The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-27 00:00:00

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[pRIOE SD.

trose that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would bo jus-
tified in imposing "a higher.rate of duty on spirits, in order
to prevent illicit distillation.
After a few remarks from Mr. BASS and Lord NAAS,
The resolution was agreed to.
The house resumed, and then went into committee on the
•
EXCISE DUTIES BILL,
when the various clauses were agreed to.
On the schedule being proposed,
Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD observed that, in the schedule
annexed to the bill, the increased duty on Irish sprits was
to come into operation " on or after the Sth of May," the
day on which the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed
his resolutions. He moved the omission of the words
"on or."
The•CHANCELLOR of 'the EXCHEQUER reiilarked
that if the committee intended to adhere to the uniform
principle by which an increase of excise duty, when it had
been:proposed by the Government and accepted by t e
house, had always taken effect at once, it wfts quite i -
possible to accede to the motion of the hon. member. ff
Mr. V. SCULLY said the Chancellor of the Exchequer
had entrenched himself behind a bad precedent, and he
hoped, therefore, that the right hon. gentleman would with-
draw his opposition to the proposed amendment.
The committee divided, when there voted—
For the amendment 4O
Against it
-Majority against the amendment —lO6
The bill then passed through committee, and the hone
resumed.
INCOME-TAX (No. 2) BILL.
- -

The house having gone into committee upon this bill,
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY asked the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer whether he had abandoned entirely the hope of re-
moving some of the glaring inequalities of this tax ? And in
order that the committee might understand the nature of
the inequalities to which he referred, he would take the
liberty of calling their attention to the operation of the tax
upon one description of property, the Long Annuities. The
Long. Annuities would expire in 1860; it was very likely
that tho war would last till then ; the income tax was to
remain during the war, and it was important to inquire,
therefore, what was the burden which they were going to
impose upon that class of property. On the 10th of May,
if a person invested 80/. in Long Annuities he would have
to pay income tax to the amount of 11. 2s. 2d. ; but if he
invested the same sum in Three per Cent. Consols, he
would have to pay only 3s. 6d. The value of the tax on
the Long Annuities in 1860 would be 51. Bs. 6d. while on
the Consols it would be only 16s. 6d, The Cho.nceller
of the Exchequer might say that the one was a tax
for a short period, and the other a tax for 'a
long period ; but the answer to tient would be that
any person who had nothing but a Long Annuity to
live upon would, at the end of 1860, be in th workhouse if
he did not reinvest a certain portion of the capital, which
consequently wouli become the subject of taxation. This
question was elaborately gone into before the committee
which sat upon the income tax, and a great deal of algebra
was produced to show that if! the tax was perpetual it
would come to the same thing ; but that could not be satis-
factory to those who were not likely to live for ever, and a
practical injustice would be done to the holders of Long
Annuities. Nothing could be more easy than to remedy
that injustice. They might put the Long Annuities on
the same footing as the Three per Cont. Consols. He held
it was a breach of public faith, and contrary to law, to lay
hold of this species of property, and tax it at the rate of 15
per cent. instead of 6. He hoped, therefore, that the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer would give some assurance to the
committee that he would attempt to remedy this' glaring
injustice, bearing in mind that funded property stood in a
peculiar position, having been created by an act of Parlia-
ment with a particular exemption from taxation, which was
not enjoyed by auv other class of property.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCIit'VER said the hon.
baronet had raised one of the most important, intricate, and
difficult questions that had ever attracted the attention of
Parliament, and had raised it at a moment when about one-
tenth of the members of the house were present, and when
about one-tenth of those who were in the house were attend-
ing to the subject. (A. laugh.) It was, he thought., quite im-
possible that there could be an occasion more unpropitious
to any clear or satisfactory solution of a problem which ho,
for one, frankly owned could not- bo solved ; but whether
it could bo solved or not, his answer to the hon. baronet
was this—it was a very grave and difficult question,
which, whenever it was considered, could not possibly or
justly be considered with reference to ono ckss, but must
necessarily be considered with reference to all classes. The
case of the Long Annuitants differed from that of many
other classes who had, or suppose themselves to have, a
claim to exemption from the income tax, only because it
admitted of asithmotical calculation. The disadvantages
of the Long Annuitants were capable of being put in a
very distinct and palpable form by figures, and in that
respect they might be said to differ from those of other
classes; but ,as regarded the substance of the case, the
Long Annuitant was not differently circumstanced, except
in a favourable sense, from other persons having -tempo-
rary incomes. The question was not between the Long
Annuitants and the rest of the community, it was between
those who had temporary interests and those who had per-
manent inferesti. (lear, hoar.) It might be said,. why
not adjust the differences between temporary and perma-
nent interests? He had never promised to undertake thsA

/71,

the clause, the object of which was to secure to Congrega
tion a, single occasion of discussion and a single occasion of
proposing amendments, and to the Hebdomadal Council
the power of deliberately considering the amendments be.
fore a decision could ba taken upon them. It would rest
with the university to determine whether there should be
farther opportunities for discussion or proposing amend,
ments.
Mr. WALPOLE thought the .clauke altogether useless.
It gave no powers to members of Congregation which they
did not now possess. This clause gave Cedgregation power
of making amendments without discussion, while the-22d
clause gave it • the power of disoussing%wittiout Malfing
amendments.
After some further discussion,
Mr. MOWBRAY proposed the introduction of words
which would render it imperative on the Hebdomadal
Council to consider the amendments sub witted to them.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER assented to
the amendment, which was adopted by the committee,
and the clause agreed to as was also clause 21.
M. WALPOLE moved the omission of clause 22, on the
ground that it was unnecessary, the 18th clause having
given Congregation power to regulate its own proceedings.
The 22d clalse merely empowered the Congregation on the
occasion of the promulgation of any statut a, to speak in the
English language, wit out the power of moving amend-
ments. Discussions of this nature, without any practical
object;- might give the Congregation the character of a
debating society. ,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER insisted en
the necessity of retaining the clause, and on a division it
was ordered to stand part 'of the bill, by a majority of 134
to 70.
Clause 23 was agreed to.
Mr. HEYWOOD moved that words bedded to clause
24, giving Convocation " the right of conducting its Rro-
coodings in the English tongue."
The CHANCELLOR, of the EXCHEQUER opposed the
amendment, which, on a division, was negatived by 140
to 99.
On the question of agreeing to clause 25, which de. •
clares that certain votes in use in the University shall be
illegal after the passing of the act,
Mr. ELACKETT declared that his wish had been to ex*
tend the principle of the clause to all the idle and profane
oaths by which members of college foundations bind theme
selves in general terms to obey the statutes of their col-
leges; but, being informed by the chairman that this
course would be irregular, he was obliged to move the
omission of the clause in the first instance, with the view
of substituting for its clause drawn in these words—" It
shall henceforward be unlawful to administer any oath on
admission to any office of emolument bilk° said University
or the colleges thereof."
The . CHANCELLOR of .the EXCHEQUER thought
the course. taken by the hon. gentleman was inconvenient
in point of form ; besides which, it might be doubted
whether the house would go the length of prohibiting all
promissory' oaths in the University.
Mr. ELACKETT, in deference to what appeared to be
the wish of the house, withdrew his amendment.
Clause 25, as amended, was then agreed to. -
The CHAIRMAN reported progress, and the house ie.
sumed.

Mr. WALPOLE wished to know when the bill would
be further proceeded with?
Lord J. RUSSELL was understood to say that. the
Bribery Bills would bo taken first on Monday : then would
follow some money bills, and next he proposed to proceed
with the Oxford University Bill. He hoped the house
would be able to go into committee on the latter bill at no
late hour on Monday.

tory
On the motion of the noble lord, the house, at its rising,
was ordered to be ajourned to Monday.

GAMING-HOUSES BILL.

This bill was read p third time and passed.
VALUATION OF LANDS (SCOTLAND) BILL.
This bill went through committee.
The Sheriff and Sheriff-clerk of Chancery (Scotland) Bill
passed through committee.
Mr. WHITESIDE obtained leave to bring in a bill to
amend the mode of forming the juror's list in Ireland and
the jury system.