The Sun. — London, England, 1852-05-01 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, April 30. Their Lordships assembled at Five o'clock. Lord REDESDALE presided on the Woolsack in tho l'usence of the Lord ChancellOr. GENERAL ROSAS. Lord MALMESBURY, in answer to a question put to him by a Noble Lord, stated that instructions had been sent to the authorities at Portsmouth, to give every facility to General Rosas in clearing his luggage, Sic. It was simply a mark of courtesy due to any dis tinguished foreigner. The Earl of ABERDEEN was of opinion that show ing any courtesy to General Roias would be considered as sours degree of partizanship, which would have a mis chievous effect. Lord BEAUMONT applauded the motives which had actuated the British Government in this affair. The Noble Lord did not consider it proper, because in foreign countries we might be liable to misapprehension, that we were entitled to show want of courtesy to a foreigner who had tccupied the position of General ROMS. PETITIONS. 1 . . , )rd ABERDEEN presented a petition from a place in Scotland in favour of tho abolition of tests in the Scotch Univ,rsities. CROWN CHURCH WARDENSIIIP OF MARY- LEBONE. Lord PORI'MAN said that he did not desire to procer d with the motion, because he had received a communication from. ; the Prime Minister, which satis fief'. him that his removal from office of the Crown churchwarden of St. Marylebone, without •any intimation of his intended removal, was neither founded on political nor personal ground, but solely on a misconception as to the right coarse of proceeding arising from the inexperience of the First Commissioner of Works, and from the inaccurate infor mntion given to him as to custom in this case. The Earl of DERBY stated, in explanation, that the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Home Affairs had received a communication from the rector of the parish, stating that a new Crown churchwarden must shortly be elected, and that the old one was desirous of retiring. COT2YRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL. Lord BEAUMONT stated that the object of the con vention had been to reduce the duties upon books. To this extent he quite agreed. For the translation of works., also, the author had the power of authorising any particular translation of his work. This also the Nob) Lord considered reasonable. Bat it went furt'aer; an author might for five years prevent any other parson from translating his works, and th'Ls the Noble LDrd considered to be a very dan gerous right. The Noble Lord also stated other reasons •which induced him to think that his Bill would extend the power of copyright too far. The Marquis of NORMANBY stated that the object of the Bill was to prevent pirated editions of English works being circulated abroad. In a conversation which till) Noble Lord had held with Monsieur Galignani that gentleman had told him that in his opinion the soessure was a most excellent one, and deserved the greatest support. The Noble Marquis was convinced that the better part of English literature would receive ( 1 0,g.ece of protection that it had never received before. Ur.derthese circumstances he should support the Bill. Lord CBAN WORTH was of opinion that it was ne tessary to consider both the advantages and disadvan tages, and see which preponderated. He himself would not offer any opposition to the Bill. • After some further conversation the Bill passed through Committee. The Prevention of Sheep Disorders Bill and the Exchequer Bilis till were then read a third time. Their Lordalairt adjourned a few minutes before Six o'clock. ROUSE OF COMMONS, April 30. The SPEAKER took the Chair a few minutes before Poor o'clock. NEW MEMBER. Mr. LAsLurr, the new Member for Worcester, took the oaths and his seat. The Hon. Gentleman was introduced by Sir Joshua Walmsley and Mr. Cobden. PRIVATE BILLS. The East London Waterworks Bill and Scarborough Market and Approaches Bill were considered and agreed to. The British Empire Mutual Life Assurance Com pany Bill was read a third time and passed. PETITIONS. - Several petitions were presented against the grant to Ilaynooth. Sir J. FILMER presented several petitions from various places in Kent praying foz the repeal of the hop duties. A number of petitions were presented praying for the repeal of the attorneys' certificate duty. Mr. T. BARING presented a petition praying the House to take steps to prevent the adulteration of coffee. Mr. W. WILLIAMS presented several petitions from various parts of Wales against the Militia Bill. Mr. MANGLES presented a similar petition from Budmin, and Mr. H. BERKELEY from Bristol. Mr. SCULLY presented a petition from the county of Tipperary in favour of tenant-right. Lord lIARRY VANE presented a petition from the College of St. Cuthbert, in the county of Durham, pray ing to be exempted from the operation of the Charitable Trttsts Mr. lOCKII ART presented a petition from th© hand loom weavers of Scotland, in tavour of home colonisation. Mr. TUFNELL preitmted a petition from Devonport praying for ao alteration of the present mode of asses sing houses for the income-tax. MILITIA BILL. Mr. W. J. FOX gyve notice that in Committee ho Should move the iiiscrtion of a clawie in the Militia Bill, to the effect that no insti should be halite to compulsory service in the militia whose tmrno was not on the regis tration list as an elector for some city, county, or borough. THE CAPE. Mr. HUME wished to ask the Secretary for the Co lonies whether petitions had been received from the Cape to her Majesty for the removal of the Government Se cretary, M r . montugu, ,on the ground of his continued obstruction of the passage of the Constitution Ordi tineas; and if so, whether copies of such petitions would be presented to the House? Sir J. PAiiINGTON said by the last mail several pe titions were received, some in favour of the new consti tution, and others against it. One of the former was ai4ned by 400 or 500 persons, praying for the removal of Mr. Montagu, but he did not think it would be wise to produce it at present. Mr. HUME wished to know when they were to re ceive further acecunts of the proceedings of the war? Sir J. PAKINGTON said ho could not answer that 'Nettie(' till the next mail arrived. THE UNIVERSITY COMMISSION. 1. Mr. HEYWOOD asked the Secretary of State for the Department whether a report from the Commis actZie" appointed to irluire into the University and lay `; 4I• ', n gca of Oxford had been received, and when he will mr the table of the House? the 7ALPOLE• said he had received the report of table uzittlt Commission, but he could not lay it on the do so. he received the permission of her Majesty to WEBEe. In e l ' AND MONTREAL RAILWAY. . e t' t y, A t l i _Mr. COBDEN, Sir J. given no esse:IGPN said the late Government had this railway; b : t r e ver as to giving a guarantee to and under th e conside subject was now in neaotiation ration, of the Government'. Before say guarantee s would be taken omit" 11 the opinion of Parliament GENERAL On the motion that the Rou ß se ° a S t t rising until Monday next, do adjourn Mr. ROEBUCK called for the Production of the Treasury order issued to receive M. p a ssing of his effects and lugga ge h the throe Roses, and to fa c i- litate the Custom-house, and asked questions duct of the authorities at Plymouth pettin g g ecting the con- General M. Rosas. The Honourable Mer n i Z t s li a t i erri vel of ROla9 had been guilty of great atrocities Bye was no friend to tho people o f this count Mexico. v,ood government, and he should be gla d or f to with the was true that this Treasury warrant had been i sso l v d i ? it The CHANCELLOR of the EXCREQ „..,,,., ITeatt said say i ng that the order was this country had long been in negotiation General, and her Majesty had made treaties with hi tn , aod he had no hesitation in tent down. It was a matter of form, and Government had no desire to shrink from its responsibility. It did no t exempt the goods and chattels of the General fr om the duties which the law imposed upon them, b ut simply required the Custom -house authorities to extend to the General that consideration and courtesy which was due to a erson who had filled the exalted station which the General had recently lost.—(Hear, hear.) Any other indulences which had been granted to the General, the Gover n ment e not responsible for, were but they were ' ' quite willing to acknowledge the Treasury ofder.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME said the Government had gone out of its ave y in this matter, and he should be glad to know if the to diniralty had sent out any orders.—(Hear, hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said no orders had been issued by the Admiralty, but the Go vernment entirely approved of all that had been done in this matter. MAJOR BROWNRIGGE. In reply to Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. NAPIER said the Government had received a report from Major Brownriggo on the subject of ribbon ism, and a Dublin newspaper, in defiance of all previous courtesy, had published its contents. The newspaper knew more of his intentions on the subject than he did 'himself; but he could assure the House that the Go vernment had not yet made up its mind on the subject of the report. then The motion for the adjournment of the House was agreed to. THE BUDGET. t kute buring resolved itself into a Committee of NNlnys and Nleanp, The 'CIiA.Nr.3ELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose and 2ftid,—A chief branch of the revenue having ceased by lapse of time, and a considerable en- tied, it wo u ld b e ine deficiency nte having consequently bent on me, were there no other to the state of the reason, to invite the h consideration of the H ouse o f C ommons cial considerations pubave lic so fin ances. Of l ate years, commer naixed themselves up with the transactions and engagements of public finance, and, unhap pily, political passion has so blended itself with all the topics of commercial controversy, that I feel it would almost be pre sumptuous in me to hope that on Oils occasion I should be able to engage not only the serious, bnt the calm and unim passioned attention of the House, to the grave subject I am now about to bring under its consideration. But when I re collect that upou the cerrect"s3 of the PthlClPlee Cal Which THE SUN, the finance of the country is founded must mainly depend the t greatness of the realm and the happiness of the peopll— Hear)—l am not altogether without hope that I may in duce gentlemen on either side of the mouse to dismiss from their minds all prejudgments and prejudices, and to join with me in the attempt clearly to compreheed the exact financial position of this country.—(Hear.) When the Minister responsible fo r th e con dition of the finances finds himself in the position to which 1 have just adverted— when he has to submit to the House facts which none can dispute, that a considerable source of revenue has ceased to ' exist, and that by its cessation there is necessarily a consi derable deficiency in the public income, there is, of course, one question which inevitably occurs to every one engaged in such discussions as the present —namely, what are the soundest means—what, at the same time, is the most papa , lar and the most practicable method,—or perhaps I ought to say on such a subject, what is the method the least unpo pular, and the most practicable, by which me may sup ply the deficiency, which none can deny?—(Hear, hear.) It is unnecessary for me to remind the Hotta*, that the re venue of this country is raised, generally speaking, by three modes—by duties on articles of foreign import, by duties on articles of domestic manufacture, and largely by a system of direct taxation. Now, we have to inquire, in the first place, what are the means, which are the most prac ticable, and to which I should be most successful in ob taining the consent of the House to have recourse, in order to place the finances of the country in that satisfactory state in which I am sure that gentlemen, whatever seat they may occupy, would wish to see them. With respect to the first method, namely, the raising an increased supply by duties on articles of foreign produce imported into this country, I should observe that a very considerable branch of revenue is still raised by that mode, and that, perhaps, is the first method which naturally pre sents itself for obtaining an additional supply. Bat, if I try to anticipate what may be the opinion of the House of Commons on that point—if I pass under my review what has occurred on the subject of the Customs' duties for the several years during which the present Par liament has existed;—if, indeed, I extend the range of my observation, and examine what has been the conduct of the Parliament which preceded the present, I do not certainly think that in the present Parliament the prospect of supplying a deficiency by increased Customs' duties is very encouraging.—(Cries of " Hear," from the Opposition.) Since the year 1842, now ten years ago—l take that period because it is an epoch frequently referred to in this House, and considered by many, I myself think erroneously, as the inangurative epoch of a new system in the management of our finances and our commerce,—since, I repeat, the year 1842 up the year 1851 inclusive, I find one very remarkable feature in the financial management of this country, viz., that in every one of those past ten years there has been a reduction of the daties on foreign articles im ported into this country. There is no single year of those ten years in which there has not been a reduction, and a considerable reduction, of the the means of raising revenue by duties on articles of foreign import. You have in those ten years repealed or reduced the duties on coffee, timber, currants, wool, sugar, molasses, cotton wool, butter, cheese, silk manufactures, tallow, spirits, copper ore, oil and sperm, and an amazing number of other articles, which produced a small amount of revenue, with respect to which it is not material, and would be almost prepos terous, that I should trouble* the House in de tail. It is sufficient for me to observe this remarkable fact, that the reduction of your Customs' daties from 1842 has been systematically continuous; that in 1842 you struck of nearly 1,500,0001. of revenue calculated from the Customs' duties ;—that in 1843 you struck off 126,0001 ; in 1844, 279,000/. ; in 1845, upwards of 3,500,000/. ; in 1846, upwards of 1,150,000/. ; in 1847, upwards of 343,0001. ; in 1848, upwards of 57000/. ; in 1849, upwards of 384,000/. ; in 1850, up wards of 331,000/. ; and in 1851, upwards of 801,0004 ' • making an aggregate in those ten years of nearly 9,000 , 0 0 01 . sterling.—(Loud cries of " Hear!") Well, then, having a deficiency to supply, and looking to the sources whence that assistance which is necessary, might most probably be ob tained, I think, after the catalogue of remitted duties which I have just read, it would be somewhat preposterous on my part to suppose that I could induce the present House of Commons to supply the deficiency by the imposition of fresh duties on imports. Have I, then, a more encouraging pros pect if I seek to supply the deficiency by having recourse to duties on articles of domestic manufacture? In the con troversies on commercial legislation which have occurred of late years, and which have especially prevailed during the last six years, two opinions have been advocated in this House, and have been very warmly supported in the coun try, as to the preferable means by which you might relieve the industry of this country. One important party in this House and in the country have advocated, and successfully advocated, the repeal of Customs' duties, and the prevalence of their opinions—the triumph, I would say, of their opinions —in this House has been exemplified by that table I have just referred to, and which I have had prepared for the information of the House. Bat there has also been in this House a party, if not triumphant, still very important from their numbers and from the zeal and conviction with which they have maintained their opinions, who have as serted, on the contrary, that the best mode of relieving our native industry is by the remission or repeal of what are called Excise duties. No one advocated that opinion with a greater amplitude of statistical learning than my late and ever-lamented friend Lord George Bentinck ; and it is an opinion which is sanctioned also by the authority of writers of the highest consideration, and one which I myself consider to be entitled to the gravest attention and consideration.—(Hear, hear.) But if there be Members on one side of the House who are of opinion that you must not supply a deficient revenue by a Customs' duty, and, on the other, Members who are equally of opinion that an Excise duty is more injurious to the industry of the country than a duty on the import of foreign articles, what is the prospect of success for a Chancellor of the Exchequer if his means of supplying a deficiency are limited to those two, still impor tant, sources of our public wealth? But this is not all. It is not merely that a very important party in this House are opposed to Excise duties, because they think their influence is peculiarly pernicious to the exercise of our national in dustry, but even Hon. Gentlemen opposite —even those who consider a Customs' duty the greatest fiscal grievance —even they have evinced during the last ten years scarcely less re pugnance to raising our revenue by duties on articles of do mestic manufacture. Let me now place before the House a catalogue of the successful invasions which have been made during the same period of the last ten years. upon that great source of our revenue—the Excise. Whilst you have reduced the calculated resources of revenue from Customs by an amount of 9,000,000/. during that time of ten years you have also in the same period repealed the Excise duty on vinegar, auctions, glass, and, finally on bricks; by which an amount of revenue nearly as large as 1,500,000/. has been abstracted from the Excise, simulta neously with your successful assaults on the Customs' re venue.—(Hear, hear.) But is that all? Can I forget what occurred in this House only about a week ago, when a Right lion. Gentleman, once a member of the late Adminis tration, connected in that capacity with the department which peculiarly watches over the fortunes of our trade and navigation—the Member for Manchester, an active member, too, of that confederation which has exercised of late years so considerable an influence on the finances of this country, came forward and proposed a repeal of Excise duties, which would virtually have further reduced the public in come by 1,400,000/. Linder these circumstances the House will agree with me, that not only with respect to Customs' duties, but also with respect to Excise duties, the Minister who proposed to supply a deficiency by increasing their num ber or amount would embark upon an enterprise extremely hopeless. Bat I fear that the difficulties of an individual in ray position are not limited by these two branches of revenue on which I have touched. We hear a great deal in the pre sent day, and often from Gentlemen opposite, that the preferable mode of raising revenue is by what they call di rk et taxation.—(Hear Irons some Member on the Opposition benches.) I receive that cheer as evidence of the attention of the Honourable Gentleman, and I am honoured by it; but, I fear that when I pursue the critical investigation to which I solicit hia attention, I shall not find that wel come adhesion to the principles of direct taxation which at present he seems to evince. —(Hear, hear.) Now, we have had during the last ten years considerable experience of the temper of the House of Commons and of the country with respect to this third mode of rasing the national revenue; and I wish to draw, I would say, the most serious attention of the House to this very im portant branch of taxation. It is exactly ten years ago since one of the most e m i nent of modern statesmen, who was the principal means of effecting that reduction in our Customs duties, and even in our Excise duties, to which I have recalled the recollection of the House —it is exactly ten years ago since he successfully introduced a measure. which entailed on this country a large portion of direct taxation. Now, let me recal the recollection of the House to the circumstances under which the property and income tax was introduced to our attention in 1842, the fortunes which it has experienced, and the fate which awaited it. Remember that that important measure of direct taxa tion was to have ceased after a lapse of time, and was in troduced to the House apologetically.—(Hear, hear.) It was introduced as a measure necessitated by an emergency and framed to meet an exigency, and even with all these circumstances, the House and the country could not be in duced to adopt it without its being framed on large bases of exemption. There was no evidence either in the House or the country of any great inclination in favour of direct taxation, because the measure was introduced as being only justified by emergency, and was so modelled that the multi tude could not be oppressed by its operation.—(Hear, hear.) Well, Sir, what was the fate of that tax, introduced by one of the ablest and most powerful Ministers of modern times? Notwithstanding all his talent, and notwithstanding all his power in this House, that law was with difficulty renewed, and could only be renewed after repeated discussions, and after motions had been made in this House by Hon. Members of great distinction, who impugned the justice of its provisions, and complained of the oppressions of its enact ments.—(Hear, hear.) At length, before the ten years had elapsed, it had become so odious and so unpo pular, thats its existence was only renewed provisionally, and that, too, upon the b eeeannaitted to the severe ev with r condition that it should 4 P a taiere—(Hear, hear.)severe e crutiny of a Committee As far, therefore, as the Property and Income-tall is concerned, the conduct of this House taxation, respect direct taxation is scarcely more encouraging than i import, or ope n er either with regard to raising revenue by indirect It was my hope th at, in the shape of duties on articles of foreign 'ales of domestic manufacture.—(Cheers.) me of making to t he thei s i tatement which I have the honour of submitting would have been laid upon the tee upon the In eortioo.Use to-night, the report of the Commit- Bourse Would great difficulty and delicacy in adverting —as of w c onsideration extent I must do—to subjects ansideration of that Committee. I which are under the member of that Committee, and, Ivan bear witness to_thge. leave the honour to be I can at least say this— thattherefore, if I can do nothing which the in uiri 7_mlsep'artial spirit and the inde fatigable industry with inittee have been carried on—(Cheers " of the Com least I hope—than an Hon. Genti )—_(Cheers) am sure—at ernan opposite (lir a the chairman of that Committee, will ad Hume) had the power of exercising any influence that since I have o f its inquiries I have thrown no ob e s ,_ u P? e n.th.e conduct (, Hear, hear," from Mr. flume.) l am its way.— not trying to nar row the issue in question ; I have given every f • ' which I thought theacility to an investigationcountry required, and the I have results of which.watched with the utmost interest. t circumstances it would be presumptuous in m e ler these 41( • upou points on which to give an opinthat Committee has not vet decid ed, or at least d upon which th ey have not yet officially communicated their decision to thi s H ouse; o r two of those points, from th e yet, epon oneposition I impossible for me to be entirely occupy to-night, it is. great objections to the tax u silent. One of thepro of the causes of its odium gro pe, ty and income—hue oium and t is th i s coun ee —unquestionably that undopularity in rate of the re is no difference as to the mode and e assess mei at upon incom es of a temporary and of a permanent chara.cter.— (hear, hear.) That most interesting an d im portant to your Committee; and, tt tion is now submitted question as I h eve said before, it w ould be arrogant in me to give an their decision has been for mallynio n upon the subject! op. . until communicated to and officially say the .t upon that subject we may have say rec than t on a eve.thastt üb deuce ,from the ablest men. I ject, the Committee have listened to men who have made the principles upon which such assessments should be calculated the study of their lives, who have brought to the Committee iettell 114 and who all t bat science can offer to aid anti en, LONDON, have put before us every combination which experience and philosophy can devise and invent. I will not pre- I sume to enter into the question as to the justice or injustice cf the schemes which those gentlemen—the most eminent actuaries of the country—have offered us; but, as a practical man, as looking to the effect upon the revenue, as looking, at this moment especially, to the most desirable means by which revenue can be raised, I may say this (not prejudging, understand, the question at issue ; not for a moment maintaining—neither acknowledging nor deny ing —that the principles these actuaries have offered to us are just)—that if these principles be adopted, I am painfully sensible that Schedule A, Schedule B, and Schedule C will 1 1 not be less odious than Schedule D.—(Cheers and laughter.) I Well, Sir, when I am to recommend a means of raising re venue, I must necessarily consider circumstances of that character, for in these questions of finance the feelings of the people must be considered as well as the principles of science. —(Loud cheers from both sides of the House.) Then there is another point upon which I shall speak with more frankness, with respect to the tax upon property and income. I have not presumed, and 1 shall not presume, to give an opinion upon the justice or injustice of the methods in which another system of assessing perma nent and temporary incomes may be effected. I leave that point. But there is one point upon which the Committee is so unanimous that their opinion need not be a secret, and I believe the same opinion is unanimously enter tained by the House of Commons, as I am sure it is unani mously entertained by the country— namely, that if taxes of this character, if measures of direct taxation like the income tax, are to form, not temporary, but permanent features of our system of finance, we cannot rest upon a system of ex emptions.—(Cheers.) Well, but if they are not to rest upon a principle of exemptions, do you increase the methods by which a Chancellor of the Exchequer may raise a re venue?—(Hear, hear.) No doubt that direct taxation is in its theory an easy, a simple, and a captivating process; but when you wish to apply that direct taxation generally, it is astonishing what obstacles you encounter and what preju dices you create.—(Hear, and a laugh.) In my mind— and I think now it is a principle pretty well accepted— direct taxation should be nearly as universal in its appli cation as indirect taxation. The man who lives in the palace, and the cottager, as consumers, are equally and proportionably assessed. It is not, perhaps, possible that by direct taxation you can effect so complete a result. Per haps it is not necessary; but that, if your revenue is to depend mainly, or in a great degree, upon direct taxation —if it is permanently to depend upon such taxation —you must make the application of direct taxation very general, is to me a conclusion that it is impossible to with stand.—(Cheers.) No doubt, by establishing a temporary measure of direct taxation, based upon a large system of exemptions, you may give a great impulse to industry ; you may lighten the springs of industry very effectually for a time ; but—not to dwell upon the gross and glaring injustice of a system of finance that would tax directly a very limited portion of the population—but looking only to the economi cal and financial consequences of such a system, who can but feel that in the long ran industry itself must suffer from such a process? For, after all, what is direct taxation founded on a system of exemptions? It is confiscation. It is making war upon the capital which ultimately must employ that very industry which you wish to promote. — (Cheers.) Well, then, when you have examined the first and most memorable essay towards direct taxation which has occurred during the memorable ten years to which I have called attention with rega r d to the reduction of Customs' and Excise duties, is the instance of the property and income tax very encouraging to the Minister who looks to direct taxation as the means of supplying deficiencies? That law was universally admitted to be fraught with great injustice. Not that I am urging_ this as any objection to the Minister who introduced it. That Minister—the law being avowedly a temporary measure, a measure to meet peculiar circumstances, and to encounter an emergency—was perfectly justified in the course which he took, and met with the success he de served ; but I am speaking of a system of finance of which a tax like that to which lam now referring is to become a permanent feature. This tax, framed . by the most adroit of modern financiers, softened in all those circumstances which would have created apparent hostility, has yet en countered such a degree of odium, and is acknowledged to be the source of so much oppression, that we have not been able to keep it standing; but those who were respon sible for the finances of the country have been obliged to go upon their knees to the House of Commons to insure it a provisional existence—("Hear," and a laugh)—and, as I have already reminded the House, it has now, for two years, been submitted to the severest ordeal to which any mode of raising public money can be sub jected—to the searching scrutiny of a Committee of the House of Commons, judges who are themselves victims, and who are therefore alive to all the grievances into which they have to inquire.—(Loud cheers.) But, if I proceed a step further, and try to induce the House to con sider whether direct taxation is that simple, that facile, and that satisfactory method by which revenue can be raised in a country like England, can you shut your eyes to the remarkable circumstance that occurred in the last ses sion of Parliament with regard to direct taxation? What was the principal feature of the last financial year? The abolition of one of the most considerable sources of direct taxation. The Minister, at one fell swoop, by the removal of the window-duty, deprived us of nearly 2,000,000/. sterling raised by direct taxation.—(Some cries of " No, no !" from the Opposition.) I think I shall be able to show that was the case.—(Cheers from the Ministerial benches.) I think I can show those Hon. Gentlemen who, I am willing to believe, are on this occasion friendly critics, that my statement is fully authorized. It was said on the occasion to which I allude, that the principles of direct taxation were not in question. Direct taxation to the amount of nearly 2,000.0001. was at once taken off, but then it was re mitted not on fiscal but on sanitary considerations.—(Laughter and cheers.) Every one knows now that all the sanitary objects we wished to accomplish could have been accomplished had the tax remained.—(" No, no !" from the Opposition benches.) I think I shall have no difficulty in showing that that is the fact. That the plea was a plausible plea—an amiable plea—l acknowledge; but the consequence is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has last 2,000,0001. raised by direct taxation. [An Hon. Member on the Oppo sition side expressed dissent.] I notice the murmuring negative of the Hon. Gentleman opposite. "No," says he " you did not lose nearly 2,000,0001., for you forget the sub stitute of the house-tax." Now were I to fix upon any subject—upon any measure—which would alarm me, if I am taught to believe that direct taxation is to be the main source to which the Minister of Finance is to look for his revenue, it would be that very substitute, the recollection of which led the Hon. Gentleman to murmur his negative re specting the window-tax. The revenue of the country could not bear that rude and entire loss of nearly 2,000,000/. sterling by the repeal of the window-tax. It was necessary, therefore, to have some substitute -to find some means by which the revenue should be sustained ; and what did you do? You could not go to Customs' duties in the teeth of that catalogue of exploits which I have mentionel —(Hear, hear.) You could not have re c o urse aga i n to E xc i se duties, hen you yourselves were bringing forward motions asking for the repeal or the reduction of those duties. Yon were obliged to have recourse to direct taxation, even while you reduced one source of direct taxation to such an enormous amount; and what did you do? Yon imposed a direct tax—a tax which I have always regarded as more just and less oppressive than any other form of direct taxation—l mean the house tax.—(Cheers.) That invalu able weapon in your financial armoury was taken down carelessly, and was used for a very inglorious result. You raised a very small revenue by your direct taxation. Out of 3,500,000 houses, following the vicious principle which per vades all our direct taxation, you touched little more than 400,000 (Hear, hear, and cheers) —and you again practi cally announced to the people of this country that direct taxation is intolerable, unless it is based upon a large sys tem of exemptions.— (Cheers.) I think, then, that by re.. calling facts, and by calmly inducing the House to survey their past career, I have shown them that the difficul ties of raising revenue in this country are not confined to Customs' duties, as their early cheers would have seemed to intimate—that they are not confined to Excise duties, as some of my Honourable Friends near me may suppose --but that, if you attempt to impose direct taxation on any principles which are calculated to pro duce permanent effects, you are stopped either by the pre judice of the House and of the people, or by their intoler able sense of the incidents of that form of taxation.—(Hear, and cheers.) The moral I would draw, and which I would wish most earnestly to impress upon the House—because they may rest essured that the time is not far distant when they must arrive at definite conclusions upon this subject—is that they should come to some certain results to guide them in the management of their finances. A Chancellor of the Exchequer who has to make a financial statement, and who is supposed to be in possession of that happy but most em barrassing incident, a surplus, is looked upon by both sides as an individual who is merely an object of prey and plunder. —(Laughter and cheers.) In the general scramble every one wishes to obtain his purpose, and no one looks to the fature.--(Hear, hear.) No one looks to the inevitable danger that must be impending over the finances of a country where all demand relief, while at the same time they lay down principles which prevent the raising of taxes in any form whatever. (Hear, hear.) Whether it is a duty upon articles of foreign import, whether it is a duty upon articles of home manufacture, or whether it is a direct tax, the experience of ten years has brought us to this result—that the House of Commons disapproves of all three measures. (Cries of " Oh !" from the Opposition, met by cheers from the Ministerial benches.) Having made these observations, which I shall, I fear, have painfully to apply in the course of my subsequent remarks, I shall now call the attention of the Committee to the income and ex penditure of the year which has just terminated. In February, 1851, the income for the year ending in this month of April was estimated by the Right Hon. Member for Halifax (Sir C. Wood) at 32,140,000/. The actual in come whieh had accrued has been 52,468,317/.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) The Right Hon. Gentleman, whose actual income hisexcuesetthdiceeadtto thehe estimated en titled to that cheer—( Hea r , h ear, and cheers) —but I notam bounddo su to n t . j say tthle have e h m t Hadoendou aer able Gentleman. Not only did th e actual income excee d does his estimate by more than 320,0001., but I must say that in the interval vast remissions of t axat i on took place, an d ye t tmstmearatiettmesd income, is well oenf no twithstanding those vast remissions, the income of the year that has just ended exceeded the estimate of 1851. In that period the Right Hon. Gentleman repealed the window tax, by:which a loss of 640,000/. was experienced in the year, after allowing for the substitution of the house-tax ; and the Right Hon. Gentleman also reduced the duties upon coffee and upon timber, and had besides to encounter one of the most considerable reductions that has occurred in the sugar duties.—( Hear, hear.) Yet, notwithstanding that groat re mission of direct taxation—notwithstanding that reduction on three of the most important articles of foreign import, the income of the Right Hon. Gentleman (the late Chancellor of the Exchequer) exceeded his estimate, which was made without reference to those reductions, by the sum of more than 328,000/.—(ilear, hear.) Oa that occasion the Right Honourable Gentleman estimated the Customs at 20,400,000/., and he then anticipated from the re duction of the duties on sugar, coffee, and timber, a loss to revenue, which he estimated at 800,000/., which, however, trusting to the increased powers of con sumption in the community, he placed in his budget at only 400,000/. ; therefore the Customs really, as estimated by the Right lion. Gentleman, would have been only 20,000,00 We have obtained from them 20,673,9001.—(Hear, hear.) I think it due to the Rieeit lion. Gentleman ---I think (which, with all courtesy to aim, is of still more importance) that it will be interesting to the House and to the country — while our e x p er i ence upon th e se subjects is fresh, that we should trace th e act i on o f th e r eductions of the Right Hon. Gentleman upon our Customs' revenue.—(Hear, hea r. ) The duty on co ff ee, it will be recollecte d , was r educed last year from 6d. pe r lb . on foreign, and 4d. on colonial , to a u niform duty of 3d. N ow this is the effect of that reduction of duties upon consumption. In the year ending April, 1851, there was an, increase in the consumption on the article of foreign coffee of 2 , 0 76,375:b. ; in the year ending April, 1852, there is an i ncrease from 2,076, 0001 b. in 1851, to 5,525,0001 b., b e i ng an increase in 185 2 u pon 1851 of 3.448,0001b.—(Hea r , hear. Nor was this increas e obtained at the expense of the growers of colonial coffee.—(Hear) In 1851 we imported 28,216,0001 b. of colonial coffee; in 1852, after the redaction of the duty, and during that great incre a se of the consumption of f ore i gu coffee, instead o f 28,216,0001 b., imported have ut impooriti,oo o ed 29 l , b l . oo o , o f oo fo lb r . e — ig ( n ll s e u a d r, hear.)colonl coffee; ia In 1850 wein SATURDAY 1851 the demand had fallen to 30,292,0001 b., but in 1e52, after the reduction of duties, the quantity rose to 34,680,00011).—(11ear, hear.) The calculated loss of duty was 176,000/. ; the amount of duty really lest has been about 112,000/.—(Hear.) It will be recolected that the Right lion. Gentleman reduced the duty upon foreign timber, from 15s. to 7s. 6d. on hewn, and from 20s to 10s. on sawn. The estimated loss was 286,0001. ; the real loss is 126,000/.—(Hear, hear.) I know this is detail that perhaps I hardly ought to persevere with—(Cheers)—but I think it due to the Right Honourable Gentleman, and due also to the subject, that the House should thoroughly under stand its position at the present moment—(Hear, hear) — as they must arrive, of course, with reference to the financial state of the country, at a very important con clusion.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") I therefore think it my duty to place before them the effect also of the reduction as regards timber.—(Hear, hear.) In 1851 we imported 275,000 loads of for e ign timber; in 1852, 440,000. Of colonial timber—l am speaking of hewn—in 1851 we imported 619,000 loads; in 1852, 671,000 loads. In 1851 we imported 352,000 loads of sawn foreign timber; in 1532 it amounted to 514,000 loads.—(Hear, hear.) In 1851 we had 451,000 loads of colonial sawn, and, notwith standing the increase in the foreign, that amounted in 1852 to 526,000. (Hear, hear.) Thus, of foreign, hewn and sawn, we imported altogether in 1851 only 628,000 loads; and in 1852, that is in the year just terminated, the quantity rose to 954,000.—(f1ear, hear.) I ought to mention that there has equally been an increase upon colonial timber, the quantity (hewn and sawn) having risen from 1,074,000 loads in 1851 to nearly 1,200,000 in 1852.—(Herr, hear.) But while a loss, though not a very important one, was thus realized by the reduction of the duties upon coffee and timber, greatly as the consumption was increased, the effect of the reduction of duty upon the consumption of sugar is so remarkable that I feel it right to place it be fore the House.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers, with some laughter.) We imported in 1851, 7,200,000 cwt. 1 of British and foreign sugar; in 1852 a n increase of 413,000 cwt. —( Hear.) 7,013,003 cwt.—being Since the alteration in 1846, the increase of our consumption has been 1,90,000 e we e —(Hear.) With regard to British sugar—this is un refined only—l have the other, but lam afraid of wearying 1 the House—in 1851 we imported only 5,093,000 cwt. ;in 1852 we imported 5 ,207,000, being an increase in that year of upwards of 1 14,000 cwt.—(Hear, hear.) During the last s ix years the consumption of, sugar has increased by 93,000 e t o ns, being realy 3 3 per cent. upon the consumption of the ye ar 1846.—(ar.) Th e revenue o n sugar and molasses was 4,163,5351. in 1852, being (although we calculated upon a loss, I think, of 3 30,0001. or 310,0000 a loss upon the year leL of only 309.(Cheers.) I must now proceed in detail with the income of 1851.52, as estimated by the Right Ho nourable Gentleman in February of last year. I have shown you klytt, inst ea d o f t h e 20,000,000/. which he anti cipitated, het %received from the Customs 2 0 , 6 7 3 , 000 /. He estimated the T ; le.— 1 .. at 14,000,0001. ; we have received 14,543,0001.—(He ar, 'h ear. > H e estimated the stamps at 6,310,0001.; he received for his stamps—or rather we re ceived for h im — (Laughter)-6,346,0001., being a slight in crease.—(Hear, hear.) He estimated his taxes at 4,348,C00L ; but, in consequence of the reduction of the window-duty, and the partial substitution of the house-tax, there has been received only 3,691,0001., and I am sorry to say that that 691,000/. will not be received in any half-year subse quent to that which the Right Hon. Gentleman has had the advantage of, because there is half of the window-duty, which was still received by him. Then we come to the pro perty-tax; it was estimated at 5,38e,000 / . ; t h e Ri g h t H on. Gentleman's est i mate was real i se d on l y t o the am o u n t o f 5,283,0001., b e i ng a diminution of nearly 1 00 , 000/. H e esti mated the Post -dace at 830,000/. Such was the extraordi nary effect (among other causes, no doubt) of the Exhibi tion—(A l aug b) —the Hon. Member may l aug h a t my d eta il , but 1 can as sure him that when he b ecomes Ch ance ll or o f the Exchequer, which I dare say ha will one day, he will know what an immense advantage it is to have something which gives an extraordinary impulse to consumption and sommunication— (Hear. hear)—the Post-office, estimated at 810,0001., reached 1,056,000/.—(Hear, hear.) But, besides the effect of the Exhibition upon that branch of the revenue, there was also the effect of the census ; our postage bill for the census•office, if I can trust my recollection, was nearly 32,000 e; that item, of course, would not figure in a future estimate. Th e Ri g h t H on. G en tl em an estimated the Woods at 160,000 e ; estimated at 262,000/ ; the " miscellaneous" turned out to be they gave 190,000/. Tne " miscellaneous" he ' 287,000/. The " old stores" were estimated at 450 , 000 /.. but they realized on ly 395,000 L I have given before the Right Hon. Gentlem an ' s tota l est i ma t e o f the income of the year just ended, w hi ch ultimately turne d ou t to be 52,468,000/. His estimate of the expenditure was 50,247,000/. The actual expenditure has been 50,291,00 N. It is unnecessary for me to go into th e i tems of the Right lion. Gentleman's expen diture; I have said, I hope, sufficient to place the last year of his official career fairly before the House— (" Hear, hear," from Sir C. W oo d an d other Members) —and I had on his behalf the satist action of placing the balance-sheet on the table at the end of the year, whereon there appeared, of course; in con sonance with the figures I have already , given to the House, a surplus of 2,176,9981.—(Cheer5.) I am now to estimate the expenditure of another year, in which I am perhaps more interested than in those figures which I have previously placed before you. For the estimated expenditure of this year her Majesty's Government are scarcely responsible; they have, of course, a formal responsibility , which they do not wish to escape; but it is known to the House that the estimates were prepared by our predecessors, and were laid on the table when we succeeded to office ; and, indeed, our responsibiiity upon that head has been shared by the House in passing the great heads of the service. I must, of course, recal the amounts to the House. The estimate of th e ex penditure for the year 1852-53 is 51,163,979/,; and it is thus formed : —the interest on the funded debt is 27 ,548,0001.; last year the sum was 27,576,980/. There has been, of course, this deduction by the action of the sinking fund. The interest on Exchequer-bills is 402,000/. ; last year it was 401,5451. The total for the debt, therefore, is 27,950,0001. ; last year it was 27,978,525/. The other charges on the consolidated fund are this year 2,600,000/. ; last year they were 2,614,416/. The total charge on the consolidated fund is 30,550,000/. ; last year it was 30,592.941/. The army, including the commissariat, is 6.491,893/. The navy is 6,493,000 L, but that includes 870,158/ for the packet service, and therefore the expendi ture for the navy is really 5,622,8421. The Ordnance is 2,437,0001. The " miscellaneous," now called the '‘ civil services" estimates, are 4,182,036/ ; last year the amount was 4,114,2654 I make a remark upon this estimate, be cause to a certain degree it was prepared by the present Go vernment, though slightly. The increase in the rniscella neone estimates have been occasioned by two circumstances; there has has been a transference from the Woods and Forests of charges .to au amount, I think, if I recollect right, of something like 65 ,000/. a year, and therefore Proportionate or ap proaching a proport i onate in the Woods and Forests, and there is there diminution i s an increase in the charge for the convict service. The next item which I have is a very sorrowful one; it is the item for the Kefir , war.—( H ear, hear.) I t w ill b e recollected that very early after w e acceded to office I moved a ,vote of 460,000/. to carry on the Kafir war.—(Hear.) When that vote was moved I was not without hope that it would be the last we should have to bring before the consi deration of the House; but the information which we were and it is impossible therefore that I can, with then expecting unfortunately Was pervaded by a character very different from that which We indulged a belief that it I think becomes a person responsible for the finances of the country, allow that vote alone to be provided for by the Committe. unquestionably it is very easy,espe cially after having obtained* vote, and in a case of foreign a lvo se u n d se War, where there will not be theascertaining the 'sewer of . as of su iv m h e al state of things as i'a European conflicts, where the scene is near at hand — it wo uld be perhaps open to me to leave s )mething to chance, and to dra w upon the military chest if a further supply should be wanted ; but I hope the House will agree with me in thinking that a very exceptional and errone ous systein—,r, r, hear)— and that it is much better to form some — l w ill enet say extravagant estimate, but some fair and temperate estimate, of what is absolutely meet the w ne cessary, and to ants - of the service by a specific vote.—(year , hear. ) Under these circumstances I have acted. I know therei e s a gre a t prejudice w ith regard t o th e con duct of wars in th dist ant dep en d enc i es, which are n o t subject to the criticibsmutalnd in formation they are subject to in places at home ; am bound to say that the commis t th sariat of our army a eCape i s under the immediate con trol Treasury sent of the Treasury, that th e sen out, and is re sponsible for, the officers th eY have sent out to conduct the opera ti o ns there, that ' all th e i r dispatches and even their private journals etre ea sent to the Treasury, that it has been my duty (which 1 ns . 9- r iled sincerely I have fulfilled) to duty (w line that 13 received, and every one of the journals of the o m private eers employed, and I am most deceived if t_ h ese are not men who are animated by they have accomplished a most anxious desire to fulfil th e i r duty to this country.— ( Hear, hear.) I be lievee cons id era ble reduction in the conduct of the operations, nor do I think I am using the language of exaggeration when I say that a commissariat Was never carried on with more efficiency and with greater regard to genuine economy.— (Hear.) Taking all this into consideration—and I could prove trio strict truth _ of my l ast observation by referr i ng to the surplus left for this year from the vote taken in the last year of 300,000/. by the Ri Bur ee, Hon. Gentleman opposite— and calculating (which I f t e en) that the vote of 460,000/., as sisted by some surplus which, , by the good management of these gentlemen, we have from the 300,000/, cannot be safely relied upon for carrying on further than the end of May or the beginning of June, I hav e made umy mind, with the ' V p sanctionpropose of an my colleagues, and on the part of my colleagues, to additional vote of 200,000/. ; and, if the Com mittee will sanction that vote; the Kafir war will appear i.. this estimate at 660 , 0 00/.--(H ear. ) There is yet another item for which we are responsiblein the estimated expenditure of this year, and that is fo r the militia.--(Some murmurs.) Let not Hon. Gentlemen be alarmed ; the vote I am about to ask for is not much larger than the majority by which the Militia Bill was sanetioned.—( Cheers and laughter.) My estimate for the militia is 350,0001. The total estimated expenditure for the Year endi ng t h e sth of April, 1853, is 51,163,979/., the fi e which I have given before. I next come to consider the BO erCia of supply; and the house will perhaps now perceive that the few observations which I presumed to make on th e _ subject of taxation ge nerall y , a nd on the temper of this /louse, with respect to it, were not alto gether inappropriate. The Customs realized last year, as must be fresh in the recollection of the Committee, 20,673,954/.; but that was a remarkable year, and the cir cumstances which acted on the revenue of the Pest-office—so much to the astonishment of the Hon. Gentleman opposite— acted very much, also, on the Customs' revenue.—(Hear.) The impulse given to the Customs by the groat gathering of last year is attributable not alone to the concourse of foreign visitors, but to the increased travelling which took place, and to the general spirit of enterprise which per vaded the whole island. Under these circumstances, Ido not feel justified in counting on any considerable increase of the Customs' revenue during the present year, but quite the reverse. I have also to encounter this year—as the Committee will remember—a further redaction of the sugar duty, and although the calculated amount of that redaction is not so considerable as that experienced by the late Chan cellor of the Exchequer, still I am not sanguine that the result of the operation will be as triumphantly successful this year as it was last. I think I must count on some loss from the reduction of the sugar duties, and I estimate the loss at something like :145,000/. I hope this will not be a total loss; for, after the miraculous result of the reduc tion of the duty ! est e year, one is naturally sangu i ne , although it is necessary to bear in mind that, as regards consumption, last year Was an exceptional year.— (Hear.) The present year will be an average year, and therefore I think there will be some loss in the revenue derived from the sugar duties. Taking that fact into consideration, and taking into consideration also that last year opene d out ex traordinary sources of consumpt i on, I think it most prudent, after examining a ll the figures, and giving the subject the utmost considerati on i n my power, to take the Customs' re venue at the Caine amount at which it stood in the year be fore fore the Exhibi t i on, namely, 20,572,0 00 e, which israthe more than 100,0 001, leas than the i ncom e derived from the .„ same source in th e year j ust concluded,—(Hea!en.ear hear,) I new come to th e E xcise. Un d er this head it will ue neces sary to m a k e some deduction from stage-carriage and rail way duties, whi c h w ill b e lees productive this year than they were last, for the reason to which I have already ad verted, and which the Hon. Member opposite--who h as not given this subject so much attention as he will bestow 1 upon it ne x t year—t hi n ks of little importance. The Exhibition produced a conaidernble afflict upon the stage- . MAY 1, 1852. . carriage and railway duties. It will also be necessary to make allowance for the reduced produce of the hop-tax, which, Owing to the season, will fall considerably below that of the preceding year. On the other hand, there will be a considerable increase in the malt duty, payable on the 10th of October next. The produce of the Excise duties for the past year was 14,543,893. From this amount it is necessary, in estimating the produce of this branch of the revenue for the present year, to deduct about 181,000/. for the probable diminution of the hop duty, and • a further sum for the reduction on the stage-carriage and railway slaty, which I estimate at 50,000/., making together 239,0001. Deducting this sum from the Excise revenue of last year the revenue for the present year would stand at 14,304,89 Sl. I estimate the increase of the malt duty at 300,00 W., which, added to the figures I have just stated, gives 14,604,895/. as the estimated probable revenue of the Excise for the present year. I estimate the stamps for this year at 6,339,0001., which is about the same amount as they yielded last year. I intended to take the same amount exactly, but some items of expenditure connected with the accruing, produce intervened to disturb my calculations, and prevent my taking that course. The alterations in the stamp duties has now been in operation since October, 1850, and its effects may now fairly be supposed to have fully developed themselves. Under these circumstances, I think lam justi fied in estimating the prcduce of the stamp duties for the pre sent year et 6,339,000/. The taxes last year produced 3,691,7911. I am obliged to take them for the present year at 3,090,000/. This considerable diminution is accounted for by the circumstance of a portion of the window duty having come into the last half-year's account. The pro perty-tax for this year must, of course, be taken at half the amount produced by it last year, because, as the House is aware, the tax does not virtually cease until October. Whatever decision, therefore, the House may come to on this subject, half of the property-tax must necessarily figure in the revenue of this year. it will amount to 2,641,5001. The revenue of the Post-office I estimate at 938,0001, after making allowance fur the withdrawal of the effect of the Great Exhibition, for the expenditure on account of the census, and also for the settlementiof a contested account with the railways regarding the carriage of the mails. I esti mate the revenue from the Woods this year at 235,000/. The Woods. last year, produced only 190,000/., but their produce will be increased this year by the transference to the miscellaneous estimates of certain charges which heretofore were borne by the Woods. I take the miscellaneous estimates for the present year at 260,000/., and old stores at 400,000/. These various items make an aggregate income of 45,933,500/., leaving a deficit of 2,180,479/. This calculation is based on the supposition that the property-tax is not continued, and, things remain ing the same, there would be a deficiency of 4,400,000/. in the year ending 1853-4. To complete the picture which have endeavoured to place before the House in an unvar nished form—(Cheers)---I think it necessary, before sub mitting to the decision of the House and the country the course which her Majesty's Government feel it their duty to recommend for adoption, to show what would have been the financial condition of the country in the present year if the property and income-tax had been renewed for two years instead of one. With that object in view I will offer to the House an estimate of what I believe the pro perty and income-tax would produce for another year. I am aware that ou this subject considerable controversy has occurred. The late Chancellor of the Exchequer ex , perienced a loss of upwards of 100,000/. on the receipts of the property-tax as compared with his estimate. Having inquired into—indeed, I may say investigated —this subject with the utmost attention, I am bound to sav—and 1 will give my reasons for saying it—that there has really been no diminution whatever in the pro c2eds of the property and income-tax. What I say is, that there is no diminution of the total assessment of the property and income-tax for the present year, as compared with the two preceding years. Upwards of 100,0001. less has cer tainly been received this year than the preceding years, but I will explain how this has occurred. In consequence of the Bill for the continuance of the property and income-tax not having been passed until the sth of June, great delay took place in making out the assessments for the tax. The office on which the duty of making the assessments devolved was, unfortunately, occupied at the same time with the ar rangements connected with the census, and from the want of hands arrears of business accrued, and considerable delay in making the assessments was the unavoidable conse quence. The riouse, however, will see, from the explana tion I am alma to give, that there has been no diminution in the total assessment of the property-tax in the present year, compared with the two preceding years. The total duty assessed in 1850 was 5,729,977/. ; in 1851, it was 5,739,7001.; in 1852, it is 5,758,7091. (Hear, hear.) The amount actually paid into the Exchequer in these years presents, however, a somewhat different result—for ex ample, in 1850, it was 5,466,2491.; in 1830, 5,403,379/. ; in 1852, 5,283,800/. The country therefore was right in supposing that there had been a diminution in the proceeds of the property and income-tax, although, in fact, the as sessment has not diminished, but increased, and a great proportion of the arrears have already been obtained. — (Cheers.) 1 come now to the cause of the diminution which has occurred in the amount of duty paid into the Exche quer. The diminution occurs under Schedule D. In the year 1849 a great diminution took place in the proceeds from trades and professions, which is levied under this schedule. The amount fell from 1,754,000/. to 1,581,00c 1. ; in 1850 it again dropped to 1,584,0011.; but in 1851 it rallied, and ascended to 1,533,000/. I am sure I have no prejudice on the subject, and 1 am bound to say, that as far as I can form an opinion from the information laid before me, there can be no doubt that the diminution I have pointed out must be ascribed solely to the unhappy commercial year 1817.—(Cheers.) I may be excused for reminding the Committee—for iu order to put the case clearly before Bon. Members it is necessary to refer to many things with which they are familiar—that the as sessment under Schedule D is not made on the actual profits of the year, but on the average profits of the three preceding years, and, therefore, the bad year 1847 falling into the ave rage would diminish its amount just in the same way as a bud year affects the averages made under the Tithe Commu tation Act. Thus it happens that while the assessment under schedule D was 0n1y.1,584,000/. in 1849, it already amounts this year to 1,600,0001. ' and I am informed by those who are most competent to form an opinion on these subjects that we may look with confidence to the assessment trader this schedule rallying completely.—(Hear, hear.) I say completely rallying, because, although I appear before you with a deficiency, the state of the country—especially as far as this schedule is concerned—is one of great prosperity—(Cheers)—but, as it is my business to state to this committee what I believe to be rigidly the truth on all subjects connected with the finances and commerce of the country, I think members may believe me when I tell them —as I do with great regret—that there are classes in this country who are not prospering, and the effect of whose e ad versity is beginning t o tell on the incom e and d pr t property-tax. duty to d ' ecl ax r . —(Bear, hear.) I deeply regret that it is my that I have been warn e d by the highest theauthuority on t a hi e important subject that in estima tin g returns fro the property and income-tax we must commence making some allowance fur reduced rentals—(Hear, hear)—and I am informed that it is more than probable that the privilege which the last session accorded to the British farmer with respect to assessments under Schedule D r., he will committee be acted o n to a large extent.—(Hear, hear.) must perceive how difficult it is tof find data on which to found an estimate of the deduction which it may b e necessary to make under the two hea ds to which I h ave referred ; but I have felt it my duty to state th e effect of the communications officially t brought und er subject. my notice by those best acqua inted wih the assure the Committee that I have no prejudice on ' this sub ject. Nothing could induce me to colourany case to w hi ch it is my duty to refer , an d I almost wish it had fallen to the lot of any one else to make the statement I have just done, lest it might perhaps be imagined however slightly. Acting on information which it is impos sible for me to disregard, I am recommended to dedu c t no t less than 150,0 00 /. from the estimated produce of schedule D, in consequence of the two circumstances to which I have directed the attention of the Committee. The amount of revenue cl , rived from the income . and property-t ax i n t h e year ending the s th o f A p ril, 1852, is 5,283,8001., to wh i ch must be added 54,0001., the amount due, but not collected, in consequence of the delay in making the assessment, giving a total of 5,337,800/. Supposing the property-tax had been continued, I would have estimated its produce for the pre sent year tet the amount it yielded during the last, atter deducting ISO,OOO/. fur the reasons I have befo re s t ate d . That being done, the estimated amount o f t h e property and income-tax for the year ending the sth of April, 1853, would be 5,187,00 0 /. If, therefore, I framed an estimate of the income of the country for the year ending the sth of April, 1853, including the property-tax, it w ou ld amount to 51,6 ,5,0001. ; and, as the estimated expenditure for the sam e period is 51,163,97 91 ., it follows th a t th e surp l us of income over expenditure would be 461,021/. Now, Sir, I hope the House has obtained from me an unvarnished, and, I trust, a clear account of the financial position of the coun. try. (Cheers from all sides.) This I can truly say, that if I have not succeeded in conveying it to them, it is entirely attributable to my want of ability and experience, an d not from any desire to conceal anything whatever.— (Cheers.) It appears to her Majesty's Government under these circumstances that there is but one course fur them to recommend to the adoption of the House, a course which I myself cannot believe that any prudent man, what ever may be his political or economical opinions, can for a moment hesitate in adopting and sanctioning. Sir, I have touched on the extreme difficulty which now attends the management of the finances of this country. I have endea voured to bring the Committee to such a temper that it assay become habituated to consider this all-important sub ject with, permit me to say, somewhat more of calmness and patience than have accompanied the statements of a Finance Minister of late years.—(Hear, hear.) My Right Hon. predecessor, whose abilities 1 recognize with all sin cerity, no sooner rose in his place than, I well recollect, he was assailed by a thousand demands, which, in themselves, may have been just; but which, when viewed with respect to the resources of the country, I cannot but feel were un reasonable, and many of which, I regret, were conceded, with—l will not say precipitation, but under a severe neces sity.— (Hear, hear.) Her Majesty's Ministers would not shrink from surveying the whole system of our finances with an attempt, if possible, to induce the House of Commons to come to some clear and decided opinion upon the principles on which the public revenue should be raised. They look with great apprehension to the opinions prevalent in this House, which seem opposed to ail the great sources of raising the in come of this country. They consider that nothing can be more injurious than rashly and rapidly to reduce the re sources of indirect taxation , while you have come to no tn gene ral conclusion as to the principles on which direct taxation should be levied. They are of opinion that if we ecntinue industry, in this mood of mind, admirable as is the vast is the capital of this country, g reat a advan tages w hi c h it rec eives from political institutionssare the that have secured it order, wealth, and stability, it will be impossible to maintain the revenue of the country in that manner which the public credit and the wants of our national estab lishments require.—(Cheers.) We have ‘v aprot i o t u e n u d r edountyvitco tion upon that heed.—(He ar, hear.) e deem impress upon the Committee and the country the dang er o f the course on which they Nava embarked—to imp ress on them the absolute necessity, now or in another Parliament, of arriving at some definite understanding of the pri nc i p l es on which the revenue of this country ought to be raised.— (Hear, hear.) They deem it their duty to denounce, as most pernicious to all classes of this country, th e s y stemat i c reduction of indirect taxation, while at the same you levy y ou r direct taxes up in a very limited class.—(G e n era l cheers.) Sir, we would not have shrunk from undertaking the laborious effort of examining the whole of our financial system, animated by those views and actuated by that purpose; but I put it with confidence to the House, whether it has been possible for us to undertake a duty which demands labour so great, research so considerable, and an amount of time which no Member of the Government, I am sure, has yet been able to devote.—(Hear.) The Committee will, I am convinced, recollect that it is, I believe to-day, only two months sin ce her Majesty's Mi n i sters acceded somewhat unexpectedly to office. Indeed, it is only six weeks since that member of the Government who is peculiarly responsible fcr the cond uct of its finance s could, from the necessity of meeting his con stituents,.nd resum e hi s seat i n t hi s House.—(Hear.) And though the indulgence of the House, of which no one can be more sensible than myself, has assisted me in attempting to conduct the business of my office, still the claimsofthe HOUR and my department haye, I _assure _the Committee, rendered it perfectly impossible for me to embark in that undertaking. But, though the rroposal which, on the part of the Government, I am goingito make, is one of a very un interesting, t o u se a mo d ern prase, of a very " provisional" character, I h-pe the House will not suppose that we are shrinking from the fulfilment of our fluty, or that if it pie use the Parliament of this country to give us that opportunity, we shall be content with making provisional propositions upon this important subject again to the fl- use of Commons.-- (Cheers.) Sir, under these circumstances I am sure the House will anticipate that I shall feel it my duty on the first Opportunity t o recommen d f or t h e i r a d o ption the continuance for a limited period of those duties on property and income which have been the subject of our criticism here and in the Committee that is now sitting upon them, — (Hear.) Sir, it would have been more agreeable to me to have relieved the industry of the country, to have forwarded that great cause of the fair adjustment of taxation, which I believe the great majority of this House on both sides are in clined, upon right principles, to advance. That is not in my power. My duty has only been to place fairly before the House of Commons the condition of the public finances, to offer that advice which her Majesty's Government, under the circumstances. feel it their duty to tender. And now, Sir, in placing this resolution in your hand, I trust that the House will upon this and upon subsequent opportunities give me every facility to carry the law, which will continue for the limited period of one year the income and property tax.— ( The IZ;ght Hon. Gentleman resumed his seat amidst general cheering, which was particularly hearty from his more im mediate supporters.) The CHAI ItNIAN then read the following resolutions:— " 1. That, towards making good the supply granted to her Majesty, there be issued and applied to the service of the year 1852 the sum of 1,015,625/. 12s. 101., being the sur plus of ways and means granted for the service of preceding years. "2. That, towards raising the supply granted to her Majesty, the respective duties in Great Britain on profits arising from property, professions, trades, and offices, and the stamp duties in Ireland, granted by two Acts passed in the sixth year of her present Majesty, and which have been continued and amended by several subsequent Acts, shall be further continued for a time to be limited." _ . Sir C. WOOD said, it had often in the course of the last five years been his duty to follow the Right Hen. Gentleman who had just sat down, when he differed from him in most that he had said. On the present occasion, however, he had the more pleasing task on following him to say that he concurred, not only in the course which the Right Hon. Gentleman had proposed, but in most of the observations which he had addressed to the Committee.—(Cheers.) He thought it due to the Right Hon. Gentleman, in the first in stance, to assure him that no apology was necessary from him for the manner in which he had made his statement, and in troduced his first budget, for he thought the Right Hon. Gentleman must have succeeded in placing before them as clearly as it was possible, not only the financial state of the country, but the views which he on the part of the Government was bound to express for them.—(Cheers.) Ile could assure the Right Hon. Gentleman, that having watched the course which he had taken upon previous occasions with no slight interest, and having often had to answer him, it was with sincere pleasure that he had heard his most suc cessful exposition of the first budget which he had had to bring before the House.—(Hear, hear.) He could, in the first place, say that he concurred in the views expressed by the Right Hon. Gentleman as to the difficulties which sur rounded an individual who filled the reseonsible situation of Chancellor of the Exchequer. He (Sir C Wood) had been for five years the object of that disposition to prey and plun der to which the Right Hon. Gentleman had alluded; but he promised the Right Hon. Gentleman that he would be no party to any attempt to prey and plunder upon him.— (Hear, hear.) He confessed he thought that, upon some occasions, no slight disregard had been shown to the true interests of the country in the attempts that had been made to repeal taxation which the finances of the country could ill spare ; and, though he might at another opportunity be disposed to do so, he would not up on th e present occas i on in terrupt the good feeling which he hoped would prevail by alluding to parties who had taken their share in the attempt to make a pull on the Exchequer. The Right Hon. Gentle man had truly stated that it was not easy to find a tax which would be palatable to the people ; but when he said that those on the Opposition side of the House had no such just ground for the course which they had taken in the re duction of indirect taxation as those who objected to re duce direct taxation, he thought that the evidence the Right Hon. Gentleman had himself read afforded the most complete justification of the course which they had taken. He had come down prepared with some statements as to the success of the policy for the last ten years, but he thought it utterly needless to refer to them.— (Cheers.) He appealed to the Right Hon. Gentleman himself; who iu the fairest and most candid manner had dealt with the subject, in corro boration of what he stated. Since 1842 the duties reduced or repealed had been—Customs, 9,000,000/. ; Excise, 1,500,000/. , stamps, 500,000/. ; and taxes 1,200,0001.; making a total reduction of 12,200,000/. The reduction in the produce of those taxes, however, had only been 1,400,0001., the ordinary revenue (excluding income-tax) being in 1 , 42 48,000,000/., and in 1 a 52 46,600.0001. (Cheers. ) He appealed to the Iliuse, he appealed to the ceuntry—to the most prejudiced of the opponents of the policy which for the last ten years they had pursued—as to tha result of that policy. A more satisfactory case than that made by the Right Honourable Gentleman could not have been shown, and he trusted that with the evidence of the Right lion. Gentleman before them, fairly, candidly, and honestly given, the counties would come to a conclusion as to what the proper policy had been, and would be for past and future Finance Ministers of this country to pursue.—(Cheers.) He had always said that he thought a change of Government was attended with many advantages, and he was glad to see the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite come to that table with the responsibilities of office upon them.—(Cheers.) Tnere had been many allegations of the universal distress among every class of the community; but they were told to-night, upon the authority of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that the country generally was in a state of great and increasing prosperity, and the increasing reve nue was the best proof of the truth of that assertion.— (Cheers.) With regard to the window-tax, and the substi tution of the house-tax for it, ho would just remind the Com mittee that the statement which he made last year, that the benefit of the change would be more felt in agricultural coun ties than in the towns, had been fully borne out by the result. Taking London, Middlesex, and Lancashire, as representing the town districts, and Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Essex the agricultural counties, he found that in the first three districts the house-tax had realized 260,01 0/. as against 290,000/. from the window- tax; while in the three agricultural coun ties the actual produce of the house-tax had been 20,000/. against 77,000/. formerly received flame the window-tax. —(Hear, hear.) The Right lion. Gentleman had borne most valuable testimony as to the assessments under the in come-tax. Time after time had they been told that the falling off in the income-tax was a proof of the decrease of prosperity. He remembered that the Noble Lord at the head of the Government had insisted in the strongest way that the diminution in Schedule D contradicted all their assertions about prosperity; that more trade might be carried on, but that it was carried on at a loss; and an Hon. Gentleman whom he saw present had year after year published pam phlets to show that the balance of trade was clearly against this country. Ile trusted that they should hear no more of these exploded notions.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman stated, that supposing the income-tax renewed, he should have a surplus of 461,0001.; and with that amount of surplus certainly it would be madness to attempt any re vision of taxation. He thought that the Right Hen. Gentle man had fairly estimated the probable iccosne. If he had erred at all it was in taking the increase in the Excise perhaps a little too high. Ile thought, also, that the Right Honourable Gentleman would find himself very much disappointed in the estimate which he had formed of the probable expense of the Kafir war. The proba bility was that the 460,000/. would be pretty nearly ex pended by the end of March, and it was going on at the rate of almost 50,000/. a month. He thought the Right Hon. Gentleman was quite right in, as he proposed, renew ing the income-tax for a year, and leaving everything else exactly as it was.—(Hear, hear.) He thought the Right Hon. Gentleman had judged most wisely in taking that course; but, from the inconvenience that arose last year in consequence of the late period at which the assessments were made, he should have recommended that the resolution for the renewal of the income-tax should have been broug'at forward at an earlier period of the year. He trusted, how ever, that the House would see the propriety of the course the Right Lion. Gentleman had proposed, and would give every facility to the resolution being passed into a law. He gratefully acknowledged the boldness with which the Right Hon. Gentleman had spoken of the measures of last year, and also the kind manner in which he had addressed him self to him (Sir C. Wood) personally, and his confession of the success of the recent financial and commercial policy. He took it as a strong augury that no change would be at tempted ; and, entirely approving of the course which the Right Hon. Gentleman proposed for this year, he would say that, so far as depended upon himself, and those for whom he could speak on his own side of the House, every facility would be given to passing the resolution proposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman into a law with the least possible delay.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME could not understand what had made the House so very much satisfied with the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman.—(" Hear," and a laugh.) If the Right Hon. Gentleman had proposed to relieve any r c e la t s h s e o re f her Majesty's subjects from the burdens they now . bo , might have been some satisfaction; on. With Gentleman had not made any such propositi e o e u u ld ld be he quite at all, let but the Right Hon. re gard the hieuhte-tax, it were to . be renewed l asked for the ap proveas easy to collect it; and, that bein it be on a more just and sound pri . nciple e . , ho t w w surprised that the Right re newalof it on its present basis 7 }l of the Right Hon. Gentleman,_ g e w w s h a o s made that proposition Right Hon. Gentleman should have after having stated, as he had done, his conviction of the injustice of both branches of the tax. He (Mr. Hume)had believed until almost within the last quarter of an hour that the Right Honourable Gentleman himself had no intention to renew it. If without it there would be any deficiency, then let him supply it by placing taxation on a proper footing. He held in his hand a paper showing that, while the personal property of the country was paying millions to the revenue, the real pro perty was not paying a farthing. In the last fifty-four years personal property had paid not less than 85,650,000/., while real property had gone without paying a shilling. At the same time he must co n f ess hi s satisfaction that the Right lion. Gentleman had completely verified what those who, like himself, were advocates of free trade, had foretold from its adoption, and that the reduction of taxation had led to the increase of revenue, by the admission of a larger pro portion of articles required for the comfort and luxury of the people. If ever a speech was made to the House proving the truth of that satisfactorily it was the speech of the Right lion. Gentleman. He could not wonder at the glum manner in which Hon. Gentlemen opposite had wasre- re ceived it.—(A laugh.) In his opinion, however, . e highly to the credit of the Right lion. Gentleman that hoped the had stated the true result of the inquiry, and he e ti some Right Hon. Gentleman would now look bac e k st w e i d t so severely re gret and remorse for having censured andtr this system for the Right Hon. Baronet who introduced The Right Hon. having changed his opinion.—( Hear, hear.)now stood in Gentleman, as Chancellor of the Excheq uer , ,tronet did after intro the same position as the Right Hon. B in the financial and com ducing that most important changenat That Right Hon. Baronet mercial policy of the country. I fur having been what was almost to de was persecuted death fur Hume) called a renegade to his principles; but he ( gave a man credit who, havin been in error, and becoming g tiness to come forward and t had the man. convinced of that error. The Chancellor of the state his conviction of that, and he (tlir. Hume) highly ap provedExshequer had done hadtaken. It might tbe • the course he of satisfactory to those who supported the Right Hon. G ent l e man, but he was confident that upon reflection they also would see fit to change the ir opinions , and to approve of the policy the Right Honourable Gentleman h a d so manfully adopted, and now proposed to continue. But let him ask the Right Honourable Gentleman upon what principle he could denounce the system of direct taxation, and object to the course of relieving the country from indirect taxation, as ho had done? Everything the Right Honourable Gen tleman had said that evening, every public document he had referred to, proved the propriety of reducing that indirect taxation. He had no hesitation in saying that if the Right Hon. Gentleman would reduce the duty on tea to Is. per pound, he would find it benetioim to the revenue; and ho EVENING, had no doubt that if the duty on soap were also reduced it would have the same effect, while it adder, to the employ ment of the people, and we might become an expo. ting country for soap, as we were for other articles. But the pre sent budget was a stand-still budget.— (Hear, and cheers.) It was a budget to do nothing but to continue the burdens of the country.—(Hear, hear.) The Right lion. Gentlema n might say he wanted no relief—he was contented; bet he (Mr. Hume) was not contented.—(Hear, hear.) He was one who had certainly expected a very considerable relief to those classes who were so much affected by the Excise duties; and he would put it to the Right Hon. Gentleman , it he would only use his own discernment, whether he could rise from the consideration of the Excise duties on great articles of consumption with any other conviction than that it was a most mischievous system? He hoped that the duties on paper and soap, and also that upon malt, would be removed, and that thereby they might get rid of a system of Excise which cost the country 600,000/. or 700,000/. a year fur its collection.—(Hear.) N - ow, the Right Hon. Gentleman h.d proposed the renewal of the income tax as temporary ; but if he bad proposed it as a permanent measure, on just and sound principles, no man in the Hous e would be more ready to support it than he (M r . Hume) would be. But he would do it only to enable the Right lion• Gentleman, as the late Sir R. Peel required, to make change 3, an t remove the odious taxes that existed. The Right Hon. Gentleman said that direct taxation was carried on to a great extent: but he would tell the Right Hon. Gentleman that it amounted only to ten per cent, of the wh o l e t axa tion of tne country, while the Customs and Excise amoun t e d t o 75 per ceut. Let him extend the principle, and l e t ever y man feel e , e the weight of it, and know that h e his share contributing '' share and quota to the taxation of the country; but let him be convinced that by that means he was enabled to reraove indirect taxation on the n ecessar i es o f lite, and that, while he paid one penny to the income-tax, he Was relieved from twopence of indirect taxation. The Right Hon. Gentleman had denounced with great force the injus tice of the hou s e•t ax o f l ast year; b ut, i f he thought " was unjust as it stood, let him extend the tax to all houses. The Right lion. Gentlemon had stated a fact which lie (;tilt. Hume) wished him to explain. He had stated that out of 400,000 houses only 350,000, or some bagatelle like that' were assessed. Well, why were not the whole number as" seised ?—(Hear, hear.) If the Government had not pro ceeded upon sound principles of legislation hitherto, let the Right Hon. Gentleman begin now. He (Mr. Hume) wish,7.: to see the income and p ro p erty - tax continued an d M a' permanent, in order that means might thereby be provide", for enabling them to get rid of the indirect taxes. For these reasons he felt bound to distu r b t h e unanimity which secretes' to prevail in the House, and t o express his dissatisfaction with the star, ment of the Right Hon. , entlemate—(Hear.) Mr. NEWDEGATE said that the Right Hun. Gentle's:tall the Member tor Halifax (Sir C. Wood) had taunted hi m with having, year after year, printed, published, and cir culated statements with respect to the balance of trode which he was pleased to say were illustrations of explode' ,fallacies. Now, he (Mr. Newdegate) begged to say that he had made the same calculations for this year, and had found that the balance of trade was against this country to the amount of 13,000 e 001.—(Hear, hear.) If the right Hon. Gentleman doubted the tact that any such amount o f capital had been lost by the commercial classes of tlit o country, he begged to refer him to Mincing-lane and Live" pool.— (Hear, hear.) Mr. BARING said that one of the great motives which actuated him in supporting the financial views of his rig ht . Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the E xc h equer was the sam e as that which the Hon. Member for M ontrose h a d g iven oppo ing theta. It was because his Right Hon. Friend, with his estimate of the exp e ndi ture , h a d d eterm i ue d to do nothing, that he (Mr. Baring) had determined to sup' port him.—(Hear, hear.) So far from t hi n king it a demerit in Government to stand still when they were not sure what might be the future expenditure, and whe n they anticipated a red uct i on o f i ncome, h e confessed it seemed to him to be a ground of approbation.— (ll ea , e ; hear.) He knew very w e ll th at t h ere was great popularity • connected with the taki ng o il o f taxes, b ut h e k ne w a''' that if there was one d uty more i ncum b ent than a nother upon a Ministry, it was nut to endanger the future for soy momentary popularity.—(H ear , h ear. ) B ut t h ere was one thing in which he agreed with the honourable Member for Montrose, and that was a n a d m i rat i on o f t h e motives of the late Sir Robert P ee l.— (H ear , h ear. ) H e was one of those, indeed, who had never doubted the purity of h e / motives.—(Hear.) He w a s one o f t h ose w h o had a lWa e c felt the greatest admi ra ti on f or hi s talents; and '— could imagine nothing more painful in the future, as there had certainly been nothing more painful in the past court ) of his life, than the necessity w hi c h compelled him to w ith' draw his support from that Right Hon. Gentlem an in 18 "; But he was then of opinion, an d t h e opinion still remain ed unchanged, that in dealing with great commercial questioriFP and in dealing with great i n t erests of any kind, sefdTd„ert: revolutions were the w ors t and most dangerous —Ole hear.) He thought that his Right Hon. Friend the Chan cellorshouldthat of the Exchequer had taken rather too bright a v i ,, able to teO late gather Co one Commercial 1851 had been a most disastrous year.—(Hear.) He di d mean to say that there might not here and there he r ei n ed an exception ; that there had not been some well coin e ant operations or some happy speculations; but what h e the to say was this, that taking the exports and import s country, he b e li eve d i t wou ld b e found that the prices°' cation had left a s e r i ous l oss upon t h e i nterests i n of the the He admitted that th ese l osses did not necessarily a..e - manufacturing interest, and that the bulk of them had p h re a ; bably fallen upon the middlemen. He rejoiced to find th at his Right Hon. Friend bad been able to state that the raa': facturing interest was, on the whole, in a state of prosp . e s r i 'T and he lioeed to see also that Schedule D showed satii,n7o tory results. But, financially speaking, he did not w conducive to the prosperity of the country. He thougna,.'e: touch the question as to what en tent free imports had 1)e! : et , better to treat the question at present altogether financisn):„, H® though that when they attributed their financial pinup city to the measures of 1846, they really meant the m e , s e n ot oe of 1840. He considered it impossible that without the inc of and property tax, then imposed under circumstances of pressing emergency, and since continued for other purP °- „" we could at any period have been without a deficiency, an d could not see, after all the reductions which had since taken place in the Customs and Excise, that we could now dispense with it.— (Hear, hear.) But there was another question. To what extent had the country gained by the transfer of taxation which had taken place? It was said that the country had, since 1842, b een r eli e ved of 10,0 0,00 01 • of taxation; but it ought to be recollected that during ih"s e ten years the Government had been regularly abstracting 5,5';0,0001. annually from the pockets of the people in LI shape of new taxes, so that, in those circumstances, they well afford to give tl e people a little in the way of remission now and then. If he gave them Si. out of his pocket every year for ten years, he thought they could easily afford a give him a present of 101. at the end of the period, as Will i e a pound now and then in the course of it.—(Hear.) then, they took a debtor and creditor account of what the _ 5 . country had paid, on the one hand, in the shape of incoen s tax, and saved on the other in the shape of a remission taxation, he should be surprised if they did not find that gain was not so large as they supposed.—(Hear , j e lls There was another point which he wished to allude to.. olio Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer had ali o that he could account for the reduction in Schedule hlee (Mr. Baring) quit e agree d w i t h hi m t h a t a bad year 9, 1847 must influence s e v era l y ears; b u t h e th ou ght it ant — s Abate- Bible to account satisf ac t or ily f or t h e re d uc tion w he supposing the existence of ev a si ons . He confessed re thought there must have been evasions in . t ie - i s bed turns, otherwise there must have been chu?,'. pros profits in trade. But how were they to test th el ` se id,--• purity ? Honourable Gentlemen opposite always ken as '• Look at the exports." If th e exports were t•be e tn d t hat a real test of prosperity, h e t h ought they would 11 , r1 ; s hed. the produce of Schedule D oug h t not to have dinu n i t e st But he did not believe that th e exports afforde d a rea e ap• of their prosperity—tho ugh i t was one which was believedalvf pealed to by gentlemen on t h e other side. W hat he 1.. 0tc) was this, that so lon g as t h e i ncome-tax cont i nu ed the means and disposition to evade the returns would 0 1 *. ght creased; that although the prosperity of one Ye a e r , en il l j o isle swell the result, and the adversity of another year dim de it, the tendency and disposition always would be te' t ` the the returns. While, therefore, he did not think tha wed; prosperity of our commerce was so great as had been s o r while he did not believe that either the colonial interest, a the shipping interest, or the agricultural interest wahsongbt state of prosperity, thve was one point upon which he t w ith there would be no difference of opinion, and that wa s the regard to the ability which the Right Hon. Gentlenetwaiee. Chancellor of the Exchequer had displayed on this c'cet —(Hear, hear.) His was a mind w hi c h see med to be a le er it grapple with anything; and, grapp l e w i t h whatev might, the result was always to elucidate and enforce it. ale e this occasion his great tale n t s h ad been applied with ,ing ti,. success to the practical concern of the adm i n i s t ra tion 0 1e country.—(Cheers.) Mr. WILSON thought they would arrive at an 11- , for conclusion, if they were to suppose, as the Hon. M etnue t heln , North Warwickshire (Mr. .Newdegate) would have , Li that because of the losses sustained by the merchants not :0 a verpool and Mark-lane, the country, generally'', was t that precedentedly large, yet in consequence prosperous condition. On the contrary he was satisfied ue „, although the commercial losses of last 'year were almo st 0 losses th o f those the trade of the present year promised to be more successful than (ha been for many years past.—( Hear.) agreed that the el. " Hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Baring), - ports of the country could not be accepted as an it evidence of the prosperity of the country; but he thought derived from would be admitted that the amount of revenue f a ctory . evidence the Customs and Excise afforded verythseat., Rif, Honourable on that point.— (Hear, hear.) Now '' chequer had himself Gentleman the Chancellor of the Ex that while the Cus that occasion, shown in his speech on to the extent of 9,000,000 1, toms' duties had been reduced with bad increased to such an extent gumption of of the country 'fie of the same amount of revenue aS as to yield within a trifle lie thought that this important and the Excise duties to the extent of 1,500,0001., the con before.—(llear, he it a e r o '' es an unquestionable evidence of the fact ought to be .t ta of the country. But the Right 0 Y ade one statement in the course of his abl e the trade accounts of this year would hardly speech which He had attributed the increased amou nt bear him out in. tion 1851 to the eircumstances connected with of consumption Gentlemen general the Exhibition ; but the trade that the ; accounts of the present . se re , he Exhibition had very li tt l e to d o with "" 0 case• t proved e doubt, With respect to sugar, f or i nstance, although, II tare, consumption of th at art i c l e lust year was t e• as compared with that of the precedin g y ear , yet it year peered that for the first th ree months of the presen t t h e c onsumption had been 15,000 tons more than the co n ' sumption of last year for the same period, thus showing that it was not the accident a l c i rcumstance of the E x hibition which was the cause of the increase, but that the consume' tion was going on in an increasing ratio.—(Hear, h ear.) Mr. GLADSTONE said he had heard some remarks from point the lion. Membe r f or H untingdon (Mr. Baring) upon a so vitally important, that he was unwilling to allow them to pass without a few words of observation. He of Gladstone) sho u ld be perfectly willing ee to allow the Cag e _ the commercial policy of the last ten years to rest upon "We statement of the Ri g ht H uu. Gentlem in the Chancel lor the Exchequ er ._( H ear, hear.) In a manner bigitf, honourable to him, and with an ability peculiarly , hat ( own, he h a d l a id b efore the House the resu lts of policy; and h e (M r. G ladstone) venture d t o s ay thitti l ' at speech which the Right Hon. Gen.leinan had delivered t hat night would constitute an epoch in the history " c o s ies °- policy, and would not soon be folgotten.—(Loud tingd na " Hear, hear.") But the Hon. Member for elun _ the had grappled with a statement which had been made . °Y ew. Right lion. Gentleman, and repeated by the Right t' be Baronet the Member for Halifax ; though he confessedrn se e. •their state e".• did not think that his attempt to impair „ . eas d 1 11 ". was at all successful. How did the matter sten clearly vitally important that it should be brouht out iu the face of the public. The figures , as put together'l 1•Y b y the Right Hon. Baronet the Member tilt Halifax, , stood thu s • taxa duced 12 200 000/. `source) tion, since te42 Parliament had reduced 1.2,`200,00 01 . s ources produce of the taxes from t e co/. tion, and that the had operated had risen 1,400„ upon which the reduction s If they deducted of the original amount.—(Hear,hear.) noon from the 12,e00,6001. the money which they gave aw a y . ae chara de , the window-tax, which was not of a reroducav had reduced the account would stand thus :—that Parliament of 0 3 th " elastic Part 11,000,001, of taxation upon the e figu 1101 ,N 1; 4ti g i On g taw