The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-13 00:00:00

The Stamp Duties Bill has passed through Com-
mittee of the House of Commons, but not with-
out serious opposition. The proposition for sub-
jecting Foreign bills of exchange to these duties
was most strenuously resisted. A division was
taken, in which no less than 110 Honourable
Gentlemen voted in the minority against the
clause which, if rejected, would have led to the
withdrawal of the entire measure. Fortunately,
however, the attempt was defeated, and the bill,
which is as expedient as it is equitable, went
safely through its most trying ordeal, and we may
now venture to look forward confidently to its
complete and unequivocal success.
The most extraordinary part of the proceedings
was the assertion that the much-required altera-
tion was opposed to the principles of Free Trade,
and that it therefore might be regarded as a retro-
grade movement. Never was there a greater mis-
take. There might be some foundation for the
statement if a duty was for the first time about
to be imposed on all negotiable securities—if
every commercial transaction was to be subjected
to an ad valorem tax, although that tax amounted
to only Is. per 1001., or 1-20th per cent. But
when the alteration only went to equalising the
duty on all bills, without reference to their
origin, when it was merely a revenue question,
placing foreigners and natives precisely on the
same footing, it seems ridiculous to say that the
removal of an unfair and unreasonable exemption,
enjoyed by one class at the expense of another, is
an undue interference with the freedom of trade,
or the creation of a new and onerous restriction
on commercial transactions.

Putting aside altogether the question of re-
venue for the time being, it was incumbent on
our Financial Minister to adopt some stringent
regulations against a fraud that was proved to be
of almost daily occurrence in the City of London,
and which was also probably practised exten-
sively in other parts of the United Kingdom—a
fraud, too, which not only affected the revenue,
but innocent holders for valuable considerations
of these spurious documents. Our readers can-
not forget the sensation excited towards the close
of last year by the revelations made in the Court
of Bankruptcy, as to the concoction of bills
which were proved to be drawn as well as accepted
in this country. The fact that an innocent
holder could not prove a debt, or recover on such
a bill, although ignorant of the blot, and firmly be-
lieving that it was perfectly regular in every respect,
might have led to results far more injurious to
our foreign commerce than the trifling stamp
which will be required on all bills, no matter
where drawn, which may be discounted in this
country. It would have excited suspicions that
would, in many instances, have partially prohi-
bited the negotiation of such securities, and thereby-
inflicted serious injury on those who received pay-
ment for their consignments by such means. So
far, then, as public policy and expediency are con-
cerned, Mr. GLADSTONE has conferred a valuable
boon on the parties more immediately concerned,
while he has, at the same time, made a hand-
some addition to the public revenue. Generally
speaking, a Financial Minister has but a choice of
evils. He must make up his mind to bear the com-
plaints and remonstrances of those whose pockets
he is attacking. Here, however, he avoids that
difficulty, and finds a class almost as willing to
pay as he is to receive.
But the removal of the exemption was no less
required by equity than by expediency: We need
not say that we are no advocates for protection in
any shape or form, directly or indirectly. Fair,
open, and unrestricted competition is what we
desire to see ; and we add, the honest hearty
English aspiration, that "the best man may win"
in the generous rivalry. While, however, we
earnestly and emphatically repudiate any undue
advantage for ourselves, we must also distinctly
and unequivocally protest against being subjected
to any impediment or burden from which our
rivals are exempted, but no further will we join
the most strenuous advocates for " justice to
British industry." All we ask is " a clear
stage and no favour ;" but that we demand as a
right, and will exert all our energies to obtain.
Now, the " sinews of commerce," the very
" life-blood of industry," is money. Without an
ample supply of " the representative and measure
of value," every transaction would be clogged
and impeded. It is indeed the " material" that
lubricates the wheels of trade, and makes them
run smoothly and evenly along the occasionally
rugged path which it is required to traverse. We
are obliged to economise the indispensable com-
modity as much as possible, owing to the unwise
and impolitic regulations of our monetary code.
For this purpose cheques and bills of exchange
are largely resorted to. The latter are used in
almost every credit transaction. They possess
many advantages in this respect, for they at
once fix a time for payment with greater
certainty than could be done as to mere
book debts, while without doing a par-
ticle of injury to the purchaser or acceptor,
by whom the amount is ultimately payable, they
enable the vendor or drawer to realise his assets,
and, on payment of a comparatively trifling sum,
to anticipate the period of payment. A keen
competition, however, exists for the means of
doing so. We hear of the extraordinary benefits
of an easy state of the money market, or, in other
words, of an abundant supply of banking accommo-
dation, where every unexceptionable business bill
will be discounted at a moderato rate, while the
evils resulting from a " tightness in the market"
and the " stringent application of the screw"
have been so often deplored that it would be an
act of supererogation to expatiate on a matter so
universally known. For the advantages above
referred to the nation has charged a cer-
tain price in the shape of a stamp
duty.
This was exceedingly onerous on small transac-
tions, while those of large amount were compara-
tively trifling. But, heretofore, all bills drawn
abroad were exempted from any tax, and the
foreign merchant was permitted to compete with
our own for the banking accommodation so ur-
gently required, but without being exposed to the
same burden. There was a burden on our
home trade fromwhich the foreigner was altogether
free. This was neither just nor equitable. Mr.
G
LI-DsToisu has nobly stepped forward to remedy ,
the grievance, and also to equalise the charges
on every transaction, or rather to render them
proportionate to the amount of the transaction.
For this laudable attempt he is entitled to the
thanks and gratitude of the country. We are as
willing to bestow praise where it is merited as we
are ready to censure where that is called for. We
rejoice, then, to find that so far success has
crowned the exertions of the Right Hon. Gentle-
man, and we have no doubt that hereafter his
brightest financial laurels will be bestowed for his
great improvements in the stamp laws, more espe-
cially those relating to bills of exchange, foreign
and inland.

PERM—Advices from Peru mention that nearly a
hundred persons had just left Lima on gold-searching
expeditions among the mountains of the interior. From
Mexico it is stated that the news of the ratification of
the Gadsden Treaty by the Senate at Washington had
reached Vera Cruz on the 11th of May.