The Sun. — London, England, 1844-04-30 00:00:00

there is a% d pounds, Yaw five shilli n g * four shillings, I ten shilliag to reduce tas: the advalits In order to e ity, but to Of f present rate.,„, ere the pram"; levied anm iln m exceeds 15 , a '., 6d. per cea,'''' 'counts to 5 5 r 1 insurance/ I .A, i and to varY For every ita" not exceed r e s t ; F ls. 3d. ; " of but does Ld of is. 3 ti ; at Prea n s n os s not exce ed does not r ice ; )s. but does n o szls 50s. but t : it is above 61 the course.: revenue 'r nt to 10 0 9 0 n, "/ .7, e iourse of 13 7 111 change $ 'n ible incre ase l to this cotoltri sp e n try will re d ould be den t , is reductioo.o partially n ents an dd , ales, but th o ' very swag 11 , 5 , to trouble o f articles c s , articles of ri in mentiooti! tr of the 1011-e, s and laughte r : ) , and is, ther efo r. we consider O.! nposed upoq. l ! if the countrl of its wed 1 : lee of one co o l on thi s CW re Now, wha tpEIl s after srticle °t 0 i ver order s ury agre eaby t h, ? neral heal _, is in the low large one• curra nts frcr ;umen t also i s 0 re the ns"„ intimate c 0 " r nt in fa/I ° s 'ololoting rces are ehie!a mainly dell ° do not c m : atever may Lust at least ' ,i; as reg al . er feet fairn e . s : could inentw e —I think o f of 50,0001.°,1 calculate 5,,1; of revenue..,:r. : upon thi' r P ao a great deg, h ice !e at w-- a ll h I would c -(H ea r, het" nera l arraar; h e distinc Via , re fixe d 0 a _ nc i a the one , a", dot; minating, be 5 value o f. e d ly maintita%, red in ee y ) y difficult s ay on foref tc have thon?.re, have be en i f of fail roys eh • • those nege t r ni e , louse to 6 a, scl. to e xamina t L ° a dmit On, ountry, ,a tly to rr; of the coor s t i o s the reclo' t bot to les i x tead e jag tO , ,0 the ItlXtlr) is a a that 1 ' el 603 wh ich ieh 1 the sr — to the lionse • 9 upon gear, that it is bit iced into th: ! hieory the ,„„ 0111 ' 0 has be; , mud in i, e say that 1 ' tier It is a ma ed to a grrf e , r which t 9 range s in th e )ss will o ) I n°ll3 t the oil, upon hO .) ~ —(Cee 3n / it two suL — s e o the WI, 5 taken rade. resisted tbe of this dutit to reveti n )1 was s o tQ n-a, man e ~..) [ear, 3ritish co J cturer ; n n rer lanufac tu t he ion than r ye 'ample of tidily educ. 1 * wi t , tter to e and to l e ,‘", c t .odue, el_ theloo, 1003 t he article, Ato igh we t we 0 0' if the e bes a nufac. , which ho g )SS W e s ose I Pr o f , r of imottmv r 35,t) 0 0 ppr' —upon oo o/, ae, 5 °';„01, upr ri d nr in I' o ioh i thi3 n3 ;l a l d v night i t Fear, I But' d e r ately sarilv fo,;th " the. ;pect tc l ie o f ic neje t he °ward,' if artici, e ,' to to sta r to Pu' e c vill not the theta . t oarlolls I I int 1 k° se : tb d to a°, the ion °` cle. aty the in 14 .0 res*:, err i 00- ry af f ° e oti at d uce pro- ,e a, re ol°` re -ICS, t 0 , ia ber cOY e 7ieg C0 111:1 ' the Of 05 Pl ea py s t r P' der cer i J' , - cope 0 , o ost 1 h wit h roe re curill w this le p o r icli to resP ec a s u P P t con' r t ° spa ask ie gr - e s count r ; , l , anat . sac to he Bti ft - 1 ffece atta impOS." °L taint ll CISII fr om ~arsl aid t• treaty :with Brazil is brought to a conclusion there is a treaty with America, which contains a similar cladse to the et le a and entitles America to the rights extended by us t,, the most-favoared nation. Nothing can be further from my intention than to infringe the letter of any enact ment existing with that or any other country, but I think when we take the discussion on the sugar duties I shall be .able to show that the sugar produced in the southern states of North America is not calculated to be brought into competition wi - h the sugar, the pro lute of free labour, I have now been speaking of. I can assure you, Sir, it would have bean most satisfactory to me if the state of the revenue would have permitted me to make some general arrangement of a per lament nature with respect to the sugar duties. It would have been desirable to place the reduction of the duty on colonial sugar on a solid and p-rinanent foundation ; but it is obvious that till November next it .will be utterly impossible to act upon any principle of that description, for the doing so would paralyse all the trade in the interior. I think tlait the better course will be to admit fer.!ign sager, at a die eliminating duty, and continue it till that periol . hall arrive when the sugar duties come again wider conside ration. In doing this, far be it from me to entertain any ill feeling toward`those countries who e sugar will re main excluded. I think the reduction ee have made in the coffee of those countries proses sufficiently that no such feeling 'inimates the Government. With respect to the amount, both of the fixed duty and the differential duty, I have been anxious to take that ameunt which represents, as nearly as possible, the ad vantage which I apprehend ought to be given to colonial or foreign sugar—to free-grown sugar above that pro • duced by slave labour. I have now stated to the House the details of our financial plan for the last year and for that which is to come ; and I trust the House will per mit me, without assuming an) thing like arrogance or Presumption, to congratulate it oa the generally improved condition of our manufactures 'tad commerce. It is perhaps of all tasks the most difficult to arrest the downward progress of revenue arising from deficiency extending over a series of years. With respect to this, the House has fulfilled its assurance to the Crown, of making the revenue of the ccuntry equal to its expendi ture. They have, in the course of this session, given • evident p roo f o f the e ff ect w hi c h t h e i r conduct has had on the credit of the country, and I cannot but hope, that if the House goes on in tha prudent and forbearing c !'"rse they have _hitherto pursued, and which I have taken the liberty of recommending to them this even , o ftl„,, if .,.they . prefer to a present advantage the policy a u tfi c : l "g the finances of the country on a solid looting; pr4r ent not only to meet an annual deficiency, but to ere tec t us fro m those vicissitudes of fortune to which complicated concerns of a great country like this must necessarily be exposed, I believe that the House i Wil l insure to this country a continuance of its prospe ntb, and will essentially promote the happiness of the Whole empire. —(Cheers.) The question having been put, Mr. HUME said it was but justice to the Right non. the Chancellor of the Exchequer to say, that his statement was extremely clear, and in s Mme respects se . tisfaetery. He was one that did net expect so favour .. able a result on the state of the country as had been etateilby the Right Hon. Gentleman. He congratulated the country on its improved state, but he could not do so .with_ respect to the continued taxation that th e ` - Bight Honourable Gentle nan had alluded to. a4,e tho ug h t i t was t h e d ut y o f the House to raise the lowest amount of revenue th-y possibly could. The revenue of the country had been the same for the l as t 12 y ears , but the expenditure had increased. • 't great -increase had taken place in the war establish - m ent of the country during 1833, 1837, and 1839. He P ro tested against such an evil, and he therefore thought Itat the p resent Government should proceed to reduce aae establishments with as great avidity as they had be en increased. The revenue of 1834 and 1843 was of we same amount within 200,000/., and there as no income-tax in the former year. He did 11,°t wish to have the income-tax done away with the taxation on other articles- was reduced to the same ,amount.—(Hear, hear.) He wished to . i,a‘re the duties on soap, and paper, and glass reduced. , a ll e did -nnt think the reduction on the latter article °llld any great benefit. If the duty on all glass " - 48 repealed it would be of the greatest I lvantag e to the country. No country was so well ralified f or the manufacture of the finest glass as ngland._,(H ea r, hear.) He believed the expenses of c°l.lecting the revenue on glass absorbed the whole duty, • t r Ld he th o ught the late Government committed a great Oat when they reduced the duty by 2d. with diminishing , the expenses of collecting it. •~ Q eloped the Right Hon. Qentleman would see the ne e.‘`aity of removing the duty on glass altogether. Let 41 elli look at our present position in this respect. The Americans, though having to pay a duty of 20 per cent., Could sell glass at a lower rate in this country than we Z irselve s could. Bohemia, and every other country that • f 4111 1f:toured glass, though the materials of the menu rture were dearer there than in England, could sell a l ass at a muc h lower rate, and of a superior quality, r e " we could. That was in consequence of our maim eturers being prevented by the Excise from snaking ti los e experiments which manufacturers of othereoun i"es made. England, that ought to be the first country t, l the manufacture, was only a fourth or fifth - rate ne tt." in that. Why should we not, instead of supporting ; tags establishment in a time of profound peace, disband g* of tho se unnecessar y t r oops, and apply the saving thus caused to the nation to the reduction of 0e taxation that pressed upon the poorer classes ? aa was sorry that the Right Hon. Gentleman did not cePose to make any reduction in the duty on cotton 0 01. The competition to which the cotton menu eture was enposed, from Germany and from other e onntries, was very vest, and the continuance of the d uty on the importation of raw cotton was very inju "L ,4 cus, It appeared to him that the Budget was ex ete, dingly unsatisfactory.- The revenue was ample, and I .ezation ought to be taken off those articles, the con .,,,'lnuption of which affected the industry of the country. „ r 'l l e,Y ought to set free all those branches of industry ;r 1 were hampered by the Excise-laws. The only te a a e a .giaing employment to the people was by ex only manufactures and commerce, and that could be Whi e h d o t e; by repealing those duties, the imposition of th en , 'essened the ability of the manufacturers to give Mal e . e rnPloyment. The army estimates, the navy estimates ought tile ordnance estimates, and the miscellaneous • a tes to be reduced. • Four millions rui ght e , L saved by the reduction in those estimates, and th at reduction they might make, a clear sweep li e all tho se ar ti c l es whi c h we re subject to the Excise. t ao !I? o . l tght the duty on marine insurances was ,still h igh- The highest amount of duty on marine in it. the duty u not to exceed 2s. or 2s. 6d. per cent., and h t , j ue duty had been reduced to that amount, instead of n g' a decrease it would have effected an increase to the h er r evenue of the country by drawing foreign insurances e • The shipping interest was the most depressed of fa the great interests of the country, and it was entitled rin relief • He approved of the reduction of the duty on ei„ €. gav, but thought that the import duty on foreign at ",, e gar _should have been removed. Vinegar was a 1 11 un Poly in this country, and its price was higher than th an,Y other part of the world. • He was glad to find lii c lL e t 'toe duty on currants was to be reduced, and would fr to see a reduction in the duty on every species of This reducti(M would be a boon to the lonian t o 7tis, a benefit to the consumer, and would be no loss . ti t ne revenue. He also approved of the reduction ot the e ta t •v - en coffee., With regard to sugar, he disapproved irely of the, imposition of differential duties, %ad h th e thought tie principle of refusing to admit sugar „ 4 7 produce of slave cultivation was a 'nest mistaken c off ee. hear.) If we refused to admit cotton , and h t and tobacco, and other articles, the produce of , ' l e labour, he could understand the principle ; but he , not understand why an exception should be made lithe article of sugar. In consequence of acting on til l s Principle, we had already quarrelled with the Bra (lC and the result would be. that four eailliens * a , British maaufactures, which were annually tht en rted to that country would be excluded from tt "se markets. He had seen letters from Paris, in which ell hd hi aston— ish • a r e • 43 nsequence of a letter which had been written by the r e sident of the Board of Trade to the Brazilian Minis a‘a . 1 n this country. On the failure of the negotiations etch hail been carried on by our Minister at Rio, the ta r i , az .ilian Minister in this country had entered into (tom -4,l4leation with the plenipotentiary of this country to 11 - "*- in what terms we would admit the produce of the Nails, and the Right. Hon. Gentleman in his answer had Pressed the determination of the Government to have 11 th ing to do with slave-groWn sugar. Our trade with Nei t o a , would therefore, altogether cease, and would go t-,a/errnany, France, and other countries; or, even if our Mls were admitted to the. Brazilian market, the ' d, 4 7, of Germany would, as was the case with America, N. u .uttitted at a preferential duty. Now, was it eo r le to believe that, under these circumstances, we lit aa ti carry ' on any trade with the Brazils? aft regard to the duty on cotton wool, it pressed with so r : e nle. severity on the manufacturers, and he was k ir Y the Right Hon. Gentleman had not thought pro tO reduce it. The naval and military establishments, a o u ltlat again repeat, ought to be lowered. There was ..,,neeessity for such an enormous force in time of peace ta t ta time when they had assurances from the throne of tty friendly dispositions of foreign Powers. The coun tionwas. after all, in anything but a flourishing condi tea;""wages were low, employment was scarce, and cl oth 's were h eav y. Everything ought. therefore, to be . Li: to remove these burdens. Parliament possessed lecii P°w er, and to Parliament the people had a right to The duties on those excisable articles, which ne 'I general consumption, should at once be lowered, t ot t he income-tax ought to cease, for it was im p ossible ip : o see that this tax affected the working populat i on ,„svevy sensible manner. He complained of t hese fflnees, and called for their redress in the name of a se er 7,g and distressed people, who had long borne the ata C t ies of their condition in the most patient and ex manner. —(Hear.) th r • WILLIAMS had been greatly disappointed at a ats P r opositions of the Right Hon. Gentleman. There how u nlY a reduction of 400,0001. after 8,000,000/. of kuu taxation had been added. He did not think the a 1 _nation. or the country had the slightest grounds for con , 4,._ iation. Sugar was an4arliele of universal con - e a ul d r io l:o .. n : and he regretted the Right Hon. Gentleman fi fttv thought fit to make extensive reductions in the Whi le " this commodity. A reduction might be made ree„ ut any great risk of a material diminution of the 11, 0 ,'"ne. He was also much disappointed that the Right 1.• • Gentleman had not included cotton wool among r,tolieoductions. He feared the income-tax, instead of a Th e re.ry tax to remove pressing necessities, would, in N ance a nds of the present . Government and nnder , the in !: r eaoe. , the principles supported by them, prove a per s.3s,"_,L burden. The income-tax produced last year 2`):3°7ooo,LooTohle balance of the revenue over the expenditure ~ leaving a deficiency, supposing the income- Pt - l w "e taken off, amounting to 3,000,000/. The stir ".revenue ought to be applied towards remedying thp t deficiency which might be caused by the reduction of ' the duty on sugar and other necessary articles of general consumption. The amount of the expenditure for the army, navy, and ordnance, this year, was estimated at 17,700,0001. In 1335, when the Right Hon. Baronet was at the head of the Government also, the expenditure for these three departments was only 14,125,0001., and it was still less in 1836, when the Whig Government was in office. lie saw no reason why 3,000,0001. more should be expended this year, and he thought the Right Hon. Baronet should tell the House and the country why it was so.—(Hear, hear.) The taxes taken out of the pockets of the people this year, and the expenses of c Meeting them, amounted to more than 56,000,000/. sterlisg. The Right Hon. Baronet had; some time ago, stated that they had arrived at the limit of taxation on articles of g nt rat consumption. Such was certainly the ease, and in time of war they would have no resource but an increased property-tax. In 1814, when we were at war, the estimates for the army, navy, and ordnance, e ere only 4,380,030/. Look at the vast difference between the expenditure in that year and in this. The Hon. Gent:email concluded, as he ha.l begun, by expressing his entire dissatisfaction at tse contents of the Budget. Mr. MATTHEW BELL regretted the Right Hon. Gentleman had not thought it tight to reduce the duty on coals. The lion. Gentleiian then read several doctr- ments, from w ich it appeared that the consumption of coal, since the imposition of the tax by the present Go vernment. in 1842, h at greatly diminished. The con sumption of coal had decreased in one year to the value of 70,000/. ; and he appeal.d to the Government, whe ther it was pol:ti • to maintain the. present high duty on the export of coal. I le maintained that the Government, instead of imposing a duty on the exp•.rt of coal, ought to eve every possible facility to the exportation of that article. It was generally supposed that the manufac tories on the Continent were supplied with English coal; but this was a fallacy, for he had been informed that out of all the coal exported, not one-eighth part found its way to the manufactories of the Continent. He concluded by expressing a hope that the Government would next year abolish the duty which was at present imposed on the exportation of coal. Mr. BARING said, there was one point which was worthy of their consideration, and that was, what would the commercial prospects of the Government now have been if the income-tax had not been imposed ? Ile thought this was not an unfair subject for consideration. Now he found that in the year 1840, the Right Hon. Baronet stated that the revenue was 48,350,0001., and that the Chinese money which . was to come in was 803,0001., making together the sum of 49,153,000/. Now, from the balance sheet of. That year, it appeared that the expenditure was 48,669,0001., leaving a surplus of revenue over expenditure of 488,000/. He thought it was worth while to look into this. He would not fol low the figures for the succeeding years, but his own impression was, that the revenue would have gone on increasing, even if the income-tax had not been imposed. Of course in saying this, he did not mean that it would have increased in such manner as to have admitted of these reductions in the taxation of the country, which the income-tax had enabled the Right Hon. Gentleman to make. Now, with respect to one of those reductions, he would just make one or two observations.. He al luded to the article of timber,. and he confessed that the anticipations which were enteTtained by the Government when the reduction in the duty on this article was made did not appear to him to have been realised. He recol lected at the time that reduction was p ro p ose d, sa yi ng that it would ultimately give considerable relief, but that a great length of time must intervene before it could do so. The Right Hon. Gentleman estimated the loss from the reduction of the timber duties at about 600,0001., even if no additional consumption should result from the reduction in the duty. Now, instead of the loss being 600,0001., it had turned out to be 898,0001., being nearly 50 per cent. more than the estimated loss. But it was not so much with the past they had to deal as with the present. One great omission in the Right Honourable Gentleman's speech was with regard to the continuance of the income-tax.— (Hey, hear.) No mention had been matte by the Right Hon. Gentleman, whether it was the intention of the Government to continue the income- tax beyond the three years or not. It was upon this consideration that all their financial calculations must hang ; and he thought the more manly course of policy would have been to have declared whether it was the intention to continue the income-tax for three years longer, or whether it was intended to cease, as originally intended, next year. The only mention which was made of this subject by the Right Hon. Gentleman was, that he intended to leave it to be settled by the House next year. With respect to the reductions proposed by the Right Honour able Gentleman, he was bound to say that he could see nothing to .complain of respecting them. He was very glad to find that a reduction was to take place in the duty on glass, not so much on account of the reduction, as the stimulus it would give to trade. He would venture to hope that the Government would reduce the Customs' duty on this article as well as the Excise duty.—(Hear, hear.) He was glad to find that a reduction was contemplated in the stamp duties on marine insurance, and upon the article of currants, both of which reductions must prove beneficial to the country. With the reduction of the duty on coffee he was parti cularly satisfied, as it was a step in that course which was directed towards the abolition of differential ditties, which had been ton long disregarded. There was however one thing disagreeable in this part of the Right Hon. Gentleman's propositions, and that was the proposal to increase the duty upon the article of chicory. He could not understand the policy of im posing a heavy duty on the importation of such an article as chicory ; for he remembered some years ago, that the importation of this article was prohibited by the. Board of Trade, and the result was, that chi cory was afterwards largely cultivated in this country. He had considerable doubt on his mind whether the reduction of the duty upon this article, which had been proposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman, would effect the good which he promised, but in saying this he did not affirm that the admixture of chicory with coffee tended to injure it, for on the Continent it was gene rally used for that purpose,'where' it was found to be a great improvement. But those were small matters as compared with others, one of the most important of which was the reduction of the duty upon sugar. He (Mr. Baring) was most anxious to see how the Right Hon. Gentleman would get out of the difficulty which his resolution upon this subject entailed upon him, for it certainly surprised him that the Right Honourable Gentleman should come with such a resolution as this. He thought that the manner in which the Right Honourable Gentleman acted with respect to sugar in comparison with the admission of coffee from the Brazils was rather curious. It was something like saying, " Yes, but the course we propose taking can be called only a very small fault." Why this answer put him in mind of the young girl who was brought before a magistrate on the charge of being the mother of an illegitimate child, when she acknowledged the fact, but by way of palliation, ad ded that it was only a very little bastard.—(Laughter.) He thought if they were actuated by this conscientious conviction against giving a stimulus to the slave trade, he thought they must acknowledge that the large quantity of sugar which would -be taken out of the European market would tend in an indirect manner to increase slavery. The quantity of sugar consumed in Europe was 673,000 tons, of. which 240,000 tons came from the British colonies to this country, thys leaving for the 'consumption of the European market the number on the average of ;about 409 tons. Now if they took 95,000 tons; the amount of free-labour sugar from the colonies, from the 'market of Europe, about one-fifth the whole ; consumption, - *hat he would ask would be the likely result ? Why the demand would be greater than the supply, and . the prices would consequently rise, and he contended that it was, equally indifferent whether they took that 95,000 tons of sugar out of a slave labour country or otherwise, - for by the course he had just pointed out slavery would be increased through the medium of the continental States. Yet the Government satisfied themselves of their consistent advocacy .now of principles upon which they came into office. He.con tended that by the course proposed by this. resolution they would give quite as strong a stimulus to the slave trade by taking those 95,000 tons of sugar from a free State as they would if they took them from the Brazils. Sir ROBERT PEEL thought the charge which the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite brought for ward against her Majesty's Government of consistency was without foundation. It had been said, why do not you, who urged all those objections on the subject of slavery, admit sugar, the produce of free labour, into competition with your own merchants. He recollected the lion. Member for Dublin, when he sat on the then Ministerial side of the House, during the late Administration, giving notice of a motion that all sugar, the produce of free labour, should be admitted into equal competition with that of their own colonies. Now, suppose they chose to admit, on the grounds urged by the Hon. Gentleman, namely, that diminishing the duty, Would be offering a premium to the ad mission of slave-grown sugar—it was clear that if they did so, they would be charged with a desire to maintain the monopoly of the West Indian colonies, that they were not actuated by any objection to the admission of slave-grown sugar, but solely by a desire to preserve the , monopoly; and he felt sure that this would have been most strongly urged against them if they , had not availed themselves of the earliest consistent opportunity to allow sugar, the produce of free la bour,.to enter into competition with the British colonies. With respect to the arguments and objections of the Hon. Member . for Montrose, and the Hon. Member for Coventry,. he thought they could be easily refuted. The chief gist of their arguments was, that they -ought to re duce the estimates, in order 'that they might do away with import duties. No Member of that House was more deeply impressed with the fact than he was, that the estimates ought to be reduced to the. lowest point which was consistent with the permanent safety Of the, empire. But the House must be aware that there were circumstances connected with the last few years, which must have materially increased the expenses. The esti-' mates for the army, navy, and ordnance, had been already submitted to the House; and looking to their immense co- . lonial empire, and to the other facts in connection with foreign nations, upon which the Government must have the best means of being informed, it was the unanimous opinion of the House that the estimates could not safely be reduced. The Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Montrose, had stated that in the year 1835, when he (Sir R. Peel) was First Lord of the Treasury, he had proposed the sum of only 14,000,000/. for the estimates, and yet that this year they exceeded the sum of 17,000,0001. There had beet} a ppat increase in the expense of the army and navy. Let the lion. Member for Montrose consider what had occurred since the year 1835—the vast and important events which had occurred in the East. Let him consider what was the amount of expense incurred by the Chinese war alone. Although those great struggles had now, to a certain extent, ceased, yet the Hon, Member must know that it was not so easy tb make those reductions immediately. It was not what was necessary for the yt 4 ut , 1835 the House had to consider, but .what thU I ,ozigencieS. _of the present time _required, --What he would ask, could be the interest of Ministers in in- - : creasing the estimates beyond what the interest of the country dsmandel ? Why, it would be -mush more grateful to their feelings to have a surplus revenue to show, in consequence of a reduction, than any advantage they could derive from the results of patronage. The douse had to consider how many regiments had been now abroad for upwards of twenty years without being once relieved. What he wanted to show was, that when tit- y considered the forces which were re ' quireci for service in India, Canada, and every other part of the world, they could not make any reduction in the army for this year, without either endangering the em pire, or doing a gross and palpab'e act of injustice to the men. With respect to the expenses of our colonial possessions, alluded to by the Honourable Gen tleman opposite, he (Sir Robert Peel) asked the House to consider that the mother country had entered into certain relations with those colonies which it would be most dangerous and unjust to disturb. Then with respect to the navy estimates. He agreed with the Hon. Member for Coventry, that they were larger than those for the years 1843-4. But he would ask any Hon. Member, was this any criterion to go by? The Hon. Member for Montrose always went as far back as the year 1790. But when Mr. Pitt spoke in the years 1793-4, he said any reduction in these estimates at that time would have been inconsistent with the interests of the country. He would appeal to any Hon. Member in that House—always excepting the Hon. Member for Mon trose, and the Hon. Member for Coventry—whether they believed that it would be safe to have the Navy in the same state in the year 1844, as it was in the year 1792 ? If they were blind enough to overlook the efforts other countries were making to, lay the foundations of immense territory, and the large preparations they were maki ng for any hostile event — if the House chose to subject their marine commerce to the chances of being -attacked by powerful nations—if they remained inert, and took no corresponding or counteracting measures, he, for one, should tell them that try were acting quite inconsistently with rational views. He would ask them would they go back to the year 1790, so much boasted of by the Honour able Member opposite ? If they were over taken suddenly by any calamity for which they were unprepared, and found their commercial marine swept away, what consolation would it be that the navy of this day was equal to that of 1791? He would venture to say that the Government of the day would be called arrant dolts. But he had great confidence in the House of Commons, which was always aware that Government must have cognizance of certain facts which must necessarily be unknown to them. He thought no one could deny the necessity and justice of affording those soldiers who had been so many years abroad an opportunity of once again seeing their native country. 'rher. fore he could not lead the House to hope for any great saving in the large branches of the public service, but this he would say, that there was not in those esti mates a thousand pounds that had been lightly asked for, or that would be uselessly spent. Allusion had been particularly made, in the course of the evening, to the coal trade. As there was no distinct proposition before the House upon that subject, he was not inclined to follow his Hon. Friend in his calculations, bnt he must be allowed to say that the amount of coal exported did not show that extremity of pressure which had been foretold. The amount ofcoal exported in 1843, includingcinders and ashes was 1,866,000 tons. If they compared the amount of coal exported last year with 1842, there certainly was a diminution ; but it must be recollected that in the course of that year it became known that the duty was coming into operation, and in one quarter of that year there had been great increased exertion. But last year the total amount of coal exported exceeded that of 1841. Of course he (Sir R. Peel) included small coal as well as large. In the year 1841 1,848,000 tons had been ex ported, and in 1843 1,866,000 tons ; so that, in fact, there had been an absolute increase, notwithstanding the operation of the duty. He did not say that he vindicated this tax as good in principle, but he did say that when new taxation became necessary, it was a justifiable one, and the extent of the evil which had been foretold, and which he had denied at the time was not such as to cause any serious injury or inconvenience to the public interest. But the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Baring) complained that the Government made no pro posal with respect to the renewal or the discontinuance of the income-tax. The income-tax would not expire till next year ; and he (Sir R. Peel) must say, that it appeared to him much more conformable to common sense to wait until the period when it was about to expire, when they would have an opportunity of knowing the real state of the country, its means and its necessities, than to decide upon the matter now, when they must do it under comparative disadvantage.—(Hear.) Most certainly the probabilities were that, in the coming year, Parliament would be muchbetter able to discuss and to decide that question than now. The House and the country lost nothing by abstaining from the question —they gained nothing by a premature discussion, and why then should they enter upon one?—(Bear, hear.) When his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Goulburn) had stated in the course of his address to the House, that the in come-tax had been originally proposed not for three, but for five years, he was met by rather that sort of incre dulous murmur, which indicated a feeling of disbelief. Therefore he (Sir R. Peel) wished to re-state to the House that which had fallen from him in March, 1842, on the occasion of bringing forward this measure. Upon that occasion he said—" He would now state to the House what were the views of the Government with respect to the duration of this tax. He trusted Parlia ment would confirm the duration he was about to pro pose, and that Parliament would not be unwilling, in case of necessity, to continue the duration of the tax for a period of five years; bet still there might be, as there had been before, those revivals of prosperity which might induce Parliament to consider the sub ject with a view to recalling the tax in a less period than that he had stated. Therefore he thought it just in the first instance, to limit the experiment of the income-tax to three years, in order that Parliament might, at that time, have the power of rescinding it at once, or of continuing it for the further period of the two years." That was what he had said when proposing the tax ; and if now, at the end of two years from its Ho ob‘t imp h,uaety discussiono carriedsi a o t t in, t f o on htti taunt, omuw:nh Go the, eal:!n,laderinr and that h pi et e r n isohden a invited fd d fiv ecease ythe years, eris,t year, to the would not nbe o o t the pass age he had just quoted have bean thrown des ti e l r a v t edl b y y thtrhoewnveroyut, men who now supported Ministers, for not speaking defini tively and positively upon the subject?—(Hear, hear.) If, next year, it should be the opinion of the House that the income-tax should be taken off—that the circum stances of the country permitted it—or that the interests of the country required it—well and good ; but it would not be right to propose any great reductions in taxation until the state of the country, in reference to the conti nuance or discontinuance of this tax, could lab fully gone into, and fairly decided upon.—(Hear, hear.) When that time came, it might be that there would be shown such an increase in the productiveness of the country that Parliament could do away with the tvil. At the same time, it must be recollected that there were certain burdens which pressed so heavily on 'the springs of industry- that it must ever be a leading desire of ally Government to re duce or to do away with them. He must say that when the deputations from Yorkshire waited upon Ministers he listened to their statements with the deepest atten• tion, though he had maintained throughout a respectful - silence. But after what he and his colleagues had heard from these deputations of the state of affairs in the woollen districts they had made up their minds, quietly but fully, that so soon as ever the state of the revenue would allow of it, that branch of our manufactures should be relieved from the burthen of the tax on the raw material.—(Hear, hear.) Now, in the reduction proposed in our marine insurances, he (Sir R. Peel) be lieved there would ultimately be no loss to the revenue of the country. It was, in fact, a reduction of the cost price of the elements of our manufactures—(Hear , hear) —and he hoped it would also have the effect of dra win g to this country insurances now effected abroad. The Right Hon. Member for Portsmouth (Mr. Baring) hart had d one thsm the justice to state that, seeing they wnuld only act upon a sum of 400,0001., it was not pos sible they could have selected better articles to make . reductions on. The amount which the Government had • put aside for reductions might be small, but the House would observe that those reductions were made in conformity with those general principles which had been laid down at the time of the introduc tion of the tariff. He said those reductions were made in conformity with the general principles he (Sir R. Peel) had then enunciated, and they had been made in a manner to relieve the industry and enterprise of the country. Above all, though he admitted the reductions were light and trivial in amount, they were such as were most likely to increase the comforts and luxuries of that class of her Majesty's subjects who depended on their manual labour for their subsicence, and therefore he trusted they would meet with the general concurrence of the House.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. LABOUCHERE said that with regard to the income-tax no man in that House had more strenuously opposed it when first proposed than he had done, but the House having agreed to its imposition, the ques tion did not now stand in precisely the same position as it then did. And certainly he had come down to the House that evening rather expecting (inasmuch as there was no reasonable chance of the repeal of the in come-tax) that the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel) would propose its continuance for the two years longer, accompanying that proposition with some large, wise, and liberal measures for the relief of our commerce—and had he done so then for one he (Mr. Labouchere) should . have been prepared to give a ready consent to such suggestion. Had the Right Hon. Baronet for instance been prepared to deal in a large and liberal spirit with sugar, and other great articles of consumption, in which there might, and- no doubt would have been, an imme diate loss of revenue, but which might have recovered before the expiration of three years, he (Mr. La bouchere) should have - considered it to be wise on the part of the House and the country, to have acquiesced in the lengthened continuance to the five years originally mentioned of the income-tax, evil though it was. With regard to the articles selected for a reduction of duty :he certainly approved of them, but more especially the articles of wool and coffee. He anticipated great ad voltage to the trade of the country from these reduc tions; and having only this surd of 400,0001. to deal I with he was not prepared- to say the Government had not made as wise a selection as they well could do. He did not, however, see why they were not to deal with other articles which, when the tariff had been intro + duced, had been postponed on the ground that negotia tions wese ping pn with foreign countries in reference to them. With • France, as well 44 with Brazil, our efforts at negotiation had failed, and he did not see why they were longer to postpone dealing with articles--s such, for instance, as silks and brandies (wine he would not allude to)—from a re -arrangement of the duties upon whiCh there would he no loSs to the revenue, whilst smuggling lipid be put an en 4 Bgt th.ere Was one' announcement by th e Chail4:4 l l9l' of theFsisclaquei of SR 49 la fi 't 1* at g THE - SUN, LONDON, TITES,D -r A* --Ir .MORNING 3 _A_PRII; lilt- importance than any other, that he must at once advert to it, with the view of expressing his great regret at what he had heard. It was announced by Government that they were prepared to take steps of a perfectly novel character in the histGry of the commerce of this country—namely, to put a commercial ban upon great nations intimately connected with this country by ties of commerce, by prescribing articles of their growth. He thought that the veil that had been thrown over all this was so transparent that they would lose all credit with foreign nations, and they would conaider that the Government and the House were desecrating the claims to humanity which this country had so long possessed. He thought they were opening the door to an endless system of subterfuge and fraudulent trade, and thereby raising the hostility of many countries to this. He trusted, as the question of the sugar duties would now be most important, it would be it troduced at that period of the session when it could be properly discussed. He thought the present moment was ill selected for the purpose of establishing differential duties with respect to the commodities of certain nations. Added to this, had they not heard, from the first Minister of the Crown the other night, that a treaty had been signed between two of the greatest manufacturing coun tries in the world—the United Stst?s and the Zollverein of Germany—the effect of which would ha to exclude British ' manufactures from the United States? The Right lion. Gentleman concluded by asking the Chan cellor of the Exchequer when he would bring on the sugar duties ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he should bring them forward on an early day, but he could not then state when it would be. Mr. STUART WORTLEY stated his satisfaction at the statements made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with respect to the repeal of the duties on wool. The repeal of the duty would inflict no injury on any inte rest in the country. Mr. P. M. STEWART thought although the pro position of the Government was most cautious, the peo ple would be most disappointed with the statements of the Right Hon. Gentleman. He had said they had a surplus .of 2,500,000/. ; and for those who were expect ing to be the recipients of his bounty. what bad he done? Why he had begun with bottles, went to vinegar, and ended with wool ; but why had cotton been forgotten ? He thought the manufacturers of the country had a great right to complain of that. Nothing had been said, and nothing had been done upon it ; and the result would be, that the greatest dissatisfaction would be ex pressed in the country, in consequence of such a slight, as it was generally, felt 'that that ought to have been the first article on which the duty should be reduced. He thought the, time had now come when the sugar duties ought to be considered, and when the colonies of this country should be put upon the same footing as the colonies of other countries. The colonies of this coun try were crippled, and the most ridiculous regulations were made in the Colonial-office with respect to the removal of workmen from one colony to another ; but his Noble Friend, the late Secretary of State for the Co lonies, had introduced some regulations which might be looked upon as a model for the regulation of labour. There seemed, however, to be a secret influence in the Colonial-office against thd proper management of the colonies, for regulations had been made there that were most uncalled for, regulations which were anti-colonial ; in short, there seemed to be a feeling in the Colonial Se cretary's office that was hardly to be accounted for. The first regulation was one that no agreement made out of a colony should be binding. That was obliged to be relaxed wish regard to European workmen. Another was, that such agreements should not be binding upon the blacks, and that, too, was relaxed by the regulation that in such cases the deed of agreement should be rati fied before officers appointed for that purpose. But not - one of these officers had been appointed, and the conse quence was, that no labour could be effectually imported into the colonies. In some of the islands there were abundant crops. and not enough labourers to gather them. The regulation of the sugar duties was a subject forced on the attention of the House, and ought to be gone into in a different manner. — (Hear.) But the Government had propounded this Budget, which -was of itself a great disturbing in fluence in colonial property, and the whole question must be discussed. His object in rising was what he saw he should effect—that of calling up his No ble Friend—(a laugh)—and putting him on his mettle w th regard to the proceedings at the Colonial-office. If that Noble Lord would take the subject in hand, and put the Colonies in a fair position with regard to la bour,- they would not shrink from competition with any foreign colony whatever. After this was effected, they might do what they pleased with th e sugar d u ti es; for the colonies would be able to beat the world in competition, if they only had an open chance of obtaining labour. He hoped the House would agree with him in thinking that they were entitled in the pre sent state of the colonies to have no unnecessary restric tions thrown in the way of a free supply of labourers, who would themselves be benefitted by settling, while their presence was most necessary to the colonies them selves. Lord STANLEY said that that every one must feel the inconvenience of entering into the whole of this ques tion in a discussion on the Budget But after the ob servations of the Right Hon. Gentleman it was impos sible that he could remain wholly silent. He was not sorry, however, that the Right Hon. Gentleman had given him the opportunity of entering upon the 'subject. There was an entire difference of opinion between him self and the Right Hon. Gentleman on this question, though he recollected the time when the Right Hon. Member entertained a very different opinion himself on the subject—(Mr. P. M. Stewart—" Never!")—but with that, of course, he had nothing to do. He was very happy to be enabled to say that, in his judgment, so far from the Budget acting as a discouragement to the West Indian colonies, with regard to tampering with the sugar duties, he thought the statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was well qualified and calculated to reassure the colonies with respect to the steadiness of the intentions of the Govern ment in the principle on which they meant to deal with the question of colonial protection. Throughout all the discussions that had taken place, the Govern ment did not so much contend for colonial protection as they had contended for the protection of free grown sugar over that produced by slave labour. It had been asserted by several Hon. Gentlemen, that they now for the first time placed upon record a resolution declaratory of the distinction between slave-raised. and free-grown sugar; the Government was not prepared to give the colonies more than the protection of a fair differential duty in favour of free labour produce, against thatwhicb might fairly enter into competition with them, as being also raised by free labour. But the Government was prepared at all risks to maintain a positive distinction and difference in favour of the produce of free labour, against that of slave labour,—against that raised by a system which was encouragement to the slave trade and slavery. He trusted that this resolution, for the first time announced,would show the colonies that they had to compete at once, though not on unfavourable terms, with a limited amount of produce which was raised by free labour, but that at the same time it was the in tention of the Government to protect them against those who had the advantage over them, which was obtained from the unrighteous source of slavery, and which it was the intention of the Govern ment by every means to discourage and put down. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. P. M. Stewart) told the Committee that the foolish regulations of the Colonial office alone prevented the colonies from competing with every part of the world. He told them that the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) who preceded him (Lord Stanley) in the Colonial -office--and of whose labours he always spoke with the highest respect—that respect due to his talents and his character—had laid down for the West Indies a series of regulations which were " model regulations," as to the importation of labour into the colonies. The Right Hon. Gentleman certainly could not have read those regulations, for every step that had been _ taken by the Colonial .office since the retirement of that Noble Lord from it, had been directed to the removal of restrictions, the reduction of impediments, and giving facilities to the intercourse between the West Indian colonies and Africa. He would defy the Right Hon. Gentleman to point out a single district of Africa, to theintercourse of which with the West Indies, the dif ficulties had been increased, or as-to which the facilities of that intercourse had not been enlarged, since he (Lord Stanley) succeeded to the Colonial-office. He took no credit for this ; but he must say, it was not fair to talk of the regulations of the Colonial-office having impeded this importation and intercourse, when their course had been to reduce the restrictions and increase the facilities given by the regulations. But these regu all ? He must beg the attention of the lations with respect to the Coast of Africa —where and he must beg him to listen to hear.) The Right Hon. Gentle man Right they all Gentlemen ; he had chosen to make a sud den7estrictions of the immigration of the b e (Lord Stanley) was somewhat Hon. Member be!ow the Right mhaatntatslawkc talked answer.—(Hear, upon him, ee a h rr i Hill Coolies from India—restrictions imposed by whom? Not by him.—(Hear, hear.) Ile thought that last year, suddenlyandthe . e a a tt r a Hon. Gentleman, for having done away with some of the restrictions to the emigration of these Coolies---not to b ek ef ed ore h , y the a British colony, and which emigration had been absolutely prohibited by the Government, whose model regulations the Right Hon. Gentleman was so prepared to vaunt. The emigration of those Coolies was narrowly watched and bitterly attacked by the Hon. Gentleman on the other side; it was himself who worked the first step to• wards removing the restrictions on the emigration of the Coolies ; he knew what reasonable apprehensions there were of the abuses that might arise from this emigra tion, and he referred the subject to the Governor- General of India, . to say whether th e same emigration might be permitted to the West Indies that was permitted to the Mauritius, and facilities for which had been afforded by the present Government for the first time. But he also talked of the impediments to the emigration of Chinese labourers; was that owing to the late Government of model regulations or to that invisible infl uence a t t h e Colonial-office which it was stated thwarted and over threw these improvements? It was in the present year that permission was given . to import immigrants from China, not Chinese themselves, but labourers from Singapore and the neighbouring districts, under special regulations, into the West Indies. For the first time in the present year, thee, the restrictions to the emigration of Coolies had been .re moved and yet the Right Hon. Gentleman turned round and charged them with preventing the im portation of free labour into the West Indian colonies, and by that means stinting the natural cape etties of these coluntos, The. Right MM. Member spolte as if restric tions on the importation o f free labour to the West In dies from any part of the world were in existence. There was no law that he knew of; except in India, which pre vented any one going to the West Indian colonies, ex cept the restrictions against these people making agreements at a distance, when they could not tell the value of their labour, and which agreements issight l beiti 111§40 for § lgng term; amount to virtual slavery. Those engagements might be the source of very great dissatisfaction and discontent in the minis of the labourers. That such an emigration might not be made and paid for out of the public funds, the,e restrictions were imposed, but beyond these he knew of no others. But these regulations were in course of relaxation, and had been already much relaxed. He ould venture to tell the Right Hon. Gentleman that as far as the present Government was concerned, the course it had -taken was not one of restriction, but one of relaxation and remi ss i on , o f re l axa ti ons prudent indeed, and in conformity with what was known to be the opinion of the community, and these restrictions would be limited only by the necessity of such prohibi tions as should prevent much unfounded speculation, as to the advantages to be gained by such immigration. The whole course of the proceedings of the Government had been, as it would continue to be, that of removing all restrictions which were felt to be uncalled for on the importation of labour into the colonies from all parts of the world. Mr. P. M. STEWART explained. He was sorry that he had so excited the Noble Lord on this question —(A laugh)—but having made this apology, he must say this—that the charge of the Noble Lord of his having changed his opinions on this question was un founded. The Noble Lord forgot the battles in which they both fought, side by side, together on this question; he forgot that he (Mr. Stewart) had seme hand in framing the Act on the subject. He must beg the Noble Lord to refresh his memory on this point. He had never swerved from his prin ciple. he Noble Lord had made this a party question, when he (Mr. Stewart) wished to make it only a colonial question. The regulations he had re ferred to, were those contained in the letter of the Noble Lord the Member for London to the Governor of Sierra Leone, and which was considered by the colonists as a model of instructions ' • he maintained and repeated his assertion, that every Minister at the Colonial-office was subjected to an influence, by which they were mad© mere tools and puppets—(Hear, hear)—and he wished that the Noble Lord would apply . his own good sense to the question, so that these restrictions might be re moved, and of which some hope had been this night held out to them. • Lord STANLEY denied that he had made .it a party question, and contended that he had spoken of the Noble Lord with the greatest respect. He stated, and he now repeated, that those model regula tions for the coast of Africa ought to be in the main acted upon ; and ever since, whatever was done, was done in the way of relaxing the restrictions. The Hon. Gentleman repeated an accusation with regard to some secret influence in the Colonial-office. Now he did not believe that the Noble Lord, whom he succeeded in the Coldnial-office would allow his judgment to be set aside by any secret influence—(A laugh)—and for him self he could only say this, that no paper passed through the Colonial-office of any kind which did not come under his own eye and was examined by him ; and with regard to the particular question of immigration into the West Indies, since he had the honour of being in the Colonial office, he save the most constant and unrestricted atten tion to the question and had examined every part of it, and he ventured to add that the attention which he have to the subject was not inferior to that which was given to it by the Noble Lord. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, that his Hon. Friend was quite justified in putting the questions on the sub ject, as the reduction of the sugar duties had been brought before the House by the Right Hon. Gentle man, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He (Lord John Russell) had, he hoped, exercised his own judgment during the time he held the office of Colonial Secretary, and endeavoured to give attention to any subject that came before him ; and he was not conscious, though he felt great obligations for the very great informa tion which was afforded him, and felt respect for the abilities which several gentlemen in that office possessed —(Hear, hear)—yet when he reviewed all the circum stances in any case which came before him, he applied his own judgment, and yielded to it in the decisions which he made. With regard to the question of emi gration from Africa, he wrote a dispatch to the Governor of Sierra Leone on the subject, containing certain regu lations. Those regulations were intended rather as temporary regulations, and he was glad to hear from the Noble Lord that he diminished the restrictions because his view was, considering that emigration had been totally prohibited before, it was proper to at tempt emigration with caution, and to put many restric tions on it.which might, from time to time, as experience dictated, be diminished and relaxed ; and that was the view which the Noble Lord took of his duty, and the question as it at present stood. With regard to the sub ject of the introduction of Coolies into the Mauritius, he was surprised at the Noble Lord's statement, because the Noble Lord said more than once that the pre. sent Government first introduced Coolies into the British colonies. Lord Glenelg proposed to the colonies an order in Council which would admit Coolies into the colonies of the Crown ' • but that order was opposed and rendered null by the House of Lords. The present Government concurred in the view taken by the House of Lords. He (Lord John Russell) attempted again the subject of emigration into the Mauritius, and the Right. Hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he (Lord John Russell) stated that such was his intention, said that the best mode of bringing the question to an issue was to bring a clause by Bill into the House. He (Lord J. Russell) introduced it, and then the Noble Lord (Stanley) and the Right Hon. Gentleman, and others who sat opposite, came down and defeated him by the help of the Hon. and Learned Member for Cork, and several other gen tlemen in the House who were interested in the subject. —(Hear, hear.) He was very glad that they afterwards changed their minds on the subject and came to agree with him, but he knew they were anxious at the time to get a majority against the then Government, and were not very scrupulous what the subject was.—(Cheers.) The introduction of Coolies into the Mauritius served them as well as any other.—(Cheers.) He should not have referred to this, but that the Noble Lord boasted that he was one of a Government which had for the first time introduced Coolies into the Manritius, and that they were able to do so. No doubt they were, because when he (Lord John Russell) introduced the subject they were the chief opponents to the measure, and all the obstructions came from them.—(Cheers.) But they now received every facility to carry, in fact, the measure of their predecessors.—(Cheers.) This was a sort of episode to the main subject in discussion. With regard to the minor subject, he would At once allude to that part of it which referred to the introduction of foreign sugar, and which was so nearly connected with the subject he had just left. He quite agreed with all the objections made by his Hon. Friend near him, that if the Government made up their minds to allow the in • troduction of foreign sugar, it was far better for them to say at once they would admit foreign sugar from whatever colony it might come than a tt em pt to make any distinction.—(Cheers.) It was vicious i n principle, and would be found impracticable in its result.—(Cheers.) As to its being vicious in principle he wanted no other proof than the speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, because after he stated his intention to exclude the sugar of Brazil, he went on to say that it was from no hostile feeling towards the Brazifs, because he said the Government had no intention to exclude coffee from Brazil. Why, he could not understand this strange and very particular morality. (Cheers, and laughter.) They looked with horror at slave grown sugar, but they had no scruples with regard to slave grown coffee.—(Loud cheers.) What made them im moral if they introduced slave grown sugar and and laudable if they introduced slave grown coffee ? (Laughter.) They might say that the labour required for the cultivation of coffee was lighter than that which -was required for the cultivation of sugar, but certainly this could not be the reason, because what they wished to discourage was the slave trade and slavery, and that existed in the same degree whether the slave was em ployed in the cultivation of sugar or coffee.—(Hear.) It was a principle very objectionable to make distinctions between States allowing slavery, and those which would not allow slavery, but far more objectionable to make a distinction between the different employments in which slaves were engaged, and to make tariffs of duties accord iug to the mode yin which slaves were employed. This would be most intolerable—(Hear hear)—and their morality would become the plague a nd nuisance of the world—(Cheers)—if they thus interfered with all kinds of labour in foreign countries.—(As to the practi cability of the scheme, they would have sugar from the Havaunah with forged certificates and papers from New Orleans and other States of North America.—(Hear, hear.) All this would happen. It was so with regard to coffee, as was proved before the Import Duties Com mittee, of which his Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) was Chairman. If they introduced new regulations with re gard to sugar, what was to prevent persons from sending sugar to the Cape of Good Hope, and introduce it as coming from the possessions of the Dutch?—(Hear, hear.) Then, again, with regard to competition with the West Indies, it could not much matter to them which of the two principles they should adopt ; because, as the Right Hon. Gentleman stated, 200,000 tons was about the, amount introduced from all the British possessions, and 90,000 tons was about the amount which they would render liable to introduction by the law they proposed. He could conceive nothing less but that they introduced this knowing it could not hold.—(ilear, hear.) By in troducing this foreign sugar, they would thereby to a certain degree benefit the consumer in this country, but they would find their regulations would not stand in practice, and having made one step they would make a last step, and would be obliged to introduce the Bill which he introduced himself in 1841—(Cheers and " Oh, oh")—with this difference, that instead of 248. and 365. they would have 245. and 345. He foresaw that would be the end as clearly as possible.—(Hear, hear.) The distinction they now proposed might be useful to them—it might serve to cover their inconsistency for a year or two—(Loud cheers)—but depend on it in the end they would find this unnatural and impracticable plan was only fit to be replaced by the Clear and simple rule of doing away with the high differential duty on foreign sugar. There was great inconvenience in announcing this greatprinciple in 1842, and it was to be brought forward with proper caution.—(Laughter.) The application of those prin ciples was most convenient, as well as great, because certain of them were applied, in 1842, to a certain num ber of articles. To others they we re not a pp lied ; the y timber, and would be applied to sugar and then to corn.—(Loud ch eers. ) The Ri g h t Hon. Gentleman might say—" Recollect what I told yol l were applied to in 1842 ; recollect I s aid t h e 4 1 40 prir4ple was to buy in the cheapest ma rk et , and to sell in the ndhas for au opportunity.—(Lau g ht er. ) That dearest, I stated that principle in perfect consistency, 0 I p h p s o v r e t ui va it i y te now arrived. I appli e d i t then. I applied it .n 1842 to onion seed—(Laughter and cheers) —I applied it to spices —(Laughter) —and to herrings —(Laughter.) You may remember how strictly I applied it to herrings."—(Loud laughter.) In a year or two this principle would be again applied in the twist strict manner s to faciliiate, wo r di n g to t h e max t m „ f , the fireMe4t Olilosopllet:a l to the food gt `he people— • (Cheers.) With regard to the propositions made to the House by the Chancellor of the Exchequer he must congratulate him on the surplus he was ab e to announce. It was gratifying to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and to the country, and it must be owned it placed the country in a _proud and high position— (Cheers)—to have such a considerable surplus of revenue over expenditure, , and this he thought, without at all agreeing in the criticisms which were made upon the military establishments of the country. He did not think they ought every year to keep up the same amount of expenditure, but with regard to the present year he thought the vote of the House was not beyond what was necessary.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") His Right Hon. Friend, the Member for Portsmouth, stated that he understood from the Right Hon. Gentle man's statement that it was his intention to keep up the income-tax during the five years originally men tioned by the Right lion. Gentleman (Sir R. reel), and if such was the intention of the Government the better course would be to make larger reductions in the pre sent year. He (Lord J. Russell) certainly thought the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had better take one of two courses. If the Right . Honourable Gentleman thought it probable the income-tax would be taken off next year, and that that was the best_ thing for the public welfare, he was quite right in taking off but a small amount of taxatioli in the present year. He could not help thinking that Government must have a strong opi nion on the subject, knowing the wants of the country, and the present state of the finances. Bet if, on the other hand, they thought it most probable they would continue the income-tax for two years, it would be better to propose such reductions as would be of use to the trade and industry of the country in the present year rather than postpone them till next year. He said that even with a view to the income-tax. Be cause if that reduction were proposed in the present year, we might hope in the course of three years from . this time the revenue would 10..ve so far recovered, that there w ould be no doubt about the repeal of the income tax. Whereas if next year the Right Hon. Gentleman would say that, upon the whole, it was necessary to con tinue the income-tax two other years, and then should propose other r e d uc ti ons , t h e p u bli c would have lost a year of increased consumption at a lower price of the articles, and the revenue would only have two years instead of three to recover itself. lie thought, for both those rea sons, if the Government had at all made up their minds, they would have taken a better course in deciding in the present year whether the reduction was to take place. He was sure the Right Hon. Gentleman had done nothing that was at all dangerous to the country' in the reductions he had proposed. With regard to wool, he had much gratified the manufacturers of York shire ; and with regard to coffee, he had at least shown that the principle of the tariff of 1842 was not aban doned. He hoped as soon as the Right Hon. Gentleman could make up his mind to it, they would have an enlarge ment of the principle of the tariff of 1842, and greater approximation t o th e pr i nc i p l es o f f ree tra d e. Col. SIBTHORP congratulated the House and the country on the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, though it might not meet with the entire approbation of the Noble Lord (J. Russell) opposite, and the Hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Labouchere), who worked together in regular harness—when one pulled the other pulled, and when' one gibbed the other gibbed.--(Laughter.) The late Administration were very good at promises ; for ten years together they invariably promised everything. Prosperity was coming always, and everything was cut and dry for bringing about success in their proposed plans, but still nothing was done ; until the people would at last no longer bear their promises, and they turned them out never to come back again. He (Col. S.) highly approved of the proposed reduction of the duty on marine insurance. It was one of the most oppressive taxes, inasmuch as it was a tax uponprudence. When the present Lord Bexley was Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Barber Beaumont sought to have the duty on fire-insurance reduced, as the removal of such a duty would tend to encourage prudence, and he (Colonel Sibthorp) was glad to find the principle now brought into operation. He was sure that the reduction would rather add to than diminish the revenue derived from this source, and he was so convinced of that that on one occasion he had himself offered, if a reduction were made, to be answerable for the deficiency.—(A laugh.) With respect to other reductions which had been made in the tariff, he thought it but justice to the Right Hon. Ba ronet (Sir Robert Peel), to state, that he had ascer tained from his own (Col. Sibthorp's) agent, who was one of the largest farmers in the county of Lincoln, that at the great annual fair in April held in that county — which was one of the greatest fairs in the United King dom—there had been a general improvement in the sale of stock. That was a satisfactory announcement, and it was but common justice to the Right Hon. Baronet to make it.—(A laugh.) lie congratulated the House and the country on the satisfactory statement of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer. It would teach the Hon. Gen tleman opposite a long lesson of repentance, awl they would sit upon the stool of repentance all their lives. MARK PHILIPS did not feel any jealousy at the success of the application of the principles of free trade by the Right Hon. Gentleman. He heartily re joiced that a step had been made in the right direction by Hon. Gentlemen opposite, and that the country would be relieved from the weight of some burdens that pressed upon the poor. When they considered the enormous extent of the duty on raw cotton, and the dis advantages which that duty placed upon all engaged in that important branch of manufacture, he trusted he would be excused if he pleaded the claim of the manu facturers to have the duty reduced. The consumption at present was 400,000 bales of cotton per annum, and the duty imposed on that amount was saved to our foreign rivals. It must he recollected that we came into competition with foreigners in the foreign market undeo the disad vantages which the payment of that enormous amount of duty caused, for the proportion of our manufactures consumed in this country was but comparatively small. We had nothing to throw away or give to our foreign rivals, and he knew of no other duty which could be re duced with so much advantage to the country than this duty on the raw material of cotton manufacture. The duty was imposed when the duty on printed calicoes was taken off. It was imposed as a sort of compromise for the removal of the other duty ; but now that there was a surplus in the revenue they ought to remove a duty which was so injurious in its operation as this. We were manufacturing cotton at a greater dis advantage than the Americans by 20 per cent. If we were to have the price of the raw material raised against us, our foreign trade would mate rially lessen, and it therefore became a matter of im portance to reduce this duty as much as possible. There were those who believed, that if this duty were remitted, the Americans would add to the cost of the raw material. He was not of that number, and he strongly recommended the Government to sweep away the duty at once in order to give this important branch of industry as full and free a scope as possible. He congratulated the House on the alteration which had been proposed in the duty on marine insurances. He had sometimes observed with great pain that the merchants of this country had been obliged to seek insurances in foreign countries instead of Lloyd's and other places, although he had yet to learn that the merchants of foreign coun tries had in that respect manifested a higher degree of honour than those of our own. He desired to see a ge neral reduction of the duties on insurances. He thought the present law was such as often to induce parties to run risks which they were not war ranted in doing, and he thought the revenue was such as fairly to allow of extensive alteration. He hailed with great delight the proposed reduction of the duty on glass, a reduction which was rendered neces sary by the competition of this country with Bohemia and other countries on the Continent. With respect to the article of coffee, though he could not but express his approbation of a reduction of the duty on any great article of consumption, he could not understand why all the morality of the country should settle in the sugar basin, and be dissipated in the coffee pot.—(Laughter) He could see no morality and no consistency in the course pursued with reference to sugar. The sooner all these props of humanity, which, in reality, was no humanity at all, were got rid of, the better would it be for the country at large. For every step which they took in the wrong direction, they would find them selves retaliated upon by that country with whom it was their interest to maintain the closest intercourse. It was not for him to pledge himself as to the course which he would pursue with respect to the income tax, if such a remission of duties were to take place as to render it necessary to continue that tax. He had expressed his opinion to his constituents in favour of a property-tax as that which pressed least on the working classes; but he thought that the surplus on hand might be applied to the remission of duties with great advantage to the country at large. Sir H. DOUGLAS expressed his satisfaction at the reduction of the duty on currants—a satisfaction which was increased by his long connexion with those islands. Mr. C. WOOD said he was convinced that from the I stimulus which would be given by the remission of the duty on wool in the manufacturing districts, many would reap a rich harvest. If they were not able now to judge of the effect of the reduction which had taken place in 1842, they could not be able to judge of what the effect would be in five years. Lord HOWICK thought there was good reason to complain of the conduct of the Government in respect to the export duty upon coals. It had materially affected a very important branch of trade, and he thought they were not justified in retaining that duty with such an excess of revenue above expenditure. Captain PECHELL was one of those who were dis satisfied with the Budget. He thought that with so large a surplus the Government ought to have taken off the window-tax.—(Hear, hear.) An Hoar. MEMBER begged to ask the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the instalments of the compensation from China had been paid. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the instalments had been duly paid at the stipulated times. Mr. HINDLEY was rejoiced that there was such a surplus of revenue, and the rporp so, because it came from those who were best able to bear it.—(Hear, hear.) After a few words from Lard HARRY VANE, The resolution was agreed to. The House then resumed, the resolution was brought up, and the report was ordered to be received to-morrow. THE FACTORIES BILL. Sir J. GRAHAM postponed till Friday the Order of the Day on the Factories Bill. Mr. S. CRAWFORD gave notice that he would, on Friday, upon the mo4 i n for goring into Committee upon the Factories Bill, ca,ll the attention of the House to a pfAition ficen Belfltst against tho Bill. BAILIFFS OF INFERIOR COURTS BILL. The Bailiffs of Inferior Courts Bill was read a, third time and passed. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. Sir J. GRAHAM (or Sir George G re y) mOvel for returns relating to the Ecclesiastical Courts.—Agreed to BANK CHARTER. Sir G. CLERK moved that the Bank Charter Acts to laid on the table.—Agreed to. The RIGHT HON. BARONET then gave notice, that on Monday next his Right Hon. Friend would move that the House do resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, for the purpose of taking the question of the Bank Charter into consideration. The remaining orders of the day having been disposed of, the House adjourned at a Qnarter before Twelve. MONEY AND COMMERCIAL NEWS CITY, MONDAY EVENING, The English Securities closed well—Consols at 994 to ii-;; india . btock for Account was done at 288, being lower by about one per cent. than a few days since. The New Three-and-a-Half per Cents. improved to 103 to k. The Foreign Market was rather lively this afternoon. Spanish, however, continued at 0 4i- to 25 for the Actives, and at 364 to fur the Three per Cents., being lower. Mexican were 331 to 11; and Brazilian, 80k. Dutch Two-and-a- Half per Cents. brought 614 to -a. The additional transacti ons i n Railway Shares have been these:—Chester and Holyhead were 11- to 1 4; Great Western, 38; ditto Half, 23 to 1; Harwich, 1 to -. l t; Birmingham, 1291; Newcastle and Darlington, 23-f; North British, -.:1; Northern and Eastern, 12i- Norwich and Brandon, 6; MarseiVes and Avignon, 11; Paris and Orleans, 174 to 18; and Rouen aad Havre, 94- to premiuM. Eastern Counties have been 10i; HarrOwgate and Knaresborough, Blackwall, 10+; and Brighton, 61- discount. (From The Sun of Last Night.) The sales of Cotton at Liverpool on Saturday were 3,000 bales at Friday's rates. The trade were the only buyers. —There was no new feature in Shares. Birmingham and Gloucester Quarter, 23A ; Edinburgh and Glasgow, 66 ; Great Western Half, 72? 1 , ; Midland Counties, 90; Paris and Or leans, 371 ; South-Eastern, 35k ; Ditto New, 9i. The second portion of the lean authorised to be raised in this country, and guaranteed by her Majesty's Government, has been announced for competition. The money so obtained is to be applied exclusively to the commencement and com pletion of public works in Canada. Thus a fund will become available for employing a number of settlers who may proceed as emigrants this year, as well as to aid those already in the colony. The biddiags for this loan are to be made at the Trea sury on Friday next, and the whole amount now required is 300,0001. When it is recollected that a strong competition was shown to obtain a portion of the first contract for a similar sum, and that the present Canada Guarantee Deben tures, bearing interest at 4 per .cent., are worth 112, little doubt is entertained that the present loan will be eagerly sought after, especially as money is worth scarcely above 4 to 2 per cent. Many speculations have taken place this morning on the subject of the Budget, and one or two leading men are sup posed to have an idea of the intentions of the Government ; but as the period has now so nearly arrived when the public will be fully inform( don the subject, it is not worth while to occupy space in alluding to general statements on the subject. We have seen accounts from several leading agricultural districts this morning, which state that the wheat plant is generally healthy, indicative of abundance; notwithstanding it is a fact that speculation in foreign grain has commenced on the Continent ; here, however, the quantity upon which duty has been paid recently is comparatively small. The farmers are now beginning to complain of the want of rain, more especially to bring forward the spring-sown wheats. The advises received to-day from Lisbon have excited some attention, as showing that the revolution has become more serious than was anticipated, and unless some decisive blow is early struck, it is the opinion of many well-informed parties that we shall hear of insurrections a P Espagnol, throughout the kingd om . Of course t h e b ond holders - have a direct interest at stake, as their dividends are partly de pendent for regular payment upon the maintenance of peace. Much expectation is indulged in, among those interested in the East India and China trade, as to whom is likely to fill the important trust of acting as the Governor-General of India. There are not a few who think Earl de Grey is not an unlikely party to be delegated to fill that important post. The nomination of successor at present is the great object of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, subject of course to the sanction of the Board of Control and the Go vernment. The quotation of East India Stock has been nominal this morning, at about 289 to 2894. Not a bargain in it has, in fact, been done. For Consols, for Account, the Market is a shade in advance of Saturday's closing values—i. e. 99i ; but fur Money a purchase has just been made at within *per cent. of par. The Unfunded Debt is much the same. Bank Stock, after touching 197, has received per cent. The Commis sioners took 40,0001. Consols this morning at 998. Spanish Bonds are heavy—the Actives at 244 to 25,:and the Three per Cents, at 364 The Dutch Bonds are steady. For Portuguese Converted Stock the market is very flat in deed, the intelligence of a political character from Lisbon being bad. The Stock opened at 46, and is now 45, a fall of 1* per cent. since Saturday. Mexican Bonds are at 35}; and Brazil of 1829 and 1839 are at 77i. A good deal of business has been done this morning in the Railway Shares, and the prices appear rather more firm than they were. In the Joint-Stock Banks and the Mining in vestments there has not been any business done up to the present hour. MANCHESTER STOCK EXCHANGE, APRIL 27.—The prin cipal business to-day has been in the Trent Valley shares, which have advanced to 11 prem. ; in other stocks not much change. Eastern Counties, perpetual, 1/. 15s. 10d. ; Chester and Holyhead, 6i ; Manchester, Bury, and Rossendale, 51 ; Paris and Strasbourg, 2/. 16s. 9d. ; Trent Valley, 101 to 11. CLOSING PRICES. BRITISH FUNDS. Bank Stock 3 per Cent. Red 59 Ditto Bonds — pin 3 per Cent. Cons. ... ...... 99X Ditto Old Annuities 3% per Cent. Red 102% Ditto New Annuities... New 3% per Cent 102% Ex. Bills, 1,0001. I V... 75 pm. New 5 per Cent. — Ditto 5001 .......... ..... '75 pm Long Annuities to expire Ditto Small 75 pm. Jan. 1860 h% Bank Stock for Acct.... Oct. 1859. Jan. 1860 lndia Stock for Acct.... 488 FOREIGN FUNDS. Austrian, 5 per Cent — ,Portuguese, 5 per Cent — Belgian, 5 per Cent lO5 Ditto, New Ditto — Brazilian Bonds BO Prussian, 5 per Cent ........ Buenos Ayres, 6 per Cent —` . ;Russian, 5 per Cent............ 117% Chllian, 6 per Cent — ,Ditto, Metallic ....... ........... Colombian, 6 per Cent Ditto, 1824 — ,Ditto, 3 per Cent 36% Cuba Bonds, 6 per Cent 93 Ditto, Deferred — Danish, 3 per Cent Greek, 18.5, 5 per Cent — Exchange —{ ......, Mexican, S per Cent .... ..... 35U French, 3 per Cent --f. .....c., Ditto, 6 per Cent., 1837 — IDutch, 23 per Cent, 61% Peruvian, 1825, 6 per Cent... , Ditto, S per Cent .... lOO% SHARES. Chester and Holyhead ( 5 paid) ....... ................ 6% Eastern Counties (23 paid) Great Western (75 paid) Ditto Half Shares (50 paid) Harrowgate and Knaresboro' ( 3 paid) ........ Harwieh (Braithwaite) (2 paid) London and Birmingham (Stock) London and Blackwall (162. 13s. 4dl) 6 Lenion and Brighton (50 paid) . ........ " ... Newcastle and Darlington Junction (18 paid) Northern and Eastern '45 paid) .............. Norwich and Brandon ( 2 paid) 8 Paris and Orleans (20 paid) Paris and Rouen (20 paid) 97% Rouen and Havre ( 8 paid) ............. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSALL'S-YESTERDAY. CHESTER CUP. 5 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Red Deer—taken 6 to I 7 to 1 agst Lord G. Bentinck's Bramble —take 8 to 1 8 to 1 agst Col. Cradock's Pagan 15 to 1 agst Mr. Wrather's Nutwith—taken 20 to 1 agst Sir W. W. Wynn's Rowland —taken 20 to I,agst Mr. Gray don's Roscius -20 to I agst Mr. Stephenson's Freedom 20 to 1 agst Mr. Speed's Everton—taken 20 to 1 agst Mr. Bristow's Pharaoh 30 to 1 agst Mr. Tuting's Tacita, The departure of several of the regular attendants for Chester had a prejudicial effect on the betting, which, never theless, gave rise to some important changes. The most striking was in Kent's lot, Red Deer, on a small outlay having risen 5 to 1, but not until 3 to 1 had been laid agst the lot, and 100 to 80 on Bramble agst him ; 7 to 1 was the final laying odds agst the latter. Nutwith sprang to 15 to 1, and Rowland to 20 to 1, both taken. Plenty of layers apt Pharaoh, and Roscius. Cattonite's prices did not transpire. DERAY. 5 to 2 agst Mr. Crockford's Ratan taken 4 to 1 agst Mr. John Day's The Ugly Buck—tak. freely 12 to 1 agst Mr. Lichtwald's Leander—t. & aftw. offered 20 to 1 agst Sir G. Heathcote's Cdtnpanero—taken 25 to 1 agst Col. Peel's Orlando—taken 25 to 1 agst Mr. John Scott's Bay Momus —taken 40 to 1 agst Lord Westminster's 'Lancet—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Ford's Qui Tam—take 50 to 1 50 to 1 agst Sir G. Heathcote's Akbar—taken. 1500 to 20 agst Imaum and Assay (taken). In returning, Ratan at 5 to 2, and the Ugly Buck at 4to 1, we name the outside market prices; they were only to be obtained of parties who were fortunate enough to get their money ott some time back. The bets that came under our personal observation were 250 to 100 agst Ratan, 9 to 2 to 300/., and 4 to 1 to about the same sum agst the Ugly Buck.-1,200 to 100 was betted agst Leander, and several parties willing to accommodate the takers upon the same terms.—Campanera was backed for a small sum at 18 and 20 to 1 ' • Orlando at 20 and 25 to 1 ; and Bay Momus forabout 1001. at 25 to 1. OAKS. Several inquiries were made about Barricade, Sister to Martingale, and Crenoline, but no business done ; the last Newmarket prices would have been taken about the first two, and 20 to lor less about Crenoline. Mr. Gratwicke's Margravine filly met with an accident a few days ago, and is declared not to run. NEWMARKET SECOND SPRING MEETING, 1844. TnunsnAv.—Duke of Bedford's Oakley, Bst 121 b, agst Mr. J. Day's St. Lawrence, Bst 71b. D.M. 200, h ft. CHESTER RACES. CHESTER, SUNDAY. —The following horses have arrived Best Bower, Red Deer, Bramble, Adriana mare, General Pol lock,: Master Stepney, Brunel, Lady Alice, Hemp, Coal Black Rose, Alice Gray, Ithuriel, Freedom, Hampton colt, Psalm singer, Greenfinch, Faustus, Missy, Colin Clink, f by Dr. Faustus, out of Active; Columbia colt, Alice Hawthorn. Merry Andrew, The Cure, Bashaw, Nutwith, Alarie, Jamie Forest, Brevity, Celeste, Miss Miggs, Fair Charlotte, Tacita, and Birdeen. The following are also en route :—Pagan, Infidel, The Lily, Alvanley, Tottenham, Witch, Intrepid, Portrait, Cane, Imaum, Assay, Roscius, Hudibras, Tacita, The Viscount, Xanthus, Pharaoh, Freystrop, Era, Rowland, Kilgram, Beau mont, Emma, &c. Vaudeville and The Prior fell amiss on the road. EGLINTON PARK RACES. BETTING AT GLASGOW.-THE IRVINE C??. 7 to 4 agst Shadow (taken) 3 to 1 agst Whistle Maki* 4 to 1 agst Aristides 6 to 1 agst William leGroe(t) 4 to 1 agst Aristotle 10 to 1 agst Smike (taken) MTEWARDB' CUP, - 3 to 1 agst Lara (taken) 6 to 1 agst Era (taken) 4 to 1 agst Shadow 10 to 1 agst Qnebec 6 to 1 agstWilliarnleGros(dlo to 1 agst Christopher (b, LATEST BETTING AT THE WEST END. cirEsrEn CUP. 7 to 2 agst Kent's lot (t) 15 to 1 agst Roscius(t) 6 to 1 agst Bramble 20 to 1 agst Alice Rawthetigt, 7 to 1 agst Pagan 22 to 1 agst Freedom (take{!) 10 to 1 agst Cattonite 25 to 1 agst Rowland 10 to 1 agst Red Deer _2O to 1 agst Nutwith DERBY. _ ___ 2 to 1 agst Ratan (t 5 to 2) ( 120 to 1 agst O r l and* 4 to 1 agst Uglyßuok (tak 10 to 1 apt Ottumwa 9 tot) IsTo change in the other favourites. - ' Contents of Bell's Li.Tei,l-1 London, of Saturday and • Sunday last, April 28 :--Five long and wide folio colturma of Newmarket and Chester, the Curragh Meeting, China Racing at Chusan, Ostend Rowing Match, continuation of Winning Greyhounds, Cricketing at Allahabad (65th Regiment and Station), Calcutta Cricketing, List of Royal Yacht 'Squadron, 100 advertisements connected with sporting matters, Bell's Life of Sunday next, May 5, will give aie most cor• net and full report ofthe Chester Races.