The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-21 00:00:00

TIONS) tILL.

On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
Mr. A. SMITH said this bill contained matter not only
affecting the Duchy of Cornwall, but the public interests.
He had refrained fcom opposing its former stages, knowing
that he should now have the opportunity of doing so. The
bill came in the specious form of providing limitation to
suits; but it contained large powers for selling and leasing.
It was much of the same character as till° Submarine Min-
ing Act, passed in a recent mossion, which ho had unsuc •
cessfully opposed. Such measure ought to be introduced as
private bills, in order that they might be sifted by a select
committee. If this bill passed in its present form it would
give the duchy the power of granting leases of property, ac-
quired under the former act, against persons in actual pos-
session,
An HON. :MEMBER here moved that the house should be
counted. There were at this time orly about 20 members
present, but the requisite number appeared beforo the
counting took place, and
Mr. A. SMITH proceeded—The revenue of the duchy of
Cornwall was £40,000 a-year, and in the course of a few
years ethic £42,000 had been made over to the duchy.
The house then went into committee.
Clause 1 being agreed to,
Mr. KENDALL moved to add a proviso reserving the
rights of actual occupiers. Certain property was said to be
in charge to the Duke of Cornwall, provided it had ever
been entered in the books of the duchy ; and the possessors
of such property, who might have derived it from their an-
cestors, were subject to be turned out any morning without
a moment's notice. All he asked was this—to let them have
what had been promised to them; and if any slip had taken
place, let the house not take advantage of it, end let the
clauses he proposed be introduced.
The committee divided, when the numbers were,
For the proposed clause
Against 69-52

The amendment was therefore negatived. The other
clauses of the bill passed through committee, and the house
resumed.

The Isle of Man llarbours Bill was postponed until tha
day week.

PAPER DUTY REPEAL.

On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
Mr. BOVILL moved a resolution declaring it to be just
and expedient that a drawback should be allowed to printers
and publishers on the duty paid upon their stock of paper
Purchased and printed upon after the passing of this act,
and remaining in 'sheets unbound on the 15th of August
next, the day on which the duty was to cease. He remarked
that :the Chancellor of the Exchequer had already ad-
mitted the principle of a drawback in the case of the wine
duties, having been influenced in that case either by the
pressure of a large and influential body of men, or else by a
sense of justice; and the same principle would apply to
the stocks" of paper in the hands of printers and pub-
lishers. Indeed, the bill did propose to allow a drawback to
stationers, paperstainers, and pasteboard makers, upon the
stocks of paper in their hands, and it did so for the purpose
of preventing a stagnation of their trade. It was considered
that unless the stationer was allowed a drawback he would
abstain from purchasing paper, and would not keep up his
stock ; the trade and the operations of the manufacturer
would be suspended, and in the interval of time the Govern-
ment would derive no revenue therefrom. The same argu-
ment would applfato the caseof the printers and publishers,
and the drawback which they also claimed. It might be
said that the stationer was only to be allowed a drawback
on the entire reams, half reams, and other parcels of paper,
remaining in stock unopened at the time when the act came
into operation. But that was merely to identify the parcels
of paper, and there was not a difference of principle between
the case of the stationer and that of the printer or publisher.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer had therefore conceded
the principle of a drawback, which extended, in the case of
the wine duties, to stocks purchased two years ago, and"
which might even, in the case of the stationers' stock, ex-
tend to paper that he had purchased 10 years, if the reams
had continued unopened during that time. The printing
trade was one of a different character, but great numbers of
people were dependent upon it, and it was entitled to as
much consideration. He was informed that. in the metro-
polis alone there were 8,000 printers who were engaged in
the printing of standard works. Now, what would be the
effect of a refusal of the drawback upon them ? Suppose
that Mr. Bohn, or any other large publisher of standard
works which were not copyright, was engaged in bringing
out a series of works at an extremely moderate price. The
printing went on month by month, and as it was prepared,
it was worked off, the paper being purchased and supplied
for the purpose. Those works, not being new works, but
standard works which were expected to have a tolerably re-
gular sale, they might come out either in one month or an-
other, and might easily be deferred without detriment to the
publisher, though perhaps with some little disappointment
to the public, if they were expected. If it was now thought
right, instead of taking off the paper duty immediately, to
defer taking it off until four months hence, Mr. Bohn or
any other such publisher would not print his works during
those four months, but would defer the printing of them
until the time when the duty was to come off. It might be
said, perhaps, that since the publishers would derive great
advantages from the repeal of the paper duty, they could
well afford to wait. But it was not the publishers who
would suffer, because if the publication of those standard
works was deferred for two or three months, they would pro -
bably get the same sale afterwards. The effect, however,
upon others would be this. As Mr. Bohn, with his " Stan-
dard Library," and other publishers, would thus defer the
publication of their works, the inevitable consequence would
be that the printers would be unemployed, and thousands
of meritorious workmen would be deprived of the means of
earning their daily bread, and the greatest distress would
be created among them. He was informed by a man well
acquainted with the trade that ten thousand persons would
be eit'ier wholly or partially thrown out of employment
until the duty came off. Nearly the whole of the pressmen
of London,
cease t
ndon,who be employed.owerema H
mainly engaged
did not
gagedinasbk foraook draw--printing,
back on the paper used for periodical publications ; but it
was the heavy book-printing that would be suspended if
the drawback was refused, because then, by the delay of a
very few weeks, the publishers would obtain the benefit of
the repeal of the duty, svhile the ill effects of the delay
would be visited on the working printers. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer might, perhaps, say that as he was pro-
posing to give up a large amount of revenue by the repeal
of the paper duty, he could not afford to give u p the amount
of this drawback. But he would really be giving up a very
dg not be paid in the trifling amount by allowing this drawback, for if the pub-
lishers
consumed, abstained
and
thferodmutyprwinotulin' the paper would not he
mean-
time. By the law, as it now stood, until the 16th of August
next any publisher might go on printing, and if he ex-
ported his printed books, though it were only to Jersey,
and then brought them back again, he would be entitled to
the drawback. They could be exported to Jersey and
brought back, at an expense of about a halfpenny a pound,
and if the publishers chose to take that trouble, they
might evade the duty. The Chancellor of the Exche-
quer,would therefore not be sacrificing very much revenne.
by allowing the drawback which he now asked for,
Heasked if it was worth while, in order to save so small
a sum, to turn out of employment hrndreds of m
.then in the
Wregard to
.ee but the tmh eet metropolis
uatnyd,
theyt h e u thousandsr
ei nd t
nh
oe cgotivanr tar;
declara-
tion of the wine dealer, end why should they require more
in this case ? He did not think there would be any diffi-
culty in identifying the paper, and if there were, he had
provided for that 117 inserting words iu his resolution, that