The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-05 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1851.

In the House of Lords, the report on the County
Courts Extension Bill was brought up.
In the House of Commons, after a conversation on the
conduct of the Vicar of Brighton, and a short discussion
on the state of the Bilrush Union,

The House having resolved itself into a Committee
of Ways and Means,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose to explain
the alterations which he proposed to make in the
Budget. Several weeks bad elapsed since he had pro-
posed the resolution to which he was about to call the
attention of the House, and time had been afforded
for the consideration of his propositions, and they bad
also heard the prepositions of the Noble Lord the leader
of the great party opposite, who proposed to reduce the
income-tax, and to re-impose an import duty on corn. His
own proposition was to continue the course on which
they had entered, of reducing import duties and
taxes on industry, and those two great prin-
ciples were before the country, and the country
was to choose. Ile had been most anxious for an op-
portunity of explaining and vindicating his opinions,
which had been misapprehended. He admitted that his
proposals had not been received with satisfaction. He
was not surprised that Gentlemen connected with the
agricultural interest should have been dissatisfied with
them, but with regard to other parties he was surprised
at the reception which those proposals had met with from
them ; but it was a matter of less surprise than regret.
There had been an expectation of a larger surplus, and
gentlemen were sorry to find their expectations dis-
appointed.---(Hear, hear.) He had never sanctioned
such sanguine hopes, and therefore he saw not how
proposing an honest Budget to the House, he could have
satisfied such expectations. He could not have met a
tithe of the demands for reduction made upon him.
They were bound in this financial measure to look
beyond the present year, and to resist the first
attempt at entering on a wrong course. The first ob-
jection made to his Budget was, that he proposed to de-
vote some portion of the surplus to the liquidation of the
National Debt. Lord Melbourne's Government had
been displaced for incurring an annual deficiency
which led to a loan of 5,000,0001. In 1846 a
surplus occurred, and in 1847 and 1848 the revenue
was less by 2,000,0001. than in the former year,
and yet there was no deficiency of ordinary revenue;
and in 1848 he proposed that we should pay further
taxes to defray the expenditure, but the House would
not consent to it. In snob an empire as ours unforeseen
occurrences would happen, which would render expen-
diture suddenly necessary, and that they ought always
to retain a surplus in band. Why, within a week after
he had made his last statement, a new Kafir war had
broken out, and within the last week a demand bad been
made by the East India Company for 400,0001., nn-
liquidated balance relating to the Chinese expedi-

tion. If we were always to borrow and never to pay,
but to devote the whole surplus to the reduction of
taxation, how was the credit of the country to be main-
tained? However fallacious might be the principle of
the sinking fund, the existence of that fund main-
tained the public credit, end now the surplus stood
in the place of the sinkirg fund, and therefore
must be maintained. Considering the sentiments which
had on former occasions been expressed by the Hon.
Member for Montrose, he was surprised at his opposi-
tion to this proposal. He felt most seriously on this
point. He protested against the delusion that any failure
in payment of the dividends would injure only the rich.
Five-sixths cf the persons receiving dividends re
ceived an amount not exceeding 50/. Fer annum, and
the solo dependence of these persons was upon the
maintenance of the public faith. Those persons were
widows, orphans, and artizins, who ought to be the es-
pecial objects of their solicitude. The results
of recent legislation had been to improve the condition
of the masses of the country, to enable the community
at large the better able to bear the burden of taxation,
and the pressure of taxation upon them was less than it
was ten years ago. He spoke warmly upon this branch
of the subject because he felt warmly ; he challenged
those who were averse to the maintenance of public faith
to stand boldly forward, and he called upon those who
agreed with him to do their duty, and withstand
the propagation of opinions so dishonest.—(Hear.)
He had no reason to alter the estimates of income and
expenditure which he bad formerly laid before them.
The probable 'amount of surplus, therefore, he-would
take at 1,892,0001., and in proposing to deal with
the surplus he did not study what would
be most effective, but what would be most
just, and what would give the greatest relief.
He had been reproached for not having reduced the
duty on tea, but, although that was a high duty, it was
not a protective duty, and if he had reduced that duty
he would, no doubt, have been called upon to reduce the
duty on the article which competed with tea, via., malt.

If Gentlemen wished for any large reduction, they rnusl

not perpetually demand reductions upon minor articles,
such as advertisements, newspaper stamps, and Irish
spirits. If the surplus was to be always
expended in the reduction cf some minor tax
no great reductions could ever take place.
It was for the sake of the labouring classes that be had
advocated the repeal of the duties on food and on raw
materials, it was for the purpose of herproving their
dwellings that he had last year carried the repeal of the
duty on bricks—(lronical cheers)—and it was for their
sukes that this year he proposed the repeal of the
duty on timber. They were crowded in cities
into ill-ventilated and ill-lighted apartments, and it was
to improve the sanitary condition of the labouring
poor that ho proposed to repeal the window duties,
d they would well close their career as Ministers if
ofohitehedetion.li ht
an
their last act should be to secure to the la-
umsoust
bonring population agble
the
Tfrheee
air of heaven..
and
he
duties—
such
such were the duties on coffee a timber; e proposed
duties that couki be imposed were protective
to remove them. Great corepLnn, had been made of the
adulteration of coffee; he did not propose to. meet
that complaint by sending an army of excisemen
bnt ho proposed to meet
into the grocers' shops, -
it by reducing the duty, and consequently the price
of the genuine article. He had, therefore, selected
c ;ffec and timber as having superior claims for a reduce
t" of duty. The result of the reduction on foreign
sugar had been most satiefactory, it had led to an
increase of consumption, bringing with it an increase of
revenue of 1,100,0001. The propositions for the
reduction of the duty on seeds,
and for dt fray-
ing the cost of lunatic asylums, bad not been
very favourably received by those for whose
benefit he had intended them, and therefore he should
not press them.—(Hear, hear.) He was aware that a
loud demand had been made for the unconditional re-
peal of the window outy—that duty brought in