The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-31 00:00:00

BILL.

This Bill was passed through Committee.
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ROME BILL.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE gave notice that he
should to-morrow move that the Commons' amendments
to this Bill should be taken into consideration.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS.

Messengers from the Commons brought up several
Bills, which were respectively read a first time, after
which their Lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, August 30.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
REVIEW OF THE SESSION.
The Distilling from Sugar Bill was read a third time.
On the question that the Bill do pass,
Mr. DISRAELI rose and said—Sir, I take this oc-
casion, because I think it the best and most convenient
to the House, to make some observations upon the
conduct of public business this session, and to lay before
Hon. Members the reasons which render it ex-
pedient that the House should not separate without
offering some opinion upon that subject.—(Hear, hear.)
Sit, whatever may be the merits or demerits of this
session of Parliament, there attaches to it by general
'consent; one characteristic, namely, that it has been a
session of unexampled duration. There is, however, an
impression very prevalent, that its efficiency has not
been commensurate with the period of its existence.—
(Cheers, and laughter.) Sir, it is said that after having
sat- now nearly ten months, after having laboured with
unusual assiduity—for that • has not been questioned—
Parliament is about to be prorogued with a vast
number of projects of legislation of great inte-
rest and value not passed, and many of them
little advanced while the subjects which have been re-
commended to our consideration in the speech from the
Throne have not even been dealt with by the House in
the way it was contemplated when we first met.
There is_ more_ than one reason that is usually
affitisa. • An unsatisfactory state of affairs I am sure
all Gentlemen will agree it really is, because it amounts,
in fact, to the encouragement--if the reasons be true—to
a very great public evil, namely, that our system of Go-
vernment is inadequate to pass those measures that
are required for the public welfare. One of the most
popular causes which is assigned for this unsatisfactory
state of things—the existence of this great evil—is that
there is too muck discussion in the House of Commons
—that too many speeches are made, and too much talk
indulged in.—(Cheers.) Sir, this is an imputation that
bay been heard of before this session of Parliament. It
was not so popular, but it was an accusation prevalent
during the- last session—during the last session of the
last Parliament. I think it was first urged as an objection
to our conduct of public business, by the members of
the Manchester School, and it has been brought forward
this session by their distinguished leader, in a most
formal and precise manner. That Hon. Gentleman the
Member for the West Riding has even acknowledged
to the House that, as far as he is concerned, so sensible
is ho of the evil of prolonged discussion in the House of
Commons, that he would eonsent, though opposed to all
tariffs, to a sort-of rhetorical tariff—(Hear, and
laughter)—and that, for his part, but not speak-
ing for his friends, he has no objection that
the time allotted to him for addressing the
House should be settled by standing order.—(Hear,
hear.) That is unfortunately a popular idea, and it
may be a good suggestion, only I would remind the
House that it is only very recently that this inconve-
nience of prolonged discussion has been experienced by
the Hon. Member for the West Riding, and the sup•
porters of his party.—(Hear, hear.) There certainly
was a time not very distant, indeed, being only a few
years ago, when I do not think that the Hon. Member
for the West Riding would have been satisfied with the
limited period of time he would have allowed him by the
House for addressing us. I have listened to a great
many very lengthened and able addresses from the lion.
Gentleman and his Friends, most of them extending to a
period that he does not seem to approve of now. So far
from his thinking that there was too much discussion then,
the Hon. Gentleman and his friends were not so satisfied
with the time allowed them for discussion as to prevent
them from building hustings and hiring theatres to
continue their talk, feeling no doubt that the House of
Commons did not offer sufficient opportunities for the
discussion of those great questions, and the advance-
ment of those great political views which they wished
to press upon public opinion.—(Cheers.) There is
another cause that has been alleged for the unsatisfac-
tory, state of public business, and that the forms of this
House, the constitution of this House are now pronounced
to he cumbersome and intricate, and form a great obstacle
and barrier to the efficient and satisfactory and speedy
transaction of public business. This is the view
of the case that is, I believe, principally relied upon by
her Majesty's Government. Her Majesty's Govern-
jesve nn several recasions objected, or rather de-
plored that the forms of the House nave enabled Hon. I
:Members to delay the progress of measures, and
ae the close of this dying session Government
have obtained a Committee to inquire into the modes
of conducting public business, of which Committee I am
an humble member, and you, Sir, are a distinguished
member.—(Cheers.) Therefore, I apprehend the ap-
pointment of this Committee renders it clear that hers
Majesty's Government consider that the forms of this
House present a cause for the unsatisfactory state of
our affairs, which every one deplores.—(Hear, hear.)
At the same time it is clear her Majesty's Government
by no means withhold their acquiescence from the
other cause which has been alleged by the
Hon. Member for the West Riding and is friends.
The Noble Lord the First Minister, and other members
of the Government, have on several occasions depre-
bated this propensity for discussion, which had been
considered to form an obstacle to the transaction of
Members
business. They have often called upon Hon.
Members not to make speeches, but to inquire into the
merits of questionable measures; but still they attribute
the
d
delays in the 'progress of public business to the
cumbersome and intricate forms of the House,
'while
they at the same time do not object to
mame2,empbt:lriefoorthtr cause brought forward by the Hon.
for discussion, which
West Riding, namely, the propensity
, which led to much waste of time, which
was the cause of
WA' business being so tardily ad
winced: ' The first charge:e has been openly stated and
adopted by Governmfenort;dhut it is clear that they con-
sider the propensity
11setcFtsesiooin.
the present unsatisfactory public
sblic thea
affairs,
causebecause
f
I have observed in an
ofpaper a paragraph which
:seems to encourage that viewlthe question.
Lord J. RUSSELL—Is it the London Gazette?
Mr. DISRAELI—It is not the London Gazette.
But I will show to the that it is a
Gieivernment secrets,
paper to which are entrusted the
and in which there appears informationa far more
giaeairled in the
in-
teresting and important than eveprara
London Gazette. I copied this
bfileial paragraph—from a journal I conslideT,hanicl will
consider, to be the only official journal—a journal
Circulates all the secrets of the Cabinet the moment they
h
are known—a journal that announces every appointment
from 'the Ambassador to the French Republic down to
the lastlanger of Excise—(Hear, hear, and laughter)--
I read in this journal, on Sunday week, the following
official' announcement, which I think proves that while
Ministers, by the appointment of this Committee,
show they are of opinion that the forms of the House are
the cause of the evils, still adopt the opinion taken by
the Hon. Member for the West Riding and his friends.
The paragraph commences—" We have authority to
state"—but if this is forgery it will be open to the
Treasury benches to contradict it—" We hare authority

to state that the fish dinner"—(Loud laughter)—" that
was fixed for the 19th is postponed till the 25th. This
postponement is occasioned by the vexatious discussions
in the House of Commons.—(Laughter.) We have,
however, authority to state that the fish dinner
will positively take place on the 25th instant." Now, I
suppose Saturday was the dinner day of the session, and
Wednesday will be the digestion.—(Hear, and laughter.)
It is quite clear, allowing for the timidity naturally inci-
dent to a man who has lost his dinner, that the feeling of
Government is that there is too much discussion in
the House of Commons. I value this slight means of
obtaining the truth much more than even the official
announcement of the Noble Lord himself. It is only the
acts of a man while under the influence of ruffled temper,
produced by being disappointed in obtaining
a dinner, that indicate his • secret views. It
is only under such circumstances that the pas-
sions and master feelings of the man come out ;
and although the Noble Lord talked a great deal of the
forms of the House, it is quite clear that he feels with the
Hon. Member for the West Riding, that the propensity
for discussion is the reason why the business of the
country cannot be carried on with rapidity.—(Cheers.)
Now I propose, in a manner the most brief and
condensed that I can command, to ascertain whether
these two causes are the real causes, whether it is to be
attributed to the discussions in this House, or to the
fears of the Legislature, that after having sat nearly ten
months we have done very little, and that very little
not very well.—(Cheers.) But, however, before I
enter into that argument, it will, perpaps, be
interesting to the House that I should just state, inde-
pendently of our debates, what the House of Commons
has done in the present session—what really has been
done falls very far short of what was originally proposed
to us. From a report of the Committee on Public
Business, which has been laid upon the table of the House,
but which from an accident has not yet been circulated
amongst Members, it appears, Sir, that there have been
this year 45 public Committees, some of them of more
than usual importance, with an average number of
fifteen Members serving on each Committee; that there
have been 28 Election Committees with five Members
serving on each Committee ; that there have been
fourteen Groups on Railway Bills, with five Mem-
bers serving on each Group ; that there have
been seventeen Groups on private Bills, with five Mem-
bers serving on each Group ; that there have been 111
other Committees on Private Bills. Of the public Com-
mittees, that on commercial distress sat 39 days,
that on sugar and, coffee planting, 39 days; that on the
navy, army, and ordnance expenditure, 40 days; and
that on miscellaneous expenditure, 37 days. It
appears that there have been presented this
year to the House upwards of 18,500 petitions, showing
an increase of 25 per cent. upon the greatest number
presented in any former year, except the year 1843.
I will take this opportunity of making an observation
upon these petitions, since a considerable degree
of error exists out of doors on this subject.
It is supposed, when a petition is presented, it is simply
ordered to lay upon the table and never heard of
again ; but it is well that our constituents should
know that every petition that is laid upon the table
is scrutinized by a Select Committee of the most ex-
perienced and intelligent Members of this House,
and that *e-very petition, which from the import-
ance of its subject, or the ability of its statements, renders
it deserving of the distinction, is printed at the public
cost, and circulated among Members. The right, then,
since we are not permitted to make a speech on every
petition presented, is a more important and efficient right
than has ever been enjoyed at any time by the public in
England.—(Loud cheers.) Having, Sir, fully I
hope, stated the causes to which are imputed
the great delay which we all acknowledge—
namely, the present inefficiency of the system of govern-
ment to transact the business necessary for the
country, the next thing for me to consider is whether
those causes are founded in truth and accuracy, and if not,
whether it is possible before Parliament is prorogued for
this House to ascertain what the real cause is.—(Hear,
hear.) Now, it will be perhaps convenient to re-
cal to the recollection of the House the circum-
stances under which Parliament met.—(Hear, hear.)
Such extraordinary events have occurred since Fe-
bruary, that we are apt to forget, when we remember
the fall of thrones, the uprooting of dynasties, the
deposing of great Ministers whose reputation had
become almost part of the history of more than
half a century—who had selected and guided the
Governments of almost the whole of civilized
Europe—when these mighty occurrences are fresh in one's
memory, one is too apt to forget, so long has been the
duration of this painful session, the circumstances under
which the Parliament met. Hon. Gentlemen should:recol-
lect that we had in this country, when the House met in
the first session of the new Parliament, that we were then
suffering from events, which though not, from reputa-
tion, so large as to partake of an European character,
were yet as comprehensive, as far as we were con-
cerned these were, however, not less strange,
and far more sad.—(Hear, hear.) The inscrutable
Omnipotent decree had gone out that a famine was
visiting the land, and in consequence of that terrible
visitation our merchants were compelled to make good
the deficiency, and no doubt that and many other
causes led to a commercial crisis, perhaps
of unprecedented severity. There were uprooting
of commercial dynasties in England not less striking
than the ;fall of those political houses of which of
late we have heard so much. Hon. Gentlemen whom we
had known and lived_ with in this House of Commons.
I IL •
peen reputation in their career, were rudely torn
almost from these benches, if not with disgrace and dis
honour, under circumstances of pitiable severity and
vicissitude seldom met with. We had had a com-
mercial pressure of unprecedented severity, and when
Parliament met private credit was certainly para-
lyzed. Trade was not only dull, but almost
dead.—(Hear, hear.) There was scarcely any private
party, from the rich noble to the most enterprising man
of the middle class, who was not smarting under the
severity ot the circumstances to which I have alluded.
Why, Sir, that commercial distress was so general and
so severe, that it was one of the main causes
that led to the calling of Parliament together in the
month of November.—(Hear, hear.) Her Majesty, in
her Speech from the Throne, stated that this was one of
the causes which had induced her to call Parlia-
ment together at so early a period ; but let me
ask the House whether, on this subject of com-
mercial distress, there has been too much
discussion?—(Hear, hear.) Can the Members of the
House of Commons be charged with having such a pro-
pensity to make speeches upon that subject? Let me
recal to the recollection of the House that the
only impression.. upon the mind of the coun-
try after we had met was, that we had been called
together by the Sovereign on a great emer-
gency of universal interest, and yet upon that sub-
ject the House of Commons has absolutely said no-
thing.—(Cheers.) There was a feeling of discontent
amongst all classes, and men of all parties in
the country and in town, that when Parlia-
ment met they did not immediately go to the
cause ot that commercial distress by which the
country had been stricken so severely, with the view of
arriving at some conclusion that should be able to guide
the public intelligence on the subject. There was cer•
tainly, when the House met, one desultory discussion ;
of two nights upon the Address, when the com-
mercial crisis formed one important element in
the discussion, but Parliament had never met yet with-
out a desultory discussion taking place on the Address.
In the present instance the desultory debate
was very insignificant, because there was a general
understanding in the House that the question of the
commercial crisis was too vast, too encumbered with
other important matters, to be dealt with in an
accidental debate on the first business of the House
of Commons. It was naturally supposed that an
opportunity would be afforded for a complete
discussion of the subject; because let me recal to the
House that the question was alluded to by the Sovereign
in these words to the effect that the embarrassments in

trade were so great at one period that a general feeling
of distrust and alarm had arisen throughout the country,
and her Majesty for the purpose of restoring confidence
had, by an order in Council, authorised the Bank of
England to pursue a course of proceedings in the emer-
gency that might have led to an infringement of the law.
Can any one doubt, after this, whoth... of
Commons did not feet that an opportunity would be af-
forded them for fully discussing the subject,
and yet was there any great propensity for
discussion on _ that question ? No doubt I shall

be . told that besides the desultory debate to which
I have just alluded on the moving of the Address, a
motion was made with respect to the conduct of
Ministers, when the subject of commercial dis-
tress, and especially as to the conduct of Govern-
ment with • regard to its advice to the Bank
of • England,' was brought formally
.before the House,
by the Right Honourable Pentlentan the Member for,
Stamford. Very true, bdt, Sir, in the first place, I can-
not-at all agree .that there is any abuse of the privilege
of Parliament when such a .man or such a subject ap
pealed to the- House -of Commons.—(Hear, hear.)
should say that, considering the experience of my Right
Hon. Friend, and the turn of his mind, was sufficient
guarantee- thatit would have been satisfactory to the
country, and to men of all party, that he of all men
should have originated an investigation into this matter
relating to_ the management of the Bank, the
constitution of the Bank; and the conduct of
the Ministers during the commercial crisis.—(Hear.)
Well, Sir, do not suppose that the motion of my
Right Hon. Friend will be alleged as having led to a
waste of time; but if it is, let me remind the House
that he had no alternative. Ministers had announced
through the highest medium that they had coun-
selled the 'directors of the Bank of England to
violate the law. True it is, that in the same
speech they intimated that that infringement of the
law, notwithstanding the permission, did not take place,
but-in the. opinion of my Right Hon. Friend, and of
Gentlemen .on this side of the House, we could not agree
that - a crime or an offence was only constituted

for
• • is just .as guilty as. the perpetration;
the in the perpetration of the act.
intention
murder, he is
-We consider
if a man contemplate the committal of a.
asjust guilty as the man who has committed
der; and, therefore, if Ministers counsel a public t he
bodymu to
infringe the law, although the infringement may not
take place, it was still competent for Parliament to come
forward to discuss or dissent from such counsel.
I think myself that the whole :conduct of the Govern-
ment, with respect to that letter, is so weak and whimsi-
cal that it is difficult to account for it, except by !up-
posing that they they were, as they very naturally might
have been; in a state of very great perplexity .—(Hear,
heai) And having done all this, which amounted
to nothing, and written this paragraph, and made the
speeches which greatly pleased me, I can compare it to
inn
but to the annual procession which takes place
in a city with.which.all gentlemen are very,familiar—
an annual ceremony which takes place on one day in the
year, and which puts the whole population in a state of
the greatest excitement and alarm; and after a short

time the whole procession becomes panic-struck
about the consecrated blood, and the most curious
thing is that in both cases it is the same—
a case of congealed circulation.—(Laughter.) Just at
that moment when there is unutterable gloom, and when
despair and consternation prevails over the whole popu-
lation, the Archbishop of the, time announces the lique-
faction of the blood of St. Januarius—(Laughter)—
that a wholesome state of currency has returned
(Laughter) and immediately everybody be-
comes as gay, and as cheerful, and as easy
as can possibly be imagined—the panic and depression
both disappear, and everybody returns to his business,
and to his music and macaroni.—(Great laughter.) In
both cases the remedy is equally efficient and equally
apposite.—(Laughter.) I think I have shown some
reasons for the House to agree with me, that as far as
this great question of commercial distress--which the
Hon. Member for Warwickshire his not yet terminated
—as far as that is concerned, the House of
Commons has not wasted much time.—(Hear.)
Here is one of the most important subjects that can pos-
sibly interest a great commercial nation, and I believe
not ten men in the House expressed their opinions upon
the subject. I confess as far as our discussions upon bank-
ing were concerned—having long relinquished any hope
that the result would be as satisfactory as I
desired—a combat has always taken place be-
tween opposite opinions, with which men who generally
originated the question have had little to do—(Hear,
hear)—the debate was always interesting, frequently
entertaining, but as far as the sound principles of bank-
ing were concerned, they had certainly not been ad-
vanced by such discussions, and I confess I look for-
ward to the attainment of that end which we desire by
only one means, and that of a very sorrowful na•
ture—another depression and another panic.—(Hear,
hear.) The Hon. Gentleman continued—He would now
take a subject of the utmost possible importance—the
financial question, and he would ask the House if' they
would permit him calmly to consider, on the 30th of
August, after sitting there ten months, whether, in the
financial statement and in those measures which resulted
from it, the conduct of the Government had been of that
thoughtless, unbusiness-like, and unsatisfactory charac-
ter which had been alleged? He would ask the
House to inquire how much time had been occu-
pied this session by those financial communications
and arrangements by an English House of Commons.
He would ask the House to inquire whether any time had
been wasted by the House of Commons, and whether the
speeches of Members, or the forms of the House, had
caused that expenditure of the public time? On the
lith February the financial statement was made—it
was exceedingly satisfactory—but the moment
Parliament met after Christmas, not an hour
was lost in announcing that another financial
statement would be made. The general opinion was
satisfactory in the House and in the country.—(Laughter.)
The Ministers were rather favourites out of doors ; some
people said, however, that they were not men of busi-
ness, but then it was thought they had to encounter hard
times.—(Laughter.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer
was a most active man ; he got wrong with his deficiency
bills, but on the whole they were satisfactory.—
(Laughter.) But now they were sailing in still
water—they were perfectly business men—not a moment
was to be lost—the First Minister of the Crown comes
down, and we have a budget early in February.—(A
laugh.) Notwithstanding all the great events that had
occurred in Europe, they still recollected that budget.—
(Laughter.) It was not entrusted to the Chancellor of
the Exchequer. The Prime Minister—the first Minister
of Finance—comes forward, and Tamworth itself could
not have produced a more magnificent and solemn
budget. In a political sense it was not less
important than in a financial sense. It was clearly a
budget which demanded expansive views, and the
highest efforts of a statesman, because the country was
to be defended as well as taxes to be paid. Those were
great considerations for the House to enter into, and
when they were informed of their danger, they were
induced to express their determination to protect
their country, their Sovereign, and their hearths.
But, then, they were informed that there was not only
to be an increase of the miscellaneous, but of the mili-
tary estimates; and they were told that the income-tax
was to be doubled. Now, it was clear that the financial
scheme of the Government must have been completely
matured—it was not a scheme taken up in an
hour, or drawn with a pen upon the back of a
letter, but there must have been Cabinets, frequent
and long discussions, upon a budget which in a moment
of deficiency called upon the country to increase the
expenditure, and which attempted to accomplish two
great ends, viz., to defend the country, and to fill the
Exchequer.—(Laughter and cheers.) And he thought
he should use no terms of exaggeration if he expressed
the feeling of the House as one of considerable dissatis-
faction—(Hear, hear)—because at the time he alluded to
Members in every quarter of the House, even to almost
behind the Treasury benches, gave utterance to their in-
dignant protest against the Government propositions. But
that was but a murmur to what took place out of doors—
a menagerie before feeding time would alone give an idea
of the unearthly yell—(A laugh)—with which the middle
olasses, especially the inhabitants of towns, the followers of
liberal opinioni, and the disciples of free-trade opinions
—(Laughter)—received the announcement of the Go-
vernment. Great towns, such as Manchester, Liver.
pool, Leeds, and Bradford, sent up their protests day
after day, and, in fact, persons were so alarmed that they
had not time to inquire into their condition.
On the 2 Ifitriay. Chancello;'
chequer came forward just as on. wight see
a great general, after he had taken the position of his
infantry, and finding out that it had not gone quite as
well as he expected, brings in a body of cavalry to put
everything right—(Laughter)—the Chancellor of the
Exchequer made a most extraordinary speech. It was
a sort of lament over the misconceptions which un-
accountably occurred as to the statement of his chief.
—(Hear, hear.) He should have thought that
if any statement ought to be clear, it would be that of a
financial exposition, but unfortunately the charmed and
classic eloquence of the Noble Lord had enveloped it in
a feeble mist, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was
the only man to put it right.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.)
He came forward and said there had been the greatest
possible misconception as to the statement; it was true
that there was a mistake in the navy estimates, but there
had been a very great increase in consequence of an
expedition to the North Pole.—(Laughter.) That, he
supposed, was to show that they had no intention of
going to war—(Hear)—that they were merely going to
the North Pole; but he thought it was an expedition rather
adapted to' times when they had a surplus in the Ex-
chequer.—(Laughter and cheers.) As to the miscella•
neous estimates, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said
they were considerably increased, but told the House not
to forget the expense of building the new Houses of
Parliament, the expenses of keeping up the British
Museum, and, lastly, the increase to an immense
extent in the amount of the printer's bill.—(Great
laughter.) The statement made by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer. he contended, was the most extraordi-
nary proposition that had ever been made by a Minister,
viz., that the Government had determined to propose
that the estimates for the army and navy should im-
mediately be referred to the Committee up stairs, and
on the next day the miscellaneous estimates should be
submitted to the same ordeal. That was on the 21st
February, on the Monday after the Friday. But the
storm had grown loud. A most curious thing occurred
on the 28th February, there having been a notice of a
motion given by the Hon. Member for Montrose
etlEi
noextnxc,
pmhoaeost igitduti
eaot g.
corafemoat t
hen
emdtallohnwaoytnb ol
detahanLyedr,ob
rtenotices
so f vf et
er
ry
ti
hn ;
for a reduction of expenditure and a diminution
abroad,
already
der,eh Caadanhnyaddsri
op cl
mea
tcl
wel
cos:
(Laughter.) On that occasion the Chancellor
of the Exchequer said, in consequence 'of the
r
ocfio offn nat
tvnahecxeni aai
manner presented the House with two bud
in
nee budgets,—
isa •
ca—td
more misconceptionsiheoh ve
inconvenient
e whichnt
motions had
having g ne
forontthhee bOOO okv
es r
no ftn theeht Htooruesvei,eiwt btheceairmpeonsietcioenss, aarnya
no doubt himself that the estimates might be consider-
ably curtailed, and by borrowing some money which
was intended for another purpose, they might save
some money for the purpose intended— (Laughter)—
that was to say, that by pinching on the one hand and
screwing on the other, there would not be the
slightest necessity for additional imposts, because
they might manage very well to make the expenditure
and income balance—(Laughter)—that they might
do very well without doubling the income-tax, by which
it was estimated by the Noble Lord that three millions
and a half would be brought into the Exchequer.—(A
laugh.) Now, he would ask, was the House of Commons

guilty of the charge of having wasted those ten days,
from the 18th to the 28th of February?—(Hear, hear,
and loud cheers.) Was there too much discussion, or
were the antiquated forms of the House tripping
up the Noble Lord at the head of the Cabinet?

--(Cries of " Hear, hear.") But ten days had been
wasted ; they were now on the 28th, and still they had
an empty Exchequer, and the only chance they had of
getting anything like tenpence in the pound was by
scraping some 6001., 7001., or 8001. from the estimates.
(Hear, hear.) He found an announcement in the
Queen's Speech, stating that her Majesty had given di-
rections that the estimates for the next year should be
the
eepare House,
prepared for
that
ettheypurpose would be
ofbeing
formedlai with
laid bef.orhe
a e carefulr,
andre laughter.)gard tto the
T exigencieshe
greatest o f th
exigency
public
whichservice.
—the a
y were then labouring under was a deficiency in the
revenue, and he now complained that those estimates
had not been prepared with a careful regard to the
exigencies of the public service. He would not enter into
a detailed account of what was done in those eventful
ten days, but would pursue the financial point to the end
that the House and the country might clearly understand
what time had been wasted, how it had been wasted, and
who had been guilty of wasting thaotntimier(
day, in the
Hear.) Ho
Hon.
meta answer a
t of
:titroh:fEx-
chequer would go on to the 30th of June, on
midst of a colonial debate, the Chancy:lilt?
chequer suddenly rose, as was supposed:
speech which had been made by
con-
siderable ability and intelligence, but in a
im-
promptu manner brought forward a third budget,
which he laid on the table of the House.—("duet'
laughter.) And what occurred on that occasion d?
The Right Hon. Member for Manchester, and the Hon.
Member for the West Riding, moved the adjournment
of the debate, on the plea that instead of discussing a
great question which was then before the House, a
question involving a great principle, of which those two
Hon. Members were the champions, viz. that there
should be no adltuertiaetstninosftetande lawof d
ofoinlBg46thawti,thhe(
respectthe
to the sugar
Chancellor of the Exchequer) sought to introduce a
e andfro
from that h
theat esnutbi
jrely t
bdei
fvoerret e
it.d the
The a t
dt
anet osn.
sonifeo thewn bo
untgtohaeut
financial state of the country lasted two
days, and that great sugar debate was spent in deliver-
ing speeches on the budget of the Ministry.—(Hear,
hear.) Now they had throe budgets within the period
from the 18th of February down to the 30th of June—