The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-29 00:00:00

AND THE ZOLLVEREIN.

Dr. BOWRING wished to know from the Right
Hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government, whe-
ther he would have any objection to lay on the table
of the House the correspondence which had taken
place between the British and Prussian Governments
on the subject of the late treaty concluded between
the United States and the Zollverein. _ _ _ _

Sir R. PEEL was understood to say that he had
no objection.
FACADE OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Mr. M. MILNES wished to put the question of
which he had given notice, to the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman (Sir R. Peel), respecting the new fagade of
the British Museum. He wished to know whether
the plan proposed had been definitively agreed upon ?
Sir R. PEEL begged to state that he considered
there never was any architectural plan which received
more mature consideration than the present, and the
decision of the trustees had been always understood
to be final and complete. So long ago as 1822 a re-
solution was moved in the House that no plan for
the British Museum should be proceeded with on
the mere consent of the trustees,' but that the
consent. of Parliament should be had. In
1823 all of the trustees had approved of the
plan now in course of being carried into execution.
The plan had been submitted to Committees, one in
the year 1836 and one in 1838, and it received the
implied sanction of both. Some courses of stone had
actually been laid according to the plan, and no devia-
tion from the plan could be made without causing
considerable. expense ; under these circumstances he
trusted the Hon. Gentleman would see the necessity
of not disturbing a plan which emanated from a most '
eminent architect, and had received the sanction of
the Lords of the Treasury, and subsequently of two
Committees of the House of Commons.
GOVERNOR-GENERALSHIP OF INDIA.
On the motion that the Order of the Day for going
into Committee of 'Ways and Means be read,
Mr. ROEBUCK rose. He begged to solicit the
attention of the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of
her Majesty's Government to the questions which he
was about to put to him. On Friday, in answer to a
question from the Right Honourable Gentleman the
Member for Edinburgh (Mr. Macaulay), the Right
Honourable Baronet had made it clear to the
House, and to the country, that the Court of
Directors of the East India Company had
recalled the Governor-General. As that was
a matter which might be attended with very im-
portant consequences, he was now induced to solicit
the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman to his
question. He (Mr. Roebuck) understood that on
Wednesday last a dispatch had been sent from this
country to India, on the receipt of which
the Noble Lord at the head of the Indian Govern-
ment would cease to be Governor-General, and the
government of that country would be transferred to
others. The question to which he solicited attention
was, who was now to be considered responsible
for the Government of India ? Whether was it
the Government of this country, namely, the
Administration, the members of which he saw oppo-
site to him, or the parties who had the power of dis-
missing the Governor-General, who were to be
considered responsible for the government of that
country:? He wanted also to know if the Right'.
Honourable Baronet were able to give him an
answer, and he should be sorry to put the question if
an answer were at all inconvenient, as he had not
given the Right Hon. Baronet notice of his motion,
though perhaps the Right lion. Gentleman was not
wholly unaware of his intention to put it.
A dispatch went from this country which
would alter the whole nature of the Go-
vernment of India, and anybody, who knew
anything of that country knew that from Cape Comorin
to the Himalayas the greatest commotion—(Cries of
" Order, order," from the Ministerial benches,
amidst which Sir R. Inglis rose to " Order" and
immediately sat down.)
Mr. ROEBUCK resumed. He had so often
been subjected to this species of interruption,
that he could not but believe that there
was some meaning in it.—(Hear, hear.) They were
now on an Order of the Day for Supply—for a Com-
mittee of Ways and Means—which involved every
question interesting to the state of the nation—so
that he was perfectly in order, and he was astonished
that so old a Member as the Hon. Gentleman opposite
should have interrupted him. He was about to re-
mark, that any one who knew India must be aware
that the reception of news such as that to which he
had alluded would create a great sensation among
all the native powers from Cape Comorin to the
Himalayas. Now nothing could be more dangerous
to our dominions in India than the effect which might
be produced by such a dispatch. He therefore
wished to know from the Right Honourable
Baronet whether he was prepared to maintain
the policy which had hitherto been maintained
by the person representing the Government in
India; and, with respect to the Government of India at
the present time, considering the extraordinary and
anomalous position in which it was placed, he was
anxious to learn if the Right Hon. Baronet was prepared
to take upon himself the responsibility of carrying
out the policy of the Directors of the East India Com-
pany. He was aware of the difficulty of the piestion,
and he admitted that he had not given notice of his
intention to put it.
Sir R. PEEL had not known of the intention of
the Hon. and Learned Gentleman to put the ques-
tion on the important subject to which he had re-
ferred, and he (Sir R. Peel) should certainly have
wished for a little time for consideration. In the
first place, with regard to the provisions of the ex-
isting law, the House was probably aware that the
relations of the Executive Government with regard
to the administration of the affairs of India were
extremely anomalous. The respective positions of
the Government and of the East India Company were
not very well defined. The Crown and the Eagt
India Company had each certain powers ; but with
regard to the nature and extent of those powers,'he
must refer to the acts of the Legislature. The East
India Companylposs.esaed the power of appointing the
Governor-General of India. That power could only
be exercised subject to the approbation of the Crown
.—that approbation was signified by the sign-manual,
counter• signed by the Secretary of State. That was the
exact provision of the law with respect to the appoint-
ment. The appointment was made under ordinary cir-
cumstances, by concert and mutual understanding, be-
tween the Government and the East India Company ;
but the letter of the law was that the right of nomi-
nation
was with the East India Company, subject to the
approbation of the Crown. The right of the East India
Company to remove the Governor- General, without the
concurrence of the Crown was, he apprehended, unques-
tionable. In the last Act, which comprised the charter of
the East India Company, and extended it for a certain
time, there was a proviso that nothing in that Act
should be construed in any degree to diminish or in-
terfere with the power of the Board of Directors to
recal the Governor-General of India. Now, all
that he was at liberty, consistently with his
sense of public duty, to state on that cccasion, was
that the Court of Directors had, in the case of the
removal of Lord Ellenborough, exercised the right
which they unquestionably possessed under an Act of
the Legislature, to recal and dismiss at their will and
pleasure, the Governor-General of India.--
(Hear, hear.) The determination to recal was taken
by them on their undivided and exclusive
n. actt if
`Withoutrecalan
d was
concurrencea
thatn act
sanction
which
of
aht
(del
e the Theo
s wa
rsneeosrtpv oarnnesteisebioi
vlfiettdyh
concurrence the act was unquestionably a legal and a
valid act. 'With respect to the question of the Hon.
Gentleman, whether her Majesty's Government con-
sidered itself responsible for the government cf
India, he must, under present circumstances, decline
entering into any discussion of that question.—(Hear,
hear.) All he could say was, that with reference to
the fact, whether her iMajesty's Government did or
did not coincide with the Court of Directors, their
sense of public duty would induce them to take that
course which shodld appear to them best calculated to
diminish the risk of embarrassment and danger which
they foresaw from the act of the Court of Directors.
Sir R. INGLIS said he had no wish to interrupt
_
the Hon. Member for Bath unnecessarily. He
thought, however, that great inconvenience wou'd
arise, if Hon. Members persisted in exercising their
right in a case like that before the House.
Mr. FRENCH said he thought there was another
question which ought to be put to the Right Hon.
Gentleman at ths head of her Majesty's , Go-
vernment. His answer would leave the country
under the impression that the Court of Directors
had taken the Government by surprise. Now
he wished to know whether it was not true that they
had had considerable notice of the intention of the
Court of Directors to remove the Governor-General
of India ?

Sir R. PEEL thought he had not said a word
from whin any Hon. Gentleman could infer that the
Government had been taken by surprise. The Go-
vernment most certainly was not taken by surprise ;
but they had had the opportunity of stating their
views to the Court of Directors, who had certainly,
given a fair and full consideration to their repre-

Mr. NV ILLIAMS said he had another question to
put to the Right Hon. Gentleman.—(Cries of " Oh,
oh.") He had been informed that a very large
amount of money had been laid out by the Commis-
sioners for Reducing the National Debt in the pur..
chase of Consols. He understood that something
like from 150,0001. to 200,0001. per week
had been expended for some time past. He wished,
therefore, to ask how much money had been laid out
by the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National
Debt since the commencement.pf this year, on ac-
count of surplus revenue—on account of savings'
banks, and on account of money received for the pur-
chase of Government annuities,

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said he was sorry that he could not give the Hon.
Gentleman the figures he required at the moment, not
having had the slightest expectation that the question
was about to be put to him.—(Hear, hear.) He
would be, however, perfectly ready to give the Hon.
Gentleman the required information to-morrow.
THE BUDGET.
On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER the House then went into a Com-
mittee of Ways and Means—Mr. Greene id the Chair.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
rose and said :—Mr. Greene, the motion I shall have
the honour to put into your hand is for a vote of Ex-
chequer Bills, to be appropriated to the exchange of
other Exchequer Bills, which will cline due, in the
ordinary course of business, in about six weeks time ;
and I think it desirable to avail myself of this oppor-
tunity of bringing under the consideration of the
House the view of the financial condition of the
country which the House' is eptitled to expect,
and which it must be anxious to receive at the
hands of her Majesty's Government. It will
be in the recollection of the House, that
when, in the course of last year, I made a simi-
lar statement, there was, on the part of some Hon.
Gentlemen, an expression of great surprise as to the
actual state and future prospects of the country. We
were told that the country was still labouring under
the severest distress, and that it was not likely to re-
cover from its state of depression. We were also told
that, notwithstanding the imposition of heavy addi •
tional taxation, the year had still closed with a
deficiency of revenue. The explanations given by the
Government were not satisfactory ; and there were
those who argued that a similar depression
would be observable in the coming year.
On my own part, I was disposed net
to invite rash expectations "to future pros-
perity, nor to draw an overgrown statement of
public fear, but I then took the liberty of stating to
the House, that there were indications of improve-
ment which led me to 'anticipate a revival of in-
dustry, and an extension of commercial enterprise,
and which must of course lead to a considerable im-
provement of the financial condition of the country.
I am happy—and I am sure those Honourable Gen-
tlemen who differed from my views will be happy
also—that the views which I then entertained, have
been since realised, and that the alarming forebodings
which were indulged in have turned out to be ground-
less. lam anxious, Sir, not to encroach upon the
time of the House, and I therefore will not detain
pyouree e
ebdy
at furthereee ete
statewhat prefatoryt observations. I will
was the revenue and
expenditure of last year, and then I will go to ,the
revenue and expenditure of ,this. this.. It will be. neces-
sary, however, before Ido so, to call the attention
of the House to the situation in which we
stood when this question was last before
pa
Coventryr t icul ay
Mr. Williams) the
r( , to explain •fo the
uHse;n. and in
Member
par-
ticular circumstances with respect to the. China
opium debt, and the East India Company , to
orfeol '•
which he has just adverted. The balance-sheet, to
which he has referred,, comprises all the actual
payments made in the year, and all moneys
received within the year. Therefore, on the
one side, 2,000,000/. have been received from the East
India Company and the China opium claim ; and on
the other side,: is; the expenditure: for those tvvo objects.
But the House will: be kind enough to understand
that in the schemes of finance, I excluded those state-
ments from the debtor and creditor side of the account.
And the Hon. Member for Montrose was perfectly
correct in stating that I was then charged with
having done so in order to make the appearance of a
surplus when it was not the fact. The estimate
*which I made of the public income during the course
of last year, has undoubtedly been very greatly ex-
ceeded. I stated at that time to the House, that
after the depression we-had been sustaining, and the
disappointment of previous expectations with respect to
that income, I had endeavoured to make my statement of
such a character that at all events it should not err
on the score of being beyond what was likely to be
produced. If there was any error, indeed, it was
quite in the contrary direction. The estimate which
I made of the amount of revenue from the Customs
for tisp-year to came was 19,000,0001., taking for my
guide the amount that had been produced
by the Customs during the preceding year.
But in the course of the past year the
amount that has been received from the Customs is
21,426,0001., instead of the 19,000,0001. at which I
had estimated it. This arose, in a great degree, from
the following circumstance :—I had not anticipated
that there would be any considerable importation of
corn ; that article, however, has produced 800,0001.
I speak in round numbers, in order to save trouble to
the House. A further sum was produced-to the revenue
by a great improvement in the wine duties arising from
the termination of those negotiations which had laid
a sort of paralysis on the trade. The amount derived
from this source was 350,000/. Other items
of the Customs exhibited that a general im-
provement had taken place ;-the most remarkable
items in this increase arose from the duties on sugar,
amounting to 200,0001.; upon tea, 300,000/. ; both satis-
factory indications of th revived power of consumption
in the labouring population of the country. Lastly
there was an augmentation in the duties on cotton
wool, amounting to 200,0001., an indication of in-
creased activity in that department of industry on which
the happiness of so large a portion of the manufactur-
ing.
ing population of this country depends. In addi-
tion to these items, which make together a
very large proportion of the' excess on the
Customs' revenue, there have been several minor
articles, which have exhibited, generally speaking,
an uniform augmentation, keeping pace with
the extension of our commerce and the greater
employment of the population. The estimates
which I made with respect to the; Excise
have turned out to be nearly as accurate as it is
possible for estimates to be. The estimate I
made of the Excise revenue was • 13,000,000/.,
and the amount it has yielded is 12,900,0001. ;
that, therefore, calls for little ' observation,
farther than this—that as upon all the leading articles
of the Customs there has. been an increased
consumption, so upon all the different articles
of Excise there has been an improvement. sssNot
equally early, but as surely indicative of the improving
state of the country. In the year ending at the last quar-
ter there was an increase in every article of this kind.
The House, therefore, will perceive that the increase
has been progressive in every respect. With respect
to the estimates, the calculation I formed is as nearly
as possible accurate. The estimate of 7,000,000/.
in the Excise produced 7,101,000/. The taxes,
which I estimated at 4,200,0001., produced
4,192,000/., and the • only observation I have
to make on that branch of the revenue is this—that
there was an apprehension expressed that the income-
tax would lead to the diminution of other taxes, espe-
cially the assessed taxes. Now it will be found that
'that has not been the case, and that there has not
been, in that branch of the revenue, the pressure that was
supposed. With respect to the Post-office, lam happy
to say that the increase from that source exceeds the
amount of the calculation which I made by. 28,000/.

sentations before they took the step in question. , The estimate I made was 600,000/. ; the receipts
Now he must beg to decline answering any further have been 628;000/. With respect to the Crown lands
question. He had given the House all the informa- there- have been similar results. I estimated the re.•
tion that could be expected from him, in answer to a venue 'from that source at 130,000/. ; the amount has
question of which he had not notice, and he trusted i -been 147,0001. The miscellaneous estimates I esti-
that the House would not suppose that be acted with ' mated at 870,0001.; the receipts were 803,0001. The
disrespect in declining to answer anything further. total, therefore of these several items is, that the revenue
THE CHINA COMPENSATION. which I had estimated for the year at 50,150,0001.
Mr. W. WILLIAMS said that, before the Chan- i has produced an income of 52,138,8401., being an
cellor of the Exchequer proceeded with his exposition i increase to the extent of 2,700,0001. beyond my cal-
of the Ways and Means, he should beg leave to ask culation. With respect to the expenditure of
the Right Hon. Gentleman to explain how it was the country, it will be found that my esti-
that the money was borrowed upon Exchequer Bills, mates have literally been exceeded. The
to pay the opium compensation, whereas the revenue I expenditure in last year for the army was 6,188,0001.,
of the last year exceeded the expenditure by a very being a reduction of upwards of 500,0001. for the
large sum ? expenditure from the last year ; but it is due to the
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said House that I should state this, that they should not
that the amount of the opium compensation was labour under the impression that it was the case,
1,200,0001., and the expenses of the war 800,0001., that we have not been able to make the reduction.
making in the whole 2,000,000/., which would be re. The difference arose from another cause, namely, that
paid by the Chinese Government, and from that fund in the course of the last year the Indian Government
the Exchequer Bills (as we understood) would be made larger payments on account of the debt it owed
paid off. The loan was made for the double purpose to the Crown for the military service, and also from
of paying the compensation and the defraying the the further circumstance that,' peace being restored,
expense of the war. there had not been the same necessity to keep funds
Mr. HUME said his Hon. Friend was not aware in the commissariat chest. The expenditure in the
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in order to course of the last year has been reduced by 500,0001.
have a surplus income, had borrowed the sum of two The reduction in the navy is not one to be taken as a
millions upon Exchequer Bills. Had his Hon. reduction of expenditure, because the payments on
Friend consulted him (Mr. Hume) upon the subject, account of that service are made at uncer-
he could have explained the matter to him —(Laugh- certain periods, and it is impossible to calculate
ter.) His Hon. Friend, however, was quite right what payments may be required for that service. As
in putting his question. He (Mr. Hume) was I was in error with regard to the amount of the
aware that last year the Chancellor of the Exchequer revenue which produced 2,700,0001. more than I
did explain this matter, and the late Chancellor of the calculated upon, so in consequence of the decrease in
Exchequer pointed out to the House the cheat that the expenditure to which I have adverted, there has
the Chancellor of the Exchequer was then putting been an error in nearly the same direction for
upon the public. But he (Mr. Hume) perfectly 650,000/. less than I calculated would be required,
understood at the time the money was borrowed that when I made my statement to the House last year,
it was to be paid as soon as the remittances from was expended. Taking these; sums together it
China were received. will appear that I had calculated on a surplus

of 700,000/., the total surplus in the year
will be a sum of 4,165,0001.—(L0ud cheers.)
It will be in the recollection of the House that,
at the close of last year, I had to announce to
the House a very considerable deficiency of in-
come to meet the expenditure, amounting to
2,400,000/. ; and, as I then stated to the House,
that I believed that deficiency to be rather apparent
than real, I recommended to the House to make
no provision for the payment of that deficiency—
not to raise means by loan for the purpose
of getting rid of it, but that it should
be defrayed out of the surplus of future years, as cir-
cumstances, from time to time, might allow ; and

I am happy to be able to announce to the
House that the deficiency of 1843, which
amounted altogether to 2,749,0001., has been
cleared off and discharged out of the produce of the
revenue of the present year, and after the discharge
of the debt incurred in the course of last year, it will
enable us to present to the public a surplus of
1,400,0001. on the Ist of April just passed.—(Cheers.)
So far then as the past year is concerned I believe
the House will agree with me that my statement is
satisfactory. We will now proceed to consider the
estimates and prospects for the year on which we
have entered.
Mr. COLLETT (Athlone)—What is the amount
of the property-tax?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER-
-5,315,0001. which is somewhat larger than the esti-
mate I had made last year, in consequence (as we
understood) of there being a larger return from Scot-
land than I had anticipated. Now, Sir, in making
an estimate for the year on which we have entered, I
have adhered to the rule I laid down for my-
self on a former occasion, that of not being be-
trayed into too sanguine expectations, which
the future would not bear out. I therefore content
myself with taking the Customs at little more than
the amount they have actually produced last year,
viz., 21,500,0001.; and remembering that last year we
derived 800,000/. from corn, and not being certain at
at this period of the year what may be the state of
the harvest of the country, I have thought it
better to take the estimate of the produce of the
Customs as not greater than what they pro-
duced last year ; and I therefore take the
estimate, as I have already said, at what 1
I took it last year, namely, 21,500,000/. With
respect to the Excise, every account I have been
able to derive, from those best conversant with the
affairs of the Excise, I do not apprehend that
there is just ground for fixing the estimate for the
Excise at a higher rate than I estimated it in the year
gone by, namely, 13,000,0001., which is the
amount I propose to take this item at. I
mean to take the stamps at 7,000,000/., the assessed
taxes at 4,200,000/., and the property tax 5,100,0001.,
which is about the amount produced in England last
year. To these I will add the Post-office at
600,000/. only, and, for this reason, the revenue ofthe
Post-office made some little progress in the course of
last year, and I doubt not that in the course of next
year it will make a certain progress also. But
at the same time
_there are several arrangements
now pending at the present moment with respect to
the postage of foreign letters, and there are some
negotiations going on with foreign countries with re-
spect to the postage of letters in foreign parts,
which will necessarily lead to considerable expendi-
ture. Therefore, I do not think it safe to take the
estimate for the Post-office at more than 600,0001.;
the Crown lands,l which I would: take at 130,000/.,
and the Miscellaneous estimates at 250,000/.,
making together a total estimate of 54790,000/.
With respect to the expenditure of the country, the
first item to which the. House will naturally, expect I
should call their attention is the payment on account
of the National Debt. The payment for the last
year was 29,300,000/.—for the present, 27,697,0001.
—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") But it will be
necessary for me, in making this statement,
lest the House might labour under a delusion in sup-
posing that there really was such a decrement in the
expense of the national debt. The deficiency of what
must be paid in the present year, as compared withlast,
amounts to 1,400,000/.; but, as I said before, the
House must not be led into the delusion that that is
the real decrease. When I recommended the reduc-
tion of the Three-and-a-Half per Cents., I suggested,
with a view of equallising the payments, that the new
Stock, which was previously paid in January and
July, should be made payable in April and October.
The real diminution of the debt, in the present year,
is one-half of the benefit derivable from the
Three-and-a-Half per Cents., being 313,000/.
I am anxious to impress this on the House,
lest they might run away with the idea that
the surplus is so much greater than it really is—
lest they might believe it to be what they might
at first naturally suppose, 1,100,000/. The charges,
however, for the year on account of the debt and con-
solidated fund amount to 3,097,000/.
Mr. HUME—The Exchequer-bills ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—
This includes the Exchequer-bills, and the interest
thereon. The estimate for the year has been already,
for the most part, before the House ; and the House
is sensible that there has been not a considerable, but
a certain reduction in the total amount as com-
pared with last year, and a considerable reduction
as to the preceeding year. I am far from saying that
the reduction has been carried to the extent to which
the peace and tranquillity of the country must lead
the House to expect ; but it has been carried to that
point in which up to the present moment, upon a
most careful review of the circumstances of the coun-
try, I believe it would be possible to carry it
with safety. The estimate for the Army
amounts to 6,616,000/. The estimate of the navy
to 6,250,000/. instead of 6,380,0001., as in the
preceding year; and, in this expenditure, provi-
sion has been made for great national warks.
The ordnance to a sum of 1,842,000/., and the miscel-
laneous estimates, which have not yet been all
voted by the House, I calculate will amount to
somewhere about 3,000,000/. There are also,
during the present year, several extraordinary
sources of expenditure to which I wish to draw the
attention of the House. It appears to me that it will
be necessary during the course of the present year to
make provisions for the payment of several extra-
ordinary items, and the House ought to be made aware
of those items. The first item to which I wish to
draw the attention of the Houle is one connected
with the late hostilities which have been carried
on in China. The accounts which were presented
to the House, last year, carried the accounts
of the disbursements payable to the East India
Company, on account of the war in China, up to a pe-
riod of six months shorter than that for which the
East India Company claims. I have not yet
been able to procure the accounts of the whole amount
which the East India Company claims, but I calculate
that the sum which we shall leave to pay to the East
India Company, in addition to the accounts already
laid before Parliament, is about 400,000/ and I have
reckoned that sum in my estimate of the
expenditure for the current year. Another
item of expenditure arises from the operation of that
measure which I had the honour to submit to the
House a short time since, I mean the reductien
of the Three-and-a-Half per Cents. The House will,
no doubt, bring to mind the large amount of debt
on which we at that moment operated. I am sure I
am bound to return my thanks to the House for the
cordiality with which they expressed their approba-
tion of that measure, and supported the views which
I proposed to them, and which mainly contri-
buted to the happy results of that mea-
sure—(Hear, hear.)—and to that support is
mainly attributable to the feeling of universal satisfac-
tion with which that measure was received throughout
the country-. It was naturally to have been expected
that there would have been a considerable body of
dissentients, which would have demanded to be paid
off. That expectation, I am happy to say, has been
falsified. The amount of dissentients in England
amount to 60,994/., and in Ireland to 13,280/., of
those whose assent is required to be expressed.

I mean those who hold stock of 1818, the amount of
stock held by those who have not expressed their as-
sent amounts to 172,8411., so that the dissentients on a
question involving the conversion of an amount of stock
of 250,000,0001., amounts only to the trifling sum of
247,1111., and these is contained in that portion of the
holders of stock who are residents abroad, and in the
colonies, and who may within the time
limited be expected to avail themselves of
the opportunity of signifying their assent
Now, Sir, it has been customary, on former occa-
sions of this nature, when the amount to be paid off
has been considerable, to raise money by loan for
the purpose of paying off that amount; but I
think, considering the small amount of the charge to
be paid off, considering also the state of the revenue,
and on other accounts, it is desirable that we should
make provision for the sum which is neces-
sary to pay off these dissentients ; and, therefore,
I propose to take a sum of about 200,0001., which I
conclude will be about sufficient to pay the charge,
and which will form a part of the expendi-
ture which I have to lay before the House.
There is another matter which requires
some expenditure, but which I think is likely to re-
sult in future economy. The House is aware that in
the year 1815 an engagement was entered into with
the South Sea Company that they should continue to
receive an annual interest from the Customs, together
w;th an annual payment from the country on account of
their establishment, until the guarantee-fund of the
Society was received. The history of that Society I
need not now state at any length. I may shortly
state, however, that it was originally vested
with peculiar and extensive privileges connected
with trading to the South Sea ; that those privileges
were repealed by the Act of the 55th of George 111.,
to which I have referred ; and that by that Act they
were assured that they should receive from the public
an addition to the capital of their stock.
as the price of the surrender of their privileges, equal
to one-sixth of the stock which they at that moment
possessed, being the sum of 610,000/. In order to
provide this guarantee fund a sum was annually
paid to the Commissioners for the Reduction of
the National Debt, and invested with a view to its
accumulating for this society. It has now pro-
duced about 300,0001.; and there is a deficit
of 239,0001. required to make up this gua-
rantee fund, for which the public are, in fact,
paying an interest of 11,868/. a year. There are
other advantages beyond this saving of interest, which
may result from making an arrangement at the present
time with the South Sea Company. So long as the
Funds were low, it was in fact nearly impracticable
to make any useful arrangement with the Com-
pany to relieve the public from the charge
to which it was subjected. Whatever terms
we might have made with the holders of this stock,
they would have been entitled to demand from
the public the full amount of 1001. for
every 1001. of stock which they possessed.
And, therefore, so long as the funds are lower
than par, so long it is impracticable to effect
that further reduction which may now, in the
result of the funds coming to par, be bene-
ficially effected. Therefore, Sir, I think it is
now necessary for the Government to be placed in a
position, that if the opportunity should arise for making
such a reduction, it might be able to take advantage
of it by paying off the remainder of that debt,
namely, 239,0001., thereby laying the foundation of
a future considerable saving.—(Hear.) The total
expenditure of the year for the ordinary service is-
-17,700,000, and for the extraordinary service to
which I have lately adverted, amounts 846,000/.,
making a total of 17,546,000/. So that,
if you add that sum to the debt, which
is 30,097,1701., the total expenditure of the
year will be 48,643,170/. If that be deducted from
the gross amount of the revenue, that is 51,790,000/.,
it would leave an apparent surplus (subject
to the reductions which 1 have before alluded to) of
3,146,0001., but if you make allowances for that por-
tion of the debt which will be due next year,
that will leave the surplus 2,376,0001.—(Hear,
bear.) In a country like this where
every one has the means and uses the means of in-
forming himself of public affairs. It is not other
than could be expected that it has been for some time
generally known that the result of this year's
revenue would not be different from the an-
ticipations which had been held in every quar-
ter. I find, in consequence of that anticipa-
tiion, that I have been assailed by communications
from various parties recommending that the increase
of tha revenue should be made available for reductions
of taxation on almost every article of consumption.
I can assure those Hon. Gentlemen, many of whom
I see now, that nothing could be more gratifying to
me than to yield to their application. Nothing
would be more gratifying to my feelings, if I felt it
consistent with my public duty than to make
those large and general remissions of the taxes
which I was requested to do. But, Sir, when
we consider of the remission of taxation, w
most also consider the nature of the burdens
which exist at the time that remission is to be
made. I would beg the House to bear in mind that
when I told them that we had at present a surplus
revenue of 2,370,0001., that that revenue is not a per-
manent annual excess ofregular and permanent revenue
over the constant expenditure of the country, but it
is the result but for one year of the receipts of the
revenue of the country over the expenditure, which
has been incurred in the course of that year. That
it is a fund upon which, for the present year,
we may rely, but it is not a fund of constant
and future annual occurrence. The House must
also bear in mind that, in the present year, that fund
has been produced by the imposition of an extraordi-
nary tax in the year 1842, and which produced
5,100,000/., which is the main ground of sur-
plus which, this evening, I have announced to
the House of Commons. Now, I will
call the attention of the House to the circumstances
under which that tax was imposed. It was imposed
at a period when the country had been labouring for
a considerable number of years under the evil of the
revenue of the country failing to equal the expenditure,
and when there was the necessity for great exertion
in order to make the revenue sufficient to bear the
necessary charges of [the country.