The Express.
London, England, 1853-03-10 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EIVBNANG, MARCH 10, 1853. "

A Zbo_Clfkt ELLOR of the EXCHEQUER objected
the bill heinosent bp-stairs. He did not believe there we
any informaden with& might be asked fir. *Mho wig
not in a position to lies. It was natural that the honks
should wish to know, and he assured them that as far an
the taxation of the City of London was concerned, the coal
duties,and the London-bridge Approaches Fund,they would
remain precisely as they were, without • particle of differ-
ence. (Hear, hear.) It was entirely a question as in the
moth of applying the mone and with regard to the Lon-
elosebeidgee - Appeasable-Fund, whether it should
r *Tough one department of the government or another.
One reason why he objected *sending the bill before a
Mgegeittee upstairs was, that every day's delay was a east
x(1101. to the Treasury. The object of the bill was to me
110,0001. to the pubic, without injuring a human being as
fir as he was aware of. (Hear.) Putting himself for the
state, the case stood thus:—lle had borrowed 895,0001.
(which, with the interest of 184,000!. upon it, amounted
to 1,029,0001.), for the purpose of effecting certain
improvements in the City. He had therefore to pay
• sum of 30,000!. every year. At the tame
time he had several unemployed balances at his bankers,
and he thought it was better to make use of these for the
purpose of getting rid of this heavy annual payment of
30,0001. (Hear, boar.) By doing this he would elm re-
lieve the land revenues of the Crown out of a polities in
which they ought never to have been placed, and would
restore to that house the full jurisdiction which they ought
to have over these , and which they never would
have as long as they remained mortgaged. (Hear, hear.)
These claims originated in this way. In 1839, the Com-
missioners of Woods and Forests, under the authority of en
act of parliament, charged .the London-bridge Approaches
Fund with a sum of 665,0001. for the purpose of promoting',
certain improvements in the city of London. But there
were no proceeds from that fund at the time, because it was
subject to ,certain prior charges. The Commissioners of
Woods and Works therefore undertook to mortgage, and
did mortgage, a certain portion of the land revenues of the
Crown as security for the repayment of the money.
A sum of 895,0001. was borrowed an;this way, and the im-
provements were effected. The interest on this had been
regularly paid, but the land revenues continued meantime
under mortgage. There were several slums at command
for the liquidation of this debt, the principal one being the
London-bridge Approaches Fund. But there was a prior
charge of 660,0001. on that fund, and the interest upon that
principal sum accumulated to 296,0001. He did not men-
tion this to the discredit of any one, because, as he had
before stated, no revenue would be derivable for some time
from that source. Therefore there was due upon the sth of
January a sum of 961,0001. There was also • sum of
30,0001. advanced to the Westminster Improvement Com-
missioners, bearing interest at 4 per cent., and a further
sum of 50,0001. made over as a gift to the same com-
missioners. Then there were two sums of 30,0001.
each given on the fulfilment of certain condi-
tions to the Southwark Improvement Commissioners,
the one of these sums bearing interest and the other not.
There was, therefore, the principal sum of 1,029,0001., con-
sisting of 895,0001. principal and 134,0001. interest, bor-
rowed on the security of the crown ues , there were
two sums of 30,0001. and 50,0001. advanced to the West-
minster Improvement Commissioners, and two sums of
30,0001. each advanced to the Southwark Improvement
Commissioners. It was also necessary to allow a certain
sum for the interest that might become due on the prin-
cipal sum of 895,0001. That was subject to certain condi-
tions of notice, so that it would not be in their power to
pay it off at once. He took 25,0001. prospectively as the
risible maximum amount of that interest. It would be
necessary also to allow a liberal amount for interest on the
other sums, and for this be allowed 21,7761. Adding all
these sums together the right hon. gentleman would find
that they amounted to 1,216,0001., which would be the
maximum of charge on the Consolidated Fund.
With regard to the assets, there was 961,0001. to
come from the London-bridge Approaches Fund,
that is to say for the principal sum of. 665,0001, and the
interest of 296.0001. thereon. There was 30,0001. to be re-
paid by the Westminster commissioners, and 250,0001. the
anticipated proceeds from ground rents. These added
together made about 1.241,9001., which was more than am-
ply sufficient to cover the maximum charge on the consoli-
dated fund. There was another sum for which he did not
take credit, as it would depend on the productiveness of
the London-bridge Approaches Fund ; but without,the assets
were more than sufficient to meet the liabilities. He hoped
that he had now satisfactorily explained to the right hon.
gentleman and the house the seeming discrepancy between
the debt and the sum asked for in the bill. lie was sure
that nothing more wits required than discussion across the
table to insure the approval of this bill. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. HENLEY rose to make a few observations, but
6 o'clock having arrived, the house adjourned.