The Sun.
London, England, 1828-04-22 00:00:00

WAYS AND MEANS.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved,
that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the whole
House, upon the Ways and Means.
The Speaker having left the Chair, on the motion of
the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, four mil-
lions were voted out of the Consolidated Fund already
•

granted, to be appropriated to making good certain sup-
plies already agreed upon by the House.
The Stamps on Canis and Dice Duties' Reduction Bill
was postponed till Friday next.
The Committee of Supply was postponed to Wednesday.
Mr. HUME could not help expressing his surprise, that,
at so advanced a period of the Session, no notice had vet
been taken of those Bills upon the Excise, the Stamp
Duties, and other subjects with which the House was to
be supplied. He wished to know if Alinisters intended to
introduce these Bills during the present Session.
y
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER must con-
fess that some delay was to he attributed to the difficulty
he
the
found,respect
ectto
numerous
tbe ei ge
Stamps
tl; oa
s r
would e
of so many subjects. The Bill with
cn
soon as possible ; and with respect to the Bill for the
Consolidation of the Excise, he hoped that, at all events,
be should be able to bring it in so that it might be passed
during the present Session.
etl in office, in examining into
t be laid before the House as
Sir ALEXANDER GRANT brought up the Report
upon the Records' Variance Bill.
RENEWALS OF TURNPIKE BILLS.
Mr. LITTLETON moved the Order of the Diy foi
resuming the Adjourned Debate upon the Resolutions re-
garding the Renewals of Turnpike Bills.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER should
object to the proposition of the Hon. Member, as it tended
to throw an expence upon the public. The custom of im-
posing fees on Road Bills was extremely ancient; it com-
menced in 1700, since which time it had been twice con-
sidered, and continued without alteration during the last
130 years. When the House considered the great altera-
tion in the value of money since that time, they must
surely perceive that the fees charged so long ago could not
be looked upon as too high to be continued at present.
The Right Hon. Gentleman, after a few additional obser-
vations, proposed an Amendment, that where Road Bills
were merely renewals, and called for no additional powers,
they should be exempted from fees; and that where Bills
did call for 'such powers, the fees should be paid by the
Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury out of such
monies as should be provided by Parliament for that
purpose.

LITTLETOZI, et:MN not accede to the Amendment
prOisosed by his Right Hou. Friend. _ _ _

Mr. D. GILBERT thought it would be advisable to
simplify all Turnpike Trusts as much as possible; and also,
that ail renewals of Road Bills ought to be exempted from
fees.

Mr. CRIPPS thought that, in matters of such. great
importance as the establishment of good public roads, all
private interests ought to give way to the general public
benefit. He thought too, that some plan ought to be de-
vised which would lessen the enormous expenses attending
all private Bills.
Mr. GORDON thought it would be most advisable to
make the whole of the Road Bills public instead of private
measures.

Mr. Secretary PEEL objected to paying these fees out
of the public funds on various grounds, but particularl:,
because the expence could not then be so narrowly watched
as at present by the Local Authorities. He should there-
fore support the Resolution of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Lit-
tleton) in preference to the Amendment of his Right Hon.
Friend (the Chancellor of the Exchequer.)
Mr. LITTLETON, in answer to the proposition of Eli,
Right Hon. Gentleman, said that he had already postponed
these Resolutions for three years. Last year he brought
them before the House, and postponed them at the expres'
desirs of his late ever-to-be-lamented friend. Mr. Canning;
and now he was called upon to postpone them again, ir
order to afford time for inquiry. That was a proposition
to which he could not give his assent. _ _ _

Mr. Secretary PEEL thought his• Hon Friend mistook
what he said. He merely wished to afford time for in-
quiring if there were any fees paid which could be calks!
greater in amount than the sum which ought to be paid
for the trouble which .was given. If there were any such
feeso he had no hesitation in saying they ought to be
reduced.

Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, when a divi-
sion took place, and the pumbers (as we understood) were,
For the Resolutions
For the Amendment 32
Majority against the amendment-IS

On our return to the Gallery, we found Mr. LITTLE-
TON proposing the 4th Resolution, that a term not ex-
ceeding 31 years ought to be granted in the case of Turn-
pike Bills.
After. a few words from Mr. DAVIES GILBERT and
Mr. Secretary PEEL,
Mr. ESTCOURT proposed a Resolution to be added,
for the purpose of removing a very unnecessary piece of
expence—the notice which the Standing Orders of the
House required to be placed on the door of the County
Sessions House, with respect to Turnpike Bills. He bo.-
lieved that the fees of the House were not so much of the
expence ola Bill as some persons imagined, for he knew a
Turnpikeßill where the expence was 16G01., and the fees
of the Houses of Lords and Commons amounted only to
two hundred and forty pounds, the remainder being con-
sumed in Solicitors' bills, and the expeuce of notices which
he had alluded to.

Mr. LITTLETON knew many cases of the failure o 1
Bills from neglecting this formality of the notice on the
door of the Sessions House. It was a Standing Order
framed before Newspapers became so numerous or were so
extensively circulated, but now that the notice was inserted
in those papers, he thought the notice on the Sessions
House an useless and expensive formality.
Mr. C. W. WYNN would even go further, and abo-
lish the necessity of notices on the doors of Churches.
After a few words, Mr. ESTCOURT withdrew his Reso-
lution, and the original Resolution of Mr. LITTLETON was
agreed to.
The Offences against the Person Bill, and the Law of
Evidence Bill, were read a second time, and ordered to be
committed on Monday, the sth of May, upon Mr. Secre-
tary PEEL giving notice of his intention to go into an ex-
planation of the nature of the provisions of the Bill on that
day.
Mr. C. W. W. WYNN moved the Order of the Day,
for going into a Committee on the Election Trial Acts'
Consolidation Bill.

The several clauses of the Bill were agreed to ; the
Report was brought up, and ordered to be taken into
further consideration on Monday next.
The other Orders of the Day were then agreed to.