The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

Volittrai.

A CABINET COUNCIL was held on Monday afternoon
at the official residence of the First Lord of the
Treasury in Downing street. The Ministers present
were Viscount Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor,
Earl Granville, the Earl of Harrowby, Sir George
Grey, the Earl of Clarendon, Mr. Secretary Labou-
chere, Lord Pantnure, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. R.
Vernon Smith, Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Right
Hon. M. T. Baines, and the Duke of Argyll.
A SECOND CABINET COUNCIL was held on Tuesday,
at which the Marquis of Lansdowne was also present.
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN has intimated her in-
tention not to open Parliament in person. The
speech from the throne upon the reassembling of
Parliament will, therefore, be delivered by Lords
Commissioners on Tuesday next. The address,
in answer to the speech from the throne, will
be moved in the Lords by the Earl of Cork, and,
we believe, will be seconded by Earl Cowper. Both
these young noblemen have but lately succeeded, at
an early age, to their family honours. The address
of the Commons will be moved by Sir John Rams-
den, member for the borough of Taunton, and
seconded by Sir Andrew Agnew, member for Wigton-
shire.

THE MINISTERIAL PARLIAMENTARY DINNERS on the
opening of the session will be given by Viscount
Palmerston and Earl Granville to the supporters of
Government in either house. Both banquets will be
state dinners, and will take place on Monday, Feb. 2,
Lord l'almerston's at Cambridge-house, Piccadilly,
and Lord Granville's at his residence, in Bruton-
street.

THE RIGHT Hon. B. DISRAELI will receive a party
of the members of the House of Commons to dinner
on M onday next.

THE Wen COMMITTEE met on Thursday afternoon,
at the office of the Secretary of State for War in
Pall mall. Present—his Royal Highness the Duke
of Cambridge, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Panmure,
Sir George Grey, and Sir Charles Wood.

MR. C. J. BAYLEY, lately Colonial Secretary at
the Mauritius, has been appointed to the Govern-
ment of the Bahamas, in succession to Sir Alexander
Bannerman. Mr. Price, late Treasurer of Antigua,
has been appointed President of the Virgin Islands.

THE MANCHESTER FREETRADERS held their
annual meeting on Thursday evening at the Free-
trade Hall. It was a numerous, but not a crowded,
gathering. Mr. George Wilson presided ; and there
were present Messrs. Heywood, Cheetham, and Had-
field, members of the Legislature.

The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, passed
a high eulogium upon Mr. Bright,aud adverted to his
long parliamentary services.
A letter of Mr. Bright, dated Rochdale, Novem-
ber 5, 1850, was theu read to the meeting. Mr.
Bright, in this letter, alluding to the delicate state of
his health, offered to retire from the representation
of the city, as be should not be able "to attend the
House of Commons during the next session of Par-
liament." In conclusion, Mr. Bright observed, as to
the future:—

I hope I am not too sanguine in believing that a few
months more of rest—rest of the faculties which have had

SATURDAY,

almost no rest during ibe past fifteen years—will restore
to me the power, as still have the will, to labour in
that field in which so much of my life has been spent.
If 1 am permitted to recover my former strength before
the occurrence of a general election, I shall then hope for
R continuance of the confidence which the electors of
Manchester have so long placed in me ; if renewed health
be not granted to me, I shall then withdraw from publio
life, remembering, as long as I live, how much I owe to
the kindness and forbearance of those in whose name, and
on whose behalf, I have acted for nine years past in the
House of Commons.

A resolution recognising Mr. Bright's great ser-
vices, and, "while cheerfully conceding to him tho
interval of repose which may be necessary fur the
complete restoration of his health, requesting him to
continue his parliamentary connection with the city,"
was proposed and carried unanimously.

The Right Hon. THOS. MILNER Gmsom, M.P.,
then addressed the meeting. Adverting to the late
war, he said that opinions differed as to whether the
results of that war were glorious or disgraceful to
this country; but he knew with certainty that an in-
creased expenditure and increased taxation were
among its consequences :
He trusted that we should now return to a peace ex-
penditure. He did not join in the cry now raised against
the income tax. The indirect taxes were nearly forty-two
millions sterling, levied upon the great mass of consumers,
or nine•tenths of the people ; and as these taxes were paid
before the articles reached the consumer, ten trillions
more might be added as the cost of collection, and as
deducted from the profit and interest upon capital em-
ployed in trade. He did not deny that there was an
injustice in the mode of levying the income tax; but it
was the only means of fairly reaching the fnndholder and
the landowner, and it ought not to be wholly abandoned.
He moved:—

That in the opinion of this meeting the re-establishment
of peace renders it the imperative duty of the Govern-
ment to diminish at once the existing load of taxation,
which, by injuriously affecting the industrial interests of
the country, is seriously detrimental to tile material well.
being and social happiness of all classes of the commu•
nity ; and that while pledging itself to relax none of its
exertions to produce a wise, efficient, and economical ex-
penditure of the national resources, it looks to a just and
comprehensive measure of parliamentary reform, as the
only adequate means by which the nets of the Legislature
may be brought into permanent harmony with the con-
victions and interests of the people.

Mr. Jolts CIIEETHAM seconded the motion, which
was carried unanimously.
Mr. GEORGE HADFIELD, M.P., moved a third reso-
lution,:— _ _ _

That in the opinion of this meeting, the requirements
of our national industry, and the welfare of numerous
classes of British subjects, call for the immediate removal
of the obstacles which, in our colonies and posessions—
especially in India—impede the application of skill and
capital to the development of their resources.
Mr. JAMES I-Irvwoon, M.l'., seconded the motion.
The thin resolution was also unanimously
adopted.

X deputation from the Ballot Society was next in-
troduced, and a revolution in favour of the ballot was
moved, seconded, and adopted.

Mn. MLtLL, in the course of an address delivered
last week to his constituents at llochtialp, protested
.trongly against Lord Pahnerstdn's policy of foreign
interference:—

If we were to be continually involved in disputes with
distant countries, our domestic legislation would soon go
to the dogs. We were an insular people ; then why should
we be continually interfering with the affairs of our neigh.
boors? Look at our I'almerstoniun policy. We had h4tl
two wars, two occupations, and one unsuccessful armed
demonstration. We had already taken possession of the
port of Itushire, and had sent an army of .s,otXt strong,
beyond the northwest, to penetrate into the central regions
of Asia, for the purpose of driving the Persians out of
Herat. There were some wars they could understand ;
and he had no doubt it would be said this war would con-
duce to open up to the commercial market the central
parts of Asia. He would ask men of commerce if they
wanted cannon to make markets for them, or whether they
would not rather depend upon their own commercial en-
terprise? He trusted there would be sufficient manliness
in the representatives of this country to let the Govern.
ment know they would have none of this meddling with
the 'rifting of other nations.

Then there was another subject—the bombardment
of Canton :

Be believed a quarrel had been sought with the Chinese
in order that force might be resorted to, because all the
force was prepared before the incident occurred which had
been seized hold of, and they found at last that the pretext
would not avail them. It appeared now that they intended
to bombard the city itself. He protested against it, not
only in the name of Christianity, but in the name of
humanity, and for the sake of vur good name over the
world. They must not for a moment allow these prat•
tices, worthy only of the old buccaneers of the fifteenth
century.

Mr. Miall further expressed an opinion in favour of
the reduction and revision of the income tax—for
his own part he preferred a property and not an
income tax—the reduction also of our naval and
military expenditure within necessary limits, and for
some comprehenaivemeaattres of electoral reform.

JANUARY 31, 1857.

A DEPUTATION from the Society tor the Protection
of Trade waited on Tuesday, by appointment, on
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to state their views
with respect to the income tax as already levied. The
persons present were principally those who had
taken part in the recent meeting at the London
Tavern ; amongst other, Messrs. Stratton, Hayman,
Gannon, Dr. Challis, drc. ate. The object of the
deputation was to impress upon the Chancellor of
the Exchequer the necessity of a more equitable
adjustment of the income tax and the exemption of
all incomes under 130/. ; but. after showing that many
now paid the tax, not from the profits of their trade,
but from the capital of their creditors, the deputa-
tion, in reply to the Chancellor's cross-questioning,
contradicted one another in a rather amusing way,
Mr. Gannon saying that it was the " indirect taxation "
which was so oppressive, Dr. Challis that it was "the
amount of the income tax." Ultimately, the depute•
%ion dropped into the urging the case of a particular
individual (a Mr. Walker), who had made affidavit
before the Lord Mayor that, being assessed at 1001.
per annum, he was not earning more than 40/. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer reminded the deputa-
tion that the district surveyors were not Government
officers, and promised that the case of Mr. Walker
should be inquired into; at the same time he dented
having intimated that any readjustment of the in-
come tax would take place. In conclusion he
observed upon the general question of taxation :
Proposals have been made to extend the area of taxation,
but they have always met the most strenuous opposition
from the parishes. Now, as to what you say respecting the
taxes on tea and sugar, }on must be aware that taxation
must be either direct or indirect; you must either take
from persons' income, or else levy on the articles of their
consumption. At present we resort to both methods, but
they are so arranged as that the principal necessaries of
life remain untaxed. There is no tax on bread, meat, fish,
native fruit, or vegetables, and if a person were to confine
himself to the consumption of those eatables he would pay
no taxes. There are taxes on tea, sugar. and other articles
of foreign and colonial produce, but if they were aban•
Boned, the income tax, instead of being lightened, must be
very much increased.
The deputation then retired.