The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-25 00:00:00

LONDON COAL AND WINE DUTIES BILL.

On the motion for going into committee on the London
Coal and Wine Dues Continuance Bill,
Mr. AYRTON rose and moved, " That it be an instruc-
tion to the committee on the bill that they have power to
make provision in the bill for continuing the fund provided
by sections 2 and 5 of the Act 11 Geo. 4, c. 64, and for pay-
ing the proceeds thereof to the account to be opened under
the bill ; that it be an instruction to the committee that they
have power to make provision in the bill for transfer-
ring to the Metropolitan Board of Works the lands,
tenements, and hereditaments called the Bridge House
Estates, now vested in the mayor, commonalty, and citizens
of the City of London, subject to any trust affecting the
same, and any charges thereon, and for paying the surplus
income thereof to the account to be opened under the
bill. That it be an instruction to the committee that they
have power to make provision in the bill for transferring
to the Metropolitan Board of Works all lands, tenements,
and hereditaments now vested in the mayor, commonalty,
and citizens of the City of London under any statute for
making improvements within the metropolis (except mar-
kets), subject to the trusts affecting the same, and the re-
payment of any moneys raised by the said'corporationnnder
such statutes, and thereby charged on such lands, tene-
ments, and hereditaments, and for transferring to the
Metropolitan Board of Works all the powers conferred by
such statutes on the said corporation. That it be an
instruction to the committee that they have power to make
provision in the bill for the pay ment of the metage dues on
grain, fruit, wares, or merchandise received by the mayor,
commonalty, and citizens of the city of London, to the ac-
count to be opened under the bill. That it be an instruction
to the committee that they have power to make provision
in the bill for payment by the conservators of the river
Thames of the surplus of the annual income received by
them to the account to be opened under the bill. The hon.
gentlemen entered at length into the whole question, and
said it resolved itself into whether the house wished to
relieve the corporation of the City of London of the coal
dues, instead of retaining them for purposes to which it had
been applied for the last two hundred years. The origin
of the fund was to rebuild tho City of London after the
great fire in 1666, and then entered into an elaborate
description of the corporation fund, and said the whole case
resolved itself en the question, as he had said before, of
giving the whole of the funds to the City, totally disregard-
ing the circumstances under which it was raised. He con-
tended that the inhabitants at large, having paid
off the debts which the corporation fund was orginally
intended to meet, were entitled to full benefit of the redemp-
tion.
Mr. WILLIAMS seconded the motion.

The LORD MAYOR said it would be impossible to go
into the different historical facts alluded to by the hon-
ourable member. The city of London was not so
much affected by the bill has had been represented, but the
real question was should certain important metropolitan
improvements be made for which there was no official fund
out of which the expenses could be liquidated. The city
was not interested to the extent the hon. gentleman wished
the house to believe.

Sir G. C. LEWIS said the hon. gentleman the member
for the Tower Hamlets had addressed to the house a long
series of complaints respecting himself, as the only indivi-
dual interested for the public good, and accusing others of
having entered into a conspiracy, the principal delinquents
being the Corporation of London and the members of her
Majesty's Government. The principal accusation against
the Government was that they had not brought
in the bill at an earlier period of the session,
and also that they had fixed it for a morning sitting, which
was a perfect invasion of the freedom of debate, and an
arrangement to prevent them being fully heal d. Now, he
did net think there was anything out of the ordinary
course to bring such a bill so the present on before
the house at a morning sitting, and therefore that
disposed of that part of the honourable gentleman's
speech. The bill was not as had been represented, $
job; it was founded on the report of the select committee
which sat last year, which recommended that the
Thames embankment should be constructed out of
the fund raised as coal dues, and the mea-
sure was to give effect to that recommendation.
(Hear, hear.) He would not attempt to follow the hon.
gentleman in his antique disquisition on the coal duties. The
real question to decide was whether the coal dues should
be continued, and the sum so raised be appropriated to the
embankment of the Thames. The bill declares that such
should be the case, and he hoped it would meet with the
approval of Parliament.

Lord J. MANNERS supported the bill.
Mr. WILLIAMS said without doubt the Thames ought
to be embanked, but then he did not think it ought to
be carried out by the very objectionable means of a tax
levied on coal. He said the great improvement would be
carried out, and that it would not be limited to ono side
of the river—(hear, hear)—but it might be effected in same
other way than that proposed by the bill. 'the corporation
lent, in years gone by, £700,000 to Charles 11., of which
he never repaid one farthing, but gave power to
the corporation to levy a fourpenny duty on coal.
[LEPT SPEAKING.]

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN.

Mr. Moon has been appointed chairman of this
company, consequent upon the death of Admiral
Moorsom, and Mr. Westhead, M.P., takes the posi-
tion of deputy-chairman. Mr. Moon has for a con-
siderable period been the deputy-chairman, and one
of the most hard working members of the board of
directors. He is intimately acquainted with the
interests of this company, and is perhaps as fully
over which he now presides as any official connected
sensible of the true policy of the great undertaking
with it. Mr. Westhead has had great experience
in railway management, and has always enjoyed
the unbounded confidence of the railway. proprietors
with whom he has been connected. Both. Mr. Moon
and Mr. Westhead are eminently practical men,
cool-headed,. and of unquestionable honour and in-
tegrity ; and it cannot be doubted that, with the
assistance of their indefatigable and able secretary
(Mr. C. E. Stewart), the
Welfare of the shareholders
of the London and North-Western Railway will
be energetically and wisely promoted by them.