The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-02-18 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-YESTERDAY

The Speaker took the Chair at 5 o'clock, and soon
after the House went into Committee of Ways and Means,
Mr. Bernal in the chair. The CHANCELLOR of the
for the year ending January last, was £52,810,000. The
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ture produce of the taxes for the year ending April,
penditure had been £50,134,800. As to the
1852, he estimated them at £52,140,0( 0. He then went
over, in great detail, the several items of the expenditure,
and estimated the surplus, at the end of the year, at
£1,890,000. (Hear.) This reduction, he said, would
have reference to the Income Tax and tamp Duties; he
did not consider it expedient to go into the details of the
Income Tax on the present occasion, particularly as that
subject would come under a separate discussion hereafter.
He had, he would only say, received various communica-
tions finding fault with the different Schedules under
which the tax was collected. In the justice of most of
those representations he agreed ; indeed, in his own
opinion, the only parties not aggrieved by the tax were
those under Schedule A. Still, the only practical plan,
under existing circumstances, was to continue the Income
Tax in its present shape. He thought at the same time
it would be most impolitic, even cruel, to extend the
burden to Ireland, and he therefore proposed to exempt
that country from its operation ; but he would propose
to continue the Irish Stamp Duties, in the first in-
stance as a sort of equivalent for the exemption. The
aggregate taxation ofthe country defrayed by consumers,
amounted to £42,000,000, whilst that on property was
only £12,451,000, inclusive of local taxation. On such
grounds he contended that it was most expedient to
lighten burdens on consumption, and continue in the
same course of policy. The probable surplus at the end
of next year would be about £1,890,000. He would then
explain whit he proposed to do in the event of the In-
come Tax being renewed. The first claim on the house
was some reduction of the debt. (Hear, hear.) The debt
had been increased by £27,000,000 during twenty-seven
years of peace; and though he did not think it expedient
to make a great and sudden effort to pay off large portions
of it, it was their duty to make provision for its reduction.
To this end it was essential to maintain a certain surplus
of income over the expenditure, never less than one
million, or about one-fiftieth part of our expenditure.
He proposed, therefore, to retain a surplus somewhere
about one miPion. Which of all the various descriptions
of taxes was it most expedient for the interest of the
country to repeal or modify ? Of all the claims that had
been laid before him he considered the window tax to
demand the first attention. The total amount of window
duty was £1,856,000—a sum which it was obvious would
absorb the whole surplus if the amount were taken away
altogether. In repealing the window duty, he meant to in-
troduce a tax upon a house in proportion to its value, which
he considered the best principle to adopt with respect to all
new houses, but the rule must be subjected to modifications
with respect to existing dwellings. All new houses of the
annual value of £2O and upwards, he proposed should pay
a tax calculated according 'to their rental ; that houses
under £2O a-year should be exempted altogether, but ex-
iiting- houses over£2oa-year should pay a house tax to the
amount they now pay for window duties. The result of
the proposal would be to exempt from taxation 120,000
houses now paying it, to bring 30,000 houses under tax-
ation, and to exempt the greet majority of farm-houses.
The proceeds he calculated of the new house tax would be
£1,157,000, leaving a loss to the revenue of £700,000 a-
year from the above adoption in place of the window
duties. The next proposal he should make had reference
to the duties on coffee. He should attempt to reduce the
evil of adulterating that article with chicory, and to cor-
rect the decreased import by reducing the duty (hear),
both on foreign and colonial coffee, so as to leave an equal
duty on all coffee of 3d. per lb. (hear, hear); and, also, to
impose the same amount of duty on chicory. (Hear,
hear.) The reduction of duty on this article would, he
estimated, amount to £176,000. (Hear, hear.) The next
article he proposed to deal with was foreign timber. He
proposed to reduce the duty on all foreign timber to half
its present amount, from which the revenue would suffer
to the extent of £286,000. He also proposed to reduce
the duties on agricultural seeds, which he considered as
raw materials, which amounted in the whole to £35,000,
to an uniform rate of ls. per cwt. upon seeds of all
descriptions. The loss to the revenue from this
reduction would be £30,000. Ho proposed a por-
tion of local charges for the maintenance of
pauper lunatics from the Consolidated Fund to the ex-
tent of £150,000 a year for the United Kingdom. In
July next there would be a reduction of duty on sugar of
£300,000. All these reductions would show a gain to the
public of £1,525,000, but the loss to the revenue would
be only £1,280,000; deducting this from the surplus of
the future year, there would be left a surplus of £612,000;
but as half the existing duties would be received for the
current year ending April, there would, in fact, be a
surplus of £962,000. After some further observations
he concluded by moving a resolution affirming the expe-
diency of renewing the income tax and the stamp duties
for Ireland for a limited period, and mentioned that the
period would be for three years as heretofore. The chan-
cellor resumed his seat at 20 minutes to eight, after speak-
ing two hours and forty minutes. The resolution having
been received, Mr. HERRIES addressed the house and
begged to ask for ample time before deter-
mining whether the income tax should be
continued for three years longer. (Hear, hear.)
In reply to Mr. Herries, Lord JOHN RUSSELL intimated
that the estimates would be brought under the considera-
tion of the house on Friday next.—Mr. HUME confessed
his disappointment that a large reduction had not been
made in the army, navy, and ordnance estimates, and in
the colonial, civil, and military establishments. He en-
tirely disagreed with a proposalloe applying any portion of
the surplus to the reduction of the National Debt: He
thought it would be much preferable to apply it to the
repeal of the duties on paper, soap, and other useful and
necessary articles.

PARIS, SUNDAY.—The report of the Austrian aggression on
Switzerland and Italy excited uneasiness. A strong French
protest is spoken of. The president's firm determination to

done to-day at 96

GERMANY.—The Cologne Gazette reports that Prussia and
Austria entertain the idea of commencing hostilities against
Switzerland and Piedmont, and that these combined powers
•

~. ..
proposed sending 100.000 men into the field. Fears that the
rumour might proved true bad caused a great stagnation in
trade and commerce

LATEST BETTING.
TATTERSALL'S MONDAY
LIVERPOOL SPRING CUP : Doubt, 6 to I.
LIVERPOOL STEEPLE CHASE: Sir John. Alubq Ksulpr_ 11

Day, and Rat-trap, 10 to 1 ; Vainhope, 12 to 1 ;Rescue and
Maurice Daly, 20 to 1 ; Venice, 25 to 1 ; Currig, 30 to 1.
NORTHAMPTON HANDICAP: Cocktail, 9 to 1.
CHESTER CUP : Rhesus, 12 to 1 ; Harricot, 2. to 1 ; Mon-
tague, 25 to 1 ; Nancy, 50 to 1.
DERBY : GreCian and Prime Minister, 6 to 1; Mountain
Sylph colt and Newininster, 12 to 1; Constellation and Marlbro'
Buck, 25 to 1. Grecian and Newminster in force.

LONDON MONEY AND SHARE MARKETS.-•YESTERDAY

CLOSING PRICES,

tt9, money, 96:1 4

Three and-a

Quarter per Cents. '9B
Bills, 48 52 prem.
foreign stocks dull

Bank Stock, 214& i 5 ; Exchequer
Foreign Stock : Mexicans,. 33i ; market for

Railway Shares—London Stock, 1351; Ditto Quarters, 6i ;
Midland Stock, 621 i; Ditto Halves, 151 14i dis. ; North Staf-
fordshire, 61 dis. ; South Eastern, 261 ; Edinburgh and Glas-
gow, 34 6; Caledonians, 124 ; Ditto Pref., 6; Eastern
Counties, 7i ; East Lancashire, 141; Great Northern, 17;
C West--

great 91 2 ; Lancashire and Yorkshire. 59 60; Ditto
Fifths, 71 7 dis.; 'York, Newcastle. and Berwick, 20 11; Ditto
Extension, 41 3 (118. ; 7ork and North Midland, 241 ; Ditto
Pref.; 1/ l dis. ; London, Brighton, and South Coast, 98 9;
North British, 9# g.