The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-03 00:00:00

Britisb subjects in the East. There seemed to have
been from the beginning a radical dt feet in the Indian
Administration: it was the primary duty of a paternal
Government to provide for the formation of roads and
the extension of irrigation; and he contrasted the con-
duct of the Mahomedan conquerors, who had reckoned
it a first duty to astend to these matters, with that of
their European successors.
The motion was then agreed to.

The LORD CHANCELLORpreeented a Bill relating
to the regulation of charitieF, and deieribrd it as being
grounded on a report u hich would be laid on the table
to•morrow, and which would go to show the abAolute
necessity of some Bill of the kind.

The bill was rrad a first time.
" CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE."

The Marquis of WESTMEATH. wished to inquire
what steps had been taken for obtaining possession of,
or for removing, the obelisk called " Cleopatra's
Needle," in consequence of the gift made to George
IV. by the late Pasha of Egypt in 1620?
The Noble Marquis adverted to the proposal made
fur its removal to this country at the end of
the campaign of 1801. The opinion of the late Sir
Robert reel expressed to himself was that it was
a monument which ought to be brought to Lon-
don and erected as a memorial of Sir Ralph Abercromhy
and others who bad fought and died in Egypt. The
late Sir G. Murray also stated that he joined with all
his military and naval friends, who desired that the
obelisk should be brought to this c.)untry. Some ob-
loquy had been thrown on the condition of this monu-
ment, under the impression that it was not of adequile
value to compensate for the trouble and expense of re-
moval. Perhaps the intrinsic value might nut be much.
but, as a monument and as a trophy, it had a value pe-
culiarly its own. The sculptures, he understood, were
in comparatively good preservation. He had called at-
tention to the subject solely at the request of several
military and naval offict,rsl_

The Earl of CARLISLE aknowledg.d the importance
which attached to the otwlisk. not merely as a memorial
of the ancient art or Egypt, bat also as a monument of
British heroism. He had consulted with his Noble
Friend the First Lord of the Treasury, and inquiries
had been made on the subj.- ct. There were, he appre-
heLded, some mechanical difficulties, and all he could
say wat that the matter was still undar consideration.
The Bridges (Ireland) Bill was read a first timp and
their Lordships adjourned at a Quarter to Eight o'clock.

ROUSE OF COMMONS, June 2.
INCOME TAX.

Mr. HUME nominated the Select Committee to in-
quire into the subject of the income-tax, consisting of
the following gentlemen:—Mr. Hume, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, Mr. Hors/ran, Mr. • Herries, Mr.
'Labouchere, Lord Harry Vane, Mr. Disraeli, Mr.
Thomas Baring, Mr. Henley, Mr. Cobden, Mr.
Frederick Peel, Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Ricardo, Mr.
Vesey, and Mr. Beckett Denison. The course
he thought which would have to be pursue el
by this Committee in their labours would be, to as-
certain the workings of the tax in all its ways, and
to see whether any mode could be adopted to
render it more fair and equal, and as . little as
possible oppressive to the industry of the people. Be
looked forward to the present inquiry to render
the tax a means of maintaining one uniform system
of charges in the country, without the necessity
of more extraordinary charges, which they bad
witnessed of late years, and which, he contended, even it
they were for the better, yet at first produced lass evils.
His earnest wish was to retain a permanent system.
Mr. BERRIES said when he had voted for the
motion of the Hon. Member opposite to limit the tax fur
one year, he certainly did not mean his vote to involve
an assent to the present inquiry, and more especially
when he now perceived that the intention with
which the Honourable Member went into it was
not to abolish the tax but to mend it, cer•
tainly, if he could ; at all events, to make
it permanent. That principle be differed from
altogeth.r. There was also another point on which he
differed from the Hon. AL mber, and that was that the
chief grievance of the tax was in schedule E. In his
opinion it VOUS schedule D which %earnest faulty and unjust.
Tee Hon. Gentleman had adverted to Mr. Yitt, but he
had forgotten that there was a wide difference between
the circumstances of 1798 and those of the present
time. The tax might have been expedient then, but
it was totally uncalled for now. To show the
injustice of the tax he might mention an instance of ine-
quality which had come under his own observation. A
certain manufacturer had returned his profits at 70,0004
a year; but the local commissioners were dissatisfied
wish that return, and in order to avoid a lull investiga-
tion into the whole of his private affairs he was obliged
to pay the tax upon 130,0001. But that was only one
instance of its
.injustice.—(Hear, _ hear.) Now, with
regard to the Committee, be did not think it bad
been fairly selected, and he was very much afraid that it
would accomplish no useful end. The tax was full te
inequalities, unjust, in its operation, and liable to encou-
rage fraud, and he therefore thought the beat thing that
could be done was to abandon the tax altogether.
Colonel SIBTHORP thought - the tax in any shape
would be objectionable, and be agreed with the Riot
Hon. Gentleman that the prop. sed inquiry could lead to
no good result. He complained that no Member has
been seleoted to serve on the Committee who
would_ he likely to represent the interest of the army and
navy. He,_ for one, thought. officers in the army and
navy, who lived upon their pay, ought, to be exempted
from the payment of the tax, and he was, on that ac-
count, the more annoyed at the omission referred to.
Mr. V. SMITH had come down to the House under
the impression that there was nothing else to do but to
nominate the Committee, but it appeared to him now that
the appointment of any Committee at all was an
open question. If it was he was quite ready to vote
that there should be no Committee, for he was averse
to shitting any part of the responsibility
which duly belonged to Government on to
the shoulders of a dozen Members of the House. What
would this Committee have to do supposing it was ap-
pointed? At one time it was supposed that the
object. of its appointment was the equalisation of the
tax, but now it appeared the question to be decided
was how far land could be relieved from its operation, and
if that really were so, how could the Committee arrive
at any satisfactory conclusion on that point, when nine
Members proposed to be nominated • would represent
towns, and only six counties?— (Hear, hear.) He leper.'
the House would make some alteration in the constitu
lion of the Committee, it they were to base any at all.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER bad un-
derstood that the tax was to be continued tor a year,
and, in the meanwhile, a Committee was to be
appointed with a view of rendering it more
equal. in its operation before it was rendered
permanent. The discussion which had just taken place
showed the inconvenience which arose from two parties
professing opposite principles uniting to carry
a particular motion, because now it seemed that while
one aide wished to improve the tax with a view of
rendering it permanent, the other wanted to get rid
of the tex altogether.—(Hear, hear.) The Government
could not accede to the latter proposal, and they
had consequently no alternative but to consent to the
appointment of the Committee, and now that such
motion had been agreed to, their object ought.
to be, so to constitute the Committee thu.
it should represent every shade of feeling in the House.
The Hen. Gentleman who bad named the Committee
appealed to have been actuated by that desire, and
he thought on the whole that the Committee, as
it now stood on the paper, was open to little or
no objection whatever. He, however, thought the sugges-
tion of the Honourable and Gallant Member for Lincoln
was well worthy of attention, and if any Gentleman
could be placed on the Committee who could
represent the feelings of the army and the navy on the
autoect of the income-tax, it was extremely advisable to
do so —(Hear, hear.)
Mr. FRESHFIELD moved as an amendment that the
order for the appointment of the Committee be read-fur
the purpose of bing discharged.
Mr. DISRAELI said the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer had referred to an opinion he (Mr. Disraeli) bad
expressed the other night, but he . had not quoted his
observations quite accurately. What he had stated
was, that in votiqg fur the motion of the Hon. Member
for Montrose he did not vote for the Committee, but
that understanding it was the feeling, of the Government,
and shat the sense of the House wiles in layour of the mo-
tion, be gave his assent to the Committee; and as he had
always objected _ to' subjects ot importance being die-
cussed and decided upon false privtencel. he had agreed
to vote fur the motion. But the Chaucellor of _the Ex-
chequer misunderstood him when he stated that he bad
agreed with the Hon. Member for Montrose that the
subject at issue was one which ought to be referred to a
Committee. What he did say was, that the ltreduwss
susceptible of modification in schedule A said in •bh
thele
B; that as it had been modified in scscheduleA schedule
B;di.
Government, it was not impossible butita ns, e
had there-
fore, b
g
fled also in schedule B—(Laughter)
th
st._
not objected to inquiry, bat than he ill hoped
modification would be effected, by her Majesty's that
Minis-
ters. If the Hon. Gentleman, theitefhre, still wished for a
Committee, though be
(Mr. Diar sty)
_had.vnotepar,_icular
desire on the point, be should give, himhiso But he
appealed to the Hon. Member to consider all the dream-
stances by which the question wits surrounded. They
were on the eve of the holidays—et month had already
been lost in the matter; it was not possible, in the pro-
bable period that the session would last, to investigate
thoroughly the whole subject, and the Committee would
have to make an incomplete report, or to be re-appointed
again, and again begin their labours in the next session.
Tnen the materials of the Committee were not of that
nature to give satisfaction to the House. None of the
authors of the law, for instance, were on it. Irre-
spective of their high positions, it would be the greatest
advantage, in point of satisfaction, to have some of those
gentlemen who passed the Act of .1842 on the Com-
mittee. There were other Hon. Memilers also whose
services were not called into requisition, whom it would
be equally satisfactory to see on the 'ommittee. He
(Mr. Disraeli) put it to the Hon. Member, therefore,
whether—commeeciog at the fag-end of the session, with
.a Committee composed of such unsatisfactory materials
—there was any hope of coming to a fair conclusion on
the subject of his inquiry? Therefore he trusted the
Hon. Gentleman would give the matter more considera-
tion under the circumstances.
Mr. AGLIONBY protested against what he held to
be a fraud on the House and on the public. He did not
speak of any motion in particular, but of the proceed-
ings of that House. The majority bad limited the in-
come-tax to one year, and that majority was composed
of those Hon. Gentlemen opposite who were of opinion
that an inquiry might be properly entered into, with the
view of making the tax more equal. A large number of
Members, however, would not have supported the motion
fur huiting the tax to one year, • but, on the contrary,
would have supported its further coutusuance for three
years, only that they believed there would be an inquiry
as to its operation. . The motion for limiting the.,tax to a
year had. been carried .911. this Ist 000,3% 60 %I the Bth.