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

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS. April 30. Their Lordships assembled at Five o'clock. Lord REDESDALE presided on the Woolsack in the absence of the Lord Chancellor. GENERAL ROSAS. Lord MALMESBURY, in answer to a question put to him by a Noble Lord, stated that instructions had been sent to the authorities at Portsmouth, to give every facility to General Rosas in clearing his luggage, &c. It was simply a mark of courtesy due to any dis tinguished foreigner. The Earl of ABERDEEN was of opinion that show ing any courtesy to General Rosas would be considered as some degree of partisanship, which would have a mis chievous effect. Lord BEAUMONT applauded the motives which had actuated the British Government in this affair. The Noble Lord did not consider it proper, because in foreign countries we might be liable to misapprehension, that we were entitled to show want of courtesy to a foreigner who had occupied the position of General Rosas. PETITIONS. Lord ABERDEEN presented a petition from a place in Scotland in favour of the abolition of tests in the Scotch Universities. CROWN CHURCHWARDENSHIP OF MARY- LEBONE. Lord PORTMAN said that he did not desire to proceed with the motion, because he had received a communication from the Prime Minister, which satis fied him that his removal from office of the Crown churchwarden of St. Marylebone, without any intimation of his intended removal, was neither founded on political nor personal ground, but solely on a misconception as to the right course of proceeding arising from the inexperience of the First Commissioner of Works, and from the inaccurate infor mation given to him as to custom in this case. The Earl of DERBY stated, in explanation, that the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Home Affairs had received a communication from the rector of the parish, stating that a new Crown churchwarden must shortly be elected, and that the old one was desirous of retiring. COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL. Lord BEAUMONT stated that the object of the con vention had been to reduce the duties upon books. To this extent he quite agreed. For the translation of works, 11130, the author had the power of authorising any particular translation of his work. This also the Noble Lord considered reasonable. But it went further; an author might for five ye ars prevent any other person from translating his works, and this the Noble Lehi considered to be a very dan gerous right. The .Noble Lord also stated other reasons which induced him to think text his Bill would extend the power of copyright too tar. The Marquis Of NOMIANBY stated that the object of the Bill was to prevent pirated editeous of English world being circulated abroad. In a conversation which the Noble Lord had held with Monsieur Gsligeani that gentleman had told him that in his opinion the meastree was a most exeeliect one, and deserved the greatest support. The Neble Marquis was convinced I that the butter part of Enelish literature would receive a degree of protection that it had never received before. Under these circemstances h should support the Bill. Lord CitANWORTa was of opinion that it was nc ceesery to consider both the advantages and disadvan tages, mud see which preponderated. Ise himselt would not offer any opposition to the Bill. After some further cmversation the Bill passed through Committee. The Prevention of Sheep Disorders Bill and the Exchequer Bills Bill were then read a third time. Their Lordships edjeireed a few micutes before Six o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 30. The SPEAKER, took the Chair a few minutes before Fuur o'clock. _ _ NEW ME 'ABER. Mr. LA.SLETT, tho new Meaoi:r fcr Worcester, took the oat4a and his seat. The Hon. Gentleman risi introduced by Sir Joshua Wahmioy and Mr. Cobden. PRIVATE BILLS. The East London Wiverworks Bill awl Scarborough Market and Approaches Bill were considered and agreed to. The British Empire Mutual Life A33111 - 3EC3 Com pany Biii was read a third time and pas: PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented against the grant to May nooth. Sir J. FILMER presented several ►petitions from various places in Kent praying for the reps! of the hop duties. _ _ A number of petitions were pro.ented praying for the repeal of the a.tortapi' certificate duty. Mr. T. BAEIING presented a petition praying the Huse to take steps to prevent the adulteration of coffee. Mr. W. WILLIAMS presented several petitions from various parts of Wales agaicst the Militia Bill. Mr. MANGLES presented a similar petition from Bodmin, Ithd Mr. H. BERKELEY from Bristol. Mr. SCULLY presented a petition from the county of Tipperary in favour of teuant-right. Lord HARRY VANE presented a, petition from the College at St. Cuthbert, in the comity of Durham, pray ing to be exempted trom the operation of the Charitable Treats bill. Mr, fOCKEIART preaented a petition from the hand loom weavers of Scotlar.:3, in favour of home colonization. Mr. TUFNELL prck.entsed a petition from Devonpart praying for an alteration of the present mode of asses sing houses for the inco,n , !-te.x. MILITIA BILL. Mr. W. J. FOX gave notion that in Committee ho should move the insertion of a clause in the Militia Bill, to the effect that no man should be liable to compulsory service in the militia whose name was not on the regis tration list as an elector for some city, county, or borough. TriE CAPE. Mr. HUME wished to ask the Secretary for the Co lonies whether petitions bad been received from the Cape to her Majesty for the removal of the Government Se cretary, Mr. Montagu, ,on the ground of his continued obstruction of the passage of the Constitution Ordi nances; and if so, whether copies of such petitions would be presented to the House? Sir J. PAKINGTON said by the last mail several pe titions were received, some in favour of the new consti tution, and others against it. One of the former was signed by 400 or 500 persons, praying for the removal of Mr. Montagu, but he did not think it would be wise to produce it at present. Mr. HUME wished to know when they were to re ceive further accounts of the proceedings of the war? Sir J. PAKINGTON said. ho could not answer that question till the next mail arrived. THE UNIVERSITY COMMISSION. iktr. HEYWOOD asked the Secretary of State forthe .",ome Department whether a report from the Commis -11"Illers appointed to inquire into the University and Colleg es of Oxford had been received, and %hen he will la yit .ol l the table of the House? fi Th r. WALPOLE iairl he had received the report of the ‘' 4l ° ,, d Commission, but he could no t la y it on the table until he received the permission of her Majesty to do so. QUEBEC AND MONTREAL RAILWAY. ,_, ln v , ply to air. cORDDN okr d . ei Kui , 4:. , given no us, G [UN maid the late Government had . assent w 1,,, this raiw„; but ' tever a 4 to giving; Ft guarantee to and under th, uuti Ao subject ivas now in negotiation any guarantee was e : i zti ;; ° 9 of the Government. Before would be taken on it, the opinion of Parliament a 14 , ROSAS. GENE On the motion that she until Monday next, )1134 at its rising do adjourn Mr. ROEBUCK called far the production of the Treasury order issued to receiv e litate the passing of hia eff seta and arras, and to faci- Custom-hbase, and asked que , t i ons ' u ggage through the reSp ec meta V the arrival of duct of the authorities at Plymouth ting the con- General M. Rosas. The Honourable B ons bad been guilty of great atr oo r•,;" i ' d and he should he glad know or to Be was no friend to the people of t h, l _ b ' ea in Mexico. good government, was true that this Trew ury wasrant b o a beli k . e : ti o e w d i: it The CHANCELLOR of the EXoLtE,4 this country had long been in negotiationl% said the General, and her Majesty had made treaties with him he had no hesitation in saying that 'th e order wasGovernmentsent down. It was a m atter of form, and Government had no desire to shrink frcra its responsibility. It did not exempt the goods and chattels of the General from the ditties which the law imposed upon th em, but simply required the Custom -house authorities to extend to the General that consideration and courtesy which was due to a person who had filled the exalted station which the General had recently lost.—(Rear, hear.) - Any other indulgences which had been granted to the General, th e G overnm ent were no t responsible for, but they were, quite w illi n g to acknowledg e the Treasury order.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME said the Government had go ne out of its way in this matter, and he should be glad to know if the Admiralty had sent nut any orders.—(ilear, hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said no orders had been issued by the Admiralty, but the Go vernment entirely approved of all that had been done in this matter. MAJOR BROWNRIGGE. In riply to Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. NAPIER said the Government had received II report from Major Brownrigge on the subject of ribbon ism, and a Dublin newspip , , , r, in defiance of all previous courtesy, had published its contents. The new,:paper knew more of his intentions on the subject than he did himself; but he could assure the House that the Go vernment had not yet made up ids mind on the subject of the report. The motion for the adjournment of the House was then agreed to. THE BUDGET. The Rouse having resolved itself into a Committee of Ways and Means, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose and said,—A. chief branch of the revenue having ceased by lapse of time, and a considerable deficiency having consequently ensued, it would be incumbent on me, were there no other reason, to invite the consideration of the House of Commons to the state of the public finances. Of late years, commer cial considerations have so mixed themselves up with the transactions and engagements of public finance, and, unhap pily, political passion has so blended itself with all the topics of commercial controversy, that I feel it would almost be pre sumptuous in me to hope that on this occasion I should be able to engage not only the serious, bnt th e ca l m and unim passioned aotention of the House, tn the grave subject I am now about to bring under its considkration. But when I re collect that upon the correctness o f the Principles on which THE the finance of the country is founded must mainly depend the greatness of the realm and the happiness of the people — (Hear)—l am not altogether without hope that I may in duce gentlemen on either side of the House to dismiss from their minds all prejudgments and prejudices, and to join with me in the attempt clearly to comprehen I the exact financial position of this country.—(Bear.) When the Minister responsible for the condition of the finances finds himself in the position to which 1 have just adverted — when he has to submit to the House facts which none can dispute, that a considerable source of revenue has ceased to exist, and that by its cessation there is necessarily a consi derable deficiency in the public income, there is, of course, one question which inevitably occurs to every one engaged in such discussions as the present —namely, what are the soundest means—what, at the same time, is the most popu lar and the most practicable melody—or perhaps I ought to say on such a subject, what is the method the least unpo pular, and the most practicable, by which me may sup ply the deficiency, which none can deny?—(Hear, hear.) It is unnecessary for me to remind the House that the re venue of this country is raised, generally speaking, by three modes—by duties on articles of foreign import, by duties on articles of domestic manufacture, and largely by a system of direct taxation. Now, we have to inquire, in the first place, what are the means, which are the most prac ticable, and to which I should be most successful in ob taining the consent of the House to have recourse, in order to place the finances of the country in that satisfactory state in which I am sure that gentlemen, whatever seat they may occupy, would wish to see them. With respect to the first method, namely, the ra i s i ng an i ncre ased supply by duties on artic'es of foreign produce imported into this country, I should observe that a very considerable branch of revenue is still raised by that mode, and that, perhaps, is the first method which naturally pre sents itself for obtaining an additional supply. But, if I try to anticipate what may be the opinion of the House of Commons on that point—if I pass under my review what has occurred on the subject of the Customs' duties for the several years during which the present Par liament has existed ;—if, indeed, I extend the range of my observation, and examine what has been the conduct of the Parliament which preceded the present, I do not certainly think that in the present Parliament the prospect of supplying a deficiency by increased Customs' duties is very encouraging.—(Cries of " Hear," from the Opposition.) Since the year 1842, now ten years ago—l take that period because it is an epoch frequently referred to in this House, and considered by many, I myself think erroneously, as the inaugurative epoch of a new system in the management of our finances and our commerce, — since, I repeat, the year 1842 u p th e y ear 1851 i nc l us i ve , find one very remarkable feature in the financial management of this country, viz., that in every one of those past ten years there has been a reduction of the duties on foreign articles im ported into this country. There is no single year of those ten years in which there has not been a reduction, and a considerable reduction, of the the means of raising revenue by duties on articles of foreign import. You have in those ten years repealed or reduced the duties on coffee, timber, currants, wool, sugar, molasses, cotton wool, butter, cheese, silk manufactures, tallow, spirits, copper ore, oil and sperm, and an amazing number of other articles, which produced a small amount of revenue, with respect to which it is not material, and would be almost prepos terous, that I should trouble the House in de tail. It is sufficient for me to observe this remarkable fact, that the reduction of your Customs' duties from 1842 has been systematically continuou3; that in 1842 you sti uck of nearly 1,500,0001. of revenue calculated from the Customs' dutiOs ;—that in 1813 you struck off 126,0001 ; in 184 t, 279,000/. ; in 1845, upwards of 3,500,000/. ; in 1846, upwards 51,150.000/. ; in 1847, upwards of 343,000/. ; in 1848, upwards of 578,0001. ; in 1819, upwards of 384,0110/. ; in 1850, up wards of 31,0001. ; and in 1851, upwards of 801,000/. ' • making an aggregate in those ten years of nearly 9,000,0001. sterling.—(Loud cries of " Hear!") Well, then, having a deficiency to supply, and looking to the source: whence that assistance which is necessary, might most probably be ob tained, I think, after the catalogue of remitted duties which I have just reed, it would be somewhat preposterous on my part to suppose that I could induce the present House of Commons to supply the deficiency by the imposition of fresh dutihs on imports. Have I, then, a more encouraging pros pect if I seek to supply the deficiency by having recourse to duties on articles of domestic manufacture? In the con troversies on commercial legislation which have occurred of late years, and which have especially prevailed during the la-t six years, two opinions have been advocated in this Honse, and have been very warmly supported in the coun try,'as to the preferable means by which you might relieve the industry of this country. One important party in this Home and in the country have advocated, and successfully advocated, the repeal of Customs' duties, and the prevalence of their opinions —the triumph, I would say, of their opinions —in this House has been exemplified by that table 1 have just referred to, and which I have had prepared for the Informatio n o f th e House. But there has also been in this. House a party, if not triumphant, still very important frnin their numbers and from the zeal and conviction with wnieh they have maintained their opinions, who have as serted, on the contrary, that the best mode of relieving our native industry is by the remission or repeal of what are called Excise duties. No one advocated that opinion with a greater amplitude of statistical learning than my late and ever-lamented friend Lord George Bentinck ; and it is an opinion which is sanctioned also by the authority of writers of the highest consideration, and one which I myself consider to be entitled to the gravest attention and consideration.—(Hear, hear.) But if there be Members on one Aide of the House who are of opinion that you must not supply a deficient revenue by a Customs' duty, and, on the other,. Members who are equally of opinion that an Excise duty is more injurious to the industry of the country than a duty on the import of foreign articles, what is the prospect of success for a Chancellor of the Exchequer if his means of supplying a deficiency are limited to those two, still impor tant, sources of our public wealth? But this is not all. It is net merely that a very important party in this House are opposed to Excise duties, because they think their influence is peculiarly pernicious to the exercise of our national in dustry, but even Hon. Gentlemen opposite—even those who consider a Customs' duty the greatest fiscal grievance —even they have evinced during the last ten years scarcely less re pugnance to raising our revenue by duties on articles of do mestic manufacture. Let me now place before the House a catalogue of the successful invasions which have been made during the same period of the last ten years, upon that, great source of our revenue—the Excise- Whilst you hive reduced the calculated resources of revenue from Customs by an amount of 9,000,000/. during that time of ten years you have also in the same period repealed the Excise duty on vinegar, auctions, glass, and, finally on bricks ; by which an amount of revenue nearly as large as 1,500,0001. has been abstracted from the Excise, simulta neously with your successful assaults on the Customs' re venue.—(Hear, hear.) But is that all? Can I forget what occurred in this House only about a week ago, when a Right Hon. Gentleman, once a member of the late Adminis tration, connected in that capacity with the department which peculiarly watches over the fortunes of our trade and navigation—the Member for Manchester, an active member, too, of that confederation which has exercised of late years so considerable an influence on the finances of this country, came forward and proposed a repeal of Excise duties, which would virtually have further reduced the public in come by 1,400,0001. Under these circumstances the House will agree with me, that not only w ith respect to Customs' duties, but also w ith respect to Excise duties, the Minister who proposed to supply a deficiency by increasing their num ber or amount would embark upon an enterprise extremely hopeless. But I fear that the difficulties of an individual in my position are not limited by these two branches of revenue on which I have touched. We hear a great deal in the pre sent, day, and often from Gentlemen opposite, that the preferable mode of raising revenue is by what they call di rect taxation.—(Hear from some Member on the Opposition benches.) I receive that cheer as evidence of the attention of the Honourable Gentleman, and I am honoured by it; but,. I fear that when I pursue the critical investigation to which I solicit his attention, I shall not find that wel come adhesion to the principles of direct taxation which at present he seems to evince. —(Hear, hear.) Now, we have had during the last ten years considerable experience of the temper of the House of Commons and of the . country with respect to this third mode of rasing the national revenue; and I wish to draw, I would say, the most serious attention of the House to this very im portant branch of taxation. It is exactly ten years ago since one of the mos; eminent of modern statesmen, whe was the principal means of effecting that reduction in our Customs' duties, and even in our Excise duties, to which I have recalled the recollection of the House—it is exactly ten years ago since he successfully introduced a measure which entailed on this country a large portion of direct taxation. Now, let me recal the recollection of the House to the circumstances' under which the property and income tax was introduced to our attention in 1842, the fortunes which it has experienced, and the fate which awaited it. Remember that that important measure of direct taxa tion was to have ceased after a lapse of time, and was in troduced to the House apologetically.—(Hear, hear.) It was introduced as a measure necessitated by an emergency and framed to meet an exigency, and even with all these circumstances, the House and the country could not be in duced to adopt it without its being framed on large bases of exemption. There was no evidence either favourm the House i b direct the country of any great inclinationin taxation, because the measure was introducesl as being only _ , multi tude rinald not be oppressed by its operation.—( hear. ) Well, Sir, what was the fate of that tax , i ntroduced b y one ' justified by emergency, and was so mode lled that the of the ablest and most powerful Ministers of modern times? Notwithstanding all his talent, and notwithstanding all his power in this House, that law was with difficulty renewed, and coald only be renewed after repeated discussions, and afteri motions had been made in this House by Hon. Members of great distinction, who impugned the justice of its *visions, and complained of the oppressions of its enact menta.—(Hear, hear.) At length, before the ten years had ' elapsed, it had become so odious and so unpo pular, thats its existence was only renewed provisionally, and that, too, upon the severe condition that it should beaccinami, tted to the severe scrutin of a Committee y aPetairs.—(Hear, he ar .) A s f ar , therefore, as the Property and income.tax is concerned, the conduct of this House with respect to direct taxation is scarcely more encouraging than its conduct with regard to raising revenue by indirect taz ira ati t en, either in the shape of duties on articles of foreign me of mak g in 4 I It Po; ,or upon articles of domestic manufacture.—(Cheers.) mut my hope that, before the difficult duty devolved upon tee upon the In the statement which I have the honour of submittin the Rouse to-night, the report of the Commit . table. I feel, Income-tax me-tax would have been laid upon the to e:urse, great difficulty and delicacy in which are under the ertait adverting —a s extent I must do—to subjects consideration of that committee. I therefore, if I can do - have the honour to be member of that Committee, and, ' that I can bear witness nothingto the else, I can at least say this— whcllmpartial spirit and the inde fatigable industry with Committee, will e a the inquiries of the Com mittee have been carried on—.(Cheers)—and ot I am sure—at least I hope—than an Hon. _opposite ) the chairman of that inauee d c m e it thatsincethe I have rown no obstanigeninhietecowneduct inquiries I have th bad the power of exercising any of its („ H e ar, hear," from Mr. Hume.) lam not trying to nar row the issue in question; I have g i ven every facility to an investigation which I thought the country required, and the results of which I have watched with the utmost interest. circumstances it would U n d e r these to give an opinio n u p on p oi nts on which th a t C omm itt ee has not yet d e cided, or at least up on which they have not yet officially communicated th • eir decision t o thi s H ouse ; yet, upon one the position or two of those points, from I it is impossible occ upy to-night , for me to be entirely the great objections to the a: silent. One of one of the causes of t upon pro perty and incomeits odium and in This country—is unquestionably that unpopularity difference a s to the mode and rate of assess mentthere is no incomes of a temporary and of a permanent upon hear.) That most interesting and ins character.— (Hear, portent question is now su bmitted su bmitted to your Committee; and, 03 I have said before , it wo uld be arrogant in me to give an t u ntil theirdecision has bee n for opinion upon the subject m ' u nicated to the House. But I may mally and officially com we have received the ablest evi say that upon that subject I may say that, on that sub dense Isom the ablest men. listened to men who have made the ject, the Committee have principles upon which such assessments should be calculat e d • the study of their lives, w h o have brought to t h e Co mmittee and enlighten us, and who all that science can offer to aid SUN, LONDON, have put before us every combination which experience and philosophy can devise and invent. I will not pre sume to enter into the question as to the justice or injustice of the schemes which those gentlemen—the most eminent actuaries of the country—have offered us ; but, as a practical man, as looking to the effect upon the revenue, as looking, at this moment especially, to the most desirable means by which revenue can be raised, I may say this (not prejudging, understand, the question at issue ; not for a moment maintaining—neither acknowledging nor deny ing—that the principles these actuaries have offered to us are just)—that if these principles be adopted, I am painfully sensible that Schedule A, Schedule B, and Schedule C will not be less odious than Schedule D.—(Cheers and laughter.) Well, Sir, when I am to recommend a means of raising re venue, I must necessarily consider circumstances of that character, for in these questions of finance the feelings of the people must be considered as well as the principles of science. —(Loud cheers from both sides of the House.) Then there is another point upon which I shall speak with more frankness, with respect to the tax upon property and income. I have not presumed, and 1 shall not presume, to give an opinion upon the justice or injustice of the methods in which another system of assessing perma nent and temporary incomes may be effected. I leave that point. But there is one point upon which the Committee is so unanimous that their opinion need not be a secret, and I believe the same opinion is unanimously enter tained by the House of Commons, as lam sure it is unani mously entertained by the country—namely, that if taxes of this character, if measures of direct taxation like the income tax, are to form, not temporary, but permanent features of our system of finance, we cannot rest upon a system of ex emptions.—(Cheers.) Well, but if they are Hot to rest upon a principle of exemptions, do you increase the methods by which a Chancellor of the Exchequer may raise a re venue ? (Hear, hear.) No doubt that direct taxation is in its theory an easy, a simple, and a captivating process; but when you wish to apply that direct taxation generally, it is astonishing what obstacles you encounter and what preju dices you create.--(Hear, and a laugh.) In my mind— and I think now it is a principle pretty well accepted— direct taxation should be nearly as universal in its appli cation as indirect taxation. The man who lives in the palace, and the cottager, as consumers, are equally and proportionably assessed. It is not, perhaps, possible that by direct taxation you can effect so complete a result. Per haps it is not necessary; but that, if your revenue is to depend mainly; or in a great degree, upon direct taxation —if it is permanently to depend upon such taxation —you must make the application of direct taxation very general, is to me a conclusion that it is impossible to with stand.—(Cheers.) No doubt, by establishing a temporary measure of direct taxation, based upon a large system of exemptions, you may give a great impulse to industry; you may lighten the springs of industry very effectually for a time; but—not to dwell upon the gloss and glaring injustice of a system of finance that would tax directly a very limited portion of the population—but looking only to the economi cal and financial consequences of such a system, who can but feel that in the long run industry itself must suffer from such a process? For, after all, what is direct taxation founded on a system of exemptions? It is confiscation. It is making war upon the capital which ultimately must employ that very industry which you wish to promote.— ( Cheers.) Well, then, when you have examined the first and most memorable essay towards direct taxation which has occurred during the memorable ten years to which I have called attention with regard to the reduction of Customs' and, Excise duties, is the instance of the property and income tax' very encouraging to the Minister who looks to direct taxation as the means of supplying deficiencies? That law was universally admitted to be fraught with great injustice. Not that I am urging this as any objection to the Minister who introduced it. That Minister—the law being avowedly a temporary measure, a measure to meet peculiar circumstances, and to encounter an emergency—was perfectly justified in the course which he took, and met with the success he de served ; but I am speaking of a system of finance of which a tax like that to which I am now referring is to become a permanent feature. This tax, frame , ' by the most adroit of modern financiers, softened in all those circumstances which would have created apparent hostility, has yet en countered such a degree of odium, and is acknowledged to be the source of so much oppression, that we have not been ab'e to keep it standing; but those who were respon sible for the finances of the country have been obliged to go upon their knees to the House of Commons to insure it a provisional existence—("Hear," and a laugh)—and, as I which years, have been already submittedremi ded the tu be House, s everest any mode of raising public mon e y can be i t h a o s r d n e o al v, to for sub jected-to the searching scrutiny of a Committee of the House of Commons, judges who are themselves victims, and who are therefore alive to all the grievances into which they have to inquire.—(Loud cheers.) But, if I proceed a step further, and try to induce the House to con sider whether direct taxation is that simple, that facile, and that satisfactory method by which revenue can be raised in a country like England, can you shut your eyes 'to the remarkable circumstance that occurred in the last ses sioa of Parliament with regard to direct taxation? What was the principal feature of the last financial year? The abolition of one of the most considerable sources of direct taxation. The Minister, at one fell swoop, by the removal of the window-duty. deprived us of nearly 2,000,000/. sterling raised by direct taxation.—(Some cries of " no!" from the Opposition.) I think I shall be able to show that was the case.—;Cheers from the Ministerial benches.) I think I can show those Hon. Gentlemen who, I am willing to believe, are on this occasion friendly critics, that my statement is fully authorized. It was said on the occasion to which I allude, that the principles of direct taxation were not in question. Direct taxation to the amount of nearly 2,000,000/. was at once taken off, but then it was re mitted not on fiscal but on sanitary considerations.—(Laughter and cheers.) Every one knows now that all the sanitary objects we wished to accomplish could have been accomplished had the tax remained.— (" No, no !" from the Opposition benches ) I think I shall have no difficulty in showing that that is the fact. That the plea was a plausible plea—an amiable plea—l acknowledge; but the consequence is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has last 2,003,0001. raised by direct taxation. [An Hon. Member on the Oppo sition side expressed dissent.] I notice the murmuring negative of the Hon. Gentleman opposite. "No," says he " you did not lose nearly 2,000,0001., for you forget the sub stitute of the house.tax." Now, were I to fix upon any subjkt—upon any measure—which would alarm me, if I am taught to believe that direct taxation is to be the main source to which the Minister of Finance is to look for his revenue, it would be that very substitute, the recollection of which led the Hon. Gentleman to murmur his negative re specting the window-tax. The revenue of the country could not bear that rude and entire loss of nearly 2,000,000/. sterling by the repeal of the window-tax. It was necessary, therefore, to have some substitute— to find some means by which the revenue should be sustained ; and what did you do? You could not go to Customs' duties in the teeth of that catalogue of exploits which I have mentioned. —(Hear, hear.) You could not have recourse again to Excise duties, when you yourselves were bringing forward motions asking for the repeal or the redaction of those duties. You were obliged to have recourse to direct taxation, even while you' reduced one source of direct taxation to such an enormous amount; and what did you do? You imposed a direct tax—a tax which I have always regarded as more just' and less oppressive than any other form of direct taxation—l mean the house tax.—(Cheers.) That invalu able weapon in your financial armoury was taken doyen carelessly, and was used for a very inglorious result. You raised a very small revenue by your direct taxation. Out of 3,500,000 houses, following the vicious principle which per vades all our direct taxation, you touched little more than 400,000 (Hear, hear, and cheers) —and you again practi cally announced to the people of this country that direct taxation is intolerable, unless it is based upon a large sys tem of exemptions.— (Cheers.) I think, then, that by res calling facts, and by calmly inducing the House to survey their past career, I have shown them that the difficul tiestot raising revenue in this country are not confined to Customs' duties, as their early cheers would have seethed to intimate—that they are not confined to Excise duties, AS some of my Honourable Friends near me may suppose—but that, if you attempt to impose direct taxation on any principles which are calculated to pro duce permanent effects, you are stopped either by the pre judice of the House and of the people, or by their intoler able, sense of the incidents of that form of taxation.—(Hear, arid cheers.) The moral I would draw, and which I would wish most earnestly to impress upon the House—because they may rest essured that the time is not far distant when they must arrive at definite conclusions upon this subject—is that they should come to some certain results to guide them in the management of their finances. A Chancellor of the Exchequer who has to make a financial statement, and who is supposed to be in possession of that happy but most em barrassing incident, a surplus, is looked upon by both sides as an individual who is merely an object of prey and plunder. —(Laughter and cheers.) in the general scramble every one wishes to obtain his purpose, and no one looks to the future.—(Hear, hear.) No one looks to the inevitable danger that must be impending over the finances of a country where all demand relief, while at the same time they lay down principles which prevent the raising of taxes in any form whatever. (Hear, hear.) Whether it is a duty upon articles of foreign import, whether it is a duty upon articles of home manufacture, or whether it is a direct tax, the experience of ten years has brought us to this result—that the House of Commons disapproves of all three measures.— (Cries of " Oh !" from the Opposition, met by cheers from the Ministerial benches.) Having made these observations, which I shall, I fear, have painfully to apply in the coarse of my subsequent remarks, I shall now call the attention of the Committee to the income and ex penditure of the year which has just terminated. In February, 1851, the income for the year ending in this month of April was estimated by the Right Hon. Member for Halifax (Sir C. Wood) at 52,140,0001. The actual in come whieh had accrued - has been 52,468,3171.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) The Right Hon. Gentleman, whose actual income exceeded his estimated income, is well en titled to that cheer—(Hear, hear, and cheers)—but I am bound to say that the statement I have made does not do sufficient justice to the merits of the Right Honour able Gentleman. Not only did the actual income exceed his estimate by more than 320,0001., but I must say that in the interval vast remissions of taxation took place, and yet notwithstanding those vast remissions, the income of the year that has just ended exceeded the estimate of 1851. In that period the Right Hon. Gentleman repealed tke window tax, by:which a loss of 640,0001. was experienced in theyear, after allowing for the substitution of the house-tax ; and the Right Hon. Gentleman also reduced the duties upon coffee and upon timber, and had besides to encounter one of the most considerable reductions that has occurred in the sugar duties.—(Hear, hear.) Yet, notwithstanding that great re mission of direct taxation—notwithstanding that reduction on three of the most important articles of foreign import, the income of the Right Hon. Gentleman (the late Chancellor of the Exchequer) exceeded his estimate, which was made without reference to those reductions, by the sum of more than 328,000/.—(Hear, hear.) On that occasion the Right Honourable Gentleman estimated the Customs at 20,400,0001., and he then anticipated from the re duction of the duties on sugar, coffee, and timber, a loss to revenue, which he estimated at 800,0001., which, however, trusting to the increased powers of con sumption in the community, he placed in his budget at only 400,000/. ; th er efore the Customs really, as estimated by t he Right Hon. Gentleman, would have been only 20,000,00/. We have obtained from them 20,673,900/.—(Hear, hear.) I think it due to the Right Hon. Gentleman—l think (which, with all courtesy to him, is of still more importance) that it will be interesting to the House and to the country — while our experience upon these subjects is fresh, that we should trace the action of the reductions of the Right Hon. Gentleman upon our Customs' revenue.—(Hear, hear.) The duty on coffee, it will be recollected, was reduced last year from 6d. per lb. on foreign, and 4d. on colonial, to a uniform duty of 3d. Now this is the effect of that reduction of duties upon consumption. In the year ending April, 185 1 , there was an increase in the consumption on the article of foreign coffee of 2,076,375. b. ; in the year ending April, 1852, there is an increase from 2,076,0e016. in 185), to 5.525,0001 b., being an increase in 1852 upon 1851 of at the expense of the 3 448,0001b.—(110ar, hear.) Nor was this increase obtained In 1851 we imported 2 8,216,0001 b. of colonial coffee ; in 1852 s after the reduction of the daty, d • that great increase uty, and during of the consumption of foreign coffee, instead of 28,21. 6 , 000113 •1 growers of colonial coffee.—(Hear.) we have imported 29,100,0001b . —(H ear hear.) In 185 d we imported 32,511,0001 b. 0 1 f ore i gn au colonial coffee; SATURDAY EVENING, MAY l, 1852. 1851 the demand had fallen to 30,292,0001 b., but in 1352, after the reduction of duties, the quantity rose to 34,680,0001b.—(Hear, hear.) The calculated loss of duty was 176,000/. ; the amount of duty really lost has been about 112,0001.—(Hear.) It will be recolected that the Right Hon. Gentleman reduced the duty upon foreign timber, from 15s. to 78. 6d. on hewn, and from 20s. to 10s. on sawn. The estimated loss was 286,0001. ; the real loss is 196,000/.—(Hear, hear.) I know this is detail that perhaps I hardly ought to persevere with--(Cheers)—but I think it due to the Right Honourable Gentleman, and due also to the subject, that the House should thoroughly under stand its position at the present moment—(Hear, hear) — as they must arrive, of coarse, with reference to the financial state of the country, at a very important con clusion.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") I therefore think it my duty to place before them the effect also of the reduction as regards timber.—(Hear, hear.) In 1851 we imported 275,000 loads of foreign timber; in 1852, 440,000. Of colonial timber—l am speaking of hewn—in 1851 we imported 619,000 loads; in 1852, 671,000 loads. In 1851 we imported 352,000 loads of sawn foreign timber; in 1352 it amounted to 514,000 loads.—(Hear, hear.) In 1851 we had 451,000 loads of colonial sawn, and, notwith standing the increase in the foreign, that amounted in 1852 to 526,000. (Hear, hear.) Thu, of foreign, hewn and sawn, we imported altogether in 1851 only 628,000 loads; and in 1852, that is in the year just terminated, the quantity rose to 954,000•—(Hear, hear.) I ought to mention that there has equally been an increase upon colonial timber, the quantity (hewn and sawn) having risen from 1,074,000 loads in 1851 to nearly 1,200,000 in 1852.—(Hear, hear.) But while a loss, though not a very important one, was thus realized by the reduction of the duties upon coffee and timber, greatly as the consumption was increased, the effect of the reduction of duty upon the consumption of sugar is so remarkable that I feel it right to place it be fore the House.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers, with some laughter.) We imported in 1851, 7,200,000 cwt. of British and foreign sugar; in 1852, 7,613,003 cwt.—being an increase of 413,000 cwt.—(Hear.) Since the alteration in 1846, the increase of our consumption has been 1,90J,000 cwt.—(Hear.) 'With regard to British sugar—this is un refined only—l have the other, but lam afraid of wearying the House—in 1851 we imported only 5,093,000 cwt. ; in 1852 we imported 5,207,000, being an increase in that year of upwards of 114,000 cwe—(dear, hear.) During the last six years the consumption of sugar has increased by 95,000 tons, being really 33 per cent. upon the consumption of the yea r 1846.—(Hear.) The revenue on sugar and molasses was 4,163,535/. in 1852, being (although we calculated upon a loss, I think, of 330,0001. or 310,0001.) a loss upon the year of i only t aw t you 3091.—(Cheers.) I must now proceed in detail with the Ho nourable Gentleman in F e b ruary o f l as t year. I have h that,of -52 liBnssl, as estimated by the Right tead of the 20,000,0001. which he anti poeeu e he received f rom th e C us t oms 20,673,000/. He scnn estimated the Excise at 14,000,000/. ; we have received 14,513,000/.—(Hear, hear.) He estimated the stamps at 6,310,000/. ; he received for his stamps—or rather we re ceived for him — (Laughter)-6,346,0001., being a slight in crease.—(Hear, hear.) but, in coneequence of the reduction of the window-duty, and the partial substitution of the house-tax, there has He estimated his taxes at 4,348,C00/.; been received only 3,691,0001, and I am sorry to say that that 691,000/. will not be received in any half-year subse quent to that which the Right Hon. Gentleman has had the advantage of, because there is half of the window-duty, which way still received by him. Then we come to the pro perty-tax; it was estimated at 5,38 5 ,000/. ; the Right Hon. Gentleman's estimate was realised only to the amount of 5,283,000/., being a diminution of nearly 100,000/. He esti mated the Post-office at 830,000/. Such was the extraordi nary effect (among other causes, no doubt) of the Exhibi tion—(A laugh )—th e H on. M em b er may laugh at my detail, but I can assure hi m t h at w h en h e becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, whi c h I d are say be win one day, he will know what an immense advantage it is to have something which gives an extraordinary impulse to consumption and communication-- (Hear. hear) —the Post-office, estimated at 830,000/., reached 1,056,000/.—(Hear, hear.) But, besides the effect of the Exhibition upon that branch of the revenue, there was also the effect of the census; our postage bill for the census-office, if I can trust my recollection, was nearly 32,0J0S ; that ; item, of course, would not figure in a future estimate. The Right Hon. Gentleman estimated the Woods at 160,000/. ; they gave 190,000/. The " miscellaneous" he estimated at 262,000/ ; the " miscellaneous" turne d oat to be 287,0001. The " old ' stores" were estimated at 450,000/., but they realized only :395,000/. I have given before the Right Hon. Gentleman's total estimate of the income of the year just ended, which ultimately turned out to be 52,468,000/. His estimate of the expenditure was 50,247,000/. The actual expenditure has been 50,291,000/. It is unnecessary for me to go into the it ems o f the Right Hon. Gentleman's expen diture ; I have said, I hope, sufficient to place the last year of his official career fairly before the House— (" Hear, hear," from Sir C. Wood and other Members) —and I had on his behalf thesatisfaction of placing the balance-sheet on the table at the end of the year, whereon there appeared, of conrse,'in con sonance with the figures I have already given to the House, a surplus of 2,176,998/.—(Cheers.) 1 am now to estimate the expenditure of another year, in which I am perhaps more interested than in those figures which I have previously placed before you. For the estimated expenditure of this year her Majesty's Government are scarcely responsible; they have, of course, a formal responsibility which they do not wish to escape; but it is known to the House that the estimates were prepared by our predecessor!, and were laid on the table when we succeeded to office ; and, indeed, our responsibility upon that head has been shared by the House in passing the great heads of the service. I must, of coarse, recal the amounts to the House. The estimate of thi ex penditure for the year 1852-53 is 51,163,9791 ; and "it is irlaterefore, year thus formed :—the interest on the funded debt is 27,548 , 000 1.; last year the sum was 27,576,98 01 . There has been, of course, this deduction by the action of the sinking fund. iTthewianatere4sotl,so4nsLExclheqenetrn-tbailllsfuirs 4 t o h 2 e ,000/.; l debt, is 27,950,000/ ; last year it was 27,978,525/. The other charges on the consolidated fund are this year 2,600,0007.; last year they were 2,614,416/. The total charge on the consolidated fund is 30,550,000/. ; last year it was 30,592,941/. The army, including the commissariat, is 6.491,8931. The navy is 6,493,000/., but that includes 870,158/ for the packet service, and therefore the expendi ture for the navy is really 5,622,8421. The Ordnance is 2,437,0001. The " miscellaneous," now called the " civil services" estimates, are 4,182,036/. ; last year the amount was 4,114,265!. I make a remark upon this estimate, be cause to a certain degree it was prepared by the present Go vernment, though slightly. The increase in the miscella neous estimates have been occasioned by two circumstances; there has has been a transference from the Woods and Forests of charges to an amount, I think, if I recollect right, of something like 65,000/. a year, and therefore there is a proportionate or approaching a proportionate diminution in the Woods and Forests, and there is an increase in the charge for the convict service. The next item which I have is a very sorrowful one; it is the item for the Kafir war.—(Hear, hear.) It will be recollected that very early after we acceded to office I moved a ivote of 460,000/. to carry on the Kafir war.—(Hear.) When that vote was moved I was not without hope that it c would be the last we s hould h ave to bring before the consi deration of the House; but the information which we were h was pervaded by character therefore that I can, with avt very ynn differents e expectinguivm eand it a unfortunately rlu nith thatin k iswha belief that it would t becomes a person responsible for the impossible h we ind u l ged finances of the country, allow that vote alone to be provided for by the Committee. Unquestionably it is very easy,espe cially after having obtained a vote, and in a case of foreign would war, where there w ill sot be th e power of ascertaining the near r perhaps open to me to leave something to chan ce, and to dra w upon the military chest - if a further supply should be want e d state e aotf hand—it things sin Eurohpeean c onflicts, where the scene is n ; but I hope the House will agree with mein _t inking that a very exceptional and erroneo us system—` Hear' hear)—and that it is much better to form some —I will not say extravagant estimate, but some fair and temperate estimate, of what is absolutely ne cessary, and to meet the wants of th e serv i ce b y a s p ec ifi c vote.—(Hear, hear.) U der these circumstances I have acted. I know there ist great p re j udice with regard to the con duct of wars in the distant dependencies, which are not subject to the criticism and inf ormation they are subject to in places at hom e ; but I um hound V s say th a t t h e commis sariat of our army at the Cap r i, under the immediate con trol of the Tre asur y , that the Treasury sent out, and is re sponsible for, the officers they h ave sent out to conduct the opera tions there, that all their dispatches and even their private journals are sent to the T reasury, that it has been my duty (which I can most sincerely I ,have fulfilled) to read every line that is received, and every one of the private journals of the officers employed, and I am most deceived it these are not men who are animated by a most anxious desire to fulfil their duty ( Hear, hear.) I believe to this country.— they have accomplished considerable reduction in the conduct of the operations, nor do I think I am using the la nguage of exaggeration when I say that a commissariat was never carried on with more efficiency and with greater regard to genuine economy.— (Hear.) Taking all this into consideration —and I could prove the strict truth of my last observation by referring to the surplus left * for this year from the vote taken in the last year of 300,000/. by the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite — an d calculating (which I do) that the vote of 460,0001., as sisted by some surplus which, by y the good management of these gentlemen, we have -lons the 300,000/., cannot be safely relied upon for Junincarlon further than the end of May or the beginning of have made up my mind, with the sanction of my colleagnea, and on the part of my colleagues, to propose an additional vot e of 200000/. ; and, if the Com mittee will sanction that vote' theKafir wa r will appear in ea this estimate at 660,000 /.-- ‘..e ar.) There is yet another item for which we are responsible i n the estimated expenditure of this year, and that is for the mnitta.—(Some murmurs.) Let not Hon. Gentlemen be alarmed ; the vote I am about to ask for is not much larger than the majority by which the Militia Bill was sanctioned._( Cheers and laughter.) My estimate for the militia i s 3 50 000/. The total estimated expenditure for the rear ending the sth of April, 1853, is 51,163,9791., the figur e , Which I have g i ven before. I next come to consider the sources of supply; a nd the House will perhaps now perceiv e filet the few a bservations whiCh ' I presumed to make on th e subject of taxation generally, and on the temper of this Bonwji with respect et to it, were not alto must be fresh gether inappropriate. Th se e ' Customs realized c last year, as sa e 'recollection of the Committee 20,673,9541.; but th a t Was a remarkable year, and the cir cumstances which acted oh e of the Post - office — so much to the astonis an hin the astonishment of the Lionrevenu G en tleman opposite— acted very uch al . _ also; on. the Customs' revenue.—(Hear.) The impulse given ,to th by the great gathering of last year is-attributablee Customs not alone to the concourse of foreign visitors, but to 'th e increased travelling which took place, and to the' e general spirit of enterprise which per vaded the whole islandthese circumstances, I do counting not feel justified i n Under on any considerable increase of the Customs' revenue durin g the present year, but quite the reverse. I have also t o encounter this year—as the Committee will remember—a f ur ther reduction of the sugar duty, and although the calculated amount of that reduction is not so considerable as that experienced by the late Chan cellor of the Exchequer, still I am not sanguine that the result of the operation will be as triumphantly successful this year as it W as . ast. I think I ust count on some loss from the reduction of the sugar duties, and I estimate the loss at something like ;115,000/ I hope this will not be a total loss; for, f a ter the miraculous result of the reduc tion of the duty ] • although it is sanguine, although lash year, one is naturally sanguine, necessary to bear in mind that, as regards consumption, last year was an exceptional year.— ( Hear.) The present year will b think there will be an average year, and therefore I be some loss in the revenue derived from the sugar duties. Takin that fact into consideration, and taking into conside • rationalso that last year opened out ex traordinary sources of consumption, I think it most prudent, after examining all the figures, and giving the subject the utmost considerati on i n my po wer, to take the Customs' re venue at the name amount at which it stood in the year be fore the Exhibition, namely, 20,572,000/., which is rather more than 100,000/. less than the income derived from the same source in the year •ust concluded,—( Hear , he ar, ) I now come to th e E xcise. j Under this head it will be neces sary to make some deduction from stage-carriage and rail way duties, which will be less productive this year than they were last, for the reason to which I have already ad verted, and which the Hon. Member opposite—who has not given this subject so much attention as he will bestow upon it next year.:-.thinks- of little importance. The Exhibition produced a considerable effect upon the stage .' - carriage and railway duties. It will also be necessary to make allowance for the reduced produce of the hop-tax, which, owing to the season, will fall considerably below that of the preceding year. On the other hand, there will be a considerable increase in the malt duty, payable on the 10th of October next. The produce of the Excise duties for the past year was 14,543,895. From this amount it is necessary, in estimating the produce of this branch of the revenue for the present year, to deduct about 189,0001. for the probable diminution of the hop duty, and a further sum for the reduction on the stage-carriage and railway duty, which I estimate at 50,0001., making together 239,0001. Deducting this sum from the Excise revenue of laet year the revenue for the present year would stand at 14,304,895/. I estimate the increase of the malt duty at 300,0001., which, added to the figures I have just stated, gives 14,604,895/. as the estimated probable revenue of the Excise for the present year. I estimate the stamps for this year at 6,339,0001., which is about the same amount as they yielded last year. I intended to take the same amount exactly, but some items of expenditure connected with the accruing; produce intervened to disturb my calculations, and prevent my taking that course. The alterations in the stamp duties has now been in operation since October, 1850, and its effects may now fairly be supposed to have fully developed themselves. Under these circumstances, I think lam justi fied in estimating the produce of the stamp duties for the pre sent year at 6,339,000/. The taxes last year produced 3,691,7911. I am obliged to take them for the present year at 3,090,000/. This considerable diminution is accounted for by the circumstance of a portion of the window duty having come into the last half-year's account. The pro perty-tax for this year must, of course, be taken at half the amount produced by it last year, because, as the House is aware, the tax does not virtually cease until October. Whatever decision, therefore, the House may come to on this subject, half of the property-tax must necessarily figure in the revenue of this year. it will amount to 2,641,5001. The revenue of the Post-office I estimate at 938,0001., after making allowance for the withdrawal of the effect of the Great Exhibition, for the expenditure on account of the census, and also for the settlementlof a contested account with the railways regarding the carriage of the mails. I esti mate the revenue from the Woods this year at 235,0001. The Woods, last year, produced only 19e,000/., but their produce will be increased this year by the transference to the miscellaneous estimates of certain charges which heretofore were borne by the Woods. I take the miscellaneous estimates for the present year at 260,000/., and old stores at 400,0001. These various items make an aggregate income of 48,983,500/., leaving a deficit of 2,180,479/. This calculation is based on the supposition that the property-tax is not continued, and, things remain ing the same, there would be a deficiency of 4,400,0001. in the year ending 1853-4. To complete the picture which I have endeavoured to place before the House in an unvar nished form—(Cheers)—l think it necessary, before sub mitting to the decision of the House and the country the course which her Majesty's Government feel it their duty to recommend for adoption, to show what would have been the financial condition of the country in the present year it the property and income-tax had been renewed for two years instead of one. With that object in view I will offer to the House . an estimate of what I believe the pro perty and income-tax would produce for another year. I am aware that on this subject considerable controversy has occurred. The late Chancellor of the Exchequer ex perienced a loss of upwards of 100,0001. on the receipts of the property-tax as compared with his estimate. Having inquired into—indeed, I may say investigated —this subject with the utmost attention, I am bound to say—and I will give my reasons for saying it—that there has really been no diminution whatever in the pro ceeds of the property and income-tax. What I say is, that there is no diminution of the total assessment of the property and income-tax for the present year, as compared with the two preceding years. Upwards of 100,0001. less has cer tainly been received this year than the preceding years, but I will explain how this has occurred. In consequence of the Bill for the continuance of the property and income-tax not having been passed until the sth of June, great delay took place in making out the assessments for the tax. The office on which the duty of making the assessments devolved was, unfortunately, occupied at the same time with the ar rangements connected with the census, and from the want of hands arrears of business accrued, and considerable delay in making the assessments was the unavoidable conse pence. The house, however, will see, from the explana tion I am about, to give, that there has been no diminution in the total assessment of the property-tax in the present year, compared with the two preceding years. The total duty assessed in 1850 was 5,729,977/. ; in 1851, it was sin 1852, it is 5,758,7091. (Hear, hear.) The ;n 7 e 3 0 9,00 amount actually ; paid into the Exchequer in these years presents, however, a somewhat different result—for ex ample, in 1850, it was 5,466,2491.; in 1850, 5,493,379/. ; in 1852, 5,283,8001. The country therefore was right in supposing that there had been a diminution in the proceeds of the property and income-tax, although, in fact, the as sessment has not diminished, but increased, and a great proportion of the arrears have already been obtained.— (Cheers.) I come now to the cause of the diminution which has occurred in the amount of duty paid into the Exche quer. The diminution occurs under Schedule D. In the year 1849 a great diminution took place in the proceeds from trades and professions, which is levied under this schedule. The amount fell from 1,754,0001. to 1,581,00 e/. ; in 1850 it again dropped to 1,584,001/. ; but in 1851 it rallied, and ascended to 1,593,000/. I am sure I have no prejudice on the subject, and I am bound to say, that as far as I can form an opinion from the information laid before me, there can be no doubt that the diminution I have pointed out must be ascribed solely to the unhappy commercial year 1847.---(Cheers.) I may be excused for reminding the Committee —for in order to put the case clearly before Hon. Members it is necessary to refer to many things with which they are familiar—that the as sessment under Schedule D is not made on the actual profits of the year, but on the average profits of the three preceding years, and, therefore, the bad year 1847 falling into the ave rage would diminish its amount just in the same way as a bad year affects the averages made under the Tithe Commu tation Act. Thus it happens that while the assessment under schedule D was only:1,584,000/. in 1849, it already amounts this year to 1,600,0001., and I am informed by those who are most competent to form an opinion on these subjects that we may look with confidence to the assessment under this schedule rallying completely.—(Hear, hear.) I say completely rallying, because, although I appear before you with a deficiency, the state of the country—especially as far as this schedule is concerned—is one of great prosperity—(Cheers)—but, as it is my business to state to this committee what J believe to be rigidly the truth on all subjects connected with the finances and commerce of the country, I think members may believe me when I tell them —as Ido with great regret—that there are classes in this country who are not prospering, and the effect of whose ad versity is beginning to tell on the income and property-tax. —(Hear, hear.) I deeply regret that it is my duty to declare that I have been warned by the highest authority on this important subject that in estimating t h e returns from the property and income-tax we m ust commence makin g some allowance for reduced rentals — (H ear, hear) —and I am informed that it is more than probable that the privilege will The be committee acted itt o e n e which the last session accorded to the British farmer with t r o espe a ct t l o ar as ge sess e m xt e e n h tLun ( d ff er ea S r, ched he /l u te D found an estimate of the deduction which it . may b e referred ; but I. have felt it my duty b to state the or any prejudice e a s o e n this t o which hsub ject.dataonacquaintedeffectnecessarytothe maketwounder Nothing could induce me it had fallen to the it is my duty to refer, and I almost wish assure the Committee that I ha t v o e lest it might perhaps lot of any one else to make the statement I have just done, imagined that I have coloured it, howeverinformation which it is ' impos siblehowever slightly. -Acting on am recommended to deduct not for me to disregard, I produce of less than 150,000/. from the estimated to whichl sc hedulehe D, in consequence of the two circumstances The av attention of the Committee.amount of directed the colour and property-tax in the revenue derived from the income 5 283 80 year ending the sth of Apri ~1 1852, ls , 01., to which be, din g I f t r h a e m s e t d h a o o f April, estimatelBso3f, of the delay in making the assessment, giving a consequence Supposing the property-tax had been continued, of 5,337,8001. estimatedproduce its for the pre sentcontinued, I would have must be added 54,0001., the amount . due, but not collected, in during 150 000/. for the reasons I have before stated. deducting • , amount f being done, the estimated o the property veer at the amount it yielded the last, after That as . th_e_ ee t timated expenditure for the would , theref ore, f, yeare 1853, including the propeyty-tax, it would amount to the income of the country for the year ending the sth of April, period is 51,163,9791., follows that the surplus of incomearne over expenditure would be 461,021/. Now, Sir, I the House has obtained from me an unvarnished, and, hope I trust, a clear account of the position of the coun try.—(Cheers from all sides.) This I can truly say, that if I have not succeeded in conveying it to them, it is entirely attributable to my want of ability and experience, and 51,625,000/. ; and, no t from any desire to conceal anything w h a t ever.— (Cheers.) It appears to her Majeety's Government under these circumstances that there is but one course for them to recommend to the adoption of the House, a course which I myself cannot believe that any prudent man, what ever may be his political or economical opinions, can for a moment hesitate in adopting and sanctioning. Sir, I have touched on the extreme difficulty which now attends the management of the finances of this country. I have endea voured to bring the Committee to such a temper that it may become habituated to consider this all-important sub ject with, permit me to say, somewhat more of calmness and patience than have accompanied the statements of a Finance Minister of late years.—(Hear, hear.) My Right Hon. predecessor, whose abilities I recognize with all sin cerity, no sooner rose in his place than, I well recollect, he was assailed by a thousand demands, which, in themselves, may have been just; but which, when viewed with respect to the resources of the country, I cannot but feel were un reasonable, and many of which, I regret, were conceded, with—l will not say precipitation, but under a severe neces sity.— (Hear, hear.) Her Majesty's Ministers would not shrink from surveying the whole system of our finances with an attempt, if possible, to induce the House of Commons to come to some clear and decided opinion upon the principles on which the public revenue should be raised. They look with great apprehension to the opinions prevalent in this House. which seem opposed to all the great sources of raising the in come of this country. They consider that nothing can be more injurious than rashly and rapidly to reduce the re sources of indirect taxation, while you have come to no gene ' ral conclusion as to the principles on which direct taxation should be levied. They are of opinion that if we continue in this mood of mind, admirable as is the industry, vast is the capital of this country, great as are the advan tages which it receives from political institutions that have secured it order, wealth, and stability, it will be impossible to maintain the revenue of the country in that manner which the public credit and the w ants of our national estab lishments require.—(Cheers.) We have a profound convic tion upon that head.—(Hear, hear.) We deem it our duty to impress upon the Committee and the country the danger of the course on which they have embarked—to . impress on them the absolute necessity , now or in another Parliament, of arriving at seine definite understanding of the principles on which the revenue of this country g ou ht to be raised.— (Hear, hear.) They deem it their duty to denounce, as most pernicious to all classes of this country, the systematic reduction of indirect taxation, while at the same you levy your direct taxes upon a very limited class.—(General cheers.) Sir, we would not have shrunk from undertaking the laborious effort of examining the whole of our financial system, animated by these views and actuated by that purpose ; but I put it with confidence to , the , House, whether it has been possible for us to undertake a duty which demands labour so great, research so considerable, and an amount of time which no Member of the Government, I am sure, has yet been able • to devote.—(Hear.) The Committee will, I am convinced, recollect that it is, I believe t do- ay, only two months since her Majesty's Ministers acceded somewhat unexpectedly to . office. Indeed, it is only six weeks since " that member of the Government who is peculiarly responsible for the conduct . of its finances could, from stituents, resume his seat in this House.—(Hear.) And though the indulgence of the House, of which no one can be more sensible than myself, has assisted me in attemptitng to conduct the b us i n e ss o f my 0t11.c . ,e ,sti ll the Pal q tt g - Roue and my department have; "I".iteetire-tli9Goiral rendered it perfectly impossible for me to embark in that undertaking. But, though the proposal which, on the part of the Government, lam going - Ito make, is one of a very un interesting to use a modern phrase, of a very " provisional" character, I hope the House will not suppose that we are shrinking from the fulfilment of our duty, or that if it please the Parliament of this country to give us that opportunity, we shall be content with making provisional propositions upon this important subject again to the House of Commons.— (Cheers.) Sir, under these circumstances I am sure the House will anticipate that I shall feel it my duty on the first opportunity to recommend fur their adoption the continuance for a limited period of those duties on property and income which have been the subject of our criticism here and in the Committee that is now sitting upon them.— (Hear.) Sir, it would have been more agreeable to me to have relieved the industry of the country, to have forwarded that great cause of the fair adjustment of taxation, which I believe the great majority of this house on both sides are in clined, upon right principles, to advance. That is net in my power. My duty has only been to place fairly before the House of Commons the condition of the public finances, to offer that advice which her Majesty's Government, under the circumstances, feel it their duty to tender. And now, Sir, in placing this resolution in your hand, I trust that the House will upon this and upon subsequent opportunities give me every facility to carry the law, which will continue for the limited period of one year the income and property tax.— ( The Rght Hon. Gentleman resumed his seat amidst general cheering, which was particularly hearty from his more im mediate supporters.) The CHAIRMAN then read the following resolutions " 1. That, towards making good the supply - granted to her Majesty, there be issued and applied to the service of the year 1852 the sum of 1,015,6251. 12s. 10d., being the sur plus of ways and means granted for the service of preceding years. "2. That, towards raising the supply granted to her Majesty, the respective duties in Great Britain on profits arising from property, professions, trades, and offices, and the stamp duties in Ireland, granted by two Acts passed in the sixth year of her present Majesty, and which have been continued and amended by several subsequent Acts, shall be further continued for a time to be limited." Sir C. WOOD said, it had often in the course of the last five years been his duty to follow the Right Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down, when he differed from him in most that he had said. On the present occasion, however, he had the ' more pleasing task on following him to say that he concurred, not only in the course which the Right lion. Gentleman had proposed, but in most of the observations which he hal addressed to the Committee.—(Cheers.) lie thought it due to the Right lion. Gentleman, in the first in stance, to assure him that no apology was necessary from him for the manner in which he had made his statement, and in troduced his first budget, for he thought the Right Hon. Gentleman must have succeeded in placing before them as clearly as it was possible, not only the financial state of the country, but the views which he on the part of the Government was bound to express for them.—(Cheers.) lie could assure the Right lion. Gentleman, that having watched the course which he had taken upon previous occasions with no slight interest, and having often had to answer him, it was with sincere pleasure that he had heard his most suc cessful exposition of the first budget which he had had to bring before the House.—(Hear, hear.) He could, in the first place, say that he concurred in the views expressed by the Right lion. Gentleman as to the difficulties which sur rounded an individual who filled the reseonsible situation of Chancellor of the Exchequer. He (Sir C Wood) had been for live years the object of that disposition to prey and plun der to which the Right Hon. Gentleman had alluded; but he promised the Right Hon. Gentleman that he would be no party to any attempt to prey and plunder upon him.— (Rear, hear.) He confessed he thought that, upon some occasions, no slight disregard had been shown to the true interests of the country in the attempts that had been made to repeal taxation which the finances of the country could ill spare; and, though he might at another opportunity he disposed to do so, he would not upon the present occasion in terrupt the good feeling which he hoped would prevail by alluding to parties who had taken their share in the attempt to make a pull on the Exchequer. The Right Hon. Gentle man had truly stated that it was not easy to find a tax which would be palatable to the people: but when he said that those on the Opposition side of the House had no such just ground for the course which they had taken in the re duction of indirect taxation as those who objected to re duce direct taxation, he thought that the evidence the Right Hon. Gentleman had himself read afforded the most complete justification of the course which they had taken. He had come down prepared with some statements as to the success of the policy for the last ten years, but he thought it utterly needless to refer to them.— (Cheers.) He appealed to the Right Hon. Gentleman himself, who in the fairest and most candid manner had dealt with the subject, in corro borati mof what he stated. Since 1812 the duties reduced or repealed had been—Customs, 9,000,000'. ; Excise, 1,500,000/. ; stamps, 500,000/. ; and taxes 1,200,000/. ; making a total reduction of 12,200,0001. The reduction in the produce of those taxes, however, had only been 1,400,0,10/., the ordinary revenue (excluding income-tax) being in 1342 48,000,0001., and in 1352 46,600.000/. (Cheers.) lie appealed to the House, he appealed to the country—to the most prejudiced of the opponents of the policy which for the last ten years they had pursued—as to the result of that policy. A more satisfactory case than that made by the Right Honourable Gentleman could not have been shown, and he trusted that with the evidence of the Right Hon. Gentleman before them, fairly, candidly, and honestly given, the country would come to a conclusion as to what the proper policy had been, and would be for past and future Finance Ministers of this country to pursue.—(Cheers.) He had always raid that he thought a change of Government was attended with many advantages, and he was glad to see the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite come to that table with the responsibilities of office upon them.—(Cheers.) There had been many allegations of the universal distress among every class of the community; but they were told to-night, upon the authority of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that the country generally was in a state of great and increasing prosperity, and the increasing reve nue was the best proof of the truth of that assertion.— (Cheers.) With regard to the window-tax, and the substi tution of the house-tax for it, he would just remind the Com mittee that the statement which he made last year, that the benefit of the change would be more felt in agricultural coun ties than in the towns, had been fully borne out by the result. Taking London, Middlesex, and Lancashire, as representing the town districts, arM Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Essex the agricultural counties, he found that in the first three districts the house-tax had realized 260,000/. as against 290,000/. from the window. tax; while in the three agricultural coun ties the actual produce of the house-tax had been 20,000/. against 77,000/. formerly received from the window-tax. —(hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had borne most valuable testimony as to the assessments under the in come-tax. Time after time had they been told that the falling off in the income-tax was a proof of the decrease of prosperity. He remembered that the Noble Lord at the head of the Government had insisted in the strongest way that the diminution in Schedule D contradicted all their assertions about prosperity; that more trade might be carried on, but that it was carried on at a loss; and an Hon. Gentleman whom he saw present had year after year published pam phlets to show that th e b a l ance o f trade was clearly against this country. He trusted th a t th ey s h ould hear no more of these exploded notions.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman stated, that supposing the income-tax renewed, he should have a surplus of 461,009/. ; and with that amount of surplus certainly it would be madness to attempt any re vision of taxation. He thought that the Right Hun. Gentle man had fairly estimated the probable income. If he had erred at all it was in taking the increase in the Excise perhaps a little too high. He thought, also, that the Right Honourable Gentleman would find himself very much disappointed in the estimate which he had formed of the probable expense of the Kafir war. The probe bility was that the 460,000/. would be pretty nearly ex pended by the end of March, and it was going on at the rate of almost 50,000/. a month. Ile thought the Right Hon. Gentleman was quite right in, as he proposed, renew ing the income-tax for a year, and leaving everything else exactly as it was.—(Hear, hear.) He thought the Right lion. Gentleman had judged most wisely in taking that course; but, from the inconvenience that arose last year in consequence of the late period at which the assessments were made, he should have recommended that the resolution for the renewal of the income-tax should have been brought forward at an earlier period of the year. He trusted, how ever, that the House would see the propriety of the course the Right Hon. Gentleman had proposed, and would give every facility to the resolution being passed into a law. He gratefully acknowledged the boldness with which the Right Hon. Gentleman had spoken of the measures of last year, and also the kind manner in which lee had addressed him self to him (Sir C. Wood) personally, and his confession of the success of the recent financial and commercial policy. He took it as a strong augury that no change would be at tempted ; and, entirely approving of the course which the Right Hen. Gentleman proposed for this year, he would say that, so far as depended upon himself, and those for whom he could speak on his own side of the House, every facility would be given to passing the resolution proposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman into a law with the least possible delay.—(Hear, hear)Mr. HUM could not understand what had made the House so very much satisfied with the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman.—(" Hear," and a laugh.) If the Right Hon. Gentleman had proposed to relieve any class of her Majesty's subjects from the burdens they now bore, there might have been some satisfaction ' • but the Right Hon. Gentlemaa had not made any su ch pro p o sition. With re gard to the income-tax, if it were to be renewed at all, let it be on a more just and sound principle. It would be quite as easy to collect it; and, that being so, how could he ap prove of the Right Hon. Gentleman, who asked for the re newal of it on its present basis ? He was surprised that the Right lion. Gentleman should have madei that i o p position after having stated, as he had done, conviction ( irr. Hume)ofthe injustice of both branches of the tax l • l had believed until almost within the last quarter of an hour that the Right Ho nourable Gentleman himself had no intention to renew it. If without it there would be any deficiency, then let him supply it by placing taxation on a proper footing. He held in his hand a paper showing that, while the personal property of the country was paying millions to the revenue, the real pro perty was not paying a farthing. In the last fifty-four years personal property had paid not less than 85 ,650,000/., while real property had gone without paying a shilling. At the same time he must confess his satisfaction that the Right Hon. Gentleman had completely verified what those who, like himself, were advocates of free trade, had foretold from its adoption, and that the reduction of taxation had led to the increase of revenue, by the admission of a larger pro portion of articles required fur the comfort and luxury of the people. If ever a speech was made to the House proving the truth of that satisfactorily it was the speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman. He could not wonder at the glum manner in which Hon. Gentlemen opposite had re ceived it.—(A laugh.) In his opinion, however, it was highly to the credit of the Right lion. Gentleman that he had stated the true result of the inquiry, and be hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman would now look back with so m e severelyre gret and rem orse f or h av i ng censured and treated so the Right H on . B arone t w h o introduced this s ystem on. for having chan ge d hi s op i n i on .—(Rear, hear.) The Right H ,t Gentleman, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, did f the same position as the Right Hon. Baronet intro ducing that most important change in thefinancial ate now sto od in and com mercial policy of the country. Tht,v7Ri been what was i n g g ht Hon. Baronet was persecuted almost to death for but called a renegade to his principles; he (Mr. Hume) gave a man credit who, having been in to error, eome and becoming convinced of it, had the man Chancellor of the state his conviction of that erro_ e ( T g h r e . Hume) highly Exchequer had done that, and they vsnalseo h Rieht Hon Ge tl ap proved of the course he had taken. It might not be quite reflection t . satisfactory to those who supportedptone man, but he was confident that u would see fit to change their opinions, and to approve of the y polic ' the Right Honourable Gentleman lied so m an f u ll y a dopted, an d eow proposed to continue. But let him ask t h e Right Honourab le Gentleman u p on what principle he could denounce the system of direct taxation, and object to the course of relieving the country from indirect taxation, as ho had done? Everything the Right Honourable Gen tleman had said that evening, every public document he had referred to, proved the propriety of reducing that indirect taxation. He had no hesitation in saying that if the Right H em Gentleman would reduce the duty on tea to Is., per viund, he would find it beneficial to the revenueYattd-fie had no doubt that if the duty on soap were also reduced iC would have the same effect, whilg n it added to the employ ment of the people, and we might become au exporting country fur soap, as we were for other articles. But the pre sent budget was a stand-still budget.—(Hear, and cheers.) It was a budget to do nothi n g but to continue the burdens of the country.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman might say he wanted no relief—he was contented ; but he (Mr. Hume) was not contented.—(Hear, hear.) He was one who had certainly expected a very considerable relief to those classes who were so much affected by the Excise duties; and he would put it to the Right Hon. Gentleman, it he would only use his own discernment, whether he could rise from the consideration of the Excise duties on great articles of consumption with any other conviction than that it was a most mischievous system ? He hoped that the duties on paper and soap, and also' that upon , malt, would be removed, and that thereby they might get rid of a system of Excise which cost the country 600,0001. or 701,000/. a year for its collection.—(Hear.) Now, the Right Hon. Gentleman hsd proposed the renewal of the income tax as temporary ; but if he had proposed it as a permanent measure, on just and sound principles, no man in the House would be more ready to support it than he (Mr. Hume) would be. But he would do it only to enable the Right Hon- Gentleman, as the late Sir R. Peel required, to make changes, ant remove the odious taxes that existed. The Right Hon. Gentleman said that direct taxation was carried on to a great extent ; but he would tell the Right lion. Gentleman that it amounted only to ten per cent. of the whole taxation of the country, while the Customs and Excise amounted to 75 per cent. Let him extend the principle, and let every man feel the weight of it, and know that he was contributing his share anu quota to the taxation of the country ; but let hint be convinced that by that means he was enabled to remove indirect taxation on the necessaries of life, and that, while he paid one penny to the income-tax, he was relieved from twopence of indirect taxation. The Right lion. Gentleman had denounced with great force the injus tice of the house•tax of last year; but, if he thought it was unjust as it stood, let him extend the tax to all houses. The Right lion. Gentlemon had stated a fact which he (Mr. Hume) wished him to explain. He had stated that out of 4,000,e00 houses only 350,000, or some bagatelle like that, were assessed. Well, why were not the whole number ase seesed ?—(Hear, hear.) if the Government had not pro ceeded upon sound principles of legislation hitherto, let the Right lion. Gentleman begin now. He (Mr. Hume) wished to see the income and property-tax continued and made permanent, in order that means might thereby be provided for enabling them to get rid of the indirect taxes. For these reasons he felt bound to disturb the unanimity which seemed to prevail in the House, and to express his dissatisfaction with the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman.—(Hear.) Mr. NE WDEGATE said that the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member tor Halifax (Sir C. Wood) had taunted him with having, year atter year, printed, published, and cir culated statements with respect to the balance of trade which he was pleased to say were illustrations of exploded fallacies. Now, he (Mr. Newdegate) begged to say that he had made the same calculations for this year, and had found that the balance of trade was against this country to the amount of 13,000,000/.—(Hear, hear.) If the Right Hon. Gentleman doubted the fact that any such amount of capital had been lost by the commercial classes of this country, lie begged to refer him to Mincing-lane and Liver pool.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. BARING said that one of the great motives which actuated him in supporting the financial views of his Right Hun. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the same as that which the Hon. Member for Montrose had given for opposing them. It was because hit Right Hon. Friend, with his estimate of the expenditure, had determined to do nothing, that he (Mr. Baring) had determined to sup port him.—(hear, hear.) So far from thinking it a demerit in Government to stand still when they were not sure what might be the future expenditure, and when they anticipated a reduction of income, he confessed it seemed to him to be a ground of approbation.—(Heart hear.) He knew very well that there was great popularity connected with the taking off of taxes, but he knew also that it there was one duty more incumbent than another upon a Ministry, it was not to endanger the futureelor any momentary popularity.—(Hear, hear.) But there.waa One thing in which he agreed with the honourable Member for Montrose, and that was an admiration of the motives of the late Sir Robert Peel.— (Hear, hear.) He was one of those, indeed, who had never doubted the purity of his ' motives.—(Hear.) He was one of those who had always felt the greatest admiration for his talents; and he could imagine nothing snore painful in the future, as there had certainly been nothing more painful in the past course of his life, than the necessity which compelled him to with draw his support from that Right Hon. Gentleman in 1846. But he was then of opinion, and the opinion still remained -, uuchanged, that in dealing with great commercial questions , and in dealing with great interests of any kind, sudden revolutions were the worst and most dangerous —(Hear, hear.) He thought that his Right Hon. Friend the Chan cellor of the Exchequer had taken rather too bright a view of the late commercial prosperity. From all he had been able to gather on the subject, he should say that the year 1851 had been a most disastrous year.—(Hear.) He did not mean to say that there might not here and there be found an exception ; that there had not been some well combined operations or some happy speculations; but what he meant to say was this, that taking the exports and imports of the country, he believed it would be found that the prices of reali sation had left a serious loss upon the interests in operation. He admitted that these losses did not necessarily affect t he manufacturing inte res t, an d t h at t h e b u lk o f them had pro bably fallen upon th e m iddl emen. H e re j o iced to find that his Right Hon. F r i en d h a d b een a bl e to s tate that the manu facturing interest was, on the whole, in a state of prosperity, and he h o p e d t o see a l so t h at S c hedule D showed satisfac tory results. But, financially speaking , he did not wish to „ touch the question as to what extent free imp orts had been , batterconducive treatto the the p q ro u s e p at e i r t it n y the lie rfi t n h a o n ll c g i h al t ly it . a o t f p t r h e s e , n c t o u a ri l t t o r g y e . He though that when they attributed their financial prospe rity to the measures of 1846, they really meant the measures of 1842. He considered it impossible that without the income. and property tax, then imposed under circumstances of pressing emergency, and since continued for other pu r p oses, _ a we could at any period have been without a deficiency , nee he could not see, after all the reductions which had siv!,'w, taken place in the Customs and Excise, that we could I t 3 ti ' ea dispense with it. - (Hear, hear.) But there was an the question. To what exte n t b a d th e country ga ined '''' a ne transfer of taxation which had taken place? It Wi l e s 1: 00/. that the country had, since 1842, been relieved of 10, 0 ".ease of taxation ; but it ought to be recollected that during `'._,,, ten years the Government had been regularly abstractitubt 5,5110,0004 annually from the pockets of the people i ll „la shape of new taxes, so that, in those circumstances, they cc ) . well afford to give the people a little in the way of reroi s y sl _ ° _.. ll now and then. If he gave them 51. out of his pocket e er.r a ff or d to year for ten years, he thought they could easily nll a s give him a present of 101. at the end of the period. as well If,a pound now and then in the course of it.—(Flear' ) then, they took a debtor and creditor account country had paid, on the one hand, in the shape of inc. ell o f tax, and saved on the other in the shape of a remission of the taxation, he should be surprised if they did not find that., gain was not so large as they supposed.—(Hear, hear:) There was another point which he wished to allude to. 1 8 1 ,L1 of what ttl! Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer bad said that he could account fur the reduction in Schedule D. .5 1 ,_7 (Mr. Baring) quite agreed with him that a bad year Ila: 1847 must influence several years; but he thought it impos sible sible to account satisfactorily or the reduction without supposing the existence of evasions. He confessed he thought there must have been evasions in the re turns, otherwise there must have been diminished profits in trade. But how were they to test their pros perity ? Honourable Gentlemen opposite always said, "Lcok at the exports." If the exports were to be taken : a real test of prosperity , he thought they would find that the produce of Schedule D ought not to have dimini sh % But be did not believe that the exports afforded a real '''' of their prosperity—though it was one which was alsvel believed pealed to by gentlemen on the other side. What he,l,7erce was this, that so long as the incom e -t ax cont i nu ed 1 " --• the means and disposition to evade the returns would be t t swell the result, and the adversity of another creased ; that although the prosperity of one Yea r 134 h it, the tendency and disposition always would be to vale the returns. While, therefore, he did not thick that tae prosperity prosperity of our commerce was so great as had been stated;_ while he did not believe that either the colonial interest, or the shipping interest, or the agricultural interest was 11/ h e year doiminisde state of prosperity, there was one point upon which he thoni th there would be no difference of opinion, and that w" W the regard to the ability which the Right Hon. Gentleman ~,„. Chancellor of the Exchequer had displayed on this occasr; —(Hear, hear.) His was a mind which seemed to be able r ~ grapple with anything; and, grapple with whateve 004 might, the result was always to elucidate and enforce it. nisi sing success occasion his great talents had been applied with " success to the practical concern of the administration of the country.—(Cheers.) Mr. WILSON thought they would arrive at an unwise conclusion, if they wore to suppose, as the Hon. Member e°,', North Warwickshire (Mr. Newdegate) would have th,tt, that because of the losses sustained by the merchants of : 11 ., '„ verpool and Mark-lane, the country, generally, was not ien t prosperous condition. On the contrary, he was satisfied tibilf although the commercial losses of last year were almost o n e precedentedly large, yet in consequence of those losses te c prices of produce had fallen so much abroad that the trade el the present year promised to be more successful than it bad e been for many years past.—(Hear.) He agreed t. Hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Baring), ports of the country could not be accepted as h y n h i l e ae it , evidence of the prosperity of the country thou ht ed from would be admitted that the amount of revenue deriv wee the Customs and Excise afforded very satisfacto la eV Honourable on that point.— (Hear, hear.) Now, the Right iinseif thaw. the i i e b a l ; Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer h h „ 0,000,0001 e shown in his speech on that occasion, that while the esits" toms' duties had been reduced to the ext.nto the con and the Excise duties to the extent of d 1,500,0001., to such an extent sumption of the country had fact c t t yieldoou ought ht "a it that this important before.—(Hear, hear.) He thought that evidence of the amount of revenue as But the Right Hon. general prosperity of the st country.atement in the course of his able Gentlemen had made one within thb:entaaken triflees of an t h u i n en q caasee He had attributed the increased amount bear him out in. - with the circumstances connected speech which the trade accounts of this year would hardly the trade accounts of the present yea r proved Exhibition ;but Exhibition had very little to do with the that the proved re spect to sugar, for instance, although , of consumption in 1851 to , o tion of that articlelast year was larg e case. doubt, teilVeithconsusip of t hat f o r the first three months of the present as compared with that the preceding year, yet it A; peered the consumption had been 15,000 tons more th an the ee mption of last year fur the same period, thus showing that it was not t he a c ciden tal circumstance of the Exh ibition which was the cause of the increase, but that the contain*" tion was going on in an increasing ratio.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. GLADSTONE said he had heard some remarks feat the Hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Baring) upon a pol ci ta so vitally important, that h e was unw illi ng to a llow t r. i l i li to pass without a few w or d s o f o b servat i on . He Gladstone) should be p er f ect l y w i l li ng to al l ow the case oa the commercial policy of the last ten years to rest upon th a statement of the Right Hon. Gentlemen the Chancellor. )1 ' the Exchequer.—( Hear, hear.) In a manner 16,043. ' honourable to him and with an ability peculiarly that own, he had laid before the House the results of t u 1 policy; and he (Mr. Gladstone) I speech which the Right Hon. Gentleman had delivered t,ti b a at ventured to night would constitute an epoch in the history ot_;_ l e o f policy, and would not soon be fOrgotten.—(Loud cries " Hear, hear.") But the Hon. Member for Huntingl,,ae had grappled with a statement which lied been made hY, a l . O " O. Right Hon. Gentleman, and repeated by the Right e - 1 ee Baronet the Member for Halifax; though he confessed say that t h at did not think that his attempt to impair their st tn i ; a , was at all successful. How did the matter stand? co l:, i , vitally important that it should be brought outl , y 'Y the the face of the public. The figures, as put together o 2 200 000/. or tee that since 1842 Parliament had reduced 1 , ' the s urces Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Halifax, stood thus' that tion, and that the produce of the taxes from . Oa hear. If they 0 , of the original amount.—(Hear, . ) they gave away IIP upon which the reductions had operated had risen I,d4eodoacted . from the 12,200,000/. the money which .. e charac ter ' ate the window-tax, which was not of a reproductive aa . d a Ithteaccount would stand thus :—that Parliamen t b r T o, 4 e ' l . 0 . 1,1,000,140 1 • of titatatitna tipcn the elastic pot 4 1 ' N by 1 He het tun it_