The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-31 00:00:00

- the:, Par *ould, lose a sincere and considerate
- &laid:- (Cheers.)
After tomeobservations from Mr. PACE and Colonel
DUNNE,
Mr..DISRAELI—As the right hon. gentleman has
appealed to the sense of the house in this matter I think,
, perhaps, it may not appear unimportant if I state that,
so far as I can collect the feelings of hon. gentlemen who
I sit on this side of the house, the right hon. gentleman
has made a statement which in every respect has left his
honour untarnished. (Hear, hear.) I congratulate the
house and the country, therefore, upon the right hon.
gentleman's resumption of that office, which for the mo-
ment we believed him to have quitted, and the duties of
which he has discharged in a manner to entitle him to
public confidence and private respect. And I can say
that the right hon. gentleman has moreover caused the
administration of an unpopular law to be treated with
respect by the country. On my own part, however, I
must say, that when I heard this morning from a quarter
which is reckoned as authoritative, though not so much
so perhaps with regard to those individuals of subordi-
nate rank as with respect to those having a seat in the
Cabinet—(a laugh)—and being in a still more exalted po-
sition—l must say that I did not feel in such complete
despair on the subject as I know was felt by hon. gentle-
men on both sides of the house. For it is a remarkable
circumstance, that within the space of less than
a twelvemonth no fewer than five members of the present
administration have felt it to be their duty to resign
office, and then, almost immediately after, to return to
their respective posts. (Laughter.) Last spring we
had a Lord of the Treasury, an officer of the Irish I
Government, and a clerk of the Ordnance, who created
considerable alarm by quitting those posts to which they
had only just succeeded—(laughter)—and we had not
quite recovered from the tremors of the spring, when,
in the autumn, something occurred of the same kind,
Stilt more appalling ; for a statesman retired from office,
whose retirement occasioned great consternation, not
alone in this country, but over all Europe, and whose
prolonged absence of three days might have produced
the most unfavourable effect upon the negotiations then
pending to avert a most just, but, as I believe, a most
unnecessary war. (Laughter.) IVe are now threatened
with the loss of one of the most respectable members of
the administration, and the country to be deprived of
services the loss of which would be universally deplored.
In all these cases, however, those hon. gentlemen had
returned to office. Ido not object to this ; but I would
suggest to her Majesty's Government, that in the course
of the recess they should devise some machinery by
which to terminate the internal bickering that exists
among them. and to reconcile the members without its
being made known to the house and the country. (A.
laugh.) If it could not be terminated, of course it would
become a painful necessity that it should be made known ;
but where there is such a preponderance of good feeling
in the administration, reconciliation cannot be difficult ;
and, at any rate, it would he highly desirable to invent
some machinery which would enable them to avoid these
pitiful expositions. (Laughter, and hear.) A court of
arbitration would, perhaps, be difficult and doubtful ;
but it might be tried. I do not know who were the
noble lord and the hon. gentleman who produced the re-
conciliation in this case, in a manner which I am sure
has so pleased the house; and it is probable, therefore,
that their politics may be of a character to prevent them
accepting the office of arbitrators. (Laughter.) But
perhaps the youngest bishop might be selected for that
office. (Laughter.) His great authority and large ex-
perience would doubtless exercise that benefical influence
which the country so much desires, and prevent a repe-
tition of these scandals. (Laughter, and hear.) Or,
some great diplomatist might be adopted—(a laugh)—
Sir Hamilton Seymour, I think, is disengaged at this
moment. Either of these might be referred to by the
Cabinet in such a case. (A. laugh.) If this suggestion
should be underrated—and I make it in a friendly spirit
—it may prevent a repetition of those scenes which we
must all deplore, and which the Government, notwith-
standing all its strength and union, must at this moment
feel to be rather awkward. (Laughter, hear.)
PUBLIC PROSECUTORS.
Mr. J. PHILLIMORE postponed the second reading
of his bill on this subject for a month, as he understood
the Government intended to take the matter into con.
sideration.

bouring State, must have settled in his own mind that the
hour, if not f its dissolution, at all events, for its disso-
lution, must be at hand." . • • " Supposing
my suspicion to be well founded, the Emperor's object is
to engage her Majesty's Government, in conjuno ion with
his own Cabinet and that of Vienna, in some scheme for
the ultimate partition of Turkey, and for the exclusion :)f.
France from the arrangement."

Here was a distinct warning and an explicit construc-
tion of the language
of the Emperor of Russia, fairly
communicated to her Majesty's Government. What
followed ? On the very same day the Government re-
ceived another despatch from Sir H. Seymour, dated ;he
22d of February—the former being dated the 21st ; but
they both arrived together, and in that despatch Sir
H. Seymour's anticipations had actually been fulfilled,
for in a conversation which he held with the Emperor
the next day the Emperor made the very suggestion
which Sir 73. Seymour had before stated would pro-
bably be made. The Emperor threw out a proposal far
partitioning the estate of the dying man, and suggested
that Egypt and Candia should be the spoil of England.
The next despatch to which he would refer was of an
older date, and one which was well known—he meant
the despatch in which Colonel Rose assigned his reams
for demanding the fleet to be sent to Vourla. He wrote
thus :

" Ce, Mh 7, 1853.
" The Grand Vizier said thatonstantino
the Ruasian arc
Government
evidently intended to win some important right from
ITurkey which would destroy her independence, and ask:d
me to request the British admiral to bring up his squadron
to Vourla-bay from Malta. Feeling this intimate convic-
t Lion that if the Sultan were not supported on this occasion
he would call to his councils a Ministry selected under
ttussian influence,•l informed his Highness that I world
tell your Lordship that I felt convinced that the safety of
Turkey required the presence of the British squadron in
those waters. M. Bend tti said the same as regards the
French squadron. But these assurances did not tranquilise
the Grand Vizer's mind. He thought that Turkey would
be lost before an answer could arrive from England and
France. The Russian Government ha,t not kept faith with
her Majesty's Government ; instead of withdrawing or al-
lowing her troops to be stationary, she had advanced them
up to the Turkish territory, ordering provisions for those
troops in the Turkish provinces, without having ever de-
clared war, or stated her cause of complaint against the
Porte to the Porte—a thing unheard of among and con-
trary to the rights of civilised nations. She was Wing
other warlike measures, maritime as well as military, on
a very great scale, unmistakeably with the view of over-
coming Turkey's independence, or making war on her:'
This was received by her Majesty's Government on the
19th of March. The next despatch was one from Consul
Yeames, which was received by the Government on the
15th of April :

" I beg to refer to my letter of the 4th inst., and I have
now to inform you that the movements of the sth corps
have of late been hastened, so that the three divisions of
infantry are to be assembled in the positions descrioed be-
fore the end of the present month (0. S.). It is in par-.
titular to be observed that the 14th division, as well as
the 13th, is prepared for an expedition by sea. The troops,
including the officers, are to carry rations for four days,
and knapsacks for the officers are now made for that pur-
pose. I hear there is to be no baggage further than can
be thus carried, and no horses will be embarked. . . .
Great exertions continue to be made by the Admiralty at
Nicolaieff and Sebastopol to have everything that can
swim ready for sea."

He now came to the despatch making the well-known
announcement with regard to the proposal by Russia
to Turkey to enter into a secret treaty, to be unknown
to England and France. It was from Colonel Rose to
Lord Clarendon, and was received on the 15th of
April

" Prince Menschikoff, as I learnt yesterday from the
Grand Vizier, has tried to exact a promise from Rifaat
Pasha, before he makes known to him the nature of his
mission and of his demands, that the Porte shall make a
formal proviso that she will not reveal them to the
British or French representatives."

The next and last despatch to which he would refer
was one from Vice• Consul Cunningham, which was re-
ceived on tho 15th of April :

Gaatz.
"My Lord,—l beg to inform your lordship" thatl fresh
orders have been received in Bessarabia to prepare for the
passage of troops and to get waggons ready for the transport
of baggage. It is said, and such appears to be the case
from the amount of preparation ordered, that two corps
d'armje (upwards of 120,000 men), will pass, and waggons
are ordered to be ready for the 10th of May (0. S.) When-
ever orders are given to make preparations the greatest
secrecy is enjoined. Hitherto, no troops, in addition to
the five battalions mentioned in my last, have entered
Bessarabia, ; but it is understood they are marching for-
ward from all directions."
He would trouble the house with no more extracts. He
had given all the information that was sent to her Ma-
jesty's Government, beginning on the 7th of January
and ending on the 15th of April. It began by informing
them that 144,000 Russian troops were advancing to
the Turkish frontier ; it then told them that a secret
proposition was made by the Emperor of Russia to Eng-
land for a partition of the territories of Turkey ; it next
informed them of the demands made on Turkey by the
Russian ambassador at Constantinople, and of the alarm
which was inspired by those demands ; it also acquainted
them with the fact that a secret treaty was proposed to
Turkey by Russia, and it concluded by informing them
that Russian troops were advancing in all directions
towards the Turkish frontier. He wished the house to
mark this fact, that the last despatch which he had
quoted was received by the Government on the 15th of
April, and the right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the
Exchequer proposed his budget on the 18th of same month.
When the budget was proposed the Government were
in possession of all the information he had now read to
the house. The question he would ask was, —eould
Government, know all these facts, and having received
all this information, shut its e 3 es to the real state of the
case, and not be convinced that in all human probability,
and so far as human foresight could discern, a war must
ensue—either that England must become a party to an
iniquitous partitioning of the Turkish empire, or be in-
volved in a war with Russia ? These were clearly the
only alternatives ; and was that the moment for a pru-
dent Minister, holding the high office of Chancellor of
the Exchequer, to come down to the house and make a
financial proposal, the clear tendency of which was to
weaken and impair those national resources which at
such a moment it was his paramount duty to guard with
peculiar jealousy ? It was, at that very moment, how-
ever, that the right hon. gentleman undertook certain
financial operations, which might have been very pru-
dent had all that those despatches contained been false
and unfounded ; but, under the actual circumstances of
the country, with a war imminent, with a war, if not
certain, strongly probable, was that a moment to under-
take such a financial scheme as the right hon. gentleman
proposed, which, if not successful, could not fail to pro-
duce most serious effects upon the resources of the
country ? What, in the first place, had been the effect
in regard to the balances in the Exchequer—that re-
source which every prudent Minister should reserve to
himself, in case events should occur that demanded an
immediate supply of means ? By a statistical abstract,
furnished annually by the Board of Trade, there was a
statement of the balances in the Exchequer for the last
10 or 12 years. He would pass over the years 1841 and
1842, because the house would recollect the circumstances
of those years and the financial difficulties which had
arisen in the country. It was when Sir Robert Peel
was beginning his new commercial system ; but what
had always been the policy of that great financial minis-
ter ? Why, to take care of the balances in the Exche-
quer, and guard against the country being left without
resources. Beginning with the year 1814, he found
that the balance in the Exchequer for that year was
6,254,113/. ; in 1845, 8,452,0901. ; in 1846, 9,131,2821.;
in 1847, 8,457,691/. ; in 1818, 8.105,561/. ; in 1849,
9,748,539/. ; in 1850, 9,245,676/.; in.lBsl, 8,381,637/.;
and in 1852, 8,841,822/. But, by the commencement
of the following year, the right hon. gentleman had re-
duced the balance one-half the amount in 1853, being
4,485,2301. He (Sir J. Pakington) felt himself justified
therefore in saying, as he had done on a former occa-
sion, that this country was entering upon a war with an
empty Exchequer, and that that was one of the main
causes of the heavy tax which the right hon. gentleman
bad imposed on the country. But that part of the sub-
ject had already been amply dealt with, and severely,
and, as he thought, justly, censured in former discus-
sions. He woul.i now advert to the plans submitted to
the house by the light hon. gentleman in his budgst of
1853, and it was here that he thought the house and the
country had a right to complain. They had a right to
complain that the war which was now coming upon them
should involve them in so obnoxious an impost as a
doubled income tax. Not that that house objected to
any impost which the country might be fairly liable to
for carrying on a just war • but they were bound in jus-
tice to the country to show that a prudent financial
policy would have prevented the necessity of that oh-
noxious impost. The right hon. gentleman had dealt
with the finances of the country in the past year in a
manner which was not justifiable ; and he was confident
of this, that if the House of Commons had known, and
if the country had known, that which they did know
now, and that which her Majesty's Government knew
then, if they had known the actual state of Europe and
the almost certainty of a coming war, they would not
have passed the budget of the right hon. gentleman, nor
have allowed him to endanger the resources of the coun-
try to the extent that he had done. He was always
sorry to embitter the discussions of that house by any-
thing like personal altercation, and there was no one on
whom he was less disposed to cast any imputation than
the right hon. gentleman ; he, therefore, hoped the right
hon. gentleman would not suppose he meant anything
like a personal offence when he said that the proposal
which the right hon. gentleman made to the house in
respect to the income tax in 1853 was not perfectly
fair and ingenuous under the circumstances under which
he made it. (Cheers from the Opposition.) The right
honourable gentleman came down to the house and
asked it to renew the income tax for seven years.
When he made that proposal, he frankly allowed
that the income tax, as lie proposed it, was an un-
equal and therefore an unjust tax ; he admitted to the
house that a particular class of property would be called
upon to pay 9d. in the pound, while all other descrip-
tions of income would only pay 7d. in the pound. But
the right hon. gentleman accompanied this announce-
ment by this proposal—" If (said he) you will adopt the
income tax for seven years I will only ask you for 7d. in
the pound for the first two years ; I will ask 6d. in the
Pound for the next two years ; and for the three last
years I will only ask sd. in the pound, and then the in-
, come
gentl man tax will expire." It was true, when the right hon.
was asked whether the tax would, at the end
of the seven years, reall ex're, h took good care not to involve himself iyn any kind of pledvgeerY. But cer-
tainly the house did not then know that the right hon.
gentleman at that very moment had in his possession
information in virtue of which, and as the natural result
of which, that income tax of 7d. in the pound, before 12
months had elapsed, had become doubled. It was now
ls. 2tl. in the pound. (Loud cheers from the Opposi-
tion.) The right hon. gentleman himself would hardly
deny, that if the house had known the state of our nego-
tiatioaa at that mpraelit) *7 would sot lian so Nattily 1

INCOME TAX BILL.
On the third reading of this bill,
Sir J. PAKINGTON rose, and said that when the
Chancellor of the Exchequer made his financial state-
ment he declared that the ordinary revenue of the coun-
try would be insufficient to defray those expenses of war
which had already become certain. The right hon. gen-
tleman, therefore, proposed to double the income-tax.
It was true that the tax was only to be doubled for six
months in the first instance, but, under all the circum-
stances, he was justified, for the sake of greater simpli-
city, in speaking of the tax as being doubled. The
right hon. gentleman then sought to impose on the
country double the amount of a tax which, according
to his own authority, was unequal, oppressive, and
inquisitorial in its nature. The honourable member
for Evesham (Sir H. Willoughby) on a former even-
ing moved an amendment which at any other time
would have been a most fair proposal in reference to the
merits of the plan of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
but under the circumstances of the country he declined
to press it to a division, and t :e house acceded to the
proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the
Most sincere desire unhesitatingly to furnish the Crown
with the means of carrying on the approaching war.
He (Sir J. Pakington) thought that at this particular
time honourable members were hardly free to press
upon the house their own individual opinions on the
merits of the plan of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
for they must feel that, under present circumstances,
the attention of foreign nations was directed to their
proceedings, and he for one should have been extremely
sorry if any course had been taken in reference to the
proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer which in
the slightest degree should have carried with it the ap-
pearance that they were not acting as one man in sup
plying the means necessary to carry on she war with
vigour. (Hear, hear.) Having thus fulfilled the duty
they owed to the Crown, it still became them, looking
to the objectionable nature of the tax and to the whole
circumstances of the financial arrangements of the Chan-
cellor of the Excheqtier during the past year, to con-
sider, not at the present moment whether the increased
income-tax was really required to defray the expenses
of war, but whether the management of the finances by
the right hon. gentleman had not been such as to lead
to the necessity of the increase for the purpose men-
tioned ? (Hear, hear.) The main reason why the right
bon, gentleman was called on to double the income-
tax was, that a war was about to be commenced with
an empty Exchequer. But why was the Exchequer
empty ? First, because of the financial operations of
the right hon. gentleman at the commencement of the
last year ; and, secondly, because he brought down to
the house in April what might fairly be called a peace
budget, at a moment when the Government were in
possession of information which might have made
them feel certain that war with Russia was inevitable.
(Hear, hear.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer had
explained the mode in which he proposed—at least for
a time—to defray the expenses of the coming war. The
right hon. gentleman meant to rely mainly on the in•
crease of direct taxation, and had told the house that
anything like a recourse to direct 4axation was to be the
very last resource. Under thew circumstances, he (Sir
J. Pakington) thought he was justified in endeavouring
to show the house that the state of public affairs at the
time when the Chancellor of the Exchequer brought for-
ward his budget last year was not such as to justify him
in anticipating a continuation of peace, and therefore he
ought then to have guarded most carefully the existing
resources of the country. (Hear, hear.) In order to
show the house what information was in the possession
of the Government at the time when their financial
plans were brought forward last year, it would be neces-
sary for him to refer to the papers laid on the table of
the house, including the secret negotiations with respect
to the Eastern question. Upon the Eastern question,
however, it was not at all his intention to raise a debate.
The first extract he should read was from a despatch
from Sir H. Seymour to Lord J. Russell, dated Jan. 7,
and received Jan. 19, 1853 ; it was to the following
effect :

-" Orders have been despatched to the sth corps d'arrae
to advance to the frontiers of the Danubian provinces,
without waiting for their reserves ; and the 4th corps, un-
der the command of General Count Dannenberg, and now
stationed in Volhynia, will be ordered to hold itself in
readiness to march, if necessary. General Lurler's corps
d'armAe, accordingly, being now 45,000 strong, will receive
a reinforcement of 24,000 men soon after its arrival at its
destination, and, supposing the 4th corps to follow, the
whole force will amount, at least, according to official re-
turns, to 144,000 men."
The next extract he should read was contained in that
remarkable collection of papers known as the "secret
correspondence." The extract was from a despatch from
Sir H. Seymour to Lord J. Russell, dated January 22,
1853, referrint6 ~..
to a conversation held with the Emperor
of Russia on the 14th of the same month, just seven
days after the date of the despatch he had first read :
" The Emperor said, 'For my part, I am equally dis-
posed to take thz,gamernent not to establish myielf there
_ circumstances,
.--lifl proprietor,
that t that say—for as occupier Ido not say.
It might happen if no previous provi-
sion were made-11- everything wero left to chance—rnight
place me in the P°!orntloe of occupying Constantinople.'
The Emperor assured
and that no movement of his forces
had yet taken place. expt•aeeed his
hope
that no advance
would bo required."
This.statement of the Emperor of Russia, that no move-
ment of his forces had yet taken place, might o con-
b
de a
sistent with the statement ma . Week previously by
Sir H. Seymour, for, though orders
Danubian given or
the the advance of 144,000 men to provinces,
it might be that the troops had not then moved. Never-
theless there was such a discrepancy between
the two
despatches as ought to have attracted the attention of
the Government. The next despatch he Should
quote
was also from Sir H. Seymour to Lord J. Russell, dated
Feb. 21, 1853, and related to another conversation held
previous night
with the Emperor of Russia on the , .at a
then said:—
party of the Grand Duchess's. The Emperor

"The sick man is dying. We must come to some t,_
derstanding ; and this we should do, I am convinced, if I
could hold but 10 minutes' conversation Nvith your Minis.
ters—with Lord Aberdeen, for instance, who knows me so
well; who has full confidence in me, as I have in him."
There he repeated that the sick man was dying, and
he repeated it in a manner to prove pretty clearly that
his meaning was that if he did ngt die it would only
be because he would be killed. (Hear, hear.) Sir
Hamilton Seymour in that despatch not only reported
what the Emperor of Russia said, but gave his own opinion
on the subject. He would read to the house the warn-
ing which Sir H. Seymour gave the Government, and
the construction which he put upon the language of the
Emperor :

•
" It is hardly necessary that. I should observe to your
lordship that this short conversation, briefly but correctly
reported, offers matter for most anxious reflection. It can
hardly be otherwise but that the Sovereign, who insists
with duck portiAlcitY ap9iit tho iawmdiag fill of a neigh!

fallen into his proposal. They gave an income tax for
seven years, on the principle that the tax was to be gra-
dually diminished in amount till, at the end of seven
years, it should altogether expire. It would have been
more candid on the part of the right hon. gentleman,
and would have done more credit to his character for
fairness, if he had frankly told the house the state of
European affairs, and had said that the income tax could
not expire at any given period ; but that, if the ne-
cessity should arise, he would be obliged to appeal
to the house again. The right hon. gentleman would
do that (the Opposition) side of the house the justice to
recollect, that, although he had himself admitted that
incomes derived from land and houses paid a much
higher tax than other descriptions of income—a differ-
ence amounting to 22 per cent.—and, although the
agricultural class had long suffered under the injustice
of paying upon the gross rent, while others paid only
upon the net rent, yet they made no objection to going
on with the tax upon the condition of having only to
pay the income tax for the period which he proposed.
But if the right hon. gentleman was at that time looking
forward to the income tax for defraying the expenses of
a war—if that tax was to be regarded essentially as a
war-tax, and as such liable to be increased again and
again, then the country had a right to demand that that
tax should be made a just and equitable tax, and the
right hon. gentleman was bound to have taken one of
two courses—either to have imposed a graduated tax
according to the different descriptions of income ; or, if
he was disposed to take the other course, and to say that
all incomes ought to be taxed alike, then, on his own
rule, the difference of the tax of 9d. on landed property
and of 7d. on other property—being 22 per cent.—
should be done away with, and all incomes should be
placed on the same footing. He would now advert to
another part of the right honourable gentleman's
budget, by which, in his mind, the right hon. gentle-
man did unwisely and improvidently weaken the re-
sources of the country. He alluded to the repeal of the
duty on soap, and tone remission of dutyon tea. He had
heard out of doors that, although taxes had been taken off
to a very large extent, yet that the revenue did not suffer.
He did not think the right hon. gentleman was in a
position to say that. He (Sir J. Pakington) could not
acknowledge the justice or the propriety of the course
which was taken last year, with a war pending over our
heads. Tri his opinion the right hon. gentleman was not
justified, under the circumstances, of itnperiliing or
weakening the resources of the country. If the right
hon. gentleman considered himself obliged to increase
direct taxation—and to adopt a succession-tax (which
was a tax originally regarded by Mr. Pitt as a war tax),
he (Sir J. Pakington) maintained that at that moment
with a war so pending—•the right and prudent course
would have been to have husbanded those resources for
a time of actual war, and to have retained those reve-
nues which he had in his possession, and which he was
perfectly at liberty to retain ; and which if one word had
fallen from him on the subject that house would have
supported him in retaining. Those additional taxes
which he brought forward in his budget, as a compensa-
tion for those he had remitted, ought to have been re-
served for a time of danger ; and if he bad then proposed
them for defraying the expenses of the war, however
objectionable they might have been, the country would,
no doubt, have adopted them rather than have submitted
to this objectionable income-tax. But what was the
course which the right hon. gentleman pursued ? He
rashly and imprudently abandoned the soap-tax, the
gross amount of which was 1,397,0001., the net loss
being 1,111,0001. That was at once completely
thrown away—most imprudently and unnecessarily
thrown away ; for he need not point out how much
more easy it would have been for the right hon. gen-
tleman to have retained that tax than it would be to
revert to it if the necessities of the country should re-
quire it. With regard to the remission of the tea duty,
he observed that the right hon. gentleman had had
another correspondence with his old friend, a Birming-
ham clerk, and he saw that the Birmingham clerk and
the right hon. gentleman were rather at issue. The
Birmingham clerk did not think that the right hon. gen-
tleman had given him full compensation in the remission
of duty on his tea for the double amount of income tax
taken out or his pocket. That, however, was not the
light in which he (Sir J. Pakington) was dealing with
the subject. The view which he took of it was this—
whether, with a coming war, with an almost certainly
coming war, it was wise to tamper with these great and
important means of revenue ? That was not the position
of things when his right hon. friend near him, the mem-
ber for Buckinghamshire, was in office. He (Sir J.
Pakington) said, and he said so with pride, that the
overtures for the partition of Turkey were not made to
the late Government. On the contrary, there was every
appearance of a continuance of peace during the period
that that Government remained in office, and therefore
the circumstances under which his right hon. friend, the
member for Buckinghamshire, proposed a reduction in
the tea duties, were entirely different from those which
obtained when the right hon. gentleman opposite, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, made his proposition to
the same effect. (Hear.) Estimating the reduction on
3,100,000 lbs. of tea, the reduction would amount to
366,000/. in the first year, 510,6001. in the second,
454,0001. in the third, and 604,0001. in the fourth,
making a total of 1,934,600/. spread over a period of
four years—a proposal for tampering with an im-
portant branch of the revenue, in his opinion,
altogether unjustifiable under the circumstances.
He moved no amendment, and had no intention of Im-
peding the progress of the bill before the house. In a
few minutes that tax would be imposed upon the people,
and, so far as that house was concerned, the measure
would' be complete. He hoped, and believed, in the
unhappy event of this war continuing, that the represen-
tatives of the people would continue to act in the same
spirit, and, if so, while representing the right feeling of
the people who sent them there, should the right hon.
gentlemen opposite continue in place, and be charged
with the responsibility of conducting the war, he
believed that they—that this country would furnish
the means, without hesitation, and with an unanimity
never exceeded in this country, provided only they
conducted that war with energy and vigour ; and might
God grant they would conduct it with victory and suc-
cess ! (Cheers.) So long they would continue, not to
refuse to the Government, but, on the contrary, with an
unparalleled unanimity, to grant it all it asked, that the
result might not be duubtful. But they had a right to
expect of the Government that in their financial ar-
rangements in dealing with that solemn state of affairs
we were now entering upon, they had a right to expect
that they would manage their expenses prudently, and
not for the sake of an ephemeral popularity waste the
resources of the country ; and that if we were obliged or
called on to bear fresh burdens, which he doubted not
would be borne, at least he hoped they would be so
imposed as to be equal and just. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. CARDWELL professed himself at a loss to un-
derstand why the right hon. gentleman had raised this
discussion on the third reading of the bill. The right
hon. gentleman said he did not mean to oppose the Me a -
sure. Then, what was his object? It was not to de-
bate the Eastern question, for the right hon. gentleman
had expressed a hope that it would not be discussed on
this occasion ; and, as far as he (Mr. Cardwell) was con-
cerned, he would gratify the right hon. gentleman's
wish by not saying a word on the subject. There was,
to be sure, one point which lie hoped the right hon.
gentleman would hereafter bear in mind. The right
hon. gentleman had given the house to understand that
if it had been his duty to bring forward a budget in
April last, and he had at that time been acquainted with
the contents of the despatches which the Government
had in its possession, he would have done so under the
settled conviction that the Crown of England must
either go to war or be a consenting party to the dis-
graceful partition of the dominions of an ally. When
the Eastern question should come under discussion, the
right hon. gentleman would have an opportunity of re-
conciling that view of the case with the oft-repeated as-
sertion that war might have been averted by a greater
display of vigour on the part of the Government at a
later period, namely, on the occupation of the Princi-
palities. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman
said it only required firmness and candour on the part
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have retained the
soap duty and other imposts. If the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, anxious to retain the income tax, had
alarmed the House of Commons, and inspired them with
greater apprehensions than he really entertained, that
might have been an inducement to them to retain the
income tax, but he could not understand by what
stretch of imagination it could be argued that the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, desirous of retaining the tax,
had concealed from the house the magnitude of his ap-
prehensions with regard to the state of our foreign af-
fairs. But when his right hon. friend was pressed on
the subject of advertisements, of attorneys, and of
hops, had he always obtained that unanimous support
which the right hon. gentleman said he would have
obtained if he had chosen to retain these imposts ?
How deep must have been the right hon. gentleman's
conviction of the certainty of war in the middle of April
if it would have induced him to have reversed his vote on
all these occasions in favour of remission of taxation, and
to have withheld from the country the boon of the remis-
sion of the tea duty ! ("Hear," from Sir J. Pakington.)
If that were the case, let him not hear the war imputed
to anything that had occurred since the middle of April.
What was the object of raising this discussion on the
third reading of the Ineeme-tax bill ? If it was argued
that the Exchequer ought to be replenished, that it was
not sufficiently full, why address that argument to the
house on the third reading of this bill ? The right hon.
gentleman had referred to a return for the purpose of
pointing out a minute alteration which he thought ought
to be made in one or two lines, but if he would appeel to
the statistical history of the country, contained in that
return, he would find that an important moral lesson,
never so valuable as at a time like this, when all the na-
tions of the world, and particularly that nation with which
we had been drawn into collision, were examining the
condition of this country, would be read to him upon the
advantages of making the remissions of which he had
complained, and the growth of the strength and influence
of the country consequent upon them. That paper would
tell him that, improvident as was the budget of last year,
and although the income tax had notproduced 2, 000,000/.,
and although the soap duty had been remitted, neverthe-
less the balance of revenue beyond expenditure was
3,250,0001. He would also tell him of the remission of the
debt, to which he had not alluded ; it would tell him that
there had been a remission of the debt last year to the
amount of nearly 8,500,0001., and if the balance in the
Exchequer had been reduced more than 4,000,0001.,
there was still a clear advantage amounting to 4,000,0001.
to the credit of the country on the face of the account.
Exchequer-bills were lower in amount than they had
ever been known in this century, and, in spite of a har-
vest which had compelled us to make almost unpara-
lelled imports of corn, and in spite of the apprehensions
of war, our trade had been increasing, and we bad every
evidence of the growing prosperity and strength of the
country for purposes of peace or war. It was encourag-
ing to know that if the right hon. gentleman had been
in power, and had possessed the knowledge that these
4ffipiltraCti WO* iiaTe OVA). 444 119 WOlll4

pursued that course of policy which the house, in its
wisdom had thought proper to pursue. He concurred
with the right hon. gentleman in acknowledging the
spirit with which the present exigency had been met on
both sides of the house, and he thought it was a circum-
stance of pride for this country, and of discouragement
for our enemies, that, from the position in which it
appeared from this paper we were placed at the com-
mencement of hostilities, we should be enabled to meet
the expenditure which had been sanctioned by the house
without the necessity of imposing fresh burdens, or of
withdrawing remissions already given to the great body
of the people. These were the circumstances under
which, at the conclusion of a long period of peace, the
country was unhappily plunged into war. As there
was no motion before the house except the third reading
of the Income-tax Bill—to which no amendment had
been moved—and every argument used by the right hon.
gentleman had tended to prove the necessity of replen-
ishing the Exchequer, and therefore the propriety of
passing the bill, he did not understand why the right
hon. gentleman should have thought it necessary, in
giving his cordial concurrence to the principle and objects
of the bill, to draw the house into a discussion upon
budgets of former years. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MALINS asserted that the President of the
Board of Trade had left all the main points of his right
hon. friend's argument untouched. The right hon.
gentleman asked why raise a discussion on the third
reading of the income tax bill, but he should bear
in mind that the increase in the income tax
formed the whole of the budget for the present
year, and that in deprecating discussion upon it,
he deprecated financial discussion altogether. Again,
he said that they (the Oppo-dtion) proposed no amend-
ment, and contemplated no division. l t had been proved
to the house that the result of those financial operations,
if they had been carried into effect last week would have
cost the country 700.0001., and that now they would
cost the country 800,0001. Such was the lamentable
failure of the right hon. gentleman's first effort in fin-
ance ! The success of future efforts of the right hon.
gentleman might, indeed, ultimately prove that he would
be cheap to the country eve❑ at that price. At present,
however, that was the price which they had had to pay
for him. In answer to the taunt of the right hon. gen-
tleman who had last addressed the house, " Why do you
renew these discussions if you are not going to divide ?"
he (Mr. Malins) answered, that he renewed them because
he desired to raise his voice, as he shoutd continue to
raise it so long as he had a seat in that house, against
the proposition that this war could be carried on by
means of direct taxes. He could have understood the
right hon, gentleman proposing to double the income
tax if he had still belonged to the great Peel party, but
he was at a loss to understand it, associated as he now
was with the noble lord the member for London,
the noble lord the member for Tiverton, and
others who had over and over again denounced it as the
most detestable and obnoxious tax that had ever been
imposed upon the people of this country. These associa-
tions of men who had no opinion in common, led to act-
ing upon no opinion at all ; and it was this constitution
of the Government which had led to the war which they
were now considering how we should pay for. He
wished to ask the right hon. gentleman when he saw the
Three per Cents. still falling, railway shares reduced not
less than 10 per cent., and every kind of property going
down rapidly, whether he was still of opinion that the
expense of the war could be defrayed by direct taxation
raised from year to year ? If he did, he ventured to warn
the right hon. gentleman that he had not deceived him-
self more when he proposed to reduce the South Sea
Annuities in 1853 than he was now deceiving himself in
making this proposition. If this were to be a great war,
and the expenses of the first year should turn out to be
10,000,0001. or 14,000,0001., how was the right hon.
gentleman to raise so large a sum by direct taxes ? Did
he think that he could double the income tax a second
half-year ?—that he could go on indefinitely doubling the
income tax ? He told the right hon. gentleman that he
might pass an Act of Parliament to do it, but that he
would be unable to collect the money, or, if he did, he
would lose some other taxes, because there was a limit
beyond which direct taxation could not be carried, and,
if so heavy an income tax were imposed, the public
would, he might rest assured, indemnify themselves in
some other way. He beseeched the right hon. gentle-
man to consider how he was to meet the serious amount
which, he feared, was to be expended in this war. Would
he propose indirect taxes, re-imposing some which he
had before remitted ; or would he at once make up his
mind to raise money by way of loan ? He (Mr. Malins)
believed that it would be found impracticable, either by
indirect or direct taxes, to raise the means of carrying on
the war within the year, and, if so, it would be neces-
sary
to make a proposition by which money could be
raised for the purpose. If it were to be a great war, in-
tended to curb the ambition of Russia, and to secure last-
ing benefits for those who were to follow us, why should we
of the present generation pay the whole expenses of the
war ? He said that it was not a right principle that
those who were to benefit by our efforts should not
have thrown upon them some of the weight of the war,
and he called upon the Government to act in this mat-
ter on the same principle as the great landed proprietor
would act who, when making extensive permanent im-
provements, bore some portion of the expense himself
and threw the remainder upon his successors. He
trusted that the right hon. gentleman would take these
matters into consideration, and that the session would
not terminate before the house, acting upon an enlarged
view of the subject, - would settle a system of finance
by which the war might be carried on without proving
unduly burdensome, grinding, and oppressive upon the
present generation. If this were not done, but direct
taxation were increased, those energies of the nation
which now supported the Government might be de-
stroyed, and the war became so unpopular that we
might be compelled to submit to an ignominious peace.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. LAING pointed out the successful results of the
remissio❑ of indirect taxes during the last ten years, and
inferred thence that the great majority of the country
would prefer a double income tax to retracing our steps
by reverting to a system of indirect taxation.
Mr. VANSITTART said, although he did not intend
to oppose the present measure, he considered that there
were ample grounds for discussion, and having seen that
the Government had been guilty of such rashness, they
would not be doing their duty if they did not impress
on them the necessity of using great caution and of
taking bold measures when they were required.-
The bill was then read a third time and pas-ed.
CONVENTUAL AND MONASTIC INSTI-
TUTIONS.
Mr. F. SCULLY presented a petition, signed, as
we understood, by 5,000 persons attending St. George's
Roman Catholic Cathedral, Southwark, against the pro-
posed committee of inquiry into monastic institutions.
On the question being put, on the nomination of
the committee, that the name of Mr. Chambers be
agreed to,
Mr. GOOLD rose to move, as an amendment, that
the name of Mr. Chambers be omitted, with the view
of substituting that of Mr. Sotheron ; and afterwards,
that the names of the Marquis of Stafford and Mr.
Newdegate be omitted, and those of Mr. Ker Seymer
and Lord H. Vane be substituted. (Hear, hear.) He
deprecated any personal discourtesy to the hon. and
learned member for Hertford in bringing forward this
motion, but, knowing that hon. and learned member's
strong prejudices on this subject, and presuming that
probably he might be the cheirman of this committee,
if appointed, he felt it his duty to enter his protest
against his being appointed to serve on it, and also
against the appointment of the committee itself. (Hear.)
Sir J. FITZGERALD briefly supported the motion
for the omission of Mr. Chamber's name, and contended
that the present time was most unseasonable for the in-
troduction of such a measure as that of the hon. and
learned member for Hertford. The only effect of such
a measure, he believed, would be to excite again those
religious differences which had for so long a time so un-
happily distracted Ireland, but which were now, to a
certain extent, stilled ; and which, if not again impru-
dently excited, would, he believed, ie the course of time,
be entirely obliterated. (Hear, hear.)
The house then divided, when the numbers were—
Ayes ll7
Noes
Majority in favour of Mr. Chambers's
name being on the committee
On the second name, that of Mr. Walpole, being
put—

Mr. LUCAS moved, as an amendment, that the
further nomination be proceeded with on that day six
months. The hon. gentleman contended that folly and
bigotry were the foundation of the whole proceeding.
Mr. D. O'CONNELL supported the amendment.
Mr. MASSEY deprecated the selection of names
which had been proposed as a committee, no less than
seven of them having already expressed strong opinions
against these institutions. He also objected to other
names who were in favour of them. In fact, he ob-
jected to nearly all the names proposed, thinking the
committee should be composed of hon. members who
were, as far as possible, impartial ; whereas those pro-
posed were the most part pledged on one side of the
question or the other.
Mr. SPOONER could not see how any committee
could be formed upon the principles laid down by the
hon. gentleman.. He denied that there was any inten-
tion of bringing the inmates of convents before the
house, for no gentleman would lend himself to such a
proceeding, but they would be able to prove that there
was a system of inducing young women of property by
moral influence• to enter convents, with the view of
gaining for those establishments the property to which
they were entitled.
Mr. J. BALL thought the house bound, out of respect
to its own character both in this country and in Ireland,
to take care that this inquiry was conducted with some
decent regard for impartiality and justice. If five mem-
bers known to entertain hostile opinions to the nunne-
ries, five members favourable to them, and five members
whose opinions were unbiassed, formed the tribunal, it
would be fair ; but, as at present constituted, it would
have the appearance to the country of being nothing
less than a packed committee. (Cries for a division.)
Mr. KINNAIRD, as his name had been called into
question, begged to offer a few words to the house. The
doctrine of the hon. member for Newport (Mr. Massey)
was the most extraordinary he had ever heard. (Hear,
hear.) He (Mr. Kinnaird) had never expressed an
opinion on this subject, either in or out of the house ;
and, although he had opinions with regard to it, he
should be prepared to enter on the inquiry in a perfect
spirit of impartiality. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. GOOLD, in explanation, said, he had wished to
convey his conviction that those members were incapa-
citated from serving on such a committee who were
active members of societies in hostility to Roman Catho-
lics. He thought he had seen the name of Mr. Kin-
naird as one of the managing committee of the Protes-
tant Alliance, which had circulated tracts most offensive
to Roman Catholics, and he objected to the presence of
members on the committee whose hostility to Roman
Catholics argued prejudice and a foregone conclusion on
the pulled to be doeicial upon. Such perms Quglit not .

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 31, 1854.

to sit as jurors on the conventual institutions of the
Church of Rome. (Divide, divide.)
Mr. V. SCULLY rose amidst vociferous cries for a
a division. He found that he could not be heard, and
therefore he moved the adjournment of the debate.
(Hear, and divide, divide).
The question was then put, and the house divided—
Against the adjournment l5O
For it
Majority against it.... ---76
Mr. KENNEDY did not regret the division which
had taken place. An insult had been offered by the
votes of the Protestant members of Great Britain to the
Catholics ; and he owed it, therefore, as a Protestant to
his Catholic fellow-countrymen to move the adjournment
of the house.

Captain BELLEW seconded the motion. He inten-
ded to substitute other names— one for that of the
member for East Surrey, and another for that of another
member—and he appealed to the house, therefore, to
adjourn the debate.

Mr. Sergeant SHEE, in an energetic speech, de-
nounced the proposed inquiry, defended the convents,
and made a personal attack upon Mr. Chambers for his
conduct in promoting it. Towards half-past one the
house became so impatient, that every new sentence of
the learned Sergeant elicited a burst of interruption.;
The house then divided, when the numbers were—
For the adjournment 6B
Against it l2l-53
Mr. MOORE moved the adjournment of the debate.
Mr. HUTCHINGS seconded the motion.
Mr. CHAMBERS said that at that hour of the night
he thought it would not be proper to press the subject,
and therefore he would consent to the adjournment
The debate was accordingly adjourned, and in a few
minutes afterwards (at a quarter to two o'clock) the
house adjourned.