The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-25 00:00:00

INCOME-TAX.

1,100,0001. for the Kafir war, and 245,4101. 19s. 7d.
for the navy excess,
Mr. HUME rose and was

(LEFT SFEAKING.)

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 24.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool-
sack at ten minutes after Five o'clock.
ROME.
Viscount STRANGFORD presented petitions
from a place in Norfolk against diplomatic relations
with Rome, and against the Jewish Disabilities Bill.
Lord RODEN presented five petitions against
diplomatic relations with Rome, three of which were
from Ireland.
The Marquis of BREADAL BANE presented a
petition to the same effect.
THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.
The NOBLE MARQUIS also presented several peti-
tions in favour of a measure to facilitate the grants of
sites for the Free Churches of Scotland, the peti-
tioners complaining that great difficuties were thrown
in the way of their attaining such sites.
THE" UNITED IRISHMAN" NEWSPAPER.
Lord STANLEY then rose to call the attention of
their Lordships to this periodical. They were, no
doubt, well aware that dissensions had of late years
broken out in the ranks of those who had heretofore as-
sembled in Conciliation Hall, and that they had been split
into sections. The one to which his remarks especially
applied was the Irish Confederation. Two letters of
a violent nature were addressed to the Confederation
by Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Riley, two of its mem-
bers, a discussion ensued upon them, and the
body, on a division of 317 to 188, de •
dared the said letters too dangerous for
publication. Mr. Mitchell resigned, and established
the paper of which he complained, the United Irish-
man, on the 20th of the present month. The
Noble Lord then read a passage from the
speech of a Mr. Meagher, which he delivered at
the meeting of the Confederation, at which the letters
of Mr. Mitchell were discussed in very excited
language. He seemed to advocate insurrection, if the
circumstances of the country required such a course.
It was the young, whose blood was warm, and
whose temperaments were enthusiastic, that were led
away, and induced to take steps of violence by such
high-flown oratory ; and it was the duty of a pater-
nal Government, desirous to preserve the welfare of
the country, to take means to put a stop to it.
The Noble Lord referred to articles and letters in
the paper, one of which was addressed to " Lord
Clarendon, Englishman, calling himself her Ma-
jesty's Commissioner," in all of which violence was
advocated for the purpose of rescuing the
country from the domination of England; further,
that juries were packed for the purpose of
obtaining the verdicts that were required, and that
the columns of the paper were intended to be opened
for the promulgation of these opinions. The objc-ct
of the paper was to create civil war and rebellion,
for the purpose of annihilating everything English.
It might be said by the Government, " Let it pass
by;" but he could not coincide in that opinion. Let
them recollect that these sentiments were not ad-
dressed to the sober•minded and thinking people of
England, for he believed such a seditious article would
be treated with disgust, but to the excited
people of Ireland, who were suffering under many
distresses.—(Hear.) The paper was sold for 5d.,
but he was informed that it was eagerly bought up
in the streets of Dublin on its first appearance for
ls. 6d. and 2s. He had felt it his duty to
call the attention of the Government to the
first number, because it was a sample of what was to
follow. He wished to know if the attention of the
Law Officers of the Crown had been called to the
paper, and if it was intended to prosecute the pro-
prietor ?
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said that his
attention and that of Lord Clarendon had been called
to the newspaper in question.—(Hear, hear.) It
would not be well, he thought, to fetter the discretion
of the Noble Lord, as he was confident that
he would act as the circumstances of the case
might seem to him to require. He was not,
however, authorised to say that he had
felt it his duty to institute a prosecution against the
parties.
The subject then dropped.
ENCUMBERED ESTATES (IRELAND) BILL.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then moved the
second reading of this Bill, and entered briefly into
its details. It could not fail, he said, to be of the
utmost advantage to Ireland where the land was
deeply mortgaged. This, in fact, was one of the most
fruitful sources of the impoverished condition of the
country. The object of the Bill was to enable the pro-
prietors of entailed estates, heavily encumbered, to
dispose of them. This, he should say, would lead to
the better management of the estates, and to the
profitable cultivation of the land. And why should
not Parliament interfere ? The principle was not
new, for in the cases of canals, railways, and other
public improvements, they did not hesitate to take
the property required for such purposes. It was dif-
ficult, perhaps, in every case to protect all the parties
interested, but every endeavour had been made in the
Bill to do so. It was a subject of great complexity,
and therefore the matter had been left very much to
the discretion of the Court of Chancery in Ireland.
The Bill would guard as much as possible against the
absence of any one interested in an estate to be sold.
It was proposed that the manager of an estate should
have a right to apply by petition to the Court of
Chancery, to put the powers of the Act in motion
with regard to such estate, and every one who con-
ceived that he had an interest in the property might
enter a caveat, and thereafter be entitled to notice of
any proceedings that might be taken with regard to it.
Upon a petition being presented, it would be referred,
in the first place, to a master, to inquire Into the
facts of the case, and he would have the means of ob-
taining all the information necessary to see that jus-
tice was done. He would also give notice to all
persons interested in the matter. He would then
make a report to the Court, and recommend what,
under all the circumstances, was the most expedient
course to pursue ; and if he thought it desirable that
the estate should he sold, he would be authorised to
sell the whole interest. If the Court thought there
was a doubt that some interest had not been ascer-
tained, and it were subsequently proved, the money
would be refunded. Every means, in fact, had been
taken to prevent the money being paid out of the
court into the wrong hands, as well as to protect, in
every possible way, the interests of the owners, mort-
gagees, and other persons interested in estates ; and
the object of the Bill was to give to the mortgagee his
money, and pay over the surplus to the owner, or
invest it in land. The Noble and Learned Lord,
who was very inaudible throughout, concluded by
moving the second reading of the Bill.
The Earl of RODEN expressed his thanks to the
Noble Lord for the great pains he had taken to ex-
plain the object and details of this measure. Cars
thinly, without such a measure, it would be very
difficult to carry out the poor-law now in force in
Ireland. He knew a friend of his, having about
3,0001. a year from land in Ireland, who had to pay
no less than 1,2501. in poor rates. If those rates
should only be trebled they would swallow up more
than his income. He hoped the present Bill might
be a means of rescuing persons so placed from their
existing difficulty.
Earl FITZ WILLIAM thought it might be de-
sirable to guard the public in England from forming
any very exaggerated idea of what would be the re-
sults of this measure. He was far from thinking
slightly of the Bill; on the contrary, he thought it a
very right and wise measure ; but he had a strong
impression that its operation would be very slow.
Men were not over willing to arrive at a conclusion
that it was absolutely necessary to sell their estates;
nor were they always able to sell them when they had
arrived at such a conclusion. If it were a long
time, therefore, before the Bill produced any sensible
effect, their Lordships and the public must riot be
disappointed.
Lord STANLEY concurred with those who
thought that the evil sought to be remedied by this
Bill was one of overwhelming magnitude in Ireland.
When men of a nominal rent-roll of 10,0001. or
12,0001. a year in Irelani were really receiving
scarcely so many hundreds, it was clear that they
could not properly do their duty either to the state or
to those who were dependent upon them. But al-
though the evil to be remedied was great, he must
also observe that the mode of cure was one accom-
panied by considerable difficulty. He trusted that
time would be given deliberately to consider the
details of the measure. The principle he did not
now object to; but it must be borne in mind that it
was one which might be pushed to a very inconve-
nient extent. To tell a man that it was for the interest
of the state that he should dispossess himself of his
property because he had not sufficient capital to de-
velop all its resources was to establish a principle that
it was at least very dangerous to act upon. Besides
thin, he thought that considerable practical inconve-
nience might arise from the Bill. Estates might be
pressed into the market, and the value of Irish pro-
perty might thereby be greatly depreciated. This
was a consequence very much to be dreaded. He
would venture to ask, with reference to one of the
details, if a tenant for life would have the power of
selling?
The LORD CHANCELLOR said he would be
the party to make the application for sale.
Lord STANLEY said he thought the power of
sale being vested in a life tenant would be open to
great difficulty. He also had doubts as to the secu-
rity given to the purchaser under the Bill. Another
difficulty lie felt was, that the Bill as at present
framed scarcely gave sufficient protection to the
owner. Applications for sale might be mide to the
Court ui Coaocely by an ioeumbraneer of an estate,
but the entire costs of that application were charge-
-able upon the estate, whether the Master in Chancery

Mr. Sheriff Hill appeared at the Bar of the House,
and presented a petition from the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Common Council against the Go-
vernment proposal for increasing the income-tax.
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY wished to know from the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the loan of eight mil-
lions of stock having produced in 1847 the sum of
7,963,5741, whether any and what portion of such
money was in the Exchequer, or was in the Ex-
chequer on the Ist day of January, 1848 ; and
whether there was any objection to place on
the table of the House an account of
the expenditure of the said loan ; also,
whether the 420,0001. of the China money de-
tained at the Cape, might be taken as u deduction
from the 1,100,0001. expended in corrying on the
liafir war.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
stated that the whole amount received as the produce
of the loan, had been caraied to the Consolidated
Fund. Last year he stated that the advances
to Ireland had been about 10,000,0001. Up
to the present time he found that a sum
of about 9,000,0001. had been advanced in the way
of loan or grant to Ireland. A balance of 1,000,0001.
was, therefore, suitable for other Irish purposes.
With respect to the latter part of the question he
found that the advances from the Commissariat chest
had been so heavy that he had not as yet been
able to draw any thing from it. If the vote he
should propose to-night would be granted he
would then be able to draw on the Commissariat for
the amount of the China money, which could be made
available for the purposes of this year.
In answer to a question put by Col. CONOLLY,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
stated that the amount of loans made to Ireland was
4,450,000/., and that the grants amounted to
4,270,000/.
In answer to a question put by Mr. E. DEN•
NISON,
The RIGHT HoN. BARONET said that the
1,000,0001. remaining in hand would be available for
carrying out the provisions of several Bills passed last
session for the purpose of granting loans for the im-
provement of land, and for the settlement of some
still outstanding accounts in the Commisseriat De-
partment.
INSURRECTION IN PARIS.

Mr. M. MILNES wished to know if the Noble
Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs would have
any objection to state to the House the nature of the
latest information which he had received respecting
the political state of Paris.
Lord PALMERSTON said, amid profound silence,
the latest intelligence which I have received from
Paris, is dated half-past 6 o'clock on the evening be-
fore last—(Laughter.) These despatches inform me of
the retirement of M. Guizot, and that Nl.Mole had been
appointed to form a new Government, later than that
I have no ofticial information.— (Laughter.)
COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY.

07; tho 01: the CIIAN.CELLO3, of the
EXCHEQUER for the House going into Committee
of Supply for the purpose of taking a vote of

made an order for the sale or not. An owner might 1 Mr. HUME insisted that no chi, 'II ought to be
consequently be driven into a suit against his will, i allowed to be published until it had been passed by
for which he would have to pay the entire charges. the Admiralty, and hoped Governme. nt would take
These of might arise from his want of ac- up this subject without waiting to have ...`t fore ed upon
quaintance with the law, but he thought them very them by the House. Allusion had been mad ato the
serious objections, and that time at least should ho fate of the Great Britain, and he coidi assure
given for their consideration. the House that several of the charts taken out by that
Lord CAMPBELL said the astuteness of the vessel were discovered after she met with her unfor-
N oble Lord opposite was so great that had he been tunate accident to be most defective.
bred to the law there would have been little doubt Mr. WYLD said, an immense amount d f public
but that he would have sat on the Woolsack. But money had been spent in surveys conduc to d under
the Noble Lord was under a great misapprehension the direction of the Admiralty, but these e surveys
as to the effect of the Bill, for its effect upon the were almost worse than useless to the public, on
owner would be mainly to cheapen and simplify pro- account of the trifling amounts that were 4 spent in
ceedings of the Court of Chancery to which the mort- publishing the results of the surveys.
gagee might even at the present moment subject him. Mr. COWPER was glad the lion. M.e.mber for
With regard to the security of the purchaser, he Bodmin had called the attention of the H ottse to the
directed attention to the 26th clause, under which loss the public sustained through the non-publication
any purchaser would have, not what was now called of the charts prepared by the officers of the . dmiralty,
an Irish title, but a Parliamentary title established and he trusted when the estimates which :related to
by the Legislature, and good against all the world. this subject came under discussion, the Hon.. Member
He very much rejoiced that the Bill had been intro- would repeat the observations he had jai.st made.
duced, and he expressed his confidence that it would Until this evening he had never heard: anything
be of the greatest benefit to the sister country. uttered against the judgment of the Hydr ographer of
Lord MON TEAGLE admitted the value of the the Admiralty, but the character of that c Meer, both
26th clause, but thought it might be open to incon• in a public and a professional point of vies v, was held
venience to remedy what was now no doubt a great in so much estimation that it was hardly no ie essary for
grievance in the partial manner in which this Bill l:im to answer the aspersions that had be ea thrown
would operate. He would rather see a general mea- out against him. The Hydrographer, hot never, was
sure introduced on the subject of title, and he fully prepared to justify the opinion he had. expressed
thought, if this Bill was carried, it would be the upon the subject of the best route open to steam-
duty of Government to see that an equally remedial vessels going to Australia, and there was,, therefore,
measure was brought in applicable to other estates no objective to laying on the table of the Blouse the
than those subject to mortgage. With regard to papers which the Hon. Member had moved far.
another point, he felt that this measure, in order to After a few words from Mr. DIVETT, eh emotion
be effectual, must be accompanied by a measure for was agreed to.
reforming the Masters' offices in which the proceed- THE WINDOW DUTIES.
ings under this Bill were to be conducted. He be- Lord DUNCAN presented a petition from up-
lieved that, at present, it was infinitely easier to get wards of .5,000 persons, inhabitants of Balla, includ-
an estate into a Master's office than to get anything ing the mayor, most of the magistrates, and members
out of it. of the town council, praying for the imme ediate and
The LORD CHANCELLOR said a few words in total repeal of the window-tax ; also, similar petitions
reply, and the Bill was then read a second time ; to from owners and occupiers of houses inhabit ;ed by the
be committed this day fortnight. working and middle classes in Sunderland, :laid in the
AUDIT OF RAILWAYS ACCOUNTS BILL. borough of Bury, in Lancashire.
The Committee on this Bill was postponed until Sir B. HALL presented a petition fron 3, Maple-
Tuesday next. bone to the same effect.
The House adjourned at twenty.five minutes after Lord DUNCAN said that, in rising to yropose the
Seven. motion of which he had given notice, he was well
f th abjection -ad diffir Ries which ht

ROUSE OF COMMONS. Feb. 24.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock.
STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE.

Sir W. HEATHCOTE brought up the report o
the Standing Orders Committee.
SUSPENDED RAILWAY BILLS.

Mr. FARRER moved—" That the Sessional
order of the 17th of December last, requiring that all
Railway Bills be referred to the ommittee c.n Rail-
way Bills before being pesented to the house, be
suspended so far as it relates to any Railway Bills
which were suspended in the session of 1847, by
virtue of the resolutions of the House of the 10th of
June last."

Mr. WOOD seconded the motion.
After a few words from Mr. STRUTT, in opposi
tion to the Bill, the motiou was N‘ithdr.twn.
AIORLEY GAS-LIGHT BILL.

This 13111;;;rQ a second time, and ordered to
be committed.

NATIONAL DEFENCES.

Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition from
dleditch, in the county of Cheshire, against any in-
crease in the military establishments of the country.
Sir T. BIRCH presented a petition from Liver-
pool to the same effect.
Dr. BOWRING presented a petition from the Isle
of Wight to the same effect.
BANK ACT.

Sir H. DAVIE presented a petition from Had
dington, praying fora modification of the Bank Ac

JEWISH. DISABILITIES.

aware ce ,e objections ants (cu. ~es Jive siege
be made to this or to any other motion for :a reduction
of taxation, more especially at the present crisis. Ile
would own that he was in hopes that he 'should have
been anticipated by the Noble Lord (J. Russell), or
by his Right Hon. Friend the Chancello r of the Ex'
cl.equer in the motion, because when he col usidered that
in a time of peace the budget, of which they had heard
so much, proposed an augmentation of the property-
tax, he shouldi have expected that it wreild have been
put forward as a substitute for one which pressed
most grievously on ,the labouring cllasses of this
country. Ile had been told that this was not the
time to bring forward the present motion, but he bad
always observed that the unsuitable character of the
time was always made the pretext for opposition by
those v‘ ho did not wish it to be brought forward at
any tine shatever. On the last occasion when the
question was mooted he had moved for n Committee
of inquiry, but that motion was defeated, and he nor
therefore moved for a total repeal of thew indow-taX•
On looking over the taxation of the co untry, he
thought he had found a substitute for this tax, and it
was en this account that he had been induced to come
forward as speedily as possible and lay the whole
question before the Chancellor of the Exchequer
for his consideration. It was made a great boast
that out of 3,500,000 houses in Great Britain
less thon 500,000 paid the window-tax. The
reason why so many houses were exempt was,
that the windows of a great number were reduced to
seven windows only. He had received a letter from
a very great authority, which he recommended to the
consideration of his Noble Friend the Chief Commis'
sioner of Woods and Forests, and in which the
writer said that no plan of sanitary reform would be
complete till the window-tax was abolished. He had
also received a similar letter from Mr. Byers, the
chairman of the Carpenters' Society in London, and
a very extensive builder. Mr. Byers stated that in
the poorer description of houses the washhouses and
priviss were entirely without ventilation, from the
operation of the window-tax, and that in Compton'
street he had been employed to stop up no less than
five windows in almost every house in the street. The
history of the house duty and window tax was worth,
the attention of the House. In 1695, in the reign 01
William the Third, the first Act was passed for
levying duties on inhabited houses in Great Britain.
The ,duty on each house was only 2s. but there
was a duty of 4s. on houses having 10 windows
and a duty of Bs. on houses with 20 windows. That
tax was considerably increased in the time of Queen
Anne and in the time of George 11. In 1747, Mr-
Pelham got an Act passed by which houses and win-
dows were taxed separately. In 1784 dr. Pitt passed
his famoui Commutation Act, which greatly increased
the window duty, and in 1797 he found it necessary
to increase the tax upon houses. In 1802 and 1805
two more Acts wet e passed, which augmented the
duties on windows, and in 1822 Sir John Hobhouse,
then Member for Westminster, brought forward a
motion very similar to that which he (Lord Dungan)
had now laid on the table. Sir John Hobhouse was
told that it was absolutely impossible to repeal the
window-tax, but so strong was the opinion of the
people on the subject that in the year following Mr.
Robinson, at that time Chancellor of the Exchequer,
found it necessary to reduce the window-tax one-balf•
In 183:1, when Lord Althorp repealed the house-tax,
he passed also another Act, to which he should beg
leave to call the attention of the House. In that Act
Lord Althorp inserted a clause, in which it Wee
stated that persons then duly assessed should hare
power to open as many windows as they pleased. A
great number of persons took advantage of that pro'
vision, and accordingly opened a very great number
of windows. Unfortunately, in 1840, there wan'
what was found to be the case at present, a deficiency
in the revenue, and Mr. Baring, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, passed another Act, laying an addi-
tional 10 per cent. on the assessed taxes; and, at the
same time he had recourse to what is called a re-
assessment. It would be found, on comparing the
year ending April, 1840, which was previous to Mr.
Baring's Act, with the year ending April, 1841, that
in 1841 there were 450,913 houses paying 1,613,3081.
to be set against 394,036 houses in 1840, paying
1,350,930/. ' • thus showing an increase of 56,877
houses, and of 262,3781. additional taxation. Not-
withstanding, however, the increase of population
which was going on, the window-tax immediately
afterwards fell off, as the people had recourse to the
expedient of blockading their windows. The number
of houses assessed gradually decreased from 450,913
in 1841 to 447,383 in 1844. But the most striking
feature in this part of the case was the diminution
which had taken place within the same period in the
number of houses having eight or nine windows. IA
1841 the total number of houses having eight win-
dows was 62,898, while in 1844 they had dwindled
down to 55,692. Again, in 1841, the number of
houses with nine windows was 54,241 ; and, in 1844,
this number had decreased to 53,781, showing a total
decrease in the lowest class of houses assessed to the
window-tax of 7,296 houses. The mistake made by
financiers was that windows were taken to be a.eriterion
of the value of a man's house ; though they might se
well take the number of buttons on his coat as a cri-
terion of the value of what was in his pocket. There
was another point to which he wished to call the
attention of the House, and that was, the inequality
of the assessment. In Berwick-street and in Poland'
street, Soho, no one house was rated at 2001. a year,
and most of houses in them at 30/., 401., and 601.;
yet these two streets paid 8981. window-duty, while
in St. James's, square, where there was no house
rated under 1001. a year, and many houses were
rated at 5001., and even 1,0001., only contributed 669 L
to the window-duty. Berkeley-square paid but 7121.,
and Grosvenor-square 9831. It would be found,
therefore, that houses with a rental of 301. or 401.
a year, paid 30 or 40 per cent. in addition in the shape
of window-duty, while many houses, occupied by
richer people, only paid in the proportion of 4 or 6
per cent. upon the rental. Mr. Porter's table showed
that the houses under 15 windows paid 544,0001.,
one-third of the total amount of the duty ; those
under 20 windows 854,0001., one-half of the duty;
those under 24 windows 1,028,0001.; and those
under 35 windows 1,500,0001., two-thirds of the duty,
leaving 147,0001. to be contributed by large houses-
Now, upon looking at a little book which he held in
his hand, called the Assessor's Warrant and Astral!'
lions, the first thing that struck one was the number
of exemptions from the duty. In the first place, Ire-
land was exempted altogether—(Hear, hear)—and if
the Right Hon. Gentleman would allow him, be
would tell him why. Mr. Robinson stated in 1821
that:the impoverished inhabitants of Ireland, in order
to avoid the window-tax, had resorted ,to the miser-
able expedient of stopping up the apertures in their
houses, and had thus made their houses dark and un-
wholesome ; but he added that such was not the case
in this country. He (Lord Duncan) had already
shown, however, that this process was going on to
considerable extent even in England. Well, the next
exemption was for all public offices, and therefore the
gentlemen who enjoyed themselves in public
offices might open as many windows se
they pleased. The next exemption was in favour of
all occupying tenants of farms at a rent under 201. s'
year; an exemption confined to country district)
only. Then, Lord Althorp, an agricultural Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, brought in an Act which ex-
empted windoas in dairies and cheese-rooms.
windows in shops and factories were exempted, and
of course there was also ari exemption in favour of the
law and the church. He found that chambers in the
tioiversiti s of Oxford and Cambridge, and in
Liz.ro!..'s inn, were to be charged as seear,,te dwel,
leg houses, nod eonsequently they would not n 6
liable to window-duty, unless they had more than

Mr. D. DAVIES presented a petition frcm Car-
marthen in favour of the admission of the Jews into
Parliament.

CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL.

Mr. LOCKE presented a petition against the
Charitable Trusts Bill from a place in Yorkshire, the
name of which did-not reach the gallery.
Sir G. STRICKLAND presented a petition from
Chorley to the same effect.
PEEBLES ELECTION COMMITTEE.

Lord R. GROSVENOR brought up the report of
the Select Committee to whom the petition complain-
ing of an undue election for the county of Peebles
had been referred, stating that the Committee had
decided that Mr. Forbes Mackenzie had been duly
elected to serve in Parliament for that county.

I

1

t

seven windows. [So the Noble Lord, doubtless from
inadvertence, said ; but the copy of the Assessor's
Warrant with which he favoured the reporters of this
journal states (p. 14) that exemptions under para-
graph No. 10 (the one in question) "do not ex-
tend to any chamber or apartment in any of the
inns of court or of Chancery, or to any college
or hall of the Universities of Oxford or Cam-
bridg-1/4."] That was not the case with houses of a
poorer class, and therefore in Scotland, to which

country he himself belonged, if a man inhabited a
floor of a house, the floor was taken as part of the
house, and the occupier paid window duty. A great
grievance was, that no window could be blocked up
except with the kind of materials of which the walls
of the house were built. For example, no window in
a brick housa could be stopped up with wood, and
some of his unfortunate countrymen, in ignorance of
0-ny such prohibition had sustained much loss. Mr.
4ohn Bold, of Frome, was obliged to pay for a win-
dow which he had stopped up with mortar, because
the walls were of stone. Mr. 11. Evans had closed

up a -window with lath and plaister instead of stone,
419 after he had done so he was charged for it as a
window, and had also to pay. Indeed cases of this sort
were innumerable. Another great grievance was, that
the Act of Parliament did not specify what a window
Was. Every hole through which light came seemed to be
regarded as a w Mr. Scholefield, of Cam
bridge, had to pay for a hole which he made in his
coal- cellar._. (Hear, hear.) If a person had eight or
nine windows in his house, and made a hole through
which air and the smallest portion of light might
penz.trate, he had to pay for it as an additional
window. The Noble Lord here instanced several

cases in which parties had been called on to pay for
making such holes; one of which was that of a person
who had to pay for two holes made in the roof of a
washhouse. Indeed, if a brick should fall out of the
wail of a house, so that the light came through, the
owner might he put down for an additional window.
-7-(11ar, hear.) This tax was collected in a very
different manner from the other assessed taxes. In

other cases a person set down how many servants, or
carriages, or horses, he had, and for these he was
charged ; but with regard to windows, he was not
ask dhow many he had ; and if he had e misfortune
to live at a time when a Chancelhr of the Exchequer
like Mr. Baring took it into his head to renew the
assessment, he might find that he was called upon to
pay for more windows than he had even admitted he

possessed.—(Hear.) Another grievance was, that all
skylights, however constructed, were liable for pay-
ment; and thus all sorts of things, double or triple
windows, and openings of half an inch wide to those
of any size, were included. He had heard of much
distress in this country, and he had a communication
in his hand from the glass trade, complaining of the
injury they sustained from the infliction of this duty,
and the evils which it caused to the community. His
friend, Mr. Swinbourne, had informed him that he
wished to put a glass top to a house, but was forced
to give up the experiment on account of this odious
and obnoxious tax.—(Hear, hear.) Then another
complaint was, that all windows did not pay equally.
It was pretended that, by the scale now adopted, the
poor were exempted from the tax, and, no
doubt, all were exempted who had below eight

windows in their houses; but from the number of eii4-ht

windows till they reached 40 the payment gradually
increased; while at 40 windows the scale began to
descend, and descended regularly till it came to 180,
when the tax was ls. 61 a window; wh.,reas a house
with eight windows paid 23. 3d.—(Hear, hear.) Yet
they were told that, by the present sliding scale, the
poor were exempted, and the rich were compelled to
pay. He never was in favour of sliding scales, and
he must say he thought they had gone out of fashion
with the corn-laws ; but he did not, at all events,
expect to hear a scale defended by which the pay-
ment increased till the number of 40 was reached,
and then lessened till it came to 180. He now came
to a part of his plan—if so he might call it —to which
he asked the serious attention of the House, because
it was that which he meant to propose as a substitute
for this odious and obnoxious tax on light and air.
The House would recollect that the army, navy, and
ordnance estimates, in 1825, amounted to 15,310,000/.;
in 1835, to 11,600,000/. • in 1845, 15,664,00 C/. ; in
1846,16,864,000/4 and the other evening they were told
that these estimates for the coming year amounted to
18,957,000/. Now, if his Right Hon. Friend the
Chancellor of the Exchequer were to bring in the
amount of his estimates this year the same as in 1846,
he would thereby save not less than 2,000,0001.,
Which would enable him to repeal the window-tax.
But that was not the plan he proposed; and he only
mentioned it to show that by such a course the win-
dow duties might be got rid of. He had listened the
other evening most attentively to the statement of
the Noble Lord, and he heard from him that he
estimated the whole amount of the revenue for the
following year at 54,750,000/. The increase in the
fence estimates was—for the navy, 164,0001. ;

army, 43,0001. ; ordnance, 245,0001.; while for
militia there was a sum of 150,000/, ; making in
all an increase of 600,0001. Now, he should propose
that his Right Hon. Friend should take the
same esti;.-nates as last year, and thus there would
fall to he deducted a sum of 600,000/. Next
he would cut off the squadron employed on
the African coast for the suppression of
of the slave trade, and be found this expenditure
amounted to 300,0001. ; so that with these two sums
they had 900,0001. The next proposal he would
make was, that in place of the 5,000 additional
soldiers coming home from India, the Government
should furnish the metropolitan police force with
Muskets. He did not wish to make them soldiers,
but he thought that in the event of the French
coming over, it would be of great use to have such a
large armed force in the metropolis, while the troops
from India, on their arrival in their own country,
should be allowed to repose on their laurels. In this
case, then, there would be a reduction of 100,0001.,
altogether making ono million.—(Hear, hear.) He
'would now come to an important part of the plan
which he recommended. lie had shown how they
could raise 1,000,0001. by various modes of economy,
and he would now point out how they could raise an
additional 600,0001. His attention had lately been
called to a report of the Commissioners of Woods and
Forests, and he must say that that document had struck
him with unmingled astonishment.—(Hear, hear.)
In what he was to propose to the House he felt it his
duty at once to say that he would not include the
royal palacee ; for, considering the gracious bearing
of her Majesty on all occasions of public distress, and
the readiness with which her Majesty took her share
of the public burdens, he would be the last man to
make any proposition for interfering with the royal
palaces.—(Hear, hear:) He would, however, direct
their attention to that portion of the property under
the charge of the Commissioners of Woods and
Forests called the outlying property, and the greater
part of that he would dispose of. The property he
Was prepared to dispose of was the following :—New
Forest, New Park, and Parkhurst Forest ; Dean
Forest and High Meadow Woods ; Bere Forest, De-
larnere Forest, 1V hittlewood Forest, Salcey Forest;
Whychwood Forest; Hainault or Waltham Forest;
Alice Holt and Woolmer Forests; Elthatn Woods ;
and Cbopwell Woods—the last being a somewhat
ominous name. When he came to see how these
forests were managed, he must say he was struck
with astonishment.—(Hear, hear.) He had in his
hand a return relative to the New Forest, which
might be taken as a specimen of all the others.
These lands were all lying waste—complete deserts
—without a single plough turning up an acre' of
land. There was a return ordered of the amount of
timber supplied for the navy ; but from the year
1840 down to 1847 the return was uniformly nil.—
(Hear, hear.) Then, when he looked at the income
and expenditure, he found that the income in 1821
was 17,5621. 10s. 61, but that it had diminished in
1847 to 9,0261. In 1821 the expenditure was 8,1651.,
and in 1847 it had increased to 10,4951., being
1,0001. more than the income in that year.—(Hear,
hear.) Then there was such a number of people
to manage these forests--these luxuries so carefully
preserved. There were for the New Forest one lord
warden, 13 master keepers, including several Members
of Parliament ; 4 verderers, 2 rangers, 1 bow-
bearer, 1 lord warden's steward, 1 deputy-surveyor,
1 assistant-deputy, 11 regarders, 14 groomkeepers,
&c.—(Hear.) Among other expenses, he found that
a dinner, at the public expense, was provided for the
verderers and other officers on the 14th of September
of each year ; and that another dinner was given to
about fifty other people connected with the forest.—
(lleer.) Now, he asked if it was not contemptible
to keep up such a state of things as this ?—("Hear,"
from Colonel Sihthorp.) He was glad to hear that
cheer from his Gallant Friend, and he knew that he
would be prepared to do his duty, and to speak out
manfully, as he always did on this question. He
hoped that there would be a searching inquiry into
this matter ; but, for God's sake let them have no
Caremissioners to discharge such a duty,—(Hear.)
He had no hesitation in saying that if a portion of
these lands were brought into the market they would'
realise a sum not less than 500,000/., and if that were
'idled to the sum of 1,000,000/., which he had already
shown could be saved, they had a round sum of nearly
1,6000001., the exact amount of the window-tax.—
ne would call the attention of the Noble Lord
(Lord M-rpeth) to the miasma which prevailed in
this great uneu,)tivatecl waste of lan(1, which stretched
like a cloaca maxima over the country, spreading
disease and death among ay., people; and he thought
that even in this point of view the subject was not
unworthy the attention of the Noble Lord.—(Hear,
11;?".) He recollected that when he first brought
forward this subject he was met by the then Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Goulburn) with the
question, whether he was able to produce any sani-
tary repert lyEtarinct, upon the point. He had sanitary
reports reportsreportsin his oession which bore strongly upon
the question. Ina report from North Shields, he
found it stated that the number of windows was
greatly diminished by the window-tax, and that an

THE

rangements for ventilation were thereby interfered
with. From Sunderland, also, it was reported that
there had been a blocking up of numerous windows
to escape the tax, and that this was a primary cause
of sickness and mortality.—(Hear, hear.) Dr.
Reid had given a strong opinion as to the
effect of the tax in limiting the number of windows
among the dwellings of the poor; and Mr. Mar-
tin, of North Shields, had also pointed out how
much it interfered to keep out light and air from the
houses of all classes by the blocking up of windows
in that town. He, for one, could not be indifferent
to the blocking up of windows that was going on in
this manner in the northern parts of the kingdom,
because he trusted he never should forget that it was
an inhabitant of this very town (North Shields) who,
when an ancestor of his had his colours shot away,
mounted, and once more nailed them to the mast.
In conclusion, he would exhort the Noble Lord at
the head of the Government to recollect that retrench-
ment and economy bad ever been the battle cry of
the party to which he belonged, and which had placed
him in power. He would appeal to all the Members
of that House to relieve the working people of this
country from an impost which was accompanied with
many grievances and evils; and, last of all, he would
make his appeal to that Divine Providence which, by
giving to man light and air, showed how necessary
that blessing was to the maintenance of the human
constitution.—(Hear.)

" Ohl Lord of light and air,
Oh, King! oh, Father! hear my humble prayer:
Dispel this cloud; the light of heaven restore;
Grant us to see, and England asks no more.
If we must perish we'll thy will obey;
But let us perish in the face of day."
(Cheers.) The Noble Lord concluded by moving
the total repeal of the window duties.

Mr. HUME seconded the motion. There was a
rule laid down by all political economists, that that
tax which was subject to the greatest amount of ex-
ceptions was the worst that could he imposed.—
(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman (Sir R.
Peel), two sessions age, proposed the abolition of the
auction duties ; and he gave it as an admirable speci-
men of a law existing where the amount received was
the exception to the amount collected. Only 201. out
of every 1001. collected, he believed, reached the Ex-
chequer. Besides, he showed that there were 18 dif-
ferent kinds of property exempted from this tax.
What was the case of the window-tax? In the first
place, Ireland paid no part of it.—(Hear' hear.) It
was a tax upon England and Scotland alone, and
whilst we had to pay additional taxes for the sup-
port of Ireland, was that country alone to be
exempted from this one ? That of itself ought to be
a strong reason for its repeal. It appeared also
that houses below a certain rate were exempted.
He believed that about three-fourths of the

houses were thus free from it. Did not that show

that it must be a grievous tax to call for all these ex-
emptions ? When the House interfered by their
taxation with the health and comfort of the people,
the result must necessarily be most disastrous. The
time was come when there must be a reform in our

system of taxation.—(Hear, hear.) He considered
this to be one of the most mischievous of the number;

and one of the grounds for his seconding the motion
of the Noble Lord was that he might show the coun-
try, by the division which would take place upon it,
who were, and who were not, friends of the poor. He
wanted to see how those Hon. Members would vote

who were usually loud in their desire for the im-
provement of the moral and religious character of
the country, fbr he held that until you could place
the mass of the people in an adequate state of phy-
sical comfort, a large portion of the expenditure
for moral and religious purposes would be utterly
lost.—(Hear, hear.) Re agreed with the Noble
Lord that the royal forests were a burden to this
country, and ought to be sold. It was the duty of
the House, when the trappings of royalty became
expensive and pressed upon the wants of the
community to take measures for abridging them. He
felt very serious on this point, and he assured the
House that these were not the times for trifling on
such subjects. The House ought to look at the situation
of the mass of the people, and try to reduce their
burdens to an extent which would afford them real
relief.—(Hear, hear.) Taking off a trifle here and
a trifle there would not answer the purpose. The
public expected greater relief and they looked to the
Government to give it to them. It was the duty of
the Government to originate such reforms. The
House could only aid them in carrying them cut.
He hoped the division tonight would show that a
large portion of the House was favourable to the re-
peal of the tax then under consideration.
Colonel SIBTHORP had sincere gratification in
supporting the motion of the Noble Lord, and he cor-
dially thanked him for the manly course he had
taken in opposition to the Ministry. He fully agreed
with the Noble Lord, that if they were to institute a
searching inquiry into the abuses of their expenditure,
retrenchment might be effected to an extent that
would enable them to get rid of this and many

other taxes. But this would be attended with con-,
siderable trouble and inconvenience, and the Govern,

went would of course resist it. There was a total

indifference on the part of Government as to wha
became of the people, so long as they filled their own
pockets and enjoyed their own comfort.—(Laughter.)
With respect to the window-tax, if it was to be main-
tained, it ought not to be put upon the dwellings of
the poor, but upon the mansions of the rich. The
Government offices ought to be made pay. The gen-
tlemen who were revelling in Downing-street, whose
houses were furnished, for aught he knew, out of the
secret service fund—(Renewed laughter)—and who
gave dinner after dinner to each other, ought to be
made to pay. He would have this secret service
fund examined into also. The very word " secret"
carried with it a suspicion that something was going
on that ought not to go on. He would not be sur-
prised to hear that some of it had gone to the case of
Dr. Hampden.—(Continued laughter.) He repeated
that he would cordially support the Noble Lord in
his present motion, for he considered it as at present
levied to be a disgraceful, dirty, shabby, and uncon-
stitutional mode of raising money.
Sir DE LACY EVANS wished to say a few
words in support of the present motion, for he felt it
was unnecessary to do more after the able speech of
the Noble Lord, not only then but on former occa-
sions; and more especially as the unjust and oppres-
sive nature of the tax was so self-evident. To this
moment the justice of the tax remained unvindicated.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer had not yet risen,
but he (Sir De Lacy Evans) had listened to his pre-
decessors on former occasions, and he had never
heard from them anything approaching to vindication
of the justice of this tax. He knew very well that
it was often alleged, in a vague and general way, that
there was no tax whatsoever but some particular
grievance or objection might be brought against it.
But he took leave to say that this did not apply to
the present case—for whether they looked at it in-
dividually or generally it was absolutely indefensible.
The humbler classes were made to pay at the rate of
20 or 30 per cant., while the opulent classes paid only
1, If, 2f, or 3 per cent. Could such a tax as that be
defended ?—(ileir, hear.) He agreed with the Noble
Lord regarding the royal forests. The country de-
rived no sort of advantage from them whatsoever.
Some 800 or 500 years ago they were a luxury to the
monarch ; but for some hundreds of years past they
had been merely deserts, as the Noble Lord had said,
except in regard to furnishing some snug berths for
members of the aristocracy and the humbler sup-
porters of the Governments which had succeeded each
other from time to time in this country.—(Hear,
hear.) He did think that they might be very well
disposed of. Among the items of expenditure brought
forward by the Noble Lord to show the necessity of
increased taxation were the expenses of the Kafir
war ; but it ought to be remembered that this item
appeared only for the present year, and was not likely
to be repeated.—(Hear, hear.) He firmly believed
that the people of this country, notwithstanding the
temporary distress—fur temporary he believed it to
be—which pressed upon the community, and which
at present threw a gloom urn the operations of com-
merce as well as other matters—he believed that not-
withstanding these circumstances the great body
of the people were perfectly willing to contri-
bute to the necessary expenses of Government;
and that they were also capable of supplying the
means for those expenses. It was not the amount of
those expenses which created the annoyan3e and
irritation on the mind of the public, so much as the
unjust and unequal distribution of the taxes —(Hear,
hear.) Nothing had so much tended to produce the
French revolution—he spoke of the first revolution,
not of the present one—(Hear, hear)—as the convic-
tion on the part of the people that their fiscal burdens
were unjustly and unequally distributed, He would
suggest a small addition to the budget for the consi-
deration of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor
of the Exchequer—he meant the probate duty on real
property.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") There
was scarcely any item of taxation the omission of
which had had a stronger effect on the feelings of the
people than this. It was felt to be unjust that the
hardly-earned produce of industry should repeatedly
and constantly, and in the small amounts in which it
was realised, be subjected to a heavy probate duty,
while the transmission of the property of the great
and wealthy had no tax of a similar nature whatever.
He trusted that this snbject would receive the early
and serious attention of Government.—(Hear.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—I
do not know that the office which I have the honour
—however unworthily—to flit is at any time remark-
ably agreeable. It is certainly, however, as disagree-
able an office as any one can possibly occupy when
the country is suffering distress, and when it is my
painful duty—however reluctantly—to increase taxa•
tion. On the present occasion I have another painful
duty to discharge in resisting the remission of a tax
which has been described to-night in no very mea-
sured terms as odious and vexatious. I confess that
I think that the proposition to reveal the window-tax,