The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-05-03 00:00:00

IIvIPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

In th, House ot Lords, Aptli 2, several private bills were
advanced II stage.
Th.' 51..04 of Sali,inti7 gave notice that upon the House
going tut., committee upon the Supreme Court of 3 to. teat ,re
he w.tald an no an amendment praying her ilajeaty to
lung a writ ‘,l Summons for Ittschlog official peerages t.,
thentenh.ae of the Court or Appeal, and attaching all eccle-
*latticed causes to the same collet.

The Portpatriek Harbour Bill passed through committee,
and their lordships adjourned.
In the Uouse of Commons. Mr. Eustace Smith asked
whether, considering the great intervsk felt in the proceed-
ings of f.'• Royal l'orurnissiou on Lou of life at see. and
their decl lon to sit with clewed d ,ors, steps will be taken to
have the, vidEn,e lakl before Parliament In portions as soon
as eonvebivnt after it hoe been given.

Mr. Chichester Tedesco° saki this mainly depended on
the eonerniartmers theinselves. They had resolved not
to publialt their proceedings from day to day, and probably
the same Cu mons which induced that decision would lead
them not to publish the evidence While the inquiry was
proceeding.
Mr. Chleheskr Tortesene also announced the names of the
Railway commissioners—viz , Sir Frederick Peel, Mr. Price,
M.P. be tit Anteater, and Mr. Mummers, QV.
The consideration of the Budget was n sowed, and on
e Report of the Sugar Duty iiti,0111!{0113 b. tog ter- ught up.
' Mr. W li. Smith n eyed the Resolution of which he had
given notice, that Mere deciding further on the reduction
of Inelire et Taxation the Government ought to putt the
House in possesalon of its views on the maintenance and
adjustment of Li reet Talation, foal and Imperial. Be
justitled his inrerpositiou at this stage by various pre-
cedent., partkularly by the venue taken by Mr Glad-
stone in IsSi on I TbS2' and by comparing Mr. tiled-
alone i.le eige, g niacin the lstli of August, IS7.', tint a
Bill should be introduced for the relief of local burden.,
with his recent letter to the Metropolitan Board of Works,
announeing that nothing would be done this year. Al other
reason was that the Budget as it stood prevented any
relief to local Taxation, not only this year, but the
next Bernd, Mr Lowe's object evidently was to use
up the surplus and to entbarreses his successor in deal-
ing with this question. Moreover, it was evident that
many important sources of revenue, particularly the
Income-Tux, as was shown by recent language of the Prime
Minister, acre lii daunt. r. Personally, he did not object to
the remileb n of the Sugar Duties, if the Revenue could
afford it, and if the consumer would get the benefit, which
he dente el. The reasons for dealing with Local Tax.
Won had been strengthen' ...since Mr Gladsteme's pledge
last year, for, as he showed front the Returns, Local
Burdens bad considerably increased, especially in those
branches which were Imposed by the imperial Parliament
and controlled by the Central Executive. The calculations
of Mr. Lowe's Budget, he argued, were unsafe, bring formed
on the basis of an inflated trade and exceptionally hich
priors, and the result would be to throw the relief of Local
Tnuttonentirnly on the chapter of accidents:

that the
Government had already complied se ith the couditi es of
the Resolution. In his Budget speech he had stated that
the reduction of Direct and that of Indirect Taxation
were to loslahce each other ; that the poor, who, roughly
speaking, paid the Is Taxes. should have as much
relief as the rich who paid Direct Taxes. As to Local
Taxation, the Government In 1671, hod thrown out
a suggestion for handing over to the Luc el Authori-
ties some RI.20(`,00) a year, and from the general
pledge to propose some relief they did not retreat, though
they reserved their discretion as to the time :and manner.
They held it to be an important question—Constitutional as
wells, financial—and they must be careful not to do any
Irremediable mischief" In a hurry. Before any relief
could be granted there were such questions as exemp-
tions, constitution of hoe el Bodies, collection of Rates,
etc., to be dealt with, and M. Stansfeld, he reminded the
House, was about to deal with them , n Thureday by two
bills and a Select Committee. The Budget, he admitted,
put it out of their power to do anything this year.
But he denied that he had endeavoured to embatras
his successor, because, as ha said timid much laughter,
he intended to be his own successor next year. Mr.
Smith's argument on this point, he asserted, was
founded on an entire misapprehension of the Budge%
Mr. Lowe sent on to oppose the motion on the ground
that it would upset the budget because after that part
which was to benefit the poor was struck out the Govern-
ment would not go on with that which relieved the rich ;
but the Budget, he maintained, was popular to tit
In the House and the country. In defending the par-
ticular preposition now term* the House, he admit ed
that since his often-quoted speech in 1070 he had changed
his wind upon the Sugar Datiee, remarking that there was
no subject about which so many "lies" were told. The
Government would treat the motion as an &Remit and a
vote of censure ; and supposing it were carried, he
asked the Opposition, had they made up their
minds what they would do? Were they prepared
with a plan, or was another fortnight to be consumed in an-
other Ministerial Crisis, to end as before? The Resolution,
he maintained, was intended to manipulate the Surplus for
the exclusive benefit of the rich and of the landed interest,
and those who e 'AI think that suet a proposal would not
create deep discontent must regard the working classes
as either .slots or idiots.

Sir a Northcote animadverted warmly oil the licence of
Mr. I. iwe's language, and especially repeiled the imputation
that those who aupparted the motion were ESpollisillg the
came of the rich against the poor. Not admiring Mr. L twos
word—" ho "—be preferred to characterire It scone of the
most imaginative statements ever made in the Flom of
Common., bud he contradicted it flatly. Tue ob-
ject of the motion was to extract information from
the Government to which the House had a right. Wil3 the
income Tax to be considered a perm mint or only a tem-
porary portion of our Reverts, ? Mr. GI olstrine's reN nt
language led to the bellef that he contemplated the p
Affinity of ita abolition. Neverthele,, by diminishing and
cutting off sources of Revenue, Parliament had been led
to take A course which would make it imposaible. Tf e
remission of the Sugar Duties, Sir Stafford argued,
would not principally benefit the poor, because a larger pro-
portion of sugar was eonstuned by the upper and middle
classes than of other tax, el articles. Moe eov. r, el the indi-
rect Taxes paid liy the working classes 70 per cent. was pa it
on luxuries— viz., malt, spirits, wine, and to ; and, as
to the lowest class of Income Tax payers—the most
severely pinched of all, nemreling to Sir. Lowe—his showed
now twopence in the Laconia Tax would have beneatted
them five times as much as the remission of the Sugar Du-
ties. With regard to Local Taxation the right of the House
to further Information was stronger, because of the Resolu.
Sion of last year and the Ministerial pledge which followed.

"Ttui
expreuloos of opinion from a'evecd other hen. mom-
hem,
Mr. Goscheu ilitudrated the erafty chancter of the Resolu-
tion by contrasting the discotdaut epeeches in whiLh it had
been supported. The result, he predicted, would be
that It. odd be follll4ltoo clever by hall, and Mr. Smith., old
be unable to secure a mai xlty the Government, he said, re-
fused to be drawn no any prospective declarations about
}inane* beyond this, - that they would enuesvour to do J
Uce to all interests. This, he asserted, they had done in the
preeent cue They bad studied every claim, and sete I
justly, as they thought, to all. They oh) -cted to may whether
the income Tax should or shown not be sholl‘hrd
at some luture time, still lees would they say that the limit
of reduction of indirect Taxation had been reached As to
Local resat:on, the Government admitted grievance, hut
they declined to be bound to any particular remedy. Any
other inference drawn from Mr. Gladstoi3e's language was
erroneous.

On the motion of Mr. Cave, the debate was adjourned
until Thunday.
The 'Railway and Canal Traffic Bill was reed • third time
and passed.

The other Orders were deposed of, and the Home ad ,orne.l
at 10 minutes peat 2 o'clock.

In the House of Lords, April 29, the Eallwa; and Canal
Traffic Bill was read • nut tune.

Lord Cairns preserted a petition against the East India
stook Redemption r.. 11.
_ _

. -
The Puke of Aron, In moving the second reading of the
bill, said the East India Company was now only a stv.dow.
It had proved every expensive shadow to the G vernment.
By the Act of 1833, the holders of the East India Stock were
to he paid for 40 yeast a dividend of £lO 10s. per cent., but
power was given at the expiration of the period for the
itirkevre.ofmtehnet Ilwoonzis
pof asmemaietnitaie trogziartv=re
every
£lOO of stock.

The hill was reeds second time.
The report of amendments to the Marriage ,Ireland Bill
Was brought up and received:
The Lord Chancellor, In calling attention to the state of
the law relating to the Title to Land and the Tranefer of
Land, enumerated the several attempts made in recent times
to remedy the evils of the present cumbrous, dilatory,
and expensive process which had to be gone through
to dealing with land, lie regarded the proposal
of a universal distribution of land as altogether
delusive and a mere chimera, bat at the same
lime he held that it was for the interest of the
community to facilitate commercial de allies in land
to the greatest extent and the problem to be solved was how
far, consistently with the m pintenance of exietieg rights,
such a simple process of Registration could be adopted as
would enable owners of lard tot teal with it almost as freely
as with movable chattels He referred to the Report of the
Commiesion appoint d to consider the subject In 1454, to the
bill introduced by Lord Cairns in 1829, to the creation of
the ltegietristion Office by the Bill of Lord West-
bury, and to the syebem introduced into the Ana-
trallan Cob inlet, where many of the provisions approved by
the Commission of ibr•4 were carried into operation with
most 'Mist, etory results. Though certain provisions in Lord
Weetbury'e Lill proved seriously detrimental to the working
of the visor.', he showed by a few statistics that the
quantity of and brought under its operation was not incon-
siderable, though certainly lest than might be desired. He,
therefore, intended to lay before the nonce a oil r n the sub-
ject and by that bill he proposed in the first instance to re-
all Pricer
Acts relating to the matter, and to provide
trai single ineasure for the system which it might be thought
destrah.e X. have in operation for the future. Follosrieg the
recommeui. Along of the RO) al Commiesioo, he would while
taking pec,...utiona against fictitious claims, allow all exist
log titles to be registered without any certificate of title,
unless tbe person registering them otherwise desired.
It was I,r,rposed that the Regietration should be for
estates in Ire simple, leases, or charges, and that all other
Interests sheet,' be protected by notices or caooots, and that
when once registered they sheuld hear with them the absolute
power of sale ; and the bill would contain the same pro-
vision as was contained In Lord Westbury'. Act, giving
the benefit of Registration with an indefeastble title
under path dal sates by the Court of Chancery. lie
also progevi-d that the Registrar thould be at liberty t
accept any title which on investigation befriend to bee good
holding title, provided that toe land hal been held
for 20 years under a conveyance furs valuable consideration.
The bill iv, u,il come into operation at the beginning of 1,76,
and on every occasion of a sale of Lind in fee simple alter
the lapse 01 two years from that date lie./istratieu w, ul i be
compulsor,. titer stating that It was his Intevitton to
accompany tt r II elitism by another for the purpose of short-
ening the 'ire I of limitation row r rovided by law for
enforcing adverse cleime to land, and making it 10 years
instead of I:0, his Lordship concluded by moving the first
reacting if the bill.

Lord Romilly and Lora I iran exprersed satisfaction VIAL
the suble:t eau been token up loy tne Lord Chancellor, nut
trusted that ample time wou'd he aloe ed for the considera-
tion of la, bill I,sfore the fleoond Reading was bram,ht
en,

Lord flatherley observed that it toss rrost dCereditable
to this o entry that he had co general system of Lan
Registration, and believed that the propose I measure it
canted into eifeA, could remove a blot from our leglia.
Usu.
The bill was then read a first time.

The East Indian Stock Dividend liademption 1111 was raid
C second time on the motion or the Doke of Argyll, who vs-
Writhed that Its object was simply to carry into effect Die ar-
rangement agreed on 40 years ac., giving ParliameLt the
Option to pay off the Stock of the host India Company,
The Marriages (Ireland) Dill Was reported, With amend-

-1711;.Portpatrick Harbour Bill was read a third time and
paned, Owl 11,0 New Zealand Road., ecc., Loan Act (1870),
Amen a went Bill went through Committee, and their lord-
ships anj,e.raed.
In the lI,LISB of Commons, Sir John flay gave notice that
on the 27th May he would move for a select committee to
consider tile present system of prohmt on and retirement
107 the Itt yal Navy.
In answer to Mr. Coldernid, Me. Honsell said that direc-
tions bail been given to open a money order office at Vienna
for the convenience of Lifilch exhibitors
Lord C. Hamilton moved a R-solullon I u &your of the Per
chaos of Irish Railways by the Mate. All chasm and parties
In Ireland, he pointed out, were in &roiled this policy, and
entirely on public ground., for he did not advocate It In
the interests of the isailway C empanel or, dliarehelders.
Under the present system of management the Rail.
ways did not develop° the commerce of the country,
or conifer on the people the benefit, of cheap commu-
nication. The average length of each line was but 45 miles,
and the number of Boards was unnecessarily multiplied, with
the Inevitable consequences of discordant management and
unnecessary expenses. By way of appeal to the favourable
consideration of English and Scotch Members, Lord
Claude related how the icicle nod nsanulectures of
Ireland had been dertroyed by the jealousy of the
other parts of the United K inKtlorri. He read extracts from
the Report, of Railway Commissions on the subject, and, in
reply to the contention that this was but a step towards the
universal purchase of Hallways, he said that if the blab

Railways did their duty as efficiently as the Enallaii and
Scotch lines he would not hart wane this prvosition.
_

- -
The Creemer Lou, in beeouding the motion, said it W.. 1.
port of the druposal that if the operation reisulL-.1 in soy
less it SID-aid be borne by Irish revennes Not &eremite, with
Lord C. Hamilton 1.1 to the pin chase •-f Peelle) Mil St!ldeil
Railways, te held it is. he one Tooolllll,lldatio.ll it this scheme
that the experiment of state control might than be made, and
if it succeeded in Ireland it might be extended to the other
parts of the country.
Mr. Gaiety-aid, as an amendmont moved that the Pnrchase
of Irish Rana aye would he fiesta:laity Mexpeslisuit, would
mainly enlarge the petronaue of the Gavel meld, and se•
rtous;y increase the pressure of businsas in Parliament. If
the Irish Railways were uuremitnerative, or did not come
up to the requirements of the c 'nutty. he refused
to believe that there was not energy enough in the
Irish character to set things right. To suggest
the contrary was a strong argurneet against home
Rule, and he recommenee I Irishmen to study the example
of our North-Eastern Railway, which had been made one-of
the most powerful arid beet paying lines In the country out
of a number of small lines. The Irish Railways could 11,1
be purchased, he maintained, for less than forty nellltoee,
though they were sigh worth more than twenety. eve
millions, and if this was to be raised on Irish credit
alone at least 5 per cent, must be paid. lie cited the ex-
ample of foreign Railways in opposition to the motion: hut
his chief objection was that it would be a step towards the
pars-hare or all the Railways of the United Kingdom by the
State, and he dilated with much force on the various objec-
tions, financial, political, and practical, to the acquieltion
and working of Railways by the State.
Mr. tsla-!stone agreed that nothing short of a etriefriat
necessity should induce the Government to become a trader,
but he did not admit that 17 It bought the Ir:sh Railways
the ease for buying the En ;Rah and Sc itch Noes would be
sensibly strengthened, be d-d not deny th et the Irish
Railwsy system was weak : that a need and a
rapacity f,r the development of traffic exis'ed in
Ireland which we-re hot met that an amalgamation
of management was desirable : and that the Irish people
were pretty unanimous in favour of Slate purchase.
But, on the other hand, he pointed out that to plat) for ac-
quiring the Irish Railways out of Irish resources had ever
been hid before Parliament. For some time, at least,
the scheme would entail an annual char.e, end how
thls was to be borne it had never yet been pre-
cisely explained. The Railway Companies, too, had
hitherto studiously held themselves on the defensive, and if
the State had to take the initiative that would naturally
have an effect on the price. The plan could not be dealt
with solely as a financial operation, though he did not see
any Insuperable difficulty in the financial objections which
had been poieted out. Acquisition and working could
hardly be separated, but he thought it almost impossible
that the State could work the Railway s. The system of
leasing for the purpose of working heel not been foiled
practicable on a large scale, and no Government Department
yeah: possess the 11-affinity necessary to deal with so com-
plicated a matter as Railway commit' leations. Ms. Glad-
stone, however, enbsequently sketeind out • scheme for
the benefit of Irish Railways, whlco would mid some
In per cent, to the sum available for their net diet-
demi. by amalgamations in judiciously arranged groups
some £lO,OlO a year might be saved in management,
and by the public taking over the security for certain
loans between £70,00.1 and 1.80 000 more a year might
be saved in interest. This would give a fair margin for re-
duction of fares and ether Improvements. Ile repeated,
however, more than once that the Government could not
take the Initiative, hut must act indy On the application of
the Railway Companies. Under these circumstances he ad-
vised that the amendment should he withdrawn, and that
the Home should negative the Resolution.
A lengthened discussion followed, in which several lion
mernbsrs took part, arid eventually Mr. tioldeinires amend-
ment having been hart, it been withdrawn, the H. -use divided
on Lord C. Hamilton's Resolution, which was negatived by
107 to e 5.

Mr. A. Herbert, seconded by Sir U Hoare, moved for a
Sleet Committee to enquire into the advantage of extending
the protection of a Close Ramon t certain Wild Birds not
inJuded in the Wild Birds Preservation Act of last Session.
Mr. inlwyn, Mr. Liddell, Mr. Cowper-Temple, Mr.
Assheton, and Mr Parker supported the inquiry, which was
opposed by Mr. Barclay and Mr. C. S. Read. The Hone
Secretary aisel.tcd to the Committee, and on a division it
was carried by 162 to 16.

The other boldness was disposed of, and the House &d-
-oomed at eve minutes vast one o'clock.

In the Home of Commons, Amll3o, r:Jacob Bright moved
the second reeling of the Women's Disabilities Bill, which he
said had been three times rejected by the present House of
Commons. At might be sited why he brought is forward
again, and ally he did not wait until there had been
an.,ther election before he once more troubled Paella
ment on the matter: but he thought It a mistake to
suppose that because • House of Commons once rejected
a measure, It never passed it, for there were several
Instances to the contrary. As to the growth of public
opinion on this matter, he pointed out that bt th the Con
serative and Liberal canitioati a at Bath (where an election is
pending) had arnounced their mph r: of this movement.
Every year produced in this country chances which affected
the position of public ques.lons, acd. in particular, the pass
Mg of the Ballot Act had it, d ,uhtedly strenethened
the claim of women to the Parliamentary franchise. and
had removed some powerful objections which existed in
the minds of many men with regard t, this aubject.
Two years ago the only objection of the Trim. Minister
to this hill was on accennt of the pore ~al attendance of
women at the poll, but now that he had en ibled them to
vote with less difficulty than they experienced in getting
out of a theatre or a conoertrom, the right hon, gentle-
Man was prevented from ever UAW saying anything in
opposition to this measure, which would enfranchise
between two or three hondred thousand women. Now
that int:Miles into election petitio,a were li c tl, and
the coats paid out Cl the local rates, the interests of
women who were ratepayers were seriously affected, and
in the awe of Bridgwater the women, who memorialleed
the First Lord of the Treasury on the subject, stated
that they were called upon to pay a rate el es. In the
pound in their rental because of malpractices Stan election
In which they could take no part It might be said that in-
nocent men also suffered in that metier but at all events
men had a control over the constituency, which women had
not. The experience of municipal elections in populous
towns showed th it when women were entrusted with votes
they exercised their power of voting quite as much aa men
did, and he contended that it was notions to say that women
did not want the franchise.

Mr. East-Irk seconded the motion for the second reading.
He also relied on the passing of the Ballot Act as having
swept away one of the most common objections to this bill,
and expresssd a I cite' that the presence of women at c ,n•
tested i 'datione would have a Lumentsing ii tluence. lie
pointed to the moo) ti °manila Iwo nen who in this country
mu..t earn their o.tn living, while in America. wAero this
m,vemebt was etronstly supv.rted, he believed it to be only
a matter ot choice with • woman whtther she remained un-
marri-d.

Mr. ltonverte movrd that the bill should be read a second
time this day six mouths, which was seconded by Mr
&outfield.

Alter remarks from Mr. Leathern and Lord J. Manners,
Mr Bruce rose to express his own individual opinion, and
not to represent the feelings of the Government, whom he
admitted to be divided on this subject, lie contended that
it would not settle the present apitetion merely to
add a miserable contingent of 200,000 women to the
regi.ter, for if votes were given to spinsters and
widows it, franchise could not be refused to wo-
men who owned property, and it might lead even to
a demand for their admission to this House, in whose pro
ceedings there were plenty of women able to take pert. The
House would do well to abide by what had been the opinion
of the past. He admitted that there had been is Flatlet, in
legislation about women, but he dented that that was owing
to hon. members having been elected by men alone.
. . .

The thecnsslon was--c7mtintied by several other hon. mem-
bers. aLd titer a few word• from Sir. Jacob Bright in reply.
the House divided, when the bill will thrown out by 222
Totes to 155.

The orders of the day were disposed of, aud the Home ad.
jooroed.