The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-21 00:00:00

RAW COTTON

Mr. PHILLIP HOWARD„ wished to suggest to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, seeing the &cling
evinced by the division of yesterday, whether it would not
be well. in order to secure our manufacturers cganst
foreign competition in order to relieve the country from
the heavy duty on raw cotton. He could not expect
an immediate answer from the Right Hon. Gentlenan,
but he would beg leave to draw attention to that im-
portant subject in making his financial arrangements.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said his Hon. Friend had told the House he did not ex-
pect an immediate answer, and it certainly would be
improper in him not to reserve such a subject for his
financial statement.

Mr. BLEW ITT gave notice that be should, on an
early day, move an humble Address to her Majesty for
copies of, or extracts from, all letters from foreign Go-
vernments or Ambassadors, between the years 1815 and
1838, containing any complaint with reference to the
duty on the importation of foreign grain or flour, or
any proposal for interchanging mercantile productions
founded on the abolition or reduction of such duties.
LICENSED VICTUALLERS.
Mr. HUME gave notice that to-morrow he should
move for a return of the number of Licensed Vic-
tuallers, and the number of keepers of Beer Shops
Licensed to sell beer, who had been charged
with breaches of the revenue laws in England
and Wales" for the years 1836, 37, and 38, stating the
number of each who had been convicted.
Mr. HAWES gave notice that he should on Friday
week call the attention of the House to the petition he
had that day presented from David Jones, at present
confined in Carnarvon Castle.
IRISH RAILWAYS.
An HON. MEMBER gave notice that on the 10th of
March he should call the attention of the House to the
Report of the Commissioners on Irish Railways, and
point out the injurious effects of that Report upon
the enterprise and capital of that country.
SUPPLY.

Tke CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHE-
QUER moved the order of the day for the House
going into a Committee of Supply, for tl.e purpose of
postponing it.
PUBLIC CREDIT—DEFICIENCY BILLS.
Mr. PATTESON would take that opportunity of
asking a question of the Right Hon. Gentleman the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, he thought it of the
highest importance to the public credit that the state-
ment made in a paper of that day should be contradicted
if it was not founded on fact. The statement to which
he alluded was to the effect that no portion of the de-
ficiency bills had been paid off since the Ist of January.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
had not seen the paragraph in question, but in the
course of that day he had received a communication
from his Right Honourable Friend the Comptroller
of the Exchequer, calling his attention to the ex-
traordinary statement which had appeared relative to the
matter to which the Honourable Member had alluded.
It was not because he thought such statements
should be put a stop to, or refuted, that he replied
to the question, because he thought that the more
free and unrestricted discussion was out of doors,
the better it was for the community at large. But if the
statement made had a tendency to affect the public credit,
and if it admitted of an immediate direct contradiction,
he thought it justifiable for any Hon. Member to ask
the question, and the duty of any Member of the Go..
vermnent who could do so to aniwer the question. His
attention had been cared to it by his Right Hon. Friend
the Comptroller of the Exchequer, and the hest answer
that he could give to the question which had been
put, was to read the letter from his Right Ho-
nourable Friend, in which he stated, that although
he had always disregarded statements which ap-
peared in the public press respecting the conduct of
business in that office, and if he now deviated from that
course, it was because he considered an article which had
appeared in that day's City intelligence as vitally affect-
ing the public credit, and that it became necessary for
him to declare the statement totally unfounded
and at complete variance with the existing state of the
financial department. (Loud cheers.) His Right
Hon. Friend then referred to the fact, which the House
he was satisfied would have great pleasure in bearing,
that so far from no amount of any deficiency bills hav-
ing been paid off since the Ist of January, that a larger
amount had been paid off in the present year, than for
any similar period in former years.—(Hear, hear.)
It was not for the purpose of contradicting a paragraph
of that description that he had made the statement,
because such paragraphs were generally written without
any knowledge of the official facts, but the House
would feel that in a matter so deeply affecting
the public credit, his Right Hon. Friend the
Comptroller of the Exchequer, had only done his duty
in enabling him (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) to
give that complete refutation to it. The Committee
of Supply was then postponed to Friday neat.
EDUCATION.

Mr. WYSE then rose to move an address to her
Majecty that she will be graciously pleased to appoint
a Board of Commission of Education in England, with
the view especially of providing for the wise, equitabi',
and efficient application of sums granted, or to be
granted, for the advancement of education by Par-
liament ; and for the immediate establishment of
schools' for th,,, education of teachers in ac-
cord with the intention already expressed by
the Legislature." The motion which he had given no-
tice of on the Ist day of the Session was in the same
wor:ls as that which he had brought under the notice of
the House during the last session, and therefore it would
not be his duty to detain the House at any great
length. In 1833 and every year since the House had
granted a sum of 20,0001. for the purpose of educa-
tion, which had been divided between two bodies, but
as they were comparatively private bodies, and as they
' bad no system of inspection, they were totally inade-
quate to the necessities of the country, By their sys-
tem they excluded Roman Catholics from their schools,
and therefore it excluded a large portion of the popula-
tion most requiring education. Much dissatisfaction
also existed with respect to the body through whom the
sums came. It was objected that the Treasury