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London, England, 1852-12-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1852.

The debate has been brought to a conclusion—tho
division taken—the Ministers soundly beaten. The

House of Commons, at twenty minutes before four

o'clock this morning, rejected the first portion of the
financial scheme by a majority of 19, there being 30L
against, and 286 in favour of, the resolution. Before the
discussion was regularly resumed, a considerable time
was occupied in ascertaining the exact nature of the
question to be decided. It might almost have beer
supposed that Barristers were engaged in settling the
minutes of a decree, or squabbling over the terms of a
special verdict or feigned issue, in place of the chosen
Representatives of the people deciding on a great ques-
tion of public policy. The matter was eventually termi
nated by the whole of the resolution, including the amount
of the substituted House Tax, viz., ls. 6d and ls., being
put from the Chair, and the division taken thereon.
This proved fatal to the Government. In vain the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained that "in
voting for the resolution, Members would merely furnish
him with materials for a Bill, and when that should be
introduced, any Member who might vote for the resolu-
tion, would be at liberty to propose an amendment ;"
that " the effect of the resolution, if adopted, would
be merely to declare that the tax on houses should not
exceed ls. 6d., and is." In vain was the corroboration
of this statement even by Sir CHARLES WOOD. Those
who objected to any addition to this oppressive, unequal,
andlneciuitable impost, could not conscientiously give
o
vote that might even tend to that result. Many
other Ron. Gentlemen had the fear of the 101. house-
holders strongly before their eyes, and, considering the
chances
of all early appeal to the count as b no means
inconsiderable
would not commit as
act
wouldwhich
that might
their opponents an instrument
te
effect ; while othm available with telling
as one of "confidenceerasde "
e' regarding the question
r "no confidence," were ready
to vote black white, if the
what again bring the Whigs
Y could
into office. The result Was
night have been anti-
cipated. Had the other points of
,3
ien.Budget been first
submitted to the House—had th
ofPesteanbll3sflung
Hon. Mem-
the dis-
bers been taken on the propriety
tinction between precarious and permanent revenue —it
might have been very different. The objectionabl part
however, had precedence ; and we should by no e ,
feel surprised if the decision of the House sh rnould on
e as
some future occasion, be referred to by sir eLtitixs
WOOD, or some other red-tapist financier, as a declara-
tion against any further extension of the principle of
direct taxation ; or, what is synonymous thereto, "free
and unrestricted commerce."
It now remains to be ascertained what will
be the effect of this unfavourable verdict.
Will Ministers consider it decisive with respect
to their entire financial scheme, and consequently
place their resignations in the hands of their SOVEREIGN ?
Or will they consent to the omission of the part relating
to the House Duties ; and, as a compensation, relinquish
for the present the proposed reduction of the Malt Tax,
or resort to an increase of the Property Tax, as a mode by
which that reduction, as well as other much required
measures of financial reform, might be effected ? These
are questions of vast importance at the present moment,
the answers to which will be awaited with the deepest
interest by the community. Had the Exchequer been
under the control and management of Sir CHARLES

WOOD, there would not be much difficulty in offering a
solution of the problem. That "experienced financier"
would receive his castigation with edifying humility. He
would tinker his Budget again and again—aye, and
once more, rather than surrender the sweets of
office. " Resignation" is not included in the ca-
talogue of his many virtues. He would endea-
vour to make his concession as trivial as possible,
increasing his bidding each time, until at length his offer
was accepted, and the wearied Legislators had yielded
to his pertinacity, like a disconsolate widow to an im-
portunate suitor who would not accept a refusal.
But will it be so with his talented successor ? That is
th.a question. We fear not ; although there is really no
reason why he should not take a leaf out of his oppo-
nent's book on this occasion. "Fas est ab poste doceri"

is an old and rather stale apothegm, but it is a sound

one nevertheless. The Whigs could certainlynot reproach
him for following the example set by their own Financial
Minister ; and those who excused the repeated changes
in the BRICK-DUST BUDGET and the PRECIOUS BUDGET,
could scarcely criticise with severity a modification of
that which, notwithstanding the formidable mistake
made with respect to the increase of the House Tax,
was still, with all its faults, the most brilliant
and statesmanlike financial scheme brought before Par-
liament during many preceding years—a project afford-
ing reasonable anticipations of further, and we will add
rapid progress in the path of fiscal, reformation. The
Right Honourable Gentleman, however, declared that he

would " consider the result of the first vote to be conclu-
sive on the whole Budget, on the whole of the proposi-
tions he had submitted to the House." And although
he subsequently stated " that he considered himself and
the House open to any modification of the proposition,''
he yet, in the brilliant and effective peroration of his
truly eloquent reply, protested against the consequences
of a policy so truckling and degrading, with such zeal
and energy, that we can scarcely feel the slightest hesi-
tation in expressing our confident belief that the Ministe-
rial crisis will lead to a Ministerial change.
What, then, will be the composition of the new Go-

I vernment? The victory was only effected by a coalition,
' and all the parties thereto should receive their fair share
of the spoil. Even Lord JOHN RUSSELL himself must
acknowledge the impossibility of conducting the busi-
ness of the country, with "the old family party." Some
more vigorous blood must be infused into the Cabinet
to render it tolerable to the people. A large accession
of strength must be obtained, not only from the Liberals,
but also from the Peelites. But coalitions have never
clung very long together, from the days of Lord NORTH
until the present time. The elements of cohesion are
wanting. They may unite for the purpose of oust-
ing an opponent ; but, when successful, they speedily
turn their weapons against each other's breasts,
and totter and fall under the weakness created
by internal dissensions. How can the crotchets
of GLADSTONE or GOULBURN respecting the Income
Tax be reconciled with the sound common sense of
TInTE, or COBDEN, on the same subject. How can the
decisive objection of Sir JAMES GRAHAM to any exten-
sion of direct taxation, be accepted by those who believe
that the Free-trade policy must necessarily be carried
further ?
,The arrangement will, unquestionably, be a
task of no ordinary difficulty—and there will be a
vigorous opponent, at the head of a strong party, ready
to take advantage of any slip.
Under any circumstances, however, the country must
benefit by the discussion.. We have the almost universal
admission of the propriety of the relief afforded to the
Shipping interest, at the comparatively trifling cost of
100,0001. per annum. The privilege of refining in bond,
is one that will materially serve the West India Colonies,
without any material loss to the Exchequer ; and
the gradual diminution of the Tea Duties, whether it be
effected in six years or three, would be carried almost by
acclamation, with few, if any, dissentients. These are
important subject; that cannot be neglected by any
future Chancellor of the Exchequer, be he Whig, Tory,
or Liberal. The promised revision of the whole finan-
cial system must also be entrared on, and the mere in-
quiry will tend to the pro-gress of sound fiscal principles,
and the adoption of ft more equitable system, under
which the burdenq will gradually be removed from indus-
try, and placer,l, where they ought to be, on the owners
of accumulated and realised property.

MUNIFICENT DONATION. —The Corporation of the
City of London have presented the handsome donation of one
hundred guineas in aid of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital,
in Bloomsbury-square. The present institution has been
found to be wholly inadequate to the many demands of the
afflicted poor, and the committee arc raising the necessary
funds to enlarge the building. The grant of the City Cor-
poration was in furtherance of the desirable object.
THE STORH OF _LAST NIGHT.—Last night and early
this morning the metropolis was visited with a storm of almost
unexampled violence. The weather had been squally, with
occasional showers during the day, and cleared up a little
towards evening; but shortly after seven o'clock, the wind,
which for a brief period had lulled, recommenced blowing
in fearful gusts, and the rain fell in torrents. Shortly after 9
o'clock the wind had increased in violence, and soon after
midnight arrived at its height, when the atmosphere was
illumined with frequent and vivid flashes of lightning, accom-
panied with distant thunder. At a little after one o'clock,
two terrific peals belched forth over the metropolis. So fear-
ful were the two crashes that they were sensibly felt, awaking
the sleeping inhabitants, and creating the utmost alarm.
Crockery was shaken in many houses, and notwithstanding
that the rain literally fell in sheets, a sulphurous smell was
evident in the districts immediately over which the electric
current passed. At two o'clock the wind shifted more to the
westward, when the rain ceased, but the wind continued to
blow in gusts. The accounts brought up by the guards and
others who travelled by railway represent the storm to have
been very severely felt on the South Western, Great Western,
and North Western lines, but as yet no intelligence of any
damage has been received.
ASSAULTING A CITY MISSIONARY.—Yesterday, at the
Bow-street Police C flirt, Patrick Mack, an Irish labourer, was
charged with assaulting Thomas Murphy, a city missionary. The
complainant stated that he was one of the scripture. readers con-
nected with the City of London Mission, and at ten o'clock in
the morning was engaged with another missionary in visiting
the house of the poor Irish and others in Neale's-passage.
They were kindly accommodated in one of the houses, and
their teachings were received in a proper spirit by all except
the prisoner, who, without any provocation, placed his back
against the door, and struck witness a blow while he was
leaving the place. The defendant said ho was only arguing
Scripture with the gentleman ; but he had a drop of drink in
him, and that's what made him out of temper. Mr. Hall,
owing to the merciful interposition of the complainant, only
fined him 55., or five days' imprisonment.
DESIGNS ACT EXTENSION.—The Government bill was
yesterday printed to extend the provisions of the Designs
Act, 1850, and to give protection from piracy to persons exhi-
biting new inventions in the Great Industrial Exhibition of
1853. There are 10 clauses in the bill, which state that the
Exhibition is to be held in Dublin next year, and the measure
is to be cited as "The Protection of Inventions Act, 1853."
THE WELLINGTON NUGGET.—We have recently in-
spected an Australian nugget found in tho vicinity of Rah-
nest, which in its shape contains a most perfect profile of the
late Duke of Wellington. It weighs about fourteen ounces,
and is remarkably pure, though evidently in the precise con-
dition in which it was removed from the soil. The letter
consigning it to this country was dated June 18, and by a
singular coincidence the nugget reached these shores on the
day of the late Duke's funeral.
A FATAL MISTAKE.—A letter from Rome says the
Duke Cesarini is now under arrest in his palace at Gensano,
for having shot his own cook. It appears that on Sunday
evening a number of people were collected under his windows,
singing and making so great a noise that he sent out to desire
them to disperse. His request was not only neglected, but
his porter was beaten by the mob, so that the duke, impatient
of being bearded in his own " fomd," seized a gun, unloaded
as he thought, which his friend Signor Calza, just returned
from a shooting excursion, had brought in, and went to the
window for the purpose of menacing the crowd with it. Un-
fortunately the piece was loaded with ball, and when the duke
drew the trigger, the contents passed through the head of his
under cook, who was just then coming in from a shop in the
town. The despair of the duke on learning the accident was
extreme, and the duchess, an English lady, rushed down to
the succour of the dying man, but in vain.
SCREW PROPELLER TO SHlPS.—Yesterday afternoon,
at two o'clock, his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, ac-
companied by Lord Colchester and a party of naval officers,
paid a visit to Mr. Green's yard, Blackwall, for the purpose
of inspecting Capt. Carpenter's new plan of adapting the
" screw propeller" to ships. The vessel in question is in-
tended to be a steam tender' to Capt. Leyland's yacht, the
Sylphide, during a cruise in the Mediterranean ; she is, how-
ever, more especially designed for the purpose of demonstrat-
ing the principle of propelling vessels with two screws instead
of one, and two rudders instead of one only, as formerly.
Experience has proved that a single screw is very liable to get
damaged, in which case the vessel is immediately placed in a
perilous position as has been proved by the first vessel going
4rect to Australia. The double screw is intended to be the
safeguard against such misfortunes--and the same with the
double rudder. The tender is in a very forward state. The
screws and rudders are in their place, and she is expected to
be launched in the course of ten days or so. The new form
of vessel, together with the novel mode of adapting the screws,

and will no doubt
be of greater interest when moving
is a matter of great curiosity on termonfire ,water.
the Worship-s • treat Police Court, an elder yi man, d
A WIFE KILLED BY HER HUSBAND.-1 Yesterdnaaymeadt
John Parrett, described as a journeyman
at the bar before Mr. Hammill, charged with . b
butcher,havi wroas
causedplace
tohtheedreiallt-htroe,fathmisenvV.fe'Etarte
Elizabeth Beer,
baynipmodnawl
oviinaolenn,cleiviannado,
at 15, George-street, Bethnal-green, stated that the prisoner
and his deceased wife had occupied a room in the upper
Part of her house for the last six months, and that they had
lived together upon very unhappy terms during the whole of
that Period. About seven o'clock on the morning of Wednes-
day se'nnight she was alarmed by a violent uproar in their
room, which was succeeded by loud screams from the deceased,
uanndtilashsoortrit of scuffling noise, which lasted about half-an-
hour. The same disturbance was repeated at intervals,
Y after ten o'clock, when she heard the prisoner
descending the stairs, and ran out into the passage to ascer-
tain the cause of the uproar, but the prisoner hastily passed
her without attending to her question, and darted out of the
house. She saw no more of him until about five o'clock in
the afternoon, when the prisoner entered her room and re-
qu3sted her to accompany him up
stairs, as he did not know
with his wife. She accordingly pro-
what was the matter
chsesronleagsstraw mattress, with her mouth
ceeded to his room, in a corner of which she found the de-
ceits lying raonoetioonlf
partly oP , drawn UP, and her head bent
and °D. examining her closely she found
dead. The medical evidence
esaunltied from injuries inflicted upon
that
hroon vt
esdhoetv
hewar
at hs( ei
quite
.an
icthht
oe shteaed; l
dr
the woman while she was in a weakened state from starva-
tion. The prisoner, who said he should reserve b.ie defence,
was remanded.