The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-13 00:00:00

MIDLAND.

A special meeting of this cc mpany was held at Derby
yesterday for the purpose of considering and approving
or otherwise, certain Bills now before Parliament—
viz., a Bill "fir making a railway from Worcester to
Hereford, with branches ; for making arrangements
with the Gl,-necstershire Canal Company, and with the
Midland and North-Western Illilway Companies;" a
Bin " for enabling the Manchezter, Buxton, Matlock,
and Midland Junction iililway Company to sell or 'ears
their lire to the London and N(.rth-Westcru Com-
ply ;" and for other purposes enumertt, d below, con-
nccied with the interests► of the Midland Company.
Mr. LLLIr, 1.1. P., presided.

The CIIIIR3I,kti said the first quettim was the Wor-
cester al,cl lElereferd lice, for tke torentvion of ahich
they were not called upon to cuntriblve anything. The
directors bad taken a few shares, and the Bill contained
clauses which would enzbla the London and North-
tVe!.torn and 51 dland, or either of them, to work the
line. They were in no other wry interested in ir, and
no possible engagement was entered into by the Mid-
bind Company. They only required the sanction of the
sharehol et... iI,, n:,»“.1 a retelution approv:rg of the
Bi'l, which w: a carried earl-Amen ly.
Tne CHAIRMAN said the next was a rermiesivo Bill
for enabling the Minchei,tcr and Buxton Company to
tell or lease their line to the Midland or Lenidon and
Norih-Western Company.
A resclutiou approving of the Bill way passed.
The CHAIRMAN said the Text was the great business
of the day—tho redemption cf the reeds and Bradford
lease. They had only two years left to them for that
purpose. Under all the consideration the directors
could give to the question, and the opinion which com-
petent judges in Louden formed upon this great money
question, the board had come to the conclusion that the
lease ought to be redeemed upon the terms which they
now proposed.
). and for the
They had already provided the mt anr,
and he, as their chairman, would pledge himself that if
be entitled to
the resolution he should propose was passed, the opera-
tion would be carried into effect. lie then moved a re_
11;the rent of
radford C m
re-
solution to the effect thtt the sum of 1,800,000/.ln
raised, by the creatiPn el 18,000 new shares of 1001.
4... shares in
eachfir s t
ti(to o
yberacrsalflreodmMtihdelainsdsußinrgadtfhoredresohfatroes
184)1 Re
a dividend of 41. lOs. per ceo?. per annum, and thence
forth to a dividend of 41 per cent. per annum, payable .
be that for r the
0001. per annum
i9no,oeouoc/h.
iiorncloewr
payablean w i with
tshuec such
Leads priority
andls
pony; and author;zing the directors to tequiro °--'
that company under the powers of an Act ci,
said the effect of this arrangement would
first threo years the Midland liaqvvav et,
After sxne obixrvations the resolution wa's-.
be relieved of 9,000/. a year, or dof - Company would
for ever after.
Mr. GABBer, of Leeds, Eecticied pee
(~,it,,n
carried.
several lines of ;Joe Norit---i7
The CHAIRMAN then pro
, fur the working of the
contract Letwton the AlidlTsit,,d.,i" adoption cf a
2 meutinir; teodnj..owarl-saicehd wunatsiluit.f:
Skipton, Lancaster, and p, 1 vestern Railway between
the North-Westhru Cona a;,- .."'aILWaY Company d
an
sanctioned, and th
June. ollinllasoli

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS. as
i ork, 2- k)
THE GEZAT IsIoRTHERN RAILWAY.—(Miles -n 7852:
Return of Traffic for the Week ending May 2, '
Passengers, parcels,
horses do carriages,
gs, and mails xs' 6
Merchandise 709 8 5
, c and Minerals .."1393 17 3
Cattle ... ... -- 2;317.

Corresppoattsdaiennggewrse,ekp 2
Total X 12,227 3
.£6,334 5 0
"979 9 6
:triCBeslBl, (&23.c.4 miles)
:
Merchandise, Cattle, Stc. ."

Total ...10.31314 6
LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY. —(260 mile a
open.)—Traffic for weekendinglay 9 ..£16,352. 0 1
Corresponding week is lase year (2CO
males open) .. ...X15,410 4 1
CHESTER 414.1 C D HOLVIZAD RAILWAY...ariI& for the
week ending May 9:—

MAIN LINE.

Passengers
Parcels,C. and D. ...
Goods, cattle, tic. •••
Mails •••

£1,402 4 10
.•• S 5 2 6
... 603 13 10
... 575 0 0

Total

MOLD.

Passengers ...
Parcels, H. C. and D.
Goode, cattle, &c. :::

... £2,C66 1 2

Total

... £62 1 4
... 2 1 4
... 168 12 10

•.. ••• £232 15 6
STEAM-BOATS.

Passengers ••• ...
I'areels, 11. C. and D. ...

£2OO 6 11
28 3 10

Total ... ... £22810 9
scorrlsn CENTRAL RAlLWAY.—Traffia for the Week
ending May 9, 1852
Passengers (9,621), parcels, horses,
and carriages ... £1,012 1 4
Goods, cattle, &c. Dll 11 6
• I M. I .7

Total .. .. 1,923 12 10
Corresponding week in last year... 1,827 2 4
Path, May 12, 1652.
CORK ern i3ANDON RAILWAY. (20 miles open)—Retain
of Traffic for the week ending May 8, 1852:
Passengers, parcels, &c. •-• £l4O 10 3
Merchandise, cattle ,&c....
53 1 7

corriapel°3:ehanninnegdri.stsz,
cattle,
...
week in 1811 (10 miles open) :
Total Z 194. 5 10
g , parcels, Ike. 32 15 9
1 2 8

Total ..

SY DENHAM UORTICULTURAL SocIETT.--The first
fete of this society, recently established in this very pictu-
mrius locality, was held in the gardens of the Greyhound on
Tuesday, and, with the exception of a trifling shower,
there was no drawback on the pleasure of the afternoon. The
collection of plants and flowers was highly creditable to the
exhibitors, and show that there is no lack of emulation on
the part of the
gentry of the neighbourhood. The meeting
VMS very numerously attended, including the leading
9t. utiglanurhood.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF COMMONS, May 12.

(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)

ABOLITION OF THE PAPER DUTY.
ADJOURNED DEBATE.
On the ter ler of the day being read for resuming the
adjourned debate on this subject,
Lord DUNCAN presented three petitions from
Rochester and other places in favour of the repeal of the
taxes on knowledge.
Mr. COWAN said ho had been engaged for about
thirty years in the mentefacture of paper, and for the
last twenty years he had done all in his power to induce
various Administrations to oonsider the propriety of re-
moving the restristions imposed upon that manufacture.
He found, however, that though on all occasions a very
civil reception was given in Downing- street to the depu-
tations, no progress whatever was made towards the
abolition of those restrictions. Of late years a very
considerable redaction had been made in the number of
exciscable articles, and paper was, he believed, the only
article which could properly be termed a manufacture
still subjected to an excise duty. A very !ergo num-
ber of individuals was employed in the manufacture of
paper, which seemed to have been specially selected as
the subject of harassing cud vexatiou3 restrictions. Not
only were manufacturers of paper compelled to submit
to a protracted survey, but it nay required that every
parcel of paper should bear upon it a label describing
the weight, the name of the supervisor, the place
of manufacture, and a variety of other de-
tails ; and this process of labelling consumed a
great deal of valuable time. He complained also of the
delay which took place before paper could be removed
after the istspection of the Exci.e officer. Formerly
paper was allowed to be removed in twenty-four hours
after the time at which the Excise officer commenced his
survey, but an order was issued some twenty years
ago providing that twenty-four hours should elapse after
the officer had completed his survey before paper was
allowed to be removed from the place of manufacture.
Ihe effect of this regulation was that a delay of
two days took place before paper could be removed. He
was bound to say, however, that within the last year
the Board of Excise had considerably diminished the
period of delay. To show the vexatious nature of the
restrictions on the manufacture of paper, he might men-
tion that some five or six years ago a very extensive
mill was established in Gloucestershire for the purpose
of manufacturing paper or pasteboard from straw. The
proprietors accepted a contract to supply a large quan-
tity of pasteboard, but objections were made by the
Board of Excise to their obtainicg a supply of a finer
description of paper necessary for the completion of
their manufacture from other mills. [So we understood
the Honourable Gentleman, who throughout the greater
portion of his speech turned his back to the reporters'
gallery.] A delay of eleven months took place be-
fore the difficulties raised by the Board of Excise were
adjusted, and the consequence was that the proprietors
of the mill were unable to fulfil their contract, and were
subjected to a loss of some thousands of pounds. The
tendency of the present law was to prevent all improve-
meat. Before the year 1836 every papermaker was
obliged to make up his manufactured goods in parcels
containing certain quantities. He might mention, as an
instance of the inconvenience of this regulation, that he
was applied to some years ago to send a quantity of
paper to South America, made up in a particular
manner to suit that market, but three weeks elapsed be-
fore he could obtain permission from the Board of Ex-
cise to make up the parcels in that parcilar form, and
then the permission was limited to the particular case.
To show the effect of the existing restrictions he might
mentine that straw had been very successfully applied
to the manufacture of cards for loom-weavers. Now, fur
every pattern worked at the Jecjuard loom ho believed
about 100,000 cards were rrqaisite, and the amount of
duty upon that number of cards was nearly 231. He
knew there was an establishment at Paisley at which
it was found necessary to keep 1,000,000 cards in
stock, and the proprietors were obliged upon that
number to pay a duty of about 2301. A very large
quantity of sewing thread was exported from this
country to the United States, packed in small paper-
boxes, each containing a certaiu number of balls. The
paper required for each box weighed 11 ez. There was
an ostabilehment in Glasgow which used weekly three
tons of paper for the manufacture of these boxes. Noe
upon that paper a duty of 14 guineas a ton was imposed,
so that this one firm paid upwards of 40 guineas a week
as duty upon paper alone. The duty also pressed with
great hardship upon the manufacturers of hardware,
cu.lery, and o:her articles which were wrapped in paper
for exportation; and he knew that some manufacturers
paid as much as 3001. or 4001. a year merely in duty
upon paper used for such purposes. The expense of
collecting this excise duty upon paper was not less than
6 per cent.; he believed it to be much larger; and the
labour of writing and labelling each parcel of goods
threw at least the same expense upon the manufacturer.
The effect of these restrictions was to confine the trade
within the narrowest possible limits, and to render it es•
sentially a hums trade. He held in his band a book con-
taining some most valuable and interesting statistics on
the subject of the manufacture of paper, which was
printed so long ago as the year 1800, upon paper manu-
factured solely from straw; and, but for the crushing
effect of the excise duty, that manufacture would by this
time have extended probably throughout the whole
country, because paper manutaetured trom straw might
be applied to many most useful purposes. Straw could
be brought generally at 2/. a toy, and be was told it
could be obtained by the proprietors of the establish.
went to which he had b,,f,)re r,ferred in Gloucestershire
at 303. a ton. But, before a paper-maker could make an
experiment in mvlurlctuting straw lero paper, he must
pay a duty sf 14 guineas a ton. The mine was the cis.
with regard to flux, which would also be most valuabl
in the raaete.iacture of papr. The n;ght Hon. 1:i-caber
for Halifax (Sic C. Wood), wh, n he occupied the past of
Ch incelior of the Exehever, had repealed the duty on
bricks. Ile (Hr. Coss-en) might remind the House
that 3 very interesting uatiou were once required
to make bricks without straw; and he thought the n ind-
age is which the paper manufacturers were placed by the
existing law was of a somewhat similar character. He
hoped the present Chancellor of the Exchequer would
complete the week his predecessor had commenced, and
that, as his predecessor had reduced the duty on bricks,
he would reduce tree duty ou p iper; and would thus abo-
lish a tax which was in effect a duty upon straw. He
hoped the Chancellor of the Exchequer would take the
proposition of the Right Honourable Member for Man-
chester (Mr. M. Gibson) into his favourable considera-
tion. He (}Jr. Cowan) was very glad the debate on this
subject had been adjourned, for he certainly would not
have wiebed to see any duties repealed this year, even
although the surplus had been much larger than it
really was, becau e he did not think there would have
been time to do justice to the various claiissants.—(Hear,
hear.) The object cf the R'ght Hon. Gentleman (Mr.
Gibacm) was to convince the Howe- that those restric-
tions mast be viewed both by the friends of native in-
dustry and by the -supporters of free trade. as c (pally
impolitic and mischievous. He found that when the
Right Hon. Member for Manchester brought forward,
two years ago, a motion similar to that now before the
House, the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, re-
ferring to the existence of a surplus, expressed his °pi-
nkie in these words,--'` Could they, then, do better in
the present state of the revenue, with the resources
nilthey had at their command, than to assent to
me. rr
ch,,t proposition of the Right lion. Member for
(Ic ?" That was a propositionto repeal the
Disraeli) Par", The Right lion. Gentleman (Mr.
La hic%entinaci—
beneficial InTnion it was a prudent, a politic, and a
from assenting to
Were they to be prevented, then,
so beneficial
reso!ir ion so justified by circum-
stances,the ensaugeiuneeq tl in its character and its results, by
phantom of a revolutionary republic
being corspof iree
tastrhe c
eentercea a up before them, or by the possible ca-
o dimly hinted at in at in
Delphian H might be safl as-
sured that they were Lute
kind." nearouse any misfortunes of the
He hoped, therefore, thet the Cis
uer
might
give his' v4eabie Chancellor of the Exche-
to, support to this , motion.
he
wastsidotat in promoting the
?ic (Mr. Cowen) hal been
repeal of the paper duty
what was very
prejudicial to his own interest, eaeauusge
pollen, if the tax should
a great number of
be repealed, . 3 would enter ioto
the trade, and increase the competition ; but, even if that
wero the case, he held that he Ought
to sway him Open not to allow his
own private interest
kind, but that it was his duty to consider Whether
was likely to conduce to
proposed measure the welfare
and advantage of the people at large.
submit
that ?mull
mit
that a case had been made out.
Mr. GLAD 3 TONE said—l will not detain the House
for many minutes, but there is one portion of the subject
upon which I am anxious to make a few remsrks. As
regards the duty upon paper in general, I must ray I
shall be heartily glad when the time comes that it can
be repealed.—(Haar , hear.) No doubt it is very impra.
dent for Iklembers of Parliament, when they are mein a
strong impression as to the diaadvantagee of a panic's.
lar tar, to pledge themselves beforehand in favour of its
repeal—(Uear)—we ought to have the whole case—the
State of the revenue before Il3—(Gear, hcar)—and, for
the preseat, I hope it is clearly understood and in-
tended by the House that we shall rally round the
Chancellor of the Exchequer upon this occasion, and for
this year, at any rate, steadily set our faces against
any of these proposals for the romiacion of taxation.—
(Hoer, hear.) Bat it seems to me that there are such
a number of interesting circumstances connected with
the operation of the paper duty, and with the constiroP"
don of paper in the various branches of the demand for
it, thet this is a question which may usefully occup), the
alteration of the House at this moment.—(Hear, heir.)
There is one branch or the paper manufacture, no doubt,
of the utmost importance—where it is employed in the
packing of manufactured commodities•, and, so far as
that is concerted, the question comes before us simply
in the same category with the legislitive reforms relat-
ing to commerce which the Heine has latterly enter-
tained with so much favour. There is another branch
which concerns the consumption of paper, in the pro-
duelien of periodioal4, whether newepapers or not; and
this must he interesting and mast important also. But
there.,..o is a third branch t. ) which wish to draw atten-
ii n• sad to which think
w e lees attention hea been given
7. I mean the
literary a
T..° eistimptien or paper in the printing of
importance that hear.) I hold it of the utmost
against throwirtp-'" should be always on our guard
.pensing it for th'eaawral the public revenue, w ainst dis-
trust that, not only n.• t interested combinations, and I
propitious moments, when the
it moment'
but at more
the Chancellor Of the E zos may be in the power of
a proposal for the reductionver seriously to entertain
duty, he will tette into his vie; the
of the paper
Connected with the consumption of paper
state of the trades
Of its consumption to which I refer--
paper in that branch
that, so far as the influence and hear)—and
veruwect can extend, so far as the deliberations
of the Go-
Howevan
eerciie ilifitionco:,_..(l_ !talons of this
Publics opinion, and

upon the proceedings of trades through the medium of ,
public opinion, care will be taken that the public revenue I
shall not be given away for the profit of. these particu-
lar parties.—(Hear, hear.) It is probably within the
knowledge of many whom I am addressing that a
most interesting, and, I think, a most impertant
struggle, is now in progress in the book trade—(Elear,
hear)—that, as I think most unfortunately, a large
number of the booksellers of London and of the country
—some say using the publishers of books as their in-
struments, others say led on and authorised by the pub-
lishers—are attempting by restrictions, as it seems to
me, of a most imprudent and unwarrantable character, to
prevent the price of books, which is so enormously high,
from being mitigated even to the extent of a few shil-
lings per cent. by the enterprise and energy of those
among the retail traders who are disposed to give the
public the advantage of that enterprise and energy,—
( Hear, hear.) I think it would be very unjust at the
present moment to bear hard upon this body of publishers
and booksellers, because, in a spirit which I think does
them honour, they have consented to refer the question
to the judgment of some distinguished persons—(llear,
hear)—and at this moment Lord Campbell, with Mr.
Grote and the Dean of St. Paul's, is engaged in the
coneideration of this question; and they have, I believe,
kindly undertaken to give their judgment upon it.--
(Hear, hear.) To that judgment, I believe, the London
traders in books are prepared to submit.—(Hear, hear.)
I must confess I cannot much doubt what it will be.—
Clear.) The House should be aware what is the
exact na'ure of the question. The publishers of books
ere in the habit of supplying the retail traders at a
Jived price, that price being usually (with the excep-
tion of the case of wholesale purchases) at a dis-
count of 25 per cent. upon the publishing price.
The custom of the retail trade is, not to grant
the public who purchase a greater discount than
10 per cent., leaving 15 for the retail trade.
Some retail dealers say they can give a greater discount
than 10 per cent.; but then this combination steps in
and says, " You shall give no greater discount than 10
per cent. to the public, and if you do not come under an
engagement to that effect, we, by combining among our-
selves, will exclude you from the trade in books; ' that
is, deprive you of the means of livelihood in the vocation
to which you have devoted yourself. This restriction is
in my view a great evil.—(Hear, hear.) I do not pre-
tend to compare the price of new publications with that
of articles of bodily subsistence in regard to the urgency
of the questions they raise; but I do say, that it is a
very great evil that the price of books should be raised
above what may be called the natural and legitimate
amount.—(Hear, hear.) And further, I venture to say
that the state of the book market, except so far. as it is
partially mitigated by what are called cheap publica-
tions, is a disgrace to the present state of civilization.—
(Hear, hear.) The controversy now going on with cer-
tain retail traders, who in my epinion deserve great
credit for the energy with which they have struggled
against the power they have endeavoured to cope with,
is but a part of a system.—(Hear.) I wish the House
were aware of the facts in regard to the pro-
duction and the sale of books in this country. The ,
truth ,is, that monopoly and combination have been so
long applied to the whole subject, that they really have
gone near—l do not say to the extinction of the trade,—
bat to reducing it to its minimum.—(Hear.) We have a
country that has by far the largest educated class in the
world. (A Member—" There is America.") I was
thinking of Europe, but, even taking America into ac-
count, we have a country in which the class that ought
to be purchasers lof new books is the largest in the
world; I mean the educated class in that sense—the
men in possession of such fortune as ought to make them
the natural purchasers of new publications. That class
in this country is counted by twenties, and by fifties, I
might almost say by hundreds of thousands. But what
is the fact with regard to the state of the book-market?
It is, that with the exception of certain very highly-
esteemed and distinguished authors—with the exception
of such cases as Mr. Macaulay's " History of England,"
what are called new publications, not only in a majority
of cases, but in an enormous majority, scarcely ever
pass a sale of 500 copies. An immense proportion of
those that are published do not pay their expenses at all;
and I believe the proportion of them passing the sale
of 500 copies in this country, with its enormous means
for the cheap production of books, and for supplying an
extensive demand for them, is not more than something
like 5 per cent.; or, at any rate, not more than 1 20th
to 1-10th of the whole number produced.—(Hear, hear.)
Now what is the consequence? It is a matter within our
personal experience. The purchase of new publications
is scarcely attempted by anybody individually.—(llear,
hear.) Yon go into the houses of your friends, and un-
less in the case of books for which they have a profes-
sional want that must be satisfied, or unless they happen
to be persons of extraordinary wealth, you do not find
copies of new publications upon their tables, purchased
for themselves; but you find something from the circu-
lating library, or something from the book club.—(Hear,
hear.) But what aro these book clubs and book societies,
which are engaged, with such an enormous loss of time
and waste of machinery, in the distribution of books
throughout the country ? They are the ingenious ex
pedients which, under the pressure of necessity,
men have adopted to mitigate the monstrous evils
they experiecce from the enormously high price of
books, and satisfy in some degree their own demand
for that description of mental food—(Hear, hear.) Let
the House observe too how, in cases of this kind, one
system of combination generates and maintains another.
It has been the practice of the book trade to combine (I
do not use the term offensively) against the public; and
what is the consequence? The printers combine against
the book trade—(Bear, hear)—and very naturally.—
(Hear.) Ask a publisher why the price of books is so
high; he will tell you one reason is, "the printers have
entered into a combination against us"—(dear)—and is
it not perfectly natural, that if the journeymen printer
sees the publishers and booksellers combine against the
public, he will say, "I will step in and get a share of the
fruits?" and so it is. -([fear.) I hold in my hand a paper
which has trashed me, and other Members I suppose,
signed by two persons on behalf of the London Society of
Compositors, and they say, " We draw your attention to
Mr. T. M. Gibson's motion for the repeal of the taxes on
knowledge; we believe that those taxes present unne-
cessary obstacles to the spread of useful knowledge
among the public generally." But I should like to know
whether it is not also the case, that the London compo-
sitors, who have so genial a sympathy with the Right
Honourable Gentleman, and so anxious a desire for the
spread of useful information, are and hive been for some
time in strict combination together, and that the terms
and effect of the combinations are to raise the price of
printing per sheet in London, and Oxford, and Cam-
bridge, and I believe some other places, at least 25 or
30 per cent. above the price at which it can be executed
anywhere elan.--(Hear, hear.) Now I hope, whenever
the Chancellor of the Exchequer may be in a condition
to propose to the House a remission of the paper duty,
these matters will be well looked into—(Hear, hear)—
and that we shall take care that the public revenue is '
not given away for the purpose of facilitating or promot-
ing the extension of these combinations.—([fear.) The
Government, no doubt, can do a great deal for the relief
of this immense evil; individuals cannot do it.
If a particular person who has a work to publish
chooses to say, " I will fix the pricy at one-half the
ordinary amount," he merely makes a victim of himself,
without acting in the least upon the state of the market
or acting sensibly upon the demand for his own book,
because the consequence of a bad system has been to
machinerynots e
nasdiabpl
yt adapted tcot e it,d b
yantdhebtho
priceoek opera-
tion clubsof
a
end
desroacte a
ieties
are
book being more or less—(Hear, hear)—and
of the natural and healthy play of the demandwhich ought to regulate the price, and of principlethe
that a book ought to sell for what it will fetch, neither
more nor less, is totally intercepted by the system which
has been so long in action.—(Hear, hear.) The Govern-
ment has been ecdeavouring to do something for pro-
moting the book trade in this country. Fur many years
negotiations hare been going on with foreign countries
for the prevention of piracy abroad. I had the satisfac-
tion when I was at the Board of Trade with my Hon.
Friend the Member for Glasgow (6lr. Macgregor) of
conducting negotiations with Prussia, and handing them
over to Lord Dalhousie, who was able to put his hand to
the first treaty of international copyright. There has
been a treaty since with France under the late Govern-
ment, and treaties have likewise been made with other
parts of Gcrmsny. That is most important to the
book trade of England, because, undoubtedly, the sale
of piratical publications is very injurious, and, by nar-
rowing the market, tends to force the elevation of price
in this country.—(Hear.) But as, by means of the in-
fluence of the State, we have opened foreign markets to
the English book trade, we have some right to expect
that efforts should be made by those who direct that
trade to produce books upon reasonable and moderate
terms with a view of supplying that domande—(Hear,
hear.) The case of the colonies is a most remarkable
one. We attempted to vindicate the rights of English
anthers in the celonies; but, owing to the monstrous
price of books published here, the grievance in the colo-
nies was felt to be so oppressive, that I believe it was
found necessary again to relax the law, and not attempt
to prevent the entrance of piratical publications.—( dear,
hear.) I believe there is hardly any article on which
aseo
thhieghpaabplircare called upon to pay a price that bears so
the c
proportion to the actual coat of production a 3 in
of rod et
book`'—(Bear, hear.) But the actual cost
books tha jail itself is not a proper standard, because
that cost
n Oe nnormously enhanced, more perhaps on
nature of the any other commodity, by the restricted
of dernandade and the narrowness of the
that in this country circle
—(Elear, hear.) I do conceive
for the production Yawhave the greatest facilities
Un-
der the disadvantages cheap books.--(Hear, hear.)
ie quite plain, from the whichior the paper duty imposes, it
by enterprising and succeessf tits which have been made
we can produce, quality considered,upublishers, that even now
as cheaply as any
country in the world.—_(gear.) am convinced, if the
theitchyou to resign the
finances of the State wouldhap
paper duty, you ought to
you have the greatest advantageult,
Wake in the world.—(Hear.) B
as producers,
cheapest producers of
than any other
ought to
hooka
of the naurket and the demand the scope
,mrt reitt,taltscloort
~!'facts
stoeur
gandtvattn) tbaegetshlosr:_naeit ytouhtive the
chc aper here and the_ sale larger than in anyg tothber
country whatever. On the contrary, the state of facts
is, that so fur as new publications are 'concerned, the
demand far books is narrower and the price higher than
i n
h
anyt other
ucountrywillforgivegood intheW7rid
seas© ."....
(Hear, hear.) I
hope drawing attention to
this important and
and
public interesting subject.--(Hear, hear.)
I am happy to e that
feel-
ing have already acted so powerfully upon that
intelligent and respectable body, the London publishers,
as to induce them to refer this matter to arbitration.—
(Hear, bear.) I trust when that combination breaks
down, all other combinations afft:cting the book trade
will break down also.—(Hear, hear.) I am sure the
judgment expressed here will act materially upon public
opinion, and through that upon the book trade; and
do trust, that before a great length of time, rue eircum.

stances to which I have adverted, and which I say again I
are a scandal to the country, will disappear.—(Hear.)
Sir W. CLAY did not wish the debate to turn wholly,
upon the first of the three resolutions—that for the re-
peal of the paper duty; he thought the strength of the
case, at least with reference to immediate legislative ac-
tion, lay in the other two—for the repeal of the news-
paper stamp and the advertisement duty, and he would
suggest that it would be well not to divide on the first
resolution, the decision upon which would not be a
just indication of the feeling of the House, but would
be influenced by reasons apart from the real merits
of the case. There were, indeed, very strong
reasons for taking off the duty on paper, but that might
be said of many other, and especially of Excise of duties.
When, too, the paper duty was classed in the reso'u-
tions with the rest of the " taxes on knowledge," it must
be recollected that a large proportion of the paper made
was not used for the diffusion of knowledge, but in ma-
nufactures, or fitting manufactured articles for exporta-
tion. Then, again, the House should not express an
opinion upon the paper duty, if (which he believed)
the Government could not fairly be expected to prom d
to act upon it in the present state of the revenue.—
(Hear, hear.) The paper duty should be ono of the
first duties taken into consideration with a view to re--
dueler); but it ought to be considered fairly
with reference to other duties and upon a ge-
neral vies of finance. These reasons for doubt
or hesitation did not exist with reference to
the other two duties—on newspapers and on adver-
tisements; the resolution as to them might fairly be
pressed, nor could ho see why they should not be
repealed.—(lll3ar, hear.) If the newspaper duty were
removed, a moderato postage duty would probably, in
a very great degree, supply the loss to the revenue; and
the extreme doubt as to the law with regard to the ques
tion " what was a newspaper?" would warrant the House
in incurring a greater risk of lose. The repeal of the
advertisement duty would extend the circulation of
newspapers and the diffusion of knowledge among the
people. One of the very ablest men he ever knew said
he only read the law reports and the advertisements,
which he thought gave the most complete view of the
times. No one could doubt the great ability manifest in
the leading articles in the Times, or its admirable
arrangements for the collection and prompt diffusion
of news from all parts of the world ; but if
you went into the shops and warehouses and counting-
houses of men of all shades of political opinion, and
asked them why they took the Times, you
would find them all concur in one reason. After
paying a just compliment to its talent, they would tell
you—Whig, Tory, and Radical—that it was indispens-
able
to them to take in a paper in which they found such
a vast amount of information as was supplied in its ad-
vertisements.—(Hear, hear.) Ho would repeat that the
repeal of the advertisement duty would increase the cir-
culation of newspapers and the spread of information; it
had been said that he would be a very well informed
man who should every day diligently read several of the
daily papers.—(Hear, hear.) A friend of his, just re-
turned from America, after a tour in some of its wildest
portions, told him that in a log hut on the very borders
of the primaeval forest he had found persons, in more
than one instance, better informed with regard to the
Great Exhibition, and the character of the articles ex•
hibited, and number of persons attending, than would in
most provincial towns of England, or perhaps in many
houses of the lower class in London.
Mr. MO WATT believed that it took years, and con-
stant repetion, to
.obtain from Parliament the removal
of evils, however gross; and therefore he was not sorry
the debate had been adjourned. But it was for the
Chancellor of the Exchequer or his colleague to explain
the motives that induced him to suggest an adjustment,
and to represent that, on the eve of the budget, it would
not be advisable for the House to express an opinion
upon this subject. It was now clear that that sugges-
tion was not made with any bond fide intention of meet-
ing the grievances complained of.—(Hear, hear.) The
matter before the House touched, perhaps, two of the
most important questions of the age—the education and
employment of the pe )ple. We professed to be anxious
for the education of the people, but we gave 250,0001.
towards this object, and took from dem 1,400,0001.
Messrs. Chambers were obliged, mainly by the paper
duty, to give up their Miscellany, when it was circulating
80,000 a week.—(Hear, hear.) The well-known pub-
Hiller, Mr. Charles Knight in a work entitled Struggles
of a Work against Excessive Taxation, showed
that no less than 32,000/. was paid for paper-duty on
account of the Penny Cycloperdia. In consequence, he
obtained no return. The penny stamp nude a larger
amount of capital necessary for a journal than would
otherwise be required. With respect to tie advertise-
ment duty, what could be more cruel and unjust than to
throw difficulties in the way of people who had to
struggle for a livelihood announcing their wants, and so
having recourse to ono of the most available means of
obtaining employment? Hon. Gentlemen opposite, who
had been getting up protection associations, slowed the
inconsistency of their conduct in raising tie cry that
native produots were not protected when tiny sanc-
tioned such a gross interference with native
industry as the tax under discussion involved.
France read this country a practical lesson in
the employment it gave by the manufacture of articles
of luxury from paper. 'I he manufacture of paper itself
was kept in a stationary condition, was yet in its in-
fancy, owing to these vexatious duties. France and
America were outstripping this country daily in the
paper trade; and America actually bought at the doors
of our cotton manufactories the dross and refuse., which
wero conveyed across the Atlantic, made into paper,
and sent to our colonies, where he had seen that Ame-
rican paper. It was said the revenue could not afford
the reduction. So long as the particular impost under
consideration could bo shown to press unfairly in a sense
apart from its peculiar pressure, a case was made out
for a reconsideration of the impost. The Government
were bound, for the reasons stated, to remove the paper
duty, oven if a deficiency should arise. There never
was telt any difficulty in making good a deficiency from
any other cause. The true reason for refusing the pro-
po.ied reduction was, that the pressure from without
bad not sufficient influence; the class who had most in-
fluence were not sufficiently represented in that House.
What was it the Chancellor of the Exchequer took
credit for in the budget? Was it not that be admitted
in substance the great truth that, by continually re-
ducieg import duties and Excise duties, succes-
sive Governments had been able to give an impetus
to the public prosperity? The Right Hon. Gentleman
ought to have s :id, " That was the course adopted in
spite of my denunciations, and I will follow the same
policy." But the budget of the Right Hon. Gentleman
was a stand-still and do-nothing budget. The Right
Hon. Gentleman had interposed on this very topic,
holding out inducements to the belief that he would con-
sider the imposts which were the subject of discussion;
experienced and crafty, ho said he did not mean this one
or the other in particular; but, if he did not mean the
House to understand that ho had a bona fide intention of
dealing with those imposts, why should ho indulge in
mysterious and vague enunciations?
Mr. REYNOLDS, in stating his intention to support
the motion, wished to caution the Right Hon. Member for
Manchester against taking the advice of the Hon. Member
for the Tower Hamlets, not to divide on the first propo-
sition—namely, the repeal of the paper duties. That was
the most valuable; it would emancipate labour, add to the
employment of the people, and prove the means of re-
lieving the pressure of distress. They could not well
educate the hungry. The paper duty was a war tax
introduced in 1711 by Sir Robert Walpole. As an
Irish representative, he (Mr. Reynolds) complained of
the continuance of that duty. From 1711 to 1798 there
was no such tax in Ireland. In 1798 a tax was imposed
on the machinery employed on the manufacture. Ireland
having been politically married, by a sort of forcible ab-
duction, a charge of 31. per lb. was imposed on paper of
all qualities, which in 1837 was confined to wrapping
reported
paper, id. being then charged on the finer qualities. A
theyoug ht
t o on
be commission appointed in 1834 to inquire into the policy
of con t continuing utihnagt
the
duties leather,
repealed; gla easy;
and that
upon paper,
paper now alone remained. He asked the Chancellor of
the Exchequer (who had put him off, as the orgep of
the Irish aistillers, with a mouthful of moonshine, by
saying his questions could not be answered till the bud-
get) how the policy of continuing to charge 70 per cent.
ad valorem on the conversion of rags into paper could be
justified, when the Right Hon. Gentleman permitted the
Manchester manufacturer of cotton to convert cotton into
every imaginable kind of fabric without a duty at all,
and the woollen manufacturers of Yorkshire to convert
wool into all kinds of woollen manufactures also
without a duty? If there was one part of the united
kingdom which would reap more benefit than another
from the repeal of the paper duty it was Ireland. Hon.
Members might think, but abstain from sayiag, that
Ireland abounded in the raw material for rags; but on
, the contrary, rags were imported from Germany. The
fibrous portion of the bogs would be found the beet
fabric for brown paper; the best foolscap could be ma-
nufactured from straw; the fibrous material of flex,
worthless for other purposes, could also be converted
into paper; but these materials could not be manufac
tured into paper because of the Excise duty. The col.
lection of the paper duty coal 12 per cent. in England
and 20 per cent. in Ireland, on the amount collected. In
1850, 30,000/. were collected in the district of Dublin' at
a cost of 6,0001., or 20 per cent. on the amount collected.
In 1837 the Irish paper manufacturers manufactured
3,700,0001 b. weight of paper; the duty was altered that
year, and the result in 1849 was that the quantity had
increased to 6,500,0001 b. In 1837 the quantity of
paper that paid duty in Great Britain was
77,000,0001 b. ; in 1819, 127,000,0001 b. Tho eman-
cipation
of trade had increased the quantity
manufactured. The Thames and Mersey hed :been
opened for the reception of food from ell countries, and
Ireland had received no equivalent benefit on the repeal
of the core-laws, at which repeal he rejoiced. But the
superiority of French grain and of French millicg had
set the Irish millers idle; and he asked the House to
grant this small pittance of justice. Ho asked them to
let the Irish flour. miller apply his mill, on which in
some instances 50,000/, had been expended, to the con-
version of the peat of the bogs into paper. He asked re-
lief for interests which were paralyzed. The total paper
duty paid in Ireland in 1840, was 23,1601.; in 1843,
30.9951. ; in 1846, 38,559/4 in 1849, 41,1631. In 1846
the paper manufacturers of Ireland were forty; how
many were convicted of breeches of the excise-laws?—
thirty-two. The effect of the law was not only to man-
acle labour, but to hold out a premium to manufacturers
with elastic consciences. Ho had presented petitions for
a repeal of the paper-duty, signed, not by owners of
mills, but by the men and women there employed. The
total signatures amounted to 1,219. Although he was
favourable to a repeal of the duty on paper and upon ad-
vertisements, yet be had great doubt of the necessity,
and a greater doubt of the wisdom, of repealing the
stamp-duty on newspapers. So long as they charged ld.
for the transmission of a letter through the Post-office,
they ought to continue the stamp as a charge for the
transmission of newspapers.
Mr. J. L. RICARDO hoped his Right lion. Friend
would toot withdraw any part of his inotioD, foe he did

not consider that the budget of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer showed that the repeal of these taxes could
not be afforded. The Right Hon. Gentleman had most
ingeniously, to serve his own purposes, made the sur-
plus appear as small as possible; but ho (Mr. Ricardo)
was of opinion that the surplus would be quite sufficient
to meet the deficiency that would be occasioned by the
repeal of these duties. But he rose principally for the
purpose of pointing out to the Government the necessity
of affording some relief to the Attorney-General, for it
was quite impossible for any law officer of the Crown
to be in a greater strait than the Hon. and Learned Gen-
tleman was in respect to the stamp duties upon news-
papers. The papers were upon a sort of sliding scale.
There was a swap on the daily papers, and, as the
weekly papers interfered with the daily, it was
but lair that the weekly should be stamped;
then came the fortnightly, which interfered with
the weekly; they, therefore, were stamped; but
Government had recently found that there were
monthly papers which interfered with all the rest, and
it therefore was held to be only fair that the monthly
should be stamped also, and they had accordingly dug
out a clause from an old Act of Parlicment—the 60th
George 111., for the purpose of carrying out this new
discovery. But that Act was not passed with any re-
fereece to revenue at all. It had nothing to do with the
stamp duties. It was one of the famous Six Acts, and
had no other object than the repression of the liberty of
the press. The A torney-General, however, had found
that even that Act would not answer his purpose; the
consequence was, that the threatened prosecution against
the proprietors of these monthly publications were sus-
pended. Ho wished to ask the Attorney-General whe-
ther he really meant to prosecute those parties or not?
If he did, there was no reason why he should not prose-
cute the publishers of quarterly publications. Nay, if he
insisted on having monthly publications stamped,
there was 139 reason why a stamp should not be imposed
on the publication of the " History of England." He
would repeat the question—did the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman intend to prosecute these monthly publica-
tions, or not?

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—I do.
Mr. J. L. RICARDO proceeded to address the House
for some time under the impression that the Attorney-
General had said that he did not intend to prosecute,
but having been informed by Hon. Gentlemen around
him of the mistake he had fallen into, he discontinued
his remarks on that point and made the following state-
ment to the House:—A gentleman of the name of Clark
commenced the publication of a paper at Wisbeach, and
issued it without a stamp. The solicitor of the Stamp-
office wrote to and informed him that it he continued to
publish it without a stamp ho would be prosecuted.
Alarmed at a prosecution in which, oven if successful,he
would have had to pay his own costs—for the Crown re-
ceived costs although it did not pay them—Mr. Clark
had his paper stamped. Finding afterwards that a pub
lication called the Stoke-upon-Trent Monthly Narrative
of Current Events was advertised to be published with-
out a stamp, he communicated that fact to the Govern.
ment, and asked whether he was himself really obliged
to publish with a stamp. The solicitor of the Stamp-
office immediately wrote to the proprietor of the pro-
posed publication, informing him that if he issued
his paper without a stamp be would be prose-
cuted. His (Mr. Ricardo's) constituent (Mr. George
Turner) was not, however, so nervous as the gentleman
of Wisbeach, and he wrote to Mr. Timm, the solicitor of
Stamps, referring him to his (Mr. Turner's) solicitor.
The solicitor of Mr. Turner wrote to Mr. Timm, saying
that he wra instructed to receive any process which
might be issued against his client. Mr. Timm, in reply,
stated that he had received no instructions upon the
matter. Now, could, there (be would ask) be an act of
greater tyranny and oppression than this? Here was a
man who, having his capital invested in a publication,
was threatened by the law officer of the Crown with a
prosecution unless he discontinued that publication, and
when that man alleged that he had not disobeyed the
law, and was prepared to prove it, the law officer
refrained from prosecuting, leaving him and
hundreds of others in the unpleasant alternative
of withdrawing their capital or of having it invested
in a business which it was illegal to carry on. He
hoped the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would take
notice of the statement which be (Mr. Ricardo) had
now made. There was another question which he
would put distinctly to the Hon. and Learned Gentle-
man, and it was this—Dld ho intend to prosecute the
proprietors of the Art-Journal, the Musical Times,
Tails Magazine, the Evangelical Magazine, and several
others of a similar character—all monthly journals, and
published exactly under the same circumstances as the
Household Narrative? Then there were the weekly
journals, such as the Friend of the People, Kidd's Ex-
positor, the Literary Gazette, the Lancet, the Legal Ob•
server, and last, but not least, our friend Punch, who
also was very fond of alluding to current events.—
(Laughter) He hoped the Hon. and Learned Gentle-
man would give him an explicit answer to this question,
in order that all those who were interested in the publi-
cations he had named, and others, might know whether
they were to undergo prosecutions from the Government
or not. _

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL would endeavour to
answer the question put to him by the Hon. Gentleman,
but he extremely regretted that he should have been so
entirely misunderstood. In the first place, he did not
think the Hon. Gentleman understood precisely what
were the duties of the law officers of the Crown. When
the Hon. Gentleman asked him whether he purposed
prosecuting the proprietors of certain newspaper publi-
cations, he appeared to suppose that the Attorney-Ge-
neral instituted proceedings whenever he found any
paper unstamped, or considered that there were other
grounds for prosecution; whereas the course pursued was
thi.:—lf the Stamp-office found that there was a publi-
cation issued without it stamp which they thought ought
to be subjected to a duty, they instituted proceedings
against the parties, and that, very frequently, without
any communication with the law officers of the Crown,
who would know nothing whatever of the proceedings until
the briefs were placed in their hands for the purpose of
conducting the prosecution before the court. Where
any doubt existed as to the liability of parties, the opi-
nions of the law offieers might be asked, bat it rarely
happened that their opinions were consulted before the
matter was ripe for trial. With regard to the proceed-
ings in the ease of the Household Narrative, in the first
place he had to observe that those proceedings were
that he meant no reflection on his prede-
ee instituted by his predecessor in office, and not by him;
buts s
u n ,
ca
bsaeyinugse he thought he should have done precisely
what his Hon. and Learned Friend had done. If his
111
opinion bad been asked whether the question should be
brought into a court of law, he should have been of opi-
nion that it was desirable to have the law on the question
settled. Proceedings having been instituted against
the Household Narrative ative (which was considered, pro-
bably, the representative of a class of publications), it
was arranged that the facts necessary to raise the ques-
tion of law should be turned into a special case. H
(tsh
a (the
s f Attorney-General),
course knew nothing what-
ever)l; of
were arranged, but, inasmuch
a framed in .order to obtain the
e et tat ohi re
special
termse y
e -a Gs
as
v y
re
hraai
sel
opinion of the court, it was impossible, whatever the
judgment
fuorfththe. Theercourt might have been, to carry the
judges were divided in opinion
upon the subject; the majority were of opinion that the
Household Narrative was not liable o stamp duty; but
Mr. Baron Perko was of a different opinion. When he
case any
(the Attorney-General) came into office the opinions of
his predecessors and of the present Mr. Justice Cromp-
ton were placed before him for his opinion as to what
was proper to bo done under the circumstances, they
being of opinion that the judgment of Mr. Baron Parke
was one which was more satisfactory to their view of the
case than the opposite judgment of the majority of the
court. Now, if he (the Attorney-General) had not himself
entertained some doubt upon the subject, he confessed he
should have been considerably influenced by the opinion
of his predece3sors, and should have felt it his duty not
to leave the law in so unsatisfactory a state as that of
having the opinion of the law officers opposed to a
judgment pronounced by a court of law without the pos-
sibility of taking the opinion of a superior court upon it.
In answer to a question put by the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Member for Manchester, be (the Attorney-Ge-
neral) at an early period of his coming into office stated
that it would be necessary to obtain, if we could, the
opinion of a superior court upon the question; and that
he did not wish the law to remelts in so unsettled and un-
satisfactory a state. There had been a misunderstanding
as to the coarse which it would be necessary to adopt.
It was supposed that ho would carry the case of Mr.
Dickens to a court of appeal, whereas the nature of the
proceedings rendered it impossible for him to do so. What
he proposed to do was to institute Another prosecution;
and he distinctly stated that the Court of Exchequer
would in that new case of course, and without argument,
confirm the judgment it had already pronounced,
end then that that judgMent would as speedily as pos-
sible be taken to a court of error, in order to have a
final decision upon the subject. The Hon. Gentleman
had put the question to him over and over again, as if
he (the Attorney-General) were afraid of answering it,
as to what was the course he intended to pursue. He
begged distinctly to say that the course which he had
pointed out as the one which he should adopt had boon
already pursued; that another information had been
filed; that that information would result in a special
verdict, which was distinct from a special case, a special
case terminating in the court where it was decided, while
a Special verdict admitted of an appeal. To show how
extremely desirous they were to have the question fairly
raised and disposed of, there being some dispute as to
the terms in which the special verdict should be drawn
up, it had been arranged between the junior counsel for
the Crown and the counsel on the part of the defendants,
that Mr. Baron - Martin should settle the terms of
the Special verdict, he being ono of the judges
who decided in favour of the defendants. With respect
to the case mentioned by the Hon. Member for Stoke-
upon-Trent, he (the Attorney-General) assured the Hon.
Gentleman that he never heard one word about it until
it was alluded to by the Hon. Member for Montrose.
With regard to the question of coats, that he admitted
was one of very great importance. The Hou. Gentle-
man was not perfectly correct in stating that the Crown
received costs, but never paid them. The Crown never
received nor paid costs. But it was a subject which had
not escaped his attention. He had been very aexious
about it for a considerable time, and was particularly
de: irons that in cases of this description the defendants
should be protected in the matter of coats.—(Hear, hear.)
He was extremely desirous of introducing some measure
which would give the defendant costs where the verdict
should be in his favour. With regard to the whole mat-
ter, he would conclude by saying that he bad in this
case followed the course of his predecessors. He did not
wish to shrink from any responsibility which attached to
him. He had done that which ho was sure his prede-
cessors, if they had been his successors, would have
done, and had adopted the course which he considered
the best, with a view to obtain a satisfactory decision on
the law bearing on this important question.
Mr. MACGREGOR considered the paper duty to be
cue of theeory first cases to which the Chancellor of the
Exchequer should turn his attention, with a vim? to its

repeal. Wo wore the only people in the world who
im-
posed a tax upon paper.
Mr. HUME wished to remind the House that the
question was not that they should immediately rt pal
the paper duty, but that financial arrangements ought to
ba made which would enable Parliament hereafter to
dispense with that duty. The next proposition was, that
the newspaper duty ought to bo abolished. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer had shown a balance in hand of
460,00 a. What he (Mr. Hume) proposed to do with
that balance was to rep,- al the advertisement duty, not
the duty on paper, nor even the stamp duty on news-
papers, because he would transfer that latter duty by
making it a postage charge. How did the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, howevt4r, propose to appropriate the
surplus? Why, by paying a bounty to 80,000 militia-
men. That was au appropriation of which he (Mr.
Hume) did not approve. There were about 60 papers
now published with or without stamps—that is, they
were stamped if intended for the country. They were
not stamped if intended for local circulation. He was pre-
pared to show that the increased amount derivable from
the revenue if a stamp were put on all papers going by post
would enable the duty to be reduced without any great
loss to the revenue.—(Divide, divid. I) They had but
2,000,000 of advertisements in our papers, as opposed to
10,000,000 or 12,000,000 advertisements in the United
States; but he was satisfied if there was an alteration in
the duties the advertisements in our papers would be
trebled or quadrupled. Considering newspapers as the
best possible instructors, he would be sorry to see any
restriction placed on their circulation. In the United
States every log cabin had its paper full of various mat-
ters of news or instruction, and sold for one cent each.
In the United States there were 16} newspapers pub-
lished to every man, woman, and child; in E gland the re
was only one paper for every 12. If the Chancellor
of the Exchequer would only risk 600,0001., he woul I
find that in the end the revenue would not lose. He
oould tell them there were at this moment persons ready
to embark 20,0001. in a daily newspaper to be circulated
throughout the whole country, to pay the same rate as
the best papers, and to have the same amount of talent
to furnish political, historical, and general information
for every class. The Right Han. Gentleman (Mr. Dis-
raeli) having had so much to do with literary matters,
the country expected he would be the first to patronix)
the spread of literature, and ho (Mr. Hume) was satis-
fied, if he, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, agreed to
the change, he would lose nothing by it.—(Cries for a
division )

Mr. itER SEY SIER objected to the paper-duties, in
the first place, as being Excise duties, and in the second
place, as interfering with the circulation of cheap publi-
cations; but considering that it had been agreed
among the Honourable Gentlemen opposite that the
whole question of taxation should be left to the conside-
ration of a new Parliament, he should now oppose the
present motion.
Mr. WAKLEY taunted the Honourable Gentleman
for having voted in favour of this proposition when Lord
John Russeli's Government was in power, and voting
against is when his own friends sat upon the Treasury
benches. The motion did not pledge the House to any
immediate arrangement; it was simply an affirmative
proposition. Out of doors great anxiety was expressed
upon this subject. It was anticipated that a literary
man holding so high a position as the Right Honourable
Gentleman would have looked at this question with an
earnest desire to remove every obstacle from the educa-
tion of the people. The House and the country were
left completely in the dark as to the intentions of the
Government. He thought that the conduct of those in
authority was extremely reprehensible in renewing the
prosecution against the Household Narrative. Instead
of expressing their gratitude to the man who amused
andinstructed the people of this country, he was se-
lected by the Government for punishment.—(Hear.)
Instead of giving bin the benefit of the doubt, he was
now to be driven into a court of error. There was no
doubt upon the minds of the jury, there was no doubt
upon the minds of the judges. And who was this man
selected for persecution, he could not call it prosecution
—Charles Dickens.—(Hear, hear.) He thought that
the author of " Vivian Grey" ought to blush at such a
proceeding.—(Bear.) The solicitor for the Stamp-office
stated in his letter that the Queen's Speech was news,
but that the Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech was
not news; and also that a price current was not liable to
penalty for being published without a stamp. Such were
the absurdities of the present system.
Mr. KNIGHT admitted that booksellers and paper
manufacturers would be entitled to the abolition of the
duty if the duty on the importation of foreign books and
paper were repealed, and it they were placed in the same
position as that of the farmers in regard to the importa-
tion of corn. Farmers were subject to free trade
and had great burdens to bear, but the particular inte-
rests aff cted by this question were not so, and yet it
was proposed to relieve them from taxation.
Mr. MILNER GIBSON said, in conformity with the
wish of an Hon. Member, he would add these words to
the original motion—" Tnat such financial arrangement
ought to be made as would enable Parliament to dispense
with the duty on paper, as early as may be with refer-
ence to the safety of the revenue." The second division
would be taken upon this question—that the newspaper
stamp ought to be abolished, because there was an ade-
quate surplus. The third division would be taken on the
abolition of the advertisement tax, which amounted to
160,0001. To meet the deficiency occasioned by such a
loss, there was also mere than an adequate surplus.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER might
perhaps be permitted to say a single word in answer tease
Hon. Member for Finsbury, who had represented to the
House that he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had
stated that these particular taxes were under the
consideration of Governmeut. What ho stated was
that they were being considered as parts of the
general system of taxation; be guarded himself from
sayieg they were being specifically considered.—
(Hear, hear.) As he was on his legs, he might remark
upon the charge made against him, that he had made
a diversion from the decision of the House by stating
that he would give his opinion on the subject when the
budget was produced. The same charge was made by
the Honourable Member for Dublin with respect to the
spirit duties. The Honourable Member seemed also
under the impression that be (the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer) had engaged to give a specific answer on that
question when he made the financial statement. What
he wanted to convey to the House, and what he believed
f
he did convey to a majority o the House, was that he
could not state in detail the views of
.Government upon
any particular tax until the financial statement was
made—meaning that Honourable Gentlemen would re-
ceive an answer with the financial statement, because
it would prove that, instead of a larga surplus, which
existed only in the imagination of those gentlemen
who were urging the repeal of different items of
taxation, there was a mere nominal surplus. With
regard to the margin, for ho could scarcely call it
a surplus, in the statement he had mails to the
House, he thought the statement of the Ministers of the
Crown ought to be received with some consideration.
—(Hear, hear.) Any gentleman might get up and say,
" The Chancellor of the Exchequer tells us there will
only be a surplus of 300,0001. or 400,0001, but I can
prove the surplus will be double or treble that amount."
But he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) said the
statement he had made as the person responsible for the
financial condition of the country ought to be received
as a statement which had been maturely weighed.—
(Cheers.) He might sate, in vindication of that state-
ment, how it was received by the person who would
have been moat ept to criticise, and who possessed the
most knowledge on the subject—his predecessor in office?
(Hear.) The Hon. Member for Halifax had said the
only fault in that statementh_ was, that it placed the sur-
plus at much too high a pre.—(Hear, hear.) That
was the criticism of the late Chancellar of the Excheepier,
and he warned the House not to come to any preciptate'
conclusion in the manner proposed, under the impres-
sion that it pledged. the House to nothing. It did
pledge the House in a most important respect, and
might exercise a most inconvenient effect upon the state
of the finances of the country.—(Hear.)
Three divisions then took place:—
The first, upon the resolution as am3nded, with regard
to the paper duty—

.Ayes ... ••• ... 107
Noes ..• ... ... 155
Majority against the resolution ... —BB
The second, upon the resolution with regard to the
stamp duty—
Ayes ... ... ... ... 100
Nor's ... 199
Majority against the resolution ... --09
The third, upon the resolution with regard to the
advertisement duty—
Ayes ... 116
Noes ... ..• ... 181
Majority against the resolution --65
TRUSTEES' ACT EXTENSION BILL.
This Bill was read a second time.
COUNTY COURTS FURTHER EXTENSION

PRICES OF SHARES

IN BANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM-

PANIES' STOCK.
From the Official List.
CUBLISIIED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING.
L )NDON, TUESDAY, MAY 11.

SOINT-STOCM ILAITIZEI.