Mr. Ritchie made a very able speech on Monday in
moving the second reading of the Licensing Bill, which he declared would be defeated as a whole by the carrying of Mr. Caine's amendment. Of the total sum (21,304,000) to be raised by the new spirit-duties which it is proposed to allot to the County Councils, in place of the horse and van tax withdrawn last year, only 2440,000 is to be available for the extinction of licences, though in certain cases that sum may be capitalised for a term of years in order to give the County Councils, if they should wish to have it, an opportunity of doing things on a somewhat larger scale. Of the remaining 2864,000, 2300,000 will go towards police superannuation funds in England, and 240,000 towards the same funds in Scotland ; while England will have 2393,000 more divided amongst the various counties in the same proportion as the Probate-duty is divided, and Scotland 253,000 more, of which 240,000 will go to education, and £13,000 to compensation for extinguish- ing pleuro-pneumonia. Ireland's share, 277,360, is to go to the provision for the better payment of National-school teachers. To this part of the Bill there is no opposition in the House of Commons. But Mr. Ritchie said very decidedly that the defeat of the proposal for extinguishing licences would be taken by the Government as the defeat of the whole Bill.
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