The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-16 00:00:00

RETURNS.

OF IRELAND.
Lord J. RUSSELL gave notice that on the 6th of
May he should move for leave to bring in a Bill to
create a Secretary of State for Ireland, with a view to
the abolitio❑ of the Lord-Lieutenancy of that country.
SALE OF IRISH ENCUMBERED ESTATES.
Mr. STUART wished to ask several questions of the
Solicitor-General with reference to the working of the
Irish Encumbered Estates Act. The first was, how many
estates had been sold under that Bill; secondly, how
many orders bad been granted; and thirdly, how many
applications had been made for orders upon return cf
half the purchase money, and the rest of the money to
be furnished in the manner provided for by the Bill.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said he bad no au-
thentic information on the subject; but if the Hon. Mem-
ber moved for returns they would be furnished.
Mr. STUART said he would move for the return now.
Agreed to.

SAVINGS' BANKS.
Mr. H. HERBERT asked if the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer had been able to make up his mind when the
Savings' Banks Bill would be brought in?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
state of public business rendered it exceedingly difficult
to command a day. The first day he could fairly take
for the Bill he would not fail to avail himself of it.
STAMP DUTIES BILL.
On the motion for going into Committee on this Bill,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
as there had been so much misapprehension on
the subject of the altered Bill, he thought it right
to state, that although a considerable number of
reductions had been made, in no instance
was there any additional taxation imposed ;
no other tax had been levied in the altered Bill now be-
fore the House beyond that contained; in the first
schedule, which had passed through Committee. He
had received a great number of communications from
parties respecting this measure, and as it was impossible
to transmit to each an answer, he had referred them all
to the board of Inland Revenue for consideration, and
a digest had been made ( f the whole, and he believed he
was now justified in stating that 99 out of every 100 of
the persons who felt aggrieved by the measure had had
their views met by the alterations which had been made
by the Government. He stated when he introduced the
Bill that he intended to proceed on the ad valorem prin-
ciple, and he had carried out that principle as far as he
possibly could.
Mr. GOULBURN said the Right Hon. Gentleman
intended to introduce into the B.li a mode for levying
the stamp duty which had heretofore never been adopted.
It appeared to him that the systsm proposed by the
Right Hon. Gentl man would lead to great inconveni-
ence and much injustice, and would suggest that the
scale should be a descending and not an ascending
one. Under the existing law, a mortgage for
50,0001. paid a duty of 25/., but when this
Bill passed it would he raised to 250/., while a mortgage
for 150,0001. would have to pay 750/. Now, would the
House allow him to point out the inconvenience which
must result from this? Why, the ingenuity of man
would suggest some mode of advancing money without
incurring expense, or the practice of lending money upon
mortgage would bo greatly restricted, if not. abo-
lished, and as either alternative must prove
highly injurious to the country, he hoped the
Right Hon. Gentleman would reconsider his plan.
With regard to marriage settlements, the Bill certainly
would have a very ill effect, for though it decreased the
duty under 500/., when they amounted to 1,000/. it in-
creased them, and he must remind the House that there
were unfortunately, more se Cements effected above
1,0001. than under. He had stated these objections in
order that the Chancellor of the Exchequer might take
them into consideration before going into Committee.
Mr. MULLINGS, in objecting to the Bill, remarked
that the first duty was the bargain and sale duty for one
year. It should be put in the tame category with lease-
holds for years. He conceived that the warrants of at-
torney and mortgages might rut in a claim (as we un-
dcrstnocl) fur further consideration. It was his opinion
that taxation upon loans was a vicious principle, for it
was a tax upon the necessities and distresses of the
people.—(Hear.) He knew of patties being frequently
in such a situation that they were not able to pay the
expenses of the mortgage. But what would be the case
under this Bill ? Up to 1,0001. there would be relief
afforded, but the moment they passed beyond 1,000/.
the evil e ould be aggravated. Upon 2,000/., where 6/.
was now paid, 10/. would be required ; upon 3,0001., in-
stead of 71., it would be 151. ; upon 4,000/., instead
of 8/., it would be 20/. ; and on 5,000/, instead of 101.,
it would be 25/. ; and so it went on up to 100,0001., when
the stamp duty was 5001., and so that in cases that he
knew a party would have to ;pay 600/. and 7001. stamp
duty. This did not affect
.the land only. Then in a
settlement, if any person granted an annuity, whether
contingent or otherwise, that was calculated as an abso-
lute annuity, and had to pay stamp duty, although it
might never come into effect.—(Hear.) It had been
stated that this Bill would give relic f, and it had been
calculated that the revenue would lose 300,000/. a year.
It was his belief, and it had not been altered by the fal-
lacious set of duties he had seen, that the produce of the
revenue would be infinitely more than 300,000/.
Mr. ROUNDELL PALMER thought there were
many objections to the Bill, especially c ith reference to
building societies.
Mr. HUME said that hitherto small sums had paid
more duties than large ones; and as he understood the
Government, the object of the Bill was to make
all pay in proper proportions, if such was the case (and
he had been told that it was), he felt bound to suppor
the Bill.

Mr. HENLEY complained that time had not been
given to Members and parties to consider the Bill as
reprinted, and the House was called upon to act in the
dark. Under such circumstances he thought they ought
not at present to go into Committee on the Bill.
Mr. SADLEIR observed that a more difficult or a
more complex Bill than the Stamp Duties Bill, with its
schedule B, could not possibly be laid before the House.
It involved most difficult questions, and embraced more
interests throughout the United Kingdom than any other
measure that be knew of. They had been told that the
Bill was to bo a great boon to the United Kingdom, and
that declaratiAl was followed by a Bill which, he was
happy to say, had been abandoned—a Bill that ho was
unwilling to speak of in harsh terms, because he did not
like to speak evil of the dead, but yet a
.Bill of which he
could not refrain from saying, that if it had passed in
the shape it had been brought forward would have
brought disaster and ruin upon the agricultural and
commercial community alike.—(Hear.) He was happy
to say that the Right Hoe. Gentleman had adopted nine-
tenths of the suggestions that had been made; but even
now with his amended all he asked the Right Hon.
Gentleman was be prepared to stind by his sugges-
tions?—(Hear.) Would he even now say that he would
not yield to any suggestion?—(Hear.) What provi-
sion, he asked the Right Hon. Gentleman, was there in
the Bill for that large class of deeds that were now 1111-

duly stamped?—(lfc'ar, hear.) There;as—no-laW -so
consistently avoided as the stamp laws, and why so?
Because they dare riot enforce them—because if they
al enforce them they would bring to a complete stand-
still the mercantile operations of this great com-
mercial country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
regarded all dealings above 1,0001. as large transactions,
and subjected them to high rates of duties. Assuredly
the Right Hon. Gentleman must know that transactions
under I,OOOL were of very limited nature compared
with others above that sum. Benefit would have been
conferred if the duties had been lowered on all transac-

tions under 10,0001. In Ireland the duties in one case
were increased 100 per cent. upon a certain class of leases
which now paid only Is. It was desirable to hare the
I.
,registretton of all deeds, and the mat charged was the

On the motion of Mr. HUME, the following returns
were ordered:—An account of the aggregate amount
paid for advertiements by the public departments c f
Government in the United Kingdom for the year
1848, stating specially the amount paid by
the Board of Inland Revenue, the Customs,
Post-otlice, Treasury, and Commissariat Departments,
Bo trd of Ordnance and Store Department, Board of Ad-
miralty and Victualling Board, Woods and Forests,
Poor-law Board and boards of guardians, and all pub-
lic departments, so as to exhibit the total amount paid
for advertisements to newspapers for the public
service in one year; also a statement of what measures
have been adopted respecting the erection, manage-
ment, and superintendence of the lighthouses in the
British colonies and possessions (in continuation of
Parliamentary paper, No. 225, of session 1849); and an
abstract (f any returns received from the colonies
upon the subject since April, 1849; al;o an ac-
count of the expenses attending the preparation,
printing, and sale of the " Nautical Almarads" in each
of the years 1847, 1848, and 1849 ; stating the
number t f copies printed and the number sold in each
year; stating by whom sold, the price at which sold,
the per centage allowed on the salt, and the less or gain
to the public in each year; and an account, in detail, of
the manner in which the 1,0001. voted annually for "re-
wards, experiments, and other expenses for scientific pur-
poses," during the last three years, has been expended.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MALTA.
Sir R. H. INGLIS rose to put a question to the
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the sub-
ject of certain proceedings at Malta, in reference to the
Roman Catholic Church in that island. Some excite-
ment, he said, had taken place, both in this country
and in Malta, in consequence of an ordinance which bad
issued from the Council in that country, which had had
the effect of declaring the Roman Catholic religion the
dominant religion in that island, and which provided for
the toleration of other religions. A member of her
Majesty's Government in that island had objected that
the religion professed by her Majesty, and which she
had sworn by her coronation oath to maintain, could
scarcely bo treated as a tolerated religion in any part of
her dominions. The Government, however, were
beaten on the question, and the ordinance was issued.
The Bishop of Gibraltar, who ought to be called the
Bishop of Malta, had protested against this ordinance,
and the question which he wished to ask, was whether
that ordinance had arrived, and what course her Ma-
jesty's Government intended to take on the subject.
Mr. HAWES said the lion. Baronet had not stated
the circumstances correctly. No ordinance had been
issued, but the facts had taken place in consequence of
certain changes which had been recently effected in the
criminal code, some of which related to offences com-
mitted against religion. The Bishop of Gibraltar had
protested, and his protest had arrived in this country.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies had acquainted
the Governor of Malta, that if those changes were em-
bodied in an ordinance, he should feel it his duty to re-
fuse to sanction it.—(Cheers.)
ABOLITION OF THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY