The Sun. — London, England, 1854-05-23 00:00:00

NOR IL. PERSIA , fonNING. morning at Uexandro . NIAY 18. vices fronl, Sliangh 3l ore, 18th; 20 ; the Bth of led t r eatie, ar ti c les 01 re :--- 3 State are )r. Russia the KW 0 reside a t t at Kbl,v 3 by Russia 1 Affg ll3n , n payn 1011 " itoninent s t within Oa 1 of his Al' 3sary funds N. id. V . s. 2d. tg towaro ir.idly rola' -eral larg e ", larat, au ig. ,rket over' LCES. hap, SO' nature, St' it of Spli t ; 0 arm, out an, Willialls 30, ExaC t ' h, Charley' ['Etat, S' a, ArribO' ;tery, R° 9B Spiro,l3o 1 ' Spiro, e e Queen 0' nge.—Roll Lit tle :SS, na, 2 Yr* Victor, Spring '' '' ........... ...........30 .21 ..... 33 ......... 0 ........... ,26 •• • ....... d East 2 3 ........... 28 _23 ......... ..is ....... • ..........so he, and ir ........... 23 ......... ....23 °bold, 113 a ickingh Comoroo rt, accer a ' Wales, the the Pill' T Leopol d ' deuce, 09' Iseounte r4 Flom MO . 'ter of the , and gr' ecl to tbeif , the gar: rd Erue o the goo. carriage* i past tvif mdou a nd ti for 025‘ nnied be t Saturdal aviug tic ° 1y cover . )ink roses e similar sited the ...... aria DO; malice 0 ; light Sydney', rerunn er do, from _Rhine, s Ayr , * --Frobe, a st, jib• ound to tderra so —Thor , —Garth: tiebee ; for S' • Lol l ' tol, fc.'„ l. Jessie argh 1° >arque)► le Bute t au es• Ved h. Of f rerpoo l . to Bo !' , AS dis• 7lutba► Island, ;; I ving, Rib', sin: vv erp ; ;razil ruges ; Mar! SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) AILWAYS. BRITISH R RAILWAYS. Closing Prices yesterday. 100 81 Aberdeen . 20 10 50 25 25 25 18 20 St. ilmbg Nottng. Boat. and Eastu. Juuet... Belfast & Ballymena. Binning. Wolverh Stour Valley Birkenhd. Lauesh Cheshire Junct Do. Chesh. & birk., £5O and £25 Cons. Do., ..... Myth & Tyne original £25 (issd. at £45) Bristol and. Exeter... Caledonian. Chester & Holyhead. Cork and Bandon Cork, Black, & Pass Corawall Crieff June'Aon Dublin&Belfastjunc Dundee Perth&Aber deen Junction TDo. New ...... 2 100 42 East Do., (.-elB E & lEastcru Counties Eastern Union, A Stock ........ Do., B. Stock Do., New A East Lancashire 100 - 100 473 173 all 100 6 25 50 20 100 3 100 all 5.i It Is' Ediuburgb &Glasgow Ediub. and Peebles... Edin.PrLn &Dundee Vorth & Clyde June. (11asgow &S. Weston, Great Northern Stk Do., A. Stock 20 20 10 10 Do., B. Stock 2/ 2: , 1 100 100 100 100 Sth. &West.(lre., Great Western Trish South-Easter', Lancaster & Carlisle Do Thirds 26i 13 3 / 4 20 . 20 Do. New Thirds__ Laneash.audYorksi, Do., Fifths D 3., Wst. Riding Un Leeds Northern IN 2sl Liv. Cisby.&Southpt London & Black wit, !Loud. Tilb. &Stliend. Loud. Bright &S.Csi. Lond. and N. WeAu. Do. Fifths 16f, 100 8 11-00 Do.lo/. Sh., M&8..0 Do. Eighths London and S. \Vestal Do., £5O Do., £4O Lndudrry& Coleraine Lndnclrry. & Eunisk. Vlauch.Shet& Linein Do., Man. & Liu. Un Midland 20 20 50 20 17 all all 16 30. Birmug. & Derby Nlidld. G. West. (Ira .) Do. Half Shares Newcastle & Carlisle Newmarket Do., Bury Extension Nvrpt.Aberg. & firfd Newry & Enniskillen Newry Warrenpoint and Rostrevor. Norfolk 51s. 100 Northn.Counties Un North British North Devon, No. 1 Do., No. 2 Do., 1 A Deferred Do., B Guaranteed North London 'Do. New £lO N. &S. Wstrn. , Hamp stead, and City Jn ' North Staffordshire, North Western N. &S. Westru. June Nuneaton, Hinckley, and Leicester.. Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverhampton Portsmouth 13cottish Central Scottish Midland Shrewsbury & Bi i rug Do. L. & N. Wester], Guaranteed St (AA .hrewsby. & Het efil Shrcwsby. & CLestei (N. W. Min ;. Do. Halves,: Do. Oswestry Shropshire Union Do. A, B, C,& D,fully paid up at per cent South Devon South Eastern South Wales Yrksh. & Riv. Dun Do Staines, Wok &Wok' Stockton & Darling Stockton & Hartlepi. Taff Vale . Do. £lO shares. Do. Pref., No. 1 flames Haven Dock and Railway Vale of Neath Watered. & Killteun,) A'aterford&Limerick West Cornwall West Eud of London and Crystal Palace West London Wimbledn 3z Croydoiti York Newetl.&l3erw. Do. Extensions Do. G.N. E. Purchase York & N. Midland 23 - 24 4a 41 8 - 9 13 --12 15 17 8— 7 d 90 - 92 54i - s•i 134 - .14i j 9 11 42 - 43 7 - 8 154 - 164 124 59 - 66 53 - 55 ia = ii 58 62 8G 874 72 73 1 19 - 121 88 - 90 73 4 73i - 86 10 - 12 10 - 12 1. 1 60 - 8-- 71 (I, li . - .1.4 8g P 100 101 116,196 lea 1 d d - 77 —7 8 d 12 111 10 9ki ioa = iOa 58 -58 i, 32 - 34 d— -6 2} 4 2id 6 8 46 48 3i ... 50 54 a d iP 6 - 501 7 - 7A 28 - 29 85 87 52 54 51 - 53 52 - 54 3 - 26 13 15 6 -- 74 10 -- 1 - 4 Sid 13 - 15 60i 61 34 - 35 4 - 2,1 4 - it 30 - 32 ~ -. •• 3 - 34 17 . 18 4 - 5 20 22 12i i 90 731 i 1001 96& 100 141 77i a lli if per cent. 14 13, 20 20 5 10 St. 5 St. 20 12, 4 , St. 124 25 - 6 i 9 84ct 5.1 4i(t 461 -47 i St. St. 20 St. 15 8i 8 10 66 5 114 46 7 25 10 1.06 FOREIGN. 10 9 Autwerpattotterdan, 31 —3 d x.n 5i zin 5 3 Belgian Eastn. June. 4 1 20 8 qeziers to Graissessa, 4 3 d 20 2s. Bombay, Baroda, ano Central India,Serip a— a p pm ••• ... Central of Italy — 20 all Charleroi& Erqueliu — 171 all Demerara 20 14 Dijon and Besancon — p 20 9 Dutch Rhenish 4. 4 d 20 all East Indian l, 2 p 211 20 2 Do. El-tension 1 d 5 all 6. 1 t. Indian Peuinsuk 4 p 2 0 10 Skl. Junet. of Franc,: ••• 25 7. Grd. Trunk of Canal. ...d 100 30 Do. Debentures 9 7 d 100 all Do. do •— ••• 20 10 '3t.Central of FraueL 1 a d 94 201 all at.WesternofCanada Shares lBk.— 19i Do. Bands (Ist is.)'s7 •• p 20i all Flamilton & Toronto par 1 p 100 all Do. 6 per cent. 20 5 Lake Coast. 1L Basl_ 5 all Lucca & Pistoja 5 p.c pref dis 20 15 Luxembourg 54 —si 5/ 10 10 Do. (Railway) 34 3i 3i 5 2 Do. Pref — 1 4 5 3 Do. (Canal) — 14 10 5 Do. 6p. et. pref._ 1i 1 d 20 8 Lyons and Geneva 20 12 Lyons & Mcditerrrn. 20 131 Madras I id par 33!' t Maria Anton' 10 all Do. do. New 2e. 2 Nielbourne Dk. & Ry. 20 all Namur & Liege (wit: interest) 7 7i 20 all Do. (ex interest) — 16 all Northern of France 32 —32 A Do. 201. 3 p. c Bds 20 all (fruy.B.& Ams.Shs., 10 all NorwegianTrunkPrei 8 —9 xn 20 10 Paris and Lyons l6 —16 p 40 all Ditto Bond 10 all Paris and Orleans._ 43 45 20 all Paris and Rouen•••••• 35 —37 20 all Paris and Strasbour 29 • 30 'a 20 10 ParisCaen tS; Cheibr pm 104 10i Quebe c R ich • gi •" 20 all Rouen and Havre.., ::•. 20 12 Royal Danit'. 5 al l iattcnYlablrSowaend:i 20 8i 6 Do. 5 4 P. cent. Prof . . •• • • 20 6 .3outherr of France •••••• 20 8 St. Andrew's an d ." Pin Quebec (A) 8i a ll West landers 10 all Do 5 A per C. Prof - --d 20 10 Western of France 4 5 , „ 10 7 West. of Switze rland 3i 44 20 2 Wiesbaden 20 15 Zealand 13.5 241 A.gua Fria Aliglo Austen. Gold tnglo t 7alifornian :Australasian Australian .Australian Cordillera Australian Freehold .3tve Maria Baden (Gd. Duchy of) Blaeuarvou Ir. & Coal iii it sh Austrlu. Gold British Iron Brazilian Imp. (issued, at £5 pm Do. Cones 6t Cuiada Do. St. John Del Rey Carson's Creek . 1 10 1 1 1# 1# i l d "="-- 11 3 1 d 2 § 4 ; - 8 10 !Clarendon Con. Min. Co. of Jamaica Cobre Copper ..;olouial Gold Co piapo topper Miu. of Eug Do. Pref. 7. p. cent English and Austrlu Copper Smeltg. Co General 'Great Nugget Vein... Do. Registered Great Polgooth I,iberty Linares Lend. &Californ. Gold Quartz Crush. Co Nlsriquita Aexican&S.Americu New Granada New Linares Mining and Smelting Co Nouveau Monde Pon tgiba ud Silver Lead Min. & Smelt Port Philip uartz Rock lliyinuey Iron Do. Now iatitiago de Cuba '.iuth Australian fin Croft United Mexican Waller West Granada Nest Mariposa Vorthing Mining o .6 - 8 4i 29 31 d 42 44 i li 10 12 50 60 2 4n Australia Yuba - 2i - 2 * - $ 10 - 11 6 - 15A - 16i l - 4 - 29 :11 8 10 3 4 2 4 2t 3i fi d A": - ••• •. MISCELLANEOUS JOINT-STOCK BANKS, .... 5 all I.ubin Coal and 'roe ... •.. 40 : all l l l A.B 3 ar i us i di i a s rah i La N agoinl . aon A Cio m aml erilt unk i 7. .. 7 .: --- 7:9: 78 25 1.7 lustralia.n Agricult. 45 46 45i 25 25 ( o .: . l l l o:Aral a ut i uss • nici t t d ra.te . raurcl. l l.l 3 l a jakaian n .l, k .oo.u.fr c . l CT: f u. o: A ci..in. s ian.d i e. a ., 1..14 1 _—__ :::: 8 20 14 kustralsn.Pcific. Mai , ... ... 10 8 kustraln. Royal Mai! ... •••• 20 10 4 Berlin Water Works ... ••• 50 40 Brit. American Land 65 75 70 100 25 'lolonial . 5 1 Brit. & Coln. Smeltg. 100 20 ............ . . .. ••• and Reduction Co ... ••• 20 12 1 00 32,i Canada BO -- 85 Fmgligh Scottish and • 20 20 L A on u d st . ra e l h ia art .. .. ..... . 011 5 5 2iystal Palace 6i 7 4 20 21 20i i 5 It Do. New. . - ... 3t 4 2 Orystal Pal.of France ... ••• 50 20 London and Count 2 0 3 Eastern Steam — ... 50 10 Loudon Joint Stock.. 25 20 ElectritTclegraph(A) 17 18 100 20 bond. & Westmiuste i ..• --- ... 25 all Do. (B) • -- •• • 100 35 National Provincial .. ••• 1 1 Electric Teleg. of Ir. ... ... of England Ireland . .. 15 14 Gen. Steam ravigat. ... ..... -- 20 18 General Screw Steam ... ..."' • • 20 7A Irish Beetroot Sugar .. ... 20 10 Magdalena 'it. Navig. ... ... 2 25 0 00 1 . a 2 2 001 D , T Nationaleo w . t o ll ßa l l ta k l e s . 0 . 1 , 1 all Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel ... ... 10 3 Netherlands Land.... 4 14 46 48 2 1 N. S. W. Coal & Inter. 2 2 5 5 al 5 1 ) o C r o i o . e i u • N p ta o e r w l ation • -- ••• 100 25 Provincial of Ireland ... _ ... Steam Navigat. Co. ... ... N. B. Australasian... 14 1 all a a 10 all Do. New ... ... 4 Do. New 5 1 R o yal Australn.Bk. 1 ... 20 10 N r th. ff,u rope Stearn ... & Gold Imp C 0.... —•- !. . 5 all Peel Rr. Ld. & Mimi. 4 4 d 25 all South Australia ...... 41 43 50 all Peninsular& Oriental ... ... 56i 5i 25 all tJaihn of Australia.. 70 72 70 50 35 Do. Do. --- ... 391 7 8 2 all Portland Iron Co 4 - ip too6o 'loyal Mail Steam 5 - 0 . lg . i f - T o ni: l :47f i ........ /Inn . : .... .. ... 1 a Scot. Austral. Invest. 11 2a GLASGOW AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAlLWAY.—'Traffic re. 25 25 South Austral. Land 36 —3B turn for the week ending May 20, 1854 £5,260 13 5 1 all inbmar. Telegraph.. I 1 Oorresponding week last year 4,785 5 8 1 1 all Do. Registered i - - 1 4 _____, 100.; 284 Pan Diemen Land 12 .. ._ .. 18 I ... Business done this day. .18 18 .•• 119 - 2420 ... .. . 26 ... - .:3 1 . ..SI ...J1 :2; 9 29 • .30 :•31 20 50 50 2 100 1 25 LINES' LE 4..11ED AT FIXED RENTALS. RAILWAY.. Lcasing Compans. lostlia Prices yesterday. 13eiforcl and Bletchley Buckgl►amsh Clydesdale Jc. E. Lincoln gr. 6 per cent. Glas. Barr. & Neils. Direct Do. New.... Glstr.dz Dn. Fr iirtlpl. Dk. & Railway London & N. West. L. &N. W. Calodon... 93 - 95 91 - 96 clt.Nrthn. Caldonian. Westn Yk. New. & Berw. Y. &NNId Do Liu] & Selby Do. Shares. Do. Shares. Lou.&Greenw Do. Preference Lowe3toft gr. 4 per cent. Do. 6 per et. \ranch. Bxtu. and Matlock I . fiddlesbro' & liedear 101 - 103 50 - 52 25 -26 12 -13 221 - 231 -3. Eastern Do gorfolk Ti.&N. W.' & Midid. itektou & Darlingt. Midland.. 24 - 2i Aidld.Bradfd northern and Eastern sp.c. Do. 6 per et. Do. Fixeds p ?rest. Sr., WYr, 88 = 90 E. Count. 54 - 56 L. &N.W &LOzYk Do xd xd Do. .Jj :Mares. ;toy-stn.:lLHit. ')o.Shepth.St ihef.Roth Goole g. 5 p.c. i.Statlordsl). Near Valley-it . ' 6 per cent... Do Northn Laucash & Yorksh. MCletu , I .4tockt. & Darliugt. ltWestn. ..... 2i ifd 29 - 30 90 - 92 Wilts&Somrs' eREN'EttENCE, h'tiAttES. berdeecc Do. No. 2, p. c. Blyth and Tyne 10 pel c. pref. (isscl. at 50f Bris. Ex. 4p. c. St. Do. 4 p. c. Shares tJaledonian £lO 93 - 95 Chester & Holyhead Guar. 5A per cent_ Cork &Baudons4p.c. Dundee Perth &Aber deeu Junction EastAngliam (X3los) 6 per cent Do. (5) 7 per cent Do. (X 7 17s) 7 p. c Eastern Counties Ex tension, 5 p. c. No. I Do. No. 2 . Do. New 6 p. c. St Eastern Union, Scrip Guar. 6 per cent Do. 51., 10 per cent Do. 101. Debentr.Sh• East Lancash. 6 p. cts. East and West York shire June. Pref... EdinbPrth.&Dundee 54 per cent. Glasgow & S. Western Guar. 5 per cent Great Northn. 5 p. c Do. 5 p. c. Redeem., at 10 p. c. prem. .. Do. 4 . i p. c, Scrip Gt. N. of Scot. Ist Prof' .;t, Southn.diWestm. (Ireland) Eighths) Do. 4 per c. Pref. Sh Gt. Westu. (Berks & Hants Ex. 5 p. c) Do. coy. red. 4. p.c Do. con. red. 4 p. c Do, irred. 4 p. c Lan. & York. F. £2O Do. 6 p. c. Stock Leeds N. 6 p. c. No. 1 Do. Quarters, 1848 London and Brighton Guaranteed 5 p. c Do. Pref., 5 p. c. St Do. Convertible, 5 p c., 1852 Do. New Guar.6 p, c. Lon. &N. W., Coy. di ,luiicaton 2 1 } - 3A - 3 - 4 # i P - i P 12f -12 i 23 - 24 3 - 31 . . .all 112 114 105 - 107 91 - 10 Ti 8 ad 6 - 6i 94 - 96 87 - 89 88 - 90 Id pa: 128 132 London & S. Western Con. Thirds '..ondonderry& Coler Shares Londy. & Ennis. Sh. lan., Slief., & Lin., Shares, No. 1. ... Do. New, £lO Do. £6 Aarypt & Carl. 4p. c Do. 4i per cent Do Aid. Cousol.6 p.c.St. I Do. Cousol. Bristol & IZirm. 6 per cent..., Do. Pref. rq per cent' Norfolk Debenture .. Do. Pref. 4 p. c. Stock Do. 5 p. c. Eat Do. 5i per et.pref Do. Way. Val. 5 p. c North British - 21 12. 54 64 84 9 id 4 139 132 1 lid .. ..... ... North Staffordshire Oxford, Worcester, S : Wolverh..els, 6 p.c Do 94 - 96 Scot. Cent., New Prei slu•ews. & Shrew sby. & Chester (Nor.W.bliu), 8 p.e. Do. 5 per cent South Devon i = **6 15A -16 A 9A -- 10 11 -- 13 is -- i P 22A -- 23 98 -- ]OO 15 -- 20 do. fixed, 4i per cent 3. Eastern (I.lea,dinzl Ann.) of £1 Os. 6d. Do. 4i,pe2 cent. i.Yorksh.4p.e.Guar Stockton and Dar• lington, 4 per cent Do. do. 01, Stockton and Har'' • pool, guar. 5 p. c. till Ist July, 185 1- ; Waterfd.&Kilk.6p.c. York, Neweastle,aud ... .. 2 I.d BerWick,4 p.c. l'ref. Do 88 - 92 3 - 36 York&N. Midland 11 r 1 1f - Business this day. all all all all all 100 100 100 1.00 1.00 100 6 100 10:!, 100 100 lOul 100 [OO 100 LOO 15 all all all THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 23, 1854. IMPERIAL PA RLI AMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.) Their lordships met at five o'clock. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the principal navy agents against the Navy Pay Bill. They complained that the effect of the bill would be to take from them the business which they had enjoyed for 100 years, with respect to the distribution of prize monies, and place it in the hands of a public officer, to be ap pointed for the purpose. The noble and learned lord bore high testimony to the admirable and successful manner in which they had, during the last wars, transacted 1411 matters entrusted to them by the officers and seamen who were captors of prizes, and he appealed to the Go vernment to take their case into their earnest consi deration. Lord HA.THERTON presented a petition from the mayor, magistrates, and principal inhabitants of the borough of Walsall, and also from the inhabitants of Tipton, in Staffordshire, for an amendment of the law prohibiting the payment of wages otherwise than in the coin of the realm. The noire lord entered into a state ment of the law on the subject, and showed the neces sity for further legislation. PAROCHIAL SCHOOLMASTERS IN SCOTLAND. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH inquired what were the intentions of the Government with respect to parochial schoolmasters in Scotland. The Earl of ABERDEEN said, as the bill for ex tending education to Scotland, which contained a clause permanently increasing the stipend of Sc itch parochial schoolmasters, had been defeated in the other house, the Government intended to introduce a temporary measure to continue those stipends, which this year would be reduced to the scale in existence twenty five years ago, at the rate at which they had recently been paid. The Marquis of BRE - XDALBA.N - E deeply regretted the fate of the Ministerial measure for the improvement of education in Scotland, inasmuch as a great majority of the people in that kingdom were decidedly in its favour. The Earl of EGLINTUN briefly defended the Scotch members who had opposed the measure. After a few words from Lord KINNAIRD and the Duke of ARGYLL, who deprecated a premature discus sion of the question, Lord BROUGHAM suggested the introduction of two bills, one for the towns, the other for the rural dis tricts. He trusted that Government would consult the cause of education rather than the advantage of any re ligious body. On the motion of Lord BROUGHAM, the house was ordered to be furnished with returns of the mode of pay ing judges in all courts. BILLS OF EXCHANGE BILL. The Bills of Exchange Bill then passed through com mittee, and, on the motion of Lord BROUGHAM, was ordered to be printed. LAW OF LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRE LAND) BILL.—POWERS OF LEASING (IRE LAND) BILL. The report of the committee on these bills was then brought up. After some conversation, the report with amendments was agreed to. NAVY PAY BILL.-MANNING THE NAVY BILL. The Duke of NEWCASTLE moved the second read ing of these bills. They had only come from the other house on Saturday morning, and consequently the noble lords who took an interest in them and desired to ex press their opinions on them had not had sufficient time to consider them. Under the circumstances, and con suiting the convenience of the noble lords, he proposed then to take the second reading, and would fix the com mittee for Friday ; and on going into committee they would take the discussion. _ The bills were accordingly read a second time. BOUNDARY SURVEY (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion of Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY, this bill was read a third time. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Lords amendments to the following bills were con sidered and agreed to :—Birmingham Waterworks, Man chester Corporation Waterworks, New River (Hertford Sewerage Diversion, &c.), Wellington (Salop) Improvement, West Hartlepool Imnprovement. The following bills were read a third time and passed : Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston and Eastern Junc tion Railway (Extension into Nottingham, &c.) ; East Suffolk Railway, Londonderry Bridge, Mallow and Fermoy Railway, Stamford and Kettering Road ; York, New castle, and Berwick Railway ; and Bradford Corporation Waterworks. The following bills were considered and ordered to be read a third time :—Bradford, Wakefield, and Leeds Railway ; Brighton, Cuckfield, etc., Roads ; Chester, Farndon, and Worthenbury Road : East Lancashire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and Manchester and Southport Railway • Law Life Assurance Society; Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax Junction Railway; London, Tilbury, and Southend Rail way; Towy Vale Railway; West Bromwich Improvement, etc. ; Winchester and Petersfield Road. to state that they should first take votes on all the new taxes, and it was for that reason that he now moved that the house should go into committee. Mr. DISRAELI said that was certainly not the order of proceeding they understood was to be followed. He did understand the report of the formal resolution was to have been brought forward last Monday, in order that the opi nion of the house should be taken on it. (Hear, hear.) Lord J. RUSSELL said he thought it was perfectly clear that either the report or the further resolutions in committee should be taken when the motion was brought on. (Hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER corrobo rated this statement of the noble lord, and said the objec tion of Mr. Disraeli was founded on a misapprehension. Sir H. WILLOUGHBY said he understood the whole question of the Budget was to have been discussed on the report on Monday last. Ile thought the Chancellor of the Exchequer was bound to tell the house on what grounds he intended to raise a very large sum of money, 4,000,0031., by Exchequer bond, within a period of four or six years, as he was now initiating a new set of measures. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, with respect to the grounds for those taxes, he thought he had stated those grounds very fully in his general financial statement, and he was very sorry if he had not been fully and clearly understood. Ho said the intention was to raise money for the present financial year, and not during a series of years, as the hon. baronet seemed to think. Mr. T. BARING said he certainly had understood that the original resolution should be proceeded with first ; but as that was not to be the case, he must now move that amendment in committee which he had intended to submit to the whole house. He certainly did wish he could give a silent vote on thi s occas i on, looking at the great and pe culiar difficulties of the times—diffieulties which he would say arose from the mismanagement of the finances last year, and from the unwise conduct of her Majes• ty's Government. (Hear, hear, hear.) Thinking, as he did, that the financial measures adopted last year were wanting in prudence, and had been unsuccessful, he could not now give a silent vote on the present measures. He thought the Exchequer -bill market was a most valuable resource for any Minister, but that market must be main tained by the Chancellor of the Exchequer shaping his operations according to transactions elsewhere, and a con viction that Exchequer-bill hailers can always obtain their money whenever they wanted to change their investments. The sum of 652,4561. of stock of the funded debt of savings banks had been sold to buy up Exchequer bills, and they were again converted to the funded debt of the country, entailing an additional burden on the debt of the country of 1,24000/.—and that was caused by the conduct of the Government with respect to the financial measures of last year. He hoped that for the future the finance of France would not be made the basis for that of a finance Minister of this country ; for it could not be creditable to compare the finance of a country like England, whose resources or credit have never been doubted, with that of a coun try like France, which, whatever its resources might be, was only just recovering from a general and total con vulsion. (Hear, hear.) H approved of the desire of her Majesty's Ministers for preserving peace, but if there was the slightest speck of a cloud of a disturbing cause abroad they ought to have paused last April (1853) when they proposed their financial measures—(hear),—and there was in the blue book a letter from Lord Clarendon on the movements of troops towards the Russian frontiers, which should of itself have given them that warning. He could not then but say they ought not a ll ow this resolution to pass without saying more caution should have been exercised in the past, and that more prudence should be observed for the future. (Hear.) He could not imagine that between a reasonable Chancellor of the Exchequer and a prudent go vernor of the Bank of England, there should be anything that could not be reconciled, for the b ene fi t both of public and of private credit. (Hear, hear). And whilst he allowed that deficiency bills might be resorted to in an emergency, yet if the Bank were forced to raise it s i nterest on these bills, they would not have great advantages, but they would have the disadvantage that they might have to ask the Bank for money, which the Bank could not grant without serious restrictions upon the commerce of the country. (Hear, hear.) The Bank had always been ready to meet the demands of the Government, and for this rea son it was the earthen vessel, while the Government was the jar of iron. But while he would allow that deficiency bills might occasionally be resorted to, he thought that if they were to have a rule at all, the most prudent rule would be to keep a balance in hand, so that the wants of the Government might be supplied out of the previous rather than the future income. (Hear, hear.) They had heard something, indeed, of a little loss sustained by the public from allowing large balances to be in the Bank with out interest; but the gain from adopting the opposite course would not be so great after all. The Government of this country was a large borrower, and they must keep the state of the Exchequer Bill market in mind. If by lowering their balances they forced the Bank to raise its rate of interest, not only would they have to pay that en hanced rate on what they borrowed from the Bank, but they would have to pay a larger interest on the floating debt. (Hear, hear.) Besides, they might ha ve t o as k f or money which the Bank could not afford without incon veniencing the trade and commerce of the country ; and that again, he need not say, would recoil on the prosperity of the Exchequer. He thought that the policy which the right hon. gentleman had laid down as that which was to be the future policy of the Government, namely, to look to deficiency bills to a greater or less extent for the supply of the daily wants of the public service, was as a principle— exceptions were of course to be allowed—but it was, as a rule, impolitic. (Cheers.) He had said thus much upon the past policy of the Government; but if the house would ex cuse him he would now proceed to make some remarks upon the present position of the finance of this country. (Cheers.) The right hon. gentleman on the 6th of March said there were three ways in which the wants of the Ex chequer might be met, namely, by a system of loans, of in direct taxation, and of direct taxation. The right hon. gentleman had adopted the last ; but he did not pledge himself, if the war lasted, that he might not have to have recourse to indirect taxation, and that, strong as was his feeling against loans, he might not be eventually forced to adopt that course. He (Mr. Baring) shared with the right hon. gentleman's feelings with regard to increasing the National Debt. (Hear.) So far as he had taken part in the debates of that house, it had generally been to rebuke the Government for not keeping sufficiently large balances to be applied to the gradual extinction of that debt ; for he was one who thought that the gradual extinction of that debt in time of peace ought to have been made a more pro minent feature in our finance than had been the case. (Hear.) Not, indeed, by fits and starts, by paying off ten millions at par when it could have been bought at 85— (cheers)---but by such a regular process as would have en ab ed the minister, not only to have reduced the capital, but even to have dealt with the interest. The right hon. gentleman had professed great reluctance to resort to a loan ; but he thought the right hon. gentleman was hardly sincere in the language he had so properly held upon that subject. When he had made use of the savings banks funds to increase the national debt, and when he put forward his scheme to reduce the interest to 2. per cent. by increasing the capital of the debt ten millions, the right hon. gentle man was certainly not so coy. The right hon. gentleman had censured the imprudence of Mr. Pitt in raising 180 millions by loans iu six years ; but he did not seem to reflect on the difficulty Mr. Pitt must have had to raise 30 or 40 millions a year by taxation without making the war unpopular or too severely straining the national resources. The right hon. gentleman said his own a.tempt to raise six millions was not a loan ; but surely its being borrowed for two, four, or even six years, would not make it less a loan. (Hear, hear.) But was the right hon gentleman so sure that he should be able to pay these bonds, when tney be came due, without inconvenience ? Or was he even sure that ho should then be Chancellor of the Exchequer ? (Hem., hear.) The then Chancellor of the Exchequer might talk of the right hon. gentleman as he now talked of Mr. Pitt. (A laugh.) He might say, "I have the greatest veneration fur the name of Gladstone—(laughter)—but I wish he had not begun his war with these ad interior finances. (Hear, hear.) He was a great Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he made these petty loans at short dates, which so puzzle rne. (Laughter.) H e w as anxious to save his country from burdens, but he has greatly embar rassed me who have t o pay these loans with an empty ex chequer, and a country impoverished with war. (Hear, hear.) Yet Gladstone was a great financier; for he actu ally made the House of Commons think he was not bor rowing at all." (Loud laughter.) The sum which the right hon. gentleman wanted was 3,513,0001., of which the house had already granted 2,0J0,0031. by this loan, and a million and a half was therefore what now remained to be raised. Ho (Mr. Baring) believed that under any other circu ms t ances than those in which the right honourable gentleman had most unfortunately placed the Exchequer-bill market, he might easily have procured the money by Exchequer-bills. (Hear, hear.) If, however, the Government wished to asake a loan, let them do it oi.enly, and call it a loan. (gr. Gladstone, " Hear, hear.") He understood by that c;ieer that the right hon. gentleman said it was a loan. It was then a loan, and one made under great disadvantages, for they e l f 3 t o h rr e o d w e e b d pay o at 4 per cent., and bound themselves to within a certain time. He (Mr. Baring) should at_ all t events propose, if the Government gave the option of pay. ment to the bondholders at all, that the period should be six years instead of four ; because then t he terminab le annuities would have fallen in and the Government would have something wherewith to meet the demand. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman's loan had not hitherto been very successful, and yet it s eemed preposterous that a scheme should fail which involved the payment of 34 per cent. for four years. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman had said that he hail to combat with great obstacles, with the monied power of this country, and that that monied power had been constantly anxious for war, in order that they might make colossal fortunes, as heroes were anxious for war that they might distinguish themselves. He thought it would have been allowed that, at some period, the bankers and capitalists of the City of London had rendered good service to the state ; but the right hon. gentleman c onsidered them as the vampires that sucked its life-blood. (Hear, hear.) He said that Mr. Pitt was only called a heaven-born minister because he made loans; but might it not be that the term was applied to Mr. Pitt because Ito was always successful in his operations ; and the right hon. gentleman certainly could not claim to be " heaven-born" in that sense. (Cheers and laughter.) He would tell the right hon. gen tleman that it had been his lot, in his vocation, to have some dealings with those connected with the monied power of this country ; and he did not believe them to be so bad, so powerful, or so useless as the right hon. gentleman did. He tried to cast an odium on those who were striving to make colossal fortunes. Actuated by this feeling, with what pleasure the right hon. gentleman must have doubled the income tax ; and with what pride and pleasure the country must know that there were colossal fortunes which could meet the increased taxation. (Hear, hear.) But the monied interest were not so powerful as the right hon. gen tleman supposed. They did but reflect public opinion ; they were but the middle men, who conducted the dealings between those who had large fortunes and those who had small ones. They were but the representatives of public opinion ; and the reason why the right hon. gentleman. found that they had not aided him was in reality because he had not offered them anything which the public wanted to buy. (Hear, hear.) It was those who had dissented from the right hon. gentleman's conversion scheme that had made their fortunes—those who had taken their money instead of his new stocks. (Cheers.) And now the right hon. gentleman said, " It is very strange I cannot get these monied people to act with me, because I give them what I think is right, and they won't accept it." (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman should recollect that public opinion was not to be forced, that forced operations were seldom successful. And, though he might say that all was best that was done by this best of all pos sible governments, the public dealers in stocks might take a different view, and might think that they had not had exactly what they ought to have. (Hear, hear.) Then the right hon. gentleman said the matter was now in the hands of the House of Commons; the First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer were very weak with the monied power, but if the house passed a resolution it must prevail: He (Mr. Baring) had a very great respect for the House of Commons ; he knew that its authority was almost supreme and omnipotent; but there was one thing it could npt do—it could not make the Public buy what they - did not Want, if they had the option of refusing it; it could not make them invest money in what they did not like, or feel confidence in that which they had been taught to distrust. (Cheers.) He would ask the house to adopt his amendment for this reason. He wished the Government to speak out plainly and tell them what they wanted this money for, and to what extent they really wanted it. Was it to restore the balances of the Exchequer at least to what they were only last year, and which the Government said ought never to be so large ? Was it that they had under-estimated the expense of the war? Let them come boldly forward and tell the house what they wanted for the expenditure of the war, and they had already seen with what readiness the house would grant their demands. (Hear, hear.) It had been said that this was a vote of want of confidence. But, if this were so, anything might be distorted into a vote of wan t of confidence. The slightest censure, the merest hint or expression of apprehension for the future, might be taken as a declaration of want of confidence. The most powerful Governments had been beaten on a budget, and had not considered it as a vote of want of confidence. Un der Lord Liverpool's administration the income tax had been repealed against the Government, thus taking from them a revenue of 12 01.15 millions; still the Government went on. They had seen, later, under the administration of the noble lord (Russell), two or three budgets brought forward and taken back again. (Cheers, and laughter.) And that was not considered a vote of want of confidence. He had voted for the new taxes of the Government, not because ho did not think that various objections might be made to them, but because he did not wish to throw im pediments in their way. (Hear) But this, if a vote of want of confidence at all, was a vote of want of con fidence on schemes which had failed, on measures which had been rendered abortive by the bad way in which they had been put forward. (Hear.) It was a vote of want of confidence that, in four or six years hence, the state would he able to pay these Exchequer Bonds. (Hear.) Let the Government say what they wanted; if it was a loan let them have it. If they wanted taxes, let them come forward and say what amount they wanted ; but let them not go on inju ing the public credit by those constant, worrying, meddling changes—this succession of disastrous experiments. (Cheers.) Let not the Government think that they could play the game like any other game, by bringing forward a measure, and if it was a bad move, taking it back, and playing again. Financial mistakes were national misfortunes. (Hear.) Financial failures were great calamities ; and a series of failures was fraught with danger to the credit of the country. (Hear, hear.) The Government had a great power to back them ; they had called on the energies of the people ; they had taxed the resources of the count' y • and the country would respond to the demand. (Hear.) But they had within reach arms still more potent- -the national credit ; that credit had achieved wonders, and it could do the same again. But while powerful it was at the same time most sensitive. Under the guidance of a judicious, careful, and experienced hand, it could be borne through the crisis uncrushed and uninjured; but beneath the touch of a modeling, fidgetty, irritating pressure, it might shrink into impotence, or direct itself against its employer and pro duce national debility. He called on the house, not only not to avoid loans, but to avoid this constant tampering and meddling—(hear)—this constant attempt to do something new, something novel, something grand. (Cheers.) With those feelings, and wishing to enter his protest against the continuance f this system, he ventured to propose the amendment of which he had given notice, and which was in the following terms :—" That it is not at present expe dient to authorise any further issue of Exchequer Bonds, with the engagement of 'repayment within the next six ye trs." (Cheers.) The amendment having been seconded and put from the chair, Mr. J. WILSON rose, he said, to expose the numerous errors into which Mr. Baring had fallen. He denied the connection, which Mr. Baring had endeavoured to estab lish, between the financial operations of last year and the resolution under consideration. He justified these opera tions, explaining the state of the national finances at that period, the amount of the public balances, and the object of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his action by means of these balances upon both the unfunded and the funded debt. With regard to the former, he insisted that, but for the failure of the attempt to convert the South Sea Stocks, the operation upon Ex chequer-bills would have been successful ; as it was, the result of both operations had been a reduction, in princi pal and interest, of the national debt; and the only point contended for by Mr. Baring was, that better terms might have been obtained. With regard to the transactions be tween the Government and the Bank of England, he ad mitted that each party was entitled to duo consideration from the other; but there were questions between them upon which discordant opinions might exist. Since 1844 the terms of their dealings had been regulated by act of Parliament, and Mr. Wilson showed the privileges and ad vantages which the Bank enjoyed under this arrangement. The question at the bottom of all these discussions, he be lieved, was—Were we to pay the expenses of the war from means raised within the year, or to have recourse to loans ? He showed, from the report of Sir Henry Parnell's com mittee, the consequences of a fundamental error committed by Mr. Pitt, in 1792, by the hasty an dunnecessary adoption of the borrowing system, which had loaded our finances with a debt, from a large portion of which the country had derived not a farthing of benefit. This fact, he thought, furnished a lesson to us, and a weighty argument against the suggestion of Mr. Baring. The issue of Exchequer bonds was not to be considered as an ordinary loan ; they were temporary securities, and not to be essentially distinguished from Exchequer-bills. But, if the expenditure was to be defrayed by taxes raised within the year, what, it had been asked, was this money wanted for? He replied that new taxes were ling in coming in, and the want of money in hand at the mo ment had been, during the late war, the occasion of im provident bargains. The resolution and the amendment involved the whole question of enabling the Government to lay the foundation of a system of finance so beneficial in the conduct of a great war. Mr. MA.LINS urged at considerable length the impru dence, in spite of warnings, of the measure of last year for converting the 3 per cent. stocks ; and, in connection with that operation, he condemned the scheme of Exchequer bonds, which, lie insisted, constituted a loan, as at vari ance with principles laid down by the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself. He could not put the loss to the country from his false step, he said, at less than 800,0001. The present proposal to raise a loan of ~ ,000,0001. at 4 per cent. to pay off a 3 per cent. stock would occasion a loss of 60,0001. a year. On the subject of Bank accommodation, Mr. Malins argued against what he considered to be falla cies in the views taken by the Chancellor of the Exche quer and Mr. 'Wilson, and, in conclusion, he predicted the probability that the scheme now proposed might entail hereafter a further loss of 600,0001. Mr. LAING thought ii, necessary, after considering the wide field into which the discussion had wandered, to re mind the committee that the amendment of the hon. mem ber for Huntingdon was, that "it was inexpedient to authorise any further issue of Exchequer bonds, with the engagement of repayment within six years ;" the obvious meaning of which was that there was a probability of Go vernment not being able in six years to obtain facilities for paying off such bonds. Now he could not help thinking that if that hon. member had the same peculiar experiences which he (Mr. Laing) had acquired by sitting at a railway board, he would not have put forward such a proposition. In his capacity of chairman of a railway, by no means one of the largest in the kingdom, he had seen operations car ried out almost equal to those which the hon. gentleman feared as likely to cast so heavy a burden on the country. (Hear.) Having made some inquiries into the matter, he (Mr. Laing) could state that the amount of the floating loans of railway companies at the end of the year 1853 was 64,640,6681., and at the present moment it Was about 70,000,000/. The average date at which the sums making up that total were repayable, was considerably under five years, but more than four. Taking it, however, at the longer date, it would be seen that it involved the annual renewal to the railway companies of loans to the amount of 14,000,000/. ; an operation which had been, and was effected by those companies with perfect ease, in the open markets of the kingdom. (Hear.) How was the opera tion effected? Simply by the railways availing themselves of the enormous class of the public always on the look out for an investment for their money, which would re turn them a somewhat larger interest than the public funds. The average amount of the sums advanced to railways was 1,5001., and the class advancing were those who sought investments upon mortgage. A few larg3 sums were advanced by the great insurance offices. The question was, Ought the Government of this country to feel any apprehension in entering into competition with the railway companies, especially when they could offer a bet ter security, and one more easily transferred ? He thought that it was idle to talk of apprehension. (Hear, hear.) But then it was said that the amount might be better raised by means of Consols. That was really a question of convenience. If the amount required were borrowed in Consols, then it would be taken at 85 per cent., or 31 per cent. interest; while, if it were borrowed upon Exchequer Bonds, the amount of interest would be 4 per cent. But in Consols the country would be bound to pay at par that which was borrowed at 83, and for that reason he thought that the Cha nce ll or o f the Exchequer had exercised a wise discretion in the course which he had taken, for he avoided the example of former wars, when money had been bor rowed upon a depreciated security. (Hear, hear.) As re garded the details of the carrying out of this principle, he (Mr. Laing) felt bound to say that there were some things to be questioned in the course of the Government. (Oppo sition cheers.) He thought that the wisest plan would have been to go direct to the market with the security, and to have had only one denomination of bond. Having, however, said this much strictly to the question of these bonds, he thought it right to state that, in his opinion, the motion of the hon. member for Huntingdon (Mr. T. Baring) had, in reality, bean used as a peg on which to hang a much wider subject, for the subsequent discussion amounted to no thing more nor less than an impeachment of the whole financial policy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. This virtual vote of want of confidence had been supported by a retrospective review of the whole of the transactions in which the right hog. gentleman had been engaged. The greatest stress had been laid on the experiment with regard to the conversion of a portion of the national debt. That was undoubtedly an easy topic on which to find fault, be cause it was admitted on all hands that the experiment was an unsuccessful one, which it would have been better never to have made. et it was only fair to remember that at the time when that experiment was made, the public funds had been for a considerable period above par, that a conversion had been recently successfully carried out in a neighbouring country, and that it was a period of great national prosperity. It was true that there had been a slight reaction in the money market, but upon that subject the opinions of the ablest men were much divided. The vast amount of gold discovered in Australia, had, in the first instance, taken money from England, and the state of things in China led to the same result. Experience in America had shown that the first discovery of gold caused a temporary tightness in the money market, fol , lowed speedily by the other extreme. Hence it was that persons of experience in the City were divided in opinion, and some of them considered the ti me a fa vourable one for the experiment of the Chancellorbuot Exchequer. (Hear, hear.) The scheme, after all, was an experiment, and although an unsuccessful contained for the time, he (Mr. Laiug) believed that it have,the a t principleaemupon time, which te an b e enormous diruini nationaldiminished. H e d debt hen er would foundthought b e t that t ttehre was unsuccessful,u cell o r of f t e w E et x i c id l e b q a u v e e r w , d s e v n h aen t b e h sto e . ter to have closed the scheme at once (hear) have saved all but the first loss; still, upon a mere ques tion of detail like that, he did not think that thecom mittee would agree to a sweeping vot e of censure.t a Look ing at this as a matter of private finance, appeared t tob mostaextraordinarysufficient, idea. indeed( H e a a r, , liberalear ba The e n e a , run hand t . but that was no reason why a d eficienc y in one branch should not be made good out of a surplus in another. He (Mr. Laing) dissented from most of the criticisms passed upon the financial experiment of last year, which was founded upon the true principle of action upon the national debt. Before ho could consent to the extreme measure of censure involved in the amendment upon the whole finan e h Ipo e lic sa y i o d f , atthethCehagnuceealtlioornoaaf tahewhr:lceh, a e that. , he some errors h a d peen comm i t t e d , could not 'hut Exchequer, r admitting j he must look, PETITIONS. Petitions were presented by Mr. FREWIN from Sussex, praying for the better regulation of public houses on Sun days ; by Lord H. VANE from Darlington, praying for the abolition of Church rates; Mr. CROSSLEY presented seve ral similar petitions from places in Lancashire; Mr. BEVAN presented a similar petition from Heywood; by Mr. BRIGHT from places in Scotland, praying for a reform of the Poor law enforced in that part of the country ; also from hame, in Oxfordshire, in favour of ocean penny postage ; by Mr. CHALIS, from Finsbury, against the endowment of May nooth ; by Mr. MUNTZ, from Birmingham,in favour of the bill for the registration of bills of sale ; by Mr. KERSHAW, from several places; praying for the abolition of church rates; by Mr. H. BRUCE, from places in Wales, pray ing for the total abolition of church rates; by Sir E. PERRY, from the inhabitants of Singapore and other settlements, in the Straits of Malacca, praying that a Resident Judge may be appointed at Singapore, and that other defects in the administration of justice in those settlements may be supplied ; by Mr. A. PELLATT from Cambridgeshire, praying for the abolition of Church rates; by Mr. BROCKLEHUUST, to the same effect from Maccles field ; by Mr. COWAN from Dunkeld, praying that the universities may be thrown open to all classes of her Ma jesty's subjects. PIRATES. Sir G. B. PECHELL moved for a return of all sums paid to the officers and crews of her Majesty's ships, for rewards for services against pirates, under the Act 13 and 14 Vic. c. 27, specifying the number of pirates in each case killed, captured, or escaped, with the dates of such capture or seizure, the dates of the several awards in the Admiralty Court, and the dates when the said rewards be came payable for distribution.—Agreed to. CHELSEA HOSPITAL. Mr. OLIVEIRA asked the Secretary at War whether arrangements are being made, at the Royal Asylum at Chelsea, to carry into effect accommodation for the in creased number of 120 children, which he consented to add to that institution on a recent occasion. Mr. HERBERT stated that he had called for plans and estimates for the purpose of enlarging the building, and had also given orders to obtai❑ additional schoolmasters. HIGHWAYS. Mr. M. SMITH asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he can state the opinion of the Go vernment with respect to a bill which had been prepared in the Home-office, for amending the Highway Laws for England and Wales, and whether there is any intention on the part of the Government to introduce such a mea sure during the present session. Lord PALMERSTON had not been able to give his at tion to it yet, and ho was afraid he could not bring in such a bill this session. CHARITABLE TRUSTS. Mr. PELLATT asked Lord J. Russell whether Govern ment has decided to appoint an additional number of in spectors or commissioners to aid the charity commissioners to carry out the views contem bled by the act of last session, and including an inquiry into endowments of schools, libraries, &c. Lord J. RUSSELL said no premature step had yet been taken on the subject, as Government were anxious to take the opinion of the commissioners upon it. MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR. Mr. GRENFELL asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any answer has been received to the ad tress to the Crown of the 24th March, praying for an inquiry into the claims of the Military Knights of Windsor, and, if so, whether any steps have been taken with reference to the same ? Lord PALMERSTON replied that, according to law, the dispute could only be settled by a writ in Chancery, but he was in hopes of being able to induce both sides to consent to a reference by which the expense of such a suit would be saved. PRISONERS OF WAR AND THE NEWS FROM THE BALTIC. __ Mr. DIGBY SEYMOUR wished to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the fact that several English vessels, with their crews, have been detained in Odessa since the bombardment of that fort, and that it has been stated in some of the daily press that Admiral Dundas proposes to open negotiations with the Russian authorities for an exchange of prisoners; and whether any communication has been received at the Admiralty from Admiral Dundas, or any orders have been sent from the Admiralty to Admiral Dundas on this subject. He wished also to ask the right hon. baronet whether he had received any information confirming the report that Sir Charles Napier had made 1,500 prisoners in the Baltic. Sir J. GRAHAM stated on a former occasion that 12 or 14 vessels had been captured between the mouth of the Danube and Odessa, and in consequence of that capture 50 persons were made prisoners of war. They were seamen engaged in the coasting trade. They were not expert sailors, and Admiral Dundas, anxious to liberate them, addressed a communication to General Sacken, in com mand at Odessa, proposing to exchange these prisoners for certain sailors who were British subjects, and detained by the Russians in Odessa. General Sacken answered that application by stating that he was not himself at liberty to enter into such a negotiation, but he had forwarded the proposal to Prince Paskewitch at head-quarters. (Hear.) lie was not aware what step Admiral Dundas took in the matter before sailing to bombard Sebasto pol ; but in consequence of what had taken place the Admiralty had caused instructions to be sent out to Admiral Dundas dire ctin g him, on no acco unt, to liberate any persons h e had ca p tured witho ut an s ( t H at e e arg iat W he ith hw r i e r s e p e e e c i t ve t do y apier since the sth of M ay, t e ni x oie c a h le z a t e n eot g u e cinutes foreft from oe r mn i r: t he cc u ehu b a j l r, e il c ee t sn s . N 1 when the fleet was about to leave the coast of Sweden. He was, therefore, not in possession of any information tending to confirm the report referred to. WAYS AND MEANS. th T at h t e li C e ER was a n i o d , changeeo fa r Mr. T. BARING said he felt it necessary to say that he CHANCELLOR L d L e O le ß av o e f t t h h e e c E h X air C . HEQUEß then moved should postpone the amendment. of which he had given no thicee,hoennetehwe epnrtopieostietile:TmoefliW into ways and means, till a The s t CHANCELLORhe Government wer were f concerned whatever in their intentions or announcements. He could not understand how there could be any misunderstanding I n C e C d r Wi c e ' rY to the order of proceeding, for he hid treen most olaft4 his eyes against the merits of the leading principles of that policy. It would be a great misfortune to the country if the present amendment was earned. Mr. CAIRNS objected to the proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to raise the resources for carrying on the war year by year within the year ; and he objected to the taxation by which he proposed to raise these resources. Who, he asked, were the persons to be permanently bene fitted by the war? Those who will come hereafter, and they should, in his opinion, pay a share of the burden. But, if the expenses of the war were to be raised each year, he protested against this being done by doubling the in come tax, with all its inequalities. Mr. JOHN Iit'GREGOR approved of the principle of borrowing money for short periods, and paying the ex penses of each year of the war by the year's taxes. Had that course been adopted daring the last war, the money of the State would have been expended as economically as that of a private individual. With regard to the conver sion of stocks last year, he maintained that at the time that it was p ro p ose d the state of the money market was such as to warrant the Chancellor of the Exchequer in making the proposal ; and he denied that after the termi nation of the war, and the return of prosperity, the coun try would have lost one shilling by the transaction. The present moderate proposal ought to be at once accepted. He characterised the opposition to it as factious, and said that the amendment had nothing to do with the financial position of the country, but was and would be considered by the country as a vote of want ce confidence in the mea sures of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "Whatever might be the views of a certain portion of that house, how ever, he was convinced that the country would support the finance minister, an t i w ou ld approve of his meeting the ex penses of the war without entailing heavy debts upon posterity. Mr. T. HANKEY sail that after listening with great at tention to the speech of th e h on mem b er for Huntingdon, he was quite at a loss to understand hi s mo ti ve in proposing the amendment with which he h a d concluded.He (Mr Hankey) was anxious to avoid any expr ess i on o f opinion n the part of thecommittee which should cripple the action of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or should declare that the mode of borrowing money which he proposed to adopt was injurious or undesirable. He had never been able to understand why the Ministers of this country had so long debarred themselves from raising money by loans for a li mited period on the system which had been pursued with so much advantage by railway companies, and which was a system acted on by the Governments of all countries ex cept our own. He rejoiced that the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had at last adopted a system which he believed would be most beneficial to the country—that of borrowing for a short and limited time money which he had shown the house that he should have the means of repaying from the income to be derived from taxes which he intended to impose, and which he (Mr. Hankey) understood the house was not unwilling to sanction. If he had the means of doing this, he (Mr. Hankey) thought it was a most proper course for him to adopt, and he hoped that the house would not throw any difficulties in the way of his carrying out such a measure. In compliance with repeated calls, the bell was rung for a division. After it had been ringing some time, and when a considerable number of members had entered the house, Mr. DISRAELI rose, and was received with cheers and laughter. He said—Mr. Bonverie—Sir, I did expect that some member of the Government would perhaps have re plied to the motion made by a most important member of the house, who is, I think, at all times and on all subjects de. serving of the attention of a Government —(cheers)—and who to-night spoke upon a subject upon which he addressed the house with all the influence which naturally results from his pursuit, his character, and his ability. I think lam not say ing too much in saying that, though the great fault of his eloquence is the rarity of his appeals, which we all regret, on no occasion has he addressed either yourself or the chair on which he has produed a greater effect, or more completely justified the step which be has taken. (Hear.) I should myself have willingly listened to the answer of the Govern ment to the objections to the motion which is now before the house on the part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but I hope the committee will excuse me if on this occasion I take the liberty of making some remarks upon the sub ject before the house. An hon. gentleman who has just addressed the housestold us that it is not upon a mere reso lution moved in committee that the house has to decide, but that it has indeed to decide upon the whole financial policy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I was not my self disposed to view the question in that light, but at the same time I am not prepared to shrink from that discussion if it is the mood of the committee that we should enter into it. Sir, I conceive that the demand which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made upon the committee to-night has in a great degree resulted from the principles upon which he has conducted his finance. I cannot agree with an hon. gentleman who has recently addressed the house that we have before us only an affair of detail, and not an affair of principle. I am willing, therefore, to argue the case on the broadest grounds, and to take the more comprehensive issue. ' , I think that the conduct of our finances by th e r i g ht h on . gentleman has been from the first erroneous, and I wish to give to the committee, with as much brevity as I can, the reasons why I think the administration of the finances by the right hon. gentleman has been erroneous, and has been, in consequence of those errors, injurious to the country. Sir, I think that in the first year of the management of the finances by the right hon. gentlemen—the management which has led to the resolutions now before the committee —it is not difficult to point out a variety of courses that he has pursued which he was not justified in pursuing. One advantage that we have in speaking upon these sub jects now is, that that which a year ago was abstruse to the majority of hon. members—which even a couple of months ago was not easy of immediate apprehension—has really, by frequent discussions, become so familiar to every gentleman that it is not necessary for me to dwell upon these points at that length which on previous occasions perhaps it was my duty to do. Now the first error of the right hon. gentleman has been touched tome to-night by the hon. member for Huntingdon, and was frequently re ferred to in the course of this discussion, and that was one which has been constantly brought before the considera tion of the house and the committee, namely, his lowering of the rate of interest upon Exchequer-bills. The right hon. gentleman has on several occasions, and in that speech in which I may say he introduced the resolutions now under discussion, vindicated the course which he in teneded to take. I don't think that 1 am giving a par tial opinion if I say that the vindication of the right hon. gentleman of that step has not, I think, prover} satisfactory to this house or to the country. taro doubt the observation pf the right hon. gentleman, that in the month of March the very fact that Exchequer-bills were sent in, not for payment, but for conversion, is a seeming vindication, as he states, of the measure that was taken. No doubt on the first blush of the matter that is an apparent answer to the charge that we had made. But really it is a superficial one, and has been noticed to-night by the hon. member for Huntingdon, as might have been expected from s gentleman of his experience and acquain tense with the subject. It is not immediately that the commercial community call on the Chancellor of the Ex chequer to pay his bills in money ; but although for a moment this indulgence was extended to the right hon. gentleman, the consequence of his conduct was so appa rent when at a later date, but still not remote period a large amount of the balances in the Exchequer were called for in the most inconvenient manner to defray the obligations resulting from his policy. Well, sir, I shall not dwell upon another point, which I only notice that the house may bear it in its mind. It is a fact, not to be disputed that the right hon gentleman did think it a wise course to reduce the interest upon the public securities when the bankers were raising the interest upon private securities, and when every symptom which I think ought to have guided the right hon. gentleman--such as the fall in the funds, which the right hon. gentleman will no longer deny --the double rise of the rate of interest in the Bank—the fall in the premium on his own Exchequer-bills—must all have warned him that a considerable change was taking place in the fortunes of the money market. I think the reason given by the hon. gentleman the other night which he drew from the course of the exchanges affected by our Indian trade, however good so far as it went, of a very limited and partial character. There is no doubt that the right hon. gentleman, as well as other persons, was misled by the great increase in the production of the precious metals, and that he did not give credit for that remarkable increase in our commercial transactions which was the consequence of the discovery of that increase of the precious metals, and which was an increase in greater proportion than the increase in those metals. Sir, I am quite willing to share the blame of having formed an erroneous opinion on the same subject, of which the right hon. gentleman of course has reminded me. I answered the right hon. gentleman that it was my opinion—an opinion that I had formed as to the low rate of interest, and in which I was fortified by high authorities, and the right hon. gentleman said—" Did not you have these opinions, and of what use are opinions unless they are acted upon?" But although that was my opinion in the month of December, still I do think that in the month of February, if I had been aware that the fun ds had fallen 1, per cent., if I had been aware that the Bank had raised the rate of interest twice in the preceding month, and aware also of the great efflux of the precious metals—that whatever might be my theoretical opinions formed from study, and although I thought that that might have been in the long run justified by experience and the course of events—l think I should have had sufficient caution and p rudence not to ac t then upon that opinion. Under these circumstances, refusing so to act, I do not think I would have conducted andin ducted myself in a manner that would have given foundation for the belief that I was insincere in the opiniohnasile beenhad ytehne tured to express. Well, I con sider this to first great fault in the management d of ealin ht at first si year 1853—1 mean the incautious , g w finnan i th c es t h i e n th e u funded debt of the country. And although, the consequences which !mimed fro that step may not have been so appar ent•as they have m since proved to be, I still believe that that must be accounted a very great error. Sir, the second great mistake which the right hon. gentle man, has made in the administration of our somewhat finances—l p danticallam sure he will pardon m yl y through this catalogue, but oil am g e obliged now, from an ac cident which we all deplor e, to a answer in some degree a made so me time ago, and it is but due to the right speech hon. gentlem an and myself — and I do not shrink from the task—l say the second great fault of the right hon. gentle man in the administration of the finances in 1853, was that celebrated scheme of conversion which has occupied the attention of the country so much, and also that of the committee this evening. The vastness of that scheme is sometimes forgotten, because circumstances prevented on ly a very comparatively minor portion having been fulfilled, or attempted to be fulfilled. But I must again remark that the whole principles upon which that scheme of conversion, which might haze been ap plied to the whole amount of the public debt, was calcu lated, were, in my mind, fallacious and contradictory principles. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman has reproached me and others because, in the month of March, when he brought forward his conversion scheme, we warned him of the impolicy of his greater scheme, and dwelt little upon the i nconven i ence t h at m i g h t accrue from the failure of his minor project Now, sir, Ido not shrink in the least from the opinion that I then gave, that it was extremely unwise to bind this country up in engagements which were to last forty yea• s ' to ensure the stipulation of a certain fixed ra t e o f interest, whether it were 3 per cent., or 2A per cent., I should almost be tempted to go further — I say that the principle of an arrangement of a duration such as was proposed by the right hon. gentleman was in my mind a most imprudent one, and one which, whatever may be the rate of interest ruling in this country at any time, ought not under any circumstances to be sanctioned. Sir, the right hon. gentleman reproached us that did not w' remind him of the inconvenience that might ar ise to the Treasury from the failure of the smaller portion of his con version scheme, namely, the necessity of having to p a y on the holders of South Sea Annuities . I think Inlay.lre the vindication of hon. gentlemen on this side of . tig d ad i r r e . to the hon. and learned member for W allingf A Mali* who has laid beforolho hew web appl e quo* I tions of the warnings and prophecies given to the rich hon. gentleman, that, if I had no share in those pre die tions, and no share iu those warnings, I may at least be proud of my colleagues and coadju.to• s for having been more apt and far-seeing than myself. But surely the right hon. gentleman cannot pretend any longer that on this sub ject he did not receive due caution from this side of the house. Well, that was the second great mistake of 1853. The first was with regard to his dealing with the unfunded debt; the second was with rasped to his dealing with the funded debt. But there is a p o i n t f or our consideration, when we have to estimate the prudence and calculate the caution of the right hon. gentleman in these matters— there is one element of our consideration which, when we touched on the subjects originally, was not in our posses sion. Sir, when this subject was first discussed in this house this session, I remember that on that very night be fore the financial debate took place, r had to address a question to the noble lord the leader of this house, with respect to a certain statement that had appeared that morning in an English newspaper with regard to certain declarations which had been made by the Emperor of Russia with reference to the information possessed by the Government of his intentions at a period far earlier than had been supposed by the House of Commons. That was on the very day, if I recollect right, when the financial discussion occurred in this house, and the noble lord pro mised that we should be put in possession of these docu ments. We argued the case of the management of the finances without the advantage of those documents. We argued the case of the management of the finances merely with the state papers before us that had been laid upon the table. But it resulted from those documents subse quently presented to this house that the right honourable gentleman must have been impressed with, if not the certainty, the more than possibility of this country being engaged in hostilities, and in hostilities with the most powerful empire. (Near, hear.) Sir, I might show that even in the earlier part of February, the right honourable gentleman ought not to have bean blind to what was occurring ; but I do not press that point. The right hon. gentleman I,ad recently acceded to office ; he had a great pressure upon him in his depart ment; he might not at that moment have been so deeply impressed as perhaps he ought to have been with the alarming state of Europe; but a month afterwards the right hon. gentleman must have taken his part in many Cabinet meetings in which the gravest discussion must have occurred, upon the possibility, and the more than possibility, of a war with a power of first-rate resources ; and I ask the house—l ask the committee, is it of opinion that under these circumstances a Minister of Finance should have come forward and proposed to this house to deal upon a large scale with a scheme of conversion which cowasuntsery touch (Hear,th the ter part of the public debt of this Well then, I say that that was the second grea t f au l t of the right hon. gentleman. But the failure of the conversion scheme is no !longer to be gnaged by the depth and extent of the fallacy of the prin ciples upon which it was founded ; but it was a great fault —a great fault of statesmanship quite irrespective of his errors of finance, that at the ti me w h en h e i n t ro d uce d that scheme to the house, he should have asked this house to deal with a great project for reducing the interest on the national debt of the country, when he ought to have known that there was the chance, and more than the chance, of this country being engaged in war. And when the right hon. gentleman tunas round and taunts ns now with not having given him sufficient warning —of not having been early enough in prophecy and prediction as to the incon venience and injury of his course and conduct—l tell him that these taunts fall to the ground, because if we had been completely silent—if we had not objected in any way to his measures, his fault depends upon circumstances quite independent , and irrespective of the verdicts of this house and of the country, because he should have formed his judgment and his opinions upon circumstances of the gravest import that were utterly unknown to this house and the country. (Hear, hear.) Well, sir, I come next to the third fault—the third great financial error in the year 1853 of the right hon. gentleman. His third great financial error is, at any rate, one which the hon. gentle. man who lately addressed us (Mr. Laing) cannot call a question of detail ; it is not a question that concerns the interest upon an Exchequer bill; it is not one that con cerns even the terms upon which you may effect the con version of an annuity. It is under the circumstances the gravest error that a statesman—a financial statesman can possibly commit ; it is one which, in my opinion has grie vously injured the fortunes and resources of the country. and that has mainly prepared those difficulties which I fear it is impossible to flatter ourselves we shall not have to contend with ; and the third great error of which I accuse the right hon. gentleman in 1853, is that he came forward, and, under circumstances which ought to have convinc ed him that war was more than imminent, proposed to the House of Commons a peace budget. Now, I do not call the budget of 1853 a peace budget because the right hon. gen tleman proposed to repeal taxes—l do not call it a peace budget for that reason, for the right hon. gentleman him self may tell me as he has told us before, that if he brought forward measures which immediately tend to diminish and reduce the resources of the country, he also proposed other measures which in due time would increase those resources, or would at least supply the deficiency which his measures might create. I may say, in passing, that Ido not at all admit the justice of the observation of the right hon. gen tleman, which has been made more than once. If the right hon. gentleman believed that there was a chance of this country being involved in war, it is no excuse for his destroying any source of revenue that he also substituted an equivalent in its place. (Hear, hear.) The country Might require, and probably will require, both sources of revenue. (Hear, hear.) Therefore Ido not admit the ar gument that because he proposed and carried more than one new tax, he was at all justified, with the information of which he must have Inen master, in proposing the re peal of other taxes. (Hear.) But lam not describing his budget as a peace budget because he repealed the other taxes—l call it a peace budget, not merely because it pro posed the repeal of taxes, but because the right hon. gen tleman, in order to induce the house and the country to embrace his policy, chalked out a financial future which was all founded upon the further repeal of taxes. (Hear.) It is not merely that the right hon. gentleman, addressing the House of Commons, who no more dreamt of war than they now dream of peace—(hear)— it is not that' the right bon. gentleman then had the extreme rashness and pre cipitation to diminish the duties on tea by one-half, but he more than intimated to the house that the wine duties would, within a few years' time, be very speedily dealt with; and indeed I am much mistaken (and I believe it is no breach of confidence, and that there is no doubt of the fact) if even at the beginning of the war—at least so it reaches me from abroad, from a country disturbed by some envoy of the right hon. gentleman—her Majesty's Govern ment were not then meditating and maturing a consider able reduction of the wine duties. (Laughter.) Well, _I do not object to the Chancellor of the Exchequer dealing even with the wine duties ; but I say that a Chancellor of the Exchequer, in possession of the information which ought to assure him that the peace of Europe is in immi nent danger, and who comes forward and proposes the re peal of taxes to a large amount, and intimates to the House of Commons that the policy he is pursuing will speedily lead to still greater remissions, cannot pretend that he was not proposing a peace budget. But Ido not say that the right honourable gentleman was proposing a peace budget merely because he proposed the remission of taxes, or merely because he indicated a further remission of taxes which it was his intention to make, although I think that that is ample proof of my statement; but let me remind the house of the mode and manner in which the right bon. gentleman, according to his own account alone, induced the House of Commons to consent to the continuance and reenactment of the' income and property tax. If the right hon. gentleman believed that there was a chance of war—if he was of opinion, after all the Cabi net Councils that he had attended, that the peace of Europe was in extreme danger, how can the right hon. gentleman justify it to the country that he should have come forward and induced the house to accept the con tinuance of the income tax upon specific conditions, those conditions being that it should gradually diminish, and at a certain date should entirely disappear—(he . ar)— the funds intended to enable it to be extinguished being those to be supplied by the large amount of terminable , anuuities which would fall in to the public advantage ? I think it is hardly necessary to give further proofs to the oommittee that the budget of 1853 was a budget of pure peace. Now was the right hon. gentleman—a Minister of the Crown— cognisant of all the despatches of our foreign envoys, tak ing a leading part, no doubt, in our co uncils, acquainted with all of those circumstances which have since been made known to us—was the right hon. gentleman, I ask the house, I ask this committee, with no fear of what must be the opinion of oil im)•artial men—was the right wr masa tn hon. nt g in en d tl t e m m g a e n the n H j ea u r e , tifi h e e c a l r. i ) u b w e r l h ie e v t in l g va t e ha t t h r e el.w inf e o then in the possession of the right hon. gentleman? Why, he was in possession of information from those em ployed by himself and his collea g ues—b y the servants of the Crown abroad—that our foe was at that moment mak ing propositions to the Ottoman Porte, inducing her to enter into an alliance hostile to England. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman knew that large armies were prepared and assembled on the frontiers of Turkey, and that at that moment the opinion of men whose judgment ought so have guided us was, that the balance of power was in danger, and the political existence of Turkey was at stake. Well, sir, considering that that budget greatly diminished the resources of the country—considering that that budget made the Government enter into engagements which, I may say throughout the country generally, would certainly lead to great disappointment if fresh appeals were made for the imposition of new taxes—l think a peace budget in 1853 was a great blunder on the part of the right honourable gentleman. I hope the committee will excuse me for a moment if I reproduce the statement of the right honourable gentlemen on this par ticular head. It is not agreeable to me at any time to vin dicate the conduct of the late Government, but I hope the house will not think me egotistical if I answer a charge which has been specifically made. The right honourable gentleman the other night dilated on the budget of 1853, and in defence of that budget said, " See what a position the Government was in , _ in 1853, w ith regar d to their finance. The income tax had ceased to exist. We had to propose its renewal under circumstances of extreme diffi culty. The late Government had left that question in such a state that our difficulty was extremely aggravated in that respect." Now, in the first place Ido imagine that the late G overnment had some difficulty on that, head, for the late Government had found the income tax equally non-existent as the right honourable gentleman. The late Government had to decide on a great question which at that time agitated the public mind, whether there should be a difference recognised in the assessment of temporary and permanent incomes. Now, lam not g s o e i n n t g , to enter into sny controversy on that subject whaothpriPs not which would alone take up the night, now necessary ; but although a difficult " ) , d u :ttle sias fought rested with the right hon. gentleman, the 13 before the right and the question was decided on that head vote on that sub hon. gentleman acceded to office. The ent quitted o ffi ce; thfit subject jest was that on which the late Governm ent and to pretend that the House ofCo m mons , t r o ig th h e t refused to recognise that principle, assumption which only which they virtually n r d i i g d h , tcohuolud. gentlemen, ever he an i sobstaclereaytoua ld Ise ttlement v the interval that has elapsed co (A laugh.) But the right hon. gentleman to indulge in. o ncd of th it e hon. entleman once before, at insinuation from the right g _ _ t. n 'nuance, and debate of many days' co hon. gentleman said something more. I have heard the the end of a heated necessary particularly then to notice I had not thought it it. He said th e late Government had decided on the ques tionmwei without e t t o it ther reflection e n e c t o i e m n e e t r ax re w e i e t er ho eh ut , thought decided —thnotf they l s i s n e c s i s , upon a nnouncing t h e y that n wodutldhe right hon.gentle man makea which they had no t mature d , a comi lained that I , as the or g an of the lat e Government, had ' no t placed on the table the schedules which we wished to carry. I assure the right hon. gentleman that he is in error in that view, which I am sure he sin cerely entertained. The question of whether a difference in the assessment to the income tax should be recognised between permanent and temporary incomes was most deeply considered by the late Government, and occupied repeated and protracted consultations. It was our opinion that that difference should be recognised ; nor does say argument that I have heard, I may say in passlng, founded, if the details were trat, on the igeatex amount paid b/ 111, ) P.M. a.m• 1 Paid.l 7 Il 1 ,~,,