The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-17 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsa3k
• at 5 o'clock.
The Earl of ALBEMARLE said he had a
motion on the paper for Friday nPxt, respecting
torture in India, but he thought he shovl I best
FerVe, the interests of the millions represented
if be withdrew the motion until the assembling of the
next Parliament.
The Earl of EGLINTON presented petitions from dif-
ferent parts of Scotland, praying for a restriction on the
sal" of spirits.

MUTINY BILL.
On the motion of the Earl GRANVILLE, this bill
was read a first time.
LIGHTING OF TOWNS (IRELAND) BILL.
On the motion of the Marquis of CLANRICARDE
this bill was read a third time nod paesed.
COMMISSIONERS OF SUPPLY (SCOTLAND)

BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
INCOME-TAX BILL.
Rail GRANVILLE moved the second reading of this

The Earl of DERBY--My lords, I hardly need say it is
not my intention to avail myself of the present opportu-
- pity to cffer any objection t) the second reading of this
bill, which has been moved by the noble earl; at the
"we time I cannot conceal the expression of my regret
that it has been thought consistent with the public ser-
vice to defer the consideration of a measure so important
Until a new Parliament is about to be summoned. When
the new Parliament meets it will, in my judgment, greatly
fail in one of its first duties if in the very earliest period of
its existence it does not take into its serious consideration
the whole question of the finances and taxation of the
country.. I need not say that with regard to taxation your
lordships have nothing to do, more than that which consists
in simPlYbearing your allotted portion of the burden. We
have heard in various quarters propositions for rendering
„taxation and legislation co-extensive. I have never yet
beard,and do not expect to hear, of any proposition either to
relieve your lerdships of taxation, which you have no
voice in imposing, or, on the other hand, of giving to
Your lords-lips, in your legislative sip.pacity, the power of
exercising some control over ,taxation, or giving you
in your individual capacity that which belongs to the
humblest elector in the kingdom—the right'of choosing
representatives to sit in the other house of Parliament.
Nevertheless Ido not think that the subject of taxation
is a subject altogether unworthy of your lordships' con-
sideration, nor that I shall be out of place on the present
occasion in bringing the subject of the taxation and
finances of the country under the careful consideras
tion of her Majesty's Government. I confess I
look with deep concern upon the present state o
the finances of the country. For several years the
cardinal point agreed upon on all hands has been
that at the earliest possible moment the income tax,
which is so earnestly condemned by public opinion and
the voice of every public man, should be repealed, and

that henceforth it should be considered, as heretofore it

has always been considered, a useful engine in
time of war, but to be kept sacred for extraordinary
emergencies and expenditure in time of war, and to be
excluded altogether from your system of taxation in time
of peace. I had indulged the sanguine hope and ex-
pectation—l have not altogether abandoned the hope—
that We may, those who are :live in the year 1860, see
the realisation of that which I will call the pledge of the
Government of 1853 to the country, that at the expira-
tion of that period the income tax should altogether
cease and determine. But lam bound t• point out to
your lordships and to submit to the Government that
the present state of our finance', unless some vigorous
and active measures are taken, leave Die with little ux-
pectation that that pledge will be fulfilled in the year
1860. In the present year the Chancellor of the Exchee
quer calculates upon having a surplus of somewhere about
509,0001. It was a portion of the provision of the act
of 1883, that in order to prepare for the final abolition
of the income tax in 1860 it should be reduced—com-
mencing on the sth April, 1857—frem 7d. to 51 in the
Pound, and so remain until its final extinction in the year
1860. The war supervened, and so far from its being
possible to diminish the income tax during the oontinu-

ance of the war, it was found necessary to doubly the
amount, to raise it in the first instance from 7d. to 141.

in the pound, and subsequently to increase it still fur-
ther to 16d. in the pound. The act which increased the

rate to lid. in the pound bore on the face of it the

enactment, that the income tax, which was levied for the
extraordinary purposes of the war, shoull continue for

one year after the conclusion of peace and no longer.
The act introduced by the present Government pro-
fessed to contain the same provision, and to be no-
thing more than an extension of the rate from 14d.
to 16J. ; but by that which had been represented as
a mere slip of the pen, a mere casual error, it did so
turn out, from the wording of the act, aad from tho
period at which the peace was concluded, and the

period at which tho treaty was ratified, that the let-
ter of tho Itw inc,t3ad of continuing the tax for one

year after the termination of the war, practically con-

tinned it for two. It was admitted on all hands that that
was not the intention of the Legitlature, and it was loudly
procl3►imed on the part of the Government that they

should be ashamed to avail themselves of that paltry

quibble. Now, if they did not wish to avail themselves of
that paltry quibble, the simple course would have been to
repeal the act, the consequence of which would have bee❑

to reduce the tax to sd. in the pound. I cannot but ex-

press my deep regret, on account of the principle it in
'elves, that the Chancellor of tho Exchequer should have
taken advantage of that error in the act of Parliament,
not indeed for keeping up the whole war tax for the pre-
vent year, but for making an addition for the ordinary re-
venues of the 'country of 21. in the pound beyond that
. _

Which it had been the intention of Parliament to grant.

Your lordships will see how that applies. Undoubtedly
the act of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was, by
the increase of that 2d., which means two millions,

to increase the amount of the income tax for the ordi-

nary and not the extraordinary purposes of the year.
I regret to say that that appoars to me an evasion

Of the principle which was hid down in 1853. With
this addition of two million!, the Chancellor of the

Exchequer calculates that, for the year 1857-8,

he will have a surplus revenue of 500,0001., that surplus

revenue accruing on the assumption that there will be
no extraordinary demand on the resources of the country
during the present year, and consequently no provision
is made for that most calauitoui, and I am afraid, most
expensive war with Caine, in which we are unhappily

involved ty no choico of our own. But even on the sup-
position that the war with China is to cost you nothing,

and on the improbable supposition that the war with ;
Persia is to cost you only 250,0001., you will only have, 1
t
according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a surplus
of 500,000/. Now, to make up that surplus of ,
-500,000/., you will receive in the present year the half
of the war income tax of 9d.,arnounting in round figures to
four millions and a half. That source of revenue will fail
you altogether in 1858. You will therefore have your re-
venue for 1858, compared with that for 1857, diminished
by four millions and a half of war income tax If the law
stands without-further alteration it will be further dimin-
ished from 7d. to sd. for the year 1858-9, which, making
an allowance fcr the half year to be collected, will cause a
further falling off of a million. You will therefore have
in 1858, as compared with 1857, a diminution to the
amount of four millions and half ; but in addition to that,
in 1888, You will have to commence the payment of a
sinking fund, to provide for debt raised by the Chanml-
lor of the Exchequer, which will swell your expenditure
for 1858 above your expenditure for 1857 a million and a
half. You will have therefore in 1858 a diminished re-
venue to the extent of 5,500,0001., and an increased cx-
Penditure to the amount of 1,500,0001, leaving alto-
gether a balance to the deficit of 7,000,0001., against
which you have to set your assumed surplus for the pre-
vent Year of 500,0001. As you stand at present, with no
extraordinary expenditure, no war in Persia, no war in
China, the'programme of the Government is that in 1853
yen will have a deficit of 6,500,0001. I will not go so far
forward as the 'year 1860, when, according to the plan
of 1158, the whole of the income tax is to be sacrificed,
which would make a further reduction of five millions.
zt will not do so,
the a because in that year there will be a fal-
ling in of Lnng Annuities to • mount of four millions,
and there will be a cessation of t
quer Bonds ; but it is sufficienthe payments of Exche-
that there wi.l be an • for my purpose to show
increasing deficit, and that you
have a deficit this year of no lees than six millions and a
half. Now,- I ask
which-is worthy of the serious houses of Parliament 7 Iselin"
this is not a circumstance
what hope have you, csnsideration of both
made, by which the revenue and unlessa'ks in this state of things,
some serious alteration be
lanced, that in the year 1860,anodr expenditure may be ba•
rind, you will be relieved from
there area
that anyintolerable pressure of
the income tat t Now, subsequent pe.
you can.x.estore a balance in sour three modes by which
ture—by one of three, or by all of 4:vnue and expendi-
productireness of existing taxes . or b; by
thninereased
of a rigid system of economy, i
fear -Y the institution
cation to apply to all three. I venturet that yea have oc-
ed confidence in the elasticity of the revenueo Exress undoubt-
try if relieved frow the gigantic taxation of thie coun-
keeps it down, but it would be folly to ion which at present
creased productiveness of existing suppose that any taxes will increase n
revenue by any the
Bum approechirg 6 500 000/
with regard to new taxes., weall knowl ' . Then,
taste and disgust this collar
- neiv lac in time y looks to •
. the imposition of
third ea
Awe,. Now, the principal burden national expendi-
ture is fop,the payment of the onthe
hatiGnalerP".
debt, in which it is obvious that, interest on the national
public creditlr, we cannot b
at, keeping faith with the
by any effort of ours make

any reduction. Another burden is the charge for the civil
establishments of the country. I do not think that any ma-
teriel reduction can be effected in theitenisconetitutingthat
oharge. Then there are next the three great branches of
our expenditure, namely, the army, the navy, and the
miscellaneous estimates. It is on these three branches, if
any, that any considerable reduction of expenditurecan be
made. I am one of the last who desire to see the public es-
tablishments of this country reduced to AlO x state. I should
be sorry to see those establishments reduced to the point
at which they were between 1340 and 1850. I do nottliink
that that state of things would be consistent with our
safety. But I think you may combine considerations of
economy with a due regard to the public service ; it ap-
pears to me you may keep your naval and army esta-
blishments organicallyas strong in everything that relates
to science, in everything that cannot be provided on the
spur of the moment, or at all events during the effiex of
a moderate time during which" you might prepare for
war. I speak more esp ciahy cf the army, preserving it
in a state of efficiency ; but, on the other hand, it is the
duty of the Gate nme. t and the country, while main.
rai :lag the army organically strong, to have it numeri-
cally as is consistent with the due discharge of its ordi-
nary duties in time of peace. Agein, with regard to the
miscellaneous estimates—these estimat ei have increased
out of all proportion within the last few years. They
have increased, I am bound to say, not by the fault or
with the consent of the present or any previous Govern-
m•mt, but they have increased mainly from the pressure
and extravagance of Parliament itself. (Bear.) It has
been the theory that Parliament ought to bo the check on
the tendency of Government to c x ravegance with re-
gard to the miscellaneous axed other estimates; but that
position has been reversed, and the Government has
been the check, but not the sufficient and effectual check,
on the extravagance of Parliament. Now Ido not pro-
pose to go further into this subject, but I wish merely to
urge on the consideration of your 1 eeletips and the
country that if you desire to get rid of the burden of the
income tax, if you do not wish to see it incorporated as
a permanent portion of your system of taxation, you
•nust in the years intervening betwcen now and 1860
apply yourselves vigorously and rigidly to a system of
economy and relect!on of expenditure as, consistently
with the efficiency of the service of the country, may
render it possible for you to recover your balance of re-
venue and expenditure. But it is quite obvious that the
expenditure of this country, and more especially the ex-
penditure of your warlike establishments, must depend
mainly upon the system of policy which you pursue—
(bear, hear)—ard more especially upon your foreign
pc:licy. (Hear, hear, hear.) If you determine that
that policy shall be one of respect for the independence
and for the rights of foreign nations, abstaining from in-
tervention with their purely internal concerns, avoiding
by every possible means offensive language, and dealing
with them in a temper which shall substitute, in case of
a fancied itjury, a tone of conciliation for the tone of
menace and braggadocio—if you adopt this course, and
be not slow to take explanations asked for in a friendly
spirit, and given in the same spirit by other Govern-
ments, I have no fear in the present condition of the
world, and with the general feeling which pervades al-
most all foreign nations, I have no fear that for the
exigency of the public service you will have to keep up a
war es'ablishment on a large footing in time of peace.
But if you proceed on the opposite policy, if you deter-
mine to meddle with the internal concerns of every coun-
try, dictating to them how they ebal deal with their
own subjects, interfering when the interests Of your
own subjects are notin the slightest degree concerned, to
threaten and to bully, and to use the language of menace
and intimidation t) powers which even if weak may re

fuse to submit to such a course cf conduct— then I tell
you, and I tell the country, you must keep your estab-
liehinentS on a war footing, and you must then be pre-
pared to back up every petty quarrel, and be ready at
all times, at a fortnight's notice, to provide for a war that
may spread over the whole face of the world. And above
all, if you are to lay down this dangerous principle, that
your subordinate officials in every part of the we'll are
to have the power at their discretion of committing this
country to war, if you lay down the broad principle that,
right or wrong, their acts must be approved of by the
Government of the day, and if you hey down further the
principle that being so approved by the Government at
borne, it is beyond the competence of Parliament to ex-
press an opinion for fear of being charged with factious
combinations—(hear, hear) —then give up all your ideas
of ec monty, arm yourselves cap-a-pie, and prepare your-
eelves for all the terrors of war at the discretion or in-
disr retion of any official you may have in any part of the
wotl 1 proud of a little brief authority, and prepared to
rest on the misplaced coilfidence which the Government
reposes in them. (Rear, hear.) This leads me to the
point as to the c'rcucentances under which you are told
an appeal is to be made to the country at large. My
lords, yeti need not be apprehensive that I am going
again to trouble you with any observations as to the
legality of the proceedings in China. lam going to as-
stlal.3 for the present that the wholt of those steps were
perfectly -legal, but I am going to point cut to your
lordships the position in which the country is placed by
,those proceedings. It is no flight public evil that in the
month of March, just at the cocninencement of the sea.
sion, and a.s.the noun of Commons is preparing to be-
gin the business of legailation, it should be sudderly in-
terrupted by a dissolution of Parliament—a dissolution
which creates the greatest possible inconvenience with
regard to public and private affairs; and involves not
orly the loss of time taken up by the orations, but the
fuit !ter loss of time necessarily taken up in the business
incident to a new Parliament, all which will I venture
to say render the present session even lees productive
of beneficial measures than was promised even by the
meagre programme which was presented to us at the
commenc,Anent of it. The incr,nvenieno, is great; and
irirely we ought ti inquire why it, has been inflicted.
You tell me the Government have hal a vote against
thew, which renders it necessary either to resign or to,
appeal to the country. Now 1 ask whose fault was it
that made the question one which involved the character
of Government I I am going to dim my aped ogy to your
lordships' house and the House of Commons for having
so far misunderstood the spirit of the constitution as to
believe that it was within their const tutionalcompeteece
to take notice of, and taking notice of to express an
dependent opinion on, the conduct of an official on whose
conduct the Government, by command of her Majesty,
had laid the papers and documents before Parliament. I
may be mistaken, but I have certainly thought that when
papers were laid on the table of the house by her Majes-
ty's Government, it was far the very purpose of inviting
on those papers the expression of the opinion of Paelis-
ment. It may be said that either this or the other house
of Parliament has been anxious to interfere with the exe-
cutive duties of Government, or with those functions
which'properly belong tothe Crown. Now they have maul-
feted, on the contrary, a degree of forbearance of which
Ido not complain, but which I venture to say is almost
unparageled in the history of the country. Well, my
lords, what is the case? A quarrel has been entered into,
troops have been despatched; war has been declared, an
expedition has been undertaken, negotiations have been
entered into, negotiations have been concluded, peace has
been made, and from the first to the I Let, from the hour at
which the quarrel first began to the hour at which I am
addressing your lordships, the House of Lords and the
House of Commons have not had one scrap of paper, one
official document, to show them the object, the cause, the
intention of the war, the terms upon which it has been
terminated ' • and last of all, the House of Commons,
which ought to furnish the supplies upon an estimate of
the expenses of the war, are not likely to know anything
about the expenses until they have been called upon to
pay the bill. Therefore I say, the House of Lords and the
House of Commons have displayed no undue anxiety to
interfere with the duties other Majesty's Government, or in
any way to hemper or embarrass the executive. But
when papers are hid before Parliament it is an invite-

teen on the part of the Cr. ma to Parliament to'r xsrees I
their opinion upon the subject matter of those papers,
and if we do not so express our opinion re neglect,
grossly neglect our duty, and by a tacit acquiescence
may Hem to sanction acts which are most repugnant to
cur feelings and most objectionable to our consciences.
And now, my lords, what has taken plaee! Upon a
psruesl of those papers a motion was made in the other
House ref Parliament; 5y a gentleman usually, I believe,
a supporter of her Majesty's Government, and, most un-
doubtedly, wholly unconnected with the Conservative
party in the Hoeee of Commons. That motion declared
that in the opinion of that house the papers which had
been laid ttpon the table failed to afford a sufficient justi-
fication of what had taken piece in China. What was
the cauree taken by me relative to that subject? I gave
notice, and brought forward a motion in this house vary-
ing in terms, but entirely the earns in effect. And what
was the course pursued by the Government in both
houses ? Why, to assume to themselves the whole re-
sponsibility of the conduct of their agents in China—
to make themselves parties to the proceedings—to insist
upon being censured, or to insist rather upon this, that
Parliament should either forbear the expression of its
opinion or be charged most unjustly with a desire to cen-
sure, and still more to displace her Majesty's Govern-
ment. Now, I wilt venture to say, that it, instead of
the course pursued by her Majesty's Government, vin-
dicating to the uttermost the conduct of their agents,
they had come forward with a statement which would
have expressed their own honest and sincere conviction
that a hasty and ill-judged step had been taken by their
plenipotentiary, which might inve lee consequences which
he would be the first to regret, and the last to contem-
plate—if they had said that they could not altogether
vindicate the course which he had pursued, but that
allowance ought to be made for the difficulty of the
position in which he was paced—and if they had
concluded with an intimation of their intention to do
that which they have subsequently done, namely,
to send a plenipotentiary with full power, if not to
' supersede to override the authority of their official, and
bring tle matter to a speedy conclusion—if they had
ventured to make that declaration in this and the other
house of Parliament, I believe it Would have put an end
to the discussion, to all debate, and most undoubtedly
to all opposition. (Hear.) But what course did the
Government take t Here is a proposition that the papers
before us do not justify the conduct of the officials in
China. Her Majesty's Government join issue and de-
elate that in their judgment these papers do justifyth e
conduct
their officials. They compel you to say
of
o
,"and it is quite obvious that towards the
c" ,any"
cius'iora"enfihedebate in the House of Commons some
little change came over the spirit of the dream of
the Government, because we find the supporters of the
Government saying, after all it was very hard that
her Majesty 8
Government should be held responsible
for what had been done by their officials—for matters
isance—matters which
of which they had na c'gn
It was
done without their knowledge.. (ilear,
itbear.)
but was
Was nut we in the House of Commons,
they who made themselves responsible for the conduct, of
aeseet ( eel let rne novs-eesr eeseeeei,eoe ;;,z
'snor' to say that pulite: servants, mere especial y absent
public servants- ought to be defended, and to carry. that
principle as sa
even r ae you can consistently. with justice, and
with indulgence, yet when coraes to this, that

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