The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-22 00:00:00

DEFEAT OF MINISTERS

ON THE

PAPER DUTY BILL.

In the House of Lords, last night, the glorious
Peers of England nobly vindicated their Con-
stitutional rights, as the second estate of the
realm, in fearlessly pronouncing their determina-

tion not to be dictated to by the third estate,

or bullied by certain portions of the fourth and

an active knot of interested capitalists, and

they accordingly rejected the Paper Duty Repeal
Bill by the triumphant majority of EIGHTY-
NINE. Let the clamorous and deep-mouthed

Radicals of the Manchester School say what
they may, we conscientiously believe that the
great mass of the people of this country will
heartily rejoice in this decision of the Peers, and

on their tended knees thank Heaven for a House

of Lords.

The House having sat until an early hour

this morning, we must refer our readers for

further particulars to our telegraphic report
of the debate.

THE DAY'S NEWS. =

It must add, one would think, iu no slight
degree, to the apprehensions already entertained
as to the peace of Europe, that the effective force
of the French army is immediately to be
increased to the extent of a hundred thousand
men, by the incorporation into it of the conscripts
drawn last year.
A telegram from Naples, dated Sunday night,
which will be found in our latest telegraphic
news, states that up to that time, there had been
no further conflict between the royal troops and
the forces of Garibaldi in Sicily ; but that " two
strong columns of the former were pursuing the
remnants of, the dispersed Garibaldians,"—the
inhabitants remaining tranquil. If this be the
case, it may be taken for granted, we suppose,
that the telegraphic accounts of Garibaldi's defeat,
which we published yesterday, were correct. It
is scarcely proba.tls, therefore, that the state-
ment can be true which the Faris correspondents
of certain of the London papers forvi4, that

" the King of Naples was to send,General
ilan-
gier,i
,charged to offer to the Sicilians a general
amnesty, a vicpry, and a separate government."
Another statement, .t4p.ygh a similar channel, is,
that
,the Austrian government hail determined to
interfere in Sicily,of course, support of the
royal gaiui se; " thus introducing," as it is re-
Marked, "au f.dftlitional ,complication - into the
Sicilian question.".
.Certaikily p*yepgit is much
more likely to be true ,than the other,
AcQnnts from all parts of the country concur in
(lest-Titling the ssason as 'having, become most
prOpitioes, 114,1 he
,e,ifepts of the late ungenial
' weather 140 have been airMl7,rei,l,l9Yeil, In Ireland,
where the cold auai wet 444 createl Ala greatest
apprehension, the change le mresented, as igOst
surprising in so short a time. 1

Although enlisting in the United Kingdom for
the pontifical army can be stopped, there is
noth.ipg, Nee Ini.ppose, to prevent the subscriptions
for the Pope-Ong on. And they appear to be
largely accumuliajAg ig Engllarid, go well as in
Ireland. They are taken as :« puxxigkilitlGll?!criP-
t4.anp," And the "parishes" are arranged in klig-
ceses;) h-t the " diocese of Westminster," it is

just ascertained, they already amount to £2,000;
in that of Southwark to £1,850; and in that of
Salford to £3,000. The only illegal part of the
transaction, we opine, is the assumption of " dio-
cesee—an organisation which is entirely forbid-
_
. den, both by the letter and the spirit of the Papal
Aggression Act.. Noi could such all organisation
ever be compatible .with.the system of an
Established Church.-Twere..there no other objee-
tion.- Two sets of 'dioceses,- of course, pre-
suppose, two sets of bishops. Nothing but evil
to the recogniSed:national system can result from
s. _
-There is no doubt. that the agitation. against the
House of Lords, respecting their apprehended
rejection of the Bill for repealing the, paper duty,
has been a wretched failure. And the Times is
quite right in saying,----" the Liverpool Chamber
of Commerce, whose decision we print elsewL ere,
has fairly expressed the popular feeling. In plain
English, if England were polled whether the first
relaxation should be upon Tea, or Income, or
Paper, not one in a thousand would vote for
Paper. • This is an obvious fact, and we cannot
shut our eyes to it." So that those members of
the House of Lords who are opposed to the paper
duty repeal, under the present circumstances of
the country, are evidently but giving effect to the
popular feeling. " Lord Derby thinks," the lead-
ing journal further says, " that the Paper Duty
is a bad tax, and that it should be among the first
of the ordinary items of taxation to be removed,
but that it should not take precedence in repeal
of the extraordinary war taxes. Ho would give
the Tea Duties and the extra Income Tax the
precedence of the Paper Duties. We are afraid
that, according to all appearances, the country
generally agrees with Lord Derby in this view.
Of course, we do not so agree, and the gentlemen
of the deputation do not so agree. It will be also
easy enough to get together half-a-dozen rooms
full of mob to declare that they do not agree; but
there is no active sympathy with us in this disap-
pointment." That is to say, apart from those
who are personally interested in the repeal of the
paper duty, there is no popular desire for it at
this moment,—or, indeed, at any moment, until
at least the tea duties and the extra income-tax

are repealed.
The :Morning Herald, in a leading article on
the paper duty, says it is evident that " either
the hand of Mr. BRIGHT has lost its cunning or
the cause it has espoused is hopelessly bad ;"
for "he has lashed himself into a rage, repeated
for the thousandth time his impudent threats
against the upper branch of thy Legislature, and
he has not succeeded in frightening the House of
Lords, or in making the Commons believe that
their privileges are attacked." There is no doubt
that Mr. 134igHT's political impotency has just
been most signally illustrated. It is more than
probable, indeed, that the course he has pursued
in the agitation against the House of Lords has
done more than anything else to make it a
failure.

Our readers were already aware that the " early
closing movement" had' at length reached the
London banks. The new arrangement for
terminating business at three o'clock has been
commenced, and found to work well. We have
no doubt that in no long time the banks, like the
Government 'offices, will close at one o'clock on
Saturday—thus giving their clerks a full half-
holiday weekly.
Speculation is naturally indulged as to the
object of the Grand Duke Niphoias of

visit to the French Emperor,—which he has just
been paying. The ilea that is most prevalent
appears to be, that it was for the purpose of con-
cluding a treaty with France on the Eastern
question. It is reported, indeed, we find, that
sucka treaty was actually signed on Saturday.