POSTSCRIPT.
SATURDAY.
The House of Lords last night presented an unusual appearance, indi- cative of the great interest felt in the question involved in the Wensley- dale Peerage. Besides a full attendance of Peers, there were many Peers' sons behind the Woolsack, and ladies and strangers filled those parte of the House allotted to them. The proceedings of the evening occupied upwards of eight hours ; and the report of them extends over more than twelve columns of the Leading Journal.
The House of Commons was chiefly engaged in dealing with those large sums of money which the war has rendered it necessary for the country to find. At an early hour the House went into Committee of Ways and Means, to hear a financial statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and assent to resolutions authorizing the 5,000,0001. loan and the funding of 3,000,0001. of Exchequer Bills.
Sir GEORGE Lawns stated that his object was, not to make the usual fmanciel statement comparing the past year with the ensuing year, but only to deal with the remainder of the current year ending with the 1st of April next, in order to balance the revenue and expenditure of the coun- try as they would have been balanced if his estimate had been accurately fulfilled. The income however, while it has exceeded the estimate under some heads—Stamps, Taxes, and Property-tax—has fallen short 297,0001. in Post-office, 850,000?. in Customs, 1,061,0001. in Excise ; the whole deficiency of revenue being now reckoned at 1,600,0001. The revenue has been disturbed by speculative fluctuations in the sugar-trade, exportation of spirits under drawback to supply the wine deficiency abroad, and similar causes. In another part of his speech Sir George produced. a number of statistics to show that any large decline in our trade had occurred under speculative reactions peculiar to America and Australia, in directions not affected by the war, and not affecting the really stable and flourishing condition of the country-. The actual expenditure has exceeded the estimate by 1,960,0001., almost entirely under military heads. Sir George compared the expenditure of the last twenty-two-and-a-half peace months--30,984,9551., with the ex- penditure of the last twenty-two-and-a-half war months-74,549,3291. ; the difference 43,564,3741., forming as nearly as can be calculated the precise sum Which the win has cost us. At the present moment we are in a financial position nearly 4,000,000/. less favourable than he had es- timated. He proposed resolutions for raising a sum of 5,000,000/. as the means of making good the supply for the service of the present quarter with a margin to meet the immediate demands of the ensuing year. During the year, we have already borrowed 16,000,0001., 6,000,0001. has been raised in Exchequer Bills, 1,000,0001. in Exchequer Bonds : the resent loan will make the entire sum raised by loan 28,000,000/. Sir George stated the terms on which he had already obtained a loan of Before the House went into the Committee of Privileges, Lord GLEN- IMO moved that these questions should be put to the Judges—" Is it in the power of the Crown to create by patent the dignity of a Baron of the United Kingdom for life ?" and " What rights and privileges does such a grant confer ?" Either the step taken hi the elevation of Lord Wens- leydale is legal or illegal on the part of the Crown : the question of the privileges of Parliament is subsidiary to the question of law. It is therefore a proper subject for the opinion of the Judges. To this it was answered by Lord CAwam., that the question is a ques- tion of privilege, which ought to be dealt with by their Lordships them- selves • and by Lord BROUGHAM, that the House, is competent to call on the Judges, but that it would be inconvenient to do so, because they would be asked for an opinion without hearing counsel, and they would require delay to investigate the matter. The Loan CHANCELLOR and Earl GRANVILLE supported the motion ; and a division was taken. There were for the motion, (62 present, 22 proxies,) Ill ; against the motion, (97 present, 46 prosiest) 142; majority against the motion, 31. The House then went into Committee of Privileges ; and Lord LYND- HURST in a long speech, embodying• several new cases derived from the journals s of the House, main • that there are limits to the power of the Crown in the creation of Peers, and that the House has a right to con- sider the validity of patents and to act according to the opinion formed respecting them. If a patent is invalid, then it is the duty of the House to direct its officers to refuse to administer the oaths or allow the party presenting it to take his seat. He moved the resolution of which notice was given on Monday, to the effect that neither the patent granted to Lord Wensleydale, nor the patent with the writ of summons, entitles him to sit and vote in Parliament. Earl GREY then moved and supported his amendment, admitting the legality of the patent and the right to sit. The debate was sustained by Lord STANHOPE and Lord BROUGHAM against the amendment ; and by the Duke of ARGYLL and the Loan CHANCELLOR on behalf of the amendment. Lord BROUGHAM declared that be had now no doubt the creation of a Peerage for life, with the right of sitting in Parliament, was beyond the prerogative, wholly unknown to the law, and therefore illegal. He cited many pow- ers anciently exercised by the Crown, with regard to taxation and repre- sentation, which, having for a long period fallen into desuetude, would be considered tyrannical if now revived as parts of the prerogative.
On a division, the numbers were—for Lord Grey's amendment, 57 ; against it, 92 ; majority against, 35. Lord Lyndhurst's resolution was then agreed to ; and the House broke up a little after one o'clock. 5,000,0001. in Three-per-cent Consols at 901. with a funding of 3,000,000/ of Exchequer Bills at the same rate.
The resolutions were agreed to ; not without some remarks from Mem- bers who keep watch upon finance ; but there was little worth notice ex- cept Mr. GLADSTONE'S caution against supposing that the amount stated by Sir George Lewis represented either the real cost of the war or the real amount of debt incurred. The money borrowed is one thing, stock created is another. The debt created within twenty-four months is pro- bably 36,000,0001. • and many items of charge will fall in, which will show that an addition of 50 per cent above the 43,000,0001. will hardly represent the net cost of the war.
On the motion for going into Committee of Supply, Colonel DUNNE, Sir Da LACY Evasts, and others, complained of the complicated and un- intelligible manner in which the Army and Ordnance Estimates had been drawn up. They had only been circulated within the last thirty-six hours. To ask the House to take them up at this short notice, Sir De Lacy said, was really sharp practice on the part of the Government.
He appealed to the Treasury Bench—it was of no use to appeal to the House, because the leaders of the Opposition have abandoned their positions, and the noble Lord could obtain a vote for 20,000,000/. if he pleased. [The members of the late Government were all absent ; and this allusion to their ladies drew forth loud Opposition cheers.]
Mr. WILLIAMS talked of moving the postponement of the Committee. Lord PALMERSTON and Mr. Moiesean having urged the propriety of dis- cussing the matters of detail iq Committee, the House at length cone seated that the Speaker should leave the chair. Mr. MONSELL explained in great detail the items contained in the Ar. my Estimates. The number of men of all classes to be voted this year is 246,716—an excess of 30,378' men over the vote of last year. Addi- tions have been made to the Infantry, Artillery, Sappers and Miners, Land Transport Corps, and Army Works Corps. The increase in the Land Transport Corps amounts to 9020 men. The number of men for British Foreign Corps is 21,719—an increase of 6769 over the vote of last year. The vote for the Turkish Contingent is 29,000 men. They re- quired for the Militia last year the sum of 3,435,7281., and the amount now asked is 3,150,1291. The strength of the Militia last year was 38,520; its present strength is 66,317. 'For the forty-nine disembo- died. regiments of English. Militia in January 1855, the number of sol- diers called out was 22,845. The item for forage for 60,000 horses amounts to 4,861,9281.; last year the expense of fbrage was only 1,418,3001.—the increase this-year is therefore 3,443,6281. The increase of expenditure for fuel and light at the seat of war amounts to 78,0001 The vote for works and buildmgs is 2,044,0691. • but of this sum 1,072,164/. is required for works of fortification already set on foot in Kentl. Sussex, Devonport, Aldershott, Dublin, and other places. The Supplemental Ordnance- Estimates amount to 1,346,023/. The sum required for the land- forces. is 10,950,398/. ; and the grand total for the effective and non-effective services is 34,998,5041.—an excess of 6,328,007/. over the votes of last year.
Five votes for small amounts were taken, and the rouse resumed.
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