The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-27 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMMON'S-(SATURDAY.)
LOSSES IN THE PAPER TRADE AND THE
HOUSE OF LORDS.
Mr; J. WHITE, who had the following questions on
the notice paper, rose to ask whether the attention of her
Majesty Government had been called to the losses that had
been incurred by persons in the paper trade, in consequence
of their having relied upon the finality of the votes of the
House of Commons in providing the ways and means for
the service of the Crown, and whether any mode could be
entertained for compensating the parties in question ; and
secondly, whether, as a precedent had been established for
the revision by the House of Lords of the provision an-
nually made by this house for the service of the Crown, it
would be in future expedient to obtain the concurrence of
the House of Lords before any proposal of the remission of
taxation was made to this house ? The hon. member was
stopped by
The SPEAKER, who, in reference to the second ques-
tion, said that had the notice been brought to him when he
was in the house it would have been his duty to have asked
the hon. member whether it was really intended as a serious
expression of opinion or in an ironical sense, and if in the
latter case, he should have informed him that questions
placed on the paper and intended to be of an ironical nature
were out of order, and could not with propriety be put.
Mr. J. WHITE said it was his intention to put the
last of the questions in an ironical sense, and he asked it
more in sorrow than in anger. There was an impression
that, owing to the "gigantic innovation" made by the
House of Lords, by which trade had been embarrassed and
commerce impeded, neither the present nor any future go •
vernments would presume to bring forward any question of
remission of taxation, until they first consulted the House
of Lords as to its expediency or not. (Oh, oh.) A very
large interest had suffered by the course adopted by the
House of Lords. Had the paper-makers been peers or
priests, or proctors or lawyers, they would have received
ample compensation, The persons engaged in that trade
had a right to believe that the bill for the repeal of the paper
duty would have been passed by the Lords, and they were
justified, therefore, in entering into those engagements
which they had done. The country was now paying a tax
levied against the will of the House of Commons, and raised
solely upon the authority of the House of Lords. A noble
lord in another place had not only appeared to think that it
was his duty " to stem the tide of democracy," but also to
make a fearful encroachment upon the privileges of the
House of Commons. The present House of Commons would
be memorable in the annals of this country for the cowardly
abandonment of its privileges and the gigantic expenditure
which it had authorised. (Oh, oh.) The conviction on his
own mind of the state of things was such that he intended
to appeal to the gentleman who sat at the table of the house,
and beg of him, in any future edition of his " Parliamentary
Practice," to revise that part relating to the privileges of the
house, in order that the people out of doors might know what
had really been effected by the House of Lords. He would
not now re-argue the question, which had been rendered
memorable by the glorious eloquence of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer ; but he would simply in sober serious-
ness place these questions on the paper, believing that large
interests had been endangered by the course pursued.
Mr. E. JAMES said that if the hon. member fox Brighton
had accurately observed what had taken place in this house
and in the other house during the last few days, he would
have seen that there was hardly any necessity for the re-
vival of this question. No doubt the public viewed the
matter with a jealous feeling, but he could not agree in that
part of the question which assumed that a precedent had
been established by the House of Lords for a revision by
that house of the provisions made by the House of Com-
mons for the service of the year. The hon. member must
have known that the house had protested against the course
taken by the Lords, and their protest was upon record in
the journals of the house. He thought that the hon. mem-
ber ought to be satisfied with the course which had been
taken, and be (Mr. James) believed that there was no de-
sire on the part of the other house to interfere in any re-
spect with the privileges of the House of' Commons, for
only last evening the noble and learned lord on the wool-
sack had pronounced an opinion favourable to the course
which this house had pursued, and the noble and learned
lord further stated that there was no desire on the part of
the House of Lords to interfere with the privileges of the
Commons.
Sir G. C. LEWIS said although he had spoken on the
motion before the house he would offer a few observations.
The house would not expect him to offer any excuse for
not reviving a discussion on the general question of the
paper duty, and of the action of the house with regard to that
subject. With respect to the statement of the hon. mem-
ber, that there was a defect in the legal power for raising
the paper duty, he would merely state that that duty was
levied under an act of Parliament, which in former years
had passed both houses and received the royal assent, and
therefore, so far as the legal question was concerned, there
was precisely the same authority for raising the paper duty
as for levying and collecting any other branch of the
Queen's taxes. The hon. member stated that the present
House of Commons had distinguished itself by its large
votes for expenditure, and seemed to infer from that that
it was unreasonable to retain this branch of revenue. Now
if the grants for expenditure had been unusually large, it
was scarcely, perhaps, a logical inference that it was de-
sirable to diminish our revenue. (Hear.) With respect to
compensation to the paper makerp the hon. members would
no doubt recollect that the measure with respect to the cus-
toms duty on paper, which was very fully debated, and
passed through both houses, proceeded for the most part on
the supposition that the excise duty involved scarcely any
appreciable loss to the paper interest. If that were correct it
could hardly be said that the paper makers had any claim
for compensation. (Hear, hear.) He was not aware that any
such claim had been advanced, and if it had been it was clear
that, no vote having been passed by the House of Commons
for the purpose, the Treasury would have no means of mak-
ing any compensation, he would even go further and say that
he could not see upon what possible ground any such claim
could be put forward. (Hear.) No such precedent had
been established as that referred to by the hon. member as
effecting a change in the constitution. Those who promoted
this measure in the other house knew that it was an extraor-
dinary remedy to meet an extraordinary evil. A noble lord
most favourable to the course pursued considered that it was
defensible as a medicine, though it could not be justified as
daily food. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) It was clear that
no precedent for any change of system had been established,
and even if such a thing were attempted, he did not see how
it would be mended by resorting to the course indicated by
the hon. member for Brighton. (Hear, hear.)
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY thought the House of Com-
mons would be always ready to vindicate their privileges if
they were really invaded by the Lords. The moral to be
drawn from this state of the paper duty question was that
the House of Commons should not hastily embark in any
extensive reduction of taxation until it was aware of the
expenditure which would be required. The only effect of
the hasty course adopted was that the revenue had sus-
tained the loss of probably not less than a quarter of a mil-
lion, which showed that the house had been guilty of great
imprudence in repealing this tax. (Hear, hear.)

PROPOSED NEW STREET FROM COVENTRY-STREET.
—A plan is under consideration for a new street commenc-
ing from Coventry. street, passing south of Leicester-square,
and in a south-east direction, and continuing along Orange-
street at the back of the National Gallery, and in a line
with King William-street. The plan has the support of
the parishes of St. James and St. Martin. Funds to carry
it out are in hand.—Builder.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Depression of Spirits—Debility.—
Some defect in digestion is generally the cause of mental
depression. On rectify ing the disordered stomach the long
list of gloomy thoughts retire, and are succeeded by more
hopeful and happier feelings. Holloway's pills have been
renowned far and wide for effecting this desirable change.
They remove all obstructions, regulate all secretions, and
correct depraved humours, by purifying the blood and in-
vigorating the stomach. Their medicinal virtues reach,
relieve, and stimulate every organ and gland in the body ;
whereby the entire system is renovated. No medicine ever
before discovered acts so directly and beneficially upon the
blood and circulation as Holloway's celebrated pills ; which
combine the rare merits of efficiency and harmlessness.