The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-22 00:00:00

The Duke of Wellington and Lord Stanley said that
though they wished some amendments in the bill, they
would not oppose it going into Committee.
The Duke of Newcastle then withdrew his amendment,
and the bill was read a second time.

HOUSE OF COMMONS,

•TH URSD AY

Mr. P. SCROPE gave notice of a bill relative to small

tenements

Mr. BRIGHT gave notice that, on the 2d of March, he
would ask leave to bring in a bill to amend the game
laws.

Mr. HERRIES, having presented a petition from the
principal bankers, merchants, and traders in Liverpool,
praying for the suspension of the Bank Charter Act,
moved a resolution to the effect—" That, looking to the
state of distress which has for some time prevailed among
the commercial classes, and to the general feeling of dis-
trust and alarm by which the embarrassments of trade
have been aggravated, it is the opinion of this house that
her Majesty's ministers were justified, during the recess
of parliament, in recommending to the Bank of England,
for the purpose of restoring confidence, a course of pro-
ceeding at variance with the restrictions imposed by the
7th and Bth Vic., c. 32." The right hon. gentleman said
that if that resolution were agreed to, he would then pro-
pose that the house resolve itself into a committee of the
whole house to consider the following resolution :—" That

it is expedient that the limitations imposed by the act 7th
and Bth Vic., c. 32, upon the Bank of England, in rela-
tion to the issue of notes payable on demand, be sus-
pended, subject to such conditions as may be provided by
any act to be passed for that purpose." The right hon
' Ito '

gentleman proceeded to give a description of 3e melan-
choly state to which the commerce and trade of this
country were reduced by the operation of the act of 1844,
and to contend that the government were fully warranted
in giving, and indeed were compelled to give, to the bank
authority to suspend that act. Notwithstanding this,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer had come down in hot
haste, at the meeting of parliament, to propose the ap-
pointment of a committee of inquiry, the object of which
was to stifle discussion on the subject. The evils suffered
by the country had been attributed to the conduct of the
directors of the Bank of England, but no skill on the
part of these gentlemen could have prevented the crisis
that had occurred, which would be attributed to the ope-
ration of the Bank Act alone. T' Pvil principle

ae evil principle was
inherent in the act itself, and therefore the house would
-'nly be fully justified in suspending it.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER denied that he
had attempted to stifle discussion, or that his motion for
a committee of inquiry had any such motive. He argued

that, instead of moving for the suspension of the act, Mr.
Herriee ought to have moved for its repeal. To suspend
the act while the committee was sitting would be to de-
cide first and hear the fact afterwards. He could not
oppose the first resolution, but he would oppose the going
into committee.

Alderman THOMPSON' said that, although the bank was
now in a satisfactory state, there was no sufficient security
against a recurrence of the difficulties which had lately
occurred. The mercantile community could not stand
up against the continuation, in 1848, of the pressure

which weighed them down in 1847, nor was it reasonable
to ask them to wait till the report of the committee.

Mr. W. BROWN considered that the Bank Act had
totally failed on the first occasion on which it had been

ginally caused by tl'

tale r o t
the attend

a bill to amen(
His bill consis

rants in t

changes it

Irish membe

On ti

as the

moved that it

of the safety of his Majesty's royal person and govern- no more than justice to are who, however wronged,
ment, the safety of the established religion, the security always scorned to defend -himself. The noble lord then
of the ancient rights and privileges and peace of the proceeded to state all that had been done in the way of
kingdom, &c., would have, of necessity, to be repealed. increasing our establishments since the year 1835, hi order
The Bishop of St. DAVIDS contended that the bill to show that neither the Government nor Parliament had
would only make that open and honourable which was been negligent. The late Government had organized the
now continually done, but not in a plain and honourable old pensioners to the number of 50,000 men, at all times
manner. A political necessity for its passing had been available, and in addition to these they had the dockyard
shown, and therefore he supported the bill. The right battallions and the coast guard, to which were attached a
rev. prelate paid a tribute to the character and ability of supplemental force of 6000 men. In addition to all these,
the present pope, and defended the use of the style the regular force of the country, amounting to 55,000 men
" Sovereign Pontiff" as perfectly innocent. in this country, would be increased to 60,000, by the
The Bishop of EXETER heard for the first, and for, he return of some regiments from India. The question then
hoped, the last time, a British Prelate designated the style arose as to whether they should make a great reduction
" Sovereign Pontiff," as applied to the Pope, innocent. in this force or largely increase it, or continue it, adding to
He emphatically denied it. The assertion was absolutely its present strength from time to time as they had hitherto
contradictory to the Canon Law. The noble marquis had done and as occasion might require, and be satisfied with
failed to show that there was a reasonable doubt of the those additions. The view of the Government was that this
law, and should they say that the law permitted the great country, with its extensive colonies, and exposed to
carrying on of diplomatic relations with Rome, then the the possibility of war, would not act wisely in reducing
Ministers should on their own responsibility advise her the expenditure of the country within the limit of its
Majesty accordingly. The right reverend prelate saw a income. On the other hand, he could see no reason for
very marked distinction between having an agent at the any sudden armament of any kind, because at the present
Court of Rome and receiving a Nuncio here. A Nuncio moment the nation was in a fit state of defence, and in a
in England ! He shuddered at the thought of seeing position calculated to guarantee the continuance of peace.
Rome again raising her scarlet head in England. The noble lord then entered into a statement of our naval

strength, particularly in steam, and remarked that, al-
though the adoption of steam navigation gave greater faci-
lities for the invasion of this country, it also gave to this
country greater advantages in watching the ports of its
enemies. He did not propose any increase to the number
of the army, but in the sappers and miners an increase
would take place, the result of which, including stores,
&c., would swell the estimate by the sum of £358,000.
He proposed also to bring in a bill to embody the militia,
or rather to lay a foundation for an efficient militia, the
expense of which would be £150,000. In addition to the
usual sources of expenditure, was a sum of £1,100,000
" for the Kaffir war, and all added together, he would not
estimate the expenditure of the coming year at less
than £54,596,000. It was evident, therefore, that if the
government was right in its view of the impolicy of
reducing largely the establishments of the country,
they must not only renew the income tax, but they
must also resort to additional taxation, to make up the
deficiency of income to meet the expenditure. Any at-
tempt to raise revenue by re-imposing the taxes taken off
articles of consumption, would be, in his opinion, very
unwise. The government, therefore, proposed to renew
the present income tax for a period of five years from next
April, and in addition that the tax should be raised for a
period of two years from 7d. in the pound to 12d., or from
3 to 5 per cent. Considering the distress which had
recently prevailed in Ireland, he did not propose to raise
the tax to that country. He did not think this unjust to
England, for if Ireland were crushed by a weight of tax-
ation the result to England would be almost equally de-
plorable. He proposed the tax should be imposed in the
same manner as it had been in past years, and on the same

principles which governed its application in the days of
Pitt and Grenville. There was one tax which it was pro-
posed to repeal—a tax on copper ore, which had been im-
posed in 1842. That tax had done much injury to the
smelters, and had been of no benefit to the owners of
copper mines, and as it produced only £41,000, it was
thought advisable to propose its abolition. The total in-
come, including the increased income tax, would be,
according to his estimate, £54,750,000, while the expen-
diture would be £54,637,000, leaving a surplus of
£113,000 (a laugh.) The noble lord concluded by moving
a series of resolutions, in accordance with his speech, and
intimated that on Monday, the 28th, he would again move for
a committee of ways and means, in order to take the sense

of the house upon'them.
Mr. DISRAELI referred to the promises made when first
the income tax was resorted to. and said, that instead of

finding it a temporary tax, in'aTc7cordance with those pro-
mises, it was now to be made not only perpetual but
largely increased in amount. .

Mr: COBDEN contended, that instead of levying an
income tax they should reduce their expenditure to what
it was in 1835.
The CHAIRMAN reported progress,
to sit again

and obtained leave

4ND CLERICAL_ NEWS,