Charge to be paid by the tenant, and deducted by him in the payment of his rent, so a 9 to fall on the landlord. 4. The amount of such Church Charge to be paid over to the Governors of Queen Armes Bounty, who shall appoint a separate clerk sad treasurer for the same. 5. Drafts upon this fund to be made by the Incumbent and Churchwardens of any pariah, accompanied by the Archdeacon's certificate. This plan, if embodied in a statute, would effectually settle the, question, relieve Dissenters, and terminate the "Church-rate war." But we should still require another enactment, to settle the nature and duties of a church vestry ; and to keep Dissenters, no longer chargeable with the rates, from interfering in the application of the money. The "Church Charge Bill" we should be glad to see passed in this session ; but the three or four weeks that remain scarcely leave us room to hope for any positive legislation on the question, in the present year. It has, however, been suggested thiit po4bly a permissive Bill might be allowed to slip ththugh the two Houses, if commenced in the House of Lords, even in the three or four weeks that remain. A Bill, we mean, of the folloiving kind : LU. 1. In many rural parishes, the Lord of the Manor would be prepared to endow the church with a small sum—say 301. or 501. per annum— for its necessary expenses, if the law allowed him to do so. In this way, in many parishes, the whole question of Church-rates might be set at rest for ever. 2. In other places, there are, perhaps, two or three fractious Dissenters, who keep up per petual war with the church, and opposevery rate. Yet their landlords may be the Dean and Chapter, or a College Churchman. willingly take themselves, and A measure, ; he proposed— 1. To allow with an annual per annum, for church. Let College in Oxford, or an earnest lay Either of these, • • would the Churcol. (4 1 . * td so end th "4. • • • • • ••- merely pernvklia •. landlords , payment, es , . , . • - For the c . • , ' , !fe - us suppose • t 14a s 4 .: • lea