The Press.
London, England, 1858-04-24 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

PARIS, Saturday.
(By Submarine and British Telegraph.)
The Aloniteur of this morning contradicts the false
rumours set about: by persons who wish to main-
tain disquietude. The Paris correspondence of the
Indipendance Beige says, that great maritime ar-
maments are being prepared in France. This is
entirely untrue. There is not the slightest change
in the estimates of the Budget as settled and made
public for 1858 and 1859.

Friday, 7 p.m.
I believe I am correct in saying a telegraphic corn
munication must have reached London informing
her Majesty's Government that the King of the Two
Sicilieis has no intention of allowing his Cabinet to
entertain the demand made for indemnification in the

case of Watt, and Park. It is further known the
Neapolitan Government has no intention of restoring
the Cagliari.
I have reason to believe some changes are con-
templated in the management of the semi-otlicial
press of the French Government. It is reported M.
Renee will no longer continue to write for the Con-
stitutionne, but I take this assertion to be without
foundation. It is certain, however, that his article
on the results of the Bernard trial did not convey
the views of Government.
Lord Howden has reached Paris on his way to
England.—Morning Post (second edition.)

INDIA AND CHINA.
ALEXLNDRU, April 20.

The Bentinck, with extra mail and passengers
from Calcutta, arrived at Suez on the 14th.
There is intelligence from Lucknow to the 22nd of
March. On the 20th Brigadier Campbell's force
returned from the pursuit of the enemy.
Hutchison, of the Lancers, was dangerously
wounded, and Cooper, of the Rifles, dead.
On the 21st the Nombries (Nana's) retreat was
stormed. He escaped, and a reward of 50,000
rupees is offered for his head.
Outram's force bad discovered and destroyed
rebels in Lucknow, and the Prime Minister is among
those reported as killed. Cape, of the 13th Native
Infantry, and Thackwell, were murdered by the
enemy. Fanatics still fire on our troops.
The Governor-General's proclamation calling on
the zetnindars to submit had produced no effect.
Oude is pacified, the enemy flying towards Sun-
deera. Jung Bahadoor goes to Allababad. No
civil officer had yet been sent to Lucknow by the
Government. Some inhabitants were returning to
the city.
The heat was increasing daily.
A telegram from Allababad of the 24th states
that Sir Elope Grant was sent on the 23rd to disperse
a body of insurgents under Rajah Jajlal Singh at
Karee, and returned perfectly successful. He took
twelve guns.
CHINA.
Canton continues tranquil. An Imperial edict
was received on the 6th of 'March.
Yeh's conduct is condemned. lie is degraded,
and a successor appointed. The latter is to settle
disputes with the barbarians, who, excited to wrath
by Yeb, had entered the city.
Lord Elgin and his colleagues had loft for the
North, the former on the 3rd of March.
The Inflexible, with Commissioner Yell, hat}
rived at Calcutta.

VrattYings in Varliamcnt.

HOUSE OF LORDS-MONDAY.
THE " CAGLIARI " CASE.

Lord WENSLEYDALE asked if the Government
intended to refer the case of the seizure of the
Cagliari to the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Coined. lie believed it would be the best possible
mode of obtaining an opinion on the subject.
The Earl Of MALMESBURY would consider the sug-
gestion made by Lord Wensleydale, but could not
give a definitive answer. The question of the seizure
of the Cagliari was divided into two distinct parts;
the first had an exclusively English interest, being
the detention and imprisonment of the two engineers.
On that point the law officers of the Crown were
unanimous in their opinion that the imprisonment of
those two English subjects was illegal, and that the
Government might demand compensation for what
they had suffered. On that opinion the Government
had acted; a demand for such compensation had
been made. With respect to the legality of the
capture of the Cagliari, there could be no doubt that
the sympathies of this country were with Sardinia,
hut he felt that he ought not on account of those
sympathies to overlook the fact that be was respon-
sible for doing what was legally right, and, therefore,
it had been impossible for him or the Government
to act until they had a clear report from the law
officers of the Crown :

There had been no time to consider that report; but he
might mention that the law officers of the present Govern-
ment who bad declared the capture and seizure of the
Cagliari to be legal had also declared that the confiscation
and condemnation of ti:at ship would not be legal. It was
not clear whether there had yet been any bone fide confis-
cation and condemnation of that ship He believed that
the condemnation had not been officially announced to the
Government of Sardinia, although the ship was detained,
as was contended, with a view to confiscation and condem-
nation. Without being able to give a decided answer, he
thought the suggestion of the noble and learned lord worthy
the consideration of the Government.

PATRIOTIC FUND.

On the motion of the Duke of NORFOLK, an ad-
dress was agreed to for copies of correspondence
between the Commissioners of the Patriotic Fund
and other parties reiating to the case of Mrs. Rosina
Bennett and her children.

In the discussion on the subject Lord COLCHESTER
and Lord ST. LEONARDS defended the commissioners
from the imputation of partiality in administering
the fund ; Lord CAMOVS admitted Cant in the ex-
planation of the commissioners the charge had been
completely and satisfactorily answered.
The Customs Bill went through committee.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—MorgnAy.
The report of the Committee of Supply was,brought
up and agreed to.
The house having resolved itself into a Committee
of Ways and Means,

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in a speech
remarkable for its lucidity, made his financial
statement. Mr. Disraeli began by adverting to the
great changes which had taken place in the com-
mercial condition of the country since the financial
statement of his predecessor—changes which had
clouded and disturbed the prospects indulged in in
1857. The American panic, he observed, had acted
in a disastrous manner upon our own commercial
condition, and towards the end of the year a mone-
tary crisis, in which the rate of discount reached ten
per cent., had produced severe distress, and pressed
heavily upon the revenue of the country. After
reading returns of the British trade and navigation
in 1853, 1856, and 1857, and comparing them with
the returns for 1853, the year before the war, he pro-
ceeded to consider our financial condition—the
charges upon the revenue, and the means at our
command to meet them. There had been, he said,
a considerable restoration of commercial confidence :
capital was abundant, money was cheap, and the
prices of the main articles of consumption were
lower; but it was his conviction that, although the
general condition of the country was at the present
moment sound, and although there were indications
ofimprovement, he could not indulge the belief that
there would be a rapid return of the spirit of enter-
prize. After stating the amounts at which the
several items of expenditure had been estimated for
the last year by the late Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, and their actual amount, he detailed the esti-
mated expenditure for the year 1858-50, viz.:—

Funded and Unfunded Debt
Civil List, ,1,;c,1,900,000
11,750,000
Army
,000,0008(10,000
Navy ****************
Miscellaneous Civil Services
Revenue Departments 4,700,000
3,0J,000
Liabilities

$67,110,000

memorable

THE PRESS, APRIL 24, 1858.

The resources to meet these charges he estimated
as follows .
Customs X23,400,000
Excise
Stamps
Land and Assessed Taxes ..
Property and Income Tax
Post-office
Crown Lands . 270,000
Miscellaneous

63,120,000
The expenditure being 67,110,0001., and the esti-
mated revenue only 63,120,0001., there would be a
deficit of 3,990,0001. This deficiency, he remarked,
was not occasioned by any falling off in the resources
of the country. lie considered it under two heads
—first, the amount occasioned by our undertaking to
pay debts; secondly, the amount caused by the ces-
sation of taxes. The first, amounting to 3,500,0001.,
was created by the War Sinking Fund, 1,500,0001., and
the payment of 2,000,0001. Exchequer Bonds. He
strongly urged the inexpediency of continuing the ar-
tificial attempt to ray debts without a surplus revenue,
which was a revival of the old principle of the Sink-
ing Fund ; it was in his opinion highly fallacious and
erroneous, and ought not to be kept in operation at
least until the Exchequer Bonds had been paid off.
Would the house, he asked, raise a loan to discharge
engagements to pay off debts for which we had no
means ? Would not this he a clumsy mode of
squaring accounts? The raising of money to pay
debts would only plunge us deeper into debt. fhen,
was the house prepared to discharge the engagement
by additional taxation ? It would be a perplexing
question how to raise 3,500,0001. by taxation. He
recommended the house to terminate the special
Sinking Fund system either by repealing the act,
which he considered to be false in principle and in-
jurious in practice, or to resolve to suspend its opera-
tion until the Exchequer Bonds were provided for,
which would relieve the finances of 1,500,0001. a
year.

With regard to the Exchequer Bonds, he might
propose to fund them ; but that course, he con-
sidered, would be unjustifiable, and contradictory to
the conditions which the Government and Parlia-
ment had entered into when they were issued. If
they were to be met, however, it must be by a new
tax. At all events, the spirit of the engagement
should be fulfilled ; hut they should be met out of
the revenues of the country, and there should not be
a permanent addition to the debt.
He felt it to be his duty to place the finances in a
position that would be advantageous to the country,
and he recommended to the house to postpone for
some years the payment of the Exchequer Bonds—
an arrangement that would secure their discharge
out of the revenues of the country.

With respect to that portion of the deficiency
caused by the falling off of the revenue, that had
been occasioned by the cessation of a tax of a very

Property and hcome Tai.

. .
The importance of that tax was not to be measured,
he said, by its amount, but by the mode in which it
was assessed, the manner in which it was levied, and
the social principles involved in its collection. This
impost, unjust and inquisitorial as it was regarded,
could not be made a permanent feature of our &cal
sys•em. But, although this was his opinion, and,
believing that the agreement of 1853 should, in
spirit, it' not in letter, be carried into effect, it was
possible that the country, however anxious to obtain
this result, might not be unprepared to bear this year
the burden it had borne so well the last ; although a
deficiency arising from the cessation of taxation must
be supplied by taxation, and the deficiency would be
converted into a surplus if the committee should con-
tinue the income tax for another year at the same
rate as that of last year, it was, nevertheless, the
deliberate opinion of her Majesty's Minsters that the
deficiency of the revenue ought not to be supplied by
an increase of this tax. But, if its fall was not to be
disturbed, the house must feel that it was absolutely
necessary to support the revenue by the imposition
of new taxes. It might be said that the expenditure
could be reduced; but this process could not be ac-
complished in haste ; it required time and investiga-
tion. Although it would be possible to earn a mo-
mentary popularity by retrenchments, unless they
were the result of thought and management they
would only lead to a fatal reaction of expenditure.
In discharging the unpleasant office of selecting a
new tax, he was consoled, he said, in reflecting that
every one would feel a relief in the fall in the rate
of the income tax, and the mode in which he would
attempt to supply the remaining portion of the de-
ficiency was by a proposition which be considered
reasonable and wise—namely, to equalize the duties
on spirits, which, he calculated, would give to the
Exchequer 500,0001. a year, thus putting an end to
the deficit. But he thought provision should be
made to secure a surplus, and as no form of taxation
was more popular or less annoying than stamps, ho
proposed that when a cheque was drawn there should
be a stamp ; and this tax, he estimated, would pro-

duce 300,0001. Mr. Disraeli, in conclusion, ob-
served :

Considering the position of the Exchequer at this mo-
ment, lam not prepared to ask the committee to impose
au) other taxes. I would ask them, however, to permit me
for a moment to remind them of what may be the position
of this country in the year following the present, for,
although we hear many taunts about "prospective finance,"
I think that any person in the office which I now have the
honour to occupy would be greatly wanting in duty if he
brought forward any proposition without having exercised
some foresight in regard to it, and weighed in some man-
ner its influence upon our future prospects. Now let us
see, if the arrangements which I have proposed are agreed
to by the committee, what will be our prospects in the
year following this. You will have again a loss on the
income tax, as compared with your present revenue, of
1,000,0001.; and assuming that all things remain the same,
and that your revenue and expenditure are exactly what
they are now, you will have a loss in 1859.60 of 1,000,0001.
in your income tax, while 2,000,0001. of Exchequer Bonds
will become due. You will have this 3,000,0001. reduced
by the amount of surplus which I may obtain this year ;
but say that you have to meet 3,000,0001. of deficit. Now,
I put it to the committee—is that a prospect which ought
to alarm us? Can we entertain a doubt but that with fair
commercial prosperity, with a fair revival of trade in this
country, the resources of our revenue, aided by well-
considered and wise retrenchments, will be sufficient under
these circumstances to meet our engagements, to pay these
bonds, and to encounter that diminution of income?
( Hear, hear.) Well, if you do that—and I feel confident
that you will be able should no disaster against which
human prevision is unavailing overtake the country—in
what position shall we stand in that famous 1860 which has
been the pivot of modern finance ? There are certainly
2,000,0001. of bonds due in that year ; but you will have
annuities to the amount of something like 2,150,0001. per
annum expiring at a time when I hope and believe you
will possess a large, a bounding surplus of revenue; and
you will he able, if not to the letter, at least in spirit, to
accomplish the plan of the right bon. gentleman. It is
for that reason, in order that we may act fairly, candidly,
and sincerely towards the country on this question, in
order that the wise arrangements of the right bon. gentle.
man may be assented to, and that that great policy—for a
great policy with regard to the income tax I believe it to
be—should he accomplished, that I shall propose not to
encumber 1860 or 1861 with the blonds which at present we
cannot meet, but I shall propose that in 1862 and 1863
1,000,0001. should be apportioned to each year. ( Hear.)
When that is done I have no doubt the polioy of 1853 will
be carried into effect. ( Rear, hear.) I now submit these

propositions to the candid consideration of the committee.
When they recollect the expectations of the country as to
the revenue, and the fact that at the end of last year, and
indeed so late as the period at which I assumed office, the
estimated deficiency was not less than 8,000,0001., 1 hope
they will not be dissatisfied with the information that by
the rallying of the revenue daring the last quarter, and by
judicious retrenchment, the immense deficit that so long
brooded over the spirit and depressed the energy of the
country has been dissipated, notwithstanding the reduction
of an impost most odious to the people, in a manner
which guarantees an entire accomplishment of the policy
of the right hon. gentleman the member for the University
of Oxford. Tine result will, 1 think, be satisfactory to the
country as well as to the committee; and I trust that these
propositions will not only receive the candid consideration
of the committee, hut obtain, after due thought and dis•
cussion, the cordial acceptance of the country. (Loud
cheers, in the midst of which the tight hon, gentleman re
sumed his seat.)

A brief conversation then ensued. The increase
of the spirit duties was generally approved (except-
by Irish members); the postponement of the pay -
ment of the Exchequer Bonds was objected to by
some members as in reality a re-borrowing of money
upon these bonds, and it was predicted that consider.
able resistance would be offered to the stamp upon
cheques. Mr. GLADSTONE urged a reduction of the
expenditure; Mr. CARDWELL recommended a con-
tinuance of the 2d. in the pound income tax; while
Lord JOHN RUSSELL lamented that the payment of
the debt incurred in the late war should be practi-
cally repudiated.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied to the
objections made to his Budget, and insisted upon
the accurate, though temperate and cautious princi-
ples upon which his estimates of the revenue for
the current year were founded.
The resolutions were then agreed to and ordered
to be reported.

RECALL OF LORD HOWDEN.

On the order for going into a Committee of
Supply,
Sir DE LACY EVANS drew attention to the recall of
Lord Howden from the office of British Minister at
Madrid. He thought it of much importance that
the policy wa bad pursued with regard to Spain
should not be retrogressive, and, as no cause had
been assigned for the removal of Lord Howden,
which had caused much regret throughout that
country, he hoped the Government would be able to
say that the change had not originated in a foreign
Court.
Mr. S. FITZGERALD said there was not the slightest
justification for any of the insinuations of Sir De
Lacy Evans, which were most unprecedented, and if
the course were to be followed the example would b 3
most dangerous. The removal of Lord Howden
did not imply, and was not intended to imply, cep-

I