The Press.
London, England, 1858-02-20 00:00:00

CHURCH RATE ABOLITI ,N BILL.

Sir J. TRELAWNY moved the second reeling of this
bill. Church rate, he observed, was not a tax upon
land or property ; it was a charge if' peraonam, not
in rein, and the remedy was ineffective, being slow,
cumbrous, and expensive. As it had been decided
by the House of Lords that a minority of parishioners
with the churchwardens could not make a valid rate,
parishes were involved in litigation and strife, suits
ran through a long succession of courts, the fabric of
the church meanwhile failing into disrepair. The
grievance, he said, was not so much that of Dissen-
ters as of Churchmen, and he thought it would
hardly be desired by any one that such a state of
things, and an unworkable law, should be con-
tinued.

Colonel THOMPSON seconded the motion.

Lord R. CECIL moved, by way of amendment, to
defer the second reading for six months. Ile urged
that where a rate was voted by a majority in a parish
there was no injustice in levying it upon the
minority, while it would be repugnant to every
principle of justice to allow a minority to control the
majotity. Althou4h the law might be anomalous,
the disease, in his opinion, would cure itself ; few
parishes refused the rate, and the voluntary principle
would extend pew-rents and give birth to other evils.
lie opposed the bill because it professed to remedy a
grievance which did not exist., but much more be-
cause it would be the first step towards a separation
of the Church from the State.
Mr. FACIE seconded the amendment.
Sir A. ELTON supported the second resding of the
bill, and suggested an amendment in committee to
the effect that there should be some provision by the

176

State towards the maintenance of the fabrio of
churches. _ _ _ _

Mr. BALL argued that the Dissenters of all classes
outnumbered Churchmen, and they would willingly
make voluntary contributions for the repair of
churches if relieved from a compulsory tax that
weighed upon their conscience.

Mr. DRUMIIOND observed that there was no room
for an amendment of the bill in committee, as sug-
gested by Sir A. Elton; the bill abolished church
rates, which was equivalent to abolishing the Church;
but he thought it would be more manly in its oppo•
nents to bring forward a proposition to get rid of the
bishops and tithes, and everything that constituted
the National Church; but do not let them come in
this poor, larcenous, sneaking way, and talk about
conscience in the matter. Conscience, indeed The
buildings belonging to the National Church must be
supported as national property, exactly on the same
ground as they supported the building in which they
were assembled, the royal palaces, the British
Museum, and other public buildings. If they did
away w:th that support, then certainly the voluntary
principle would come in. If we were to have a
national church at all the fabric of the churches
must be sustained.

Lord STANLEY thought that Mr. Drummond had
been unfortunate in an argument he hail used, that
the voluntary principle was incompatible with an
establishment. He (Lord Stanley) had always
heard from the warmest friends of the Establishment
that its endowments were inadequate, and that volun
tary efforts must be relied on. Lord R. Cecil's
argument, likewise, drawn from the paucity of
parishes in which rates had been refused, was de-
fective ; lie had omitted from his calculation the
parishes in which no rates had been refused, because
none could be raised. Ho believed that from a
very large majority of the population of England
church rates were not actually levied. If so, here
was a grievance requiring legislative interference,
and lie felt that he had no option but to support
this bill.
Sit G. GREY'S opinion was that, in legislating upon
the subject, the house must recognise as an aecom•
plished fact the actual aboliticn of these rates in
certain parishes, yet should not deprive other parishes
of the power of levying them. He should propose,
likewise, to exempt Dissenters having conscientious
scruples from payment of church rates, to empower
churchwardens to place a rent upon a certain num-
ber of pews, and to give power to landowners to
charge their estates with the payment of a contribu-
tion by way of rate towards the maintenance of the
church. These provisions he proposed to embody
in a bill, and he objected to the second reading of
the present bill.
After some observations from Mr. Hope, Mr.
Garnett, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Mr.
Slaney, and a reply from Sir J. Trelawny, who de.
clined to accept the compromise proposed by the
Government, the house divided, when the second
reading was carried by 213 to Dm.

The bill was then read a second time.

Mr. BLAND obtained leave to bring in a bill to
limit the time [of prescription in certain cases in
Ireland.
The house adjourned at half-past five o'clock.

HOUSE OF LORDS—TnunsD.►r.

The Earl of FIFE (late Mr. Duff) took the oaths
and his seat as Baron Skene.

TII E MILITIA.

The Earl of CARNARVON moved for certain returns
relating to the embodied militia. In the army
estimates for the ensuing year only 150,0001. was
taken on account of the militia force. This he com-
puted would suffice to keep on foot only 5,000 men, a
force which he considered quite inadequate for the
necessities of the country. There were now forty-
seven militia regiments embodied, comprising nearly
10,000 men ; and he inquired whether these corps
were to be disbanded, or what the Government pro-
posed to do with them'
Lord PANNURE stated that 150,000/. had been
fixed upon as being sufficient to maintain 10,000
militiamen for six months. This, it was thought,
would be sufficient. Recruits were flowing in
rapidly to the army. Since January 1, 5,500 had
enlisted, and in the last week more than 2,000. At
this rate it was anticipated that the militia regiments
might safely be sent to their homes in a month or
two more. According to the reports of the most ex-
perienced officers in India,the position of affairs had
so much improved, that it would not be necessary to
send out any more regiments. The sanitary con-
dition of the army in Hindostan was also excellent,
and he believed that new drafts of about :.500 men
per month would fill up the chasm produced in the
course of service. This supply would be regularly
furnished ; but, as the hot and unhealthy season set
in, it was proposed to send the new levies in the first
instance to the Cape or Ceylon, where they enjoy the
advantage nt a salubrious climate, and yet be at hand
in case they were wanted in liintiostan.