The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-29 00:00:00

THE BUDGET.

There is an argument, and rather a taking one,
now being constantly paraded by Ministerial organs
in defence of Mr. Gladstone's Budget, to wit, that
the repeal of the paper duties is the only means of
settling the constitutional difference between the
Lords and Commons. Now, there is a degree of
plausibility in this plea which might make it very
popular, but that the proposal comes from quarters
whence we expect anything but conciliation. More-
over it implies two conclusions, to which we are by
no means disposed to accede. First, that the Peers
were in the wrong, and that, therefore, the Com-
mons are justified in exacting satisfaction ; second,
that the only proper mode of settling the difference
is to coerce or intimidate the Upper House into a
virtual abdication of its constitutional rights. Now,
the constitutional difference, as it is termed, was in
fact settled last year. The majority of a committee,
composed of the most eminent members of the House
of Commons, decided that the Lords had not gone be -
yond the privileges vested in them by constitutional
usage ; and the House of Commons, by overwhelm-
ing majorities, endorsed that decision. A minority
—a small but turbulent minority—both in the com-
mittee and in the House tiok a different view.
One of its members, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
so far forgot his duty to his country and to his own
position, as to offer the right hand of fellowship to
every political agitator and pothouse demagogue in
the country, and proclaim himself their indignant
champion. The member for Birmingham was proud
to follow so audacious a leader, and we don't know
what revolutionary proposals did not emanate from
an association styling itself the Constitutional
Defence Committee, and obeying the impulse of
those two Arcadians, Messrs. Bright and White.
Some curious revelations were brought to light about
the internal economy of this association, and publicly
it seemed to take every possible pains to convince
the people that its objects by no means corresponded
with its title. In fact, looking back upon the origin
of this association, it is possible to obtain a better
understanding of the true intent and purpose of Mr.
Gladstone's present proposal, and to appreciate more
fully the high-sounding motives which are attri-
buted to its author. There are two very opposite
ways of settling a difference. You may knock the
dissentient down, or you may shake hands with him;
and it is certainly not the conciliatory principle
that animates the party in obedience to whose
dictates the remission of the paper duties has been
proposed. What the House of Commons is called
upon to do is to repeal a tax, not because there is a
superabundance of revenue, or because it is specially
burdensome, or because its value as a source of
revenue is decreasing, but because the House of
Peers saved the country nearly a million and a half
of money last year. This is the plain English of all
the elaborate statements about the " political consi-
derations and the political prudence" which recom-
mend the Budget. But what is, or ought to
be, the first consideration of a Chancellor of the
Exchequer—personal pique and disappointed
vanity, or the national credit ? Does the mere
fact that the Peers refused to sanction the pro-
fligate extravagance of Mr. Gladstone last year
justify an equal prodigality now ? Does it
palliate dishonest statements, false accounts, and
fancy surpluses ? All these the House of Commons
is asked to swallow for the sake of getting rid of
what is called the constitutional question. Justice
to the millions, faith with the nation, expediency,
probity, statesmanship, and truth, are all to be sa-
crificed to the interested clamour of a few agitators
and the inordinate vanity 'of that great-at-any-price
politician the member for the University of Oxford.
The truth is, from first to last the paper duty
question has been essentially one of cant. It began
with the" taxes on knowledge" cry. The £1,300,000
from the paper duty represented the tyranny of
ignorance and the bondage of the mind. By its
imposition we were popularly supposed to be
damning the channels of education ; cutting off the
conduit pipes of useful knowledge, and perpetuat-
ing the reign of darkness, immorality, and vice.
This cry was soon disposed of, as it was conclu-
sively shown over and over again, that there is no
class of publications in which the reduction of price
consequent upon the remission of the paper duties
would be appreciable to the consumer. Then it was
said that all its weight fell upon the poor, who paid
it over the counter to grocers and other retail
dealers. Mr. Gladstone grew poetical about the
rural mills that would spring up on its removal,
and descanted eloquently on the enormous benefit
that would result therefrom to our agricultural pa.
pulation ; and Mr. Milner Gibson held out the pro
spect of every farmer becoming his own paper ma-
nufacturer, and of millions of publications flying
about the country the production of the refuse of
the farm-yard. Now the ground is shifted. In-
stead of taxes on knowledge, and glowing pictures
of rural mills, we have the " constitutional" ques-
tion raked up ; and earnest patriots recommended
to repeal the paper duties because the Peers refused
to do so last year. But if ever there was an agi-
tation to which the term " organised hypocrisy"i,
could be happily applied it is the unceasing eta-

mour which has been raised upon this question
from its earliest to its latest phase ; and it is to be
hoped that.the attention of the House of Commons
will not be diverted by the false light now thrown
around Mr. Gladstone's scheme from the real
points at issue.
We protest mostlstrongly against the new doctrine
that political considerations alone are to decide our
financial policy. A more pernicious theory could
hardly be put forward. A budget ought to be a
question simply of £s. d. What the Chancellor of
the Exchequer has to consider is not the interests
of a class nor the claims of a party, but the good
of the whole nation and the maintenance of the na-
tional credit. The repeal of the paper duty may
benefit the manufacturers or it may not. They
themselves as a body are doubtful as to its ultimate
working. But to the nation at large it will pro-
duce no appreciable benefit, while it will perma
nently deprive the national exchequer of £1,500,000
of revenue very easily collected. For the paper duty
once given up is given up for ever. You may, in
case of war, double your income tax; you may re-
impose your sd. on tea, and raise the duties on
tobacco and sugar. But the abandonment of the
paper duty is a dead loss, the virtual annihilation,
so far as the public purse is concerned, of an enor-
mous capital. If there be the surplus which Mr.
Gladstone takes credit for, at least let it be applied
in giving relief to the people, and in a safe reduction
of taxation. Mr. Baring suggested the duty on tea
as the most fitting channel for the Chancellor's
bounty, and we believe that his suggestion is, under
the circumstances, the one likely to prove the greatest
benefit to that portion of the people which claims the
most consideration from statesmen—the working
population. Fivepence in the pound off the price
of tea would add materially to the comfort of every
home in England, and it would almost necessarily
create an increased consumption, and promptly repay
a great portion of the million taken off from the war
duty. The poor man would feel the reduction at once.
He would be sensible of a real and practical effort in
his favour made by the governing classes, and he
would be grateful. Cheapen the paper in which his tea
is wrapped, and keep up the price of tea, he will tell
you that your boasted sympathy is a sham. He will
have a right to say, as demagogues have taught him,
that every interest but his own is represented and
makes itself heard in the House of Commons. There
is not a man, woman, or child throughout the masses
who has not a direct interest in this question. Tea
is, in every family amongst them, a necessity. To
cheapen it would be to give fresh comfort to every
poor man's home, and thereby add, we believe, to the
morality of the working classes. Let Mr. Gladstone
pocket his pride, and prefer the gratitude of his
countrymen to the approbation of Mr. Bright. Let
him withdraw a proposal, which is likely to involve
us once more in a great party struggle, and which
will benefit nobody, in favour of one which will
meet with universal acceptance, and whose benefi-
cent influence will be felt throughout the kingdom.
If not, the true friends of the working classes must
do their duty, and the power over the national
purse must be taken from one who prostitutes it to
the meanest of party objects.— Morning Herald.

LAW IN7 ELLIGENCE.-April 27.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.

(Sittings in Banco, before Lord Chief Justice Cock-
burn, and Justices Crompton, Blackburn, and
Hill.)

STEPHENSON V. TAYLOR.

Mr. Garth said he appeared for the appellant.
The facts were these :—The appellant was a captain
in the Ist Surrey Volunteers, and the respondent
was the toll collector at the Kennington-gate. On
the 2d of June last the volunteers had gone into the
country to drill regularly assembled. After the
drill was over, Mr. Hodgkins and two others of the
corps (in uniform, with their arms and accoutre-
ments) took a cab to return home. When they came
to the respondent's gate he refused to allow their
cab to go through without paying toll. The volun-
teers remonstrated, but the respondent was deter-
mined, and the volunteers paid 3d. for toll. The
volunteers then summoned the respondent, but the
magistrate refused to convict ; and the appellant,
therefore, came to this court to have the question
settled. It was proved that the three persons who
were in the cab were volunteers, that they had been
duly assembled, had been on duty, and were return-
ing home; that they were in uniform, had their
arms and accoutrements ; and that no other person
was in the cab. The learned counsel then cited the
3d George IV., cap. 126, sec. 32, which gave the
exemption, which was this—" That toll should not
be taken for any carriage conveying volunteer in-
fantry on going to or returning from any place on
the day appointed for any public duty, provided
such persons shall be dressed in uniform, and have
their arms, &c., at the time of claiming exemption."
The learned counsel contended that this case came
strictly within the letter and spirit of the exemp-
tion. It was a carriage conveying volunteers in
uniform, bearing their arms, &c. a`he act also ex-
empted any horse upon which a volunteer was rid-
ing when on duty.
Mr. Justice Crompton—ls it not like the case of
a voter going to and returning from an election ?
Mr. Justice Blackburn said the exemption clearly
provided for a horse on which a volunteer was rid-
ing when on duty. If it extended to a horse, why
should it not apply to a carriage conveying a volun-
teer ?

Mr. Garth said if he hired% horse he was exempt.
If he hired a carriage surely he ought to be exempt
upon the same principle.
Mr. Lush referred to other acts of Parliament,
with a view of answering the case on the other side.
There was a distinction between a carriage belong-
ing to the service and a carriage hired by a volun-
teer for his own accommodation.

Mr. Justice Blackburn said t h e magistrates seemed
to have decided that the meaning of carriage was
one furnished by the commissariat.
The Lord Chief Justice taid there was a difference
between a regular soldier and a volunteer, who had
the whole of his time taken up and was paid for it,
while the other voluntarily gave up a portion of
his time, and he must reach his place of exercise
perhaps at a great distance. The Legislature said
as he took all the expense upon himself, if he were
obliged to go in a carriage, that carriage should be
exempt from toll.
Mr. Lush—By the 13th Viet., cap. 5, it was
enacted that all her Majesty's officers and soldiers
doing duty on horseback, their horses should be
exempt from toll, but not so if they were in hired
or private vehicles. There the horse was exempt,
and not the carriage.
The Lord Chief Justice said it was part of the
officer's duty to go to the place where drill or exer-
cise should be performed, and he had his horse
found him on purpose; but if he chose to go luxu-
riously in a carriage he was not permitted to claim
the exemption.
Mr. Justice Crompton said the volunteers came
forward to protect the public.
The Lord Chief Justice said there was a distinc-
tion between the strictly military men and those
who gave up their time voluntarily. The legislature
would say they would throw as little expense upon
them as possibl.e. He was of opinion that the deci-
sion of the magistrate was erroneous. He thought
he ought to have decided in favour of the complain-
ant, and the case must be remitted back to him to
take further proceedings. Upon looking carefully
at the sections of the Turnpike Act referred to,
he was of opinion that a carriage bona fide em-
ployed in conveying the volunteer infantry to a place
of exercise, &c., or bringing them back from it,
was incluled in the exemption. He thought the
carriage to have the immunity from toll must be
employed, he would not say exclusively, but sub-
stantially for the conveyance of volunteers. Vo,-
lunteers riding in a public vehicle plying for hire,
and not exclusively used by them, would not bring
the carriage within the exemption. A person
accidentally riding in or upon a vehicle intended
for the volunteers, and not Raying anything, would
not take the carriage out of the exemption. There
was an obvious distinction between the regular
soldier, whose whole time was given up, and the
volunteer who voluntarily gave up a portion of his
time. He could understand the legislature, with a
view of encouraging this laudable and most useful
exercise of military education to protect the country
in case of invasion, would give that immunity from
expense which they ought to have. The exemption
applied to such a case as the present in respect of a
carriage conveying persons bona fide volunteers,
and actually returning from their drill.
The case was remitted back to the magistrate.

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cough, asthma, consumption, drepsy, flatulency, diarrheas,
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noises in the ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptions,
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WINDING- UP OF JOINT-STOCK

COMPANIES.

•
Subjoined is an analysis of a return Pei
sented to Parliament regarding every joint-ete'L
company wound up or winding up under the Ile"
of 1848 and 1849. It gives the title of each concern'
and shows the amount which the shareholdl
apart from the loss of all that they may ha" :be
vested, have been compelled to contribute to i
liquidation. In some eases the assets were 3D, ble
in one instance the official manager has been
ite
to recover even the cash expended for the retnre.
advertisements of the winding-up. It is to be
gretted that the document is so far incomplete ltoi,
it affords no information as to the amount 1411°0
nal capital with which each of the sehetneet.;,„.
started, the amount paid up, the number of e_.`4 of
holders, the relative proportion of comprotniewersi
claims on shareholders, and various other gen
be
items that would enable a comprehensive viol lb,
obtained of the results of these proceedings. , tits
most startling figures in the list are those °',Afif
Northumberland and Durham District Beo'it.
Company, the North of England Joint-Stock Bed
ing Company, the Newcastle Union Joint-S.IS
Banking Company, the Liverpool Borough
the Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire Ban;
Company, the Royal British Bank; and the Lone
and Eastern Banking Corporation, the sums
tracted from the unhappy shareholders of to of
seven concerns having reached the aggreget:etsi,
.£2,200,000 beyond the loss of their first ce„P„th
Among mining concerns the Mexican and Dchee
American Company occupies the worst pleat:A
contributions in that instance having resew"
£77,289

RECEIVED FROM CONTRIBUTORIES. '
MASTER OF THE ROLLS' CHAMBERS. 56$
Bodmin United Mines
2'676
Bosworthen Mining Co
Cae Cynon Mining Co
4,,4211
Commercial and General Life Assurance
Cosmopolitan Life Assurance 2/(Juj
6,161
Deposit and General Life Assurance • 3 146
Dhurode Copper Mining Co
Electric Telegraph Co. of Ireland
6,
,633
General Live Stock Insurance 4l
Hull and London Fire Insurance....
Liverpool Royal Brewery Co
..."
Mandale Mining Co
Mexican and South American Mining Co 774
Mineral Court Mining Co _ _

Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire Banking Co 180 P '
Nelson Sea Voyagers and General Life Assur-
ance 967
and Investment Co
6,029
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Marine Insurance
Newcastle, Shields, and Sunderland Union Joint-
Stock Banking o
tog
NantileN ale Slate Co..
21 024
North of England Joint-Stock Banking Co 4 '306
Parental Endowment Assurance C0..
St. George Steampacket Co 2,6131
Trevena Mining Co
,
40""
Universal Provident Life Assurance ..
Wheal Helel Mining Co .. 1,
_,L6I
Wylam's Steam Fuel Lo
Liverpool Borough Bank
Norwich Yarn Co
VICE-CHANCELLOR WOOD'S CHAMBERS. 9,04
Athenaeum Life Assurance Society OO
Birch Torr and Vitifer Mining Co
,--"
British and Foreign Reliance Marine Insurance Co 00
Caxton Life Assurance Society
Cwmdyle Rock and Green Lake Copper Mining Co 11819160
Crookhaven Mining Co. of Ireland t.....,
Cheltenham and Glocestershire Banking Co 0
Court Grange Silver Lead Mining Co
Chester Music-hall Co
Esgair Mwyn Mining Co P
6
iBl3
Era Assurance Society
81
Fat Work and Wheal Virtue Tin Mining C 0....
905
Fursdon Manor Mining Co.. . 301
General Cambrian Mining and Quarrying C 0.... /980
General Indemnity Insurance Co
2,40
Kilbricken Mines Co /
Kent Zoological Co (Rosherville Gardens)
.../,
Lake Bathurst Australasian Gold Mining Co
Iltiu League Bread Co ,„,s
London and Eastern Banking Corporation 769°'
London and Penzance Serpentine Co 6,0
1,31 Mixon Great Consols Copper Mining Co
01" North Shields Quay Co 2,
New Engine Coal Mining Co
National Alliance Assurance Co B9 4
8890
Pantagraphic Carving and Engraving Co ..
......,
Paragon and Spero Coal Mining Co
St. Denis Consols, China Clay works, and Tin oil
Mining Co 2,
South Essex Gaslight and Coke Co
Sheerness Well or Waterworks Co 1,466
Timber Preserving Co 2,
VICE-CHANCELLOR KINDERSLEY'S CHAMBERS.
Anglo Californian Gold Mining Co 8,461
Northumberland and Durham District Banking
r.„.L
Co
National Patent Steam Fuel Co l2 -4'-
Padiham Cotton League Co 6Bl
Protestant Life and Fire Assurance Association B,
Royal British Bank 124,07r
Shipowners' Towing Co 5,211
Wrysgan Slate and Slab Quarrying Co 6,10v

VICE-CHANCELLOR STUART'S CHAMBERS.
Birkbeck Life Assurance .---"'
British, Colonial, and Foreign Sugar.... ---":,
East Dean Coal and Iron Mining Co 714
Home Counties and General Life Assurance Co l/vn
Irish Waste Land Improvement Society
Justice Assurance Society 3,048
Kent Benefit Building Society
Lancashire Debt Guarantee Co 2,60
London and County Assurance Co. 8,211
Plumstead, Woolwich, and Charlton Consumers'
Pure Water Co .......••
St. George Benefit Building Society 7ll
Security Mutual Life Assurance Society 696
Welsh Potosi Lead and Copper Mining C 0...,.. 2,62

COUNTRY MARKETS.

OXFORD-APRIL 27.

The market was well supplied with wheat, although we
had something like nine hours' snow, and for best desert).
lions late prices were supported. Inferior sorts were quit.
unsaleable. Barley plentiful, from 28s to 358 per qr. Oat;
in good demand for prime descriptions. Beans scarce, s'
44s to 56s per qr.

NORWICH—APRIL 27.
At this market to-day wheat was in fair supply, t.,11
a slow sale, and last week's rates were barely supported'
The supply of barley limited, and prices were rather ha'
proved. Flour hi favour of the buyer.
White wheat. 58s to 62s I Red wheat 54s to 584
Malting barley....4ss to 47s I Chevalier barley 41s to 44°
Distilling do.. ....31s to 34s 1 Oats.. 26s to 300
Flour, 43s to 43s 6d per sack from the miller.

LEICESTER—APRIL 27.
The supply of wheat of an average character, and price°
were the same as last week. White wheat, from 74s to 780
—red, 65s to 72s per 36 stone; a rather slow demand for
barley, grinding, 30s to 345; malting, 36s to 40s per qr.;
oats, 32s to 36s per 24 stone. Beans—old, 56s to Ogg
new, 38s to 40s per 38 stone.
Fine flour, 50s I Seconds, 47s I Thirds, 458 per 20 stone.

YORK—
The trade was firm, and w.
at previous rates.
Wheat, red 45s to 56s 1 Oats.... 27a to 290
White do .58s to 648 i Beans ..48s to 560
Barley .38s to 42s 1 Leas ........s to ....4
Malt, 70s to 72s per qr. ; rye. 36s per qr ; flour, 48.
to bOs per sack.

I.PRIL 27.
Leat in limited supply ; sale*

NORTHAMPTON—Arm 27.
At this corn-market the ‘.-eat supply was middling, wad
a quiet business doing—prices ranging from 66s to 69s for
old, and 42s to 62s for new. Of barley a tolerable show-'
malting 38s to 435, grinding 29s to 32s per qr. Oats in
moderate show, and prices as I efere—quoted at 22s to 380
per 24 stone. Beans, old, 51s to 565; peas, 40s to 50e.
Rye, 37s to 425; malt, 68s to 725; flour, 33e to 34s per
sack