The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-04-09 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

YONDAY.—Mr. Gladstone asked whether the Govern-
ment would lay upon the table the alterations in the
Reform Bill to which they were willing to woe before
going into committee.—To this the Chancellor of th•
Exchequer replied that be was going to give notice of the
abandonment of the dual voting clause. As to the
other parta of the bill, they must be left for the com-
mittee, the Government being most anxious to on-operate
with the House in bringing the whole question of
Reform to • satisfactory settlement This statement was
received with loud cheers from the Ministerial benches,
and derisive cries from the Opposition.— In the midst of
these expressions of opinion, Lord Cranborne rose. In-
stantly there were load demands for silence, which
having been obtained, his lonlohip asked Lord Stanley •
question. Lord Stanley had mid on one oeeasion that
the Government would bring in • bill by which they
would stand or felt Would his lordship inform the
House what were the propositions In the bill now
brought in by which they would stand or fill? The
House cheered vociferously.— Lord Stanley mid the
question was rather one to be met in argument and
debate, and when the debate on the bill took
place he ohould be prepared to answer the ques-
tion. Whereupon the Miuisterialiata cheered, and
Lord Cranborne and his friends laughed, and there
were cries of " Oh, oh."—Mr. Walpole was ques-
tioned by Sir Robert Collier in reference to Toonser's
ease. The right hon. gentleman went into a long ex-
planation of his motives for declining to grant • pardon
to Toomer.—Lord Stanley, in answer to questions from
Mr. Sandford and Mr. Watkin, stated that the Foreign-
office had no official information of the gale of
Luxembourg to France, or of Russian America to the
United titates.—ln Committee on the Mutiny Bill the
controversy on Flogging in the Army was resnrr.ed.—
Sir J. Pakington brouxht up a second clause in lieu of
the one under discumion on Thursday night. This latest
clause, following the suggestion of Sir G. Grey, retains
the punishment of the lash in time of peace for the two
offences of mutiny anti aggravated insubordination, and,
discarding the elassifiestions, makes it applicable to
atiltliers of the first and second dames alike.—On a
division the famine' claim, was negatived by 175 to 162,
and the new cleave introduced to-night was added to the
Bill—The House then went into Committee on the
Naval Estimates, and the followiny votes were agreed
to :-67.200 MOO and boys; £1,900,969 wages and
allowances ; 1:1,241,614 victualling and clothing
£176,018 for salaries and expenses of the Admiralty
011ice.—The Seger Duties Rill was read a third time and
passed.— The Canada Railway Loan Bill was read •
seeond time.

TUIPIDAT.—Lord Amberley obtained leave to bring in
a bill to amend an Ant pissed in the reign of George 111.
for preventing certain abeam and profanation' of ti.
Lord's Day. The object of the present bill is to repeal
so much of the Act as will permiethe delivery of lectures
and public discussions on the Sabbath at places were
money is taken tor admission. Mr. Dent oalled attention
to the hist!' report of the Cbildren's Employment corn.
inis"iou, and flood tLetttu euipleywent rI now,..n mid
children In agricultere should be regulAted as f‘r as
possible by the principleq of the Factory Acta Mr.
Walpole cordially approved of the motion, and reeom-
mended the re-appointment of the committee whieb had
just concluded its labour* with the view of legislating
on the anbject early next year. The motion was agree)
to. Mr. Crawford then called attention to the expediency
of the State assuming the responsibility of the debenture
dehta of railway companies linable to meet their engage-
ments, and made a motion on the subject, which, alter
win,' discussion, was withdrawn,

WiningDey.—A j, introduced by Mr. Ayrten for
cumP•ltint lb. Mceicebietical Conimiecioners to make
provialot frown their 0041133011 hind for pressing MOSS of
*ritual dertitatioo I. losland and Wahl'. Wag keg on

the wend reeding. The Mutiny Bill vu resi a third
lute and pawed. Mr. Adair brought up the report of
the Watuiford Cuuuty Election Committee, which de-
clared that Mr. De La Peer was duly clotted for that
county.

TUURMDAT.--Th. Chancellor of Um Exchequer pro-
creel, d, in comedies of ways and means, to mske the
financial stst-en lit. Plunging at woo into 6 rum,
ithout nor further preface Man to remind the House
of tie extreme financial peril through which we had
passed since Mr. 0 seldom, male his calculations, be
stated that. nothwithatanding this financial pressure,
the actual income of 1866.67 had exceeded the
ear note by £2:421,000, being 0'9,4311,000 as against
£67,013,000, and this surplus, he esplained, had
chiefly &Mon front the customs and exei-c, each item
barns, protected considerably over One million 1119 T,
than Ile. filetstone's esthonto Ti a expenditure of
the year woo e ',oaten, at £67,031,000, but the aeonl
iesues from then Exchequer were only £3141,780,000.
showing • saving of C 251,003, which, taken with the
• ace,n of revenue., shooed • balanoed mettles of
11,651,172. In the same way the balances in the
P.set eerier, which on the 31411 of Msreb, were
1.5 nil 314, had risen on the 31.1 of Match, 1867. to
£7,21.14,000, sot the "dead weight" annuity &leo.
amoutiting to £5g3,710, would fall in tomorrow, though.
It would be necessary to provide £284,000 on account
el it in this year 'a estimates. Passing to the finance of
emexii.nenoootn..ll,oooiture;
aarfinytlLerviyosea.:
the Preeent year, Mr. Disraeli stated the estimeted
etllls,o2ras:—.ooolnte;resnat.yosenrydLb.t.,
£26,000,00) ; other consolidat: el fond chsrges,
tw.926,c00 ; civil via, ices, rs,al3,mo ; n venue depart.
11,113,000; ra•ket service £807,000 ; total,
£68,131,000; and these would be defrayed by an
estimated revenue of £69,310,000, thus Produced :
Cuitoma. £22,000.000: sceNe. £20.700.000 stanlPee
£9,550,000; assessed taxer. LI 6110,000; proPerly tea.'
1:6.0.10,000; post... Sm. £4,660,000; crown Insole,1•310,006
miscellaneous, £2,600.000; total, £6.9.340,000; showing
a surplus of revenue over expenditure of £1,206,000.
At this stare, Mr. Disraeli remarked, commenced the
chit difficulty of • Chancellor of the Exchequer in
framing his Budget—the disponi of the surplus, and
he prefaced his announoements on this point by remind-
ing the Howe that during the last ten years there had
been redactions of taxation., irnareetive of the Income-
tax, to (ho amount of £11,000,000% year, conoquently
It was difficult to fix upon any tax so extrem-ly seveee
and unjust that all sides would unite in ceiling for its
removal. Except the Molt-tan, there was no duty
which injoriously effected the indo•try of any large
portion of the people, hut.. this tax could only be dealt
with on • large and comprehensive male, the resources
he had at hit disposal this year would not enable him to
touch it, anxious though he might be to do in. Next to
the appropriation of the surplus to the diminution of
taxes cams it. application to the reduction of debt, and
the only way of doing this was by charging some specific
annual amount on the Consolidated Fund. After diso
cus-ing how this method could he boat applied--suoh as
by an annual vote in the Finoncial Statement, or by a
' Sinking Fund (which he strongly condemned)— he ex.
premed his preference for the plan prooosed by Mr.
Gladstone last rear, abandoning the more complicated
nod ten farreaching par{ of is. Last year Mr. Glad-
steno proposed nod carried • measure for cancelling
0,000,000 • f debt due to the Post.oifice and Old
&villas Banks by • terminable annuity, half of which
sum had already been operated on, and the other h sit
would be cancelled immediatels, rrovision for the pur-
pose bring taken in thin year's Bodget, and be also
proposed to canoe! • sum of £24,000,000 by an annuity
terminating in 1885, am' a further sum by • second
operation extending to 1905. Approving this plan, or
at Inset the first part of it, Mr. Disraeli proposed to de-
vote n portion of the solidus to the eancellicg of
U 24.000,000 of debt, and he thus explained the parti•
colors of the operation :—lt would lie effected on two
trams of the Public Debt, one of I:18,000,000, the other
if £6,000,000. The first amount, now bearing interest
to the amount of £510,000, would be converted into on
annuity of £1,332,000, terminating on July 5, 1885, and
the second sum, now bearing £lBO,OOO a year interest,
would he converted into an annuity of £414.000, ter-
minating on April 5, ICR. the joint amount of the two
anouitie. being £1,776.0110. The charge on this year's
revenue boos this operation would be three quarter's
interest on the min of £18,000,000, and one quarter's
interest on the CG 060,000 aniesenting to £1.110,000; but
to this must be added the intereat on the two some
until they were converted (4360,000), and from it must
be deducted the interest we should have to pay if they
were not ceriverted (£720,000), by which the total cheep
on the year 1867.8 from the conversion would be no
ducted so t 750,000. Mr. Disraeli next described how the
conversion would affect the revenue of future veers from
1868 to 'Snits total annual coat would be £1,776,008
from whieh 'alibi be deducted the annual interest paid
on the Debt in its present form (L 720,0001 and inking
into amount the total removal of the dead weight next
wear, the operation might be described as the templet*
cancelling of £24.000,000 at a cot of something under
half a million • year until 1885. This would reduce
the 'emote* to £456,000, and £210,000 of this he pro.
posed to devote to the reduction of the Marine Insurance
I)ndies, whether on time or voyage policies, to an
uniform rate of 3d. per cent,, except in the case of time
rolicies exceeding six months, which would be fixed at
Gd per cent, The result of these two onerations would
be to leave a surplus in hand of r 246,000, which he did
not propose further to trench upon ; and, after speaking
less than an hour, Mr. Disraeli eonclud. el, amid ex-
preoions of very general approbation, by moving •
R-solution for the renewal of the Income tax.—A long
and desultory conversation followed, embracing all the
topics touched on In the Budget, and lasting neatly two
hours—Mr. Gladstone, after name remarks in ap-
proval of the reduction of the Fire Insurance Dirties,
which, It. said, were indefensible, and eapressing a hope I
that no further attempt would Ise made to invade the
surplus Mr. Disraeli had retained, proceeded to discuss
at length the proposal for the reduction of the Debt. ,
He thought Mr. Disraeli had done wisely in throwing
overboard the seeond and more extensive part of the
scheme ho had himself brought forward last year,—
most probably he should have done the same had it
gone further; and in opposition to Mr. Leine, he as-
serted that there was no more complete mode of leaving
money to (motif, in the pockets of the people than by
reduction of debt; for whatever was paid must find its
way into the London money-market, whence it would
radiate in all directions, increasing production and the
employment of labour. In an elaborate erguinent,
drawn from the relative and rec'procil effects of the
barking and Exchequer amounts of the bank, be showed
that the plan had no analogy with a Sinking Fund, and
after a vigwous defence of the policy of reducing the
National Debt enforced by • reference to the example
of the United Staten which he warmly extolled, be con-
eluded by cordially supporting the scheme, giving Mr.
Diaraeli the highest credit for preferring it to the more
popular course of reducing taxation.—The superior
claims of the Malt-tax to reduction were preferred by
Mr. Read, Ifr. J. More. and Mr. P. Urquhart; but
Colonel Batttelot pointed out that with so small •
surplus it was impweble to deal sensibly with that tax.
—Mr. Denman advocated the abolition of the attorneys'
certificate duty, Mr. Marsh and Mr. Green the licence
duties, Mr. 114 bite the small Corteges' duties, and Mr.
Ayrton the metropolitan hackney carriages. The
formal Resolutions moved by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer were agreed to. The Bankruptcy Bill was
read a second time, under an arrangement by which the
debate is to be taken on going imo Committee.—The
Canada Loan Bill passed through Committee.
FILIDAT.-11r. Acland, on the part of Mr. Coleridge,
gave notice that, on the raiding of the order of the day
for going into committee on the Bill for the Amendment
of the Representation of the People, he should move
that it be an instruction to the committee that they
have power to alter the law of rating, so that in every
parliamentary borough the occupiers of tenements of a
given amount of relative value be relievei from the
liability of personal rating, with • view to fix a line for
the borough froothise. at and above which all occupiers
should be entered on the rate-hook, sod shall have equal
facility for the enjoyment of such franchise as • resi-
dential oecupatine franchise.—Mr. Lowe tolled atten-
tion of the House to the proposals of the Government
with respect to the arrangement of the grant for educa-
tion. He contended the proposals would fail, that it
would not in the least degree stimulate people as the
Government desired, and that the expenditure proposed
would be altogether a waste of public money. Ile con-
cluded by moving that the home diasenta from so much
of the minute of the Committee of Council on Education
as provided for an themes of the grant now made to
primary .eboola —Mr. Corry defended the plan proposed
by the Government.—After •short diseumkn the House'
diehled, when the numbers were :—For Mr. Lowe's '
motion. 40; against it, 203; majority, 163. The motion
was accordingly rejected. —Sir R. Collier called attention I
to the case of John Towner, and expressed • strong
opinion that there had been • failure in the administra-
tion of justice, and that an innocent man bad suffered
grievous wrong. He appealed to the Home Secretary
to reconsider the caw—Mr. Walpole maid the proper
course, if them was any doubt an to the evidence on
which 'roomer was convicted, was to prosecute the I
prosecutrix for perjure. He mold not deny that publis
opinion was eigninat the conviction, and he himself bad
always thought that the sentence wan exoeoive, but the
application to him had been for a free pardon. He
promised to consider the rare—Considerable diecussion
followed, which was principally confined to hon.
members of the legal profession, hitt the general tone of
the debate was aesunst the conviction and sentence.—
Sir R. Peel asked for information respeeting the recent
negotiations affecting the transfer or einem of Luzern.
bourg to Franee.—Lorel Stanley entered into a long
explanation, and concluded by stating that the transfer
would fall to the ground. He had homed from the
representative of the King of the Netherlands that the
negotiations were at an end.