Vthattn net Srnt ihiug in Vfirlianitut.

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS OF THE WEER.

Horn OF LORDS. Monday, May 5. Mercantile Marine Bill; Petitions against, presented by Lord Stanley. Tuesday, May 6. No business of interest.

Thursday, May8. Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, Prevention of Offences, and Registration of Assurances Bill, referred to a Select Committee.

Friday, May 9. Transportation to Van Diemen's Land; Petitions presented by Lord Lyttelton, followed by discussion.

Housti OF COMMONS. Monday, May 5. Property-tax Bill; Lord John Russell states that Government submits to the limitation of the tax to one year, and assents to a Select Committee ; Bill considered in Committee-Official Salaries ; Lord John Russell states how far Government will act on the suggestions of the Select Com- mittee-Hop-duties ; Mr. Frewen's Motion for postponement of collecting, discussed and withdrawn-County Courts Bill brought from the Lords, and read a first time.

Tuesday, May 6. Water Supply of London ; Question and Statement-Equalized Poor-rate ; Mr. Grantley Berkeley's Motion, debated and withdrawn-Spirits in Bond ; Lord Naas's Motion carried against Ministers by the Speaker's casting-vote : Ministerial Statement-Corrupt Elections; leave for a Bill for a Commission on Bribery at St. Albans granted to Mr. Ellice-Process and Practice (Ireland) Bill, passed through Committee. Wednesday, May 7. Audit of Railway Accounts Bill, considered in Committee, and progress reported-Message from the Queen announcing the proclamation of a reward for the arrest of Waggett, Hayward, Skegg, and Birchmore, the absconded St. Albans election witnesses.

Thursday, May 8. Malt-tax ; Mr. Cayley's Motion for leave to bring in a Bill to abolish, negatived by 258 to 122-Scotch University Chairs ; leave granted to Mr. Cowan for a Bill to regulate Admission-Income-tax ; Mr. Hume's Select Commit- tee-Caffre-War Committee ; Lord John Russell's List agreed to-Compound House- holders Bill, read a third time and passed-Amendments to Process and Practice (Ireland) Bill, considered and agreed to. Friday, May 9. Russian Evacuation of Danubian Provinces: Hungarian Refugees in Turkey : French Occupation of Rome-Property-tax Bill, considered in Committee -Ecclesiastical-Titles Bill ; Mr. Urquhart's Resolutions, negatived by 280 to 201; debate on going into Committee adjourned.

TIME-TABLE.

The Lords.

Hour of Hour of Meeting. Adjournment.

Monday Sb .. gh 45m

Tuesday 611 . gh 45m

Wednesday No sitting. Thursday 5h . . 6h Om Friday 311 711 Mm Sittings this Week, 4; Time, 76 Dim — this Seaton, 46; - 79,, Ism

The Commons.

Hour of Hour of

Meeting. Adjournment. Monday 4h 12k sew Tuesday 4h ..(m) ih 45m.

Wednesday Noon .... 5h 65w

Thursday 4h(a) ih 45m.

Friday 411 firs) lb 43m Sittings this Week, 6; Time,43h 43w — this Session. 65; — 311h 48m MINI8TRBLkL COURSE AFTER THE INCOME-TAX DEFEAT.

The House of Commons having gone into Committee on Monday for progress with the Property-tax Bill, Lord Joint RUSSELL stated the course the Cabinet intend to take in reference to the success of Mr. Hume's motion for limiting the grant of the tax to one year.

The House on Friday night, by a majority of fourteen, came to a de- cision that one year instead of three should be the period for which the Property and Income tax should last. Mr. Hume, who made the motion to that effect, stated, as his ground for doing so, that it was desirable that an inquiry should take place with regard to this nix, with a view of making it more just and equal, and that he wished, such alterations and modifications having been introduced, that the tax should be continued, and indeed that it should be made permanent. "I could not agree, nor do I now come to the conclusion, that it was desirable to abridge the duration of the tax for this purpose. But the House having decided otherwise, it was for us to consider what course we should take, so as to maintain public credit and

the financial system of the country. Now, although, in my opinion, it is very inexpedient so far to place such a tax in jeopardy as to make it last only for a year, yet I cannot suppose that the majority of the House which agreed to that motion had any view, any intention of placing in jeopardy the public credit of the country. Therefore, Sir, concluding that such would be the intention of the House, we have to consider whether or no we can adopt the resolution of the House, and proceed with the bill in its present shape. Now, many gentlemen who in private have argued this question with me have said that there is a general impression in the country that the In- come-tax, which is at present unequal, might be made morejust and equal; and when I have answered that Mr. Pitt and Sir Robert Peel, and others who have been in office and had to carry on the financial arrangements of the country, have always come to a different conclusion, it has been replied to me, that if the conclusion to which those eminent men came should be supported by an inquiry, the country would feel satisfied by the result of that inquiry. If, on the other hand, it should be shown that the tax by modification could be made more fair and equal, in that case such alterations might be adopted. So that' in either way the maintenance of the tax might be secured. I have no doubt that those who have expressed this opinion in private acted on that view when they gave their support to the motion on Friday last. Seeing, then, that contrary to our opinion the House has come to that resolution, we think it desirable, in the present state of affairs, that there should be inquiry upon this subject. (Loud cries of " Hear, hear !") I think, such having been the decision of the House, that it would neither be fair nor wise to attempt to refuse or evade that inquiry ; but that there ought be a fair inquiry, and one conducted by the men who in this House are generally the leaders upon financial subjects, and to whom the House is disposed to pay deference. I should therefore say that the Government is prepared to agree that there shall be a fair and full inquiry upon the subject." (Cheers.)

But in making this concession, Lord John considered that he and his colleagues had these rights-namely, that it ought to be made clear to them that during the pendency of the inquiry to which he now consented, there would be no further alterations of the Income-tax diminishing the pro- duce of that tax during the year ; and that the arrangements proposed by Sir Charles Wood in reference to the House-tax in lieu of the Window-tax, and to the reduction of the Timber and Coffee duties, would be sanctioned. " It will be our duty to expect that that Income-tax shall pass without further modification, and likewise that the whole of the revenue which we hope to obtain will be secured, so as to enable us to repeal the Window- tax and to carry into effect by bill the resolutions respecting the Timber and Coffee duties."

If the question of the mode of levying the Income-tax be submitted to fair inquiry, Lord John believed that the country will be satisfied that this tax cannot be made more equal without exceedingly diminishing its amount, or else making it ten times more inquisitorial than it is ; or if, on the other hand, the House and the country shall be satisfied that there can be a modi- fication of the tax to make it more just and equal, then Mr. Hume will have had a great success-a success which Lord John will not envy Mr. Hume, as it will be fairly his due. Mr. Hume observed, that if it should turn out that no improvement could be made, the country would be satisfied that every effort had been made.

Mr. DisnAnu threw in a word of sympathy for the agriculturists, in reference to Colonel Sibthorp's motion. Although, after all that had occurred, Colonel Sibthorp might not think it 'altogether desirable for him to take the course which he anticipated pur- suing, it might be hoped that Ministers would consider the propriety of adopt- ing the principle suggested from more than one quarter,- that the tenant- farmers should be rated in the same manner as other classes.

He explained the new basis of policy which the altered course of Mi- nisters prescribes to the Conservative Opposition. The House having now determined that the Income-tax should only last one year, he did not con- sider Members bound by anything that had passed previously with respect to the other financial propositions of the Government, which proceeded under the impression that the Income-tax was to last for a much longer period. He reserved to himself the right to consider those propositions as new pro- positions, made under circumstances so different, that with reference to the great point the noble Lord had dwelt upon-the maintenance of the public credit of the country-they must be considered as new. Referring to the im- putation made by Lord John Russell that Mr. Hume and Mr. Disraeli's party had combined to defeat the Ministry though Mr. Hume and his new col- leagues had very different objects in view, Mr. Disraeli continued-It might be very true that Mr. Hume wished the principle of an income-tax to be a permanent principle of our finance ; it certainly was true that that was not the dogma which many gentlemen who voted with him wished to support ; but neither Mr. Disraeli nor any gentleman on his side of the House with whom he had the pleasure of acting had attempted to lay down the principle that the reimposition of the Income-tax under the circumstances ought to be opposed. If they had wished to terminate the Income-tax, that was the course they would have taken : but, after well considering the sub- ject, all that they counselled was that the tax should be gradually termi- nated; and the circumstance that they thought it could only be terminated by a very gradual procedure, proved that they did not anticipate that there could be an immediate or a very speedy termination of the tax. He could not himself-he should think very few could-anticipate that when the year had passed they would be able to carry on the affairs of the country without some imposition of that tax. Then the question arose, when the tax had a character of such perpetuity, at least of such permanence, was it not a duty to make it, if possible, more equitable?

Lord Jonx RUSSELL said in reference to Colonel Sibthorp's motion, that he think', the present mode of levying the tax on tenant-farmers is rather an advantage to them ; but as that is now a matter on which con- siderable diversity of opinion prevails, he thinks it one of the questions that would very properly come under the consideration of the Committee.

Colonel Siirrilos.p expressed himself willing to defer to the wishes of those with whom he has the honour of acting ; but he did not leave the Chancellor of the Exchequer quite free from doubt as to his inten- tions ; and presently there was manifested a considerable desire to press some one or other of the amendments placed on the paper on behalf of agriculture. Sir Sonar Triorzorn stated, that he by no means intended to assent that everything should be got rid of through the means of a Select Committee—his vote for limiting the tax to one year had nothing to do with the proposal of a Committee. Mr. DISRAELI rather countenancing this view as that of his party, there arose a parenthetical discussion on the point whether Mr. Hume's motion referred to the Committee or not ; in the course of which Mr. Disraeli hinted that Lord John Russell probably laboured under the influence of excited feeling. The parenthesis having been closed, however, without any clear result, it was understood that Colonel Sibthorp should bring forward his motion on the report of the bill; and the motions by Lord JOCELYN, Mr. CHAPLIN, Mr. J. B. SMITH, and Mr. M‘Glinooa, were withdrawn, by the respective Members. Thus the bill got through Committee.

REDUCTION OF OFFICLLL SALARIES.

After the statement of Ministerial policy on Monday night, Lord Joint Rtresnis brought the report of the Select Committee on Official Salaries under the attention of the House ; explaining to what extent the recom- mendations of the Committee have been adopted or rejected by the Go- vernment.

The report recommends no reduction in the salaries of the three Secreta-

ries of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Lord of the Trea- sury, or the First Lord of the Admiralty - but that the junior Lords of the Treasury should be reduced from 120011 a year to 10001. The Govern- ment has adopted the reductions. The Government does not agree with the Committee that the President of the Council's salary of 20001. should be re- duced. The recommendation that the Railway Commission be merged in the Board of Trade, out of which it sprung, is adopted. The Committee proposed that the offices of President of the Board of Trade and of Paymas- ter of the Forces be combined, and that the two salaries of 20001. each be reduced to a single salary of 1500/. ; also that the office of Lord Privy Seal be joined to some other office, and be unpaid ; and that the office of the Master of the Mint be made unpolitical. The principle of the two first pro- posals Lord John Russell combated at considerable length. Referring to the opinions of Sir Robert Peel and other persons who had great experience in public affairs, he argued that it is advantageous to the public servioe that some members of the Government should hold offices the duties of which are not so laborious as to prevent them from undertaking other duties not im- mediately connected with their own departments. The Reform Bill and the measure respecting the marriage and baptism of Dissenters came under his own notice when Paymaster of the Forces: if there had been no member of the Government able in some measure to attend to these things, it is hardly possible that such grave matters should have received sufficient attention. In this view, therefore, it is unwise to abolish all the offices which have onerous duties attached to them. It frequently happens, too, that on the formation of a new Government, or perhaps in the continuance of an exist- ing one, persons whose experience would make their advice and cooperation of the utmost weight and value are called to the service of the State, whose time of life or state of health precludes them from laborious duty. It is not well that you should only be able to secure the advantages of such services by placing such men in nominal offices; for only men of considerable fortune could make the sacrifices required by nominal and unpaid office, and it would be mischievous to the public service to exclude persons of small means from such offices. The matter is one of mixed considerations. Any one who had marked the course of official life in this country must have perceived that offices in the Cabinet were frequently held by men of other pursuits, who entered into politics with a wish to take part in the service of their country without entirely abstracting themselves from their usual occupations and enjoyments. An example of this kind was the nobleman who filled the office of Lord Privy Seal and subsequently of President of the Council under Sir Robert Peel's Government, the Duke of Buccleuch,—a man of great for- tune, who could hardly be expected to abandon all his previous occupations for the purpose of discharging the duties of a laborious office. It was a great advantage to attract men of this sort to official life ; and if the offices in this country were filled, as in Continental nations, exclusively by a class of men devoted solely to official life, and called " Bureaucrats," it would be an alter- ation for the worse. Lord John remembered reading with interest the re- marks of a Frenchman of eminence, who was much struck with what he saw while attending one of our Assizes. This French gentleman stated, that he saw the Marquis of Worcester, the present Duke of Beaufort, acting as foreman of the grand jury, with all the men of property in the county for his fellows,—the farmers and yeomen serving as petty jurors, and a person of high legal attainments at the bar presiding over the court. What struck the foreigner on this occasion was the manner in which persons of various ranks were brought together and employed in the public service. In that case it was the administration of justice in which all were engaged : it ought in some degree to be the same in political affairs, and an endeavour should be made to unite in a government men of other ooeupations with those engaged in the reading and folding up of despatches.

The Government has acceded to the recommendation that the office of Master of the Mint should be made unpolitical : therefore the office, which is in some respects connected with science, and which is associated with the name of Newton, has been conferred on Sir John Herschel. The offices of Paymaster of the Forces and Vice-President of the Board of Trade were com- bined two years ago : the Government does not think it expedient to reduce the salary by 5001. a year. Nor does it propose to abolish the office of Lord Privy Seal. The proposal to reduce the salaries of the junior Lords of the Admiralty from 12001. to 10001. is accepted; that to deprive them of their official residences is rejected. The proposition to reduce the salary of the Chief Secretary for Ireland from 55001. to 30001., is intimately connected with the question of abolishing the Lord-Lieutenancy : if the latter office be not abolished, it would seem desirable to reduce the salary of the former. The Government proposes that the salary of the Parliamentary Secretary of the Poor-law Board be 10001. instead of 15001. as proposed by the Committee : the permanent and non-Parliamentary secretaryship they will not reduce.

Lord John Russell defended at length the principle of choosing for the judges of the law courts those gentlemen who have attained the first rank in the race for legal distinction at the bar : this system gave to the bench such men as Hardwicke, Camden, Eldon, and Mansfield. But such men are not easily tempted to yield their large private revenues. The Government pro- poses that the salanes of the Lord Chancellor shall be 10,0001. a year, instead of 14,0001. (from two sources) as at present ; that of the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench 8000/.? instead of 70001. as proposed by the Committee ; and those of the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and the Chief Baron 7000/., instead of 60001. as proposed. Persons appointed after last year will be subject to the new arrangement. The scale of salaries for the Scottish and Irish bench, which the Committee proposes, involving a diminution of salaries to. a large amount by which a small saving only would accrue to the public, the Government does not accept. Both in Edinburgh and in Dublin, and particularly in the former, ever since the Union, the persons chiefly at.the head of society have been the Judges : it is not desirable to lower them from their present dignified and conspicuous position. Lord John took the opportunity to state that there never has been the least intention to change the position of the administration of law in

Ireland, either by reduction or transfer of the courts of justice : on the con- trary, the Government thinks it of the greatest importance to maintain the local administration of justice in Ireland.

The recommendations of the Committee in reference to the Diplomatic service included a proposal to reduce our embassy at Paris to a mission. The Government strongly objects to that, as an ambassador has certain privileges which do not belong to an envoy, but proposes the reduction of the salary from 12,0001. to 10,0001. The proposal to reduce our embassy to the Otto- man Porte to a mission cannot be acceded to. At Vienna this reduction has already been made. The proposal to consolidate all our German missions in one central mission is particularly inapt at the present moment" when such different interests and different views prevail in every court in Germany. The suggested consolidation of the Florence mission with that of Turin is objectionable ; but the recommendation that the Turin mission might be united with one at Rome certainly has its prospective advantages. Although the frame of the Diplomatic Relations with Rome Act prevents the despatch hither of a Roman minister, our Government understands that the Court of Rome would be ready at any time to receive a special mission : and notwith- standing recent circumstances, we must look forward to having relations at some future time with the Court of Rome, and the mission to Florence would be the most convenient mode of communication.

At the outset of his speech Lord John Russell had observed, that though the Committee was of service in putting on record the opinions of persons of great experience—above all, of Sir Robert Peel—yet the resolutions of the Com- mittee had not been passed till the period when a large number of its mem- bers, wearied and worn down by attention to public business, had left town. Though it consisted of fifteen members, at its final decisions only eight or nine were present ; and the voting majority of five or six was an actual mi- nority of the whole Committee. It is desirable to alter this unfortunate practice of Select Committees, by taking care that the evidence do not run to too great a length ; or else by enabling the Committee to postpone consider- ation of the evidence until its reappointment at the commencement of the following session. At the end of his explanations Lord John observed, that whether the House adopted the recommendations of the Committee or the proposals of the Government there would be no material saving to the public.

As the explanations of Lord John Russell were unannounced before- hand, the House was not prepared to discuss them. After some brief criticisms on the diplomatic items by Mr. URQUHART and Mr. COBDEN- the latter declaring that so little attention had been paid to the recom- mendations as almost to make him decline to serve on any committees in future—and a brief vindication of the Government resolutions on this part of the subject by Lord PALMERSTON, the subject dropped.

Mixrermsr T. DIFFICULTIES.

Another division adverse to Ministers in the House of Commons, ou Tuesday, led Mr. ROEBUCK to catechize them on the patriotism or consti- tutionality of their retaining office any longer ; and Lord JOHN RUSSELL made a spirited reply on the "situation." The occasion was a motion by Lord NAAS that the House should go into Committee on the mode of levying duty on home-made spirits taken out of bond; with the intention of considering the same resolution upon the subject which Ministers twice unsuccessfully opposed last session, and ultimately defeated only by strong party exertions. The case assumed by Lord NAAS was, and is, that the Irish and Scotch distillers are injured by the present mode If levying the duty on home-made spirits taken out of excise-bond—upen the quantity originally placed in bond, instead of on the quantity taken out of bond, notwithstanding the large deduction from the original amount which is made by evaporation and leakage. The Government case in reply is that this leakage and evaporation is a known average quantity, for which, in the fixing of the relative duties on home-made spirits and foreign-made spirits, the home maker receives an ample al- lowance ; the distinctive modes of levying the duties being made ne- cessary by the increased and different facilities for fraud placed in the way of the home producer. Lord NAAS went over his case much as he explained it last year. Mr. JAMES WILSON and the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER repeated the Government objections. Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. CARTER, Mr. GROGAN, Mr. HUME, Colonel DUNNE, Mr. NAPIER, and Mr. HASTIE, sided with Lord Naas ; Mr. GIBSON, member of a former Select Committee on the subject, and Sir GEORGE CLERK, sided with the Government. Lord Joirsr RUSSELL just before the division threw in the remark that the simple question was, should the duty on Irish and Scotch spirits be lowered ? He must say that the duties on spirits were not the kind of tax which he specially desired to reduce. Mr. DISRAELI interposed his leading sanction of the motion : it was quite time that these routine reasonings and stereotype arguments of public officers should receive some decided check. The House divided, and the numbers were—

For the motion to go into Committee 169 Against it 159 Ministers and Opposition in equilibrio

The SPEAKER had to give his casting-vote, and in accordance with cus- tom he voted for going into Committee, that the House might have an opportunity for second thoughts on the resolution itself. Of course the result produced " great cheering " from the Opposition.

On the return of the reporters to the gallery, Mr. ROEBUCK was putting a question to Lord John Russell on the extraordinary circumstances in which the country is placed.

"The House of Commons has now assumed, I will not say without just cause, not only the supervision of the government of this country, but the actual government itself. (Cries of "Oh, oh !" and " Hear ! ") I can well understand how some disappointed followers of the Government—( The rest of the sentence was lost in the ironical cheers of some Members on the Min- isterial side.) The Government has been obliged to make three efforts to govern the country and tax it, wherein all their plans were modified by the House of Commons. I appeal to the noble Lord himself, as a man who has been brought up in the notion of constitutional principles of government— who has been governed throughout by the idea that the House of Commons is the supervising power, marking its sense and opinion of the Government by its majority—I ask him, is he in a position to govern this country ? (Loud cries of "Hear, hear ! ") The principles and wishes of the noble Lord being, as I believe them to be, for the onward progress of the Govern- ment, is it wise, is it politic—I say nothing as to his honour—to retain the power of the Government under such circumstances! (Cries of "Oh, oh !") It is all very well to say 'Oh; but let us understand what is going on. At the commencement of the session, we were told that certain things were to be done as to the tariff of this country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer gave an intimation of what be intended to do; and there is not one great mercantile concern in this country that has not been affected at the present time by his declarations. Do not suppose that this is a mere party act. I am looking at it with reference to the country

itself; and, if the House of Commons is so blind to the interests of the country as to keep us in that state, hanging like Mahomet's coffin between heaven and earth, let the House of Commons have the responsibility. But I appeal to the noble Lord—I appeal to him who is responsible upon this occasion, not to lend his authority to this state of things. I say then, that any Minister who regards not only the interests of the country, but his own personal character, would not lend himself to such conditions. (Cries of " Oh, oh !") It is all very well to say 'Oh,' but I recollect an instance wherein the party of the noble Lord having put the Administration of the Duke of Wellington into a minority, one who is not now on the benches of the House of Commons certainly but who was exalted to the other House of Parliament, so soon as the minority was declared on that occasion, rose to ask the late Sir Robert Peel, whether ho was about to retain his Go- vernment after such a division. The noble Lord lives on minorities. But I say it is contrary to the interests of England, contrary to the spirit of our constitution, that any Administration should retain office by the difficulties of the opposition they meet with—insulted every day by the conquests of that opposition, and unable to advance in the principles on which the Govern- ment itself was founded. The noble Lord has now been defeated four times ; and I ask him whether, upon those defeats on matters connected with the taxation of the country—on matters intimately connected with all our mer- cantile concerns—he thinks it wise, under the circumstances, to continue in the position he holds ? I believe the noble Lord will more fully satisfy the desires of those who wish to advance the great principles upon which his Government is founded, if he says, I will not lend myself any longer to such a state of things.' if the House of Commons wishes to take upon itself the administration itself, it ought to have the responsibility of finding an Ad- ministration that would obtain a majority."

Lord Sons RUSSELL admitted the perfect right Mr. Roebuck had to put any question of this kind with a view to the interests of the country ; but Mr. Roebuck had given him certain advice with respect to his own per- sonal character, which he most respectfully declined to take. " I thank him for his good intentions, but I will take care of my own personal character myself." (Great laughter and cheering.) " At another period," said Lord John, "at a period when the government of this country was in abeyance, and those to whom it had been offered had not resolved to undertake the charge of forming a Government, the honourable Member for Sheffield said that he wished me to consider that the interests of the cause of Free-trade were in my hands. What he precisely meant, what was his object, I will not pretend to say ; but of this I am fully aware, that the general interests of the country—not of Free-trade only, but the gene- ral interests of the country, its welfare and tranquillity—are very much de- pendent on the conduct of those who have at this moment the direction of pub- lic afthirs." Lord John had not hesitated, when he thought the Govern- ment ought to be taken out of his hands unless he and his colleagues suc- ceeded in certain objects, to stake the existence of the Government upon those questions and objects—he did so on the Navigation-laws, and on the suppression of the Slave-trade ; and he now thinks that he has some right, with his colleagues, to consider if such a conjuncture has recurred. "I am of course speaking independently of any direct question of a vote of want of confidence of this House, of which the result is perfectly plain and obvious; but I am speaking with respect to all other questions. In the beginning of the present session, did I show any such anxiety to retain office as to make it necessary that the honourable Member for Sheffield should be my monitor, and should inform me when the moment was come that I at his bidding should lay before the Crown my resignation ?" (Great cheering.) Mr. Roebuck had said this was the fourth time the Government had been defeated : but Lord John remembered healing Mr. Canning counsel gentle- men who had come against Government for the repeal of a tax, "not to holloa before they were out of the wood " ; and he now asked, what were these four defeats ? The first defeat, on which they resigned office, was with respect to the bill of Mr. Locke King ; but that defeat was reversed, when they returned to office, by a large majority. The question, on which the second defeat occurred, in reference to the Woods and Forests, is not yet decided : "it is not our intention to act on that resolution of the House, but to introduce a bill similar in principle to the one we introduced last year, and the House will have an opportunity of deciding whether they will con- firm the decision then come to by a majority of one, or adopt our plan for the improved management of the Woods and Forests." So that " one of the alleged defeats has been followed by a victory, and the other is not yet de- cided." The third defeat was upon Mr. Hume's motion. " I do not con- sider that that division was of the nature of which Mr. Roebuck spoke, namely, a division declaring that the House meant to take the government into its own hands. I consider that all those questions of taxation and bur- dens are questions upon which the House of Commons, representing the coun- try, have peculiar claims to have their opinions listened to, and upon which the Executive Government may very fairly, without any loss of its dignity, provided they maintain a sufficient revenue for the credit of the country, and for its esta- blishments, reconsider any particular measures of finance they have proposed." In reference to the motion now carried by the vote of the Speaker, Lord John might repeat Mr. Canning's warning : for he remembered that Lord Naas was last year equally successful, without finally altering the law on the subject. He believed too, that in the end the House of Commons will be of opinion either that the motion of the noble Lord is not one to be adopted, or that, if adopted, it must lead to some arrangement of the Colonial duties so as to place Colonial duties on the same equality with Scotch and Irish duties. "tinder these circumstances, I certainly shall not," said Lord John, " tell the Member for Sheffield, in accordance with his request, made with that swelter in mode which always distinguishes him—(Great laughter)—what other course I propose to take on the present occasion." " These matters are matters of very grave import. The character of the Government ought not to be sacrificed, or even impaired, by submitting to frequent defeats, without declaring that they could no longer carry on the Government of the country. At the same time, on the other hand, no one will deny that the resignation of the Government in the present circumstances of the country would involve very grave consequences. Some may think them consequences of great good fortune ; but, whether of good fortune or bad fortune, no one can deny that very grave and important consequences must follow, not merely to the question of Free-trade, important as that is in itself, but with regard to many other questions of domestic and foreign policy, which must be affected by a change of the Government in the present cir- cumstances of the country. All I can say is, that I trust those who have generally supported us, and taken our views with regard to public policy, well give us credit for weighing on every occasion what is required by the situation in which we are placed ; and that while we are not disposed, on the one hand, to allow the character of the Government to be impaired and worn away in our hands, it is, on the other hand, from no sense of affront or pique that I shall propose to come to so important a decision as that of resigning our office with a view to a change of the Government of this country. It is not a question to be merely discussed and bandied about in debate, but it is a question for grave consideration. I must ask the House to leave it to us to make that decision ; and making it, as I shall do, with a view to the welfare of the country, I shall not have to reproach my own con- science with having deserted the interests I am bound to support." The House wont into Committee, and Lord Naas moved his resolution. Lord John Russell seems to have resolved first on another immediate division ; and the House was clearing for that purpose, when Mr. Hume and Lord NAAS protested against the sharp practice : Members had gone away without any notion of such tactics. Lord JOHN RUSSELL vowed he saw no force in the appeal : the House contained more Members now. "Certainly," replied Lord NAAS, and "a worse reason for a fresh divi- sion could not be given" ; for many were now present who-had not heard a word of the debate, whereas the division already taken was in a House remarkable for the close attention it paid to the speeches delivered. At length Lord JOHN RUSSELL yielded; and, on the motion of Mr. Faun- FIELD, the Chairman reported progress.

THE MALT-mx.

Mr. CAYLEY supported his motion for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the Malt-tax, by a repetition of those facts and arguments which he has advanced in former sessions. His statement was full, but not new. He referred to agricultural distress, and contended that a repeal of the Malt- tax would increase the demand for barley, a most important agricultural product, by ten millions of quarters a year ; and of that demand this coun- try would secure the supply of at least eight millions. This would greatly relieve the farmers, and would give wages for the maintenance of half a million more of agricultural men, women, and children. He would not suddenly remove the whole tax, for he has no such intention as to em- barrass the Chancellor of`the Exchequer : he would repeal it in such a manner that the first half of it, for instance, should be removed in Oc- tober, and the remainder be reduced at a subsequent period. The motion was supported by Mr. Atcoost, who hopes it will be per- sisted in till it is successful ; by Mr. FREWEN, because the tax operates as a strong inducement to brewers to drug their beer ; by Mr. HENRY DRUMMOND, on behalf of the poor man, whom he would tempt from his increasing indulgence in ardent spirits by the offer of a cheaper and more wholesome beverage ; by Mr. DISRAELI, on his principle of placing the landed interest of England on the same level of taxation with the other classes of the community ; by Mr. FULLER, who called on Mr. Cobden to redeem his express promise to the farmers of cooperation to remove "that obnoxious tax the malt-tax " ; by Mr. HENLEY and the Marquis of GRANBY.

Mr. HL-ME responded to Mr. Fuller's appeal for support from the Free- traders— He proposed entire repeal in 1829, and he now adhered to the proposal. This tax checks the consumption of beer and stimulates the consumption of spirits : with Mr. Henry Drummond, Mr. Hume cannot understand gentle- men exerting themselves to give the poor man cheap bread, and now refus- ing to give him cheap drink. The deficiency in the revenue would be easily met by reducing establishments to the adequate scale of former years, look- ing after Crown revenues, levying an equitable property-tax, and imposing a duty of one per cent on the descent of landed property. The motion was opposed by Mr. AGLIONBY, who had formerly supported the abolition, but who thinks that to repeal the tax at present would be madness ; by Mr. TRELAWNY, who warned the Conservatives that this was an appeal to the masses most unsafe to be made by them, and asked "what substitute" is offered for the tax ; by Mr. WODEHOUSE, who voted against the tax thirty years ago, but now votes against the repeal because the circumstances of the country are changed, and he thinks the best remedy for the distress of the agriculturist would be a duty of 3s. on wheat and 2s. on other grains ; by Mr. GEORGE SANDARS, as a motion sue', dal to agriculture, inasmuch as it would let in floods of foreign malt. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER repeated the usual official state- ments,—that the tax affords a large revenue in a manner least burden- some and prejudicial to the country ; that the diminished consumption of beer is less from price than from change of habit among all classes of the people ; that the repeal would reduce the price not more than a half- penny per quart ; that the repeal would render better fiscal reductions totally impossible. Lord JOHN RUSSELL objected to make the reductions hinted by Mr. Hume ; and urged the objection to repealing the tax that it would leave the finances of the country in a ruinous position.

The House divided—

For the motion Against the motion

Majority against repealing the Malt-tax.. 136

EQUALIZATION OF POOR-RATES.

Mr. GRANTLEY BERKELEY moved for a Committee of the whole House, to consider a resolution for alleviating some of the burdens from which the agriculturist interest is suffering through payment of unequal and op- pressive poor-rates, by substituting an equalized poor-rate in England and Wales, not exceeding Is. 6d. in the pound, and subject to local go- vernment. He insisted on the injustice of exempting all mines but coal- mines—which happened to be the only ones mentioned in the poor-law of Elizabeth : he pointed to the fact that in Scotland personal property is rated for the poor; gave instances showing the glaring inequality of pres- sure on different parishes under the present system—rates varying from a few pence in the pound to 19s. 9d. in the pound ; and quoted, with seem- ing acquiescence, the opinions of writers who have approved of a national rate as the specific cure for the evils of the law of settlement—the expen- diture being controlled and checked by local authorities. Captain HARRIS seconded the motion ; with direct advocacy of a national rate, on the plan and under the safeguards proposed by Lord Malmesbury. Two hundred unions have given their adherence to that plan. Mr. BAINES opposed the motion on the old grounds of objection to a national rate, and on the ground of specific defects in the motion itself. In the former general point of view, he characterized the scheme as the rashest and most inconsiderate scheme ever, perhaps, brought before Par- liament. It would destroy self-government : for how was it possible to con- ceive a local self-government with a national rate to manage ? But there are in England and Wales five thousand parishes maintaining separately their own poor, almost altogether of an agricultural character, by rates un- der Is. 3d. in the pound : in every one of these Mr. Berkeley proposes to raise the rate 2d., 3d., or 4d. in the pound. Again, the value of rateable pro- perty in 1847 was 67,320,5871. ; the amount levied last year was 7,270,4921. : but Is. 6d. in the pound on the first sum would be but 6,049,0441.—falling short of the sum actually paid last year by 2,231,4481. Mr. BFRUELEY, by leave, withdrew his motion.

RAILWAY Accomvis.

The stage of Committee on the Audit of Railway Accounts Bill, pro- moted by Mr. Loos.; was not opposed by Government; though Mr. 122 258

LABOUCHERE, after the best consideration he could give to the measure, was afraid that it will not provide an efficient remedy.

The power of the Railway Companies and the Railway Directors in the House of Commons is so great, and the apathy of the public on these mat- ters so perfect—except at seasons of momentary excitement—that he would have been unable to pass a Government measure. But as some of the provisions in the bill will be useful, it would not become him, unprepared with a mea- sure himself, to oppose all attempts to amend the present system of audit without altering its nature.

The measure, however, was opposed by the general " Director interest" in the House. Mr. Cr:terms moved that the House go into Committee on that day six months ; the measure being so defective. Mr. DENISON, Mr. F.rmeE, Mr. STANFORD, and Mr. IIEALD, supported the amendment ; urging, variously, that the bill will be ineffective, that it is impossible, or that any legislation on the subject is ill-advised. On the other hand, Mr. HUME, Mr. W. WILLIAMS, and Mr. EwART, generally befriended the bill, as good in its principle and general framework. The amendment was ne- gatived, by 72 to 49 ; and the House went into Committee. Contest was then waged over the first clause, which proposes that the accounts of all railway companies shall be kept according to a model form, or as near thereto as the circumstances of each case will admit. Mr. DENISON moved an amendment, which in effect left the mode of se- lecting auditors, and the mode of auditing the accounts, at the disposal of the shareholders; and Mr. STANFORD, Mr. RICARDO, and Mr. WAD- DINGTON, declared that adherence to one prescribed schedule would be impossible. In reply, Mr. MOWATT, Mr. HUME, and Mr. LOCKE, pointed to the words " or as near thereto," &c. ; and insisted on the value of ap- proaching towards uniformity on the basis of the best attainable model. The original clause was carried, by 81 to 61. Mr. ll. BROWN moved on clause 8th an amendment giving the auditors power to tax bills of costs; which Mr. SrooNEE, Mr. OrLysrl and others, opposed, on the ground that if it were carried you would not prevail on respectable solicitors to act for Railway Companies. On a division, the numbers were equal-57 for and 57 against the amendment : Mr. BERNAL, as Chairman, gave his casting-vote in favour of Mr. Brown's proposal. Words in another clause, giving to the auditors power to report to the shareholders "upon any other matter they think fit," were objected to by Mr. IticAnno ; but defended generally by Mr. HUME and Mr. LABOUCIIERE,—the latter caus- ing "a slight titter" by "supposing" that "there might be some cor- rupt transaction with respect to material, coals, or iron for instance, car- ried on by some director or chairman, which it would be impossible to expose if the auditors have only the power of looking into accounts and not transactions." Mr. DENISON, despairingly, " was more and more convinced that it is intended to give the auditors the entire direction of the affairs of the Railway Companies." Mr. HUME suggested, that the province of the report should be restricted from "the policy of the Com- pany" ; and Mr. LOCK.E was inclined to accept the suggestion ; but it was agreed to postpone this important point till a future sitting, and to report present progress.

WATER SUPPLY FOR LONDON.

Lord Emustvros observed, that Mr. Hume had stated the other day, that he believed two or three parties are ready to enter into competition with the present Water Companies in the Metropolis : he himself had not heard of so many. He begged to ask Sir George Grey this question—

"Whether, in the event of a new company being formed to execute com- bined works of water supply, sewerage, and house-drainage for the entire Metropolis, in conformity with the principles already recognized by the

inde-

pendent and the Government—the company acting, not as an nde- pendent proprietary body, but only as contractors, engaging to be subject to the terms, conditions, and control of any competent superintending au- thority which the Legislature might see fit to constitute for the purpose— whether, in that case, the Government would withdraw their liresent partial measure, applying only to the water supply of the Metropolis, and would sanction such an effort on the part of the inhabitants to secure for them- selves the benefit of such combined works and consolidated administration ?"

Sir GEORGE GREY thought the question assumed hypothetically that a bill might be sanctioned of a more general and comprehensive order than the bill which he had obtained leave to bring in, and that that bill would accomplish several important objects to the satisfaction of the Metropolis. He could not pledge himself in reference to such a bill till he saw it. He had not been aware that two or three parties were ready to contract for the supply of water ; but he had reason to believe that if the Companies refuse the terms there would be found parties ready to undertake it.

CORRUPT ELECTIONS.

Mr. E. ELLICE moved for leave to bring in a bill for appointing Com- missioners to inquire into the existence of bribery at St. Alban's. His statements were founded on the evidence given before the Committee of which he was chairman; the substance of which has already appeared in our columns.

There might be a certain. jealousy on the part of the House of Peers against acting on the inquiries of a Committee of the House of Commons only ; on that ground it had been thought better to act as in the Sudbury case, where the House of Lords refused to pass a disfranchising bill founded on the report of a Committee of the Commons, but passed a bill for a Com- mission, and upon the evidence obtained by the Commission afterwards con- curred m a bill for disfranchising the borough.

Mr. COBDEN, endeavouring to comprehend the frightful case of the Fal- kirk Burghs in the scope of the bill, made a forcible exposure, on in- formation furnished him by respectable inhabitants, of the terrible de- moralization which prevailed at Airdrie, Falkirk, and Hamilton, in the late contest between Mr. Baird and Mr. Loch. In Airdrie, forty-one spirit shops were open ; and parties were treated free of charge by persons acting as Mr. Baird's agents, and as Mr. Cobden believes, with Mr. Baird's cognizance : among the charges made by those places for this debauchery, there ate items of 401., 801., 401., 901., 2801., and so on. Clergymen of the United Presbyterian Church and of the Free Church concur in declaring that the practices introduced at the late elections have gone far to neutralize all the good that might otherwise have been effected by the labours of ministers of the gospel for years to come. Women and children by the dozen were picked up insensible with drink. Mr. Cobden observed, that if the respectable persons of St. Albans would come forward in the same way as Robert Binnie and others of Falkirk have come forward, and would separate themselves from these disgraceful scenes around them, much good might be effected. If the House could find seven righteous men who would protest against such things in these boroughs, they would not find places disfranchised, like Sudbury, which stood as a political Gomorrah on the map. He moved an amendment on Mr. Ellice's motion, for the purpose

of embracing in the inquiry of the Commission " the bribery, treating, and corruption of the Falkirk district of Burghs."

Mr. BAIRD avowed that he by no means wished to stifle inquiry ; if the House wished it, he. had no objection. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL urged that two questions and transactions essentially distinct—the facts in each resting on a different species of testimony—should not be mingled in one bill. The Falkirk case had better be brought forward inde- pendently. Mr. ROEBUCK combated this view ; and instanced the course taken in the six cases brought forward by himself after the general elec- tion, when Sir Robert Peel granted him a Committee, and when an ad- ditional ease—that of Bridport, mentioned by Mr. Charles Buller—was engrafted upon the other six. Mr. Roebuck rebuked a tendency he ob- served to treat with levity the " harrowing details " which Mr. Cobden had laid before the House : "it was a disgrace to those who sat there ; and the country they represented would repudiate them if they went on in that way." Mr. COBDEN consented to withdraw his amendment, and suggested that the Lord Advocate should take up the Falkirk case. The motion was then agreed to.

THE INCOME-TAX COMMITTEE.

Mr. HuaIE moved for a Select Committee to inquire into the present mode of assessing and collecting the Income and Property Tax ; and to consider whether any other system of levying the same, so as to render the tax more equitable, can be adopted. He presumed the motion would scarcely be discussed.

But Mr. GLADSTONE showed a repugnance to the step of granting the Committee—

Independently of many very serious difficulties of detail and of a lower order, it appeared to him that there was great reason to fear that the appoint- ment of such a Committee might amount to no less than this—the appoint- ment of a Committee to inquire whether we would or would not keep faith with the proprietor of the Public Funds. (" Oh, oh ") That was received as if it were something strange and preposterous ; but he was prepared to support it by reasons.

A conversation followed, the tone of which may be inferred from a cri- ticism on it by Lord Jolty RUSSELL, that it showed with what totally different ulterior views different parties had supported Mr. Hume's mo- tion. Lord John thought that now the whole country would be dis- appointed if the House were not to proceed with the inquiry.

The motion was agreed to.

SELECT CommrrrEEs GENERALLY.

The nomination of the Caffre-War Committee raised the question of the general constitution of Select Committees. The Members proposed by Lord JOHN RUSSELL were the following—

Mr. Secretary at War, the Marquis of Granby, Sir E. Buxton, Mr. Stan- ley, Colonel Thompson, Mr. Cardwell, Viscount Mandeville, Mr. Evans, Mr. Mackinnon, Mr. Carter, Sir J. Walmsley, Mr. Booker, Admiral Dundas, Co- lonel Estcourt, and Mr. Hawes.

Colonel D UNN E complained how extremely unfair it is to reject Irish- men from almost all Committees. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said he would be happy to accept Colonel Dunne instead of some one of the gentlemen no- minated.

Mr. 11013110USE declared his opinion that the constitution of the House as regards the appointment of Committees is the most unjust that has ever been recognized in any legislative assembly : he should bring the question before the House.

" The whole system of appointing these Committees is devised in orderto blind the country. They are settled by a certain number of gentlemen on the Ministerial as well as on the Opposition side of the House, who, no doubt, compare lists; and we frequently find that some of the best, ablest, and most enlightened Members of the House are excluded. Some hundred Members are supposed to be ubiquitous, and appointed to almost all Commit- tees. One Member is placed on a Committee because he is connected with the Leading Journal of Europe.' We often find gentlemen, indeed, who have not yet displayed any particular talent or ability, or attained any posi- tion in the House, employed on economy Committees; and then they were enabled to go down to their constituencies and say, ' See what I have done ; I have been the means of reducing these salaries and abolishing these places,'—thus obtaining a popularity from which other Members are ex- cluded. I do not say those gentlemen are not men of great ability and talent, but they have not yet exhibited their talents to the House. We ought to adopt the French system of dividing ourselves into Bureaux."

Mr. REYNOLDS claimed the proportionate number of Irish Members on every Committee—one in every six Members. Mr. KEOGH criticized this particular Committee, as most iniquitous and unfair; and declared his belief that the exclusion of Irishmen is systematic. Lord Joust. RUSSELL was willing to augment the Committee by three, and to omit Admiral Dundas. Mr. BRIGHT avowed that his experience has led him to believe that nine out of ten Committees are "shams." He wished that Irish Members should feel precisely as English Members, and that they had a right to take an interest in any branch of Imperial concerns, however minute or however extensive ; but he hoped that, having made that claim for Committee work, the House would not find Irish Members less attentive than the English Members. A motion by Mr. Hum; to adjourn the debate, was negatived, by 131 to 16. The original list as at first nominated, with the addition of Mr. Sadleir, Mr. Reynolds, and Colonel Dunne, was at last agreed to.