The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-06 00:00:00

which were so unjustly pressing upon the native industry
of the country.—(Elcar, hear.)
Mr. FIUME said, that having bound himself to use his
best elf )rts on every occasion to remove a'l restrictive
duties that Fevented capital having a free scope, he was
of course favourable to this proposition now brought
forward by the Hon. Member for Bridport. From the
speech which they had just heard from the Right
lion. Gentleman (Mr. Labouchere) he should be dis-
posed to say that there was no intention on the part of
the Government to take off these duties, for he said that
the disadvantages which these duties created to the
British shipwright were more than counteracted by the
advantages which they gained in another way. The
House of Commons should decliro itself in favour
rf the present motion, in order that any doubt
which might remain upon the minds of Members upon
this subject might be re -noved, and the Government be
strengthened in their arias to deal satisfactorily with
this question.
Mr. HENLEY should like to know where they were
to stop if they assented to this motion? It a-as no doubt
very easy for the shipbuilders to try and nibble out of
this tax. How did the general taxation of the country
bear upon every interest? How did the pressure of the
national debt bear upon every interest?—(Hear, hear,)
He should like to know how, for instance, they were to
get rid of the malt tax? Upon the raw produce they
paid a tax of 100 per cent. I; they wished to go through
all the items of that tariff, where were they to stop?
The next question which they had to consider was, what
was to become of the public credit?—(Hear, hear.)
They should have made a bargain with them' before
they exposed their shipbuilders to those difficulties in
which they now admitted they were. How could they
reconcile the statement they had heard as to foreigners
com;ng here to buy timber cheaper than they could get
it in their own country with the demand now made on
then to reduce these duties? If they artirmed the pre-
sent proposition now, they could not stop short when
they were asked to remove any other particular tax
which was said to press hard upon a particular portion of
the community.
Mr. SA.NDARS said that the smaller class of ship-
owners had suffered dreadfully by those duties, and he
thought that their abolition would be a great benefit to
that class.

Mr. CL AY wished to remind the Honourable Mem-
ber for Oxfordshire that t`leir particular caw hero was
this, that their raw material was taxed, which, in a
manufactured state, would be allowed to come in free.
lie did not think that any similar case of injustice
existed. _ _ _

Mr. WYLD said that the continuance of this tax was
also a great injustice to the mining interest, which was
exposed to the competition of the whole world.
Mr. MITCHELL confessed that he did not wish to
press the question to a division, after what the Right
Hon. Gentleman had said. At the same time. as these
duties were felt to be a great injustice to a large and im-
portant class, he thought it was only due to them to press
this motion to a division.
The House then divided. The numbers were—

For the motion
Against it ••• 32
Majority against the Government._ —l3
Mr. MITCHELL then named this day fortnight for
the House resolving itself into a Committee.
AUDIT OF RAILWAY ACCOUNTS.
Mr. STANFORD said he had given notice of his in-
tention to introduce a Bill for the more effectual audit of
railway accounts. It might be in the recollection of the
House that he had inquired, early in the session, whe-
ther it was the intention of the Government to bring in
any Bill relative to the audit of railway accounts, and
that the President of the Board of Trade then stated
that the Government were not disposed to introduce any
Bill on the subject, but that if no measure was proposed
by any independent Member on behalf of the share-
holders the Government would be prepared to take up
the question. It might be recollected that a Bill relat•
ing to the audit of railway accounts had been originated
in the other House in 1848, but had been rejected by
that House; and last year a nearly similar Bill, which
had beta introduce I in the House of Lords, had also
shared the same fate when it came down to the House o'
Commons. He did not believe that arty system of audit
which was tainted by Government interference would
have the confidence either of the railway shareholders
or of the country; and he thought that in this case the
trite quotaticn was particularly applicab'e—
" Timeo Danaos et done ferentes."
He understood that a Bill for establishing art audit of
railway accounts had been introduced last night in the
other House, and he believed, from what hp had heard
of its nature, that it was a measure to which he could
give his support, as it very closely resembled that which
he had intended to submit to the House. He was con-
vinced, although there was an almost unanimous opinion
against Government interference, yet that the opinion
was equally universal that it was high time some steps
were taken to establish an effectual audit with regard to
the vast amount of capital embarked in railway specula-
tions. It was unnecessary to recal to the recollection of
the House the painful disclosures which had been made
as to the wastP, extravagance, misappropriation, and
frauds which had occurred in railway concerns, and it
had been a matter of surprise to every man acquainted
with business that some measures had not been taken
earlier to protect the bona fide investors in such specula-
tions. He considered that, to render any system
of audit efficient, it must be continuous in its
operation, the accounts must be published half-
yearly upon a uniform model, and the audit
must Le untainted by what was called Government in-
terference. He had hal six or seven years' experience
as a shareholder and bondholder in most of the large
railway companies, and had become familiar with ch.
ill consequences resulting from the want of au efficient
control over the tinaicial departments of those com-
panies, and, having applied his attention to the subject
he had framed a Bill, which he was ready to lay oe the
table, with the view of establishing an alicient system of
audit. Ho considered that any measure that might b.
adopted on this subject should be framed in a spirit of
courtesy towards railway directors, becaase, although
there had undoubtedly been much extravagance, and in
some cases gross frauds, yet he believed that, with some
few exceptional cases, the directors were honourable
men, who exerted themselves to promote the interests o'
the shareholders. He must say he thought the President
of the Board of Trade had not quite kept good faith with
him.
An Hon. GENTLEMAN moved that the House be
counted ; and there being only 31 Members present,
The SPEAKER, at Ten o'clock, declared the House
adjourned.