The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-05 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS—LAsT EVENING.
RECORD OF TITLES (IRELAND) BILL.

The LORD CHANCELLOR moved the second reading
of the bill. He said that the object of the biliattLto re-
medy a defect that existed in the Encumbern‘states
Court Act. It was proposed by this bill that a record
should be kept of the titles to estates, so that a transfer of
such estates should be rendered more easy.

Lord ST. LEONARDS objected to details of the bill, alk
well as its principle.

After a few words from the Earl of Donoughmore, the
Marquis of Clanricarde, and the Earl of Belniore, the bill
was read a second time, as was also the Sheep and Cattle
Bill, and thellarried Women's Proprty (Ireland) Bill.
The Common Law Courts' Fees Bill passed through
committee.

On the Public Schools Bill it was agreed that the peti-
tioners alleging that their interests would be injuriously
affected by the bill be allowed to appear by their counsel
and witnesses before the committee.

Lord LYVEDEN opposed this course, as likely to delay
the passing of the bill, while the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH
supported it.
Lord WROTTESLEY strongly urged the benefits that
would be derived from more cultivation of science -as a
great branch of education. He feared, however, that some
time must elapse before science became naturalised in the
curriculum of our great schools. -
The motion that petitioners be hoard by counsel before
the committee was then agreed to.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and
their lordships adjourned at seven o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS--LAsT EVENING.
THE INCOME TAX.
THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION.
In reply to Mr. HENsEssv,
Sir R. PEEL said he believed it had been thought de-
desirable, by the committee, that selections from the works
of Mozart and Handel should not be mixed up with
" Ganyowen" and " St. Patrick's Day."

THE BUDGET.
The CHAIRMAN then put the following resolution :
" That, towards raising the supply granted to her Majesty,
there shall be charged, collected, and paid for one year,
commencing on the 6th day of April, 1865, for and in re-
spect of all property, profits, and gains mentioned or de-
scribed as chargeable in the Act passed in the 16th and
lith years of her Majesty's reign, chapter 34, for granting
to her Majesty duties on profits arising from property, pro-
fessions, trades, and offices, the following rates and duties
(that is to say)—For every 20s. of the annual value or
amount of all such property, profits,andgains (except those
chargeable under Schedule B of the said Act), the rate or
duty of 4d. And for and in respect of the occupation of
lands, tenements, hereditaments, and heritages chargeable
under Schedule B of the said act, for every 20s. of the
annual value thereof—in England, the rate or duty of 2d.;
and in Scotland and Ireland respectively, the rate or duty
of lid. Subject to the provisions contained in section 3of
the Act 26 Viet., chap. 22, for the exemption of persons
whose whole income from every source is under £lOO a
year, and relief to -those whose income is under £2OO
year."
Mr. HUBBARD remarked that the income tax was now
entering upon a new phase, and the time had arrived when
the house ought to consider with the utmost deliberation
whether it ought to be retained as a part of the permanent
system of the taxation of the country. The house should
consider whether it were desirable to go on gradually di-
minishing the direct taxes, and it ought to be constantly
borne in mind that personal property was at present only
reached by the legacy duty and the income tax. The latter
tax, however, as it was now levied, was so excessively un-
just in its action that it demoralised the community and
created a general feeling of abhorrence. He believed, how-
ever, that if his right hon. friend the Chancellor of the
Exchequer would heartily apply his thoughts to the con-
struction of a just tax upon income, he would find that
the task was by no means an impossible one. He (Mr.
Hubbard) did not intend to move an amendment to the
resolution.

The resolution was then agreed to.
FIRE INSURANCE DUTIES.

The CHAIRMAN next put the following resolution :
" That, towards raising the supply granted to her Majesty,
and in lieu of the duties now payable in respect of insur-
ances against loss or damage by fire only, there shall be
charged, collected, and paid for the use of her Majesty, her
heirs and successors, the following duties (that is to say),
for and upon every policy of assurance or insurance, or
other instrument by whatever name the same shall be called,
whereby any insurance shall, on or before the 25th of June,
1865, be made of or upon any building, goods, wares, mer-
chandise, or other property from loss or damage by fire
only, • the duty of id. And for and upon any note or
memorandum given as a receipt on the deposit of any sum
of money, preparatory to the making out or issuing of any
such policy as aforesaid, the duty of ld. And for and in
respect of every such insurance as aforesaid, which shall
be made, or continued or renewed, on or after the said 25th
day of June, 1865, a duty of ls. 6d. for every £lOO insured
for a year, and at and after that rate for any fractional part
of £lOO insured, and for any fractional part of a year, as
well as for any number of years for which the insurance
shall be made, or continued, or renewed, but no fraction of
a penny shall be charged ; and when any such insurance
as aforesaid shall be made or renewed at any time between
the 27th day of April, 1865, and the said 25th day of June,
for any period of time extending beyond the said last-men-
tioned day, there shall be charged and paid for and in re-
spect of the , time intervening between the making or re-
newing of the said insurance and the said 25th of June the
yearly per-tentage duty at and after the rate chargeable
on the said 27th day of April, and for and in respect of any
subsequent period including the said 25th day of June, the
rate of duty chargeable according to this resolution ; and
no return or allowance of duty, except at and after the
last-mentioned rate, shall be made in respect of time un-
expired or otherwise, on any such insurance as aforesaid
which shall have been made or renewed before the said
27th day of April, 1865."

Sir J. FERGUSSON moved as an amendment that the
reduced duties be levied on the 15th May instead of the
25th of June, as the latter date would cause great inconve-
nience in Scotland.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was
totally beyond his power to accede to the proposal of the
hon. baronet.

Mr. SHERIDAN said he understood that all persons who
had paid their insurances on the 25th March for the whole
year would, under this resolution, be entitled to claim from
the insurance offices, after the 25th June, the excess of the
duty which they had paid. Now, in many instances, the
duty had been already paid over to the Government, who
collected the duty quarterly, and he, therefore, wished to
ask the right hon. gentleman if he proposed to return the
money paid under such circumstances ? Some persons, he
might observe, had effected insurances five and even seven
years in advance.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he
proposed to follow the regulations of last year, otherwise
various questions which were then settled would again be
raised.

Mr. HUBBARD, while admitting that the Chancellor of
the Exchequer could not have been reasonably expected to
make a larger reduction in the fire insurance duty than he
had done for the present year, said it was obvious that ulti-
mately the whole duty must be taken off. It was impos-
sible to maintain a tax which discouraged the exercise of
prudence, and allowed exemptions in favour of persons
with large property.
Mr. F. POWELL pronounced the tax upon fire insurance
a blot upon our fiscal system, and a contradiction to the
enlightened principles of recent legislation. He hoped the
Chancellor of the Exchequer would soon see his way to
the entire removal of the tax.
Mr. AYRTON had often observed that, while the
wealthier classes were remarkably astute in devising the
means of escaping from taxation, they were not equally
astute in discovering how the burden of taxation might be
more fairly adjusted. He believed the mass of the people
would after all be scarcely satisfied that the budget of
this year extended to them a fair share of remission from
taxation. To his view the remissions had been too much
in favour of property. And hero he must confess that the
passage in the budget speech which gratified him most was
that in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced,
as the growing conviction of his mind, that the idea that
the income tax was not to become a part of the permanent
revenue of the country must be flung to the winds.
Sir F. CROSSLEY supported the budget, as he believed
it to be on the whole a good one ; but he thought that the
fire insurance duty would still be left a heavy tax, and that
the matter should not be considered as settled.
Mr. SHERIDAN, in reply to the hon. member for the
Tower Hamlets, held that the tax was no more a tax upon
property than was a bet on the Derby. It was a wager
between the insurer and the company, ls. 6d. to £lOO, and
though the event might never come off, it was not the less
a wager.

Mr. VANSIT TART asked whether thoso who paid tho
duty at Christmas and Lady-day past would be entitled to
any return on the renewal of their policies ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—No.

The amendment was negatived without a division. The
original motion was then carried, and the Chairman was
ordered, amid the cheers of the committee, to report the
resolutions of the house,

CONSTABULARY FORCE (IRELAND) ACT
AMENDMENT BILL.

This bill was read a second time. The main object of the
bill is to provide a constabulary for the city of Belfastain
place of the present local police.

Mr. CARDWELL obtained leave to bring in a bill securing
to colonial governors retiring pensions, and placing them
in this respect on the footing of other officers in the civil
service.

The Isle of Man Disafforestation Bill was read a third
time and passed.

In committee on the Tories, Robbers, and Rapparees
(Ireland) Bill, an amendment to the first clause, moved by
Mr. HENNESSY, was agreed to.

The other business on the paper was disposed of, and
the house adjourned at 10 minutes past 11.