29 JANUARY 1870, Page 3

Mr. Stansfeld addressed his constituents at Halifax on Tuesday, the

25th inst., and made a speech mainly on the affairs of his own department. The policy of the Treasury was one of retrench- ment, but the retrenchments and reforms in the Navy had dis- tinctly increased the effective force of the Fleet,—a fact, by the way, now acknowledged by very hostile critics. As to the dock- yard men, the present Government gave pensions and the late 'Government gave none. He admitted that under Mr. Lowe's Budget the country paid /3,500,000 which it would not have paid under the old system, but then he had remitted more than 13,000,000, the benefit of which would be felt after 31st March, while as to the inconvenience of paying all direct taxes at once, Scotland had done so for eleven years. The abolition of the -shilling duty on corn had made corn cheap, in the face of a short harvest. He was confident that the Irish Land Bill would not be subversive,- yet would not be a Bill on the lines of the old mea- sures. He believed in Mr. Forster's education measure, hoped for a Ballot Bill, was certain of a licensing Bill, and was only doubtful of the Bill for removing University Testa.