The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-24 00:00:00

IRISH REFORM BILL.

Colonel FRENCH gave notice that in committee on this
bill he should move the reduction of the qualification from
£l2 to £B.

UNIVERSITY TEST BILL.

Mr. BOUVERIE gave notice that he intended to post
pono the proceeding with this bill until the 13th of May.

THE BOUNDARY coauissioN.

Mr. Sergeant GASELEE asked the First Lord of the
Tree ury, what instructions wore given to the Assistant
Boundary Commissioners for the borough of Portsmouth,
and whether he had any objection to lay them upon the
table of the hoes,:., and- also their report to the Boundary
Commissioners, recommending for Parliamentary elec-
tions the annexation of the town of Gosport to the borough
of Portsmouth, contrary to the wishes of both.

Mr. DISRAELI said with respect to the report of the
instruction given to the assistant boaneary commissioners
it was unnecessary to produce them as they wore already
on the table. With respect to the reports of the assistant
boundary commissioners, these documents were of a con-
fidential character, and therefore they could on no account
be produced. •
THE LICENCING SYSTEM.
Mr. MARSH. called the attention of the house to the
subject of those licences which restrict the trade and com-
merce of the country, with a view to their abolition,
and, in case of a financial necdssity, a transfer of the
charges to make or sell any article to a direct tax on the
article itself ; and moved, That, in the opinion of the house,
it was desirable that all licences injuriously affecting the in-
dustry and commerce of the country should be abolished.
The hon. gentleman said there were no less than 121 dif-
fetent licences, but he did not intend to touch upon them
all, but those to which he wished to draw particular notice
were those that were very small in amount, yet very irk-
some to trade. The first was a licence to make soap; it
was a very foolish tax, and ought at once to be repealed.
there was a tax for carrying on the business of vinegar
makers: there ought to be no such trade as a vinegar
maker, because vinegar made itself —it was merely wine
which had become sour. Then there was the licensing
for carrying on the trade of paper making, selling tea
and coffee, but as no tax was placed on the draper,
be thought the tea dealer had good reason to complain.
Tobacco also was taxed and so was the trade in wine, but
the quality of wine sold in retail over the counter was
generally very inferior, and he was toll it could ba got
for about 16s. a dozen. Now, he thought the license to
sell wine of that quality ought to be abolished, so that it
might be sold as free as small beer. There was a license
required to deal in sweets, to sell gold or silver, to carry
on the trade of a pawnbroker, but as the latter were liable
to take in stolen goods ho thought they ought to be regis-
tered, so that they ought to become known to the police.
There was the. tax on malt and beer, but the
tax on the former was, in fact. an additional
tax on the latter. Not content with this, there was
also a tax upon the retailers of beer, so that the dealer in
this necessary article were compelled to sell the article
to the consumer at a higher price than it was worth,
in order to enable him, the retailer, to pay the
heavy taxes imposed on him. The hon. gentleman
then went on to refer to the taxes levied on private
brewers, makers of spirits, chemists using stills, hackney,
carriages, and cabs, the drivers of the latter he con-
sidered a very illused body of men. The taxation
of the hackney carriages produced about £20,000,
and an additional 3 per cent. on the assessed duty
would enable the whole of the irksome licenses to
be abolished. There was a license enforced upon
auctioneers of £lO per annum, and why a man should
have to pay for the permission to carry on such
a trade as that was quite beyond his comprehension. He
thought if the licences were abolished in most of the trades
he had mentioned, the loss would be more than replaced
by the increased consumption of the article sold.
Mr. P. URQUHART seconded the motion.
Mr. LABOCHERE rose and was

(LEFT SPEAKING•)

COURSE OF EXCHANGE—:I his Evening.

Amsterdam Short ... 11 18 ... 11 181
Ditto
Rotterdam.... .....
Antwerp --... 25 35 ... 25 40
Brussels
Hamburgh -- ... 13 94 ... 13 101
Paris Short ... 25 15 ... 25 25
Ditto 3 Ms. ... 2 ) 30 ... 25 371
Marseilles ... ... 25 324... 25 374
Frankfort-on-the-Main ... ... 1201 ... 1201
Vienna — ... 11 724... 11 77f
Trieste — ... 11 75 ... 11 80
Petersburg — ••• 321 ... 82/
Berlin ... ... 6 26/ ... 6 27/
Madrid — ... 48f ... 481
Cadiz
Leghorn — ... 28 7J ... 28 90
... 28 70 ... 28 90
Milan
Genoa _ ... 28 70 ... 28 90
Naples
Palermo — ... 28 70 ... 28 90
Messina

Lisbon ... ... 51}
~,

SPECIAL CONSTABLES.—The period for which
special constables were sworn in last December, after the
alarm occasioned by the Clorkenwell outrage and explo-
sion, has in many instances expired ; the warrants of many
others will expire this day; and others in the course of
the present month. It is not, we believe, intended by her
Majesty's Government to ask for any fresh powers, but to
rely on the ordinary powers of the City and Metropolitan
police force for the preservation of the peace. The jus-
tices in special sessions alone have the power to order
payment from time to time of such reasonable allowances
to special constables for their trouble, loss of time, and
expenses, and also order the payment of such expenses as
may have been incurred in providing staves and other
necessaries. It is understood that the justices •of the
various divisions in the metropolis will meet in the course
of next Trock tv make tin 'gam tool in ouch cum