The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-24 00:00:00

274 of Europe, to e'ntial element in the balance of power. The !Lush., ~rnment has no doubt as to what are the policy anti views of the British Government with regard to Hungary. As to Poland—( here tho noble lord hesitated, and his countenance and tone assumed an archness of expression which caused general laughter )—I have no hesitation in expressing my own opinion that the existence of the kingdom of Poland, as at present consti- tuted, and as at present occupied, is a standing menace to Germany. But it is for the powers of Germany to deter• mine how far they may think the constitution of Poland to be or not to be dangerous to them ; and whether, under circumstances which may lead them into a war with Russia, they may find it for their interest to endeavour to change that position of affairs. But, undoubtedly, no stipulations in regard to a new arrangement of Poland form any part of the points which the Government is now, in concert with the Government of France, engaged in negotiating at Vienna. That negotiation is carried on upon the basis of the " four points," well known to every body. The two powers have reserved to themselves the right, according to circumstances and according to the event—they have reserved the right of adding in future to those four points any other stipulations which they may think essential to the future security of Europe. But at present the neg itiations are going on upon the basis of those four points. That is the policy of the Government as to the question. This was clear as far as it went, but it was not answering the question, so Lord W. Graham repeated it. Lord Palmerston replied again that " the Austrian Government was aware of' our inten tions, of which there was no secret." The question was then as little answered as before, and Lord William seemed inclined again to repeat it, but the house was evidently amused at the cool tone of the Prime Minister's evasion of the question and his evident determination not to answer it. THE COLONIES. Mr. ROEBUCK, on Tuesday, once more complained of the inconvenience of the absence of the Colonial Secretary, more especially with regard to Newfound land, where the colonists had been promised what was called " responsible Government." For this the governor had declared them to oe unfit, and they had in consequence sent their deputation against him, and the colony was now in a very unsettled state. Lord PALMERSTON, after the usual excuse for the absence of Lord J. Russell, stated that " responsible Government" was to be given to Newfoundland, for which steps were being taken. There was to be a reconstruction of the assembly, and an enlargement of its members. There was to be a legislative council or a second chamber; but an intimation had been given to the governor to postpone the nomina tion of the members until the election of members for the assembly (which had been for good 'reasons delayed till the spring), in order that the two bodies might be chosen together and work in harmony with each other. Mr. BRIGHT complained of the injudicious neglect with which Newfoundland had been treated, and Mr. ADDERLEY commented both on the conduct of the go vernor and his appointment, both of which Sir J. PAKINGTON warmly defended In the midst of all this Mr. LOWE complained of the disturbed state of Austra lia, where he said there was a great emergency which threatened the total separation of our colonies ; to which Sir G. GREY replied that the colonies were per fectly tranquil, and that their constitutions would be forwarded to them without delay. SUNDAY OPENING OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUMS. On Tuesday S;r J. WALMSLEY made his motion in the following terms : That in the opinion this house it would promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the working classes of this metropolis if the collections of natural his. tory and of art in the British Museum and the National Gallery were open to the public inspection after morning service on Sundays. His object was not directed against religion, but to give proper recreation to the people on their leisure day, to cultivate the national taste, and elevate the religious feeling of all classes. He quoted the opinions of several divines who advocated a similar principle. • Mr. BIGGS seconded the motion. In the discussion which followed, the motion was supported by Lord STANLEY, on the ground that mo rality was a part of religion, that things secular and things sacred were not in opposition, and that after ten hours labour a man on the week day bad no op portunity of improving his mind; to confine the education of the working man to theological studies was to confine it to his youth. Many places about the metropolis were open at present, and if there was a desecration in the business, it was greater where the whole day was devoted to a country visit than when a few hours were given to a town institution. The gain is but small if a working man goes to church simply because he has no other place to go to. After arguing that the workman by the opening of these places would be kept from drunkenness, Lord Stanley said that but very few attendants would be necessary to take charge of the building. MiNall•• THE PRESS. Mr. Fox likewise supported the bill. Under the operation of the Beer Bill, he said, the recreation of the working classes was considerably diminished, and it was but fair to compensate them by admitting them to the fine arts. The question was not one of theology, but of property, for a man with money could amuse himself on Sunday as much as he pleased. The arts had an affinity to devotion, and wa should raise the minds of the working classes to the sublime and beautiful. On the other hand, Mr. DAVIES opposed it as con trary to the opinion of pious persons, and Mr. DRUMMOND on the principle that the seventh day was due to God, and would be desecrated by the measure. The Marquis of BLANDFORD argued the polemical question of the Sabbath, and then said that the house from a very early period had passed a series of acts, recognising the principle of Sunday observ ance, and passing measures for its enforcement. The opening of Hampton court and Kew-gardens bad led to the establishment of a multitude of public houses. Mr. KINNA/RD urged, against the motion, that it would end in the general habit of employing the artisan 'or seven days and paying him for six. Mr. G. BALL urged that instruction, when needed by the working man, could be better had from Sun day-schools and Bible teachers. Mr. A. PELLATT proposed as an amendment that the Museum, instead of being opened on Sundays, should be opened on Saturdays and Mondays for the use of the working class. Mr. GOULBURN, as one of the trustees of the Museum, replied that the Museum was at present open on ondays ; that on Saturday it was closed to be cleaned, but that he would see it it could not be opened on that evening. If the principle of Sunday opening were admitted it must he extended through out the country. As to keeping people from the public-house, we had no right to encourage one sin to prevent another. Parties would be formed from a distance to see the Museum, so that the whole day would be thus spent. Besides, how were they to compel the presence of the Museum attendant on the Sunday. Lord PALMERSTON said that as the religious ob servance of the Sabbath was preserved, so were the people more moral and well conducted. The precise degree of that observance must be left to every man's conscience, the Legislature could not define it : But when a matter is brought before Parliament with regard to which it is known that the religious feelings of the community are deeply engaged, it is highly inexpe dient that it should set itself in opposition to what is the general feeling of the people—a feeling which is founded upon the best principles, and which ought to be carefully respected. I hold Parliament to be doing a very injudi cious act if by any expression of its opinions, by resolu tion, or by any act of its own, it should teach the country to think that it is less careful of those principles which ought to govern and regulate the conduct of the commu nity than the great mass of the community itself. Upon these grounds he felt, bound to oppose the motion. After Mr. BA:Rnow had expressed his desire to see the Museum opened on the Saturday, Sir J. WALMSLEY offered to withdraw his motion, but was prevented by the house, and on a division his motion was lost by 235 to 48. NEWSPAPER STAMP DUTIES. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER brought for ward his resolutions on Monday. He read the report of the committee of 1851, which objected to the taxation of news, and the resolution of last year, which declared the laws on the subject to be ill defined, and to demand the early consideration of Parliament. The anomalous state of the law could only be met in two ways, by a bill rendering existing restrictions more stringent, or to relax it and make it uniform. This last was the decision of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, with whose plans the resolutions he was about to submit were identical in principle and substance. The bill which he should introduce, if the house agreed to the resolutions, was based upon the principle of abolishing the legal definition of a newspaper, and extending the existing rules respecting newspapers to all printed periodical publications which appear at intervals not greater than thirty-one days. In the case of all periodicals falling within that definition, the present penalty for the publication of any newspaper without a stamp will be repealed ; and it will be optional with the pro prietors of any such periodical either to stamp any portion of their publication, or to leave it altogether unstamped. If they come to the Stamp-office and apply for stamped sheets upon which to print any portion of their impression, they will be subjected to precisely the same rules with respect to superficial contents as existing newspapers are subjected to. He proposed to continue the present rules with respect to registration and sureties to all periodicals which should stamp any portion of their impression. He considered the law on that subject to be in a satisfactory state, and that with regard to libel there was an essential difference between newspapers and pamphlets, of the last of which the circulation was SATURDAY, slow, while of the first it was rapid and immediate. The effect of his bill would be to legalise the publica tion of class periodicals, which were at present only tacitly sanctioned, and the number of which was no less than 137. He had consulted the managers of the principal publications which used the mixed issue of stamped and unstamped papers, as Punch and the Atheneum, and had besides consulted the manager of the Illustrated London News, who had all assured him that no inconvenience would arise from the general adoption of the mixed system. He then alluded to the immense circulation of papers now un stamped, of which the contents were unobjectionable, while many dearer publications of a licentious kind had ceased to exist. He did not believe that the alteration would call into existence any large number of cheap local newspapers, which could not command a remunerating number of advertisements. He cal culated the loss to the revenue at 200,0001., an incon venient loss at the present moment ; but a measure of some kind could not be delayed to settle the existing state of the law. With regard to the stamping of books, so as to enable them to pass by post, he thought that the question stool on different grounds, and should be kept separate, but be would be ready to introduce a distinctive measure on the subject. The right hon. gentleman concluded by moving the following resolutions : That it is expeditnt to amend the laws relating to the stamp duties on newspapers, and to provide for the trans mission by post of printed periodical publications : That any periodical publication, to be entitled to the privilege of transmission and retransmission by the post, shall be printed on paper stamped for denoting the stamp duty im posed by law on a newspaper, printed on the like number of sheets or pieces of paper, and of the like dimensioni with respect to the superficies of the letterpress thereof• That printed newspapers (British, colonial, or foreign) shall be transmitted by the post between places in the United Kingdom and her Majesty's colonies or foreign countries, or between any ports or places beyond the sea (whether through the United Kingdom or not), either free of postage or subject to such rates of postage, not exceeding twopence for each newspaper, irrespective of any charge for foreign postage, as the Commissioners of the Treasury, or her Majesty's Postmaster-General with their consent, shall from tir...e to time think fit. Mr. GLADSTONE, admitting that he might be led away by parental partiality, regretted the changes that had been introduced into the present mea,ure as compared with his own. He regretted that the principle was not extended to publications of all kinds, and could not see why periodicals published at thirty one days' interval should enjoy special privileges. He argued against the retention of restrictions which, when only attached to the postal privilege, afforded no security that a man's character would not be at ;licked at home when it was of most consequence to him. He saw the difficulties of defining copyright in newspapers, but he much wished that some provi sion could be made. Compositions of a high literu7 standard were published in the existing press, and the principle of protection to them was fair and just. How this was to be done he left to those more skilled in the law than himself. Sir F. BARINO thought that the proposition had been brought forward at a most unfit time, when they could ill spare the loss it involved. Mr. M. GIBSON said that this was not a financial question. He regretted that the loss to the revenue was not to be compensated by a cheap postage upon books. For one lic..ntious publication thus circulated there would be a hundred good ones. Mr. J. MAcaREGoR and Mr. WARNER having spoken, Mr. BENrrNcx did not believe that the loss would be made up by postage from books. The bill would lead to a complete revolution in the press of the country, and produce innumerable publications of a class totally different from those now in circulation. It was the duty of the house to take measures for the protection of private and public character. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER again rose to detail a few instances of the perplexities in which the Board of Inland Revenue was involved in dealing with the present law. These statements were confirmed by Mr. GLAnsroNr, who said that the resolution of last year was voted by both sides of the house against the Government, whose duty it was to carry it out. Mr. BRIGHT said that by the side of the war ex penses into which the Government had been weak or wicked enough to involve the country, 200,0001. more or less was a small consideration. The law could not be worked, and if any Attorney-General were compelled to enforce it to-morrow, there would be no Attorney-General at all. He did not think that a law on piracy was necessary; no paper that lived on it would thrive in a country which had so rooted a dislike to meanness and dishonesty. He entreated the house to pass the measure as soon as possible, mentioning many useful schemes only waiting for the new law to continence operations. The great provincial papers were all in favour of the alteration, and he was convinced that a few years would show that the sums voted for education were as nothing in their results compared with those which would flow from this measure. IMP