The Sun. — London, England, 1846-05-30 00:00:00

IMPEI 2 LIAL PARL lAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, May 29. The SPEAKER. took the Chair at Four o'clock: GREAT LEINSTER AND MUNSTER RAILWAY. This Bill wai read a second time, and ordered to be com mitted. WAKEFIELD, PONTEFRACT, AND GOOLE RAIL WAY (METHLEY, ASKERN, AND OAKENSHAW BRANCHES.) Oa the motion for the third reading of this Bill, Mr. M. MILNES opposed it, because the great majority of his constituents had expressed their disapprobation of the Bill owing to the promoters having sought to take away ten acres from the race-course at Pontefract. Mr. BERNAL said that the Company proposed to take away four acres of the waste part of the course, and to indem nify the inhabitants by giving them ten acres of superior land. A discussion was about to ensue, when Lord G. SOMER SET moved the adjournment of the third reading until Mon day week. The motion was agreed to. STAINES AND RICHMOND RAILWAY. Colonel THOMAS WOOD moved that this Bill be re committed to the Committee on Group 20. Mr. SOTHERON, the Chairman of the Committee, said that when this Bill was before the Committee the solicitor to the Woods and Forests same before them with two cluuses ; the first gave the assent of the Crown to the Bill, ant the second contained conditions which it was impossible for the parties to fulfil without exceeding their esti mates and deviating from their levels. The Commi t tee therefore threw out the Bill. On the 4th of May the parties came before the Committee and stated that the Commissioners hieh of Woods and Forest, were ready to accede to co r n e d s i t t i i m on a s te w erat. the promoters could adopt without infringi h n e g d thei d. the ease re-opened The their levels, and they, therefore, The Committee, however, refused to accede wls to their request, but stated that they would make a special report to the House. In this case thousands of pounds might have been saved to the promoters of this Bill if the Commissioners of IVoods and Forests could have made up their minds before the 20th of March or the 29th of April, instead of the 9th of May. Would such a course be a just thing to either the promoters or the opponents of the Bill? Supposing they allowed justice to those parties who opposed the Bill, and who, having overcome all objections, the promoters would be injured, and supposing that they allowed justice to the parties promoting the Bill, what was the condition of those opposing the Bill? By re-committing this Bill, they would do great injustice. He wished the House to consider whether it was right to allow parties to make such an application to the House ? He wished to ascertain what was the intention of the House with reference to this subject ? After a few words from Lori, GRANVILLE SOMERSET, Mr. BARCLAY, and Mr. ES:COURT, which did not reach the gallery, Mr. WAKLEY said, that if in this case the House should decide against the re-committal of this Bill, he must say that it would be the most unjust decision it had ever come to— ( Hear, b'ear)—and that:was saying a great deal.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) Would the House for one moment attend to him whilst he stated the facts of the case ? What was the case? That parties promoting the formation of a railroad from Richmond to Staines, ten miles, went before the Com mittee of their House, and after being before that Com mittee a few days, or a certain length of time, the Committee gave in their report. And what was the report ? That the consent of the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests was tendered, and that the surveyor of the promoters of the Bill in his examination stated that he was prepared to make a line in conformity with the recommenda tion, when it became evident that the promoters could not form such a line, as it must be contrary to the plans laid down, and deposited in the Board of Trale. The Committee there upon closed their proceedings on the Bill without hearing the whole of the evidence in favour of it. It would appear that this matter hat been considered; but he must say that it had not rightly been decided upon by the Woods and Forests. To this he had no objection, but it be came a material question when the public convenience was concerned. (Cries of " Order, order.") There might , be an outcry, but still he must assert, that if this were a question of 40, 50, or 70 miles of railway, there might be a matter for c.,nsideration; but he must assert that the case of the promoters had not been properly heard, and when the question was whether ten miles of railway should be made, at an expense of 150,0001 , or whether a Bill should be obtained without any reference to public convenience, he thought that the necessities of 150,000 people bad not been sufficiently attended to. Mr. BERNAL thought that great negligence had been exhibited on the part of the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests. Mr. WOOD (Brecon), hoped the House would give the motion a favourable consideration, as the promoters had been treated with much injustice. Colonel WOOD considered as the promoters of the line had expended a large sum of money in prepairing their case for Parliament, that they ought to refer the rule again to the Com mittee, in order that the disputed question might be settled. Mr. TANCRED said this was the second session the Bill had been before the House. It was thrown out last session by the Committee of Selection on account of some informality. He submitted that from the first moment of its pro jection it was quite obvious that the Woods and Forests would not consent to the passing of the line through the property of the Crown. When they came before the House this year they were in the same position with respect to the Woods and Forests, as they still refused their consent. The Committee to whom the Bill was referred found it impossible to proceed with it under such circumstances, and they there fore negatived the preamble. After detailing the proceedings of the Committee, he concluded by expressing his opinion that, in cases in which the consent of the Woods and Forests was necessary to the construction of a railway, that the fact of such consent having been obtained should be shown before the Committee of Selection. Sir G. GREY must say that if the promoters of the Bill were not able to produce the assent of the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests before the Committee ,in consequence of the delay of the Government, it would be a great hard ship to prevent their Bill from proceeding through the House. If, on the other hand, the non-production of that assent was caused by a want of due diligence on the part of the promoters, he could not see any reason why the decision of the Committee should be reversed. Now, what he wanted to know was, whether the delay rested with Government; and he should not like to give his vote on this occasion without some explana tion on this subject from a member of the Government. Mr. HODGSON said that the reason the Committee re jected the Bill was because they had deemed the estimate in sufficient. Colonel WOOD said the Hon. Member was mistaken as to the facts. The fact was, that, in the prosecution of the works, the Woods and Forests required that the railway should he made not only under the park, but under the river. Sir R. H. INGLIS said, that previously to giving any vote on this subject, he thought the House ought to be in possession of the whole of the correspondence which had passed between the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests and the pro moters of the Bill. They would then be enabled clearly to understand the position in which they were placed. He would beg leave to move, therefore, that the present discus sion be postponed till this day week. The amendment having been put, - Mr. C. P. VILLIERS said that he would believe that his Honourable and Learned Friend the Member for the University of Oxford was very anxious to have further information on the matter before the House, but he was just as sure that the patties more immediately interested would rather have a decision at the present moment. He begged to say, before they came to a division, that the Select Committee had, as yet, pronounced no decision on the Bill. The Hon. Chairman of the Committee had made no complaint against any person or office. He had stated the case very tempe rately and fairly, and, as the case would be establishing no precedent, he trusted that the House would consent to the motion. Lord LINCOLN said that, judging from the circumstances he had heard since he came into the House, he felt inclined to support the amendment of his Hon. and Learned Friend the Member for Oxford. He (Lord Lincoln) was connected with the Board of Woods and Forests in the last year, and he recol lected that precisely the samr• line was laid before them, and the Board then intimated their determination to resist it to the utmost. They had commissioned an eminent engineer to re port as to the effect the line would have upon the Crown pro perty, and he had reported that the line was very objectionable, but that no other could be carried through the same country. The line was dropped last year, and was now brought forward in precisely the same shape. He should not be disposed to vote against the Bill. He was astonished to hear the charge brought against his Hon. Friend at the head of the Woods and Forests. Mr. WAKLEY rose to explain. V Colonel WOOD hoped that the House would accede to the proposal of the Hon. Member. The debate was then adjourned till Monday week. NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CONNECTING RAILWAY. 'On the motion that this Bill be read a second time WAKLEY moved, as an amendment, that it be read a second time that day six months. In doing so the Hon. Mem ber presented a petition against further proceeding with the acherae, signed by 12,000 of the scripholders. The original num borthoef swhha4erehowho lders was 16,000 so that here were thr e e-f ourt h s objected tl,e to the going on. An applic a ti on had b een made to meeting of the scripholders, committee, to call a public an t t take its sense, in accordance with the sessional resolution upon t th a a d t been agreed to, but the committee refused to act reasonable request, and were certainty proceeding with the Bill, expense on the shareholders. The fact was, the shareholder s had been completely deceived with regard to the line which was pro posed to connect the important mann' acturing town of Watford, at one end, with the large and populous town of Dorking, at the other.—(A laugh.) The whole affair was a mona'rous con ception, from which the scripholders prayed now to he relieved. Jr.M T. WOOD said ha knew nothing of the parties, though he considered the scheme would be of great use circular manner round Lon in connecting in a don. It left the Londun and Birmingham Railway at Watford, and passing along the valleynd went on its of the Colne it crossed the Great Western Railway, a ter minus at narking, thus affecting a circular commhunication, round London.—(A laugh.) He believed, notwithstanding a line of standin, the laoehte r o f th e H on . Member for Finsbury, that thi, kind would be very useful to transmit goods and troops, and would be also of consid.-rable benefit to the public. Captai n FIT Z M AURICE stated that he had three petitions from the landowners on the line against the Bill, and praying that it might not be allowed to pass. Alderman HU:MPHERY said that he had a petition of TOME consequence to present against the Bill. It was from the Smith Western line, stating that the proposed railway would c,rOS3 their route, to the risk of mischief to the pas sengers and detriment to the line. After a few words from the CHANCELLOR of the EX CHEQUER, which did not reach the gallery, 131 r. T. S:DUNCO3IBE said, that in his belief the only persons in favour of the line were those on the committee, who had got the 10 per cent. deposit of the unfortunate shareholders. They had called on the committee to assemble a public meeting to take the sense of the shareholders as to the propriety of going on, but the committee declined doing so, and wished to go on till the third reading. The majority of the seripholders were against the scheme. The SPEAKER, having put the question that the Bill be re-ul a second time, The motion was negatived without a division. RAILWAYS. The Edinburgh and Northern Railway (Newport Railway and St. Andrews's Branch) was"read a third time, as were also the Arbroath and Fo r f ar R a i lway and the Lancashire and North Yorkshire lisilwav STIRLING AND DUNFERNILINE RAILWAY. This Bill was read a third time and passed. LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY EXTEN- SION. Mr. SPOONER presented a petition against this Bill. EAST LONDON RAILWAY. - - Sir E. COLEBROOKE presented a petition praying that the House would re-consider the report of the Committee, a s the Bill had been described by a misnomer. Lord G. SOMERSET thought that the re-consideration taight be allowed, as it was evident that the mistake was merely a clerical error. A considerable number of other petitions were then pre sented, amongst which was one from Sir C. Douglas, and from several parties complaining of the break of gauge. BUSINESS OF THE SESSION. Sir R. PEEL —In pursuance of the notice which I have given, I beg leave to =eve that the Howe, at its rising, do id• journ to Friday next, the sth of June ; and I think it is right 1 to give notice what i s th e b us i nes w hi c h I , on t h e part o f t h e Government, intend to bring forward. The House will meet on Friday, the sth of June. I propose that we shall then proceed with the Supply ; on the Monday after I propose to move the second reading of the Irish Bill for the prevention of assassination. I would move it first on Friday, only I understand that ,ome of the Irish Members are absent.—( Hear, hear.) On Friday, the 12th of June, I propose to bring forward the question of the sugar duties; and, on Thursday, the 11th of June, I will move that the orders of the day have a precedence over notices of motion, but that arrangement will nottake place until Thursday, JunelB, so that there will be Bill amplew Baronet, that so O'CONNE L LIong at the Irish Coe beggedto inform theßih s before tn. l‘rloilon. otice et, t he having H u p s r e e e t e h d e Irish e neeand d e m t b h e e r w y s wo n t t u i l d d al opposeso mo move e r d a e n r s of the amendment day upon every order. Mr. T. DUN COMBE said, that when the Corn Bill was before the House it was understood that the Customs' Bill and the Poor-law Removal Bill were before the Irish Coercion Bill. Now, the Poor-law Bill was postponed indefinitely. They were going to waste week after week en the Irish Coercion Bill. There was another Bill, and that was the enrolment of the militia. He had called attention to this Bill l ong before Easter, and now it was Whitsuntide. Now they had not seen this Bill, which ought to have been laid on the table before they separated for the Whitsuntide holidays. He feared that would be deferred until the end of the session, when few Members were present, and when it was po,s hie it might pass without that attention being bestowed upon it which it des trved. After a few words from Colonel WOOD, Sir R. PEEL said he had felt certainly that the Govern ment might have been in a position to have brought forward the Poor-law Removal Bill before this period of the session, but he wa sure the House would make allowance for the peculiar position in which her Majesty's Government were placed by the great quantity of business which they had to discharge. They were really now devoting sixteen or eighteen hours a day in the dis charge of their public duties. In the present state of public business he saw no reason why they should not take the Bill on Friday next.—( Hear, hear.) But any one must feel that the Government were bound to proceed with the Irish Coercion Bill at the earliest possible moment. Sir JAMES GRAHAM said, if the preliminary discussion of which the Honourable Member for Maldon bad given notice with respect to the Poor law Removal Bill, should be affirmed by the House, it would be necessary to commit the Bill pro forma, for the purpose of remodelling it in accordance with that notice. It was most desirable that the House should come to a determination with reference to that notice, in order that the Bill might be taken on Friday, if possible. _ _ Mr. HUME expressed his regret that the more important measures before the House should be delayed by discussing a mea sure of minor interest. He wished to impress on the Right Hon. Baronet the necessity of postponing the Irish Coercion Bill until all the other important measures before thee House had been discussed and passed.—( Hear, hear.) The way to save time was to make good use of the time they had. If he persevered in proceeding with the !Coercion Bill he would stop every measure which would be useful to the country. In saying this he did not simply state his own opinion, but the opinion of these on his side of the House— and those whom he met out of doors were of the same opinion. Mr. G. BANKES said, that his Right Hon. Friend at the head of the Government might recollect that it was understood that the general preamble of the Poor-law Bill should be dis• cussed on going into Committee.—( Hear.) He thought, there fore, that it should not be t a k en f or grante d that they were to be strictly limited to the discussion on the anaendment which had been suggested.—( Hear, hear.) It would be in the recollection of the House that several weeks ago h e p ropose d a S e l ect Committee with reference to this Bill, for anticipating this very difficulty; but at the present moment they certainly could not do otherwise than follow what the Right Hon. Baronet was pleased to propose ; but it must be under.. stood at the same time that they were at liberty to discuss the general principle.—( Hear, hear.) AMr. CHRISTIE gave notice that he should move, on the 16th of June, for a Select Committee to inquire into the laws with respect to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Mr. WODE HOUSE moved for a return of the ratio of the total amount levied during the year 1845 for poor rates in the counties of England, and also the total amount of real pro. perty as bearing proportion to the amount of the poor-rates so levied ; the counties to be classed as under-mentioned :- Ist class, the manufacturing countries; 2nd class, the mineral counties ; 3rd class, the agricultural counties ; 4th class, the metropolitan counties. Tfik SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EV * ENING, MAY BO, 1846. to such observations as would vindicate himself in their eyes. The Noble Lord, the Member for Lynn, having heard on a former occasion that he was going to offer some observatio ns with reference to the price of potatoes in Yorkshire, had, with the kindness which always distingished him, handed to him a letter from a person residing there; which letter referred to the subject. The Noble Lord did not know the writer of the letter, but on his (Mr. Lawson) seeing it, he at once de clared that he was acquainted with the author of it. He was called upon for the name of the individual, but he was not then able to say who he was. He would now state that his I name was Mr. Robert Schofield, of Sands Hall, near Howden, who was a large grower of potatoes. Many animadversions were offered upon that statement, and he had written again to Yorkshire, for the purpose of procuring information on the subject, as he was not then in a condition to give a satisfac tory explanation. On Saturday last, he (Mr. Lawson) wrote to the Alderman that he would offer a vindi cation of the statement which he disputed.---( Hear. hear.) He would now, therefore, say that the gentleman win sent the potatoes to London was a Mr. Meggott of Howden. It appeared this cargo was brought into port on the 17th of March, and that it was transhipped on the 14th of April, and that it reached Hull on the 2 ith. The potatoes were not Sold there, but were transferred to Leeds, where they were sold at the rate of 50s. per ton. He did not pretend to know much of the potato trade, and, with all deference to the Hon. Member, and at the same time to the Hon. Alderman, he must assert, that the reports were not borne out by the facts. It appeared that the whole of the cargo was 170 tons. It appeared also, that two cwt. were sold at the rate of 275. a ton. Forty-three tons were sold at the rate of 50s, a ton. The cargo was not disposed of at Hull, but, according to the report of Captain Shaw, it was carried to Leeds, where 43 tons were disposed of at the rate of 503. per ton. He need not repeat that he had no experience, but it appeared to him that it was an unwarrantable stretch of the personal power of the Ministry. The Hon. Alderman had stated that no potatoes had been of fered in London to any but cow-keepers at as low a price as that which he (Mr. Lawson) had stated. This statement, it appeared, was without foundation or fact. There was in the city of London a monopoly in potatoes which ought to be looked into by that House. He could not trespass further on the House, but if any of Isis statements were impugned, he would reserve to himself the right of making a further explanation. Alderman HUMPH REY said the Hon. Member had deli vered himself of something which he conceived to be like that which was produced by the mountain in labour. Now he did impugn his statements, and he would trouble the House by read ing to them what it was he said on the last occasion. After reading an extract from the speech in question, the Hon. Gentleman proceeded to say, that a gentleman, whose name, he believed, was Miggott, or Maggott—(Laughter)-- who combined in his own person the business of linendraper, a painter, glazier, mercer, and, he believed, also the business of a hatter—(Laughter)—and other things, had read an ac count of the " Peel Panic," and that potatoes were going to be extremely scarce. Not knowing, however, much about the potato market, he went to a small farmer—whe her he was a friend of the Hon. Member (Mr. Lawson) he did not kn( w—but, at any rate, he went to him and purchased 50 tons of potatoes at 883. He requested the farmer to have the potatoes all picked, and to have the best samples selected in order that they might be forthwith sent to London, in anticipation that when they were sent to London he should have been enabled to sell them for the purpose of seed. But being, however, an unfortunate tradesman, he did not know how to ship the potatoes, and a Mr. Saltmarsh, shipped them for him in a brig called the " Vigilant." They were put in the forecastle, and made five rooms of potatoes. When they arrived in London, a quantity of a similar descriptd.n, brought by the same brig, were sold at 95'. per ton. The vessel was detained some weeks, during which time, a person named Liddel, sold about four tons at from 85s. to 90s. per ton. As the remainder could not, however, be sold, he was persuaded to take them to Leeds, where, he presumed, he sold them to the poor at a cheaper rate. He lost 2001. by the transaction; and Mc Scholefield and others stated the case to the Noble Lord, saying, " Here is a ewe in point of potatoes being plentiful, and yet they cannot be sold even in London," and on that assertion and on these facts, a cry was raised that the statement that there was a scarcity of potatoes was untrue. He would state the quantity of potatoes which came into London, to show the tailing off that had taken place in the supply of the present year. In 1840, there were 7,3'10,000 sacks brought up the river ; in 1844, 1,222,000 ; in 1845, 1,505.000; while in the present year the number was only 969,000 sacks. He had been told by Mr. Little, that those potatoes which the Hon. Gentleman opposite had alluded to could have all been sold for 41. per ton, but this gentleman, who had embarked for the first time, and had fairly being taken in, refused to sell them for less than 5/. per ton.—( Hear. ) It would appear that there was a sort of sweating in the vessels in which the potatoes were recently brought up to London ; and this very week no less than 5000 tons of potatoes were found to be unfit for human food, and they were thrown into the river Thames.—( Hear, hear.) Gentlemen's po tatoes, he said, were produced on a highly cultivated soil and they were, therefore, not liable to the blight which befel the Yorkshire potatoes. He had now only to say what he had before said, that the assertions of that Hon. Gentleman must have been made for a party purpose—to deceive the House and the public, and induce them to believe that potatoes were plentiful that they could be bought at reasonable prices and that there need be no fear whatever of want of potatoes in London. The reason why the working classes of the metropolis had been able to support themselves was, that they were well employed and liberally paid, and they were enabled to resort to other sort of food. When they recollected that 40,0001. worth of potatoes had been lost this year, they must see that there must have been a great falling off, and he had no doubt that the Hon. Gentleman who shipped the potatoes in question would not trust to potatoes again—(Laughter)—and he would find that it would be as well to have two strings to his bow, and confine himself to his own proper trade.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. LAWSON rose for the purpose of making an explana tion, but resumed his seat amidst cries of ‘' Order, order." Mr. HUDSON said he was not going to interfere in the debate upon potatoes, but he felt himself called upon to m a ke one observation on what had fallen from the worthy Alderman opposite in reference to the quantity of potatoes that had been brought to London, as compared with those which ht d been im ported into the metropolis in former years. There could be no doubt that the recent increase in the quantity of potatoes imported into London was to be attributed to increased railway accommodation.—( Hear.) It had come to his knowledge that many large potato districts availed themselves of the advan tages offered by railways of sending off their potatoes to other large towns.—( Hear, bear. ) past. In making the estimate of the revenue, the first point to which attention is directed are the customs revenue of the country. This branch of the revenue produced last year, as already stated, 19,763,0001. But, in consequenee of the measures which have been passed this session through Parlia- , ment, a reduction of these duties has taken place to the amount of 1,041,000!. But no Hon. Gentleman, who con siders either what is past, or dealing with the ordinary prin ciples of finance, will consider that the revenue of the succeed ing years is to be calculated by deducting from the revenue of the past year the amount of duty now proposed to be sub tracted. A large deduction must be made on account of in creased consumption in those articles from which the duty is entirely removed. Allowance must be also made for the increased consumption in those articles which remain subject in some degree to taxation. In consequence of the total abolition of the duties upon a great variety of other articles, in the deduction which should be made upon account of the abolition of duties during the present year, I must be guided in some degree by the experience of the past. I find that upon reference to the reduction previously made, that if I take the loss of revenue in the customs at two-fifths of the amount of the duty repealed,l should exceed that which hasbeen found to be lost in a period in which we had been for some time past receiving a less amount of duty. I should not trust to deducting from the customs revenue a greater sum than 400,000/. on account of the reduction in duty ; thus we therefore leave the customs reveNue, instead of 19,700,000 1 ., only 19,300,000/. I take it at a greater amount than that, and I will state to the House my grounds for so doing. I find upon reference to the most experienced, and the most continued observers of the course of things, that there is every antici pation of the continuance during the year to come of the pros perity in trade which we enjoyed last year. I receive from every outport the most satisfactory statement with reference to the prospects of the revenue for the ensuing year. I have been called upon by different persons in the outports, and in the City of London, not to confine my augmentation of duty to 200,1'00'. I am always anxious to be on the safe side.—( Hear, hear.) I therefore limit the sum to 1,930,000/. Has the revenue fallen off on account of the reduction which has been made ? I find in many of the returns from different ports of the country, that such has been to a very limited ex tent, during the last six weeks, being from the commencement of the financial year. And this has been during a period when there was considerable uncertainty as to the measures of the Government, and the consequent uncertainty and speculation that prevailed. In many of these out-ports, so far from a re duction of the revenue-duty, I find that, during these six weeks, in many there has been an increase, in others an equality of revenue, while in those in which there has been any deficiency it has been accompanied by the statement that the re venue is gradually increasing, and is likely to continue so. —(Hear, hear.) I take the last six weeks as a justification of my argument as to the amount that may be ex pected, because I wish to show that the duty repealed is not to be taken as an indication of the exact amount that may be found deficient. I find, in referring to Liverpool, Leith, New castle, Port Glasgow, and Dublin—ports confined to no par ticular portion of the United Kingdom, there has been no falling off in revenue in the last six weeks as compared with the six weeks of the preceding year, and that we have every expectation, when Parliament has done with the measures now before it, the revenue will spring up beyond what it has been even before the alterations were made.—(Hear, hear.) On these ground I consider there cannot be any large reduction of duty, and that I may fail ly estimate it during the coming year at 19,500,0007. The next important branch of the revenue is the excise. Upon that branch of the revenue there was a large abolition of the revenue last year. In consequence of this re duction of duty, the excise had fallen off 100,0001. as com pared with what it was before the glass and auction duties were repealed. On this head, with respect to the future, he had the must sanguine expectations, founded upon the experience that the revenue in this department had exceeded the calculation which was made when the statement was made to the House. The experience we have had gives us full assurance of what we may fairly calculate the future revenue to be. I will take the revenue for the ensuing year, and I will add 13,400,000/., being a sum of 100,000/. more than in the year 1845. With respect to the stamp duties, on which there has been received 7,660,0001, during the last year; for the present ear I will take the sum of 7,400,0001. As much of the augmentation of duty arose from that sudden increase of railway speculation, which has been so much the subject of discussion in this House, and as I cannot anticipate that the same extent of railway speculation will prevail during the en suing year, after the experience we have had—( Hear, hear) — I propose to deduct from the stamp duty a sum such as can be fairly attributed to the agency of that speculation. And I will therefore make a reduction of 260,0001. With respect to the assessed taxes, and the land tax, I will take the same amount, 4,200,000/. With regard to the property-tax. I think it has very nearly produced, in the course of the last year 5,100,000/. The assessments under the new Act of last year have all been completed, and I make this statement without any particular data which could enable me to make out an accurate return upon the present occasion. There is, how ever, no reason to apprehend that the amount will be short of what was produced last year, arguing from the increasing prosperay of the country. With respect to the post-office, in which there has been during the last year a very large increase of revenue, I think that that increase of revenue should be confined to that particular year. There has, however, for some time past been a gradually pro gressing increase of the revenue in that deprrtment. I do not take the same amount of increase for the year upon which we have now entered as there has been for the year which has just closed; and for this reason—not that I antici pate otherwise than that the revenue, having additional facili ties to increase, will continue to de so—but there is an im provement which I contemplate in the administration of the post-office, which improvement, by throwing an additional expense, in the first instance, on the public revenue, but which, nevertheless, in my opinion, will contribute to the efficiency and general character of the department, I am anxious to leave a margin for the conduct of this operation ; but still I am inclined to take only the augmentation of the re , venue, and I therefore content myself with taking a total sum , of 850,000/., being 60,0001. above the sum which was received in the course of last year. With respect to the crown lands, I have to observe that the amount apportioned for promoting the principles of the Zoological Society, and for which he was about to submit a motion to the House, was 120,0001. This was exclusive of the sums apportioned for that purpose during the past year. It had been calculated that the amount required for the year ending on the sth of April, 1847, would be 50,900,000/., exclusive of the money to be derived from the treaty with China, the full amount of which would be at least 700,001'/. But including 500,000/. of that amount, the whole amount is stated at 51,657/. The whole of the expenditure during the last year was estimated at 49,400,0001. It is impossible to ascertain what the expense will be in future years, but I may safely estimate the superfluous expense at 2,200,0301. Great efforts have been made during the past year to reduce the expenditure of the several offices of Government, but it was found that the expenditure of the useful establishments could not be reduced. Our attention has been especially turned to our steam navy, and it is believed that a great advantage will be obtained by I : o :pl 4 u. i the introduction of guns of heavy calibre into our steam force. I will not go seriatim through these additions to the House, but I do think, notwithstanding these charges, the expense of the consolidated debt will amount to more than 28,200,0001. At ,sexcluhste total amountveofthe sum of of 2spa,rsaeosseeo7t it c 000 e se w e a ahl a uiec rg hl e aa s tp , epde aswaahtrei2cdhB, aOO may be called the permanent charges of a country, is thirty millions six hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds. The army expenditure of last year was six million seven hundred and forty-five thousand pounds, being a considerable increase over the estimates. I pro pose then for the present year an estimate of six millions six hundred and ninety-seven thousand pounds, being an increase on the estimate of the former year of 145,000/, arising, as I have stated before, from an addition which it has been neces sary to make in the general force of the army, and the con templated calling out of the militia.—( Hear, hear.) With respect to the estimate for the navy, I propose an estimate for the present year of 7,621,000'. The estimate of the former year being 6,943,000/., being an increase of five or six hundred thousand pounds in a branch of the legislature on which I have already stated rests the security of the country. The estimate for the ordnance last year was 2,142,000/., and I propose for this one an estimate of 2,543,000/., making an increase in that branch of the service of 400,000/., arising in a great measure from a necessary augmentation in the corps of the artillery, the services of whom were no less distinguished in peace than in war. This high expense on the face of the estimates will be found extremely low on consideration. The other portion of the expense is for the repair of certain barracks which have been for some time, more or less, neglected, and which it has at length been judged expedient to replace in repair, and for the improvement of various fortifications; thus adding to the comfort of the troops by improving their barracks, and by furnishing them with better articles than those to which they have been hitherto accustomed. The estimates for miscellaneous expenses last year was 1,32,0001. ; this estimate this year is 3,235,0001. But I have thought it right to set, at the present moment, 200,000/. down under this head, conceiving that I shall hereafter have to sub mit to the House an account of these sums expended in the re lief of the suffering population—it is necessary to have a margin of this kind, under present circumstances. The ac count, of course, is a matter of estimate, but, as I have said, I have thought it right to put that sum in the estimates, in order to make them up to a period, before ,the arrival of which I think they will be required to meet the general expenses under that head. The effect, therefore, of the total expenditure of the year will amount to 20,198,000/. But those additional charges mentioned in the speech of my Right Honour able Friend at the commencement of the session— I mean by the alteration in the ordnance tender for medical attendance, and for salaries of schoolmasters in the different poor-law unions, for the maintenance of prisoners; and by the expense of prosecutions in criminal case, all contri bute to this increase of the miscellaneous estimates. They are all comprised in the statement I have made. The total amount of the service of the year, therefore, amounts to 20,193,0001., which when, with the other charges, are deducted from the ex pected revenue of the year 51,630,000/., makes a total amount of expenditure of 50,863,000/e which leaves a surplus at the end of the year of 776,000/. It was with a similar surplus in the commencement of last year that we entered upon the period which is past. It is with a similar surplus that we enter upon the present year ; but I enter upon it now as I did then, with increased confidence that the estimate I have made as to the expenditure of the country, commerce will be rather diminished than increased, and that the House, at a future period, will have the satisfaction of finding that the result is even more prosperous than I have now stated. Unless it can be shown to me that there is some great error in the calculations which I have made, I think I may say we have the satisfaction of knowing that the result is mainly owing to the course which Parliament has of late years adopted, in abolishing prohibitory duties, and in relaxing protective duties, giving to the industry of the country increased energy, and securing for the people at once a means of employment, and an easy means of procuring the necessaries and comforts of life. But, Sir, when I attribute the prosperity of the year which has passed, and anticipate the prosperity of the year which is to come, I may be told that, is ascribing it to the causes I have just named, I am at fault. I may be told that rea son url eydi n ofg ina this particular t observation . h advantagesr tie c present u one year the fi n an c i a l s y s t em may be attended with fortuitous circumstances and acc id en tal advantages, and that the circum stances of a sin g l e y ear d o no t a pply a l wa y s t o the future, I ad mit the what merely to has the o c force p iahra vsosystem stated I adm a i s t o t fh oneat you e a h r a v a e s n o a right for to urge rge cthe occurred future; what but res a l t ask e d the House not to confi ne their obse r vations, s em year, t or to s from the measures adopted in the last year, but to year 1 their &i2, ae soon views afte carry in r r of r the ° period a long when the s ies present yt w a ears, during whi c h th e present system h as been in o eration I y b they a, a Government came into office, that the present system first commenced, and I beg of the House to go along with me in considering what has been the continued progress and result of the measures introduced by the Government, and adopted by the House. It will be recollected what was the state of the country at the period when the p resen t Government entered office—not that I w i s h to enter into a comparison between any particular a d m i n i strations. And now, in the next place, I propose to call the atte ntion of the House to th e situation of the country at the period when we entered into Government. There had b een f or some years a considerable deficien c y in the revenue —that defiei 'neer h a d increased at that period to a very large amount ; indeed attempts had been made by increased taxation, and p roperly made, t o overcome that deficiency , but it was found th at the augmentation of the duty on customs and excise had not the effect of materially augmenting the revenues. The first duty of the Government, therefore, under these circumstances was to get rid of that deficiency, and to prevent its recurrence for the future ; and it was necessary at that tirae—it was indistm... rood of the country, that a great additional burden should be imposed for the purpose of relieving from that incubus-that amount of debt which was sure, if permitted to continue, to break down the financial prosperity of this country.-( Hear, hear.) Feel ing, then, as we feel now, that the great cause of national prosperity was the relief of the country from those particular burdens which pressed more particularly upon the poorer classes of the community-which affected the industry-which checked employment-which prevented the extension of ma nufactures-impressed deeply with those sentiments, we com bined with the large imposition of taxes a very large reduction of the existing burdens, by taking off from the customs all the prohibitory duties, and to reduce all protective duties to a more moderate range. And we relied then upon what had actually occurred as to the stimulus which those measures would give to the industry of the country in the production of a happy future. Sir, in the year 1842, it was proposed to reduce the duty upon 583 articles, with some few exceptions ' • in 1843, purs u i ng th e same s y s t em o f f ur th er reduc tion in the duties, upon 7 articles was proposed ; in 1844, upon 4 articles of customs ; in 1845, upon 21 articles of customs, the duties were reduced upon 444 articles, and some duties were rel.ealed ; in 1846, the duties in the customs were again re• duced upon 112 articles-that is by the Bills which have now gone to the other House of Parliament, and an entire repeal is made upon 54 articles, making, with the proposed reduction of duties up to tie present time, a reduction of duties upon 727 articles, and a repeal of the duty upon 503 articles, upon which taxes had to be preciously paid. Tho,e articles, being for the most part those which concern the food, the clothing, and tee comforts of the people, as well as those articles which arc used in the manufactures of this country, and which imposed a re striction upon the employment of the people, by imposing a restriction upon the trade which that employment would give. Now, Sir, let us then take a review of what has been the result of those operations. We have, as I have shown, had four years experience, upon which we have acted in the same course, gra dually, cautiously, but progressively, diminishing those particu lar duties which pressed severely upcn the industry or the comforts of the people. And let us see what has been the result ? How are we to test its effect upon the condition of the country ? What shall we take as the index of the general pros perity of the country, deduced from the operation of the mea sures of relief upon the people for whom that relief was pro posed. It appears to me, Sir, that there are some tests which, on this subject, may be very well applied. I think, in the first place, we must know what is the financial prosperity of the country-ascertaining what is the available sum that the country has at its disposal at any particular period, dealing with the country as with individuals- that individual is wealthy who has balance at his banker's sufficient to meet the ordinary demands upon him-that individual is poor who has not the means to meet the demands. In the like manner, the first test that I will apply is-what have been the balances of the exchequer of this country? On the Ist of January, 1842, the balance of the exchequer of this country was 3,650,000/.; on the Ist of January, 1846, the balance of the exchequer was 8,450,0001., and if you deduct from that bal ance what was in the exchequer on the Ist of January, 1842, it shows an increase in the balance of the Exchequer, of the available means that the Government has at its disposal, of 4,793,000/. Sir, then, as regards that particular test of national prosperity, I think the House will admit it to be complete. The next point to which I shall ad vert is, what has been the state of the debt of the country, during the period to which I have adverted. If we find the country accumulating annually an amount of debt, however small, we can hardly look upon that as an indication of national prosperity. An increase of the debt of the country may be overcome by other advantages, but it is plain, that if notwith standing that state of things the debt of the country is reduced -I say that we must regard with the greatest favour, that sys tem of finance which has led to that conclusion. The debt of this country consists of two great parts, the funded and the unfunded-and they must necessarily be taken together, because, by transferring one portion of those debts to the other, a decrease is made in the one, whilst a corresponding increase is made in the other. On the Ist of January, 1842, the capital of the funded debt was 77,253,0001.-ell these accounts are on the paper before the House. The Exchequer-bills outstanding were 19,678,0001. The total debt, therefore, of the funded and unfunded debt amounted to 792,000,000/. What was the state, on the Ist of January, 1846, of the funded debt ? In 1842 it was 772,000,0001., and on the Ist of January, 1846 it was 776,600,0001. The funded debt that was 19,678,000/. on the Ist of January, 1842, was 18,400,000/ , on the Ist January, 1846, making a total of 785,115,000/ on the lst January, 1846, as contrasted with the 792,000,000/. on the Ist January, 1842-( Hear, hear)-showing a reduction during those last years in the funded debt of 7,000,000/.-(Cheers.) This statement, therefore, shows clearly a reduction upon the unfunded debt of 7,000,000/. ; but there is another item to which I would wish to call attention, and it is an item under the head of what is called deficiency, and it is an item which renders it necessary for the Governmet to borrow a certain sum to make up the Exchequer, and to meet the demands upon it. In respect to this item, it would not be fair to compare any one quarter of the year 1842 with any quarter of the year 1846, because many circumstances have occurred which would render it impossible that such a comparison would present a fair contrast.-( Hear, hear.) I have, there fore, taken the average of the defi iencies for the whole of the four quarters of the year 1842, and compared them with the whole of the four quarters of 1846, and I find that in the year . 1842 the sum total of the deficiencies for the four quarters of that year amounted to 6,163,000/.; while those of 1846 amounted to 2,029,000/. ; thus making a decrease in this item for this year of 4,133,000/, as compared with the year 1842, which I think is about equal to the decrease I have already named of 7,000,0001. in the unfunded debt; and here I may observe that this economy of the public funds is consistent with an assertion made by Mr. Huskisson, in this House, to the effect that economy was not to be effected by reducing the capital of the debt, bat reducing the amount of the general charge upon the country.-( Hear, hear.) On the Ist of January, 1842, the interest on the funded debt Was 24,403,000 e ; on terminable annuities, 4,000,000/. ; the management of the debt at that time involved an expense of 160,000/., and the interest on exchequer-bills was 696,000/. The total charge on the debt, which was to be derived out of the taxes on the country, which was in fact the very first charge to be derived, was 29.598,000/. Now let us look at the year 1846. On the Ist of January, 1846, the interest on the funded debt was 23,600,000/. ; the interest on the termin able annuities was 3,967,000/. I insert this last item to show that the reduction on the funded debt has not been in creased by any addition to the terminable annuities, because we find, that in the year 1342, as in the year 1846, the ter minable annuities have remained at nearly the same amount. In the year 1846 the management of the debt, which in 1842 had been 160,090/., was reduced to 93,0001. The interest on exchequer-bills, which in 1842 had amounted to 896,0001., was in 1846 reduced to 426,0001. The total result, there. fore, of all these charges on the debt was in 1842, 29,597.000/., while, on the Ist of January, 1840, it was 28,129,0001., leaving a balance of relief to the public in the sole article of charges on the debt to the amount of one million and a half. We might have taken the advantage of a further relief, but we have preferred postponing these advantages to the year 1854, when relief to the extent of 625,000/. will be given in addition. This will give an amount of a million and a half in immediate relief, and a yearly saving of 625,000/, ; at no very distant time, making a total relief of two millions and more on the interest which is at present taken out of the pub lic taxes. What, then, is the result of the test we have ap plied ? That we have now a balance in the exchequer of 5,000,0001.-that we have reduced the debt by 7,000,0001.- that we have reduced the amount of exchequer-bills by 4,000,0001., rnd you have effected a saving in the manage. ment of the public debt of a million and a half, and also a saving annually in the interest of the debt of 625,0001. I ask any man to show me how these advantages have been secured to the country, if not by that system of commercial and financial policy which it has been the good fortune of the Go vernment to adopt? With reference to the public debt, there is one observation which I wish to make. It may be said that you have reduced the public debt, but during that time you have had a large re mittance from China of 3,500,000 e, which has constituted more than half the reduction of the national debt. The amount altogether received from China was 3,360,000/. But how has this sum been applied? In the first place, we have applied on behalf of the expenses of the Chinese war in the year 1842, 400,0001. ; in the year 1843, 800,0001. ; in the year 1844, 820,0001. ; opium compensation, 1,270,000/. ; making a total of 3,290,000 e, leaving only a balance of 30/. -( Laughter. ) Now, Sir, I am sure the House will concur with me that this statement is satisfactory. How has this result been obtained ? Has it been obtained by starving the services of the country, and depriving us of the means of preserving peace at home and our honour abroad? We have thought it right to keep the services of the country on a more solid and firm footing. We have been able to save money and to effect the object without the imposition of any fresh taxes. I know it may be said you may easily get a reduction of the debt by imposing taxes, and in despotic governments the people are heavily taxed in order to pay off the public debts. We have, however, not done so. -(Hear.) When a reduction in any tax takes place, it is expected that an augmentation in consumption will take place, and you must therefore in considering the relief afforded to the people, take the amount which is consumed under the reduced duty compared with what it was before. Take for instance the consumption of sugar under the/former duty to be 13,000,000 of lbs., then the amount - of relief afforded is that which is con sumed beyond that amount, because when we find there is now consumed 50,000,000 tons a year, it gives every man relief in proportion to the extra consumption compared to the previous amount, besides the difference in the price of a pound of sugar. When we consider the relative pressure of taxation imposed and reduced, it will be shown that we must not take the amount of revenue last, but the amount that would have to have been imposed if these alterations in duties had not come into operation. In 1842, the taxes that were imposed were ; 5,630,000/., principally property-tax, with some additions in customs and the stamp duty. In 1845, there were two small additions made in cus toms and stamps, but these were inconsiderable. The total amount of reduction from the Ist of January, 1845, up till 1846, is 624,0081. But when I come to consider the reduction of the taxes during the same period, I find they are from 1842 as follows : -In 1842, the reduction made was 159,0001, ; in 1843, the reduction from customs was 171,000/. ; in the excise, 240,0301., making a total of 411,0001. In 1844, the reduction in the customs was 384,000/. ; in the excise, 25,000/.; in the stamps, &c., 192,000/., making a total of 414,000/. In 1845, the total relief affordgd as as, in customs, 364,000/. ; in excise, 1,135/., making in all 4,749,900/. And the relief that would be afforded by the measures now in course of progress through Parliament, would effect a reduction in taxation to the amount of 1,041,0001., making a total amount of 8,206,000/. If we net against this large reduction the amount of duty unpaid, which is 5,624,0001., it leaves a balance in favour of the people of no less a sum than 3,582,0301. With all these large reductions, you have effected an important object in the reduction of debt, annual charge, and other circumstances, materially affecting our national prosperity in finance. To what shall I attribute thin circumstance ? Some gentlemen will tell me that, for a series of years, we have had a succession of good harvests, and to these harvests alone are to be attributed the improvements which had taken place. God forbid that I should do anything to depreciate the value of the greatest blessing that God has sent us, or that I should show any want of gratitude, or want of a due sense of the blessings for which we should be grateful. I feel this as deeply as any one, and I know the importance of the happiness of the people, and the financial prosperity of the country; a and I feel deeply sensible of the importance of n a which during We have had former periods a l during several consecutive years we have d harvests equal to the present one, but can we show thatmbare inofthaebseundsuanc-t cessive years, say four years , or harvest', one year which has in years 1834, 1835, taikteasvenethffeect been so pros perous as the present. 1836. They were l a f w e which abundance existed, especially in the year y L r 4 s for nothing like the harvest of that year was known f-tormany years, either before or since. If we look at these particular periods, we shall find that the revenue duties were increased materially; but the effect of that revenue on the debt or annual charge, or by its relief to the people, by . n o means corresponded with th e e ff ect which had been produced of late. In detailing these things to the House I will glance at the years 1821, 1822, 1823, which were years of unusual plenty. Can you show me in any one of those periods similar results to those now produced, and which lam now proceeding to detail to the House. Iu these later y ea rs to which I have called your attention, w e h ave adopted a system of commercial and financial policy, w h ic h h ad mate rially aided the efforts of the country to relieve itself of the difficulties, surrounded as it was by restrictive duties, and which commenced by a cautions reduction of duties acting as a protection. Through a long series of years we have adhered to this policy, and we can say, that we have at tained advantages, which under eth3r circumstances, we should - - not for years have attained. It Wail- }introtPAn• isetime4•••••Aai lam, man of infinitely more ability than the humble in div idual who now addresses you. We are not in debted to finance only for the prosperity of the coun try. Financial prosperity is a most desirable thing in itself, and derives adili!icnal value when accompanied by an increase of the comforts of the people, by an improvement in their moral habits, an extension cf instruction amongst them, and a greater attention to their moral and religious duties. How can we measure the comforts of the people except by a well known test which I have often seen applied in this House. What were the savings of the people, and what amount of their small incomes could they afford to devote to pecuniary investment. If you take the four years preceding the year 1842, and institute a comparison between them and the four succeeding years, with reference to the amount of savings deposited in the savings'-banks, comparing the amount drawn with the deposits, that will give an assurance of the greater comforts on the part of the people. Take the difference between the total deposited during the four years before and after 1842. In the year 1842, they wouldfind that before that period the amount was 357,0,;01., and during the four years which succeeded the total was 793,000/., cr more than double the amount put in in the antecedent years. That was also when an additional restriction was imposed with regard to the amount of money to be deposited, and when the rate of interest was reduced below its usual standard. A large portion of the whole amount returned was from the ordinary people who invested their money for the first time at these banks. No less than a million of contributors have deposited their money in these savings'-:banks. There was another test of the comforts of the people. Let us look at the consumption of the excise commodities. Let us take this in particular. There was not the slightest reduction of any exciseable article ; on the contrary, malt, soap, sugar, beer, all on the increase, and so are all the other articles from the top of the list to the bottom. Taking the power of consumption by the people and the power of accumulation, they would there find a test of their increased comforts. With respect to the moral habits of the people, all classes in different parts of the country were much improved, and the returns laid upon the table of that Houseshowed a decrease in the state of crime to the amount of 7 per cent. I cannot refer to these statistical statements, but I can say that the advantage is largely on the side of improve ment. At any rate, it appears that a good opportunity is opened for investigation by contrasting the state of the schoals of these districts. From the return it appears that the num ber of persons educated in this particular class of schools have been in the proportion of five to two. This, it appears, is the surest evidence that can be adduced on the subject, and shows the benefits of the moral advance which has been made in this country, and of the effects which are likely to result from it. There have been times in this country when there was a great advantage calculated from the building of fifty churches ; and this was adduced of the great benefits enjoyed by the lower or ders. But I am happy to say that the interests of religion are not only advanced by the building of fifty churches in the course of a series of years, but that it is promoted by the building of fifty churches in every consecutive year ; and I am fur ther happy to say that this indication of the mo ral and the religious advance of the people is not a transient and evanescent advance, but a permanent and deci sive advance ; for there does not appear to be any instance of this progress being actuated by capricious motives, but that the persons who are chiefly affected by it, are those to whom just such an advance is likely to be of the most service. And if I have satisfied you that these results are in the main part attributable to the policy which has been pursued, not hastily or rashly, but calmly and cautiously introduced, and working therefore great immediate, yet nevertheless, permanent bles sings. If, I say, we can trace them to these causes, is it not the strongest encouragement we could have, to pursue a course fraught with such benefits; and here I cannot refrain from say ing, that I review with satisfaction the part which it has been my lot to take in these several meassres, the result of which I have had the pleasure of stating to you this night. Ought we not, then, to go on in the course which we have commenced? In reducing the burdens on the people, and removing every thing which can affect their comforts, and we will thus place on the strongest foundation, not merely the financial, or the corn mercial, but the general interests of this mighty country. Mr. BARING could not help observing that he considered the course taken by her Majesty's Government was a departure from the general course of proceeding in matters of this kind. They had at the present moment to consider this practical question—What, after all that had been dune, would be the finances of the country ? They had at the moment to look at their balance, and to consider whether the revenue would be sufficient to meet the annual expense, and with that view he proposed to submit the figures of the Right Hon. Gentle man, who had addressed the House with great clearness, to some examination. He was glad, however, to find that the Right Hon. Gentleman had been educated in opinions which he formerly opposed—( Hear, hear) —but he was surprised to find that, throughout his speech, but a small portion of his re marks, indeed, were devoted to what he considered the most important point of all—namely, the surplus. It seemed to him that he had the greatest pleasure in flying off from the financial matters of this year, and the advantages which the country would derive from a relaxed commercial policy. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had addressed himself to the subject. Mr. BARING then went on to say—The balance than ap peared to be 776,0001. in favour of the Exchequer in China money, in least such was the fact, if the Right Hon. Gentle man had stated his account correctly. He should now be compelled to trouble the House with a few details, in order to show that the Hon. Gentleman had not stated his account correctly. He would suppose a familiar case, that of a man having a house for which he paid 400/. a-year rent; if that was paid quarterly, one of the quarters coming due in January of the ensuing year of course credit would be taken in the preceding year, for only three-quarters having been paid. Now this was the case in respect to the accounts of the Right Hon, Gentleman, for he (Mr. Baring) found by the charge for the half-pay military allowance of 434,00 a., that credit had been taken for only three-quarters of this year, which would throw the four quarters into the next year. He also found in the army esti mates that the expenditure had been understated by 208,0001., and the ordinance service by 290,0001., making half a million upon those two items. Then the balance, including the China money, had been estimated at 776,000/. ; but if that sum were not taken into account, and if the sum of 860,000!. which had not been estimated, should even be left out, the actual balance would be but 70,0001. He was not giving this as a blame to the Government. He had no reason to suppose that there would be an increase of those estimates, but he would say, that if the Government were anxious to perform their public duties in a proper manner, it would be matter of impossibility to effect great reductions in the taxes, or in the collection of the revenue. If they looked at the customs, for instance, they would find that the cost of collecting the customs was much the same under the present that it was under the old system, before they began these changes. The cost of labour in the customs, and the salaries to the officials there, were indeed the same, the reduction. having been altogether effected in the superannuation. Hoe Gentlemen might recollect, that on a former time they were told, that if there were too many changes their expenditure was extravagant, but that the course pursued appeared necessary in order to keep up a perfect establishment. He believed that the present estimates were larger than any that had ever been submitted to that House for similar services since 1822. It might be unfair to charge Hon. Gentlemen opposite with re sults which have possibly arisen from the course of policy pur sued by his Noble Friend beside him, and with those who now . joined with him in office. He perfectly concurred in the wisdom, in the expediency, and in the justice of relaxing, as far as they could, the present restrictive duties; but if they were to say that the commercial prosperity of the country during the last few years was occasioned by the Right Hon. Gentleman's tariff, then he (Mr. Baring) contended that they were perfectly mistaken if they alleged any such thing. He certainly did think that the Right Hon. Gentleman would have spoken much more mildly than he did with respect to the past year. He thought that the Ri g ht Hon. Gentleman sould have been a little more explicit in his explanations as to the income-tax.—( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman tripped very dexterously into something about the policy which the Government had pursued, and now and then he made a sly hit at the individual who was then addressing the House.— ( Laughter.) He did not believe, although he was opposed to the income-tax, that the Government would be in a situa'ion to take it off at the erd of the three years. —( Hear, hear.) He would not follow the Right Hon. Gentleman in the course of arguments which he had brought before the House, but there was one point on which he could wish to have an explana.• tion from the Right Hon. Gentleman. The Right Hon. Gen tleman had stated that he had increased his balance in the Exchequer, and he should wish to show in what way that had been done. The House was well aware that at the end of every quarter the surplus revenue was handed over to the Com , missioners of the National Debt for the purpose of reducing the public debt. On looking at the accounts, he (Mr. Baring) found that in the years 1844 and 1845, they had a sum o f 1.6t.0,000/. to be so applied. But he found that the Right Hon. Gentleman had not handed over that sum for any such purpose; he had, it would appear, appropriated it to the pur poses of increasing his Exchequer balance, so that, prac tically, the money that was formerly handed over to the Commissioners appointed for the reduc. tion of the National Debt was now handed over to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.—( Hear, hear.) He would not say that it was not perfectly right for the Right Hon. Gentleman to apply the surplus for such purposes, but he should have stated in his speech, that it was by those means that he had increased the balance in Exchequer. The policy of the Government with regard to free trade had been introduced by the Right Hon. Gentleman in the course of his speech, but he (Mr. Baring) conceived that that had nothing to do with the budget, which was the proper subject of discussion that evening. —( Hear, hear.) He believed, that if the statements had been made correctly, it would be found, that instead of their being a surplus in the revenue of the country during the past year, there was really a deficiency of 700,0001. He was afraid that the Right Hon. Gentleman was far too sanguine in his anticipations as to the results of the commercial policy of the Government. The CH ANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. in explanation, said that with regard to the first question of the Hon. Mem ber, as to the mode in which the accounts of the army and navy were made out, the present system had been found to be by far the best. With regard to the other question, viz., that about the handing over the surplus to the Chancellor of the Exchequer instead of to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the Na tional Debt, it was certainly true that the surplus was applied for the purpose of increasing the balances of the exchequer. But the principle was not a new one. He believed it was the system pursued by the present Government's predecessors in office. The opinion of the Honourable that e tab ls h Member a as to the expenditure of the present year was h no doubt true. (Hear, hear.) The reas on w tolerabl ye surplus was handed over to the exchequer was y small the obvious. When the balances of the exchequerarrw were mo ney from the government was obliged very often to s H e a l v n e k s . i n dßeuptenbdye n increasing ß their b a a d l a r n c b l a e i a tvheedy themselves h f r e omm o mon i e r y . fHroufrom thought t which e n Government for in thetaxation publ i c had a of purposes.—(ctted right he country, tlear . ) i endeavouring to mak e t h e mselves independent of the bank. With reference to th e reduction he attached great imp ortance to it. He would be glad to ace indirect taxation removed altogether, and a direct tax upon property or income imposed in its place. He believed that the rveasure in progress would tend to the benefit of this country, He blamed no man f or c han g in g his opinion when he c h ang ed . from bad to good. With regard to the expenditure gratifying nature. reven ue he thought they were of a highly ratifying tu If he had any complaint to make, it wou ld be that of keeping up a large establishment in ti me o f peace; perhaps th a t was necessary in ol der to preserve the peace of their country. He considered that restrictions on food and other articles would be injurious to the revenue. The revenue might be ircreas e d by a removal o f the data on tea; the comforts of the population would be increased, and the trade with China strengthened. Now, s he understood, smuggling had not been dimini s hed, and he had t o comp l a i n that the Government, after reduc ing the duties on 600 articles, had not reduced their cus tomhouse establishment. The country complained of the cost which that establishment entailed. But the reason was, as soon as the post of a Commissioner of Customs became vacant, there was a general ruse to have it filled up, and this was a course of which the country had a right to com plain. The duty on the stalks of tobacco, which were largely tt,ed in this country for the purpose of makiog snuff. was 2,600 per cent. ; and he con-idered if they removed all these duties, they might reasonably reduce the custom-house de partment. Lord G. BENTINCK said he could not object to the estimate for the army or navy, for when they recollected the expression of Mr. Calhoun, in the American Senate, he did not think any reasonable objection could be made against them. But he considered the surplus of 773,0001. was rather a narrow urpi. tha. firm:Aare/1 that it w made in the fare of ail the rat changes. He not think the Chancellor bad stated his esse in a sufficiently' ample manner. He had not told them whet he expected w0u:.". 1 The Hon. Gentle received under the proposed Corn 13.'11. be the amount of duties Gentle mats hail entered into a glowing statemen,, Pf the result of the policy which his party have pursued when pese din cornparioppositionson with that of the gentleman who sat on the oppositi on becnhss, but he did not consider that he had any g , e at riglht to ee congratulate himself. When' the Right Hon. Gentlsettla-` ' a ' that all this great prosperity was to be ascribed to then' fin T e cial measures, he (Lord G. Bentinek) thought that' assumed to himself a credit for an effect which in reality v'. ; produced by the gift of Providence. When it was also states% that the advantage caused by all reductions would go to the consumer, he must venture at once utterly to deny the fact. Th produce of the reduction was, it was welleknown, swallowed up by the producer and other parties who went between the producer and consumers It was, however, only wasting the time of the House to go into the whole question, and he would refrain from troubling it any further, at the same time entering his protest against its being supposed that he consented to receive such a financial statement as had that night been made. Mr. C. WOOD considered that the financial arrangements of this country had not been very ably carried out, but he did not think that the course taken by the Chancellor of the Ex chequer was at all likely to accomplish what he (the Chan cellor of the Exchequer) said he had in view, viz., the assimi lation of the army and navy estimates.. Under the present mode of management, that was an end %%which would never be attained. He did not think that the financial statement which had been delivered was sufficiently explicit, and where it was so it did not promise to provide for the wants of the country. He thought there ought to be an explanation of the point s he had referred to. With regard to the income freoe customs, he admitted that the Chancellor of the Exchequer vas' b e tter able than any of them to give an estimate of what the future re ceipts of the country might be ; still it was coene setent f o unded. them to express an opinion of the data on which he - l two his calculation. The Right Hon. Gentleman deduce?... fifths of the actual reduction made in the customs as the pre* a tel loss on this branch of the revenue next year, making the as revenue from customs 19,300,000/. Now, he thought a sA L , guine calculation had been made in this respect, and that in stead of taking six weeks back, which was not a fair period for a calculation, he ought to have gone back for a longer time. He (Mr. C. Wood) admitted that some of the calculations of last year were correct, especially these relating to the post office and the excise, but it was not so on the estimate of cus toms. If the experience of the last year was applied to the next, he considered the income from customs should not be estimated at more than 18,800,0001. The calculation of the Right Hon. Gentleman was therefore overstated. The whole expenditure of the year was set down at 51,650,000/. ; whereas he considered it would be at least 51,769,0001.; so that, including the China money, the expenditure would be more than the total income by 119,0001. ; and without that money, 800,0001. He would go to another point, and that was to the policy of the Ministry for the present year. He considered the greatest benefits would result from the altera tions that were now proposed in the tariff, and in the adoption, of free trade. They would facilitate trade aud commerce, and operate beneficially in giving employment to the people. Tir ber of all description, introduced into this C ot try , had in creased 500,0j0 loads, and this must have teetden. to i n crease bar the employment of the poor, They had latterly had grood ‘_ieh vests, and it was this, added to other circumstances " w e nd hail occasioned so much prosperity. It would be s a rc that the increased consumption of the last few Y' an applied principally to articles of food, and this increase w e consumption could only in: his opinion be sa butcd to increased prosperity in manufactures, whieth gay. so much employment to large masses of the commuilitYeee ( Hear, hear.) The Right Honourable Gentleman , Chancellor of the Exchequer had said they had a str tar' l proof of the improved condition of the people in OP' increase which had taken place in the excise dutieee This increase, too, could be traced to the prevailin prosperity of manufactures . which he for one attribut ed to those liberal commercial measures which the 1 -1 ",,, se had recently adopted, and he was glad to find that the B i g" - lion. Gentleman had began to propose a redaction i n the deferential duties on sugar, and other articles of home co n e sumption. Last year he ventured to remonstrate again st sose . of these duties, and he was rejoiced to find they were Le al ` c. be reduced, because he considered it would improve the 1; coerce of the country, and at the same time place within the reach of the industrial classes articles of consumption, wh'o, had hitherto been beyond their mea ns .—( Hear, hear.) " - therefore, hailed the Right Hon. Gentleman's declaration th o re this point, as the first step towards an improvement in is branch IA the system, and he no w l oo k e d forward with et!'"; fidence, and feeling of the liveliest satisfactio n , to the day vv l 2' c ea he hoped, indeed he felt sure, was net far distant, when tb duties would have to undergo a thorough r ev i s ion at the pan of the Legislature.—(Cheers.) Mr. CARD WELL said he felt great surprise at hearse l 3 th e Hon. Member opposite taki ng so gloomy a view of the ftett l !'; A great pressure had b een remove d f rom the springs of I ,d dustry, and the result should be a great stimulus to trade at. commerce. He begged to remind the Hon. Member that I.ll' Chancellor of the Exchequer had confined himself to the ea penses incurred within the year, and therefore the Govern ment were only following up the course which they were wa r e ranted in doing by all precedent ; and, if they had a dopted other course, it would ,only have the effect of creat!ogfaier to fusion. This was not a fair comparison. It was u°'' rea li s ed say that the customs' duties last year had only 200,0001. For 200,0001. he (Mr. Cardwell)The 2,000,0001., and he would prove that this was correct. The Hon. Member then read returns to prove ehis assertion. decu- Hon. and Learned Member had taken his 1-eturns from used ments in which every allowance was made for a suPP falling off in consequence of reduction, and thet-efore he was, sr far, mistaken. But it was said that they must look to othe quarters for their revenue. But the return s laid he fore the House showed that since the reducunns in the won.d customs and excise consequent on the alterations os` the tariff, read the revenue so far from decreasing, had been considerably in creased; and if they still more relaxed the:springs of co mmerce , he was of opinion that a continued system of prosperitee wonld be induced, which would in time coming add to the happiluelis and comfort of the people. Mr. WILLIAMS had expected that the Right Hon. Gentle , " man the Chancellor of the Exchequer would have made , some considerable reductions in the expenditure of the several departments, hut he had not done so. I f they looked at the charges of the naval, the military, and ordnance services, they would find that as compared with the American, the people were taxed at the rate of sixteen to three millions, and so it was with every other department. He found, for instance, that in the three years following the elevation of the present Ministry to power: that there were •no less than 600 new places createdff; a cost of 225,0001. He found that a sum of 149 . 50u t „ was required for 113 of these new places. There 1",; one point on which he was sure that her Majesq... Government must make a material reduction in the exeerl d ture, if they would follow the example which had been He down by France and all other countries in the world. in found, by a return made in 1842, that 6,700,000/. was,e the previous year, expended in the shape of salaries to officers employed in the Customs, Excise, Stamps , E r re office, &c. Now, if those sums were annually brought be the House, to be voted for in the same manner as were the salaries of individuals employed in the army, navy , &c. tb_e_A must necessarily be a great reduction in their salari es ; a"7: of all other times, this was the most appropriate to make su." reductions. At no time during the last thirty years was the price of the article of food so low as at present. Mr. HUDSON said that at that late hour of the evening he had no desire to trespass on the attention of the House; but he must beg leave to say that the Right Hon. Gen tleman had, in the words of an Hon. Member, made a most - serious omission in his statement. He did not think that the state ment that had been made was one of the most satis' c 'eet cr i character, or that it should be re gar d e d as a speec h a t s the country might feel grateful. He did expect that so poe thing more would base been done for relieving the people fr taxation—that a speculative Ministry such as we had 0° 1 ! would have reduced the duty on tea, which vi a ' an article of such large consumption. The su r p lus revenue had been expended in the internal improvements of tb country. The Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had spoken with much self congratulation on ' le prosperity of the last four years, and attributed that pro s e is to himself and his colleagues, forgetting that abundant haeve' id had much to do in the production of that prosperity. He Al!. be called Mr. Prosperity Chancellor of the Exchequer. Wue he was a boy he was taught that self-praise was no cot; mendation." If the country had prospered during the la st f , o he years, why did they seek to disturb that prosperity adoption of the system of free-trade ? ba The House then resumed, and the report was ordered to received on Friday. t it The Highways and Coercion Bills were postponed up Monday, the 18th of June. The Poor-law Removal Bill was postponed to Friday net The House then adjourned till Friday next. y n [ ADVERTI CEMENT. —THE FAME OF EfoL_---w ac Alr hi ., PILLS In the cure of head aches, dimness of sight, deranged sn'W., .. n o se , and disordered livers, likewise in restoring strength and vigour fi t oicS of debilitated constitutions, is so great that even in the East the different castes of natives are taking but little other ule'''"„ than these famous pills. One native agent i n th e Presiden c y Bombay sold, lately, retail fifty-three dozen boxes in fifteen The extraordinary cures performed by these pills, when all °,,p{- means fail, is truly wonderful. Females will find this a most ro ruble medicine.—Sold by all druggists, and at Professor 13 0 110 "' _ . _ . . Establishment 244, ,trand, London. Clarence has greatly improved in health since hi e s a res a i breakfast in the beat" His Lordship generally takes an airing before hr The party at the estate We are rejoiced to learn that Lord Fre d d . er c i:k in y 3 i a t t f: tiful gardens attached to the I'ulteney Hots. the arrival of his Lord' ship's the Hon. Capt• ship's sister, Lady Mary Fox, the Hay.—Bath Herald. blishment was augmented on Wednesday by hi rr - on, le of Bell's Life is May 3.. ...... : : ... ..... ... • 25,061 10 - ... : :..... ••••• • • • • • 27,997 pastfour W wo o eo ltly ji. D . F ..ay 5 .. a :.... 25,096 Londonl'o THE during SPORTINGt he Ma ...... -•••• • • • • • 28,528 May 24 • • •• t e i n te ts, k j i u o n g . a , A each publication of twenty-six thousand ° time for Making an averr ty s . al- Betl's Life is regularly published in .....1 hundred and r sev . a fternoon railways. For the most correct repor all the Saturday afternoon h four days' Epsom Races, see Bell's Life, Sunday ne% ig u a y --- - of pelle a e c n or cl y es t e o d a t n o y M p r a . rt Cl o e f in kingdom Insure, A post . 1 .. CHE VICARAGE OF WANTAGE.--It is expected than the tne living of Wantage, Berkshire, just rendered vacant by the det t , of the Hon. Dr. Hobart, will be conferred upon the Rev. Mr. lOrThe rrticu i l . a t rf ai one of the minor canons of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. ~., a t 1 tiru M e y , vicarage, which is of the annual value of about 6001., is in the g7 to the Dean and Canons. No arrangement, however, is exP e .„, et in ted be decided upon until after the induction of the newly - APP - Dean. , b S y tr r an etaro d , 'W o r On the 26th of May, at B ise / i ll nb r r li o Captain L. , s Smith, A.D., Adj u t an t-G enera l , o f ' a son, till-boro•O - , en On the 24th o f M ay, at Stranraer-place, Maida-vale, Mrs. "" derson, of a (laughter. S ke House Dublin, the 101 of On the 24th of May, at Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, the ladY o f 6' W. Mason, Esq., of a son. of i"' On the 24th of May, at Codrington-place, Brighton, the l ady Elphinston, Esq.. of Bombay, of twins, both girls. John" On the 25th of May, at Stanstead, Sussex, the wife of hlttior stone, of Alva, Stirtingshire, of a daughter. „ he glib On the 26th of May, the wife of W. H. Maund, Esq ,o f '' , Laverstoek, Wilts, of a daughter. ~. __ a rt, o' On the 26tk of May, at Upper Tooting, Mrs. J. H. Goodie a son. aar dincr. On the 27th of May, at Tonbridgo, Kent, the wife of R. B . Esq., of a daughter. ifo of .T' C. On the 27th of May, at the Circus, Greenwich, the If Templer, Esq., of a son. ____—..---------. MARRIED. E On the 27th of May, at St. P Church,ancras New pe, J • Hoo . ja m a cs, of Burton-m eseent, te Mrs. James, 'widow of the late Cap tain of Ham-common. a B rkela' On the 28th of May, at All Saints' Church, Poplar, —1 e rn iihis, Esq., civil engineer, of Cambridge-terrace, Hyde-Park, t° '" eh:cst daughter of F. Garford, Esq., of the East India-road. , B i c ker- On the 29th of May, at St. Sepulchre's Church, Lonn , .. .-• Iston , ton, of Luton, Bedfordshire, to Emily, second daughter ofJ. ~ ..ou Esq., Kent-road, London. ED. On the 17th of May, at St. T DI dye, the Rev. C. Hodgson, A. rector of that parish. . rt., Oa the 23 i f Nay, et Nettlecombe•court , Sir J. Trevet:ran, - _ t 7-Vi , , of :\l. - t', :.! J. Tarry, Esq• , M ed 6 'iv. 1 - I. On the 'ti clt 01 May, at Inesh,y, Hens, Jane, the wife of Phibbs, Esq., aged 71. On Vie 27th of May, at Christchurch, NV. Long, aged 83. 2, London: Printed and Published by 111:1TRDO YOUNG, of I CO • 11 duet Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, N 0.112, Strand, in the Pre„. 4 , of the SaVOY, to the (Malty of Niddleaux, Saturday, dO. 1846. THE OREGON TERRITORY. Mr. HUNIE said, that it was reported that a formal notice had been sent to this country by the President of the United States to the British Government, terminating the Oregon Convention of 1b37. Now he wished to ask the Right Hon. Baronet, the First Lord of the Treasury, if the report were correct ? Sir R. PEEL replied, that the American President had cer tainly givers formal notice of the termination of the existing Convention, which is to take place at the end of this year ; and in giving that notice, he adopted the terms agreed upon by both Houses of the American Legislature, in the hope that it might lead to an amicable adjustment of the question.—( Hear, hear,) MR. WARNER'S INVENTION. In answer to a question from Lord INGESTRE, Sir R. PEEL consented to lay upon the table of the House papers connected with the invention of Mr. Warner. The Right Hon. Baronet laid them on the table at once, and ordered them to be printed. RETIRENIENt OF NAVAL OFFICERS. The RIGHT HONOURABLE BARONET 11;1;C1;1 answer to a question from Sir Charles Napier, that he under stood that unless a certain number of officers applied to be in cluded in the regulation, the Admiralty would have the power to deal with it accordingly. He did think it would be desira ble, when the House should go into a Committee of Supply, to take up the navy estimates first, and he would have no objec tion to such a course. COURTS OF LAW. Captain POLHILL moved for a return of the number of the writs of summonses issued out at the high courts of law, namely, the Queen's Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Ex chequer, of pleas between the 10th day of November, 1545, and the 10th day of May, 1846 ; and also, the numbers issued out of the same courts in the parallel six months of the five preceding years ; also, the Bills filed in the Courts of Equity during the same periods of time, distinguishing each year. Agreed to. Lo . rd G. BENTINCK said he would wish to a ask a question of the Right Honourable Baronet, which at first, might seem to impugn the truth of a statement made by a Noble Lord in another place—he meant Lord Dalhousie ; but, however, he had since had such representations made to him as had entirely re moved the possibility of such an imputation. He now referred to the policy of this country as it affected the interests of the Canadas. The Noble Earl was understood to say that the Canadians viewed with a perfect feeling of satisfaction the ge neral policy of her Majesty's Ministers ; and, so far from en tertaining any feeling of apprehension and alarm, he stated that all they asked was, that the nominal duty of Is. , which was proposed to be retained on Canadian and other wheat, should be reduced to one penny. This was the statement which was im puted to the Earl of Dalhousie; and he (Lord George Ben tinck) must say that he had heard the statement with his own ears. Now, the question he wished to ask was, Whether or not the Canadians had determined by a vote of their Legis lative Assembly to address her Majesty against the mea sures of her Ministry +? The first paragraph of that address was in form something like this :—" That the House viewed with the most serious apprehension and alarm, and as detrimental to the future peace and prosperity of the Colonies, the adoption of the proposed principle of commercial intercourse now under the consideration of the Imperial Parliament." That such an address had been unanimously voted he had the best reason for knowing, inasmuch—(The Noble Lord was here called to order.) Well, then, the question he had to a k of her Majesty's Ministers was whether or no, when that state ment was made by a Cabinet Minister of the Crown, he was not in possession of the information to which he ( Lord George Bentinek) had now referred ? He wished to knew whether that Minister was not in possession of the address when he knew that it would be unanimously voted by the Legislative Assembly of Canada, expressive of sentiments like those which had been embodied in the paragraph he had read to the House. Sir ROBERT PEEL said that he would with pleasure lay all the information he was in possession of before the Noble Lord. He had yesterday made an appointment with the Sec.. retary for the Colonies fcr one o'clock this day, and when his ;tight Hon. Friend attended he showed to him (Sir R. Peel) a letter from Lord Cathcart, containing the address of the Cana dian House of Assembly. which he was bound to acknowledge expressed the apprehensions of the Assembly as to the conse quences that might follow the adoption of the commercial measures of the Government. He understood his Right Hon. Friend then to say that that communication had only reached him in the course of the morning. He (Sir R. Peel) did not know that such a communication had arrived until two o'clock this day. If even he had thought it possible that Lord Dalhousie should have had earlier information than he bad, he had yet the assurance that the Noble Lord was aware of the receipt of this communication at the period at which he spoke last evening. When dispatches came, it was impossible that all members of the Government should receive the information simultaneously ; some time must elapse before all the members of the Government were aware of the contents. ----------- In answer to a question put by Mr. CHRISTIE, sir S. GRAHAM said that the report would be laid upon the table atter the recess. :W REMOVAL. Lord J. RUSS P ELL OO wised to know when his Hon. Friend who sat behind him (Mr. E. Denison) chara c t er ? vrould make the motion of which he had gi ven not i ce in a more specific Mr. E. DENISON stated his intent upon th e Notice-book several notices w hi c h would liola avetZ effeacnrtodf. making his motion more specific a n d more accurately d He intended t o p ro p ose th a t, i n cas e o f any pauperre to be suppli e d w i t h re li e f , t h e re li e f s h a ll b e admi nistered in the union, and not in the parish of such union ; and that the amount of the expense consequent upon this should be de frayed by a fund levied on each parish, and that these expenses shall be borne in proportion to the expenses incurred in such parish during the last five or seven years ; and that the debts already incurred, with interest due upon the same, shall not be affected by such i-Ncts. RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE PORTE. Dr. BOWRING inquired whether any treaty had been signed heteen the Russian. Government and the Porte, equal ising the duties paid by foreign nations, u n d er t h e existing capitulation, and removin g th,l disadvantages under which Br tish subjects have laboured. Sir R. PEEL rep lied that he expected shortly to h ave an _ re. interview with the Russian d Minister. ADDRESS copy CANADA. of the address f rom Lord G. BEN f INCK a s the Legislature of Canada , in F ke ß d Oif3a referents to the proposed al tersaitrioßns. iin,EthEeLtalilffhhaavde notbe been laidon the got the address. tabl e.s Lord G. BEN TINCK said he had it with him, and would . ,_ c l hand it to the Right Hon. Baronet. (Co nsiderable merriment wasdown and giv was excitement from the Noble Lord stepping ing the Rigtit Hon. Baronet a copy of the do cument in question. ) THE PRICE OF POTATOES IN YORK SHIRE. Mr. LAWSON rose to move that a return be made of the highest price of potatoes per bushel in the various market towns in Yorkshire fur the seven months previous to :May 2-3, 1846 ; also, a similar return of the highest prices in London, Southwark, sod Westminster. He said he was fully aware that this motion was not palatable to every Hon. Member, still, as he had been deprived of the opportunity of making on the previous evening, when it was down for pr..posal, he was determined to avail himself of the present opportunity to bring it forward.. He should then proceed to offer to the House that explanation, or rather vindication, of a statement he had made in that House. When on a former occasion he had stated to the House that a person in Yorkshire had sent up potatoes to London, and that the cargo was af• erwards re turned to Yorkshire for want of sale, that assertion had been received with incredulity, or he might say derision. Since the tim e he had snide the assertion, he had had an opportunity of making an investigation such as was necessary to confirm his statement, and he did not rise then for the purpose of altering any single word he had said, but he rose in order to confirm every single one of them, and he would say, confidently that he was prepared with all dates and other things necessary to bring under their consideration. He felt the kindness of the House in allowing him to enter upon any ' _ THE BUDGET. The House then resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, when The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose and said —I am anxious Mr. Greene to avail myself of this opportunity, previously to the separation of the House, of bringing before them that arnual statement of the finances of the country, which is expected from the individual who holds the situation which I have the honour to held. lam sure that the state ment which I have to make to tho House, will have but little attraction, except from the subject with which it has to deal. I shall not be able to embellish it with any thing novel, since the House have had already before them, during previous dis cussions, the details of those parts of the subject, which are the most interesting to the community. The House has already been informed by my Right Hon. Friend, the First Lord of the Treasury, of the reductions, which it was his intention to make in the different duties of customs, which are at present made. Tnose reductions have been embodied in the Act which has already passed this House, and which now only awaits the sanction of the other branch of the Legis lature, in order to be carried to a full operation. It will also be unnecessary for me to enter into details as to the precise expenditure of the country, because the House has be fore them estimates now upon the table, to the full extent which the Government have thought it necessary to submit to the House. Nothing, therefore, remains to me but to bring into one general view the statements which are before them in detail as to the revenue and expenditure of the country, and to show to the House from the results ho;v successful have been those measures which the Government in former sessions have recommended to the adoption of Parliament, and to which Par liament had given their sanction ; and upon the continued ad herence and progressive adoption of them I believe the finan cial prosperity of the country will be found mairly to depend. ( Hear, hear.) I cannot help, Sir, taking this opportunity of dispelling some of those apprehensions which have been ex pressed by the Gentlemen on this side of the House, as to the effects which the great commercial changes that have since take place might produce upon the revenue of the country. These apprehensions have been generally circulated out of the House by those who profess that opinion ; and it is not I think, unimportant, that those who have honestly indulged such opinions should he undeceived—all those who have circu lated them with a different view should receive contradiction. I shall, therefore, proceed plainly to lay be'ore the House, in the usual order, first, what has been the result of the receipts, and revenue, and expenditure, during the past year, and then to: found upon that calculation what may be the anticipations which may be entertained as to the receipts and expenditures of the year into which we have already entered. The first point to which I wish to draw the attention of the House, is the calculations that have been made by my Right Hon. Friend, when he addressed the House upon the subject in the last ses sion of Parliament, and the results which have followed from the scheme he then laid down. The House will bear in mind that my Right Honourable Friend then stated that certain reductions would be made in the customs and excise reve noes, and that the result would be that the total amount of the revenue wovild be about 49,762,00 Q/. Of this sum 19,500,000/, would be received from the customs, and some thing over 12,000,000/. from the excise; the stamps about 7,000,0001., and the taxes about 4,200,0001., the post office 700,000!., the Crown lands, 1,50,000/., and the property tax 5,200,0001. I beg to say that lam now speaking in round numbers, but the sum total makes, as I already stated, 49,762,0001. Now in looking at the calculations made by my Right Hon. Friend, it will be found that while he had esti mated the sum total of the revenue as only 49,000,0001., it will be found that it has in fact exceeded 51,000,000/., and that in this sum was included a sum for the excise of over 13 , 0 00,000/., for the stamp duties, 7,600,0001., and for the other items sums proportionably increased ; all of which I think exhibit a great increase in the commercial transactions of this country. I must state that the property-tax has been somewhat diminished owing to the repay ments which it h a d b een necessary Co make ; and, there- there fore, the deductions in th a t i tem can be easily accounted for. I are reminded of the Post -office. This depart men t p ro d uce d in the year preceding the last 700,0001., but in the last year 795,000/., an indication that stamps the period as one 01 great commercial prosperity. The general receipts amounted to 52,000,0601. ; and here it must be recollected 49,766,000/ • that, i n d epen d ent l y o f t h e or di nary resources of the country, a sum of 750,000/. h a d b een rece i ve d f rom C hina. The total resources of th e co un t r y i n pas t years, w hi ch amounted to Right ply , has increased to no l ess a sum t h an 52.009,000/. I thi n k t h at the House ll am vlieorriitieFd.rienmd,eand have w a i my a sgelrfecinthtahtethlae anstsetiscsiipationheanvseofbemeily i xi t o h u e sly endeav oure d to k eep the charges upon th e d e b t within we laid befo re P ar li ament was 30 7timate. Th e sum which reduced to 30,600,0001 ., in , 49,000/., and thi s we fi nd con amount being ch arge d upon the of a certa i n consolidated fund. The estimate for the service of the army and navy, and the rniscellan. ous estimates, amount to within and ordnance, the sum stated by my night Hon. Friend. Thettlo'itnal4o(Y. ofy therefore be stated thus : a total revenu e of 5'),009,i)00/ result whilem the expenditure has amounted to 49,429,0 00/.,leavi n e a nett s urplus of 2,53'0,0,-01. There wa s thi s year to be added to the side of revenue, an amount of unclaimed dividends, which, varying in every yea r, amounted t his year to 2,350,000/. N ow . varyl ion of the 11. use it will be in the recollect , that when my Right lion. Friend made his statement in the course of the last )ear, he was exce e d; u gly anxious not to create a sin gu i ne expecta tion in the country as to the measures he was abou t to propose; he therefore s tated to the Ho use a ver y mo derate surplus. Th e revenue showed a ver y considerable improveme n t neon t h e esti mate, and I think tha t the statement which we have to lay be fore you will be acknowledged to be o f th e most satisfactory character. It proves t h e i nherent elasticity of th e re sources of this country ; and when certai n wei g ht s , which are at lit our commerce, shallremoved, then I present imposed upon am sure the result will be even mo re satisfactory. Your corn,_ prosperity of coerce will be increased, and the haopiness and the great body of the peoplewill be greatly extended.. in accordance The estimates are taken for the present year with the principles which I adopted last yea-. I have, there fore, now to state to the House my calculations with reference to the expenditure and the rev e n ue of the present year , with this additional advantage, that I am able more confidently to ...r nvo,-if,nrta of the