The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-07 00:00:00

Entputal Varitament.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—MoNnAr.

Lord COLCHESTER wished to know if the Board of
Directors of the East India Com) any had assigned any
reasons for the recal of the Governor-General of India,
and if sa, what were those reasons ? (Hear.)
The like of WELLINGTON said the Beard of Direc-
tors had certainly stated their reasons, which were not
considered valid by her Majesty's government : nay, fur-
ther, ministers had remonstrated against the procedure
of the Board of Directors, though at the same time there
could he no doubt that the Board had acted in a perfectly
legal manner in recalling the Governor-General. The
Board had that undoubted right conferred upon them in
1784, and it had been ratified since that time ; but it was
a right which ought to be exercised with discretion. The
present exercise of power. to say the least of it, was not
a discreet exercise. (time, hear.) He repeated it was
not a discreet exercise of power to recal an officer who
had been in office little more than two years, and who had
given satisfaction—recalling him, too, without making
provision for a successor, in the present critical state of
India. (Hear.) It was the mote indiscreet, inasmuch
as the members of the Board, as a body, had no know-
ledge whatever of the causes which induced the Governor-
General to act as be had thortglit fit ' • it was indiscreet,
he repeated, to recal that officer, who had given such sa-
tisfaction. He would illustrate that indiscretion by going
a little further. The Board of Directors, eto doubt, fre-
quently issued orders for a renal ; but they had hitherto,
in most cases, attended to the remonstrances of the Go-
veramente even with respect to the present Governor-
Geseral,during the last year they bad done so. What,
he would ask, would kave become of the great operation
beforeGuelior, if his noble friend the Governor-General
had been withdrawn six or eight months ago? Conse-
quences-of a most dangerous character might have taken
plaeelhad the grossindiscretion of the recal been persisted
in. The present recal was the most indiscreet exercise
of power.he had-cver witnessed during the long period of
time that he had been in power.
Lord Banuos AM said, it appeared to him to be a very
anomalous law by which the'Governor-General was com-
pelled to take office. He was of opinion that ill-omened
clause in Mr. Pitt's bill Of 1789 was intended to be con-
sidered as a.deed 'letter, and, if exercised, only to be so
with the utmost discretion. Whether that had been done
on the present occasion he left the house to judge, alter
the strong censure pronounced by the noble duke.
The Marquis of CLAN RiCARDE expressed his surprise
that the 'noble duke opposite should pronounce such a
grave eee-ure against the East India Company without
giving rfdble lords some notice of his intention. The
house could not but suppose that the Board of Directors
had -ccgent reasons for acting as they had done. He
wished to know if it were the intention of ministers to lay
on the table the conespondence which had taken place
between the Board of Control and the East India Com-
patty
The Duke Of 'WELLINGTON said there could be no ob-
jection to give all the information possible.
Lord Cestenene could not help regretting that the
noble duke bad thought proper to pronounce, on this oc-
casion, such a heavy censure on the directors of the East
India Company. The noble duke should be aware that
what fell from 'bun had very great weight; and he was
sure that all who'heard and all who would read what had
fallen from him must come to the conclusion that he
strongly condemned the conduct of the East India Direc-
tors. 'lt might turn out that they were to blame, but at
present the censure was altogether premature. Their
lordships.were ignorant of theeircumstances under which
this recal had taken place. -The noble duke had informed
the house. that the directors bad accompanied their inti-
mation of the recal with the reasons on which they acted,
but with regard to:those reasons the noble duke had been
entirely silent.
The Marquis of 'LONDONDERRY presented a petition
from the coalowners of the north, against the proposed
tax on coals, for the improvement of the port of London.
Lord 'WHARNCLIFFE said, with reference to the sub-
ject of a'reduction of the duty upon coals, which had been
mentioned in the other house of parliament, he had only
to remark that the government had not as yet decided
upon carrying out the proposition, and he rather thought
that the government would riot at present be disposed to
decide upon taking such a course.
The Marquis of Nottetesate postponed his motion for
an inquiry into the subject connected with the Board of
Charitable Bequests in Ireland for another week.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-MONDAY.
THE BUDGET.

On the notion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
the house then went into a committee of ways and means,
Mr. Greene in the chair.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose and said,—
He thought it desirable to avail himself of this opportunity
of bringing under the consideration of the house the view
of the financial condition of the country which the house
is entitled to expect, and ,which it must be anxious to re-
ceive at the bands of her Majesty's government. He was
happy—and he was sure those hon. gentlemen who differed
from his views would be happy also—that the views which
he bad entertained of a speedy revival of industry and
commercial enterprise had been realised, and that the
alarming forebodings which were indulged in had turned
out to be groundless. He called the attention of the house
to the situation in which they stood when this question
was last before them, touching more particularly on the
China opium debt. The balance sheet showed on one side
£2,000,000 to have been received from the East India
Company and the China opium claim. The estimate he
had made of the public income during the course of last
year, has undoubtedly been very greatly exceeded. The
amount that had been received from the Customs is
£21,426,000, instead of the £19.000,000 at which he had
estimated it. This included £350,000 arising from the
duties on grain and wines, the importations of both of
which were considerably greater than was expected. The
duty on sugar had increased £200,000 and upon tea
£300,000. There was an augmentation also in the duties
on cotton wool, amounting to £200,000. an indication of
increased activity in the manufacturing districts. He es-
timated the excise revenue at £13,000,000, and the amount
it yielded was 12,900,000. The taxes estimated at
£4,200,000, produced 4,192,000. The increase from the
Post-office, he was happy to announce, exceeded anticipa-
tion, the receipts were £628,000. The revenue from the
Crown lands, estimated at 130,000, produced 147,000.
The miscellaneous estimates were £870,000, the receipts
were £803,000. The total of the estimates on these
several items were £50,150,000, and they had produced
£52,138,840, being an increase of £2,700,000 beyond his
calculations. The army expenditure last year was
£6,188.000, being a reduction of £500,000 ! Taking the
sums together he had calculated on a surplus of £700.000,
but it had from the causes shown, and £650,000 less
beipg required for the navy, produced a surplus of
£4,165,000. (Loud cheering). At the close of
last year there was a deficiency of .£2,400,000.
He however believed that deficiency to be rather appar-
ent.than real, and, 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 circumstances, from time to time, might allo v ;
and he was happy to be able to announce to the House
that the deficiency for 1843, which amounted altogether to
£2,749,000, had been clared 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
£1,400,000 on the Ist of April last passed.—(Cheers.)
So far then as the past year was concerned he believed the
House would agree with him tbat his statement was sa-
tisfactory. He would proceed to consider the estimates
and prospects for the year on which they had entered.
Mr. Cowrier (Athlone.)—What is the amount of the
property-tax ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER.—XS,3IS,OOO,
which is somewhat larger than the estimate he had made
last year, in consequence (as we understood) of there be-
ing a larger return from Scotland than he had anticipated.
Now, in making the estimate for the year on which
they had entered, he would adhere to the rule he had laid
laid down for himself on a former occasion, that of not
being betrayed into too sanguine expectations, which the
future would not bear out. He therefore contented him-
self with taking the Customs at little more than the amount
they had actually produced last year, viz., £21,500,000.
£BOO,OOO of which was derived from corn ; and as the
state of the harvest in this country was not yet ascer-
tained, he thought it prudent to estimate the Customs at
no more than they had produced last year, viz.,
£21,500,000. He also estimated the Excise as in the year
gone by, at £13,000,000. He took the Stamps at
£7,000,000, the Assessed Taves at £4.200,000, and the
Property Tax at £5,100,000. To these he added the Post-
office at £600,000 only, and, for this reason, the revenue
of the Post-office made some little progress in the course
of last year, and he doubted not that in the coarse of next
year it would make a certain progress also. The Crown
lands he would take at £130,000, and the miscellaneous
estimates at £250,000, making a total of £51,790,000.
'With regard to the National debt the payment for the last
year was £29,300,000—f0r the present, £27,697,000.
(Cries of Hear, hear.") The deficiency of what must
be paid in the present year, ascompared with last, amounted
to £1,400,000; but the House must not be led into the
delusion that that is the real decrease. The real diminu-
tion of the debt, in the present year, was one-half of the
benefit deriveable from the Three and. a-Half per cents.,
being £313,000. The charges for the year on account of
the debt and consolidated fund amounted to £3,097,000.
This included the Exchequer-bills, and the interest there-
on. The estimate for the army amounted to £6,616,000.
The estimate of the navy to £6,250,000 instead of
£6,380,000, es in the preceding year; and, in this expen-
diture, provision had been made for the great national
works, The ordnance to a sum of £1,842,000, and the
miscellaneous .estimates, he calculated would amount to
somewhere about £3,000,000.
He then alluded to the beneficial working of the reduc-
tion of the Three-a.nd-a-H elf per cents. The amount of
dissentients in England amounted to £60,994, and in Ire-
land to £13,280. He then alluded to the position of Go-
vernment with the South Sea Co. and the payment of the
grant by the 55th George 111., for which a fund had been
sunk which now produced about £300,000 ; and there was
a deficit of £239,000, for which the public were paying
£11,860 a year. lie recommended an arrangement with
the company. The total expenditure of the year for the
'
ordinary service . £l7
,700,000, and for the extraordinary
service £816,000, making a total of £lB 546,000. So that,
if that sum %len' added to ,4be deht, which was £30,097.170,
e
the total expenditure of thear would be £48,643.170. It
that be deducted from the gro rsatnountof the rev nue, that
is £51,790,000, it would leave a'n apparent surplus
(subject
i
to the reductions a hich he h.'d before alb dad to) of
£3,116.000, but if allowances were' made for that portion
of the debt which will be due next 'ear, that aill 1 ave
the sui plus £2,376,000. ('` Hear, 1,,.';0," an I cheer,.)
(lie ittoOnle Witt
The hon. gentleman then referred to