Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-01 00:00:00

THE DAY'S NEWS

The proceedings in the House of Lords last night
were very short, and quite unimportant. In 'the
House of Commons, in reply to Mr. Brady, Mr.
Sotheron Estcourt stated that it was the intention
of the Government to introduce a bill after Easter
for the better regulation of the Corporation of London.
The Solicitor-General apologized to Lord John Russell
for the observations made by him in the course of
his speech on the Reform Bill debate, and said he
meant nothing personal. The adjourned debate on
the Reform Bill was then resumed by Mr. Ducane,
who supported the government. Sir Robert Peel
followed, and said the subject had been almost
exhausted. He advocated a liberal extension of the
franchise to the working classes, and should support
Lord John Russell's resolution. Mr. Gaskill, who
supported the Government, was followed by Mr.
Blaney, Mr. E. C. Egerton, Mr. Cobbett, Mr. Collins,
Mr. Western, Mr. Hodgson, &c., when Lord John
Russell's resolution was carried in the form of an
amendment; and the House then adjourned to
Monday next.
The revenue returns for the quarter ending yes-
terday, show a decrease of £820,000, largely attri-
butable, of course, to the falling off in the income
tax. Customs, as compared with the corresponding
quarter of 1858, show a nett increase of about
X 32,000. There will be a decrease in excise of
about £65,000. Stamps give an increase of about
£B,OOO. Taxes exhibited an increase of about
£4,000. In income tax the actual reduction is about
£920,000. The Post-office yields an increase
of about £125,000. With regard to the account
for the year, the customs will be increased
•to the extent of fully £1,000,000. The excise
duties are increased by £76,000, a less sum,
however, than was anticipated from the alter-
ation in the duties on British Spirits. On
Stamps an increase will be over half-a-million. On
!Taxes the increase will be about £lO,OOO. The
falling off in the Income Tax, owing to the reduced
rate, reaches nearly £5,000,000. The Post-office
Revenue has increased in the year by £280,000.
The result on the whole financial year is a nett
decrease of £2,400,000 ; but for the falling off in
the Income Tax, there would have been a positive
increase of £2,500,000. _ .

In the Parliamentary votes, the amendments to
Lord John Russel's resolution stand in the following
order : Mr. Wild's ballot resolution, Mr. Stuart
Wortley's resolution, Mr. Crook's proposition for
residental manhood suffrage, and lastly, the amend-
ment of Mr. Roebuck. The original motion is that
the bill be read a second time. Lord John Russell
has moved, that all the words after that in the
original motion be left out, and that the words,
" contained in his resolution," may be inserted
instead. Should the first divison be in his favour,
then before his resolution is -put, substantive amend-
ments like that of Mr. Roebuck's may be brought
forward, and the House cannot adopt Lord John's
resolution until they have been in some way
disposed of.
Three days later news from America will be
found in another column. The trial for the
Hon. D. E. Sickles, for murder, was fixed to take
place on the 22nd ult. It is stated in the Canadian
.advises that the new Tariff Bill is likely to succeed.
In other respects, the news is devoid of interest.
The weekly meeting of the Toxteth Park Board of
Guardians was held yesterday. Those of our readers
who wish to know of a public office being made a
pretext for being ill natured, we would direct to the
column in which we report the proceedings of the
board. What a blessing the ratepayers of the sur-
rounding townships of Liverpool would confer on
themselves and others, if, before electing men
guardians of the poor, they would see to it that these
men are guardians of their own tongues, tempers, and

actions.
From the report of the Medical Officers of Health,
read at the meeting of the Health Committee yester-
day, it appears that the state of the public health is
satisfactory, the deaths being 31 less than the cor-
rected average of the same week for the last ten
years. The deaths from lung diseases were rather
more
than usual, but it is well known that this class
diseaseof proves fatal to affected persons at this time
of the year more than at other season. on the
whole, however,
in a satisfactory state at present.
The pressure of local news this morning has com-
pelled us to omit from our impression to-day a great
variety of information intended for publication, and
prevents us noticing here the various meetings re-
ported at length in accompanying columns.

THE STILL CRITICAL STATE OP EUROPE.
NOTWITHSTANDING that a Congress has been
agreed upon, —its constitution, conditions, time and
place of meeting, and all the rest, understood to be
settled,—still there prevails, it seems, on the Conti-
nent, a dread apprehension that, after all, war is as
likely as not. " It will be some source of satisfac-
tion to your lordships to know," was the languages,
addressed by the Foreign Secretary in the Upper
House of Parliament the other night, " that,
although the disarmament, which I could heartily
wish should take place immediately as preliminary
to the Congress, is not yet determined upon, both
Austria and Piedmont have formally made a decla-
ration that they will not attack one another, but will
abstain from hostilities, Unless, therefore, some

untoward and almost impossible accident should
occur, we may hope that peace will- not be broken,
and that the Congress, which will take place
probably at the end of next month, will have those
results which your lordships and all Europe
desire." But however hopeful in itself such an
intimation as this may be, it is not borne out, it
would seem, by the facts of the case—either
in France or Piedmont, at any rate, whatever it
may be in Austria

Not only is there no " dis-
armament" going on in either of the two just named
countries, but something the very reverse of any
such proceeding appears to be der of the day.
eder
letter from
saaysstaate of alarm and anxiety.
‘T‘Paris,,.hTehegrpe‘au‘teb9mlilicatjinohrueiertye,4l"still look upon the Congress as a
mere sham—a stratagem devised between France
and Russia to drive Austria to extremities." And
there would seem to be only too much reason to
entertain such an apprehension. The fact of one of
the great stirrers-up of all the strife, Count CAVOUR,
being in the French capital, and, every day since
his arrival, having been closeted for several hours
with the EMPEROR and with Count IVALEwsKI ;
whilst at the same time the French armaments;
rather than " disarmaments," are still being aug-
mented, and got ready for action ; certainly cannot
but favour it. One of the latest telegrams from

Franc• announces, for instance, that " Government
has decided upon adding a fourth battalion to each
of the hundred infantry regiments of the line ;" and
that " new battalions are also to be formed out of
the third and sixth companies of each already
existing battalion." What all this persistence in
warlike

preparations can mean, if we are really to

have peace, it puzzles one to imagine.
Piedmont, too, makes no sign of falling back into
a pacific course, but continues to bristle he-

er bayonets,