The Sun. — London, England, 1848-03-18 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, March 17. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, in the absence of the ' . .ord Chancellor, took his scat ou the Woolsack aortly after Five o'clock. PASSENGERS' BILL. The Passengers' Bill was read a third time and passed. RVEMPTION OF PEERS FROM ARREST. The Earl of ST. GERMAN'S presented a petition from th• corporation of Devonport, praying that the House would do away with the privilege of exemption from arrest for debt enjoyed by the Members of their Lordships' House. Their Lordships then adjourned. ROUSE OF COMAIONS, Match 17. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. ODD FELLOWS. Dr. BOWRING presented a petition praying the House to adopt some measures for the protection of the funds of Odd Fellows' Societies. POOR LAWS (IRELAND). Mr. HAMILTON presented a petition from the clergy and deanery of the county of Meath, complaining of the present unequal mode of raising the poor -rates in Ireland. PUBLIC HEALTH BILL. Alr. W. PATTEN presented a petition from Burnley, stating that they were in favour of sanitary measures, but objecting to the principle of centralization proposed in the Bill brought in by the Government. SOLICITORS' CERTIFICATE DUTY. Captain Pi CIIELL presented a petition from soli citors of Brighton, praying the House to abolish the present annual duty upon their certificates. DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ROME. Mr. COWAN presented a petition from Peebles again,st the Bill for establishing diplomatic relations with the Court of Rome. EMIGRATION TO NEW SOUTH WALES. Mr. F. SCOTT presented a petition from New South Wales, praying the House to adopt some measure for the encouragement of emigration to that colony. LAMBETH WATERWORKS. Sir W. MOLESWORTH presented a petition from the borough of Southwark, against the Lambeth Water works Bill. MURDER OF BRITISH SUBJECTS IN CHINA . Mr. CARDWELL presented a petition from numer ous bankers, merchants, and others of the town of Liverpool, praying the House to adopt some inquiry into the circumstances attending the murder of the British subjects in China; and, it necessary, to adopt scune measures for affording an increased amount of protection to British subjects in China. Mr. A. lIASTIE presented a petition, signed by mer chants and others of the city of London, to the same effect. HEALTH OF TOWNS. Mr. CARDWELL presented a petition from the work ing classes of Liverpool, praying the House to pass some comprehensive and efficent Health of Towns Bill. The HON. MEMBER also presented a petition against the Bill for establishing diplomatic relations between this country and the Court of Rome. PRIVATE BILLS. Sir W. HEATHCOTE moved that the standing order No. 157, requiring the breviate of all private Bills to be laid on the table three clear days before the second reading of such Bills, be not enforced with respect to all Railway Bills suspended in the session 1847. DERBY ELECTION COMMITTEE. The following Members, comprising the Committee appointed to try the merits of the petition against the return of the Right Hon. Edward Strutt for the borough of Derby, viz , Mr. Childers (chairman), Sir J. W. M‘Naghten, l Mr. P. Bennet, Sir H. Ferguson Davie, and Mr. W. 11. Stanton were called to the table and took the oaths. THE TAXATION OF TIIE COUNTRY. Lord D. STUART presented a petition praying for a revision and reduction of the taxation of the country. WOODS AND FORESTS, &c. Lord DUNCAN gave notice that on Monday next he should more for a Select Committee to inquire into the expendittre and management of the Woods and Forests, and other property and revenues of the Crown, and to report to the House whether any alteration or improve ment can be made in that branch of the public expendi ture. ADJOURNMENT OF THE lIOUSE. On the motion of Mr. PARKER, the House, at its rising, was ordered to stand adjourned until Monday. SOLICITOR OF TITHES. Mr. E. DENISON, seeing the Right Hon. the Chan cellor of the Exchequer in his place, he wished to ask him a question with regard to the office of solicitor of tithes. The office was filled now by a gentleman, who was very much respected, at a salary of a,oot)/. a year; and the question he wished to ask the Right Honourable Baronet was, whether any person, who mi,glat in future be appointed to the office, would be appointed upon the understanding that he would be subject to any reduction or regulation Parliament might make in the salary. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had not the least doubt that his Noble Friend at the head of the Government, by whom the appointment would be made, would take care that the appointment should be subject to any regulation the proper autho rities might make upon the subject. JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES ACT. In answer to a question, Mr. MILNER GIBSON stated that it was his inten tion to proceed with the Bill to-night if ho had an opportunity of doing so. EXPULSION OF ENGLISH WORKMEN FROM FRANCE. Lord DRIDILANRIG, seeing the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Department in his place, he wished to ask him if Government had or would make any representation to the Provisional Government of France upon the subject of the English workmen, who had or might be expelled from France, being allowed to withdraw any money they might have in the savings' banks of France ? Sir GEORGE GREY said no speeific representation had been made by the Government to the Provisional Go vernment on the subject, but upon his receiving informa tion that a large number of workmen had been obliged to quit Rouen, many of them having deposits in the French savings' banks, the English Consul in France made a representation to the Foreign Minister of France upon the hardship of the decree which preclud ed them from withdrawing more than a certain amount. MURDER OF SLAVES ON TUE COAST OF AFRICA. Mr. BAILEY wished to know whether the Noble Lcrd the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had received any dispatch from Captain Mansell, who was employed upon the coast of Africa, stating that a number of slaves had been brought down to the coast by the chiefs from the interior, but that the chiefs, having been prevented from exporting them by the presence of the British vessels, had caused the whole of the slaves to be murdered? Lord PALMERSTON said that a dispatch to that effect had last year been received by the Government, and it would no doubt be published among the other slave-trade papers in the usual manner. DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ROME. Mr. HORSMAN wished to know whether it was the intention of the Noble Lord to proceed with the Bill for establishing diplomatic relations with the Court of Rome on Monday next ? Lord PAL hIERSTON said that his Right lion. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer was anxious to get into Committee of Supply on Monday.; The Bill would, however, stand for that day, and if the business of the House permitted it, would be brought forward. ARMY AND NAVY. Mr. III:ME gave notice that he would, on Monday next, submit to the House a proposition to reduce the number of the army and navy, and to assign such sufficient reasons to the House as would, he trusted, lead to the adoption of that principle. ABOLITION OF CHURCH RATES. Mr. OSBORNE gave notice that on Monday next he would move for leave to bring in a Bill for the tutal abolition of church-rates. WAYS AND MEANS. The order of the day for going into Committee of Ways and Means was then agreed to, and the House went into Committee. Mr. STAFFORD rose to ask a question upon a point of order. It was whether the amendment of which the Hon. Member for Mayo had given notice, and which stood No. 12 upon the notices of motions, conk; be moved in point of order and in conformity with the rules of the House ? The CHAIRMAN replied in the negative. EXTENSION OF INCOME-TAX TO IRELAND. Sir BENJAMIN HALL (who was nearly inaudible in the gallery), th en p rocee d e d to move t h e extens i on o f the income-tax to Ireland. Ile trusted that no im proper motives would be assigned to him by any of those who either agreed with or differed from him. That was the first and only opportunity he had had of submitting the proposal to the House. He was sorry to see that his motion had caused so much excitement among those Hon. Members who represented various parts of Ireland in that House. He had been informed that a considerable number of Irish Members had left that country for the purpose of opposing his motion. The proposition was one which, in his opinion, was perfectly plain and simple, and perfectly intelligible out of doors. Nay, more, every petition presented with respect to the income-tax in England, stated that if it was imposed in England it ought to be equally extended to Ireland.— (Hear.) He agreed with that opinion, because it was one based upon justice, and was, besides, in accordance with the opinions of some of the leading statesmen of the present day. Sir Robert Peel, speaking in 1833, said that Ireland ought to be exempted from the income-tax ; but, at that time, he ad mitted that to impose such a tax permanently upon England and Scotland, excluding Ireland, would be unjust. Twelve years after he said if the tax was to be made a permanent one that it ought to be extended to Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) And the Noble Lord at the head of the Government said, in introducing the budget, " We have a right to impose the tax upon Ireland as well as upon England," which announce ment was received with cheers from all parts of the liuuse, but " though he held the promise to the ear, he broke it to the hope," as he added that that was not the moment for its imposition,which brought, according to the report, " bursts of laughter," and cries of " Oh, oh," from all parts of rile House.—(Laughter.) He admitted the justice of extending the tax to Ireland, but he did not give his reasons for declining to do so.—(Hear, hear.) A few days after the Noble Lord came down to the House, and said the Government had incurred some obloquy, in consequence of the course they had adopted. He must not take credit for that, as his only hope of imposing the tax upon Ireland was by imposing it on he Irish Me tubers, as welt as on others who objected to it. Was there any reason because the landlords of Ireland had not been called upon to pay poor -rates for years, and were now called upon to do so, that they should be , ail 13 S exempted from the payment of income-tax ? The people of England had long been called upon to pay poor-rates and the income-tax also, and he did not see why the Irish proprietors should not be placed upon the same footing. The raising of the 2,000,0001. for the people of Ireland was, he believed, a complete fiction. He be lieved that one-tenth of the poor-rates collected in the metropolis was expended on the Irish poor.— (Cheers.) It might be said that this was not exactly the time to bring forward this subject, he had no doubt that many Gentlemen who would follow him would say that his proposition was fair, but that this was not the proper time to bring it forward. He thought before such an argument was urged they ought to look at what had taken place in this country during the last year. The people of this country had been in hopes of having some of their burthens lightened; but, in consequence of the dis tressed state of Ireland, not a single petition had been presented praying for a remission of these burthens. But it was utterly impossible for him to procoed further in the discussion without noticing the manner in which the liberal conduct of the people of England towards Ireland had been appreciated by the Irish nation. He held in his hand an answer to an address presented to the Hon. and Learned Member for the city of Limerick, by the Roman Catholics of Ireland, in which the Hon. and Learned Member denounced the English nation " for the cruel and tyrannous rapacity" they always evinced towards Ireland. Now, that was the way in which the generous conduct of the people of England was treated by one who professed to be the leader of a great party in Ireland, but let him direct the attention of the House to the period when the attack was made by the Hun. and Learned Gentleman. Why, would the House believe it, the Honourable and Learned Gentleman delivered his address at a time when scarcely twelve months had elapsed since a collection was made in every parish in England for mitigating the sufferings of the people of Ireland?—(Hear, hear.) He did not mean to say that England had done more than her duty. She did not require any thanks, however, for what she bad done, and all that the people of this country asked was, that if they were to be abused, let the attack be made in that House, and not where the people had no chance of being defended,—(Hear.) He would come now to the question he wished to propose. No doubt he should be told that, being an English Member, he knew nothing about the condition of Ireland, or he would have known that an income-tax could not succeed there. Most likely, too, his bringing forward this motion, would be urged as another reason why the Union should be repealed; but let him just inform the House that no later ago than last December, at an influential meeting held in Dublin, where most of the Irish Members were present, it was proposed by the Honourable Member for the county of Limerick, and seconded by the lion. and Learned Member for the city of that name, that an income-tax ought to be applied to Ireland.—(Hear.) There were present—Lord Cloncurry, Lord Miltown, Mr. F. French, Major Blackall, Mr. W. Monsell, Mr. G. H. Moore, Mr. St. George, Col. Dunne, Mr. Scully, Sir L. O'Brien, Mr. J. O'Brien, Mr. Power, Mr. O'Flaherty, Mr. D. Callaghan, the O'Gorman Mahon, Mr. Fox, and many other Members of Parlia • ment. [An _Hon. Member called out that he was not present. j He (Sir B. Hall) could only say that he had found the Hon. Member's name among the list of those who wero said to have been present. Now, the question proposed for the consideration of the meeting was the imposition of an income-tax in Ireland. He, (Sir B. Hall) frankly and fairly admitted that the object of the partiesiwas to impose it in aid of the poor-rate ; but at all events they could not after that get up and say that it was utterly impossible to impose an income-tax upon Ireland.—(Hear,) At that meeting the Hon. Member for Cork (Mr. Roche) objected most strenuously to the resolution ; he declared that he would have nothing whatever to do with an income-tax in Ireland for any purpose ; that it was bad enough in England, where everybody complained of it, and that if they sought to impose this curse upon Ireland for the maintenance of the poor, they might depend upon it that some English Member of Parliament would immediately pro pose that the landlords should support the poor, and that the income-tax should go into the general Treasury. He (Sir B. Hall) must say he thought that a very fair argument.—(Hear, hear.) There were two modes of getting money in the shape of income-tax in Ireland— one by a rate upon property, and the other by a rate upon profits, professions, and trades. But before he dealt with the rate upon land, he would ask the Chan cellor of the Exchequer one or two plain questions with reference to profits, professions, and trades. Why were the medical gentlemen in Ireland not taxed, the same as the gentlemen of the medical profession in Great Bri tain? Why were the merchants in Belfast not taxed, the same as the merchants of Bristol, especially when it was considered that the former was a flourishing and the latter a declining body—that the profits of the merchants of Belfast were accumulating, and those of Bristol diminishing ?—(Hear.) He would ask still further, why those persons connected with the legal pro fession, who were constantly in attendance on the quarter sessions in Ireland, and who went by the name of (The name did not reach us, but it occasioned considerable laughter.) Such at least was the name by which they were called when he was in Ireland; but they were also called " process servers," and were the men who did all the dirty work of the attorneys. Why should they be allowed to escape the income-tax? He wanted to know, also, why the fundholders should not be taxed. He found that the amount of capital of debt upon which interest • was paid in Ireland was 40,187,000/., the interest itself was 1,182,000/4 this at 3 per cent. would yield 35,0001. a year. According to a return which i t ad been lately obtained by the Hon. Member for the University of Dublin (Mr. G. A. Hamilton), he found that the amount of income-tax assessed by the Commissioners upon annuities and dividends pa) able by the Bank of Ireland to persons not resident in Ireland, from 1842 to the sth of April, 1847, was 13.982/., or 2,796/. per annum. Now, there was no reason why a landholder should not pay the income-tax merely because he lived in Dublin. With respect to those persons connected with Ireland who paid the tax at present, in consequence of their living in this country, he maintained that it was not compulsory upon them to do so—that they could easily escape it by going back to Ireland—which ought not to be the case. All he re quired was, that the landowners of Ireland should pay according to their receipts, whether they received 1,0001. or 10,000/. a year. And here he would call attention to a statement that was made in the House on the 2d of December last by Mr. Guinness, late Member for Kin sale, in which he stated that he was the receiver or agent under the Court of Chancery in Ireland for three estates, and that from one of those estates he had received in the last ten years upwards of 100,0001. ; that in 1845 he 'received 1,000/. above the rental fur arrears ; in 1846 he received another sum of the same amount ; and in 1847, 600/. and upwards.—(Cries of "Hear hear.") On looking to the late division on the subject of the income-tax, he found that 67 Irish Members voted for the continuance of it for three years, and only nine voted against it. If, then, they desired to saddle this country with the tax, let them not be surprised if English Members demanded that it should be spread over Ireland also.—(Hear, hear.) Let them not be sur prised if, when a demand was made upon the Imperial Treasury fur Ireland, English Members should resist it. —(hear.) He was not one who desired separate nationality ; but he thought that, if the Irish people carried it out, and at the same time said they would not have this tax in Ireland, they had no right, whatever might be their poverty, destitution, or distress, as lung as one atom of resource remained in Ire land, to call upon the Imperial Treasury for that to which they did not contribute.—(Hear, hear.) If the tax were placed upon an equal footing ; if it were extended to every part of the united empire ; and the Members for Mayo, Sligo, or any of the destitute districts of Ireland, should then come to the House and say that they were taxed equally with their fellow subjects in this countay, but that they were suffering severely from famine and pestilence, and should desire aid from the Imperial Treasury, he thought that, under such circumstances, that House would have no right to refuse it. But, until they came to that system, and made exertions for themselves, as long as he had a seat in that House he would raise his voice against voting any sum out of the Imperial Treasury to relieve Irish distress. The CHAIRMAN, before putting the motion, said it was necessary to add to it the words, " for a time to be limited," and the motion was then accordingly put with that addition. Sir W. BARRON said the Irish people ought to be very thankful to his Hon. Friend the Member for Mary lebone for the kind interest he had manifested in their concerns at all times in that House.—(A laugh.) His Hon. Friend's philanthropy in that respect had been so often displayed, and he had brought the subject before the public in so conciliatory a manner, that he had earned for himself a name that would be handed down to the latest posterity, unequalled by that of any of the great men of Europe.—(Laughter.) The founder of the Medici family at Florence was named " Pater pa trice," and his illustrious countryman, Mr. Burke, had been designated by Wolfe Tone as an epitome of the sublime and beautiful, which he knew so well how to handle—(Laughter)—but his Hon. Friend would be handed down by a more enviable title—that of " Conci liation Hall."—(Cries of" Oh!" and great laughter.) Let the House consider the time at which this motion was brought forward. When the Irish people were starving by thousands, and the greatest distress existed in the country—when the landlords were nut receiving one fifth of their rents, and all classes of the country were taxed in everyshape and way to support the poor—when the farmers were nearly beggared, and the unfortunate labourers had sunk down to the lowest state of destitu tion—that w as th e moment w h en t h e b enevo l en t an d conciliatory Member for Marvlebone had selected to try and induce the House to visit Ireland with the addition of an income-tax. Even when the tax in this country was 10 per cent., the greatest statesman of the day considered it would not be wise to impose this tax on Ireland. And what day had the Honourable Member selected? The 17th of March! He found by that day's papers that the Irish residents of Paris were to meet on the Place de la Concorde to compliment the Republic, and to join with them. He thought dna that should be a warning to the Hon. Member—(" Oh," and laughter)—and to a thoughtful man it would suggest the idea that such a motion at such a time would irritate the mind of the Irish people. At Liverpool, too, there was another indication of a similar feeling on the part of the Irish. And was it not noto rious, to the Hon. Member, as it must:be to every other Hon. Member in that House, and to the country in ge neral, that there was a most uneasy spirit existing in Ireland at that moment?—(Hear, hear.) Was it not notorious that the most seditious and dangerous language was being propagated in that country? and would not the discussion of that night and the language of the Hon. Member give food to the United Iririonan to preach his doctrines with still more effect, and to excite more sympathy, or anger, or whatever they might call it, of the Irish people against this country? Would they not say that the Hon. Member was put forward by his constituents to tax the Irish people when they were in great destitution? He thought the course of the Hon. Member was extremely dangerous, and that it would give more food to the incendiary spirit of Ireland than any speech that had been made in that House for the last ten years. What was the meaning of that motion, but to relieve rich Maryltbone and tax poor Ireland (Hear, and a laugh)— to tax Skibbereen and Mayo—the starving people and the pauperised landlords of Ireland? In his opposition to this motion he was fortified by the opinions of the greatest statesmen on both sides of the House. The Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth had declared that it would be impolitic to impose the tax upon Ireland. The next authority he should quote was that of the late Mr. Foster, a gentle man whose opinion was in high esteem upon Irish ques tions, and especially in regard to finance. In the de bate upon the consolidation of the two Exchequers in 1846, Mr. Foster said " that taxation had at that moment arrived in Ireland at its ne plus ultra." He would next quote the opinion of an united Committee of that House which sat in 1815, 1816, and 1817, and which, be it re• marked, was Tee all Irish Committee, for there were only five Irish Members out of the 21. The deliberate opinion of that Commite e in their report was, that "for several years Ireland had advanced in permanent taxation more rapidly than Great Britain, including the extraordinary and the war taxes." Then, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, in the House, on the same occasion, that " Ireland had paid 78,000,000/. sterling more than her fair share of taxation up to the end of the war." As a later autho rity, he might name Lord Sydenham, who said in 1830 that "taxation in Ireland had arrived at such a pitch that the more taxes were laid on the less income was received." It was in the face of such authorities us these that the Hon. Member for Marylebone asserted that Ireland did not pay her due shore of taxation; thus putting his individual view against the recorded opinions of different Chancel lors of the Exchequer tied the report of a Committee of that House. However such assertions might go down in Marylebone, or however.they might suit the political purposes of the Hon. Baronet, if another election should take place, they would not impose upon the good sense of the people at large. Ile (Sir 11. Barron) then argued that Ireland had not been relieved from taxation since the war proportionately with England. Nut 1-20th of the taxes had been taken off there that had been remitted in the latter country, and Ireland was at the present mo ment taxed much beyond her resources. Si ith the new burden of the poor.law, the last feather had been laid upon the camel's back; for within six months 2,000,000/. sterling additional taxation had been imposed. More the country could not endure. The statement of his Hon. Friend the Member for Nlarylebone had been al together one sided; it was the statement of an advocate, and not of a Member of Parliament; fur he had not stated all the facts. In his estimate of the taxation of Ireland there were many items of which he had taken no account whatever—such us the quit-rents and ground rents, which went to embellish the parks and palaces in this country. Then there we re numberless articles of customs entered at ;he English ports, but which were sent to Ireland, and Ireland paid the duty, while the amount was credited to England. The same argument applied to the Excise. He did not wish to use any harsh expressions towards the Hon. Member for Marylebone, for he was an old friend of his; but in that House he knew no friends.--(Laughter.) There was soap, for example. Did not the Hon. Gentleman know that a large quantity of English soap was imported into Ireland? Sir B. HALL—I hope so. Sir 11. W. BARRON—However his Hon. Friend might succeed now in turning the laugh, be might de pend upon it, when the whole truth came out, the laugh would be against himself. The Hon. Member then argued that Ireland paid a large amount of indirect tax ation upon English manufactures, and concluded by asserting that Ireland paid more than her fair quota of general taxation. So cet tain was he of this fact that he would second a motion for a Committee of inquiry, in the conviction that his country would emerge unscathed from the inquiry. Mr. MOORE said he should be rejoiced to believe that no other motives than a regard for the interests of these realms had induced the Hon. Member fur Mary lebone to bring forward this motion. But the manner in which he had given notice of the motion, and the man ner in which he had introduced it., rendered it impossible for him (Mr. Moore) to place upon it so charitable a construction, and he could only regard it as another moven:eta of the guerilla war which the-Hon.Baronet had declared, and another indication of that peculiar idiosyn cracy which he had manifested in the study of the more unfavourable features of the Irish character. The Irish question, it was well known, had been a friend in need to the lion. Baronet. Not only had it sent him to be an ornament to that House, but it had furnished him with the one idea with which he was perpetually en lightening it. The Irish question had been the making of the lion. Baronet. It was impossible that a more important consideration could occupy them than whether or not they would pass a measure involving the impo sitien of a new and very heavy system of taxation upon an already overburdened and impoverished country. lie had heard his Hon. Friend say, with a quiet sneer, on giving notice of his motion, that he would defer bringing it forward until after the Irish Members had had an op portunty of recording their vote on the income tax as proposed to be applied to England; he had heard another Hun. Friend hold this motion out to them (the Irish Members) in terrorem, as a judgment which would be inflicted if they refused to follow a minority of shreds and patches into that limbo of extreme opinions into which Hon. Gentle men resolved themselves on Monday night; he had heard a third Hon. Gentleman d 4 dare that his vote on the first proposal would be determined altogether by the votes of the Irish Members also; and on listening to this expres sion of an evidently general feeling, he had certainly been inclined to conic to the conc:usien at which so many of his country men had already arrived, that that House was utterly incapable of forming any just or rational opinion on Irish matters. English representatives would no doubt cry out if it were contemplated to extend to England any measure which, when tried on the other side of the Channel, had proved to be obnoxious and injurious; and yet a system of recrimination and retalia tion seemed to the lion. Baronet to be the very best policy whenever Ireland was concerned. It was very natural that the votes of the Irish Members, in the last division, should not have been very gratifying to any one of those gentlemen who had formed the minority. There were also many persons in Ireland who had viewed that proceeding on the part of their representa tives with equal dissatisfaction, for to a very large class in the sister country it was treason to Ireland in an Irish Member giving any vote which might be conceived to tend to uphold the power, or to perpetuate the predomi nance, of England. He, for his own part, would have been very glad, had he thought it consistent with his duty, to support the motion of' his Hon. Friend. It appeared to him to be an irrefutable proposition, that every man in Ireland, and the possessor of every species of property, should be called upon to bear their fair and equal share of the general burden. The poor Irish farmer was ground to the earth in the struggles which he was driven to make to carry out an impossible expe riment, and thousands on the verge of absolute poverty themselves were compelled to contribute to the main tenance of the poor ; and it was monstrous that a man with ten or twenty times the income should be allowed to sneak out of the difficulty, and to go unscathed by the national misfortune. He was far from thinking that the present circumstances of Ireland entitled them to exemption from a poor-law; on the contrary, lie was convinced that, if ever such a measure was necessary, it was at this moment; but, if they laid it down as a rule of policy that they must draw upon every possible resource of the country, was it not also un evident duty devolved upon them to apply those resources to the benefit of the people from whom they were derived? It had been his intention to bring forward an amendment suggesting some modifications in these resolutions; but as he found that the forms of the House would not permit him to take that course, and as he certainly could not approve of the indiscriminate tax being applied to Ireland, he found himself reluctantly compelled to vote against this proposition. If Ireland were made to support her own poor out of her own resources, let the result be the test of the policy, and let the future judge between the Irish Members and the English Parliament; but he did protest against their withdrawing the resources of a country for foreign objects, while the whole population was in a state of acknowledged suffering and distress.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member proceeded to read an extract from a petition that had been presented to the House, and printed with the votes, from the inhabitants of the united parishes of Ballintubber and Bnrriscarra, in the county of Mayo, which set forth the inadequacy of the poor-law, "either as an available fund or as a wise pro vision, inasmuch as any amount of money collected from those who are themselves on the verge of pauperism is necessarily insufficient to save from destruction the immense numbers of human beings now suffering all the horrors of femme through the country; and as the greater part of those who are liable to pay have been found un able to meet their debts, hundreds of the poor in these pa riehes, who have been compelled to give up their holdings and throw down their houses in order to obtain relief, congregate together in crowds in the narrow filthy cabins which survive the general devastation, or perish in the ditches to which they have fled for temporary shelter from cold, hunger, or disease." The lion. Member also read the following statement, received by him recently from Mr. James Browne, the parish priest of Ballintubber Since Sunday last the following persons have died of hunger—Wulter Burke, Anthony Roache, Michael Joyce, Thomas Byrne, Mary and Kitty M'Nulty, James Lally's wife, Bridget Walsh, Anne Barnicle. Ned Burke, the son of a widow, ap plied for relief three times, nine in family ; offered to give up house and land for one quart of meal ; refused relief without a certificate from the middleman landlord ; refused unless applicant threw down his house ; applied to the agent of the head landlord, Lord Erne ; would not interfere. When relief came, at length, the man was a corpse ; this occurred at Melton-hill, in Ballintubber. In the same village Michael Connor was starved to death ; offered to give up his land—not accepted. Mary Tu aghy, John Dounelan, and Peggy Morrin, were found dead in a ditch. They applied for relief and were re fused. We are now three days without food, the guar dians say they can't het in their rates, and the lives of thousands are thus hanging on the prospects of relief only to be dragged at the point of the bayonet from wretches themselves not many degrees from starvation." Details like these, describing the condition of a suffer ing people, were, in the words of a great orator, nau seating and disgusting, and so degrading to human nature that it was but charity to throw a veil over the narration. Was it, then, to a country situated as Ireland was thus shown to he, that the Hon. Baronet would propose to apply an income• tax?—(Hear, hear.) The circum stances of Ireland were now identical with the circum stances of the Carnatic, as adverted to by Mr. Burke, but when addressing the House on the occasion of the memorable oration on that subject, that distinguished philosopher pointed out that, in order to prepare a people who had passed through a period of distress for future submission to taxation, a Government must commence by maintaining them, and his words were that, in such a case, the road to economy lay not through receipts but through expenditure. The maxim applied not to one 1 country, but to all lands and through all time; and if Hon. Gentlemen now could not effect a satisfactory corn promise of the conceptions of Mr. Burke, and of the im pulses of the Hon. Baronet the Member for Marylebone, he (Mr. Moore) begged of them by their votes that even ing to indicate their acknowledgment of the wisdom of the former policy, by rejecting altogether the proposi tion of increasing the burdens of a people who already bore more than their share of taxatiun.—(llear, hear.) Mr. FAGAN thought that there was some inconsis tency in the Hon Baronet proposing to extend the in come-tax to Ireland, after having on three several late occasions voted against the application of that measure to his own country. He (Mr. Fagan) was altogether opposed to the principle of the income-tax; but inde pendent of this consideration, and irrespective of any ad miserieordiara arguments which ho might fairly urge, he protested against any proposition to increase the existing amount of taxation at present imposed on Ire land. On more than one occasion, in that House, they had heard ungenerous taunts from English gentlemen, reminding them of the assistance which, in the recent dreadful season, the people of England had granted to the sister country. The Irish were not ungrateful ; they appreciated the spirit in which that service had been accorded; but that could not now be any justification for saddling Ireland with a tax which, even iu England. was found onerous and over-burdensome. The Hon. Baronet had dwelt at great length upon the address pre sented at Paris to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman the Member for the city of Limerick (Mr. J. O'Connell). The people of Ireland wero as much borne down and on the brink of starvation at the present moment as during the period when English liberality was extended to them. and the Hon. Member for Limerick had referred to that. As to the atrocious calumnies upon their reli gion, Irishmen could not but feel strongly on that sub ject. Every one professing the Roman Catholic reli gion did feel indignant when the Hon. and Learned Recorder of London calumniated it, by speaking of superstitious mummeries— Sir J. TYRRELL rose to order. The Hon: Gentle man was referring to what had taken place in a former debate. No one to night had spoken a word on the subject of the Roman Catholic religion. Mr. FAGAN thought he had a right to refer to the calumnies against his religion in order to explain the expressions attributed to the Hon. Member for Lime rick. Admitting that some taxes paid in England were sot imposed on Ireland, he reminded the House that, at the union, this country owed a debt of 420,000,000/., the interest upon which was 16,000,0001. a year, and in consequence of the consolidation of the two exchequers, Ireland was obliged to pay her proportion of the debt. The Hon. Baronet (Sir B. Hall) bad discussed the con duct of Irish Members the other evening. This was not a consistent line of argument. All were Members of an united Parliament, and in the votes he (Mr. Fagan) had given respecting the income-tax, he had acted as an independent Member. He had voted against the Government, because he believed that the English people were justified in their opposition to the tax, not for the purpose of weakening the arm of the Government. He had voted for the resolution of the Hon. Member for Montrose for cutting down the expenditure, because he found that since 1836, in a time of peace, the expenditure had been increasing by mil lions annually, and he did not anticipate then, or now, that the peace of Europe would be disturbed; and he believed that the more Irish Members united with English Members in reducing the expenditure, the more they would enable England to avoid this tax. He had voted for the motion as to the inequality of the tax, and he had voted for limiting the tax to a year, because it was admitted, even by the Hon. Member for Westbury, that the tax was unequal, and he could not in his con science impose an unequal tax for three years. These were his reasons for the votes he had given. The House had been told by the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth that of the 7,000,0001. of taxes he had been enabled to take off by the im position of the income-tax, 2,000,0001. were levied upon articles used as raw materials in the manufac tories of England, which gained twenty times more than she paid in consequence of the impulse given to her ma nufacturing industry, by the removal of these taxes upon raw materials. Had Ireland any manufactures which this removal of taxes would benefit? He had received a letter that day on the subject of the manufacturing in dustry of Ireland.—EThe Hon. Member here read al statement of the great disparity between the exports of the home manufactures of England and Ireland; for ex ample, England exported, in 1844, cotton manufactures to the value of 25,249,0001., and silk manufactures 667,9391.; Ireland, only 4,780/. of the former, and 141. of the latter.]—ln reference, therefore, to the great question of manufactures, direct taxation had been re sorted to in order to relieve the springs of industry; but Ireland had received no relief of this kind. Neither did Ireland derive any benefit from our colonies, which was so great a source of expense. Ireland did not want Canada; the Irish people did not want to emigrate; there was room in Ireland fur double the number of her present population. Let him not be told then that the British colonies were any advantage to Ireland. It had been said that Ireland did not sufficiently contribute to wards the expenditure of the country. This he denied. Let it not be forgotten that, at the union, the principle was, that Ireland should not contribute beyond her ca pability. By returns made to the House, it appeared that, from 1800 to 1844, Ireland had been unable to con tribute more than 1-12th of the aggregate expenditure. He would take her proportion, however, at 1-10th. It, therefore, the exchequers had not been united, taking the annual expenditure of the United Kingdom at 54,000,0001., and deducting 17,000,000/ interest upon the debt of England, incurred before the union, the ex penditure of the two countries would be 37,000,000/., one tenth of :which was 3,700,000/., and adding 1,300,000/., the interest of the debt of Ireland, 5,000,0001 would be the proportion of the expenditure properly be longing to Ireland. Now, the acknowledged contribu tion of Ireland was 4,100,000/., and adding 1,300,000/., as before, the contribution actually paid was 5,400,0001.; so that, in fact, Ireland paid more than her fair pro portion. Mr. G. A. HAMILTON was unwilling to support any proposition, or give any opinion which would have the effect of exempting Ireland from paying her fair share in the taxation of the empire. But they should remember the ability of a country to meet a demand for a tax before they imposed it, and for that reason he sup posed their colonies were exempt from any direct taxa tion. By the seventh .article of the Union, the future taxation of Ireland was to be regulated according to its ability, or its relative prosperity and strength as com pared with England. He admitted that it was exceed ingly difficult to make a comparison on all points of taxation, but the disproportion was so enormous, that the Irish Members ought not to be charged with any improper motive in resisting the introduction of an in come tax. Let thorn in the first instance take the valuation of both countries, the amount of capital engaged in trade and manufactures, and compare that with the population. In 1841, the population of England and Wales was 18,500,000; in Ireland it was 8,175,000, or 2} to 1. In January, 1846, the exports of Great Britain were 150,645,0001., while those of Ireland were but 234.968/., showing a disproportion of 600 to 1. The imports for the same year were, for Great Britain, 83,000,0001., while Ireland was only 1,850 . 0001, being a disproportion of 40 to 1. The Customs were 18,500,000/., while the amount paid in Ireland was 2,300,0001., or a dispropor tion of 9 to 1. The Hon. Member then referred to the burdens upon land in England and Ireland. The rate able property in England was estimated at 62,540,000/, and that of Ireland was 13,197,000/. The burden upon the land in England, including the income-tax, was 30 per cent., while the burden on the land in Ireland was 36 per cent. The Hon. Gentleman said, that he had great confidence in the administration of the affairs in Ireland, as carried out by the Noble Lord at the head of the Government there; and he should be happy to do all in his power to assist the Government to promote the interests of Ireland; but, believing that, if this proposi tion was carried out, it would cripple the resources of Ireland, he should oppose it. Mr. NAPIER also opposed the motion of the Hon. Member for Marylebone. In 1842 and 1845 this question was fully considered, and it was then decided that it would not be right to extend the income tax to Ireland. If it was not just or fair to extend the income-tax to Ireland in 1842, or in 1845, would it be so now, after Ireland had gone through one of the severest calamities that ever fell upon a nation? Even in 1842 and 1845 it was only proposed to extend the income-tax as far as land was concerned, but now it was proposed that the tax should apply to trade and professions, although all had suffered so severely from the cause to which ho had already referred. Colonel CONNOLLY could not understand why the Hon. Member for Marylebone had chosen that moment toaimpose the income-tax for Ireland. The income-tax upon England was an equivalent for taxes remitted, as respected that country ; but as they could not remit taxes in Ireland they were not justified in imposing; this tax on that country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that there was a debt of 4,270,000 1 . which Ireland would have to pay. This was only half of that sum, which had been so promptly afforded to Ireland to meet her distresses. Would the Hon. Member for Marylebone add to this burden by imposing an income-tax upon the country? The introduction of the poor-law in Ireland was also a new burden which ought to be taken into account, although he admitted that the Iri s h w ere bound to support their own poor, still its immediate imposition was a heavy and novel burden. Ile hoped the Chancellor of the Exchequer would imitate the conduct of his predecessors, and resist this motion . Sir JOHN TYRREL said he would state the grounds upon which he should support the motion of the Hon. Member for Marylebone. He could not see why this distinction should be made between the two countries, nor could he agree with the Member for the University of Dublin, th at b y t h e fifth article of the Act of Union the Irish wero exempted from such a tax. The collection, antlw reason assigned for not having extended. this tux . to Irel as a , ed th t a h t at th th er e e to the inconvenience of its imposition. I hat herey equiva lentfoits was removed now, us they had the officers of the poor law, who would be competent to collect it. There were other reasons also which did not exist . before a w m a o s u i r l it ut wo a ul in d ac nor this tax was imposed, that they were now deprived of other sources of revenue. He thoug ht it would have been better th a t th e m otion should be to ex tend the tax to Ireland in twelve months hence. The lion. Member for Donegal spoke of the difficulty of collecting taxes in Ireland, and no d ou bt the county of Donegal a ff orded a remarkable ex am pl e; for it appeared that in t h e year 1815, whenever the duties on spirits had to be collected, the military had to be called out, and the expense of collection there was 14/. 13s. per cent., while in England it was no more than 6/. 3s. 11d. With the prospect of an annual deficiency, the only man with a smiling face was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who certainly was not in the habit of putting the gloomiest aspect upon affairs.—(Laughter.) What with his hilarity, and the " wonderful unanimity" of gentlemen f rom Ireland, it was difficult to tell what support the motion might have after the dinner which was taking place elsewhere--(A laugh)—this being a happy day for Ireland, it would be regretted if the harmony should be interrupted. The CHANCELLOR of - the EXCHEQUER said— The Hon. Gentleman has complained that I did not ad dress the House at an earlier hour this evening; but I think that he ought to be obliged to me, as I,have given him some opportunity of expressing his opinion, the more especially, as every Gentleman who has as yet spoken advocated the same side which I am about to take, namely, that the present circumstances of the country render it inexpedient to impose an income-tax upon Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman has asked me one or two questions. He desired to know whether, on any principle of strict justice, the trader of Belfast should be exempt from a burden to which the trade of this country was subject ? Sir; Ido not know that there is any such principle ; Ido not know why an Irish gentleman, who receives 3,000/. or 4,0001. a year should not pay the same tax to which an English gen tleman of the same amount of property is subjected ; but it is a very different thing to argue a question upon the point of strict justice, and a principle of expediency.—(Hear, hear.) The question at pre sent is one of expediency. It has never been considered necessary to impose the same tax upon both countries. The tax upon spirits in Ireland, and upon spirits in Scotland, ought to be similar to that paid in England; but when you come to enact the same amount of duty in the three kingdoms, you find it impossible to do so. The experiment was tried by my predecessor in office, and he found it impracticable ; he raised the tax by an additional shilling, but he found that it pro duced no additional revenue; it is, therefore, absurd to impose a tax which will not return an imcome. The grounds upon which I think it inexpedient to extend this tax to the people of Ireland are precisely the same which induced me on a former occasion to arrive at the same conclusion, and which have been already stated by my Noble Friend Lord John Russell. He said what I have said before—that when we have for four or five years abstained from imposing the income-tax upon Ire land, when that country was in reasonably prosperous circumstances, it would be a cruel thing to impose it for the first time when such a fearful calamity has occurred to that country from the loss of food, under the effects of which she is still suffering. Every person is aware of the great exertions which have been made by all parties in Ireland, and willing testimony is borne to those exertions. It is no doubt perfectly just that the property of Ireland should maintain its poverty—but burdens hare been imposed upon the country to un ex tent never before equalled. The poor-rate had been imposed upon Ireland, the returns of which were over two millions, and the amount paid within the last four months was extraordinarily large compared to any amount collected upon a previous occasion. In October, 1846, 26,3001. had been collected. In October last the returns for the rate were 121.0001. In November, 1846, 36,0001. was collected ; iu November last, 151,000/. In December, 1846, 46,000/. was collected. In December, 1847, 168,000/. In January, 1847, 52,0001. was collected. In January last, 194,0004 Mr. DISRAELI—These were arrears. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER — Whether or not, the sum has been taken from the pockets of the people, whose income has been diminished in an equal proportion. Taking the four months toge ther the sum received in 1846 amounted to 162,0001., and during the last four months the sum received amounted to 635,000/. Ido not say that the imposition of the poor-rate is a reason why there should be an exception from an income-tax; but I do say that when so heavy a calamity has visited the country, it would be a hardship to add the burden of an additi4nal impost. When this calamity first occurred, the whole country was in a state of alarm; they had latterly recovered from their apprehension, and they had exerted them selves in various ways for the improvement of their estates, doing their utmost for the permanent benefit of the country. By imposing this tax we should discou rage those efforts. These, Sir, are the grounds on which my Noble Friend stated that ho was prepared to resist the imposition of this tax upon Ireland; and although I do not think that the adoption of a contrary course would be in violation of the union of the treaty of Lime rick—(Laughter)—yet still I believe that we adopt the wiser and the safer course in opposing the proposition of the Hon. Baronet. Mr. HORSMAN said that the Irish Members, by their vote upon the income-tax, had placed the repre sentatives of English constituencies in a rather difficult position. It was impossible for them to have refrained from supporting the Minister as to the question of the necessity or the propriety of that tax, for that was a point upon which they were all agreed. Their only endeavour had been to get rid of its oppressions and inequalities, and it was these that the Irish gentlemen had attempted to impose upon them. A great many of the English constituencies would now have a right to say to their representatives, " You have a large body of Members who are ready to support an English Minister in inflicting an odious tax, and the only possible means you have of disburdening yourselves is by extending the tax to them and thus making them interested parties in getting rid of it." He did not know, when that appeal was made, how it could be answered. It appeared to him not a matter of retaliation, but merely one of self-defence.—(Hear, hear.) A nume rous body of gentlemen who were not very active during the other portion of the session—he did not mean any offence—but who were not very frequent in their attendance, the moment the present proposition was made, swarmed into the House in a united body to support the Minister.—(Cries of " No, no.") Well, it may not be quite a united body, but he believed that the numbers were seven to sixty-four. As a matter of self defence, then, he should support the motion; and this appeared to him to be an admirable opportunity for car rying into effect that most beautiful system of taxation broached the other night by the Member for Cambridge (Mr. Goulburn)—that as all taxation was unjust, the way to remedy it was to balance one injustice by an other; so, according to his theory, if you had an im mense injustice pressing upon the people of England, the only way to remedy it was by imposing a similar one upon Ireland. He thought, upon this occasion, the ex example would be better than the precept.—(Hear, hear.) There were some grounds upon which he was disposed to regret the vote which he was about to give. He was fully aware of the difficulties which were imposed upon the members of the Government re sident in Ireland. He knew the admirable manner in which the Lord-Lieutenant of that country was dig. charging his office. His government was characterised by moderation as well as firmness, and he was rapidly gaining popularity as much by his wisdom as by his conciliatory yet firm policy. He knew the advantage which every speech and vote given in that House gave to certain disaffected parties in Ireland who were en deavouring to inflame the people, and teach that every act of England showed a determination to injure and oppress them.—(Hear, hear.) And he feared that a vote to night of such a nature might increase those difficulties under which the Government laboured.—(Hear, hear.) He considered that the observations of the Noble Lord, in the masterly speech which he had made to the House upon the conduct of the minority in the late divi sion, were by no means warranted. If the vote had been taken upon the principle of the tax—Government al leging its necessity—and that they refused to give him their aid, he admitted such a vote would have been a decided want of confidence in the Government; but such was not the case, the vote was merely taken upon a point of' detail. He quite agreed with the Hon. Gentle man who said that the times were such as to call upon them to exercise great forbearance and indulgence to the Government. They found their finances consider ably embarrassed, their commerce unusually depressed, their estimates increased since 1835 by seven or eight millions, their army increased by sixty thousand men, and all their expenses to be defrayed by a war tax. They found one country, that nearest to them, in a state of disturbance, and this disturbance gradually spreading, darkening rather than brightening in the dis tance.—(" Question.") He did not agree in the opinion of those who considered these inauspicious omens to the prosperity of the country, he believed that she would not suffer more by reason of these casualties than she already suffered.—(Cries of " Question," and " Divide.") They were not in danger of the spreading of French principles in this country, for we had not that division of property which existed in France, and which created a perpetual democracy.— (Cries of " Question.") In these times of difficulty they should let the public feel that their schemes of financial improvement were brought forward with due care and after full delibera tion. He agreed with the Hon. Member for Westbury in considering that there were very few Members who did not come down to the House with their minds quite *ado up to agree to a five per cent. income-tax, but they expected that the grounds for the demand should be clearly and explicitly explained. He would support the motion of the Hon. Baronet.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. MUIR said he considered that the only way to effect any permanent amelioration in the condition of Ireland was to place that country in an equal situation in all essential respects, both as regarded constitutional policy and liability, with the other portions of the king dom. With regard to constitutional privilege, he did not know that there was any ground of serious com plaint, and if there was, he for one would do his best to remedy it. But on the ground of liability, there did tt a oh p e p r e pe a el oe py t l o ee hi mfe Scotland o ca or t b t e ao nfgdr the e n of very and England. • mpi re f se o r m iu He eb s übredlei complaint euvsedw hthi which affected the others, tended to create feelings of jealousy l t i n h c a o t m thenp e a c t re i b es ss e oa ur w yr i t te h os t of ra o eof Ireland na u prosperity. t i h o a n da been u n i o d n l rt , a he d n a dd up beindispen sably eb been the hide late famine. But there were several circumstances which disinclined him to admit this plea. The calamity was not confined to Ireland. It had extended to the Highlands and the northern districts of Scotland. where the population suffered as severely as they had done in any part of Ireland, and where a number of public-spirited proprietors had reduced themselves to the verge of ruin by their efforts for the relief of a starving population.—(dear, hear.) Yet no part of the sub sidies voted fur the potato famine had ever found their way to Scotland.—(Hear, hear.) In the midst of their distress the Scottish landowners were taxed to the full amount of their rentals—(Hear, hear)—their unpaid rentals—(Fleur, hear)—fur the relief of the untaxed pro prietors in Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) And the tax wa s not only imposed—it was paid. A false notion appeared to him to prevail with respect to Irish property. People talked of Irish property us if it consisted of nothing but distressed and deeply mortgaged estates. But did not Ireland contain many thriving and paying estates, and did it not possess a rich capital, full of flourishing mer chants, bankers, and public functionaries?—(Hear, hear.) Why then should they not be made to contri bute their due share to the public revenue with their fellow-subjects of England and Scotland?—(Hear.) Mr. ROCHE said that the same reasons which had induced him to speak against this unjust impost before the Council in Dublin, and to speak and vote against the imposition of it on the people of England, led him to give the most strenuous opposition to the motion of his Hon. Friend the Member for Marylebone. The Hon. Member for Cockermouth said that it was most unfair for a large majority of the Irish Members to vote the other night the imposition of this unjust and inquisito rial tax on the people of England. It was net for him (Mr. Roche) to express any opinion upon that subject, because he had voted with the Hon. Member for Cocker mouth, and against the majority of the Irish representa tives; but, if it was unfair to impose an unjust tax upon England, was it not more unfair for his Hon. Friend to turn round now and say that he would impose this unjust tax on the people of Ireland ? Let Mr. Mitchell write and Mr. Dillon speak as they would, the act of the Hon. Member for Marylebone would create more disaffection in Ireland than all the eloquence of either of them. If the tax was unfair and unjust in Englund, it would be doubly unfair and unjust in Ireland. His Hon. Friend the Mem ber for the city of Cork had satisfactorily shown that Ireland bore more than her fair share of taxation already. lle might be permitted to say, in this place, that the Noble Lord at the head of the Government had misap prehended what he had said the other evening. lle spoke under great excitement at the time, but what he wished to imply was, that the Government of Ireland were taking measures for the repression of public opinion in Ireland, and he had expressed his disapprobation of that course. He was very happy to say that up to this time he had never had any reason to find fault with the conduct of ; the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) He thought, however, that he had observed in the Government a disposition to resort to physical force, instead of depending upon public opinion, and this had given rise to the observations which he had made. He had every desire for the preservation of the public peace, and while he deprecated the employment of physical force on the part of the Government, he equally deplored the use of strong or exciting language on the other side. With regard to this taxation, the Hon. Member for Marylebone ought to prove that Ireland was in a situa tion to pay it. It ought to be recollected that Ireland had to support the church of a minority. No country could be prosperous without free institutions, and Ireland was in this respect much behind England, as was evidenced by the fact that, with a population of 8,000,000, she had only 105 representatives in the House of Com mons. Mr. BANKES rose amid3t loud cries of " Divide, divide." The Hon. Gentleman said that bad all the Irish Members adopted the course which the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down had followed on the division on the income-tax the other night, he might have, perhaps, found it difficult to vote in the manner he was about to do. He (Mr. Bankes) had gone into the same lobby with the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Roche) the other night in giving his vote for the continuance of the income-tax for one year, and he did so specially with a view to Ireland, for while ho considered that, perhaps, in the present circumstances of Ireland, it might be improper to extend the income-tax to that country, yet, before the expiring of another year — and were the income-tax to be continued—it might be necessary to extend the tax to Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) There was, however, now no alternative left those who voted in the minority on that occasion. The Irish Members had, from the support they had given to the Government, caused the tax to be continued over three years, which was the next to saying that it was to be a permanent tax, and in that case he conceived that it ought to be extended to Ireland as well as to England and to Scotland. He could not help feeling it somewhat extraordinary, that after the Noble Lord at the head of the Government had, when ho wade an alteration in the sugar duties, only done so for one year, in order to give him time to consider what other tax •ould be best im posed to make up the deficiency, why he could not have done the same with the income-tax, by continuing it for one year, until proper arrangements were made regard ing it. Colonel DUNNE, in regard to what was said about the Irish Members swelling the majority on the late vote on the income- tax, observed that there was also a large majority of English Members voted on the same side. In voting on a subject of that kind he did not look upon himself as voting in behalf of Ireland, or any part of the country in particular, but adopting that course which he conceived was the one which was for the best interests of the country. But why should Honourable Gentlemen conceive that the Irish Members should yield so submissively to the feelings of a majority of the English people, when the English people themselves refused to yield compliance with the wishes and opinions of a large majority of the Irish people ?—(Year, hear.) It was ridiculous to talk about extending the income tax to Ireland, when at the very time such a proposal was made Government was obliged to send grants of money to that country for the support of the poor. It had also been admitted that the rates imposed for the relief of the poor could not he collected in consequence of the depressed state of the population, and when the people of Ireland were unable to pay the poor-rates it was absurd to suppose that they would be able to pay an income-tax. He would, therefore, oppose the motion of the Hon. Member for Marylebone, considering that Ire land was not at the present time able to stand such an infliction. Mr. NEWDEGATE rose amidst a universal burst of "Oh 1" Upon this somewhat subsiding, he said that he had, on every occasion, voted in a manner which he considered to be for the benefit of Ireland; in the pre sent circumstances of that country he thought tke better mode of repaying those advances made by Government to Ireland, would be by imposing an income tax, than by the m at present adopted. The Hon. Gentleman, amidst considerable confusion, and cries of " Divide," stated that he would support the motion of the Hon. Member for Marylebone.—(Hear.) Mr. WAKLEY, who was met with expressions of great impatience on the part of the House, said that as none of the English Members representing large con • stituencies had spoken on this motion, he considered it his duty and his right to say a few words upon it.— (Hear, hear.) In 1845 he voted against this proposi tion; in 1848 he was prepared to vote for it, and he could tell them the reason why.—(Cries of " No, no.") They are placed in very different circumstances now. On the former occasion they were told the tax would be temporary, and as such they received it; but the House now heard from all the heads of parties that it was to be permanent. How then could he go to his constituency, as an honest representative—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and laughter for some time)—and say that he thought it right they should be taxed for the purpose of relieving the landed proprietors of Ire land?—(Hear, hear.) Let them hear what had been the operation of this tax upon Ireland, as stated by the Honourable and Gallant Member for Donegal (Colonel Conolly). In the course of the former debate on the income-tax, the Honourable and Gallant Member said he, wished for its continuance, not for Ireland but for England. It had had the effect of greatly improving public credit; the consequence was, the nation had been relieved by the payment of interest on the public debt, and the rate of interest had been re duced. He felt himself called on to state that great advantage had been conferred on Ireland by the tax on the people of England, for its effect had been to relieve the great distress of the landlord interest of Ireland— (A loud "Hear, hear," from Colonel Conolly, followed by a hearty laugh from the House.) The consequence had been that numbers of landed proprietors in Ireland had been enabled to relieve their estates by putting a heavy burden upon the people of England. The poor widow in England had to pay the tax on her annuity of 1501. a year. so had the English tradesman who had the greatest difficulty in paying his way, so had the profes sional man who had but a life interest in his income, and yet the tax was not:to touch the landed proprietors of Ireland. After the disposition which had been shown by the Irish Members to fasten the tax upon England, he said the English Members must endeavour to fasten it upon Ireland, in order that they might make common cause in the effort to relieve the people of lingland from the tax altogether. The Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared, in 1845, when the question of renewing the tax was before the House—" If the tax was to be imposed, it would be unjust if it were not imposed on Ireland as well as Eng land. He had never boot able to discover any reason why gentlemen in Ireland, having 5,000/. a year, should not pay the tax as well as English gentlemen having 5,0011/. a year. Persons having property in Ireland were exempted from the assessed taxes, and that was an ad ditional reason why they should be required to pay the income-tax." This was the language of the Right Honourable Gentleman in 1845, but he bad forgotten all these things now, and this was another curious instance of the operation of office on a man's brain. If there were a country in the world, the Right Honourable Gentle man added, in which it was of advantage that a tax should be imposed upon the rich and not upon the poor, it was Ireland. He (Mr. Wakley) felt bound, by his duty to his constituents as well as to the people of Ire land, to give his vote for the motion of the Hon. B aronet the Member for Marylebone. He did not think the people of England would be likely t o f ee l content if they imposed a tax on the industrious c l asses_here which was not to touch the wealthy in Ireland. There was not in the world a country more lightly taxed than Ireland, or one in which the taxes prsssed more heavily than in England. Colonel CONOLLY wished to say, as allusion had been made to a speech delivered by him in 1845, that the Hon. Member for Finsbury had chosen to stop where it answered his purpose, than which nothing could be more unfair. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER must make precisely the same complaint.—(A laugh.) Though the Hon. Member for Finsbury had treated the House the other night to a lecture on the organ of Justice and its -attributes, he had on this occasion not only misrepresented what he (the Chancellor of the Ex chequer) had said in 1845, but had omitted what he did say, thus giving it a meaning directly opposite to what he intended.— (Hear, hear.) He was then arguing against the position of the Right Honourable Baronet the Member for Tamworth, that this was a tax which pressed exclusively on the rich, and he said it seemed inconsistent with this that the Right Honourable Baronet should have exempted Ireland, because, if there were any country in the world in which it was desirable to have a tax pressing on the rich and not on the poor, it was Ireland. The nest proof that his views were not what the Honourable Member would impute to him was, that when Mr. Roebuck made his motion to extend the tax to Ireland, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) voted against it.—(Hear.) Mr. MONSELL contended that Ireland had a fair claim to exemption, inasmuch as England had obtai ne d the greatest advantages from the remission of taxes made a few years ago. Ireland also derived only an insignificant share of benefit from th e . expendit ure on account of many branches of the public service, as the nary and ordnance. Another point related to th e amount which the tax, if imposed on Ireland, would pro bably yield. He found that the amount paid in Eng ,lana under Schedule A fon; land was 2,ivy:A:94s year; but taking into account the number of persons in Ire land holding less than 1501. a year, and the miserab!e state of the western districts, he did not think that sche: dule A would produce more than 350,0001. on an a nnual value of 13,000,0001., and the greater part of it would be spent in collection. Now, would it be worth while to get up an expensive machinery in Ireland for three years only, and producing but a small amount ! interests of the people of England were mos t deeply involved in raising the condition of- the peoP e of Ireland, and net in depressing it. It 'was isepos sible to suppose that this tax, imposed on those whe employed labour, would not ultimately fall on the le' bouring classes. Mr. HUME maintained that Ireland had benefited b' remissions of taxation as much as England; in propor tion to the manutactures carried on in the country. lie i g Ireland pay the same taxes as England had paid, and then she would have an irresistible claim to the seta e rights and privileges. He did not think that to e xempt Ireland would be either to give satisfaction to England and Scotland, or to do justice to Ireland, and therefore he should vote for the motion of the Hon. Baronet. Mr. REYNOLDS could not find any argument in favour of extending the tax to Ireland, finless the prim ciple of uniformity were called an argument. The late Prime Minister had exempted Ireland in 1842 because ef her inability to pay, and he wanted to know if she had increased in prosperity since? Since the income-tax was imposed,Jhe taxation of Ireland had increased by the amount of 00,000/. a year. He put it to his Honour able Friend the Member for Montrose, who might be called a living monument of figures, to find out any available property in Ireland to tax at present. He might be told that Ireland, being an integral portion of the United Kingdom, ought to bear its proportion 0 taxation, but he denied that Ireland was, treated as integral pertion of the empire. He believed that the word " colony" would be much more applicable. He would prefer that Ireland should be treated as a colony to her remaining in her present position. It had been said that there was a wonderful unanimity amonret the Irish Members with respect to the income-tax. trusted there would always be that unanimity is a glra cause, but he would never be a party to a combination which should be detrimental to the honour or the interest of England. He was himself ii favour of an income and a property-tax, as a means of abolishing indirect taxa' tion in the shape of duties on tea, tobacco, and other articles. In conclusion, he begged to say that its voting against the motion of the Hon. Member for Marylebone he believed he was acting with perfect consistency. Mr. MUNTZ was surprised that any Gentleman should vote for a tax to be applied to other people/ which tax did not apply to themselves. He had been still more surprised to find the Irish Members, almost to a man, combining with her Majesty's Government to force the income-tax upon the people of England for three years instead of one. Under these circumstances he felt bound to vote for the motion of the Hon. Member for Marylebone. Sir A. BROOKE rose to rebut the charge that the Irish Members had combined with her Majesty's Govern ment to force the tax on the people of England. He had never until the other evening given a vote on this subject, and he would not hare done so then if it had not been for the observations of the Hon. Member for Birmingham on Monday. These observations had con' pelted him to vote. He considered that the course of the Hon. Gentleman, in making these observations, had been most unconstitutional; and if ever there was an argll' ment in favour of repeal, it was the course which the Hon. Gentleman had taken. The Irish Members had bees told that they ought not to have voted on the question for continuing the income-tax for three years. lie contended that he had a perfect right to do so, believing as he did that it was better to impose the tax for three years than for one. He had the same reason for voting that way because the question at issue involved the con• tinuance in office of the present Ministers and the Lord' Lieutenant of Ireland. Such was the opinion that be held of the importance of the Noble Lord (the Lord' Lieutenant of Ireland) remaining at his post, that rather than lose him be would vote for an income-tax of five pet cent.—(Laughter.) Mr. MUNTS said he did not object to the vote the Irish Members were about to give, but to the votes they had given. M. JAMES WILSON rose amidst loud cries for division. The Hon. Gentleman was some time before be could obtain a hearing, and when he did so, he said-- 1 will not detain you more than five minutes.—(Ho log here again interrupted by loud cries of " Divide, divide.") I will not, said the Hon. Gentleman, detain you more than five or ten minutes.—(llere there were loud expres' sions of impatience, in the midst of which the Lion. Gen* tletnan sat down.) The Committee then divided, when there appeared--' For the motion Against it Majority against the motion —Bo The House then resumed. LAW OF ENTAIL (SCOTLAND). Mr. HOME DRUMMOND moved the second reed• ing of the Law of Entail (Scotland) Bill. Agreed to, and the Bill ordered to be committed. The Queen's Prison Bill then passed its third readint' ELECTION RECOGNIZANCES BILL. Mr. WALPOLE gave notice that on Monday next be would move the second reading of this Bill, upon which he purposed effecting a few amendments. Colonel SIBTHORP gave notice that, after the reoeu, he would call the attention of the House to the salaries paid to all the executive officers of the Government, with a view to their reduction.—(Laughter.) The House rose at Half-past Twelve o'clock. (ADVERTISEMENT.) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE CLERICAL, MEDICAL, AND GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY. Presented at the Annual General Meeting, held at the Society's Office, on Thursday, March 2d, 1848. Having, at the meeting held in January, 1847, pre sented to the proprietors and assured a ♦ery full account of the society's affairs, your directors have but little to communicate on the present occasion. It may, however, be satisfactory to those now assem bled to learn, that, notwithstanding the increased and active competition arising from the yearly establishment of many new life assurance offices, the business of this society still continues to advance. I❑ proof of this, it will be sufficient to state the fol• lowing facts:— L The number of policies granted on the lives of clergymen, a class of persons generally distinguished for longevity, has been greater during the year ending June 110th last (the period comprehended in this report) thatt in any one year since the commencement of this society. IL The society's income, which was 116,3821. in the year ending June 30th, 1846, amounted to 1'22,9061. in the year ending June 30th, 1847. 111. The number of new policies issued within the year has been 513, and the amount assured thereby' 287,079/. Being an increase, both in the number of policies and in the sum assured, over those of any pre ceding year. In conclusion, the directors are happy to inform the proprietors, that the society has not in any degree suf fered from the great mortality which has prevailed of late throughout the kingdom, the claims, both in the course of the year ending June 30, 1847, and also within the six month ending with December last, not baring equalled either in number or amount those of preceding years. Tables of rates and forms of proposal can be obtained of any of the society's agents, or by addressing a letter to G. 11. Pinckard, Resident Secretary, Office, No. 99, Great Russell -street, Bloomsbury. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL, lilmten 17. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Birkenbead, Lanes• shire, and Cheshire Junction, (late C. and B.), 144—Great Northern, 9 dis.— London and North-Western, Quarters, New, 25 p.—North-Western, G dis.—South-Eastern and Dover, No. 4,3/. 3s. 9d. dis. • MANCHESTER, Kamen 17. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Birkenhead, Eillact• shire, and Cheshire Junction, 6 5-16 dis.—Ditto (late C. and B.), 14% c.—Eastern Counties, 13—East Lancashire, New, 6:Y 4 dis.—Lancashire and Yorkshire, Fifths, 1 1.16 dis. —Ditto, 321. Shares, 7M n. dis.—Ditto (West Riding Union), 3 5.16 n. dis.—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, Eighths, 4 1 ,i dis.—Ditto, Preference, 1-16 dis.—North Bri• tish, Thirds, 1 1 / 2 dis.—North Staffordshire, 1 1 ,4 n. South-Eastern and Dover, No 4, 3 1 , 1 ', dis.—York, Newcastle, and Berwick (G. N. E. Purchase), par. HULL, MARCH 17. STOCK EXCHANGE —Buyers continue shy, and the feeliag being in favour of further decline, there is no want of sellers at the rates of the day. The sales are—Hull and Selby, 98 1 4 ex dim.—North British, Quarters, U. 16s. 6d.—Ditto, Thirds, 10s. Tun Lnrics.—On examination the lungs will he found full of innumerable little holes, like a sponge. These holes are the cells into which the air enters when we breathe. So great is their number that they have been calculated to amount to 174,000,000, forming alto gether a surface thirty times greater than that of the human body. Every one of these cells is provided with a net-work of blood-vessels, by means of which the blood is brought into immediate contact with the air over every portion of their surface. When this great amount is taken into consideration, we shall feel at once how necessary it is to supply pure air to the lungs with every breath we draw.— Health of Towns Gazette. The Rev. Dr. Carpenter, of the Isle of Mai, has been appointed to the incumbency of St. Jude's, Liver pool. vacant by the removal of Dr. IPNeile to St. Paul's, Prince's Park, Liverpool. BIICTN.S. On the 25th ult., at Nice, the lady of Comte Raphael d• Vogae, of the Chateau de Goure.au, Ardeche, of a son and heir. On the 13th inst., at Battersea, the lady of Edward Wood gate, Esq., of a son. On the 14th inst., at Leeds, the wife of Charles Crompton, Esq., of a son. On the 15th inst., at Stanhope-street, Hyde-park-gardens, Mrs. Chadwick, of a daughter. On the 15th inst., at Newhaven Rectory, Sussex, the wife of the Rev. T. T. Smith, M.A., of a son. On the 15th inst., at St. Leonard's, the lady of the Rey. A. F. Pettigrew, M.A., of a daughter. 41ARIAD. On the 16th i ns t ., at Latime R r. the Viscount Enfield, xr., to Harriet Elizabeth, second daughter of the lion. Charles and Lady Catharine Cavendish. DIED. On the 12th inst., at Widdiegton Rectory, Essex, Beatrice Charlotte, wife of the Rev. Cohn Campbell. aged 58. On the 14th inst., Maria, widow of the Rev. Thomas Hunt, late of Upper Clapton. On the 15th inst., William Edmund, third son of Mr. Henry Hammond, of Edmonton. London: Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, at No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sim Office, No. 112. Strand, in the l'recinct of the Savoy, in the misty if hilddleass, Saturday, Marsh 13, 114$. TF That the Qu, held at lastant of the that 1 prope lglA, trail h, to sty back) Itikla' Gene Weir With B att a Th terly of Pr of tli 1 clem vasic t expa that view that aid s seas, i -: I Th,a Getter. er 11 • not', Der hwr • Mar MeV of c , den, we E and and lett .wit ale sun • 1 vei thi bil dig Of rit th,