The Sun. — London, England, 1852-04-23 00:00:00

culation—but he would not put that 100/. into his own pocket; competition would force him to it eut in the improvement of those publisatiens, and he weuld expend it in a higher order ot authorship and batter li terary talent than he was able to employ at present. It was a monstrous thing that. to issu: penny publications in this country—such a putilica'ion as the Popular Edu cator, or the Working Man's Friend—a man should be called upon to hand over week by week to the Geyer's nient 401. or 501., the fund out of which authorship would be paid. A man who did not care what he pub lished, and who only looked to cheapness and issuing translations from French novels, and a variety of met tle that appesled to the passions, fir the purpose of a large circulation, might copy whet he warted from other works, and the paper duty which he paid did not stand in the way of his penny publications, because he did not want arty fund out of which to pay authorship; but if they wished to meet that q lesion in the market as to circulating thos e pubhcationa• which were as bad as they wer e c h ea p, t h ey must create a fatal out of which authorship should b e p l id, and a higher order o flite raryt talent should be em ployed. He bad received a le ter from a gentleman who he was sure the Horse would C. would admit was a hi g h aut h or ity on this subject— Mr . Knight. It was dived from Fleet-street, the April, 1852 H e bad published one or two e_x u cel w ar e nt b 19th of y pe t ta he . phlets on the question of .he paperdo y, k name of .. The Struggles of a Book against Taxation," and also the case of authors in reference to the paper • • duty, and he said:— "It is difficult te add anything new to the arguments which have been urged in the House of Conienout and by other modes for the sholition of the piper duty. A few points have struck me in addition to what I have written on the subject. Amid tench which is injerious or frivolous in cheap publications, I think there is a manifest tendency towards the moral and intellectual improve . • meat of the general character of our popular lit rature. The conductors of period.° it works almost exclusively addressed to the working classes, as they are termed, appear to me to have commenced ceasing to think that it • is necessary to write down to their readers. As a natu • ral cons , quence of this tendency, writers of information and ability are more needed, perhaps more employed. But this tendency is couriteraetsd by the paper-duty. I will explain myself as briefly as I can. It 250/. be given for the authorship of a large wave volume, it op-rates • aa a charge of 5.. per copy if 1,000 copies be printed, and the boo k must be high priced; but if 10,000 be printed, the authorship only enters into price at the rate of 6d. per copy, and the book may bra low-pric"d. But the paper-duty upon- such a volume amounts to 6d. per copy, whether 1,000 or 10 000 be printed; and it 10,000 be printed, amounts to as much as the author ship. Reduce the payment of 'authorship, and the value "of the book is injured; take away the paper duty, and you neither lower the quality nor limit the sate of the book. There is, then, a fund for the. better remuneration of that labour which is to raise the quality and extend the sale, and thus ad vanes the great end of allpepular literature—the diffu sion of knowledge and the elevation of the moral and religious character of a peeple. But it is said that the repeal of the paper -tax would only operate as a b)nus to • publishers, without lowering the price of books to the public. I believe that the ordinary effects of competition Would determine this doubt very satisfactorily. It is possible that there might be no direct lowering of price in many cares of low-priced books, but I am sure that there would be an improvement of quality. The number of printed pages sold for ls. might be the same as now, but there would be better paper, better type. aid, what is more important, improved authorship. Publishers of very cheap books would look for something to publish having a copyright value, instead of bad translations and . hackneyed reprints. Beyond this, large undertakings, Of wbfch we have very few now, would have a greater encouragement were the paper-duty repealed, for the Price of voluminous works could be directly lowered and their sale consequently increa•-ed. I will give an ex- II have determin+ d to bring our, a PPR? Caches. din- the Imperial—tourithA noon the Penny Cyclopedia It Will form 20 volumes. I' I print 5 000 copies, the. taxed Spur would cost 12 0001., of which the actual duty 'Would amount to 2 250/., e nd t h e di rect an d indi .i rect . addition s t o cost , cons+ quent noon the duty, would, as I believe, double the tax. Lacking at , he operation Of the cost of paper alone, I teethd reduce the price of the book 5 per cent. to the subscribers it the tax were re moved; but, taking into consideration the fact that I could then print 1,000 copies at the price at which I could ' stereotype the 20 volu mes ( w hi c h proce i s i s p a per), employed to save the °lnky of capital in tested ltlx 1 r), I could reduce the price 10 per cent. The effects air such a tax u p o n prices are not to b e measured by its • oot amount. For exampl ,it may b e sa i d that the drawback of duty upon exported books allows the fo reigners to be charged as low a price as if the paper were Untaxed. This ia really not the case. The draw ' .. tick O nly represents the positive tax, and not the in tatted Price consequent upon the tax Assume that I • e : L 1 1 ..:ell 500 copies of my Cyclopcedia to an American I :— " l ber at 5/. per copy, the taxed paper costing me r'2oo/•, I obtain a drawbrck of 2251, which reduces the e" : of the 500 copies to 2,2751, at which rate they were 227/ vnled . The A m erican tari ff of 10 per cent, adds 0 2 So' t° the importer's ou lay, making a total of sid es ;l l ,l 3 t . 'i But if I could buy my paper untaxed, I con might red_ save, in various ways, 450/., so that I tariff wnitld'" theprice to 4/. 2s. per copy, to which the 2 47/.1 4 pk a dd 2051 The importer woule therefore say,' would . r "at advantage to the importer of 10 per cent. one ~ 0 1 3 oihably d.tuble my sale in the Uneed States. amoun t " I' °11 of the advantage would he the d minish, d o f t. te enTh ex which be would pay to his own uovern • ecßultr e direct tax and its collateral ffects, in one j et tb Y Produce similar effects in another country, rais asarkee P ri ce to the consumer, and thus narrowing the bat e t of the producer. The chief argument which I ;rud er , iy urged for the repeal of the psper-duty • the tax bears most um Teeny upon the lower tly,sr e Publications, as compared with the higher-priced, o r th th refore interferes injuriously with the education 'deuce P"Ple• Upon the wholesale p r i ce o f a sierneern i . it is lt per - cent. Upon Mr. Dickeue's Househd 2ord. it is 12 per cent. ; it is 22. per cent. upee t h e . 4'gctrterbi Review ; it is 17 per eau'. upon Chambers ' s efts for the People. Look at the inequality as r gross pre4*o latter examples of p e riodic a l wo rk s , a ddressed ffsrent c l asses of the community. 1.000 cop i es of 4 / 14 ohnsber ot t h e R ev i ew, so l d f or 65., pay a duty of - p e 1,000 copies of one unbound volume of the Vert, sold for Bd, pay a duty ot 31 6.. I, here were 141 a d valor em duty 45 p. ru r cent. upon all printed blte or .'"uu copies of the R ev i ew would pay 151., and 1.0 0 0 esti mated of th e P apers wou ld pay 1/. 13s. 41. I t is t -- "lflated that the annual sales ot all books and o o dical works , not newspapers, a mount , at St retail p r ic e , to 2,000,000/. A n a d valorem p 41 41) of 5 per cent. would raise as much as the i per duty upon printed books, and would operate less 41e)nriously. Capital would not be locked up in tax, for : l ump would be demanded as the demand for copies 4 ' l " oni and the manufacturer's and stationer's profit .1 3 9, 1 1 the tax would be got rid of. The pubic would then k nowledge, understand that a tax upon paper is a tax upon and would nut be cl..ceived into a belief that b ecause it enters into the price of a 12s. volume to the e xtent only of 63. its removal would nut benefit the great and increasing body of bosk purchasers. Such a mode of levying a tax up•in literature would be more ob -I?.o.ions than the papsr duty th oug h less harmful; but there would be justice in the prisciple instead of gross ... e l nequality of th e exist i ng law. " rln-teebought that mad e it clear that if they were sincere 1 htr desire to spr ea d education, they ought to evince thata e,me sincerity by taki ng o ff this paper duty. It was not umers' or trade question, it was a moral and im portant notional question. It the people to r • was monstrous to teach all they ennui e t au if they did not at the same time do were likeiy to .s.,°_ium.prove the quality of the books they cations was so v' gr '„ e, and the dh wand for peony publt. some kind or oti t a l a r u lthe'appetite for knowledge of the extensive transeiet-55 so strongly evinced by that branch of business I° et r at men engaged in of f ey must nut suppose there would not be a u kind of cheap liter at i n t re w i teesite circulation of some Other. That was no longer matter of doubt— aolfzarter of certainty, aud, therefore, - every wellwisher t h ereal interest of the Country must desire that the quality of that literature ersee s e was circulated) asheouhldad bdeealt: good as it could be e a t s, the paper duty rendered.—(Llear. b e cause they had andoriginated at the same time with the advertisems tb e t w he sp a a a p w e e r stamp duties, to tinte,had been put on together, and he should a year, th duty take them -off together. He admittfil that gladthee et against the moral im p r oveMe a nt h o a f Papekemounting to about 800 ,000/. on entail suin to be s the pe o ple i was too large a sum fur him to ask the R ouge -- to repeal. The resoludons in regard to the advertise. meet and stamp duties called ueon him to apply for en 4 . L t araedians repeal; but the resolu tio n as to the pap er w as only c a lled upon them to give their opini on that it as not fit to be continued as a permanent tax. lie had 'great suspicion that the paper duty , under the spa. l e ut disguise of raising money for carrying on the war, was part of a system for the purpose of restrain. g ;literand epites dut . a re e • IS down the press. Those he „ A l l's' 'being enacted in the same year, mold not help thinking that perhaps the same d i :` 4 Ve that had actuated Parliament as to the paper 4 .t/- had actuated them in enacting the advertisement LLttaistarap duties Now, the advertisement duty y ear. uteri to 150,0001, or, if they pleased, 160 0001., a th e Was that a large sum to be frightened at when ene 3r . talked of repealing duties, considering how large a 14'as-revenue they had, and considering that this tax fay dv ertiaements struck, as he believ e d, more than WI 4 4 that existed at the very revenue they proposed tke tn -ass by is ?—(Elear, hear.) A tax 11D013 adver tehmtite!--that no man migbt say what be wished and tse bsn 'l c e t :tranieet to be known in the way of bush ess e erd . lons in print and in a newspaper, but he must be t►be e s. G il. Gil. each time he did so. It was, he said, impose te eee 'T. conceive a more stupid tax. If he wanted a 11107,7 r3asseeing the public revenue be would suggest a 4 1 4 4 % hick lessened transactions between met, and the eth er of making th e i r mutua l wants known to each tee...t W hich lessen e d, i n f act , trade, consumption, ern ther,estneend revenue; and he would undertake to say Ise be ,"_ they rep ea l e d t hi s a d vert i sement duty, they (Ntt'gr.isevt know it in their next year's revenue.-- ithysh i ) B at. if that were true, could there be conceived atri va l l ig, more unjust than to say to a peter servant kak e j ? railtsd la place, " You want a place—if you *Si n, goosen to the world by the only means that Cei e o ' f ° O k tisust be fined ls. 63. each time?" Take the °ile s merchants' transactions connected with rats tb et vcry kind. Could anything be more obvious v i ti ' L .Pruventiog th e k nowle d ge o f w h at was going of Mt tee '''esc mode of preventing the improvement Thereeelnaleroial transactions and of the public revenue? si l , I%v eethin , b tun- g - one man wanted to sell but another tli clil°l ",' they e nd wanting to buy it; and, it they were _ l ll w. nis k _ . would not stand in the way of those mu- B 4 ,O , oid ebi u ,, e ing Mule known ; tbe difficulties that were %N um Were great enoneh Look at the United 14 44 4 4 7 : 16.6 . 4148 tw• They bad Acs,ooo 000 of advertises ' 416176 P4 2.4 4 1 414 yeir. • la. Ficiglikd there S UN, were only 2,000,000; 8;000.000 were knocked . Off by the Ito prevent either individual libels .or libels on the Ml advertisement f i e y ; we t who were the advertise rs who nistry. because those who were disposed to libel framed hid to p, 3 7 each time I s . 6e? Th, poareet of the' their libels in such a way that yeti ceuld not touch people. The rich adverti.e r. who rook up a column of them, whilst men of character and respectability, by the - 1 i mes , on ly pid his le. 6d. The poorest servant whom such libellers would otherwise be met and over girl, whe only took a line of the paper, - pail just as come in fair conipetition, were driven from the field - by much. There was n p t i , , j ; u l ;t u ic t a t h in e the inequalityta i t s vv e l a r s when ineet ; a stupid tax and thus prevented ,from making known considered in priecithe truth. The same principle had ac uated the legisla. glaring—it was not founded on (veiny in the distri ture in its proceedings up to a very recent period; when bution of its burden or upon sound principle, because, they extended the stamp duty in the reign of George whether a person_ advertised in a paper of large or 111., how did they begin to act? Was it by any dada small publication, he was fined ls. 61. every time lion about granting a supply to his Majesty? : Nothing he made known his wishes. 11 could not believe that of the kind, but complaint was made of the. prevalence the raising of 150 00111. could be a reason why rational of pamphlets and printed papers tending to excite hatred beings should persist in maintaining a tax so opposed of his Mejesty, and contempt of the Government and tion. They tnteht advertise on a welt, to comm-reiel purposes and sound principles of legiale- Constitution, and also blasphemipg, the truth, of our -or by the aivertisieg in an ~mnibue, holy religion, which had he n lately published et a very but let them go to vans, and no duty was imposed; . small price; and it was declared , to be expedient to re- There was an idea that, a new.pap-r, and they were tined - strain the circulation of triese., : u s g - , 6 . " 1 : Now, 'he adv-rosemeut fund was a legitimate although this tax was imposed for the purpese of restrain-, froted fur ne s w uf p p i o p r e ti r n s e hy newspap ers , and, if they drove men ing the prese, yenthe potsestion,of certain pistil advert- ' "Pug they should pay Is. 6d taxes now enjoyed by it constituted a fair equivalent. fine, they took the most direct and effectual mode for But the truth was that this qaestion of the free trans- injuring th e newspaper press. It was impotsible•to mission of newspapers really had nothing to do with the have an independent press unless they allowed the legi- stamp duty. "they might make whatever regulations whit foodwteasa to fl iw f or its nstribhment. Bat, after all,' they pleesed for the transmission of printed m a tter by an advertisement? The House did not know, p >sit; but the question with which he was now dealing nor did the Board of Inland Revenue. It was the most was whether a man Might be allowed to,print a certain , strange tax be had ever had to consider. There was the description of matter called news. without a stamp. It Daily News newspaper. Thev undertook to give a list' did not follow thai, if you repealed the,stautp duty, the et sales that took place —not in the form of. advertise- postal regulations might not be as favourable to the meats—receiving nothing .for it, but giving it with a . press and to all printed matter, aye much more favour7 View , to mike the piper attractive and to supply the able, than they . now. were. At . present some fifty public with useful information. The Board of Inland three or fifty-four papers were allowed. the : privilege Revenue came down upon them and said; " You must o f free transmission by pest merely by paying a not put in that list, although. you charge nothing penny stamp on the particular portion of their im ftr it, unless you pay is. 61. for each announce. - pression sent by post, and those were obliged to went." That put an end to the plan of making the pay the penny duty who did not want a paper sent by newspaper a tt rac tiv e. . and useful. Then as to ships. post, in order that some other men might have the ad- They might put into a newspaperwn account of ships • vantage of having his newspaper transmitted by post.. that had arrived, but they could not give a Lis!, of ship s Half the papers thus gent, or the great msjority of them, about to sail, although the intelligence wet quite as int. were transmitted twice; there were 80.000,000 on which' portant, without paying Is. 6d. for each anneuncement. stamp duty was paid, and 66,000.000 transmitted by He would call their attention to this fain There was post, which, allowing for double transmissions, reduced Bell's Life . in London; in , that paper there was every the number posted to 33,000,000. Could there be any ee,-It e q•td)lity of announcements which appeared to thing more easy than to provide that all printed matter him just as much matters for the advertisement duty as shouni stand on the same footing, and that there should those to which he bad alluded... For example, ther e be a stamped wrapper for . the purpose of franking it were lists of the matches, fighting, pedestrian, "canin e through the post? Make the charge a penny, if you fancy"—(A laugh)—and what not,. that were to come pleased; he was not there to suggest postal regulations, off, next week or next month—announcements by which but he was quite sure, from the evidence of Mr. Rowland numbers of people were brought together at public- Hill, before the committee of last year, that in ttie Post houses and places of teat kind. tor the purpose of betting office they were very anxious to retain the carriage of and spending money in various ways, t o th e i n fi n i te a d. printed matter, and, r a the r th a n lo s e it, they would be advantage ot publicans and other persons concerned as willing to carry it for the smallest possible charge. for caterers of the entertainments provided; yet no attempt less than a penny indeed, because, if they did not, they was made to apply the duty to these canine and other must compete with private aeencies, and, thus com fancy lists, though certainly quite as much advertise- peiing, they would not retain the carriage. They still meats as any other aneoutecemeets.---(1 - 1ear, hear.) stated that even if ho printed matters were sent, they ' The public informatiott that, the tight between would not be able to reduce to any great extent the So-and-So for 151. a aide is to come off at charges of the establishment, so that all they earned such a place on such a day paid no duty; under this head was into pocket and direct gain. It but the public information, as it appeared to him was clear, therefore, that 'there to full be no difficulty in quite as useful, that Such a ship was to sail for such a making the arrangements_ consequent on. a change place on such a day, or such a sale to take Weep, w as of &eel regulations. ' A man who now paid a lined ls. 61. A paragraph in the number o f B e ll' s Life penny for his paper being carried by a post, would before him announced, for e xample, that at Mr. So-and buy his paper when the stamp duty was removed Se's, in a such a street, 100. rats would be killed by tor a penny less, and thus stand in the same such a dog in so many m'nutes: this announcement pecuniary position. Then, as regarded the man who would in all probability a tt rac t a great number of people bought. a paper At second hand transmitted a second to the house on the occasion, and the landlord and other time free by post, if • the tax were repealed, that man, people concerned would reap large profits from the en tertaiument so annou nce d ; yet t h e announcement paid instead ot having to wait for stale news, and buy his e paper seiettral days old, would be able to go into the no advertisement duty ; b u t i n f irm the public that on market, and .buy a fresh paper. He was not one of such a day a sermon could be preached for the relief of those who thought that if newspapers were to be carried the sufferers by the destruction of the Anetz tin or other by post the country ought to &tray the charge. Ann such calamity. or even that in certain places subtoriptious Cher set of postal regulations might be made to suit the would be received for such a purpose. that was au adver- altered circumstatc et; but, in tact, the postal question tiieme,,t, and the Board of Inland Revenue came down was beside the motion he bad submitted to the House, upon you for ls. 61.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted that he and would be easily dealt with without in the slightest might appeal to the H use to repeal suoh an advertise- way altering or injuring 'the position of any parties. went duty as this, wretch crippled the press, which pre- Did the newspaper stamp secure you against those ire vented the diffution of a vast deal of utetul information, proper liberties spoken of by Swift. an d attac k s on t h e which stood between the empl o y er and the employed. perrecieutbeelffi:vcriinconstitution and laws of the realm ? It did not, and arid which, he co ecientiau t ly would, impedingif per- the even if you could enforce the law, which you were titted in, have a wo,ttotally unable to do, the act was so framed that it successful competition of this coon ry in trade and cow- di' not touch the very_ fish for which the net was set. (tierce with the United Stet'-s ot .America.. He hoped The wording of the Stamp Act included publications con he might have on this occasion the Support of the Noble tanking public imelligence or occurrences, or say matters Member for London. The Noble Lard could have bo n net e ir il ie u s rc o h r sopreScutalatetiene;:baeYiai g a h n e d lt a l r n ti o c t ie t s Oc g o iv en in e g w P i ' th i i i n tic i a ts i The Hon. Member th en proceeded to read. pas. , ohjeetion on fluancial ground.; be had alw a ys pr o fess e d bons , lf friendly to a tree press —to an i n d epen d ent sco pe, press, and as such, he must support the present propo- saws from several penny publicetions,such astheEnglish sition. He also looked, as a matter of course , f or t h e •Repablicsto- Notes to the People, 8:,,.., in proof ot. the support of Ent. Gentlemen opposite, who had promoted seminated under the present uf I s e t s at ts e li o t f tv th e objectionable coaracter of the matter printed and dis a vote of censure upon a Noble. Member of the late Go vernment tor Some transactions with a paper in Ireland. to show the extreme folly which since the reason why such transactions could ex i s t at a ll, confined the people .to PubliCatioos of thi s class, instead why the press was venal, and took money from thiseplraowvitilioneswished 1 allowing them to have cheap newspapers giving a person or that for writing up or down this or that prin- record of tne current events of the day, the proceedtugs ciple, was that by these taxes it was prevent e d f r om in the courts of justice and P ar li ament, an d t h e occur realising those legitima t e - profits w hi c h wou ld ena b le i t rences of daily life, in w hi c h every man too k a li ve l y to pursue an honourable and iodepentienteareea—(Bear, and domestic in erest• -it was a m onstro u s injustice to hear.) Though toere might be among the newspapers deprive the working man of the privilege of having a of this country some misgivings as to the 'new s paper compendious record of occurrence s i n hi s penny publi stamp question, he had not met with a n y newspaper cation, so long as his welfare was affected by the facility that was not f a vourable to a repeal of the advertise men t of knowing what was going . duty. It was obvious to them all, were the tax re_ country , with respect to on in the trade of the emigration and the state of em pealed, a mu l t i tu d e o f new a d ver tisements w ou ld come pl o yment in various b ranc h es o f in d ustry. H e con to them. Tee Times, indeed, could not have more tended that there was no other mode of combating the advertisements than it really had without be- d a ngerous theories circulated by a certain class of exist coming a huge book of advertisements; but there tog papers than by allowing them to be competed with would be ample room for all its overfiowings in ny that must interest ng of publications, the notate utter. other newspapers, and the labourers and poor Look also at - the - established newspaper press. What a servant girls, and other humble persons having their pernicious effect had the stamp bad upon the established services or other commodities to dispose of, would newspapers. There were but two newspapers in London be able at length to make their proposals public. that were increasing in circulation; all the rest were He would now pass to the que s ti o n o f t h e nos y pap r declining —year by year they got small by degrees and stamp duty. lie bed said he would sho v that this new.- beautttulty teas, till it appeared as if in a short time, un paper stamp duty was not a revenus question at all, and less they allowed a reduction to take place in the price of never had been imposed by the Legislature, or con- newspapers, so'that a new anti more extended field might tinned, nor was it so spoken of in the preamble of any be open. to them, we were Itkely to have but two of the various Acts passed, for the purpose of revenue, newspapers, the Times and Morning Advertiser, How then did it originate? The Parliamentary History The Times had risen teen a comparatively small circu 'informed us that on the 17th January, 1711. a message lation to one of 12,1)00 000 yearly, and it would be found from the C ro w n was brought to that House, and at the from the tables laud before tne douse at the close of the end of the message, c iniplaiut was made of the prevto inquiry of last session, where a return was given of all the lence oief publications. t s h ed e i i ti e o u u r s e 2 c l ef bl t t h s o ph n e o rn u o d u e s thefelleing He newspaper stamps, that the Morning Chronicle. for in foundmeat:— s t a t e . stance, bad a circulation under 1,000 000, the Morning Herald had a circulition of somethnig inure them " Mr. Samuel St. John informed the House be had a 1.000,000, whilst the- Daily 'News had a cireu•ation of message— `' `Her less than 2,000.000. It was remsrkable that . `' Majesty finds it necessary to obser ve h ow g reat soon after the first establishment of the Daily NeWs its licence is takes ia publishing f a l se and scandalous libels, price was reduced to 20., and its circulation rose to such es are a reproach to any Government. This evil between 3 000 000 and 4,000 000 per annum, but on the seems to be grown too etrone for the laws now in force; "ice being raised it tell back to the old amount. With it is therefore rec o m men d e d to you to find a remedy .be two exceptions he had mentioned' none of the papers' equal to the metnise2choinif, Answer ."A' Jan. 18, 1711. were improving. Was this a satisfactory state of things? For the lest sixty years no ne w daily paper,. 4 ' 4 We are very sensible how mu c h th e l i b er ty o f t h e except the Ad ver ti s er end the Daily News , had been press is abused by t urning i t into such licentiousness as established; showing that the tendency of the stamp is a reproach to the nation, since not on l y false and scan- duty was to create a kind ot monopoly in newspapers,_ dalous I,b is are print e d an d published against your Ma- and to limit the diffutit n of 'news to very few hands, jesty's Government, but the most horrid blasphemies He did not charge any existing newspaper with advot against God and religion; and we beg leave humbly to vociting the maintenance of the stamp on account of assure your Majesty that we will 'do our utmost to find their own vested interests, It was stated on behalf of out a remedy equal to the mischief, and th a t m ay e ff e c- the Times. in evid e nce before, the Committee of' which tually cure it.' he was chairman last session,. that the removal of the " Some Members were so exasperated at the Dutch stamp duty, would be attended with, great commercial ed m-mortal hezeg published in a newspaper, that on the vautaee to the Times. _They stated also that the main 12th, the House being resolved into a grand Committee tenance of the present stamp law had t he effect of ma to consider of that part o f th e (4 iesn's message to the serially limiting the circulation of the Times, from its House, the 17th of January last, which relates to the operation on the supplement; and theanainuer of that great licen ce t,kt,r, in publishing false and scandalous paper, Mr. Mowbray Maurice, when examined before libels, Sir Gilbert Delben being the chairman, they came the Committee. weed that if they bad waning to do to these two resolutions:—' 1, Th a t t h e liberty taken iti but to supply the public with as many of the newspaper printing and publi s h ing scandalous and impious libels as , they would buy, t h e y cou ld d o uble their circulation creates divisions among h er M a j esty ' s sub j ects, ten d s i n two years. The effect, then,.of the present law was to the disturb a nc e of the public peace, is highly pre- to limit the mass of circulation to two newspapers, to judtceil .to her Mejes•y'it Geverninent, . and is ()ma- cause every other to decline, And to prevent the working sinned tor want of due regulating the preste' `2 Tut classes. from hiving any newspaper at all. He, there all printing presses be registered with the names of the fore, asked them to repeal the newepaper stamp , duty on owners, and places - of abode; and that the . author, principle. . But cent(' they enforce this law after all? printer, and publisher of every book set his name and Could their law officer& define its repireinentt I They place of abode theret o .' Th e s e resolutions were ordered had engaged in a law-suit on the question with one of to be reported the Tuesday following; but the said re- the most popular writers of the day. Mr. Dickens.'t The port was then put off till that day se'nnight, and after- Board of Wand Revenue found out that a certain publi wards further adjourned from time to time. Some cation, celled the Household Narrative of Current Events, Members having, in the grand Committee of ways and published once a mouth,. but giving a summary of news means, suggested a more eff.ctnal way for suppressing up to the most recent date, was obnoxious to its de libels, viz., the laying a great duty on all newspapers and minds. After very considerable expense had been in pamphlets." curred, and the parties_ put to great inconvenience in " Among the matters of importance during this sea- getting up their case and. appearing in , court to defend sins, we may justly number • the proceedings of the their rights, the judges decided that the Household Nar- House of' Commons with relation to the press; since her rative was not a newspaper, and that the publisher had Majesty's message to the House of January 17 concludes a right to print it upoa paper free of • the stamp with a paragraph representing the great licenses taken if it did not appear oftener than once a month. The in puhii.hilig false and scandalous libels, such as are a proprietors of the Household • Narrative obtained a reproach to any Government, and recommending them verdict, but the Attorney-tieneral said, that not being to find a remedy equal to tne mischief. The meaning of satisfied with the decision of the judges, be should take these words in th e message seems to b e con fi ne d to steps to di stur b i t , an d t o ascerta i n w heth e r or not the those weekly and daily pap e r s a n d p am phl ets re fl ect i ng paper was li a bl e to a s tamp duty. Now, he- contended upon th., cretins and the managem e nt o f the M in i str y. this was a great grievance, for although in this case they But th e House of Comm ons , i n th e i r a dd ress w hi c h b a d f a ll en u po n a ma n o f sufficient property and , spirit answers this message, make an addition of the to contest the queition loss court of law, how many peo bhAaphemoe ta , b that against God and religion, and it is cer- ple were there in the country who had either the 'means vised the Le g i s e aut u o wtting would he more for the honour of the or the moral courage to encounter the_Board of Inland to thi, uniyei t:'_.n sem° t ffectual law for putting a stop Revenue in a court of law?. If. they insisted on. im factious libels, I tha t 441._e a n t tau isehiaf ; but, as the person who ad- posing a tax upon such vague and undefinable things ai then: i n hi. oil, : t. that , part of her message had only news, and observations . upon. news, the law would con kthe redressing of the political and Ono's to the end of time to be a mails of uncertainty and ways by which 'het the his great credit in t he ought to have taken care, by injustice. They. were now exactly in the same position itlouse, to have proposed some in which the Government were placed before the reduc taxing single p ipers 138m i :tight be removed. The law for tiOn-of the stamp duties in 1836, when, after 500 ptrsens eflicons wi t s t h ee "13.e:introduced ' a quite contrary had been imprisoned for selling the Poor Man's Guardian, since been found t rue b y ._ . 3_' .uttins, persons, and has a court of law decided that the publication was riot liable draw their pens on the b'iti:ol7ttehneFe, Untie who would to the stamp duty, and that, therefore, the whole of the are discouraged by this tax, whichi: value both of the materials and the princes and country proceedings against these parties had been founded xceeds the intrinsic upon - illegality and injustice. The same results not mistaken, without exempla." work; a tax, if I be - would follow if they attempted to. enterce the law as " Whereas pamphlets and Printed'. Pap they had done in the case of Mr.. Dickens. And, after and ocouireelecsontaining all, it was necessary to maintain the respectability of the religion, have lately observations upon public events .G. eve . rani , eit te t riding press, and to support our institutions and religion, that to excite hatred and contempt of the Constitution of these.• realms •as by law establised' a tax should be imposed upon. newspaper., was it and also villifyieg our holy k i_ d, fitting that, the discretion of prosecuting ,or .not before the Coca' --en shout ' ' • . .pUblished in great numbers, and at very small in.j6 dbe left to the Board of Inland Revenue? Were Xcisemen sod it is expedient 114... - the same shoutd be r e '. P nei • the parties to whom the guardian s hip of re may it therefore please your 'Majesty that it it-Zsand of our institutions should be entrusted ? If strained, . . to devolve aeon them, as it• was clearly proved uf t,e. it excellent Majetty, by and with this advice and cons Int mittens should be it p - ' that - - may be enacted, and be it enacted by the . ling'a m , s , to decide what publi of the Lards spiritual and temporal, anti Commons, allowed to violate-tr h oceeded against and what should be in this present Parliament assembled, and by the autbo- species of censors of"the4w, they were thus set up as a rite , of the same, that from and after ten days after the with parties, rettticcord. press, and were left to deal nd papers containing it might b e ie . tatd, tug to the letter of the law, but passing of this Act, all pamphlets a or any re. of the Ministryoftimes, in accordance with the wishes any public news, intelligence, or occurrence, . the day, orof - matters in try who might desire that particular any party in the noun marks or observations thereon, or upon any he suppressed It t, particular . publications , should Church or State, print,cl -in any part of the United , . was a most dangerous thing for the Kingdom for sale, and published periodically , or in Government not to enforce the letter ofthe I ...., ease, but to hold it in r terroruet. law in every parts or numbers, at intervals not exceeding 26 nay over the press,' telling between the publicatian of any two such pamphlets, . , . or them thc they might break ' that if , _ tt If . they kept within cer tain limns, but papers, parts, or numbers," &c. d of Tule, in a mariner After these proceedings a Bill passed imposing, by the which the 11.,ar n i Revenueconceived reus to religion .and the les° • to be SUMS enactment, a teepee duty, a newspaper stamp duty, lenge .. tituttona of the c mn• and an adversittentnt duty; it was Rued, •in shirt, that try, they would be, proceeded against. But could an y . the most effectual way °Editing the work of the censer ine believe that the •Government weuld, iii 1852, yen - - was by taxation. R. detiee to the subj'ct, Dian Swift turn to cunal , nce the same crusade against unstamped had Borne curious remarks which deserved attention.— aublications which wee, tarried ..on ,in .183;_?.. He (Hear, hear.) He tani tended, tn a t it b . ,,, i been proved by otelieved• that they would , ihrtak. from, but..:, it,,avrts:=. "Per .„l 4 ___ ° " . that up, to thP.R;esenkiime that th e impose t- -their duty to undertake it;' If, then, they were afraid ticalsys nixe d on 'publiggtiono and peferd was a - a leer is : au esees,he emended um t h ey 3 the way to e 4fvrce THE LONDON,' - ought to repeal it—(Hear, hear)—because by maintain , i i.g it they would be guilty of the grossest injustice. i Now, in order to show the absurdity of saying that a daty was levi , d - upon new s an d o b servat i ons upon news, . he would refer to some unstamped publications, and then leave the H ,use t o g ay m ph e h er th,,y did nut contain matter of this description. The Racing Times and the Racing Telegraph both contained accouuts of the beting other turf news ; th e L egal Observer gave the I and or the races in ttff.rent parts of the country, wiih proceed ings in the courts o f la w; and the Builder a l so con tained news of an ot h er description. Now, he b e li eve d alt these publicati ons were in strictness l i a bl e to b e brought under th e stamp duties; but the Boar d of I In land Revenue had drawn a fiae distinction between class news and general news —that is, it you divide a news paper, which must be stamped, into half a d 'en), each msy be published w i t h out a stamp. He bell .- ve d t hi s distinction was a pur e i nvention of the Board of I n l an d Revenue, and was not to be found in the Act of Pirtle ment, which spoke of " news, i n:ell i gence, an d vccur reeces;" and certainly t h e papers to which b e h a d re curred did detail ~ o ccurrences." But the Legislature by this duty did not a l one affect the publication of facts, but also of obse rvat i ons upon those facts, attac k s on the Ministry, an d so forth. He would, however, ask the House wile, her the extracts from unstamped papers, to which h e would now refer, did not conta i n comments on public events? [ rhe Right Honoura bl e Gentleman then rea d from the Home, con ducted by Richard Osstler, som e comments upon a lato speec h o f Mr. Bright', in th e H ouse of Commons; from the Legal Observer, part of an article i n support o f t h e rep( al of me attorneys' certifi cate duty, and from the Lamp (a penny publication), portions of articles upon the late change of Ministry, and up on " the com i ng elections. "] These were certainly observations on public occurrences , and were liable to the stamp duty; but the Government durst not enforce the law aga i nst t h ose pu bli ca tions, for if they did they wo u ld h ave to deal . with a legion of the m, and would b e i nvolved in the same trouble that they were in 1836, T his Was, he thought, one of t he .trengest possiele rea sons that could be adduced why the House should give its a sse n t to his resolutioni, and why such a law should ba repealed. , The newspaper pro prietory were not entitl e d to he considered as a body having a vested interest i n the maintenance of this tax, nor did he believe that many of that body would urge such a plea against the repe a l of this duty. If, however , they did, he contended th a t P arliament were. neverthe less justified in dealing with these taxes upon broad public grounds. Tae Right Flom. Gentleman concluded by moving the first resolution of Wh i ch he b a d g iven notice. manly with reference to the effect: revenue ei f s t o h of e nti p yh o e li w c e y iothu w n h t i r c v h d ttoi,g,lineastt.heirsTthihteteeoginteflreyd consideration which can influence cue re ference to the effect of h i; resolutions, if carried, upon h taThh a tee v e rtreh l e a vec s eo t nmpuren referred 'etehnnadtts l i mu s :Pn)hmlantctvto'henentateu re to f t make; t taking i n a gny theobserve. three o o g a i n i t u i t important. o e the hba t wyv taken items n think thattwhich te their question of the effect of the duty uponthat aidtveiartaisegmneenattainins e one which should be gravely considered. Ido not want o at whichthis consideration. her moment Majesty's I t yG not Government v convinced 'e) rr more papers,s p n ervationseaki s peaking, e Were o s f h t o h u e ti.e ht ßight rotr, dg H e a m l rv, , h • f t i a thatt at iFi d a s t n at h tal e dm p asa p to r i su a fc;etdi ingeniouscet ;fl a w : s l h yt y . : ut state of things. But again this sutject, I fre e ly should enter into the consi•ieration of any person re sponsible, not only for the finances, but also for thegood government of the country. I distinguish both these motions—the second and third—very much from the first motion on which we are now called to give a deci. sion—the duty on paper. The duty on paper is so large - in amount that every one must hesitate before voting for the surrender of that source of revenu-; and I must warn Honourable Gentlemen not to be carried away by the lively description given by the Right Honourable Gentleman as to the injurious effect of the excise law upon that particular article, and they are not to consider that it is the sole instance in which its injurious effects are discovered.—(Hear, hear.) If we are to relieve the industry of the country by the repeal of the excise duty, it becomes a sub ject reqairing the most impartial and deepest investiga tion before we decide which duty is the one most re quiring to be repealed.—(Hear, hear.) The possibility of obtaining mil, f in this as well as in other instances depends entirely upon the state of the public finances; and when in the course of a week I shall feel it my duty to place before the House the exact state of the finances, lem sure the House will agree—however in teresting discussion or debate may be—that there would be great inconveitience in coming now to a prem-itute decision on any subject of this kind.—(Hear, hear.) I would remind the House of the conduct of the House of late years with regard to the public finances. Every one knows that for a considerable period there has been a determination upon the part of the House of Com mons not to add to the revenue of the country by im posing new taxes.—(Hear, hear.) If there had been any opinion more freely expressed, or more energetically maintained than another, it certainly has been that ex pressed by the majority of this "House, who oppose, directly or indirectly. any increase of revenue by in creased taxation.—(Hear, heer.) They have made war upon the Customs duties, which materially assisted our finances; and now there is a very great objection to the Excise.—(Hear, hear.) Very well; you are taking away every source of your indirect taxation, and I think any gentleman who considers the question should ag ree with me that when you were so precipitately cutting off the sources of your indirect taxation, you ought to have considered whether more relief to the in dustry of the country would not be given if you had either modified or repealed the Excise duties—the source of your internal taxation—than to have reduced the Customs duties, the sourcep particularly the th e e xt ß er i n g a h l t Hnn.taxa tion.—(Hear, hear.) R2member this, th at H onourable sanctioned Gen Gentlemantae this w h opposite,o has principle, brought but,f o a o rud the tb contrary, i smotion, sup ported the policy that reduced the Customs duties.— (Hear, hear.) We have now a great war made against the Excise; you have attacked successfully one great source of our indirect taxation, and you are now attack ingtaxation?—(Elear, hear.) We haves Committee sitting upstairs which is actually making h war upon the prince , ~a another o Butther w s h o a u t r source ourof our position indirect iu t a regarda tati n. — t 0( direct Elea r pal source of your direct taxation.—(Hear, hear.) Whatever may be the opinions of the gentlemeu who form that Committee, it is notorious, both from the ex pressed opinions of the Honourable Gentleman who moved and carried the appointment of that Committee, and of the most important members upon it, that what ever may be their views respecting direct taxation, they disapprove of the principles on which direct taxation at present is levied in this country.—(Elear.) They may tell you that they are favourable to direct taxation, but it e nl v tl e s r t bynte objectionad tiar state—we t w a we x h a i tci which haven with exemptions, t hreeydua cl leeeoapge,,nre:ta t a it.s n o d uTr f ch r ei e s e oi ffs our . prese direct taxation by the repeal of many of the Customs duties—you are now attacking another source of indi rect s t a ir: at ta ch : en like rtiy the establishedpe sent . sub jects of controversy, and are even at this moment under aareffencttiiinlgourthe discussion and investigation of a Parliamentary r E e x c e t i t s a e xa d t taxation can beywmabt;principles upon which direct Committee.—(Hear, hear) . Now, I ask the House duties, while calmly to consider, is that a satisfactory state of the finances of the country?—(Hear, hear.) Is it not wise to pause before you diminish the revenue which you derive from your indirect taxation, until the House and the country have arrived at a knowledge of the proper principles upon which our direct taxation is to be eeteb can anything be more un w is e , ca n a nything be m ote rash, than to diminish the so u rces of your indirect tax ation,lished 2 w — h (:l l e a a t r, t h h e e ar s .) Can anything be more injurious, same time you are challenging the princi.de upon which many sources of your direct tax ation is now established?—(l.l ar.) I put that view with great confidence for the o msideration of the House. —(Hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman has referred Mr. EWAR.T, in seconding th e materialshould °a connected with the pracical education of the people. h Ht. objected to these taxes, in the first place, because deemed Abe siamp ' duty to be a tax upon the rawmotion, said that he did so because this was a que e n course of mabkind, He believed a h talt while the advertisement-duty p", up i ts: o tb e cit i i n g te n r i . ; advan tage of modern times was, that peopletie in igments upon public affairs by deliberating upon the materials furnished them by the p r ase ; the t g o r r u m a t e formed their N or he d e e of society and ;h a o n u d gh n t ot t b h y at, th ii e i ajtation of Reedier astambliestan t e ll !: e d e s t e to u r s i e t y c u o r t e pro th e p p e e r e t c y e , t s il t; y d good every_ means for this elow and delib cr give the P eo p le ate formation of their judgment. On what ground was th e H ouse as k e d to continue these taxes? ,Some peopl e institutions of the country; but , the tact was they were con sider that they were a part of the modern inno vitions. Trio piper duty dated from the wars of Marl borough; the stamp duty was one of recent • • by orlein; and the advertisement , duty was first imposed The paper-duty had proved must adverse Mr. Pitt. to the in terests of the country. 'Mr. Cambers had a Committee of the Route of cowl:l2°llB sta d bef ire drat it had rendered necessary the discontinuance of publication, and Mr. littight had that his aneioUnts!era!d to declare o c t i a r a a t z!. a m o long as it continued it would be impossible to publish such a work as the Penny c It had also the effect of preventing the employment Yel°Pa'6l' The circulation of daily news pa pers ' - of the highest class of talent upon newspapers, The The advertisement duty, as he had already I r alc considered to be a tax upon the highway of ,In said, .lie tercourse—it was this tax which prevented L a e n e l e a ; newspapers arising. Tb was in NeW York (which did not contain morepit,hBauwohniele fourth the population of London) 130,000 co in London it was only 60 000. He believed that the stamp duty was most adverse to the circulation of sound knowledge. In A mer ica every poor man h a d a daily newspaper upon hi s b r eakfast table, and he s h ould like to see the sam e th e case in England. But we were told that if the stamp d uty wa s taken off we sh ou ld cease to have respectabl e newspa p e rs. The reductio n o f the duty from 4d. to 1d.,, i n 1834, had, hoWever, b een f olio wed by a great in crease i n t h e , re spectability of new s p apers; and why, therefore, should the repeal of the duty have an injurious effect? It was then said that if the stamp duty were taken off the newspapers would become local. Ho believed that would be an advantage. The press in America was decidely local, and yet one of the wit nesses before the Committee of the House of Commons said that they were there found to be worth all the schools put together. He believed, indeed, that we should never improve the education of the people until we attacked them on their practice' interests, and ap pealed to them through the newspaper press. So far was he from thinking that an unetamped press would promote the spread of republican doctrines, that he be lieved that if we gave pe .pie under a monarchy every possible advantage which they could obtain under a re public, they would be more and more attached to our conettutiomal monarchy. He thought it was especially the duty of a wise Chancellor of the Exchf=qu,r to re m vs the advertisement duty, for, while it only yielded , in l the . lra c , n m ,i n c t k . y ,,, . r w e a p s e a a l t a o x f of whichthe s a c m y e L n a u t r u d r e A a t s t h ta p t 150,0001, to th e r e v s nue , it presse d upon every interest th l e WAS full 'wed by so great an improvement in the quality , tied so great a reduction in the price of those publica tions. For all these reasons he cordially supported the motion of his Right Hon. Friend; . believing that if, undereour limited monarchy, we removed abuses such as those to which he had .referred, we should not give rise to discontent, but should increase the the well as . the securi , y of pople. In the words of Milton, " That it is not the liberty which we should hope—that no griev ance should ever arise in the com monwealth; that let no man in thisworldexpect; heard, d when complaints are freely ar, deeply considerc . , and speedily reforned, then is the utmost point of civil liberty attained . which a wise man e4ll Lick f or." The CIIAN ' lei LLIBOR of the EXCHEQ UER said— In the few.observai to makeions that I h ave t his motion, I can assure th e Right He Getl - mat' in t t that at neither I nor my coll eagues are all i . t ma nflaenced by those sinister feelings which he has ascribed to some of the men who have been the orig' mato, s or controllers of frankly these duties. I can say , - f or in ) self and my col leagues that we have no f.a r or apprehension r sp-cting tee influence of the press; and in a country like this— in a Country long established in tical liberty, iu a country eminently religious—l cannot admit for a moment' that experienc e drawn from - the I will Instances of other l an d s, where ' not say the enjoy ment, but,the experience of an unrestricted - press, has resulted in circumst ances which we all deplore—should bit br.tught forward as an y warningth to a country like our own. But I must cen s id er much less interesting, much le ss ease. I fear, in a view ss philosophical, much less adapted to charm the House than that which has been pursu,d by the Right 11. c. Gentleman the Member for M ancheeter. It its only in a financial point of view that - loan afford to view it at present. Now w e have before us three propositions, .each. of • which, if carried, affects the finances of t hi s country. and which it car ried all together material! Bight Hum Gentleman firsty affect our tinences. The calls upon tiles House, if not immediately, to express an opinion that the duty on , piper should be stet - dished such an opinion as mud it near repealed, yet to express fin nee the course of the Mi nister responsible fur th e do not wish to contest the ances of the country. I the Right Hon. Gentleman hasaccuracy of the view which the effect of the excise dut taken with respect to facture of that article ; I h y av all paper upon th e manu ready to vindicate the beneficiala influence o f excise never been particularly du ties ; but when the Right Hon. , Gentleman calls our at tention to the iujurieus e tee cts of an Excise duty on the manufacture of this particular injuri ous e ff ect o f t h e article, I am bo un d to say that I am not aware that the excise duties is limited to that rticular. article, or on even that if wwithe compa rtheir e the eff ect er f these regulations eff e t up it would not be possible for me to upon other articles, which their influence le mcre injurious. I do adduce instances in not now wish to enter into dis cussion upon this question, but line of and dilated upon the injurious if I had risen, Excise upon any other article of roeui: _ effeet of the example—l dare say I should have ma ti d uacture—soap for would have carried away the House we equal success, out a case that although the plea might not have be en ith that which has been put forth by the R ills ably urg e d as tleman with regard to the manufactur e gohft Hon. Gen then we must consider whether in thia these Paper. But taxes are not necessary evils, And .we country must consider the ability which we have to relieve the industry of the -country, which is the wisest direction he which we can move; so as to redress any wrong or to eff e ,, et any good. I am not wishing to give an o p inio n in favour of the re lief of soap from the excise. I only menti on i t stenci in preference to that on piper. And I think anin k Right Hon. Gentleman will admit that the effecter the I excise duty are not less injurious upon this me; tt ta' of an ie acture than upon that which is imme dia tely before t atten tion of the House. Well, Si r, I a m therefor e obliged to consider the question as regards the duty oil paper purely in a financial point of view., I :shell be extremely glad, in this instance or in any other instance, to relieve ' industry or to advance the progress of the human 1 and the educatioa of the people, but it is my race to Consider whelier with regard to ihe fi rst duty . tenance of the revenue of this count main ' Y . I can propositions of .this consent • to any . . is kind. 1 cannot say that I shout i feel justified in assenting to the . proposition of the Right Hon. Gentleman. It is ca , rcely fair upon me to press me at this moment upon this • point. I hope that tomorrow week 1 shall place before -the House what I believe to be the real state of the e ( lanced 1 of the country; and when the Right Hon. G ent l eman and his friends are in full peseessima-of the facts which I shall place before them,when they have listened to the views of 'her Majesty's Ministers—it will then be perfectly open to them, if they think themselves • • eusti fied in disputing the policy ,which we reconam ee d , e to advance their own views as counter propositions, and fairly to challenge the attension of the House to them. At present I can only say that I do not feel ,justified i n assenting to a - vote which ' , mule be equivalent to a de claration nn the part of this House that the tax on paper should' be totally repealed. With regard to the ether two, potrits•Which the Right,llenoureb le Gentleirtan has placed .before the 'llOuse, 'Ti mely, the duties on adve lieenieties 'and' . • • , ' - temps I hive n l e • r— ota newepaper 8 I . .._ 9 " nar ... . . .. :tiOn • in sayeng-thai I - thisek - they are shbjects that de serve the very grave consideration of a Chancellor of itio Ezobequ r , Bgt, again, 1 uiStMnfider then] pd. to my having two yr:nrs ago supported a motion Lite the present.—(Hear, hear.) If the House will do me the honour to refer to the few observations which I made on that occasion, I am sure it will do me the justice to say that those observations vindica'el the vote I wive on that oeeasion.—(Elear, hear.) Ido not like to refer to oersonal considerations, or to introduce them into this debate, but as my vote on that occasion has been re ferred to, I beg the House will do me the favour to re fer to the circumstance] under which I gave that v rte. — (Hear, hear.) The House was informej from the Throne that a great pro - Native interest in the c_mntry was sut fering—an interest which I and others represented in suffering ld h e of tbt that s ts fi du ac . f a ; ftt that remissionevpa.ars pa r t i cular c,esu,ii,l,rf)a.n)r t axation oi interest; r e se rt;palsbt thoughtthere uaw.tsuhaleiddtr h, ,iinwit: s syw h tmeo a ruch u e ld neither apply any portion of that surplus to the relief of that interest —or, on the other hand, to the diminution of the public debt. which, by a consequent diminution of general taxatioe, would be a source of general relief.— (Hear, hear.) But, on the contrary, would apply the surplus to purposes I did not approve of, awl in a manner which I thought was unjust and impolitic— (Hear, hear) —and all I meant in the vote which I give on the motion of the Right Honourable Gentleman and in the discussion that took place was this—that if there was to be a remission of taxation which would neither relieve the particular interest announced from the Tnrone to be suffering norfrelieve the general interest by diminishing the general taxation of the country by re ducing the debt, then I preferred the motion o f th e Right Honourable G etleosan to the policy of the Go vernment.—(bear, hear.) I have infinitely preferred to promote the general interests of the country by the re mission of the duty on paper, or by the repeal of the duty on advertisements, or by the abolition of the news paper stamps, than to endeavour to do so by the mewls Which were then recommended by her Majesty's Go vernment.—(Hear, hear.) Ido not see that a position mare fair could be taken by any Member of this House —(Hear, bear)—and from the recollection of which I confess I experience no regret.—(Hear, hear.) I can not enter into the inn resting details with which the Right Honourable Gentleman has again favoured us as he did two years ago. I am not here to dispute his facts, or to chulle ige his conclusions; hut I cannot permit myself, in the present state of affairs, to view the matter, in connexion with the social condition o f the country, which the Right Honourable Gentleman has dwelt upon, or the political consequences that he foresees; I take a more intere-ted view of the subject, and a more limited and narrow•minded one—one confined merely to the effect of the motion of the Right Hon. Gentleman upon the present state of our revenue. —(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman has brought forward a motion which would reduce the revenue by a sum now approaching to nearly I,soo,oool.—(Hear. hear)—because all the items to which he has referred are on the increade.—(Hear, hear.) Ido not of course pretend to give the accurate figure, but I wish to ob • serve that tho Minister of Finance may look to an in crease of the revenue received under the thres beads to which the Right lion. Gewleman's motion has reference. —(Hear, hear.) The lt , ght Hon. Gentleman has asked the House to-assent to a motion of very great import- ante; in a week it will be my duty to piece before the Ruse the exact stare of the finances of the country; and I think I sm not asking too much when I call upon the EL:use to permit me, to place before them the first finan cial statement which I shall have the honour to submit for their consideration, and which I shall submit to them in a few days, without the burden and incumbra,nce ot the House assenting to a vote such es that whioh the Right flOti.-Gentleman has brought forward.—(Hear.) I do not think that it is an unreasonable proposition.-- (I fear, hear.) I cannot think that the 11.itis,s will saw -thin, under the circumstances, the motion ot the Right Hon. Gentleman—(Elsar)—and it is ,with this feeling— limiting my consideration of this motion in the present instaucis merely and strictly to its financial effect upon the revenue ot the c nintry—offeriog on this OCOASin no opinion on those wider questions to which, under the circumstances in which he spelc,,, no doubt he was jus tified in calling the attention of the House —but dean.- ing to place before the House of Commons, on next Fri day, without any of the embarrassment which I Must un- I feel it 'experience from a vote like the present , a clear end disguised Watement of our financial p osition, , my duty, Sir, to oppose the motion of the Right Hon. Gentlemen--(Hear, hear.) Mr. WAKLEY hop-1 that the subject would be t.ken into Consideratioti by the Right Hon Gentleman after he had made his financial statement, and scarcely thought that under the circumstances the debate could pro longed with advantage to any one.—(Hear, rielz.) He hoped the Right Honourable Gentleintn the Meinuer for Manchester sv.iuld agree to the proposal of the H. gnt Honourable Gentleman, and assent to the adjournment of the debate until - that day fortnight, or some other period after they had heard t he financial- statetnene— (Hear, hear.)_ He . brlgecl to move that th e d e b ate should be adjoerned. Mr. COBDEN rose to second t he mo t i on of the lio n . Member for Finsbury, and must say that he had li stened with great attention and with much satisf iction to the ap,sech of the Right Hon. Gentlemen, (ji h e a r. This was not merely to be clwidereu as a fi nanc i al b ut as an educational cpresiott. -- ( ll ea r, hear.) He had sat nn a Committee to inquire into the state of education in the conntry,'And be f i nad that alMeAt ; -TlsUvrable diffi culties were pre'sented t,o 141 0 ..ethlea.tieu ot the seopie hy themsolve - tietir; - li ens.)—lt waa . his ~Tits wish to contribute to the removal of those difficulties by the repeal of the taxes wall which they Proposed to deal, because they were taw that sueeted the ethiestiou of PKIDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1852. the people._(gear, hear.) He was struck with a fact which h al been mentioned on the subj-ot by a gentleman who took great psins on the; ject—Mr. John Cassell —who tradeniblished a great number of valuable works for tho labouring classes. He had placed in his hand a statement of thwe_publications with the amount of taxa tion imposed upon them by the legislation of that House, and be told them that it weighed upon his efforts to educate the working classes to the extent of 4,0001. a year.—(Hear.) When the House pretended that it wished to educate the people, and alleged that it had appointed a Select Committee to consider how they could best administer the public funds for the education of the people, if they retained a law that would impose restric tions upon their self•edacation they would place them selves in the position of hypocrites before the world.— (Hear, heir.) He could not convince himself that to re move the newspaper stamp would impair the revenue. The newspaper stamp yielded 350,0001., and if they took nil' the stamp, and dealt with newspapers like everything else going through post, they might receive, if not the entire, at least a large portion of that sum as postage.— (Hear, hear.) Every stamp put upon a newspaper was a stamp upon modern history, in which they we,re all interested.—( Hear, hear.) The stamp on the newspaper was the greatest obstacle to the progress of intelligence in this country, because it kept the newspaper almost entirely from the great mass of the people.—(Hoar, hear.) It would ba of the greatest advantage to their rural population to be enabled to inform themselves on questions of labour, of wages, and of employment; also with respect to the subject of emigration, the price of land in the colonies, and in foreign countries, and the cost of passage to Australia and to Canada.—(Hear, hear.) Every person must admit that, if newspapers containing such information should find their way to greatest advantage and sm a ll h am l ets, it would be of the advaetage by aw a k en i ng curiosity on the part of the population, and stimulating them to go where they would get a better reward for their labour.—(Hear.) That would tend to diminish the rates which now press upon the rural districts, by stimulating the agricultural population to go to other quarters where they would better their circumstance; but at present the agriclil tural mind, so 'ar as the p , &gantry was concerned, was as much a boat k on those questions as in the times of their Saxon forefather.—(Hear.) A great number of the persons who were lost in the Amiz in had relatives living in England; end he had been Informed that one of the great difficulties of the philanthropists who had formed themselves into an association for the relief of the relatives of those who were lost, was to find out the friends of the parties, and in some cases they wont to parties who had not previously heard of the calamity by which their friends had suffered.—(Hear,. hear.) The reasen of that was, because the greater part of the people were shut out from hesring the current events of the day,—( Hear, hear.) He thought this was a question that affected the education of the people, and he hoped from what the Right Honourable Gentleman bad said, that the Government with which he is connected would deal with it in a satislacmry manner.—(Hear, hear.) If they carried out the suggestion of his Right Honourable Friend they could do nothing that would be more calcu lated to give them popularity; it would make them more popular than anything else they could do in their situa tion.—(Hear, hear.) He was inclined to hope forsome thing on this question from the Governmeut.—(Hear.) He must bear his testimony to the fact, that in the Com mittee lest year he was pleased with the conduct of the Member for the University of Dublin, who is now a member of the Government.—(Hear, hear.) For his conduct on this qoestion they felt they were deeply in debted to hies, and if his spirit animated the Cabinet with which he is connected, they might hope to see the questiosa fairly dealt with by the present Government. — (Hear, bear.) If they did what was necessary, they would receive it from their hands with as cordial a re cognition of its value as from any other Government. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL wished to make a re mark in repay to an observation that had been made in reference to hide as he conceived it was calculated to lead' to a misunderstanding of his conduct respecting House hold Words. Mr. M. GIBBON—The Household Narrative. The ATTORNEY-GENEUAL—He thanked the Right Hon. Gentleman for setting him right, end he begged to inform him that the information against the Household Narrative had been filed by his predecessor in office. It was insisted that it was a newspaper and liable to stamp duty, and the matter was discussed in the Court of Exchequer. The judges differed upon the question, there being three to one in favour of the exemption of the publication in questton.—(Hear, hear.) The late Attorney-General and Solicitor- General had the subject submitted to them for consi deration, and it was also submitted to the leading counsel of the department of the Stamps and Taxes, and they were all of opinion that the judgment of Baron Parke was a more correct judgment than the judgment of the majority of the Court.—(Hear.) When he (the Attorney-General) came into office the case was laid before him and the Solicitor-General, with the opinions of their predecessors, and they considered the course that was to be pursued. Without entertaining a very strong opinion one way or the other, they felt it was essential that the law should not be left in the uncertain or unsatisfactory state in which it was, and that it was desirable to obtain the judgment of a superior tribunal.—(Hear, hear.) Under those circumstances they recommended that a writ of error should be issued, and the opinion of the Court of Error taken on the question.—(Hear, hear.) On reflection, he could not feel that he had acted other wise than with a due regard to the interests of the public, and with an earnest desire that this important question should be settled.—( Hear, hear.) In answer to the re mark of the Right Hen. Gentleman, that no prosecutions had been impaired with respect to certain other publt cations, he b , gged to say that he never before had heard of most (if tie rn, and that he had never seen any of them. —(Hear. he tr.) Me. CO AT AN hoped that they should not be placed in a worse position or. filet day fortnight than they were e t that moment, and thought it would be satisfactory if they r , ceivid some further assurance from the Right 119 n. Gentlemen. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—If the Hon..Geirletnati wishes mu to tell him what I intend to say ou Feidsy we' IC, it is really not in my powertodo so. Mr. IM GIBBON.—I was not in the House, but I un derstand that the Right Hon. Gentleman said the ad vertisement and stamp questions are under the considera tion of the Government, and under the circumstances, and with that understanding, I cordially agree to the adjournment —(Hear,) Pbe CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—I em sorry there should be any mizeinderstanding on the part of the Right Hon. Gentleman with respect to anything I said. 8%) long as I have the conduct of the House I should be very much annoyed if any deception had taken place.—(Hear, hear.) I should not wish the Right Hon. Gentlemen, or any of his friends, to think that the question is under the consideration of the Government at all with reference to his motion, or more specifically than it is the duty of the Government to consider the taxation of the country on all its branches; in that way the consideration of those taxes is not omitted —(Hear.) No statement has been made by me to lead him to sup pose that it is under more particular consideration— ( Hear)—the proposition for adjournment did not come from toffs side.—(Hear.) I proposed no terms. I m e rely =fated that on to-morrow week I shall wake tee financial statemenr.—(Hear.) Mr. 11U hoped the Government would well con sider the question, and begged to inform the Rght lion. Gentleman of a fact which, perhaps, he was not aware of. A deputation, consisting of about fifty or sixty in dividuals connected with the paper trade, having waited on Lord John Rus se ll, w h en h e was at t h e h ea d of the Government, his Lordship distinctly stated to them that he rested his objections to their proposition entirelxt.on financial grounds, and a s s uch only he would view i (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Hume) would suggest that. newspaper stamp be removed, and let newspapers theh passing e put in the same category as letters and parcels to prive through the Post-effice, fur they did not want the Government of a penny o(postage.—(Hear, hear,) of newspapers It appeared -that while 91,000 000 copies in the 3811, were altogether circulated in this country the number circulated in the United States amounted to 422,700.000.—(Hear). He begged t Nwih tor o o ce r lla c ttention tn t: a paper that had been established n instruction of the neighbouring population. He (Mr. Hume) thought Norfolk was as much benightedsany ' county in the kingdom. A we a ver_ published the u paper to which he had adverted with a fair desire to benefit his fellow men; but in stepped the tax-office and said he should not publish it. He (Mr. Hume) considered thu' in an educational, moral, and fiscal point of view, this tax was injurious to the public, and he was extremely happy that his Hon. Friend bad moved the adjournment of the debate, because by that course time would be given to the Gevernuient to consider the subject. For his part, he scarcely knew Any earaes that could be taken by which t h e a gricultural community would be more belie fitted than by taking off toe paper-tax.—(Elear, hear. M r , yg) mo A L'T regrettKl th at t h e Hon. Member fur g e echsster had adopted the su:gestien for adjourning the debate. He thought it would have been better 'to h ave gone to a division, as the result would probably have had Abe effect of strengthening the hands of the y G ( Ors-seument in any wish they might have to put att - sand to this injurious twee But as it was, he hoped the mo tion was for a b on a f i de adjournment of the debate to a specifi• d day. Mr. FIiEWEN (amid cries of .te Q I"sti° deference to a reset ureon passe d said, in at a meeting ot a com mittee in Sussex, embedied eeth Vie view ot procuring she abulitiou of the b trl duty, to the effect, that as the new Government had just then come into office it would only be fair towards them that he should postpone his motion in referencate that questi on, he had accordingly postponed that mot i on , not wishing tmeeeeasariyt,,em. hatless the Government at the very moment they came into power. The debate was thin adjourned to Wednesday the 12th May. The Exchequer-bills (1 7 ,742,800/ ) Bill, as amended, was considered. The Linen, &c., Manufactures (Ireland) Bill was read a third time. Toe Loan Societies Bill and the Stock-in-Trade Bi severally passed through Genneittee. The [louse edieereee a• a Quarter past Ei -[A :ht o'clock DVERTISEMENTT-----A. Life Guardsman, one of the Heroes of Waterloo, cured of Rheumatism by Holloway's Ointment and l'ills.—Mr. Thotnai Brunton, landlord of the Waterloo Tavern, Coatham, Yorkshire, was afflicted for many months with rheumatism and rheumatic gout. His legs were dreadfully painful, and disfigured with colours of every hue, frightful to behold. For ten weeks he was wholly unable to walk, the treatment he received from several medical men not only failing to do him any good, but leaving him in factina considerably worse condition. At this juncture Holloway's Pi lls _ and Ointment were resorted to, and by their.sole means he P st a: been restored to health ,and 4rengto. bz D r Ar i and been _ Professor 'Helloway's ZstablillsEnefft; - 244. St ran d, London. . a ELECTIO N . E XPENSES .— An W- d tted in the zn* two years life of Lord Jeffrey that his election expenses allioutfo4 to t4O zand MU 9( C°‘. tiogiaNd Poo"' s INAVAL INTELLIGENCE. PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 22 —Admiral Si r T . B r i ggs , G.C.M.G , Commander-in-Chief, with Captain Chads, of the Excellent, Captain Martin, of the Victory, and Flag- Lieutenan t Pasley, proceeded to Spithead this morning in the Sprightly steam-tender, to muster and inspect the ship's company of the Orestes, and returned again at one, P.M.; after inspection, the Orestes removed her powder and shell, and came into harbour to be paid off. The Encounter, 14, steam-frigate, Captain Gordon, will come into harbour to-morrow. The Neptune, 120, Captain Scott, flag of Rear -Ad miral Prescott, is getting down her jury yards and top mast, which are to be replaced by her seagoing ones. The William Jardine convict-ship sailed from Spit heed this afternoon. SHEERNESS, THURSDAY MORNING. --Her Majesty 5 paddle-wheel steam-sloop Bisilibk, 6, Commander G. H. Gardner. and screw steam-vessel Desperate, 8, Lieute nant St-vans, left port on Tuesday, at fi ve, p. m ., and anchored at the Nore, waiting the arrival of the vessels forming the Arctic Expedition. Her ?Ilajesty's paddle-wheel steam vessel Lizard, W. Brockman, Second Master, commanding, left port at 11 AM. on Tuesday, for Chatham, having on board Vice- Admiral the Hue. Josceline Percy, Commander-in Chief at the Nore; Captain the Hon. Montague Stopford, Flag Captain of her Majesty's ship Waterloo, 120; and Capt. G. R. Mundy, of ner Majesty's ship London, 90. The Lizard returned to her moorings in the harbour in the evening. 'I be flag of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Josceline Percy was struck on board the Waterloo at sunset on Tuesday, the Gallant Officer having gone on leave to attend her Majesty's levee. Captain C. Hope, Superintendent of the dockyard. hoisted his broad pendant on board the Mo narch, 84, as Acting Commander-in-Chief during the Port Admiral's absence. IL r M..jssty's ships Assistance, 2, Captain Sir E. &Acker, C. 13.; Rasulute, 2, Captain H. Kellett, C. 8.; North Star, 2, Commander William J. S. Pullen; In trepid., 2, screw steam-ship, tender to the Resolute; and Pioneer, 2, screw ettaaasassel, tender to the Assistance, arrived at the Great Nare, from Greenhithe, at 7.30 A,lll. 3eaterdsy, the first three in tow of the Light ning, the M 'likes', and the African steamers respec tively. At 9 aat her Majesty's steam-vessel Myrtle, Mr. W. S. Bouichier Master commanding, conveyed Captain C. Hope, Sverinienifent of the Dockyard, -and senior port naval effi,:er (pro. tam.), on a visit to Sir E. Belcher, returning at noon wits the captains of the several ships, who were eatertained at luncheon by Cap tuiu C. Hope. A dockyard cuter was kindly placed at the disposal of the offisers belonging to the ships its port, for the purpose of affording them an opportunity of visiting the Arctic explurina F quadr on of which many availed themselves. At 1P N. the Myrtle, with the bread pendant flying of Captain C. Hope, returned to the Nore with the officers, who came into port. Between I and 2 P.M. signal was made to the Basilisk, Desperate, and the other steamers to get up their steam, and at 3 o'clock the squadrons weighed anchor and started on their voyage, the sailing-vessels being each in tow of a tug-vessel, and carrying with them the hearty wishes of every one for success in the entsrprise in which they are engaged. The Basilisk and Desperate wilt accompany them to the edge of the ice, in order to render any assis tance they may require. It is rumoured that her Majesty's ship Royal George, 120, sent to Chatham on Monday, for the purpose of being docked and got ready for commission, will, when fitted, supply the place of the Waterloo, 120, as flagship at this port, in which case the latter ship will be em ployed on foreign service. Her Majesty's ship London, 90, Captain G. R. Mundy, was removed yesterday from her moorings abreast the town-pier. to others laid down for her in the centre of the harbour. Her Majesty's ship Herald, 8, Captain H. M. Den ham (1846), will be cawed here from Chatham to-day, on her way to the South Seas. Her Majesty's screw steam frigate Horatio, 22, Cap tain the Hou. S. J. Carnegie, will proceed on her trial cruise on Saturday, according to present arrangemente. APPOINTMENTS. WOOLWICH, APRIL 22.—Masters—John G. Mugford (1841), to the Amptutio, 34, screw-frigate, of 300-horse power, advanced war steamer, at Sheerness; Stephen Sp (1846), to the Cyclops, paddle-wheel steam frigate of 320-horse power, advanced war steamer, at Sheerness. Second Mufti. Henry W. Inglis (1849). recently fferving in the Vulcan. screw steam troop-ship, to the Victory,.flag-stop at Portsmouth. Mastery's Assistants—W. L. Dodds and W. E. M•Grath to the Fiagard flagship at Woolwich. Commander George L. G. Bowyear (1851), having completed a course of study IT steam at the factory as Woolwich Dockyard, was examined on Monday and Tuesday last by Mr. Charles Atherton, chief engineer , and having been found to have acquired a knowledge of the properties and the uses of she various parts of marine steam-engines, received his certificate ac cord ingl y._ The Vivid, Dover mail steam-packet, Captain Smithett, Will be ready to return to Dover on the 24th inst., to re sume htr ,duties on that station. She has been fitted with new boilers. The Herald surveying-vessel, Captain Henry Mangles Denham, is expected to arrive at Woolwich this evening from Chatham, to receive her boats and other articles previous to her departure with her tender, the Torch, Lieutenant Commander Citimmo, for the purpose of sur veying the South Seas, where she will be employed in that ardirm. duty among the numerous islands inhabited by savages fur a period of from five to seven years. The Ag tinemoon, 90, builliug at Woolwich Dock yard, will be seedy Lir launching after Saturday next; out, according to present arrangements, the launch will not take place until the 21st of May, between two and three o'clock in the afternoon. Toe ways have been completed and carried out to the river, and aegis are in progress of being put up to accommodate a number of .pr-c &tors on the occasion of t i e launch taking place. It is expected this fine vessel will be commissioned shortly after she is hunched, as it is desirable to have 11.-r tried at that earl O-s; possible period. Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel (1837), formerly of the Meander, 44, is named as likely to have the command of her. COUR l' CIKUUt-Att. The Queen held an Investiture of the most Honour able Order of the Ba h. at three o'clock yesterday afternoon, at Buckingham Palace. Her M a jesty the Queen, overeign of the Order, and Field-Marshal his Rayal Highness the Prince Albert, Great Master of the Order, were conducted to the Throne-room by the Lord Chamberlain and the Lord Steward. There were present—Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, Lord Viscount Strangford, General Lord Viscount Combermere, Field-Marshal the Marquis of , e sp i u e r u y t , e n G s e n n t e . r G a e l n Earl L o o f r S d t s r a e ff a I: o r n d : t Ait he g E le a s r e l y o ' l L C o l r a d re ff nd e o Y n t Lieutenant-General Sir Willoughby Cotton, General Sir Howard Douglas, Bart, Lieutenant General Sir George Pollock. Lieutenant-General Sir Charles James Napier, the Earl of Ellenborough, the and el a oy r n q pd u lue i e s ats o eed f d z a r ni c.Y e s j Cald well, led- Natonruiryansbyo,meLrsieetTeannadut-GLeirillant.oordeneFrai.i Sir James Lilly man Cald well. bet L woere d u l3r L ou r tht k op ii h zr a o v y ing s, b m ee e n rs i e n ‘ tro a d n u a c g e Sr d aici b i n dro , er u e Le l l r t tif f] e , rttwhoe Broughton Ju n n o io a r rk K noe n fl i t g kb h : t if s : G rhet r ht a oh n oe d d C u r p o t s ) isi Queen, pr esent, d e eihet,r Lordship, honour to El k i w ss ith he t r heri Majesty'stanc a h n d badge they Master, Ma jesty, with the Sword of State, was gleen rhea, with the assistance of and. Th e who investedhad aKnight Grand Cru-s (civil division) L Lordthe h o ß n r having delivered to him the st ar, ton) of the Bath, and kissrd his Soverei , Ws hand, and r . his Lordship again The following lila gh:o Gran d el !red. introduced, and were respe ctively Cross were severally Ma jesty, assisted by his x.,._ invested by her with the insignia of a yfilbibtighntts the Great Master, division) of the ()icier Knight Grand Cross (military Peregrine Aittitlaud, Admiral the Bath, viz.:—General Sir BiedeL Cape!, L,ute tniral the HOU. Sir Thomas I )Id, Lieute,,,,et- Gen-Geueral Sir Alexander Wood- Lieutenent-General Str4 j‘ B ,h ir Henry Frederick Bouverie, The officers were not !I Fex Burgoyne. knighted, that honour having been already cam . Lieutenant erreu upiti them General Sir . Thomas Downman, Vice- Admiral the H a nourable Sir Anthony Maitland, and Lieut-General Sirthe Archib a ld M ac l a i n e were invested Sovereign as Knights-Commanders (military division), Msjur-Gen era l J o h n Owen, Li eut• Gen eral George Charles D'Aguilar, Lieutenant-General Henry Gold tiuch, Lieutenant General John B e ll,Lieutenant-General George Brown, Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby, and Rar. Admiral William Fairbrother Carroll, were .intro duced, and had the honour of Knighthood conferred upon them by the Queen, and were invested by her Ma jesfy with the insignia of Knights Commanders (mili tary division). The green had a dinner-party last eveening at Buckingham Palace. The company included the Duchess of Aaiun, the Marquis of Salisbury, Earl Delawarr, the Earl and Countess of Wilton, Earl Jermyn, Lord El phinstone, Lord and Lady Cremona, and ColonelWyld. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge visited Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg, on Wednesday, at Buckingham Palace. Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg went to Claremont yesterday morning. and visited the Countess de Neuilly and the French Royal Family. His Serene Highness took leave of her Mak•sty and his Royal Highness . Prince Albert last evening, and quitted Bucking Palace at a quarter before eight o'clock, for the terminus. of the South-Eastern Railway, travelling to Dover, es. route to Ostend and Brussels. • 'on the the Finance Committee of the Royal Conm esi the Exhibition of 1851 had a meeting yester da y , at Palace of Westminster. ssociation o f. A deputation from the Light Does A ' London had an interview yesterday with the Right Hon. J. W. Henley and Lord Colchester at the Board of Trade. d an interview with Mr. Lord Gray, of Gray, be day at the Home-choice. The &cretery Walpole yester . with Elrl of Chichester bad also an int e rv iew the Ri g h t Hon, Gentleman. a Deputation had an Mr. Macqueen an d Heat. J . W. _ interview yesterday with the ItightoriTur;:jd Henley and Lord Colchester, at the R.ard a. Mr. W. Parish. Robertson, Consnl-General of the Equsdor, bed art i!_rterv.,i,ewowoh the Etrl o f M a l mea b ury yesterday', at the F.?ret, ffice, Tue Oxford Uroversety Commission had effi-ial r i a meeting yesterday at t" - (f.d t Ew e of the First . e list Lord tat the Treasury in Daweilig-stri et. Thteedmhridge University Co mmis s ion had a meeting on Wetitiebday, at the tifii , Aa I ' of the Treasury in I tow!, • residence of the First Lord ine-str c pt. i 11•••••,............ - E. - -411 - ATTni , - . -.AllEGßlTlOlta,cou„king agent its i t to must drawn u stte ou bt t of hetin tt ra n n e t i s g , h w b h o o neighbourhood areo rapidly. Lincolnshire, w i iti og to his principal says:— “ Cash seems o pa r i zhel mai, as o arms ' me , r 50 geighbour3 kg going in large numbers I suppose