The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-23 00:00:00

thoroughly and decidedly disposed of, that it were
quite needless to. say another word about it.
And well for the country has it, at the same time,
been shown to be, that it could be so disposed of
as to establish- the right, and demonstrate the
duty t 0 the House of Lords interposing to pre-
vent Yo great a-Mistake as would otherwise have
been ,comniit tea. Clearly has it now. been shown,
in the debate in the l4ouse; that, according to
the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER'S own
calculations, the revenue he had provided for
oitld Katie btieri tittefly ilisitificietit for the
necessities of the State. There is a dgiiit
us in the face, as it has been most clearly shown,
of at least two millions, even after retaining, as it
was found indispensable to do; the duties on tea
and sligar, and not only continuing, bUtincreas-
ing the obnoxious income tax. *ell, therefore;
might Lord DERBY say that, particularlY as the
state of public affairs—more especially those
abroad--render it absolutely essential that there
should be no doubt with respect to the means of
maintaining-the honour and credit of this country,
it was.not only desirable, but in a matter of this
kind it was essentially necessary, to look forward
beyond the present year, when the receipts and
expenditure are so nearly balanced, and to be
extremely cautious about sacrificing so large
a Sum until the means of replacing a
source of permanent revenue of so large
an amount as nearly a million and a half
could be fairly ascertained. Upon such a ground
as this, then, if upon no other, the House of
Lords irinst as Much interest in the question
as the House of Commons. For, as Lord DERBY
declared of the two Houses, of whose co-ordinate
jurisdiction, in such a case, he so forcibly set
forth, at once, the right and necessity,—" We
are all in one boat together, and all are equally
anxious to mainain the credit of the Country., to
enable us to keep our engagenients, and to Main-
tain; our honour, our independence, and our
liberties."

The argument of Lord DERBY, in support of
the ocurse he had felt it his duty to aid Lord
AIONTEAGLE in inducing the House of Peers to
take, was shown to rest on the Most incontro-
vertible basis. "We are not," he declared,
" seeking to impose any tax which Parliament
has'not sanctioned, and we are not seeking to
modify any Bill which the House of Commons
has brought forward. Suppose we had taken
another and opposite course, and had modified
the Income-tax Bill ; we could have done so, and
the result vrcnild ha7re been that the Income-tax
Bill would not tiave .been passed everything
would have remained the .satie as 'before; and the
paper duty would not have been repeakd by the
House of Commons. The same will be the eifeat
in the case of the Paper Duty Bill ; any change
or modification will simply have the effect of
leaving matters as they now stand." Such is the
real character of the proceeding; and it is; we
maintain, a truly Constitutional one. But it is
one, moreover, that is not only justifiable on that
account, hitt one that will be most beneficial to
the country to have had a House of Lords to
. _
adopt at so critical a conjuncture as the present.
It has involved no infringement on the privileges
of the House of Commons,—it is no unprecedented
course, for frequent precedents are on record to
sustain it as a Constitutional practice ; while it
will prevent-the sacrifice of a million:and-a-half
of
_existing revenue,—a sacrifice which would
have seriously endangered the national credit at
home and abroad, and have aggravated the com-
plications which cannot but be. foreseen in the
present most critical state of Europe, and which
it is the part of prudent and patriotic statesmen
to do all they can to avoid. Surely, then, this
weritanother occasion when'the people have cause
to exclaim, " Thank God we have
.a House of
Lords