The Sun. — London, England, 1852-12-03 00:00:00

EXPRESS EDITION. SUN OFFICE, Ten o'clock, A '4lll, • SUMMARY OF THE BUDGET. Curiosity has at length been satisfied as to the intentions of the DERBY-DISRAELI Government. There can no longer be any misapprehension in regard to the nature of the measures contem plated by the present Administration. They have now been formally submitted to the conside ration of the country by the Right. Hon. the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. It would not be extravagant to assert, that never was there a financial statement more eagerly looked forward to by the population of the United Kingdom. To it exclusively has been deferred every one of the more important official explanations. When ever Ministers have been puzzled by any impor tunate querist, the reply has invariably couched itself in a reference of the inquirer to the pro -sected Budget of 1852-1853—the Budget before the community, through the masterly exposition of the state of affairs yielded by the leader of the lower branch of the Legislature. Expectations in reference to this occurrence had been excited more or less throughout the nation ever since the advent of the Earl of DERBY and his sup porters to power during the course of last • February. It was only natural, therefore, that an unusual degree of interest was excited on the appearance of Mr. DISRAELI this evening in the House of Commons, advancing from the entrance door, with the red box 'of office in his hand, and, we were rejoiced to observe, with an evidence of his health having undergone a manifest improve ment. It was yet more natural, that, imme diately on his rising, the attention of his auditors should become noticeable in the breathless silence of the Representatives. The Right Honourable Gentleman prefaced his statement by reminding the House that his Budget was brought forward under very peculiar circumstances. He asserted, moreover, that he must claim from his hearers the reservation of their judgment until they had allowed him to lay before them the whole of the intended policy of her MAJESTY'S Government. There would be enforced, he observed, through out his argument, the existence of an evil which demanded removal or amelioration. Inju ries, he contended, had been inflicted, especially on the shipping interest, on the sugar-growing interests, and on the interests of the agricul turists. The injuries inflicted .on the shipping interests had arisen out of the recent legislation affecting the system of navigation. Of the com plaints of the shipping interest --such as those relating to salvage and pilotage --he gave a rather startling catalogue. These complaints being, ac cording to the view of Ministers, strictly founded on justice, would be at once proposed to be con ; sidered by the Legislature. The cost to the country of the projected changes in the Light Dues would be about 100,000/. per annum—a sum, however, rendered necessary to be expended in consequence of the oversight of this matter affecting the shipping interest in the recent repeal of the laws relating to navigation. Upon the subject of Pilotage, the Cabinet would conceive it advisable to recommend the scrutiny of the whole matter in a committee to be appointed by the Lower House of Parliament. As to the Admiralty . ' • Dues the Government would advise the conces sion upon many points to the merchant service, wherein the members of that service have been grievously affected to its particular detriment. The salvage system is intended to cease at once, and it is considered advisable, moreover, that the anchorage system should henceforth be per manently terminated. Speaking of the existing method of manning the mercantile marine, the - Right Hon. Gentleman referred in powerful and indignant terms to the evils resulting to the Royal Navy from the equally erroneous scheme Hof manning that service--prououncing the latter, indeed, to be absolutely irrational. Next were considered the claims of the sugar produc ing interests. Sugar he pronounced to have been the battle-field of parties ; but he besought the House to enter upon the consideration of the present state of those interests with good temper and impartiality. Nevertheless, while feeling deeply the misfortunes which have befallen of late years the sugar -producing colonists, he waived the idea of introducing this clause of his Budget in the character of a sentimentalist. Acknow ledging the suffering of the interests here referred to, he yet did not consider the com plaints borne out by statistics, so far as to con vince him that our colonists could not survive the existing system of competition. Particulars were then adduced from the returns of 1851, compared with those of 1852, showing that the imports of foreign sugar have decreased, while the im ports of British sugar have as wonderfully increased during the same interval. The Cabi ne t could not regard itself as called upon to yield, or even justified in yielding to the demand of our colonists, either that we should arrest the descent of the duties on foreign sugar, or reduce the duties upon British plantation sugar. Simply, • therefore, th e Mi n i stry refuse distinctly to pro pose the return to differential duties—having before it the remarkable and incontestible proofs of the happy fruits of unrestricted competition. No wonder the cheers that rose from all parts of the House at this announcement were especially earnest among the Free Trade Members of her MAJESTY'S Opposition! Again, the CHANCELLOR of the Ex- CHEQUER declared that he could not possibly recom mend the increase of loans to the British sugar pro ducing colonists--because the loans alreadyset apart for their advantage is at this moment actually in exhausted ! One boon, however, he would urge should be granted to the interests here referred f o—that prayed for in reference to the re fining of British sugar in bonded refineries for consumption : a 'boon which, he reminded the House, might be safely and gracefully con ceded, because it is strictly in continuance or 1 development of the system-of unrestricted compe tition. Reference was now made by the Right Honourable Gentleman to the whole net-work of local taxation throughout the country. Upon the Highway Rate the Cabinet was, he announced, pre paring a measure which he felt sanguine would Drove acceptable to the great majority of the Imperial Legislature. When alluding to the C- 1 0 linty Rate, M r. D ISRAELI in an impressive to which was warmly responded to by the dPplause of the House, that before long the Par ka ill'Aleut would h ave ser i ously to take into account tiolaawohfot of one of th e most important ques- Altoeethere day—the question of Punishment ! explicit rern the Cou n ty R ate, according to his though i n lark? was stated t o amount to 800, 0001., poli ce b eing e ality err it only reached 600,0001. (the the results three°usly included in the tables of would not co neeive as s i ess raent) ; but this rate he mending to b e himself justified in recom- Y or even moderately diminished. Innn ediate all i I t > he greatest of all the local taxes, namely, t h o Y tenonanve.rsational tone tioned, a desultory ki nd or Rate, was men was introduced into the statement by the cheers and counter cheeearlsy y e ar s the e ll ar pon the allusions made to the decrease of late extent of pauperism—the cheers of th e lion being a sort of inarticulate panegyrieP°oBi-- " recent legislation"—and the counter cheer s from the Ministerial side of the house being a sp ec i es of nnsyllabled tribute to the " obsolete opinions" of Protection. Finally, however, under this head, the CuaNcmLon of the EXCHEQUER brought the ap- Valise of the House of Commons to something like unanimity pose an y by announcing that he would pro change wh a t ever i n the system of Local Taxation. his Hereupon, the Right H on . G en tl em a n mann er altered last reached the core, the very perceptibly—having at present m emorable Financial pith, the marrow o f th e dared i n t h e clearest lap S tatement. He de of the Government, at this guage that the purpose Juncture, is to carry out to the fullest extent the now firmly established sys tem of unrestricted competition. Foremost among all the evidences of this intention on the part of the Cabinet, was the explanation thereupon made by Mr. DISRAELI, that the Ministry are definitively prepared to deal with the Malt-tax. The propo sition now submitted to the Legislature is this, that the duty upon malt should be considerably remitted—that, in fact, it should be reduced one half—while the drawback upon malt should in Scotland (as had formerly been done in Ire land) be altogether foregone. It had been asserted long ago that the abolition of the duties on corn would necessitate the remission of the duties upon barley. That remission had now become inevitable. It was undoubted, said the Right Hon. Gentleman, that an increase had been perceptible since the establishment of the system of unrestricted Competition, the sum total being, in 1849, 38,935,000 bushels, in 1850; 40,744,000, and in 1851, 40,337,000.., Yet it would be but fair that Free Trade should, in this instance, be carried out to its fullest extent in this particular, and therefore it has now been proposed by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER that the Malt-tax—now levied at the rate of 2s. 7id. —should be reduced one half, namely, to Is. 3id., and that the new system should come into opera tion on the 10th of next October. The next subject treated of by the Right Hon. Gentleman was the question of the Tea Duties. The reduction of of the malt-tax by one half, must of course, he in sisted, benefit the consumer considerably ; by placing within his reach cheap beer, it would by encouraging the cultivation of barley materially improve the condition of agriculturists. The reduction of the Tea Duties, he contended, must not less signally benefit the consumer and the importer. In his reference to this proposed diminution he made facetious mention of the early praise of the china plant by PEPYS in his "Diary," and then specified that the imports of Tea inlBsl reached 71,466,000 lbs. The probable imports of the current year, ending on the Ist of next January, would amount to full 57, 000, 000 lbs. lAt present the d u ti es on T ea may be stated at 240 per cent, or 2s. 2id. per lb. These duties the Right Hon. Gentleman now proposed to reduce very considerably. He had previously remarked that it would be unwise to deal in a small manner with the Malt-tax. He subse quently suggested that the old war duty on Hops should be simply and at once remitted. In a kindred spirit he now unfolded his plan in relation to the alteration of the tax imposed upon Tea. Instead of maintaining those duties at 2s. 2id., he would suggest that they should be reduced during the next six years to Is.—thus, in the first year by 4d. [should it not be 4id. ?], and in each of the five years afterwards by 2d. ; until it is reduced to is. as proposed. It should' be especially borne in mind, that this reduction to Is., applies to teas of all kinds, to teas of all qualities, to black and green indiscriminately. Turning to generalities, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER next spoke of the powers of the popu lar consumption upon which the revenues were mainly dependent. Those powers of consump tion he regarded as visibly on the increase--a conviction which he more clearly defined as reasonable by reference to the annual births in England and Wales, and to the circumstance that the principal immigration had been from Ireland. The rise in the rate of wages he considered to be advantageous to the country, instead of being, as was sometimes pretended, altogether disastrous. Meanwhile, there was the flourishing condition of the rate of interests--and the present rate of interests he distinctly avowed his convic tion would continue. Recapitulating briefly the measures proposed to be carried out by her MAJESTY'S Go vernment, the Right Honourable Gentle man reminded the House that they suggested the remission of 2,500,0001. through the Malt Duties, of 900,0001. through the Tea Duties, of 300,000/, through the Hop Duties —altogether reducing the revenues of the country by a sum of between 3,000,000/. and 4,000,0001. Bearing this in remembrance, we seemed to come naturally enough to the consideration of the tax imposed from year to year upon incomes and property. That tax thrt eirewer.x.x.on of the EXCHRQUER maintained upon a former occasion in The House of Commons, ought not to admit of any exemptions. Repeating this asser tion in his Budget, he now yet more distinctly insisted that the Property and Income-tax should be general ; and in the enforcement of this prin ciple, and in the development of the " wise, just, and beneficial " measures known as the measures establishing the system of unrestricted competition, he now demanded the extension of the Property and Income Tax to funded proper ties and salaries in Ireland. Turning in a kind of episodical manner to the consideration of the 240,0004 per annum, known as the Consoli dated Annuities, the Right Hon. Gentleman re marked that the Cabinet were not prepared to accede to the recommendations from the House of Lords' Committee, though they meditated bringing forward some Ministe rial suggestion at an early opportunity. Having explained this matter incidentally, he reverted to the subject of the Property and Income-tax—observing that besides extending it to the founded property and salaries in Ireland, Minister were preparing to recognise a difference between permanent or realised incomes and incomes simply precarious. In illustration of his meaning, and after distinctly announcing that there would not be a preponderating increase in any schedule, he explained that he would henceforth consider the exemption in industrial incomes to commence at 1001. per annumn, and the exemption in the incomes on property at 501. per annum. Schedule A an d C continuing 7d., reducing Sche dules B, D, and E, to the rate of merely sfd. Estimating the proceeds of the extension of the Property and Income Tax to Ireland at the "mo dest sum" of 60,0001., he considered that the sum total would be, under the new arrangement, somewhere about 5,421,000. Meanwhile he re called to the recollection of the house that he had suggested measures which would reduce the revenues by an amount exceeding 3,500 2 000/. Added to this, came the increased expenditure consequent upon the 'development, or rather organisation, of the national defences. Remembering these facts, it became his duty as CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER . to allude now more -parti cularly to the necessity for supplying deficiencies. Glancing cursorily over the tables of the financial year about to terminate, he remarked that it was no doubt true that there would be found on the sth of next April a probable dimi nution on the customs of about 100,000/., yet he, nevertheless, felt confident that the surplus would prove not 460,0001., as he had originally calculated, but actually a million beyond that, amounting, in fact, to nearly 1,500,000/. I The Right Hon. Gentleman then stated his intention of suggesting a series of measures for increasing the revenues of the country by about 600,0001., through the medium of a supplementary estimate. Happily, he con sidered the state of the revenues to be " most favourable" as we have intimated by the hinted surplus of a million and a-half sterling. To gether with the prospect of this surplus, he gave an equally gratifying prospect of what he spoke of as "no inconsiderable roductions." In earnest of the good intentions of the Cabinet in this particular, he declared boldly and distinctly, and amidst lcud applause from all parts of the House including the Opposition, their Ibrillinguess to bring the whole revenue of the coun try under the control of Parliament. Hereupon, Mr. DISRAELI came to the crowning point of his dAff lcult and memorable enterprlse—the considera ti on of Ways and Means. Among the latest of his announcements of Ministerial pro jbe fi ect in the way of improvement, must not '-gotten b the -rub. ti e way, the proposal to close th e the Loan Commission. Having cleared a , bout the Ex(3iTut before him, t ne C HANCELLOR of at Q a tlat, we repeat, arrived at last cum x of his quarter past nine at the the breathless quarter past statement. Amidst mar ked that h e nwess of the house, he re !an increase throuas for a return t a o • greater not going to propose going u gh cam itil f e or Customs, that he bwyasi Excise,;he e not New indirect taxation, _eater pressure or f Or the imposition of a TU. No—he was not ? about to demand New TU. or to revert fourtbWilition a ds rapidly improving. Th ere i n econom i s ts had in 04 mistake, h owever , i n th i s respect, for no e vidence d 0 reached him in his official capacity which could t e , n sgt, any way to s u pp or t t h at op i n i on. ( H ear, hear.) t of probably, the opinion was based upon the egg ed ) emigration th a t h a d recently been going on• t of It would be found th at t h ere was a grea t er anl °lin t he emigration in thi s country than was balanced by 10 number of births. In 1849 the emigration amounr`o'oo, ( 300,000 persons ; i n 1850 , 280,000 ; i n 1851, 3d 'o and in 1852 (three-fourths of the year) 332,00 0 PI 0 The births regist ere d i n E nglan d an d W ale 115 1852 were 600,000, an d t h e d ea th s 400,0 00 0 ; it the births exceeded th e d eat h s by 200,4er followed that th e em i grat i on excee d e d the , ‘,OO O, fruity of births by cons id era bl y more than 1 ° ° 4 . 00 01 ' If, however, the retu rns were ana l yse d it w ould be, that such was really not the case. In the first P o t ie the returns only contained England and Wale s ' i l fo second, two-thirds of th e em i gra ti on p r oceedeu to s, Ireland, which did not figure in the population r e s ol The emigratio n f rom I re l an d was pro d uce d by the f tl B system, which was brok en t o pi eces by the riliSerYto° people ; in England it was produced by circus's ore erectly contrary. The people of Englan d dled never better off; but foreign inducements bailee, them to seek bett er f or t unes th an t h ey experiencel.lo f a ct The emigratio n f rom E ng l an d an d W a l es did not exceed 100,000 as against 200,000, which was t he r i , 0 .0 tion to the popul a ti on b y bi r th s. Hi s own opinic'a tio that emigration, i ns t ea d o f di m i n i s hi ng , increase f r ovi consuming power of th e na ti on . E ver y enligr al eliib England became an English colonist and au st ring; customer—(hear, hear)—and our mar kets were 1 , 0 10, lated by th a t very c i rcumstance w hi c h was 00 upon as a sign of decay and dissolution. (Il ear ! e With respect to I re l an d, h e was compe ll e d to arr i „„" similar conclusio n . Th oug h we h a d l ost in th a t,, ,oo s ° a million and a h a lf o f popu l at i on, t h ere had proportionate diminution in the revenue. It la PO opinion, that the consuming power of a people d itiolk depend upon th e i r num b ers, b ut i n t h e i r ec il , o and he was p ersua d e d th at as I re l a nd ';, i0 10 much richer country, its consuming power! 0 10 1 not only be maintained, but would ;no There appears to be an a p pre h ens i on th a t the ust sap wages was increasing. For his own part, he la 0 0' that he had not y e t rece i ve d ev id ence o f suc h an t hee ordinary rise in th e wages o f thi s country. Plinteret was another questio n , an d th a t was t h e ra t e of in f 0; It might be that th e emp l oyer o f l a b our paid „T 3). " n OP' labour th an h e h a d d one b e f ore, b ut it was ce rt , s rate the employer of ca pit a l o bi a i ne d h i s capital a t a le'oellr than he had ever done before. (Hear.) The her',' t th° ber for Wolverh am pt on sa id t h e other n i g ht T 1 tliiJ discovery of gold had not affected the commerc e ° o tbe r country any more than the increase of arl uoo otir l article of consu m pti on • but he could tell the n ho'; able gentle man that, besides this, it b'2, and the effect of confirming credit in this °multi - - I 'OY thereby immensely tending] to the employna. people. (Loud cheering.) His own opini on o 6 , the present rat e o f i n t eres t wou ld con tinue. 0 0' reduction which he proposed amounted in an . , t° dg C to between three an d four millions sterling, tue&l," ~ e )11 tion in the malt t ax b e i ng a b ou t 2,500,000 r., ill °P a duties 300,0001., an d i n th e tea d ut i es 4 00,000 1 . 0 4 must remind the h ouse th a t, th oug h this now only December, i n a f ew mon ths °ol ba d the principal sources of the revenue vow" o f t he ceased, and that if th ey supporte d t h e propos itionsi o io Government they would, in addition, have to de:doce J , the consequences of an ex pi r i ng l aw , w hich Prtivi , 5,000,000/. of revenue t o t h e G overnmen t ; d ec ide would then become the duty of the House to what they would do w ith th e property an d inc° ,,,- r a e 11 ' The right hon. gentleman then read an extract fr. ° , 08 last year's speech on introducing the budget, to the effect that the views which he had at Pr a ut entertained on the su bj ec t o f di rec t taxa ti o n w e i ,:prr inconsistent with th ose w hi c h h e h a d forme r pounded. He was clearly of opinion that if t,h,, e/ o lci , ‘ , l)a to have recour se t o di rec t t axat i on, t h at it general. (Hear, hear.) How far that course sy- fi xtr., practicable it wo u ld b e un f a i r to cons id er ; but it was that th e th eme o f esta bli sh i ng di rec t t ap • upon a large system of exemption was c lell pernicious one. (Hear, hear, hear.) thr e ; laying down the views which he entertained w l spect to the prope r ty an d i ncome -t ax, it was Pla i „. l o pto; the house must b e s t ruc k w ith one very large e/g e c, which attended that tax. That was one which bound at once to no ti ce , an d th at was I re l an d. l'a st I i;eclir he had made no reference whatever to Ireland, to he believed that the arrangements which were tlifoi4 mised, were only o f a t emporary nature. Btltdeetsji now to consider the s u bj ec t more i n ti ma t e ly, be ifi t that he would be acting inconsistently bear) his duty if he were to evade the subject. (Il est 4 10' 61 Sir Robert Peel, i n hi s financial statement of ' 4 ' l pro' he first introduced the Property and Income - _, t l fo r posed to place upo n Ireland, as an equivat e reO e that tax two o th ers . Th ere was to b e an 'iodo' j in the duties on spirits, which was estimated to p 250,0001. a year ; and there was to be an inc pr'Y in the stamp d u ti es on matters a ff e cting et bel perty, estimated a t a b ou t 160,0001., both I s tbe being estimated t o p ro d uce 410,0001. That wthe equivalent which Ireland was to contribute t ° ag d revenue, in lieu of her portion of the property ioi o income-tax. Now, though he was upon all e uv- tio o anxious to a vo id ma ki ng unp l easant o bserv s o,,k to hon gentl emen , ye t h e cou ld not h e lp r e o tti ing honourable members from the sister 1,0 that the expectations held out had not been ren, reference to Ireland. For the produce of these fco had fallen infinitely below what had b een l o oks The state of I re l an d h a d now a ray of hope, au°,-.(o' as he could fo rm on op i n i on, h e thought he inig';o7, ture to speak of Ireland, without using the linear,of despair, i n accents o f desolation. hear.) He asked the house to p er mit Pm" - V i t place before them returns of the po or , fis i l i taxation of Ireland. (Hear, hear.) He did no t to insult any gentleman by showing him tube country was not ruined—(a laugh)—but all y'd anxious to do was to fulfill his duty by st a `; . o her Majesty's Faithful Commons the conditio tY the whole kingdom . (Hear, hear.) Well, th ei fi l ', poor law expendit ure i n 1850 amounted to the ell°0(1t°, sum of 1,320,0001. ; i n 185 1 i t was r edo° ow 1,129,000/. ; and for the year ending tt c litsi g m of September, 1852, th e poor law eg);,e was reduced to 855,0001. (Ch eers.) The deer 18 50, the expenditure h of 1851, as compare d wi th h was in amount nea r ly 200,0001 ., i s at "„-fl4 of fourteen p er cent., the expe ~, nditure 7 , 40 4 . 6 . as compared with 1851 was in amount s or at the rate of 24 per cent., and the decr e e, the expenditure of the year just conellraoUl compared with 1850, was not less than 4 l ie erg' . ,, l or at the rate of 35 per cent. (Loud. Nor was that all, for he had just received a retwi l io 9he : 0 Ireland of an o ffi c i a l na t ure, w hi ch conveyed te:Ito0;0 gratifying intelligence that Ireland was in a P °- , - i s ts% maintain her ow n p oor w i t h out rece i v i ng any fAc.if" from any quarter, and he thought w ith thes e d ery before them they ought not altogether to ( rive rs. ) of the conditi on o f th e s i ster kindgdom. u ni . ti l t ) He did not thi n k hi mse lf t h at i t would be wis° P,„‘ to treat with an y h ars h ness t h e men of Irela n _, "- rather was dispo se d t o say th at t h ey shou ld do 0 ;01 as possible to assi s t th a t " w i se , j ust, and beneficial liter; which had recently t a k en p l ace i n Ireland. (1-19',7010 he did not think it ex p e di en t to t h row any obs7fiett" the way of th e regenera ti on o f that country. `oomir Yet the Government intended to recommend the sion of the Income-tax to funded property and s a ,'''Vt i v Ireland. (Loud cries of hear, andgreatsensation . i. n otoj respect to the property and income-tax there Was - s sseri principle which the Government were prepared t° .., 0 0 8 : 0 namely, to acknowledge a difference between Peiii":4 ti and precarious incomes. (Cheers.) Notwithstae - e ndk e large remission of taxation they had recouOreijef which amounted to 3,500,000/, and which woul d 00 the consum ers o f th e coun t ry to a much grea ter ° r od' it was not the intention of the Government 14 0 mend any increas e i n an y o f th e schedules of t e ll to perty and Income-tax. (Hear,) They proV e a the point of exempti on on i n d ustrial incomes "-(Sng and on incomes arising from property, at 60 1 .,;411; tion.) As regarded schedules for realised POLtot t ir proposed that th e t ax s h ould be 7d. as and to reduce the tax under schedule to 0 1.7' be -8 result of all would b e i nc l u di ng Ireland, wo uld average of the last three years, being 4,961,0001. foe The remainder of the financial statement will b e in the Summary. THE LONDON GAZETT THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER to indirect taxation. There was a hush of eager curiosity. The secret was about to be re vealed. What has been looming upon the na tion in a remote perspective, ever since Fe bruary, was on the eve of appearing distinctly visible and audible in the popular branch of the. Legislature. Her Majesty's Government then avowed through the lips of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER their intention to propose to the Com mittee the consideration of the House Tax ! There is an existing tax—take into account its present arrangements ! That is the project. The Right Hon. Gentleman reminded the country that the duty on houses producing them 1,198,0001., was in 1834 repealed—that the duty on windows was afterwards abolished when amounting to 1,830,000/.—afterwards of 800,0001. on glass, of 465,0001. on bricks, of 1,500,0001 on timber, and general though indirect taxation of 15,000,0001. Such have been the reductions by which recent legislation has established the system of un restricted competition. What the Cabinet suggested, therefore, now, was the develop ment of that system by extending the house tax—limiting its operation to every house of 10/.—increasing the rate to Is. on shops, and to is. 6d. on private dwellings. According to his calculation, the result of the next year on this new arrangement will be an increase of receipts amounting to 2,500,0001., opposed to an increase of 2,100,0001. in expenditure. The Right Hon. Gentleman, after a masterly statement which had occupied in the course of its delivery up to a quarter to ten o'clock p.m., resumed his seat amidst enthusiastic applause from the support ers of her MAJESTY'S Government. Hear, hear.) The Government believed that, with re gard to these complaints, the house adopted the recom mendations, which it would be. his duty to lay before them to night—the claims of this interest would be satis fied. With regard to the light dues, it was their opinion that these complaints were in a great measure founded on fact. (Hear, hear.) It seemed quite indefensible that irrespective of the dues which were paid for lighthouses by the shipping interest should be called on to pay a large snm of money in the form of dues, which was in fact interest paid to the Trinity House for the purchase of private lights which had been long ago been improvi dently granted by Parliament or the Crown. (Hear, hear.) The Government thought also that all those sums levied under the name of passing tolls, were vexatious grievancrs and burdens to which the shipping of this country ought not to be subjected. They also thought that the shipping interest ought not to be called on to pay sums for the support of the charities of a cor poration. Taking those three points into consideration, the Government were prepared to say, with respect to the light dues, that the tax upon the shipping interest ought to be confined merely to payments for benefits which it received, and they were prepared to relieve it from all that was paid for interest upon those loans for the purchase of private lights, and from the contribution to the charities of the Trinity House, and, finally, to re lieve it from all passing tolls. (Hear.) This settlement would probably cost the country about 100,0001. a year; but it appeared to him that the claims were so just that it was impossible to resist them, and that they ought to have been considered when the Navigation Laws were repealed. The next point was the question of pilotage, a system which, he might say, was full of anomalies. There had been, upon a former occasion, though a long time ago, a committee of that house on the subject of the pilotage laws ; and, though he himself, in general, was Very much disinclined to propose the appointment of committees, still, he thought that it would be eminently worthy of the consideration of the house whether or not a committee should be appointed to investigate the whole question of pilotage and ballast. And therefore it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to recommend that there should be a committee of enquiry and he did not entertain the slightest doubt but that the result of its investigolon would prove most satis factory. He now came to remark upon those grievances which he had described as the Admiralty dues. The house was well aware teat a merchant-ship, find ing hrself upon a foreign station, her captain may be deserted without any ceremony with out any notice --and often without any cause, by any of the crew who may immediately enlist in a ship belonging to the Royal Navy that may happen to be on the station. That was a privilege which acted very injuriously upon the discipline and general conduct of the mercantile marine. (Hear, hear.) He, for one, would certainly be most unwilling to propose any change which would affect the necessary powers of the Royal Navy ; but he was forced to believe that this was a grievance of a most vexatious character. Her Majesty's Government, therefore, intended to propose that no man quitting the mer cantile marine should receive his wages then due to him, until the rest of the crew had been paid. At present he could at a moment's notice, not withstanding his engagement with his master, hoist his red shirt on a royal ship and demand his wages. His master thereby not only lost one of his crew, but he was called upon to pay wages which were not due until the ship had arrived in port. It is proposed that any one availing himself of this privilege of enlisting in the Royal Navy, should not receive his wages until the rest of the crew were paid off. It was further proposed that if the Royal Navy should avail I themselves of this privilege, that they were liable for any injury which might be thereby inflicted on the merchant ship. The next grievance which he would bring before them was the question of salvage. He believed that, under the present system, the mercantile marine were grievously afflicted. There could be no doubt, although the humanising feelings which actuated the Royal Navy had been much improved from what they once were— that still instances of a most oppressive nature continually occurred, and the Government pro posed that the whole system should entirely cease. He need say very little op, the subject of anchorage. That was a regulation which, like salvage, depends en tirely upon the Admiralty, and the Admiralty were pre pared that all vexations of this kind should be con cluded—(hear, hear)—and from henceforth no merchant vessel would not be deprived in its anchorage by the superior claims of ships belonging to the Royal Navy. There was another subject of paramout importance to the mercantile interest, and that was the restriction which at present existed upon manning the merchant marine. (Hear, hear.) They thought these restrictions were in defensible, while they doubted whether even in practice they were beneficial. (near, hear.) The time had therefore arrived when these restrictions must en tirely cease, but their removal could 'only be taken into consideration in connection with the other subject of manning the navy. (Hear, hear.) The whole subject would hereaftertave to be considered, and something would have to be done to remedy the evils of a system which dismissed our s.asoned seaman at a time when he was most qualified to do his duty to the country. (Cheers.) Government were mmiting the report of a committee which had been sitting upq n thi s very subject, but they trusted when it was hroauzht before Parliament, it would be in a manner that should be satisfactory to the house and to the country. (Hear, hear.) He had now touched upon all the points of any importance which were embraced in the care of the shipping interest, except those which referred to stamps upon insurance, bills of lading, and charter-parties ; but the house would at once perceive that these were points that affected the general taxation of the country, and, therefor; this was not the moment when they could be fairly alluded to in detail. (Hear, hear.) Govern men t h owever, proposed to deal with the question lightly, under three heads, they pro posed to reduce the taxation that was paid by the ship ping interest, under the claims of supporting the light houses of the country—namely, the interest upon debt which has been incurred, and the contributions to wards charities, and the passing tolls to harbours, which ships never enter. (Hear ; hear, and cheers.) He proposed to terminate these three series of unjust taxation, and they belieued that object could be effected by the payment of an annual sum of 1,000,0001. (Hear.) There would then be left for the shipping interest to pay for such lights only which benefitted them. (Hear. hear.) The proposed—the second place to submit to the consideration of the house the whole question of pilotage, and they p urpose d i n a dditi on , th at t h e three admiralty grievances of anchorage, salvage, and enlistment should be entirely terminated or subject to such regulations as should deprive them of their injurious influence. (Hea r , hear.) They proposed that the subject of manning should depend upon the decision of Parliament ; while with respect to the last point, which question related to the army, they proposed that this should be considered when the house came to con sider the whole subject of revenue. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to consider the claims of the sugar producing colonies. Sugar had been the battle-field of parties, but they must form an opinion as to the condition of the colonies upon strict and naked facts, and not by any recollection of the past. They might deplore past legislation, and be of opinion that the conduct of this country towards the colonies had been inconsistent, and, moreover, occasioned great damage to sugar growers, but they had to decide to-night, what under the existing state of affairs could be done for them. There was no one more ready than himself to listen to the just complaints of any class, or none more ready to redress their grievances. He had often expressed it as his opinion that the conduct of the mother country to the colonies would occupy no embla ze aed page in the history of England. The redress prayed for by the colonies was contained under the fol low mg heads : -I st.—Arrest of the descent of the duty on foreign sugar. 2 nd.—Reduction of the duty on British plantation su g a r. 3 rd.—The grant of additional loans to the respective colonies, for emigration and improvement. 4th.--Permission to refine sugar in bond, for home con sumption as well as importation. sth.--Permission to use molasses in breweries. (Hear.) 6th.—Equalisation on the duties on rum and British spirits. Under these circumstances he would find great difficulty in making such recommendations as were contained in the two first, but especially in this Parliament, which was re turned to support unrestricted competition. Even if he saw that ruin was falling on the sugar-producing oolo nies, he would hesitate before having recourse to the im position of a differential duty to mitigate their sufferings. Was there such evidence of a rivalrybetween British and foreign producers of sugar as to justify the Government in proposing were told this 1251, the West an consumption, 2, y 2 what were the facts ? In the ten months ending Nov. and in the ten c I n diesspecial soinpo oetoi t cwts. weo measure nnt tsc. tooouflthis ds f u o ng a r , theirrbe country,re endeu endured, for? e d h, o They bmuet months ending Nov. 1852, 3,940,000 cwts. From the Mauritius for the same period, there were entered for home consumption, as follows :-1851, 804,000 cwts., and 1852, 977 mt g . (Hear, hear, and cheers.) East India sugar, which in Nov., 1851, amounted to 1,037,000 cwt., had in Nov., 1852, risen to 1,300,000 cwt. Our united colonies in Nov., 1851, had sent 4,094,000 cwt. ; in Nov., 1852, they had sent 5,373,000. (Hear.) He n ow had show whether he was called upon to arrest the descent of the duties upon foreign s'igar. The quantity of unrefined foreign sugar in Nov., 1351, amounted to 1,218,000 cwt. ; in Nov., 1852, it amounted only to 570,000 cwt. The quantity of refined foreign sugar was in Nov., 1851, 268,000 cwt. ; in Nov., 1352, it was 243,000 cwt. (Hear, hear.) It would be seen, therefor e , that the general result of these fig ores would be that there being in 1851 4,000,126 of British sugar entered for home consumption, and'. 1,000,487 cwt. of foreign sugar, and in 1852, 5,37.8,000 cwt. of British, and 814,000 cwt. of foreign suga t • vem , 1852, 1,250,000 cwt., re,rthelBßsrtistho p N ro o d v u e c m ti b o e n r, had increased, from No while foreign sugar had decreased 600,000 cwt. (Hear, hear.) Now, he might b e called a traitor, and h e ask if might tbheerecallweadsaanyre;engtaldeem—an in renegade—(laughter)—but w h h e o, w wi ou t l h d these Acta staring him i n th e face, could recommend the propping up of a prostrated industry, which, it ap peared was commrnding the markets of the British me tropolis, or could ask for a differential duty under circum stances such as these ? (Loud cheers from the Opposition.) Certainly such a duty could not bo asked for while an object, and if that object were to give a stimulus to the colonial market, it appears that that object had al ready been gained. To ask for a guarantee for a loan for the purposes of promoting immigration and the ge neral improvement of the country was an object in which her Majesty's Government would readily join, but he believed he could show that they had not been slow in this respect. The subject of the immigration of Chiaese labourers to the West Indies was one which had been urged on the consideration of the Government. The right hon, gentleman proceeded to read a dispatch which related to the efforts made by ehe Government Commis sioners to promote immigration, and from which it appeared that emigration ships had been dispatched by the present Government, and that the island of Tri ns,dad was about to import fourteen hundred labourers. He also referred to official documents to prove that the sums already allotted to the West India Islands, for the purpose of promoting immigration, were still unexhaust ed. Now, that being the case, how could her Majesty's Government be justly called upon to propose any fresh loans to encourage emigration to our sugar-producing colonies (hear, hear) although he believed that there was now at length a chance in the case of Trinidad, of the whole sums allotted to them being required. (Hear, hear.) He now came to the fourth point, which had reference to the bonded— refinement of sugar for home consumption as well as for exportation. He had given thd subject his most earnest attention, and he remembered of old tha-., his late lamented friend, Lord George Bentinck, had also most ably investigated the question. No doubt, herein a very great boon might be conferred in the sugar producing colonies. He did not think that he could put the case more clearly before them, than by supposing the year 1854 to have arrived, when all the differential duties on sugar would cease. It had been represented to them, that the saccharine matter in the foreign ' sugars, which was unrefined, was so much greater in amount than that contained iii the colonial sugar ; that it had amounted to as great a difference in the case of the West India colonies as between 90 and 75 ; and in the case of the coarse East India sugars, to no less than between 90 and 60. Well, what was asked was, that the refining process may take place in bond, and that the duty might be taken upon sugar in this state rather than in the coarse state. (Hear, hear.) There were objections, no doubt, to that arrangement, con nected with the revenue of the country, but he did not think considerations connected with financial arrange ments were sufficient to resist the claims which the present position of the colonies had upon them. (Hear, hear.) They had here an opportunity of conferring upon the colonies a great boon—a boon, too, consistent with the principles of unrestricted com petition. The Government was prepared to concede that boon, but, of course, it must be conceded subject to those conditions which were necessary for the security of the revenue. (Hear, hear.) He should not then allude to the subject of molasses, or to the duty on rum, because he did not believe the moment apposite. He would sow refer to 'another point ofl he local taxation of the country. It was unnecessary for him to enter into any of those arguments with which the house was so familiar, as to the local taxa tion of the country to show that there were objects of universal interest, which were, in fact sustained by taxation, not upon the general property— but upon a peculiar division of it. (Hear, hear.) The whole question had been dealt with so ingeniously by one who, though opposed to his (the Chancellorof the Exche quer's) policy, still had treated this subject in the most lucid manner--he alluded to Mr. Lewis. It could not be contended that the support of the poor was a matter of goteral, nay, universal obligation, and he thought, as far as the principle was concerned, the complaint on this head of a portion of the real property interest of the country which had suffered most by recent legislation, was ex ceedingly well founded. (Hear, hear.) There could hardly be a difference of opinion about that. Well, then, in the next place they had to consider what was the course to be taken with reference to that part of our taxation which was mainly levied for a, purpose of general interest, but which was yet not levied upon the community at large. The local taxation of the country was a subject with which they were all familiar ; it resolved itself, in fact, into three principal rates, namely, the Highway R a t e , t h e County Rate, and that great rate called the Poor Rate. (Hear, hear.) Upon the subject of the Highway Rate no less than six acts of Parliament had already been passed for improving or mystifying its operations, and now with the assistance of his hon. friend the Under Secre tary of State for the Home Department, who had di rected a good deal of attention to the matter, he was prepared to bring in a seventh bill, which he hoped, after the six experiments which he had alluded to, this mea sure would prove satisfactory to the house and the country. (Hear, hear.) He came next to the county rate—a small rate certainly, but still one which had excited a good deal of interest in connection with agriculture, and here he had no hesitation in declaring, on the part of the . Government, that with reference to the collection and administration of this rate, they had no objection whatever to the adoption of the representative principle, if it should be the opinion of the house that the rate-payer was entitled to that control over the expenditure of the rate ; but there were two items in the rate to which that popular principle could not be well applied. He alluded to that portion of the rate which was diiected to the maintenance of gaols and lunatic asylums, but the time was rapidly approaching when the house must be called upon to deal with the whole question of punishments, for he thought it was becoming the most pressing question of the day, and probably that would be the proper opportunity for dealing with this position of the rate, as well as of requiring the Government to take a more active part in the management of our gaols. (Hear, hear.) As regarded the county rates ; he therefore said frankly, he was not prepared to recommend any change in that portion of our local taxation, (Hem,' (LEFT SPEAKING.) (Continued from our Third Edition.) He now came to the poor rates, and in con sidering th em h e ought to look to that which was most expedient for the country generally, and for that class which might have been injuriously affected by the present arrangement. (Hear, hear.) They must remember that a great change had taken place in the burden of the poor-rates since 1849, when he last brought the subject before the house, there having been a reduction of 25 per cent. (Hear.) No practicable proposition which he had brought forward with any chance of being carried—(laughter) —would have effected a greater diminution of the poor rates. The diminution had beau equal to the whole amount of the " established charges for the salaries of officers. The expenditure for the relief and maintenance of the poor, as shown by the return of 1849, which formed the basis of his argument in that year, amounted to 6,180,000/. ; in 1851, which was the last return on the table, the sum had diminished to 4,962,000/. (Loud Opposition cheers). He was afraid that cheer was not on account of the dimin ution — (laughter) —but that it was a cheer for recent legislation. (Repeated. cheering). Mind t he did not wish to dis turb recent legislation, as he would show them to-night, but their cheer was a very illogical one, for he was going to demonstrate to them that recent legislation might not have had anything to do with the matter. It so happened that in 1846 the total sum was less. Mr. BRIGHT—The price of corn was the same. (Hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—H e had some returns on the price of corn, which would disprove that assertion, and which Sir R. Peel said ought never to have been published, but they had before them graver subjects than the trial of obsolete opinions. (Loud laughter and general cheering.) He looked on free trade as an obsolete opinion, like protection. Though, since 1849, there had been a reduction of 400,0001. every year, he regretted to say that the return for 1852 showed that it had ceased. The latest poor law returns, which he held in his hand, were somewhat contradictory to the popular opinion. In 1851 it appeared that the number of paupers was 4,000,962, and for the half-year ending Michael mas 2, 432, 000, which, multiplied by two, gave 4,862,000. The great fact, however, remained, that the pauperism of this country had been reduced by 25 or 24 per cent. since he had first brought the subject under the notice of the house. There was no doubt that there were at this time circumstances in operation which must considerably affect the amount of pauperism in this country. He had to consider whether it would be expedient to deal with that sum which were raised by , local taxation for the maintenance of the poor, recollect ing at th e same t i me that there had been such' a diminu tion in the number of the poor, that four or five times the establishment charges had been saved since 1849, that the incidents of that taxation were less severe, and that all the causes now in operation tended materially to a considerable diminution in that burden. Taking these facts into consideration, and as his means were limited, and being called upon, too, to assist every class as far as they had a claim to the consideration of the house, by means which would contribute to the general welfare of the country, he was not prepared to recommend any change in the present system of raising local taxation. (Cheers from the Opposition.) He had now considered the three interests which had suffered from recent legislation. With regard to the shipping interest, he had offered measures which, to judge from the feelings of the house, were considered moderate and satisfactory—(hear, hear)—and not framed with any ad eaptandum view. He had also endeavoured to view the claims of the sugar colonies, and he thought they must feel satisfied that there had been an anxious desire un the part of the Government to place them in as good a position as present circumstances and the temper of the public mind would permit. He should not touch further on local taxation, but he wduld now approach a more important point, and view the taxation of the country under the new circumstances in which all parties and conditions of men were agreed to remain. As long, then, as men believed that their industry ought to be protected, they were prepared, then, to endure any amount of burdens. But after what had occured, it was obvious that, generally speaking, unrestricted competi tion was not consistent with a restricted industry. In a word, then, the policy of the country ought to be to put an end, as soon as possible, to high taxes. (Loud cheers.) He had asked himself what were the Measures which were best to recommend to the adoption of Parliament. Now, these prin ciples had been definitely established, and which would enable the country to meet the competition which it would have to encounter in the future. The result appeared to him then to be inevitable—that the only principle on which the Government of the country could act, was to cheapen the necessaries of life as much as possible. (Cheers.) He found then, that in the case of the very primest necessaries of life, that some of them were subject to the very heaviest taxes in the tariff—(hear)—and he must mention that that was an arrangement totally inconsistent with the new system. (Cheers.) Honourable gentlemen opposite boasted of having given cheap bread to the country. (Opposition cheers.) Acting upon the principles, then, which he had enunciated, the house would not be astonished to hear that her Majesty's Government were prepared to deal with the malt-tax. (Loud cheers from the Govern ment benches.) Herein was a prime necessary of life— (ironical laugh from Opposition benches)—taxed in a manner which greatly restricted industry. He would not recommend the change which he was about to refer to the hon. gentlemen opposite, upon any other plea than that which they had themsefves always declared to be the sovereign plea—the interest of the consumer. (Hear, hear.) He believed, however, that if the interest of the consumer alone were to be taken into consideration, that that would be neither acting up to the principles of unrestricted competition, neither could it be said to be carrying into effect the views which had triumphed at the late election. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He believed it was possible while considering, in the first instance, the interests of the consumer to b ene fit ano th er class also. (Hear, hear.) It certainly was for the interest of the consumer that the malt tax should be dealt with, and in his opinion, if tho tax was properly dealt with, no tax was calculated to be more beneficial to agriculture. (Loud cries of "Hear, hear.") The question of the malt tax, however, had assumed a very different aspect since the repeal of the corn laws. Indeed, it had been said by a very high authority, that the moment they repealed the corn laws the repeal of the malt tax was inevitable, and he thought there would be no great difficulty in demonstrating the soundness of that opinion ; for when Ministers of State were required to take every opportunity of improving the cultivation of the soil, that he must grow as little wheat as possible to retain restrictions upon the growth of the next generous grain was preposterous. (Hear.) But it was for the interest of agriculture that, in all soils which have been diverted from the growth of barley to that of wheat, should be restored to its original pur pose, because then the market for the production of the soils which were eminently qualified to give us wheat would be greatly improved. (Hear, hear.) Well then, they had to consider, in the first place, how they should deal with the case—in what manner, and to what degree they should deal with the two objects which they ought to have in view were those of establishing industry, and reducing the price of the article consumed to the consumer, and they could not obtain that object if they dealt with this case in a small or limited degree. (Hear.) The existing duty on malt was 2s 7/d. and 5 per cent. per bushel, and the consumption was on the increase. In 1849 it was 38,935,000 bushels, in 1850 it reac h e d t o 40 , 744 ,000 bushels, and in 1851 it was 41,337,000 bushels ; but there was no article of consumption which had increased less than malt, which he attributed to the large amount of taxation that was imposed upon it. (Hear, hear.) There were some gentlemen, however, who entertained the opinion that the decrease of this consumption of malt, when compared with other articles of consumption, was to be attributed to the circumstances of the taste of the people having changed in favour of other sources of ex citement, but he was in a position to show that this posi tion could not be maintained. Well, then, under these circumstances, Government thought it to be their duty to recommend to the house that the malt tax should be considerably diminished. (Hear, hear.) That they should diminish it by one-half the amount of the present duty. (Cheers.) The sum which they had to deal with just exceeded 5,000,000/. as regarded revenue, and they proposed that they should diminish this duty exactly by one-half—(hear) — that they should impose a uniform duty of ls. 2d. and 5 per cent. per bushel on the malt ; and Government pro posed that the restrictions which prevailed between malt obtained from barley and malt obtained from what was called big and bracken—(cries of hear, hear) — They proposed also to do away with the malt drawback in Scotland on the spirits raised from malt, that being a change which they thought ought no longer to be post poned. Sir Henry Parnell, the chairman of a committee appointed to inquire into the excise, stated in a report which he submitted to the house, that if the corn laws were repealed, he would recommend the reduction of the duty on malt to one-half, and this came from a gentleman who was very tender of the re venue, and who could not have anticipated the circumstances which had since occurred The same report also recommended the repeal of the drawback on malt in Scotland. This had been done in Ireland in 1842 without a murmur in accordance with the recommendations of a committee on Irish spirits, and had given general satisfaction, and he was sure the repeal of repeal of the drawback in Scotland would give equal satisfaction. They proposed, then, that on the 10th of October next the malt tax should be repealed one hag that day having been fixed, after due deliberation, at least inconvenient to the trade. They also proposed ,on that day to take the whole stock of malt throughout the country, and to allow a drawback to all holders of it in proportion to the amount of duty abolished. In submitting these propositions to the house they were only following out the principle which had been laid down, that in the present state of affairs they should consider our taxation mainly in reference to the great body of consumers ; and the consequence was that they found the most legitimate and surest, and most efficient means of relieving the agricultural interests, He now came to deal with one as popular, and one sub ject to much heavier taxation. He was about to recom mend to the house to deal with the tea duties. (Hear, hear.) He knew the prejudices which existed among a certain class of persons upon the subject of the tea duties. (Loud cries or " Hear, hear.") In con sidering this subject nothing had struck him so much as the gradual growth of public opinion with respect to this article. He had been much amused by reading a passage in Mr. Pepy's Diary—" Took a cup of the new China drink—very pleasant." (Laughter.) That article, which was so great an exotic to that gentleman, was now the principal solace of every cottage in the country. (Hear.) It was said that in dealing with tea, it was necessary to remember that it was an article of limited supply. Seeing that at the beginning of the last century we had had imported 500;0001bs. at a high price, that even under the charter we had imported 30,000,000 lbs per annum, that our annual importation was now about 70,000,000 lbs, last year we had imported 71,466,000 lbs, and our consumption in round numbers was 54,000,000 lbs,—after having consulted those, who from their posi• tion, wealth, and otherwise, might be considered as great authorities upon the subject, her Majesty's Government had come to a conclusion that there could be no pro. spect of any want of supply of tea to this country. Th..ey must remember, that since 1841, the annual in crease in the importation of tea to this country had been upwards of 1,700,000 lbs. The right hon. gentleman then read numerous statistics, to show the great increase' which had taken place in the consump tion of tea and sugar of late years. Well, in dealing with the subject of tea, the Government were or opinion, that it would be perfectly vain to attempt to make any difference, either between black or green tea, or between tea of various qualities. (Hear, hear.) If they had to do so, he was perfectly persuaded that nothin g but endless trouble would be thereby en tailed, and, therefore, he believed that boldness was the wisest course. (Hear, hear.) He had been always of opinion that the reduction of duties upon articles con sumed as beverages by the people, so far as they were o f a similar ch ar acter, w ere no t found to interfere with each other. Of this he d, id not know a more striking instance than that of coffee. The right hon. gentleman again referred to official docume:ats to show that, with the lowering of the duties, the consumption of tea and coffee had simul taneously increased. Well, under these circumstances, following the same rule as in the case of the sugar duties—following a precedent which he thought had been most successful, the Government had to propose what he believed to be a very safe proposition, but nevertheless what vould seem , a very comprehen sive one. The pro sent duties upon tea were 2s. and 2s, 01d. per pound, no distinction being made between the various qualities of tea. The Government proposed that these duties should be lowered to is per pound. (Loud cheers.) And it was further proposed that this reduction should be issued over a period of six years—(oh, oh)—and that the reduction for the first year should amount to 41d. per pound. (Loud laughter from the Opposition benches.) He be. lieved that hon. gentlemen might be found to be a little too precipitate in their laughter. Considering the amount of the reduction to be made, it was quite impossible that the consumer could desire the benefit of it before some considerable period, and until the growth of tea in China had largely in creased, the rev enue could not derive much advantage. Therefore the interest of the consumer, in the opinion of Government, was in the end best promoted by making the reduction gradual. (Hear, hear.) The consumptiom of tea last year was 55,000,000 of pounds, and he had only taken 60,000,000 as the con sumption under tl ie reduced duty ; that was an increase of 6,000,000 poun de ; but looking to the increased con sumption of the p: resent year, it would only be a virtual increase of 3,000,000 pounds. This reduction they could make with perfect safety to our finances. Well, then, they proposed to reduce the tea duties in the first year by 41d. per lb., and every year afterwards to make a reduction of 2d. per lb. until the duty be comes Is. per lb. (Hear, hear.) He believed if they adopted that measure there would be but little de crease in the re venue, while the people would be able to obtain a favour ate beverage at a cheap rate, and in a manner which • would tend greatly to increase the manu facturing and shipping interest of the country. (Cheers.) The ire was another duty which he was about to deal with that was connected with this branch of th e subject, and which, perhaps, he ought to have adverted to before. He referred to the hop duty. --- 4iica — ;,llear.) There were two duties now levied upon hops,. namely, the duty that was established in the time of Queen Anne, and the duty that was im posed at the- period of the late war. Those duties were almost equalin amount. In round numbers they amounted to almost id. per lb. each, and what the Government pro posed to do, was to abolish the whole of the war duty which had always be , en a most unpopular one. (Hear, hear.) At present tl ley did not propose to take off all, b u t surely someth: ing must be left for future statesmen to deal with. (A laugh.) There was a point of some im portance in co) inection with this subject which he ought to touch upon. He was recommending all these mea sures upon the principle or understanding that the reve nue of the of coin :try pe w op as le t , o b d u e t pen it d uhpaosn beenth e consumingconsumingf power late, that the consuming power of the peopl e was (THIS EVENING.) BANKRUPTS. pet' Richard Collsf builder, Charlton. to surrend er 'Co° l `, 10, at half-past t we l ve , an d J an. 13 ; at two , a t the hall of Bankruptcy. Johnson, official assignee, Ba sil' j street ; Sole, Turn er , an d T urner , Ald erma nbinligolv' John Edw ar d Spi cer , paper manufacturer, Gu l Dec. 15, a t e l even , an d Jan. 22, at twelve, a t the ll allay of Bankrupt c y. Ni c h o l son , o fficial assignee, 'W'. street ; Ivimey, Chancery-lane. Richard Eaton Noble, painter, Down-stree-r th e dilly, Dec. 14, at one, and Jan. 21, at twelve , Co' Court of Bankruptcy. Stansfeld, official assigne e lins, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars. Thomas Corby, bulider, Lower Eaton-street, A. D a , ' Dec. 14, and Jan. 18, at one, at the Court of ruptcy. Graham, official assignee ; Rixon, Liam-street. Daniel Coe, grocer, Ardwick, Manchester, 9 4 . 0 4° 1 offi at cia t l w as el s v i e g , ne a e t , mthaencMheasntechre;stei j r igs v oo 01)‘ . e M e7: anchester. R and Court. ob n Jan. s o n Patrick Cowan, brassfounder and gas fitter, m` l- v enr street, Snow-hill, ' Dec. 14, at two, and Jan. 13, at eleven, e e; at the Court of Bankruptcy. Edwards,'official assig° Appleton, Philpot-lane. y" of f Henry Capper, licensed victualler, Gravesend' rt 0 9, and Jan. 22, at half-past twelve, at the Cf u c ,hall - Bankruptcy. Nicholson, official assignee,_ 13as ' n lan e " street ; Wilkinson, Gurne, and Stevens, Nicholaie sp ci Richard Jones, hatter, Oswestry, Salop, Pee. n i e trie Jan. 13 following, at eleven, at the Birmingham j3ir Court of Bankrup ' tcy. Christie, official assignee, mingharn ; Hodgson, Birmingham. Charlott e J u li a Pi c kf or d , upholsterer and fri n 4 e . llll4 1 1, tassel manufacturer Cheltenham, Dec. 14 and J'6_ off" eleve n , a t the Bristol District Court. Acraman, vial assignee, Bristol ; Bevan, Bristol. . w este r ; Thomas Wheeler, jun., cattle dealer, Cl!' n i e trie Dec. 14 an d J an . 11, at twelve, at the Bristo l -"' i atty Court. H u tt on , official assi gne e, Bristol ; P" Bristol. ,o, cs London : Printed and Published by KURD° YOTTI‘ II3, No. 1.12, Strand, Printer, at The Sun 01110, 141 , ° ' t i Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in t he ot"-- Middleeex, Friday, Dimas; 3,1862. Vtirbi Xbitton. SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF IM DS--(THIS EVENING.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack a few minutes before 5 o'olock. NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. The Earl of CLANCARTY adverting to a petition which had been brought forward on this subject, prayed her Majesty's Government to consider how, after a full enquiry, proper alteration could be made in the present system of national education in Ireland. The Earl of DERBY could assure the noble lord that without endangering the destruction of the present sys tem, he did not see any way of interfering with it, and this he could hardly think beneficial. He should be most happy, however, if it should be moved for to grant a committee of enquiry into the subject. The house then adjourned at 10 minutes after 5 o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS--(17.11IS EVENING.) The Speaker took the chair shortly before four o'clock, RAILWAY AMALGAMATION. Mr. HENLEY gave notice that on Monday he would renew his motion on the subject of Railway Amalgama tion, which fell through last night owing to his absence. CRYSTAL PALACE FUNDS. In reply to Lord SEYMOUR, Lord J. MANNERS stated that the Woods and Forests had not received the report of the Crystal Palace Commmissioners relative to the disposal of the surplus fund, but as soon as it was received it would be laid be fore the house. LONDON BRIDGE. In reply to Mr. LAING, The NOBLE LORD said, Government were not respon sible for the present state of either London or, Black friars Bridge. Sir R. W. INGLIS gave notice, that on Monday he would ask a question of the noble lord relative to the state of Westminster-bridge. LEOPOLD DE ROSE. Lord D. STUART wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what has been the re sult of the inquiry undertaken by the Government into the case of Leopold de Rose, a Polish officer, who was imprisoned in Winchester gaol at the instance of Cap tain Cospatrick Baillie Hamilton, R.N. Mr. WALPOLE replied, that the case had been fully inquired into, and ho thought the magistrate was justified in the committal ; but, had the magistrate been in possession of facts which had since come to his knowledge, he was satisfied the committal would not have taken place. CLERGY RESERVES. Sir W. MOLESWORTH wished to ask the Secre tary of State for the Colonies, whether it is the intention of her Majesty's Ministers to bring in a bill to enable the Canadian Legislature to dispose of the Clergy Reserves, subject to the condition that the stipends and allowances heretofore assigned and given to the Clergy of the Church of England and Scotland, or to any other reli gious bodies or denominations of christians in Canada, shall be secured during the natural lives and incumben cies of the parties now receiving the same. Sir J. PAKINGTON said Government had no such intention. METROPOLITAN BUILDING ACT. Mr. OSBORNE wished to ask the First Commissioner of Works, Buildings, &c., whether the bill for the regu lation of Metropolitan Buildings is to be introduced before Christmas, with a view to its being pressed to a conclusion this session. Lord JOHN MANNERS said he should not be able to bring in the bill till after Christmas. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. On the motion of Mr. F. MACKENZIE, it was agreed that the house at its rising should adjourn until Monday. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT. The house then went into Committee of Supply, Mr. WILSON P&TTEN in the chair, after which The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER imme diately rose to make his anxiously looked for finan cial statement. He said he trusted that at the present financial statement had to be made under very peculiar circumstances, the House would excuse him if he deviated somewhat from the usual formal manner in which Chancellors of the Exchequer laid the financial affairs of the country before the house. Though they had, for instance, on the present occasion, to consider whether it was possible to make such changes in the mode of levying the revenue as would contribute more to the satisfaction and welfare of the community, and whether such alterations could be effected in our financial taxation as would remove from various classes a well-founded sense of injury and injustice, and principally whether they might not take that opportu nity of establishing the financial system on principles more adapted to the requirements of the time, and espe cially to the industry of the country, which was pre eminent for its capacity for labour. Still there were topics to be adverted to which were not strictly of a financial nature. (Hear, hear.) He also trusted the House would recollect that only two-thirds of the financial year had been completed. (Hear.) If he deviated from the usual course, it was from a desire to lay with clearness before the house the views of the Government, and the opinion of the country, and he asked them not to precipitately decide on their motives and policy, but to consider the state ment as a whole. (Hear, hear.) After the event of the general election, and after understanding that the principle of unrestricted competition was permanently adopted, it became their duty to consider whether a commercial system could not be so harmonised as to remove the well founded dis content of the people, and to lay the foundation of a sys tem which would be more beneficial, and enlist the sy m . pathies of all classes of the people. It was but right they should consider the claims of those great interests who believed that by recent legislation they had received peculiar injury, and ascertain whether they were just or not—he alluded to the shipping interest, the sugar nlanting interest, and the agricultural interest. He trusted they . would be enabled to come to an unanimous opinion as to their peculiar burdens and grievances, and to arrive at some permanent conclusion on which the financial system of the country could be based. He could conceive no state of society more to be deprecated than when injury was inflicted on particular classes, by changes of the law which universally contributed to.the benefit of the country. (Hear.) Having investigated the case of the shipping interest, the Government were of opinion that, principally in consequence of the repeal of the Navigation Laws, they were suffering at this mo ment under burdens which they ought not to bear, and restrictions which impeded their industry. (Hear, hear.) If it were the opinion of Parliament that such was the case, he thought the better course would be to meet the claims in a just and liberal spirit, and see if it were not possible to remedy the complaints of an influential, im portant, and worthy body. The Government had ex amined the case of all those classes comprised under the popular name of the shipping interest. They complained that they were subjected to vexatious burdens under the head of light dues, and of passing tolls. (Hear, hear.) They complained of the present system by which pilotage was carried on, and they made also a great complaint against what were called Ad miralty grievances. (Hear, hear.) They complained II also,of the circumstances under which individuals be longing to the mercantile marine were enlisted into the royal navy—(hear, hear)—they also complained of the present claims made on account of savage —of the sums exacted for anchorage, of the restrictions placed upon them in the manning of their vessels, and of the stamp patios levied on marine insurance, and on bills of lading. 4 t 4 OXDoI Ot x ilCE is tA IL RAI, 31E tnn„ W 'XIC CO) 4o 11 precise ly SAT (ith tZ r ke, th e r tSt ephensi Orttl Staffo: Station StINTAR .):4 * (yr 1 .0 l i„, ' r et IS from and D. Z t , b ' "flees, Con am s ges for t] Loudon 30, conhiu, r PRIZE c kat tss tre' I rnWein . e sbZeet a„‘, kt '"!.ng, RAPID 1 N 1 . 1, 6 1, 5 ° tons, 4 delc u r i a3r:l l h ha tlje,h ta n u l s iot l'` ge by N I T b' t Na's b " A so e,z, et . 4 " 4l jaaNi ts oy a 111 13tE .I.6 tiee i s ttr thi s I: Coin 81 1 , 'Pose ,0, 11 . e e teq sh 2f thi s Zt b e t o pay redaer:Uillbaer,rtn, ku the Keith 4 fia_,,ttuntel douty Witt the Aa of th e _ Year Sef by th e h i lt to the ti l 110,II' r ality a 4 4 " h alh l of th thtscell ber ord e °lll'e'‘"° fo au r w , oft, of Lo rcl heti h ° has of 12; !tyttled Ni tali 275,0( %a JaZI NI -6" t ion si : arr i , Atgi l red e quollia3 Thoth, 144". Davies. Dl ttel, v 4 lo, , TYtor e will ent the 30 e 3 t B eing AD Penses oft pbeatt 1 7 h °" s, 11' 4 h, 7 1 A-si % kerg ' Aueti th e , eatber, l'oth rol ect 14 111: 11ti etneTt y oti gtak in 1 0 til aY at al eltik ate Ot the N q t re quirect this .OTIC b e l 4i ' SI) 44Iber. 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