The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-08 00:00:00

THE e SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 8, 1845.

ence to prisoners committed for trial, relative to the pro-
ccelings to be taken by the coroner when his inquisition
was depending at the time the prisoner was committed ;
and as to whether or not the party charged should be
brought before him ; and he wished to know whethei
the Government had any measure to propose, in order
to put an end to the great scandal that existed on the
subject, in consequence of the differences that had taken
place latterly between the coroner and the magistrates on
I,his subject?

not make that the condition of Colonel Macgregor's ac-
cepting office. He was quite ready to assent to the pro•
priety of the Inspector-General having full control over
the infericr officers of the constabulary, but this he cer-
tainly did say, that in an office so important as that of
Deputy-Inspector-General, it was absolutely essential
that the Lerd-Lieutenant should not be precluded from
exercising his fair prerogative, even if it should not
happen to be in consonance with the opinion of the In-
spector General. It was obviously the interest of the
Lord-Lieutenant to promote the efficiency of the force,
and he must be anxious to give its due weight to the re-
commendation of the Inspector-General in certain cases;
but with regard to the higher offices he was justified in
retaining the right of exercising his own judgment. In
filling up those offices he might refer to Major Priestly,
who had been appointed to the office of Deputy- Inspector-
General by Lord Heytesbury.—(The Noble Lord then
referred to the services of the Gallant Major.) He would
not object to granting the motion which the Noble Lord
moved for, provided he would embrece the higher ap-
pointments, and order it from the Ist of May, 1836, in-
stead ~f 1838.
The Marquis of NORMANBY rose to reply, and
hesitated a few moments whether be should do so. He
had waited for the pupate of seeing whether or not the
Noble Duke would speak.
The Dnke of WELLINGTON then rose. He could
assure the Noble Marquis that nothing had been farther
from his intention than to misrepresent any part of his
conduct. He certainly thought be had done everything
in his power to avoid discussing the question upon the
former occasion, for, at that time, he happened to be in
a situation in which it was impossible for him to attend.
His friend the President of the Council and the Neb'e
Lord the Secretary for the Colonies had stated
their readiness to undertake the task if the
Noble Marquis persisted in his motion. He
had, in fact, paid no attention to the suhject, till two
or three days before the discussien came on, and when
the Noble Marquis had stated his determination to
bring it forward, and after what he had heard to-night,
he (the Noble Duke) thought the Noble Marquis would
regret that he had not delayed the motion till he had
given the opportunity of looking into the subject. He
had, as he said before, not the smallest intention of mis-
representing any part of the conduct of the Noble Mar-
quis. He had certainly stated that the Lord• Lieut-
enant, under the Act of Parliament, had certain rights
and duties to perform ; and that he was to estimate
those rights, and to look to the performance of his
duties to the provisions of the Act of Parliament, and
not to any arrangement made by his predecessors in
office, and most particularly when his former prede-
cessor entertained views not in accordance with arrange-
ments to be made by the existing Government. He (the
Duke of Wellington) had quoted the course pursued by
the Noble Marquis himself in the appointment of us-
specters, and he had stated that after the Noble Marquis
had informed Colonel Macgregor that he should have
the recommendation of all the chief constables, that he
should have their appointments, and that he then
turned round, took away two-thirds of them, stating
that the right of appointment should be one in
three. He thought he was borne out in these statements
by the ev!dence taken before their Lordships' Committee.
If he had made any misrepresentation of the intentions
of the Noble Marquis, it had been forced upon him, and
he thought it would be acknowledged by their Lord-
ships, that no man had tried more to avoid discussion on
the question than he had.—(Hear.)
Earl ST. GERMANS thought the Noble Marquis
would, upon consideration, find that upon no ground had
the appeintne nt of head-constables taken place without
the approbation of' the inspector-general.
The Marquis of NORMANBY, in replying, stated
that he had no objection to the extended form of the
motion, as suggested by the Noble Lord the Secretary
of State for the Colonies. He considered that the
claims of Major Brownrigg had been shown on all sides,
and that those of Major Priestly bore no comparison to
them. The Noble Marquis then proceeded to taunt
Ministers with not bringing on their Irish Registration
Bill, which he asserted they dare not do, and declaimed
against their conduct in appointing such a man as Mr.
Howley as first sergeant, in preference to a man of such
high talents as Mr. Sergeant Warren, for the mere pur-
pose of having it said they had appointed a Catholic in
preference to a Protestant and an old tried Conservative
supporter. Mr. Attorney-General Smith, at a meeting
held at the Mansion-house in Dublin, was reported to
have stated that he did net think that a Roman
Catholic was to be believed on his oath, and
a man who could make such a statement as
that was not fit to fill the office of Attorney-General for
Ireland. And when the Right Hon. Gentleman was ac-
cused of this in his place in Parliament, what answer did
he make to it ? Why, he did not say that he bad not
made such a statement, but that he had seen a.corrected
report of his speech, in which the objectionable words
were omitted. With reference to the returns, he hal no
objection to amend his motion in the manner the Noble
Lord wished. He was only anxious to have such infor-
mation as was limited to the particular point to which he
wi hed to direct the attention of the Noble Duke, from
which it would be seen that the Noble Duke had sup-
posed something had been taken from the Inspector-
General which never belonged to him,
The Duke of WELLINGTON wished to explain.
fle certainly did not understand that he had on the
former occasion made the statement which the Noble
Lord said he did, because he was perfectly aware of the
difference bet xecn the head constable and the chief con-
stable. lie perfectly knew what were those gradations.
A chief constable was of the rank of a commissioned
officer, and the head constable of the rank of a non-
commissioned officer. He knew nothing about the rank
of a sub-inspector ; it was a new name to him.
The Marquis of NORMANBY said, perhaps the Noble
Duke would state what was the charge he meant to
make against him—what was the supposed right he had
taken away ?
The Duke of WELLINGTON replied that what he
did say was, having given over the appointment to the
chief constable, the Inspector-General was deprived of
two-thirds of these appointments, he having been told
that he was only to have one of the appointments.
The Marquis of NORMANBY said such was not the
fact. The Noble Duke misunderstood the case. The
Inspector-General was never toll that be was to have
any of the appointments, with the exception of one, and
that was the power of recommending promotions from
the ranks. As to his having ever exercised any further
power the Noble Duke, when he saw the return, would
see that such was not the case.
The Duke of WELLINGTON made some remark
across the table which did not reach the gallery.
The Earl of ST. GERMANS begged their Lordship?
pardon fur being guilty of an irregularity
in speaking a
second time in a debate, but a charge had been brought
against a Right Hon. Friend of his by the Noble
Marquis opposite, which he could not suffer to pass un-
noticed. The Noble Marquis be could not help remark-
ing was hardly justified in making a charge
against a
gentleman who was not present to defend himself. The
Noble Marquis had stated that the Right Hon. and
Learned Gentleman, the Attorney-General for Ireland,
was reported to have declared at a public meeting held
in Dublin that the Roman Catholics were not to be be-
lieved on their oaths. Now his Right Hon. and Learned
Friend, within two days after the report of that meeting,
published a correct report of his speech, in which no such
expressions were used. Besides the Right Hon. and
Learned Gentleman distinctly denied the accusation at
the time to which the Noble Marquis had just referred.
The Marquis of NORMANBY told their Lordships
that it so happened he, heard all that was said on the oc-
casion referred to, and he did not think it was consi-
dered by any person who was present at the time, and
certainly not by himself, that the Right Hon. and
Learned Gentleman had made any denial of the charge ;
but what he did say was, that he had seen a correct re-
port of his speech, with these words left out.
The return was then agreed to.
COMMON LAW PROCESS BILL.
On the motion of Lord CAMPBELL, the Common
Law Process Bill was read a third time, and passed.

_
SUGAR DUTIES' BILL.
On the motion of the Earl of DALHOUSIE, the
Sugar Dud( s' Bill was read a second time, and ordered
to be eommitted to•mnrrow.
Lord MONTEAGLE moved for certain papers relat-
ing to the entry of sugar.—Agreed.to.
Their Lordship then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 7.
The House sat to-day at Four o'elock.
RAILWAYS.
Several petitions on private Bills having been pre-
sented,
Mr. LOCKHART presented a large number of pe-
titions, including those from the following places, in
favour of the Caledonian Railway:—From the town
Bh
councils of Greenock, Port Glasgow, Montrose, Peter-
head,rbiff'taEn tisgio P
Elgin,
Nairn,
Naoirrtn, Dingwall, and Lanark—from
the in
Glasgow, Inverness, Montrose,
Brechen, Forfar, Banff, Stonehaven, Laureneekirk, and
Forres—from the Chamber of Commerce of Greenock—
and from the inhabitants of the following parishes in
Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire through which the line
will pass: Biggen, Crawford, Covington, Carlisle, Car-
stairs, Lamington, Symington, Libberton, Wiston, Craw-
ford-John, Carmichael, Pitman, Moffat, Dry fesdale,
Johnstone, A pplegarth, Fundergarth, St. Alungo, Hod-
dam, A nnan, Kirkpatrick Fleming, Middlebie, wftenphray,
Kirkpatrick Juxta, and Gretna.
CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.
Mr. MACAULAY presented a petition, signed by
upwards of 25,000 of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, in
favour of the Caledonian Railway.-

GREENWICH COLLIERY RAILWAY.
Mr. HODGSON HINDE said he had to intreat the
attention of the House to a few observations he had to
make in reference to this Bill. He would endeavour to
explain in as few words as possible the great injury and
injustice that would be done to a great many parties
if this Bill should be suffered to pass through
the Home without attention being called to many
circumstances connected with it. He wished
to be understood as now reserving what he had to say
upon the subject to the time when the Bill should come
when he would bring
before the House, a charge
against one of the Commissioners of Green-
wich Hospital, for having interfered in
a man-
ner that he (Mr. H. Ilinde) did not think he was
warranted in doing. He held in his hand a very volumi-
nous correspondence on the subject, that had passed
between the Commissioner's solicitor and Mr. Richards.
He did not mean to trouble the House by reading the
whole of it; but he would just read one letter that had
been written to one of the landowners who was Opposing
the line, and it would be then for the House to say
whether the order for the second reading should be
discharged. The Hon. Member then read the letter;
it alluded to an engagement which the Company had
entered into with Mr. Bizkripll, and wiiieb Mr. 13ickne11
alleged had been broken on their part,. Uncle:. those,
circumstances, he (Mr. H. Hinde) thought the House
ought not to proceed with the Bill until the Company had
either performed or been released from their agreement.
Mr. CHARLES HOPE explained, but in so low a
tone of voice as to be quite inaudible in the gallery.

Mr. FOSTER said it had been quite impossible for
any Hon. Member in that House to have heard the cor-
respondence which had been read by the Hon. Member
(Mr. H. Hinde)—(Laughter)—and ho thought it should
be printed, so that the House might know what it all
meant.—(Continued laughter.) The Bill was of a most
anomalous character, and gave extraordinary powers to
the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. He was op-
posed to the second reading.
On the question that the Bill be read a second time,
Mr. H. HINDE presented petitions, signed by all the
landholders on the intended line of railway, against the
Bill.
Mr. FOSTER presented petitions from the Mayor
and corporation of the town of Berwick, against the
Bill.

Mr. H. HINDE said that if the Honourable Gentle-
man who had charge of this Bill, or the Noble Lord
the Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests,
would give him an assurance that this Bill should
be :postponed until after the correspondence had
been printed, he would abstain from moving that
the Bill be read a second time that day six months.
This Bill if passed would be a public injustice. Had
there been other than public rights concerned he never
would have intruded this matter on the House of Com-
mons, but unless, since the Bill had been presented
to the House, any new information had been
given, he could not assent to the second reading
of this Bill. He could not see why, for the sake of
one farthing a lift, which was all for the Greenwich
Hospital, they should inflict a grievous injury on the
public. The Greenwich Colliery ought not to be
placed in any position which was more exclusive
than that of any • other colliery; and if five collieries
out of six united to outpost a sixth, they were all subject
to the same rules of competition, and there ought to be
no favour shown by the Legislature to interfere with this
competition.
The question was then put for the second reading.
Mr. HOPE supported the Bill, and presented petitions
in its favour. The Hon. Gentlemen read several ex-
tracts from the evidence of a civil engineer, in favour of
the Bill, and said that the landowners were in favour
of it.
Mr. WARBURTON looked upon this measure as a
public one, and he thought that nothing could be more
reasonable than to put off the second reading of the
Bill for a week, to give the House an opportunity of
being acquainted with the documents which had been
read. He should support the motion of his Hon
Friend before him, that the second reading should be
postponed fur a week, and that in the mean time the
papers just read be printed.
Lord LINCOLN would oppose the motion for the
postponement, and also the proposition for printing
the papers. He thought it highly inexpedient
for the House to publish the correspondence
which had passed between the opposing agents.
He thought it was perfectly unnecessary to publish the
correspondence, as he did not think it would induce the
House to take any other course than that which he
trusted the House would take on the present occasion—
namely, to send the Bill to a Committee of
that House. The gentleman who held the
office of solicitor to the Commissioners of Green-
wich Hospital had held the office for upwards
of thirty years, and he had never had such a charge
made against him before. He (Lord Lincoln) conceived
that the charge could only be properly investigated in
the Committee to which the Bill would be referred, end
if the Committee should find that the charge had been
proved, their duty would be to throw out the Bill.
Lord HO WICK said he did not concur with the Hon.
and Learned Member behind him, that the reason he
had assigned for postponing the second reading of this
Bill for a week was sufficient. It appeared to him
(Lard Howick) that this was a private Bill, brought in
by the Government for local purposes, and that
therefore the proper place for discussing its merits
was not in that House, but before a Committee, for if it
were to be discussed before the House, means of course
would be taken to insure its being carried ; but if
brought before a Committee it would be fully and fairly
discussed, for there alone would a full examination of all
the details be gone into. If this be a Govern-
ment proposition, he could see no good grounds
assigned why, for that reason merely, this Bill should
be taken out of the regular course to which all such
Bills were subjected. Therefore he did think it would
be a great waste of public time and of public money to
print this correspondence ; for he could not see
what that correspondence had to do with the Bill
itself. He looked upon these letters as the result of a
mere private squabble between a respectable solicitor
and some other party. It did seem to
him to be a very strange course, indeed, if
the Government were to determine upon throwing
out this Bill on the second reading, without at first send-
ing it before a Committee. He knew something of its
merits, and though he was aware that it was a
local Bill, and for local purposes, he knew no
grounds upon which it could be, or ought to be opposed;
but, on the contrary, he knew that it possessed a
great many local advantages, and he was also aware that
there were a great number of persons, in the vicinity of
the town through which it was to pass, who were in
favour of it. On the whole, he did hope that the Bill
would be sent to a Committee ; but he would oppose the
printing of the correspondence.
Mr. BELL said a few words, after which' the gallery
was cleared for a division, but none took place.
The Bill was then read a second time.
The Anderston Police Bill was also read a second time.
Mr. GROGAN presented a petition from the noble-
men and gentlemen of Carlow in favour of the Dublin
and Carlow Railway Bill.
Mr. GROGAN also presented a petition from noble-
men and gentlemen in Meath and Westmeath against
the Drogheda and Dublin Railway Extension Bill.
The Manchester Court of Record Bill was read a
second time, and ordered to be committed.
On the motion of Mr. COLLETT, the Great Southern
and Western (Ireland) Railway Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to be committed.
Sir JOHN YARDE BULLER presented a petition
against the Nottingham Railway, and also against the
Cornwall Railway.
Mr. HUME presented a petition against the Berwick
Railway.
Sir THOMAS ESMONDE presented a petition in
favour of the Carlow, Wexford, and Dublin Railway.
Mr. H. HINDE gave notice that he would, to-
morrow, move for copies of the correspondence between
the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital and Mr.
Dixon relative to the Greenwich Colliery Railway Bill,
and also that if the Bill passed the Committee, he would
take the sense of the House on bringing up the report.
Mr. WAWN wished to know from the Right Hon.
Gentleman, the Vice-President of the Board of Trade.
when it was the intention of the Government to introduce
a measure relative to merchant seamen ?

Sir G. CLERK was understood to say that he would
move for leave to bring in a Bill on the subject on
Tuesday. _

CUSTOMS.—REVENUE.
Mr. E. BULLER begged leave to ask the Right Hon.
Gentleman opposite, when (as we understood) there
would be an opportunity of bringing forward the several
motions of which notice had been given, respecting the
Customs' Amendment Act ?

Sir R. PEEL (who was also imperfectly heard) was
understood to say that he was not at present able to
name a day, but he would take an early opportunity of
doing so.
Mr. PARKER would postpone his notice on the sub-
ject until the Right Hon. Baronet appointed a day.
Mr. HAWES wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he pro-
posed to lay before the House the last report of the Com-
missioners of Revenue Inquiry ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that the report laid by the Commissioners before the
Treasury in December last was confidential, and there
had not been time to decide whether it should be pub-
lished for the use of Hon. Members.
THE PAPER TRADE.
Mr. GISBORNE, who was almost inaudible, put a
question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the
subject of certain applications made some time since
to the Commissioners of Excise by the paper trade.
The question he wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentle-
man was, whether the Board of Excise had yet come to
a decision on this subject, and if so, what that decision
was ?

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
he had had a deputation from the paper-makers a short
time ago on this particular subject, and in consequence
the Board of Excise had taken the matter into their
consideration. It was, however, necessary that the
Commissioners should have a report from the different
districts in which paper was manufactured; and as those
reports had not yet been received, the Commissioners
had not been able to come to a judgment on the subject.
As soon as this judgment was come to, he would com
municate it to the Hon. Gentleman.
THE FISHERIES.
Lord PALMERSTON said, I wish, Sir, to put a qßes-
tion to the Right Hon. Gentleman, of which I have given
him notice. It is stated in the newspapers that the
French Minister, M. Guizot, has announced to the
Chambers that he is about to propose a Bill for the
purpose of carrying into effect certain modifications,
which the British Government had consented to, in the
treaty which was concluded in 1839, between the two
Governments, for regulating the fisheries in the narrow
seas. I wish to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman what
these modifications are ?

Sir R. PEEL—I think there must be some mistake
with respect to the report to which the Noble Lord
refers. The Noble Lord and the House will probably
recollect that a convention was entered into in 1839
between this country and France with respect to the
fisheries on the coasts of the two countries. By the
eleventh article, I think it was, certain regulations were
to be made by Commissioners appointed by the two
countries, for the purpose of giving effect to that treaty.
Those regulations were made, and embodied in an Act
of Parliament, which passed both branches of the Legis-
lature, and received the royal assent in 1843. By the
convention powers were expressly reserved to each of
the two countries to pass the necessary legislative mea-
sures for carrying the said regulations into execution.
We acted on those powers. We passed a law enabling
us by the regular tribunals of the country to inflict pe-
nalties on those subjects of France who contravened the
regulations of the treaty. That law is now in force.
France did not pass any such law, but I apprehend that
all the French Government now propose to do, is to pass
a law enabling them to take measures for giving effect
to the convention. There are no modifications whatever.
Lord PALMERSTON wished to know if there had
been no modifications or alterations of the regulations?
Sir It. PEEL said there might have been some
alteration in the regplatious ; but these regulations
were Ilow pontaiped !n thg Apt, E`ncl he (Sir 14. Peel)
believed there had been no modification whivtever of
m
them since, flowerer, it might he that the French
Government were now about to pass a law upon the
subject.
Captain PECHELL said he 11461'44A that the French I
Government were about to pass a lqw which would very

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
after the able exposition made by the First Lord of
the Treasury in his financial statement of the grounds on
which he intended to remit „certain taxes—after
the detailed explanation he had given of the evil conse-
quences of these taxes on the commerce of the country,
he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) did not think it
would have been considered necessary for him to
trouble the House again on the same subject. He
should have thought that it would have been the general,
he might say the unanimous feeling of the House, that
it would be expedient to remit them, but he found that
the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire (Mr. Bankes) had
determined to take the sense of the House on
the remission of the auction duty. He would
have wished that the Honourable Member, before
placing his notice upon the paper, had read the report
furnished by the Commissioners on this subject. He
might then hare been prepared perhaps to coincide in
their recommendation that the very first duties to
which the attention of Parliament should be directed
with the view of repealing them, should be
the auction duties, because their character, in a com-
mercial country, was most obnoxious, as all taxes
upon the transfer of property must necessarily be.
Not only did this general objection exist, but they were
also objectionable as being partial, as they did not affect
all species of property. Only one particular class of pro-
perty was liable to these duties, that which was sold by
auction. They were liable to another objection, thus
applied to the transfer of property, which above all things
ought to be entitled to indulgence. The party selling
had no option as to the coursa he should pursue in
selling. He need only refer to what was not an uncommon
instance, a cue' of recent occurrence which fell under
his own particular notice. Two estates had been
lately sold equally redeemable. They were each
sold for 100,0001. The proprietor of one had
contracted an amount of debt, and it became necessary
for him to submit it to sale by auction ; the consequence
was, that when the property was sold, 90,0001. was
paid by that individual, and out of the residue,
10,0002, he had to pay 3,0001. the amount of duties.
The other person, whose property was subject to no in-
cumbrance, for he was not liable to debt, sold his pro-
perty by private contract, and thereby avoided the duty.
The whole of the property last year which was put up
for sale by auction was of the value of 45,000,000/.,
while the amount of it which was subjected to the auc-
tion duty was short of a million. The exemptions
from the auctioc-duty had been carried to a great extent.
Generally speaking, Parliament hsd been in the habit,•
when particular interests pressed upon them, of exempt-
ing those interests from the auction duty. There were
no less than forty-five different classes of sales which
were exempted from auction duty by Act of Parliament.
The duty did not press upon those classes, therefore it
pressed as a hardship with very great severity on those
who were subjected to it. But it was not to be supposed
that those who were exempt from duty were altogether
exempt from charge. Far from ft. It was true that
they were exempt from the payment of the auction
duty, but they were still subject to all those restrictions
on sales which applied to every other soft of property.
The auctioneer had the same notice to give, the same
catalogues to draw up, the same bonds to enter into
with the Excise, and, as he had to collect the duty, he
had ts pay himself by making additional charges, which
those parties had to pay, although they paid no addi-
tional auction duty to the State. The expense of col-
lecting that duty was also great. It was not easy to
state exactly the amount of the charges upon the Ex-
cise for the collection of that duty, but of the 300,0001.
annually collected, the whole by no means went into
the coffers of the State; and he thought he was within
the mark in estimating the expense of the collection at
20,0001. The House would see, therefore, that
among the other evils of this duty, was the
immense expense of its collection.—(Hear, hear.)
But in consequence of the amount of the duty, and its
pressure upon particular kinds of property, parties
resorted to all sorts of devices to avoid selling
by auction. And sometimes, to evade the
payment of the duty, the seller bought in the property,
and disposed of it by private contract. In a great
majority of cases, the intention of the law was entirely
defeated. The anomalies of the tax were equally
burthensome upon trade, manufactures and other pro-
perty. In the case of the importers of some kinds of
foreign goods, the first importer had no duty to pay if
lie sold within a limited period, but the purchaser
from
him would have the whole burtben of the auction duty
to pay, when he was obliged to sell. Nor was the
auction duty less offensive with regard to the agricul-
tural interest, with regard to which his Hon. Friend
(Mr. Bankes) had a motion upon which he proposed to
take the sense of the House. It was perfectly true that
the larger farmers who had such a quantity of
stock to dispose of, to the sale of which it would be de-
sirable to attract a great number of persons, might not
feel the hardship of the present system, but it operated
most oppressively upon the farmers who had only a small
stock to dispose of, to the sale of which a large number
of persons was not expected. But, even with regard to
the large farmers, he knew instances where persons
having a large stock to dispose of, and wishing for the ad-
vantage of as great a number of buyers as possible, drove
their cattle to the neighbourhood of a large town, where
they were viewed. They were afterwards driven back
and sold. In many cases of this kind, also, disputes
arose as to the bona fide nature of the sale. Then, with
regard to timber, when it was sold standing there was no
duty, but when it was cut down, and the person wished
to sell the bark or other parts of the tree
by auction, the whole duty had to be paid.
There were some general instances of the continued
fraudulent evasion of the law en this subject, which were
continually being practised. Ile might state many more;
but he feared he would be wearying the House by doing
so. The great objection to the tax was, that it was a
tax upon the transfer of property, operating partially
and unequally, and particularly upon those on whom it
should not be inflicted at all ; and even upon those whose
duty it was to collect it, an amount of labour and ex-
pense more than they could aftbrd ; in short it was a tax
that had operated so unequally, that it was resolved upon
that it should be the very first tax proposed to be re-
pealed. Some modification of it had been recommended
by the Commissioners, but then it had been considered
that the expense of collecting it in a reduced form would
be just as much as if it was at the full amount, and that
therefore it would be better to abolish it altogether,—
(Hear.) There was only one point more to which he
wished to call attention, namely the proposition that auc-
tioneers should pay a licenceof 15/. ; at present they paid
only 54, but then they had to pay in addition whenever
they were called upon to sell any excisable article. It
might, and in some instances did, so happen that an
individual, in addition to selling ordinary property, sold
wine, or beer or spirits or plate, and in all these cases a
separate licence must be had before the party could sell
them. There were cases in which an auctioneer did pay
the whole of that additional duty, thereby incurringan
annual charge of 301., the amount of all those particular
duties. In fixing the duty at half that
amount
peered to him that it was not an unfair
m, .tt apts.
o
extreme rights. As the Bill would stand,c prtol me
' psaer to
y
having a licence for 15/. would be at liberty to sell every
species of property without any addititional licence.
up There would be a great increase of property really pet
to sale and actually disposed of by this mode of transfer.
The auctioneer, therefore, would have a very large increase
of business, arising from the simple circumstance of his
being released from heavy restrictions. But in addition
to paying the present duty the auctioneers had to furnish
an annual bond to the Excise for the purpose of securing
the payment of the duty which might pass through
their hands. Those were annual expenses on the auc-
tioneer. He had various other burdens to bear. He
110 to provide two sureties, with a view of preventing
fraud, and he was also coospelled to keep a complicated
set of books fur the satisfa.otida of the Excise et
sioners, Those were the around.
to the House to semo
did net

s,ommis-
.„, which he proposed
duty on auctions, and as be
what objections could possibly be urged
against it, as he had not been able to form any objection
in his own mind, he could not anticipate what might be
urged by Hon. Members. He had only, therefore, the