The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-25 00:00:00

the House, at its rising, should adjourn until Monday
next.
Mr. COWPER presented several petitions from various
places against the violation of the Sabbath by Sunday
tradiuk
THE SUGAR DUTIES CONTINUANCE BILL.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER having
rose to move the order of the day for a Committee of the
whole House on this Bill,
Lord G. BENTINCK rose and said—l take this op-
portunity of stating that I shall postpone the motion of
which I have given notice till Monday next, when the
sager duties will be brought on.
The SPEAKER having left the chair, and the house
having resolved itself into Committee on the 8111, and
the clause as to the limititation of the period of the Bill,
Lord GEORGE BENTINCIC said he would move, as
an amendment, that the word " July" be substituted for
the word " September." The effect of this amendment
would be to make the temporary Bill an eleven months'
instead of a monthly Bill, and it would have effect until
July, 1847. His object in moving this amendment was
not to obstruct the Government in any way, but to
facilitate their movements, and not to interfere in any
way with any permanent measures that they might
think fit _to adopt. At the same time, if,
upon further refl ,ction, her Majesty's Ministers should
think fit to defer till another session the permanent
settlement of the sugar duties, it would give them an
opportunity of doing so, and he could assure the House
that it would be a great relief, and nothing more than
an act of justice and mercy to the merchants engaged in
the • sugar trade, if they should afford them this small
respite for the measures proposed by her Majesty's
Ministers.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") The appre-
hension as to a famine in sugar was far more
visionary than the apprehended famine in corn.—(Hear,
hear, and laughter.) He took the liberty of stating on
a former evening, that no lese than between 40,000 and
50,000 tons of sugar were annually produced in the
Mauritius ; since that statement, the mail had
arrived from India, bringing intelligence that no
less than' 60,000 ton might be expected to; be pro-
duced there in the present year, and 72,000
would probably be produced in the Cape of Good
Hope. The Noble Lord having said that it was not his
intention at present to enter at any length into the
subject of the sugar duties, concluded by moving the
amendment. He would propose to extend the period
named in the Bill, sth of September, 1846, to the sth
of July, 1847.
On the amendment being put,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that he did not intend, at that period, to go into the
general question of the sugar duties. He would merely
state that everybody, and every communication which
her Majesty's Government had received upon the subject,
all concurred in this,: that it was desirable that
the sugar question should be permanently settlement. He
was sure that all persons, whether they went further than
her Majesty's Government, or whether they did not go so
far upon this question still argued in representing the set-
tlement of the sugar question as an important consi•
deration. He did not believe that anybody, either in
the House or out of the House, believed that the
question of the sugar duties should be suffered to
stand upon the present basis. He thought that the
proposition of his Noble Friend the Member for Lynn
would defeat his own purpose. He could assure the
House that the Government intended to go on with the
measure they proposed, and he trusted that they would
be able soon to bring the question to a permanent
settlement.
Sir R. INGLIS said he did not intend to go into the
general question of the policy of the present sugar
duties. He must say that in his opinion there was
nothing in the proposition of the Noble Lord the Member
for Lynn which would at all interfere with the ultimate
decision of Parliament, or with the proposition of the
Noble Lord at the head of the Government. By
adopting the amendment of the Noble Lord, the
House would have time to deliberate upon the ques-
tion, and the trade would be protected from the
sudden interference with the existing duties. The
proposition of his Noble Friend might do good in
this sense, but it could not do harm in the sense of her
Majesty's Ministers, if they had a triumphant majority,
which they anticipated, but with respect to which,
he believed, they were grossly deceiving them-
selves ; his proposition could not vitiate that
triumph at all. And, besides, if they acceded to
it, they would have until July next a similar
amount of revenue from the importation of sugar to
that which they had derived since July last. No man
believed that the sugar duties ought not to be con-
tinued as a source of revenue, and as the
proposition could not possibly do harm, he should give
it his support.
Mr. LABOUCHERE repudiated the idea that the
Government were swayed at all by the expectation of
a triumphant majority on the measure brought
forward by the Nobie Lord the First Lord of
the Treasury. All they wished was that
the subject should be fairly discussed, and that a decision
should only be come to after mature deliberation ; and
therefore they had no wish to prejudge the question, but
if they passed a continuance Bill for a year instead of a
month, ae proposed, the question would be left open, and
the greatest uncertainty and derangement to trade could
not fail to ensue. In fact, he believed nothing could be
more fatal to the commerce of the country and to the
interests of the West Indian planters if an impression
was conveyed abroad that Parliament was disinclined to
enter, in the present session, into a serious consideration
of the duties, with a view to the final adjustment of those.
duties. Any one who had watched the condition of the
country for the last five years, and the uncertainty in
which that commerce was placed by the unsettled con-
dition of those duties, must be aware that no question
stood more in need of a permanent and final adjustment
than the sugar duties.—(Hear.) Then, again, the sub-
ject would be soon brought before the House by the
Noble Lord (J. Russell).
Strangers were then ordered--to withdraw, and the
Hoene divided, when there appeared 7-
For the ameximent . ..... 3B
Against it • l2l
Majority :valeta the amendment
THE WELLINC,ITON-STATUE.

On the motion that the ordef of the day for going
into Committee of Supply be read,
Mr. C. BERKELEY said that he zlould assure the
House that in bringing forward the motion of which he
had given notice, be should follow the example of his
Noble Friend with regard to the brevity of his
observations. He was sorry that the subject h,d
not been taken np by a Member more influen-
tial than he was, but , considering the im-
portance of the subject to the public at large, he had
no hesitation in bringing it under the consideration of
the House, A number of individuals, with the most
praiseworthy intentions, had subscribed large sums for
the purpose of erecting a testimonial to the Duke of
Wellington. A site was required, and the gentlemen of
the Committee, without consulting the majority of the
subscribers, had decided upon placing it upon the arch at
the top of Constitution-hill. Several remonstrances were
addressed to Lord Melbourne, but without any good effect.
Now he knew that his Noble Friend opposite would tell
him that his motion was too late, but the papers on
which it was founded were not moved for by the Mem-
ber for Oxford till June 29, and they were not in the
hands of Members till the 11th July. Now he was not
going to follow the example of his Noble Friend whom
he saw behind him.—(Loud laughter.) It was impos-
sible to imagine anything more inartistical or in worse
taste, and he would trouble the House with a state-
ment of Mr. Decimus Burton's opinion on the subject.
(The Hon. Member here read some extracts to the effect
that the arch presented an appearance far too meagre
for the design, and was exceedingly inappropriate.)
All the architects that had given their opinions on the
subject had expressed themselves in the strongest terms
against the proposal. There happened to be one of the
most distinguished foreigners in this country
Jatoly —an Italian gentleman—and he was per-
fectly astonished at the monstrous proposition,
and concluded by saying, that if the plan was carried
out the statue and the arch would most assuredly fall.—
(Hear, bear.) Now he (Mr. Berkeley) must say that he
gave the Noble Lord, the First Commissioner of the
Woods and Forests, very great credit for doing his best
in this matter. The letter he had written ought to have
considerable weight with the House, and the letter of
his predecessor in office was equally good. He would
not trouble the House by, reading the Noble Lord's
letter ; but Lord Canning said in his com-
munication to the Committee, that whilst
in the name of her Majesty he was quite
prepared vr permit the placing of the statue on the arch,
he at the sa.'ee time considered it his duty to state that
her Majesty's Government hoped that the Committee
would act in ealP2iance with the many remonstrances
which had been presented to them:against the proposal,
by desisting from piach:,_g the statue on the arch, and
that every eminent architect and artist who had
been consulted on the suliject; decidedly m
condened the
proposal to erect a statue of so colossal a size as was
intended to be placed on the arcfre---(Hear.) In answer
to that communication of Lord Canning the Duke
of Rutland said that the Committee bad refused to re-
consider their design, and they insisted upon carrying
their monstrous proposition into effect.---(Hear, hear.)
Well, then, he (Mr. Berkeley) cons:;dered that
the House were called upon to interfere
in this matter.--(Hear, hear.) The arch on the top of
Constitution- hill afforded a thoroughfare to one of the most
crowded parts in the metropolis, and itwas also one of the
entrances to the palace of the Sovereign of this country.
That arch was also built at the public expense, and the
House of Commons had a right to say that such an in-
terference was attempted to be made with the arch as
ought not to be permitted. He should, therefore, propose
e'That an humble address be presented to her Majesty
praying that her Majesty will withdraw her consent to
place the statue of the Duke of Wellington upon the arch
at the top of Constitution-hill."—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. H. BAILEY,
in rising to second the motion of
the Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Cheltenham,
did so with the greatest pleasure, because he had
himself intended to bring forward such a mo-
tion,o he had delayed doing s- •
butuntil
certain letters were laid UnOn the table of the Ho
He must say that the proposition of the subscribers to
the statue was most monstrous.—(Hear and laughter.)
What he wished to impress upon the attention of the
House was, that they were about to erect a
monument, in honour of the greatest hero this country
bad ever produced, being manufactured of imperishable
materials, and ho believed it would .form the
greatest colossal statue in- the world. It Was calculated
to remain for ages and ages yet to come, not only as a
monument of the great man-it was intended to represent,
but as a monument of jpaltinwledge and taste of the fine
arts existing amengatr,the told° of this country in the
age in which thiylived, an it was, therefore, highly de-
sirable that the monument should be made as perfect
as it possibly could be.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
snowing, as the Committee did, the opinion of distin-
guished personages, and the opinions of scientific men,
be thought it somewhat indecent that the Committee