'Maas ant Wreathing% in Warliament.
THE BUDGET.
On Monday, the House of Commons having resolved itself into a Committee of Ways and Means, the CHANCELLOR of the Excauquen made his financial statement.
Be began by alluding to the gloomy forebodings expressed by some last year, when it was said that the country was not likely to recover from the state of depression under which it still laboured. He then saw indications of improve- ment which led him to anticipate a revival of industry and commerce, and a favourable change in the condition of the finances; an anticipation which has been realized. The estimate of the income which he formed last year has been greatly exceeded by the actual receipts : he estimated the Customs at 19,000,0001.—the amount actually received has been 21,426,0001. A considerable importation of foreign corn took place, and produced a revenue of 800,0004 not included in his estimate ; great improvements have also taken place in the wine- duties on the cessation of the negotiations which paralyzed the trade while they lasted, producing 350,000/. above the estimate ; the duties on sugar have produced 200,000/. in excess, the duties on tea 300,0001.—indicating revived power of consumption on the part of the labouring population ; the duty on cotton wool, 300,0001.—denoting increased activity in that department of in- dustry. In almost every minor article there has been a uniform augmenta- tion, keeping pace, generally speaking, with the extension of commerce and the increased employment of the people. The estimate of the Excise revenue Was as nearly accurate as possible—it was 13,000,000/. ; the actual receipt is 12,907,0001. There has been an increase in some of the chief articles of Ex- cise, which, if it did not begin quite so soon in the year as the advance in the Customs, is nevertheless surely indicative of an improved state of the country. The other estimates were generally correct. In the Stamps the estimate was 7,000,0001.—the amount received 7,011,000/. ; Taxes, 4,200,0001.—received 4,192,000/. There was an impression that the imposition of the Property-tax would cause a considerable diminution in the produce of other direct taxes, and especially of the Assessed Taxes : a comparison of the receipt with the esti- mate shows that such has not been the result. The estimate for the Post- office was 600,000/., the receipt 628,000/. The estimate of the Property-tax was 5,100,0001., exclusive of returns from Scotland ; the actual receipt, includ- ing those returns, was 5,326,000/. The estimate of the total revenue was 50,150,0001.—the sum received 52,835,134/.; showing an increase of about 2,700,000/. The actual expenditure of the country has not exceeded the esti- mates formed last year. The estimate for the Army was 6,619,0001.—the actual expenditure 6,118,000/. ; the East India Company having made a large payment to the Crown for various military services, and the restoration of tranquillity preventing the necessity for keeping up such great funds in the Commissariat-cheats. Altogether, the actual expenditure was less than the estimate by 650,0001. The total result is, that instead of the estimated sur- plus of 700,0001., the gross surplus actually amounts to 4,165,0001. There was, however, last year a deficiency of 2,400,0001.: that deficiency, including some additional items, which raised the amount to 2,749,0001., has been cleared off and discharged out of the present year's revenue ; leaving a net surplus of 1,400,0001. over and above the expenditure for the year ending the 5th April last.
For the ensuing year, he should not estimate the revenue at too high an amount : taking the Customs at little more than the sum they actually produced last year, namely, 21,500,000/.; Excise, 13,000,000/. ; Stamps, 7,000,000/. ; Taxes, 4,200,000/. ; Property-tax, 5,100,000/. ; Post-office, 600,0001. ; Crown-lands, 130,000/, ; Miscellaneous, 250,0001.: total estimate of the revenue, 51,790,0001. Of the estimated expenditure, that on account of the Debt would be 27,697,000/. ; showing an apparent saving of about 1,400,000/. ; but that arises in part merely from shifting the time for paying some of the dividends : the real diminution this year caused by the conversion of the Three-and-a-Half per Cents will be 313,0001. The charges for the year on the Consolidated Fund will amount to 3,097,0001., including the Deficiency Exchequer Bills and the interest on them. The estimate for the Army is 6,616,000E ; Navy, 6,250,000/. ; Ordnance, 1,840,0001. ; Miscellaneous, 3,000,0001. There will also be some extraordinary expenses—thus estimated : on account of the late hostilities in Chins, 400,000/. ; to pay off dissentients in the reduction of the Three-and-a-Half per Cents, 200,0001.; to complete the 610,0001. which it was agreed in 1815 to pay the South Sea Company, (for the surrender of their privileges, and until the completion of which they were to receive an annual interest of 11,8681. from the Customs,) 239,0001. The total expenditure for the year is estimated at 48,643,170/. ; the income at 51,790,000/. ; leaving an apparent surplus of 3,146,000/. ; or, making a de- duction for a portion of the Debt to be discharged next year, 2,376,000/. In anticipation of a surplus revenue, he had been assailed with recommen- dations of a large reduction on almost every article of taxation. In the re- mission of taxes, however, regard must be bad to the fund out of which it is to be made ; and the present surplus, coming as it does after an annual deficiency, and supported by an extraordinary tax, is not to be regarded as a permanent fund. The Income-tax was imposed with the double object of supplying the deficiency and giving time to the revenue to recover from the effect of re- duced duties ; and Sir Robert Peel calculated that that object would be answered in fire years. [Expressions of surprise and some laughter.) Sir Robert Peel undoubtedly took the tax for a shorter period—for three years; at the end of that time to consider whether it should be continued for the rest of the period. The reduction in the Tariff has not been in operation long enough for a mature judgment as to the result. Last year, the balance in the Exche- quer was 1,000,000/., and Government was at the same time obliged to borrow of the Bank 2,700,0001. in anticipation of the revenue, besides 5,000,0001. of Deficiency Bills : the balance in the Exchequer is now nearly 2,400,0001.; but an effort ought to be made, by retaining larger balances in the Exchequer, to act independently of the Bank. These reasons had induced him to resist the demands for large reduction of taxation by which lie had been assailed : at the same time, there are certain items of taxation more vexatious and burdensome to trade than productive, with which he proposed to deal. The present Excise- duty upon flint-glass is 2d. per pound, on bottle-glass ; each kind being entitled to a drawback nearly to the amount of the duty, but the flint-glass cannot claim the drawback unless the article exported be of the value of 5d. per pound ; an arrangement injurious to the exporter, who can make glass cheaper, and producing endless disputes as to what is flint glass and what bottle glass : he would make the duty id. per pound on both kinds; the estimated loss to the revenue being 45,0001. ; the reduction to take place on the 5th July next. He would abolish the Excise-duty of 2d. per gallon on vinegar, an acid used by calico-printers; the estimated loss to the revenue being 25,0001.; the reduction to be postponed for a year, to allow dealers to get rid of the stocks on hand. He proposed a reduction on marine insurances : the present rate is Is. 3d. for every 100/. where the premium does not exceed 15s.• ; with a premium above that sum and under 30s. the duty is 5s.: he proposed that for every 1001. insured, with a premium of 10s., the duty should be 3d. ; under 30s., the duty to be fid.; and so on, making the maximum 58. for a premium above 60s. : the loss to the revenue is estimated at 100,0001. The duty OII dried currants would be reduced from 22s. the hundredweight to 15s.; to the great benefit of the poor consumer, and of the Ionian Islands that produce the fruit ; the loss to the revenue being about 90,0001. The present duty on coffee, is 4d. per pound for British, and 8d. for foreign coffee : he proposed to reduce the duty on foreign coffee to 6d. ; at the same time raising the duty on chicory- root : the loss to be occasioned by the change is estimated at 50,000/. The import-duty on foreign sheep's wool last year produced 100,0001.; he would abolish it altogether. As these reductions would not all take effect imme- diately, the total loss would not be felt in the ensuing year, but would be only about 390,000/., or in round numbers 400,000/.
There remains but one subject to be mentioned—the Sugar-duties, which will be brought before the House more in detail on a future day. The treaty with Brazil will come to a termination in November next, that stipulation which obliges us to receive the produce of Brazil on the terms of "the most favoured nation " will expire; and thus will cease the great obstacle to the admission of sugar from other countries. Be intended to propose that, after November next, sugar should be admitted from states producing it without slavery, at a differential duty in favour of our own colonies of 108. per hundred- weight ; which would open a market in this country for sugars from the coun- tries to the East of the Cape of Good Hope, including China; and that would be done without any dereliction of principle. The reduction on the duty on coffee would show that Government were actuated by no hostility towards Brazil.
Mr. Goulburn concluded by congratulating the country on the improved aspect of financial affairs; and he moved that a sum not exceeding 18,400,000/. be granted in Exchequer Bills for the service of the ensuing year.
Mr. HUME echoed Mr. Goulburn's congratulation, but thought that the present tariff would be unsatisfactory to the country. The late deficiency of revenue was caused by increased expenditure ; the cost of the Navy, Army, and Ordnance, having increased from 11,000,0001., in 1835, to 15,000,0001. He was gratified at the reductions of duty ; but contended that they did not go far enough—that many of the reductions should be carried to a still greater extent, and that other duties should be reduced or abolished, especially the duty on cotton-wool. He feared that Brazil would retort the refusal to admit the sugar of slave-countries, by excluding our manufactures. Mr. WiLLisid Wimasis followed to much the same effect ; arguing that the Income-tax is likely to be a permanent tax, and that duties on articles of consumption should be largely reduced. Mr. M. BELL, representing a constituency interested in the coal- trade, (Northumberland,) advocated reduction of the export-duty on coal. Mr. BARING criticised Mr. Goulburn'a budget. It is clear from the figures, he argued, that every source of extraordinary expenditure ceasing, the revenue must have recovered itself without resort to the Income-tax, if Sir Robert Peel had not made his reductions in the revenue : and he wanted to know what was the effect of those reductions, for he could not ascertain—what especially of the alteration in the Timber duties ? In 1841, the amount paid for timber was 1,566,0001.; the amount received last year was but 668,000/. ; showing a loss of 898,0001. It would have been more manly had Mr. Goulburn declared whether or not the Income-tax was to be continued beyond the three years. As, however, the surplus is only about 3,000,000/., and the Income-tax produces 5,000,0001., it is to be feared that there is but little chance of its being taken off. He approved of the proposed re- ductions so far as they go, but would push some of them further ; and he ob- jected to the enhancement of duty on chicory, denying that its admixture in- jures coffee. As to the Sugar-duties, he was quite sure that, sooner or later, they must be dealt with as timber and corn had already been dealt with ; and he was only curious to know how Sir Robert Peel would get over the difficulty placed in his way by the resolution that threw out the late Administration: it was clear that ultimately the plan of the late Ministry would swallow up that of Sir Robert Peel. He much feared that Brazil would retort the differential duty against slave-grown sugar by making a difference between our cotton goods and those of other countries; and he doubted whether existing treaties with Denmark and Sweden would not enable those countries to claim admis- sion for their sugar on the lower terms. After having been told, as he had been when he made his proposal of a shilling duty, that the introduction of one ounce of slave-grown sugar was contrary to the gospel, it was odd to be told now that it was but very little that was to be imported. The argument was like that of the girl who was brought before a Magistrate, and said, in ex- cuse, that it was only a very small bastard that she had been brought to bed of. The whole amount of sugar produced, exclusively of the British West Indian
colonies, is about 469,000 tons ; of which about 95,000 tons is produced by free labour: take that amount out of the European market, and its place must
be supplied there by slave-grown sugar ; giving just the same stimulus to slave labour and slavery in Brazil as if the sugar were admitted direct to this country. Sir ROBERT PEEL replied to Mr. Baring and other objectors ; defend- ing the consistency of Government.
Ministers had laboured throughout to avoid measures which would excite well-grounded discontent among the West Indians, or create a monopoly for their benefit ; and they never had the least intention of adopting any arrange- ment having a tendency to create a monopoly of sugar. Mr. Hume and Mr. Williams called upon Ministers to get rid of the Income-tax by reducing the Estimates. " I say as loudly and as heartily as they do, by all means reduce the Estimates—reduce them to the lowest point that is at all consistent with the interests of the country. It is no matter what taxes may be affected by the change—no matter what surplus revenue we may have—no matter what may be our commercial condition—let us on no account have any thing like needless Estimates; let them be kept down upon a principle of the strictest economy. Estimates which happen to be unnecessarily large are a positive evil. They should be kept down without any reference whatever to the ques- tion of taxation : but, looking at the immense Colonial empire which we are called upon to govern, I confess myself unable to discover how it would be possible for us to have fixed our Estimates at a lower amount." Mr. Hume had compared the Military and Navy Estimates with those of the year 1835, when Sir Robert Peel was First Lord of the Treasury : but no inconsiderable part of the increase is to be expended on the improvement of prisons and on judicial charges. "Again, when honourable Members tell us that we ought to do away with the Income-tax by reducing the expenditure of the country, I request of honourable Members to remember what has occurred to us since the year 1835? These things have occurred—there has been a rebellion in Ca- nada, there have been hostilities in Syria, and a war in China. It is true enough that these events did not take place during our administration ; but it le, nevertheless, our duty to provide for them. Let us not, then, be told that we.ought to reduce, or that we can reduce, the Income-tax. It is very easy to talk of making reductions; but the difficulty is to show that in the end these reductions will consist with true economy. What interest can we have in maintaining a system of extravagant expenditure? There is, perhaps, a vulgar notion prevalent in some quarters, that we have a motive for proposing exces- sive Estimates on account of the patronage which they arc supposed to yield: but a more unfounded and erroneous impression it is hardly possible to imagine. It would be far more agreeable to us to show to the nation a surplus revenue than to press upon their resources with superfluous expenses." Mr. Williams bad spoken of the Estimates of 1790 ; as if it would be possible to go back to the Estimates of that year, with our great Colonial establishments needing defence, with foreign countries accumulating steam-vessels and munitions of war ! Mr. Bell had spoken of the duty on coals; respecting which, however, no distinct proposition had been made. The coal exported in 1843, including cinders and small coal, amounted to 1,866,000 tons. If you compare that with the quan- tity exported in 1842, under the expectation of a change in the Tariff, you will find that the difference is considerable; and if you again refer to the years 1840 and 1841, it will be seen that the prophecies respecting the coal-duties have been completely falsified. In 1840, the export was 1,606,000 tons ; in 1841 the amount was 1,848,000 tons exported, when there was no expectation re- specting the Tariff; but last year exceeded 1841, the amount last year being 1,866,000 tons. Respecting the Income-tax, Mr. Baring complained that no distinct proposition had been made : but he had no right to expect any distinct proposition until next year. " We shall then be enabled to take an enlarged and comprehensive view of the financial condition of the country ; and I must say, that I think it is too much to ask the House of Commons to determine at this moment whether or not they would continue the Income-tax. We shall be in a much better condition to do so when we reach another session. We have nothing to lose by the delay, and we have every thing to gain by pre- caution. We may, or we may not, be in a less favourable condition at the end of the present year. The estimated amount of the revenue last year was 50,100,0001.; but it yielded 52,835,0001. Thus, in the financial year which ended in April 1844, we find ourselves agreeably disappointed with a surplus of 2,600,000L, on which we never had calculated. How do we know that our cal- culations may not be equally fallacious in the present year? We may have a further surplus of 2,600,0001., or we may have a greater or a lees surplus. Recent events have shown the buoyancy and elasticity of our resources ; but that cause may not continue in full operation during the next year. Should we, then, be justified in saying that we might venture peremptorily to diminish the amount of our taxation ?" Sir Robert Peel quoted the words which he bad used in March 1842, to show that he had proposed the Income-tax for three years, with a view to its continuance for five. To consent to any large reduction of taxes, would virtually decide the continuance of the Income-tax ; and he contended that, with only about 400,000/. to dispose of, a better selec- tion of taxes to reduce could not have been made, or one more in conformity with the principles laid down at the time of introducing the Tariff. " And this is the advantage of laying down general principles on an occasion of the kind; for, though we should not be enabled to carry them out to the full ex- tent at the time, still when we have an opportunity of doing so afterwards, we are obliged to come up to them."
Mr. BARING said he would be satisfied if Sir Robert held out any real prospect that the Income-tax would be reduced after the present session. Sir ROBERT PEEL replied, he had said nothing to warrant any such conclusion : on the contrary, he always contemplated the continuance of the Income-tax beyond three years.
Mr. LABOUCHERE approved of the proposed reductions. He had op- posed the Income-tax ; but the House having assented to its introduc- tion, it now stood in a different position from that when it was first proposed ; and he should be content to leave the Income-tax undisturbed for five years, if Sir Robert Peel would deal largely and wisely with the taxes that press heavily on the poor. The negotiations for a com- mercial treaty with France, like those with Brazil, having ceased, it is open to the Minister to deal with such articles as brandy and silks, as well as with coffee. With the announcement respecting the Sugar- duties Mr. Labouchere was much dissatisfied ; repeating arguments used by Mr. Baring. Mr. JOHN STUART WORTLEY thanked Government for reducing the duty on wool ; which would not be injurious to the agriculturists of Lincolnshire, since the increased use of foreign wool would increase the demand for long English wool to be mixed with it.
Mr. PATRICK MAXWELL STEWART animadverted on the financial scheme, with a glance at the West Indies.
There was a net surplus revenue of 2,370,0001.; there were to be various re- ductions of duty, beginning with bottle-glass and ending with currants ; but they had not heard a word as to the reduction of duty on a leading article of manufacture in this country—cotton. It appeared that the West Indies were to be exposed to competition with foreign sugar-countries ; and he for one should not object to that if the colonists were justly treated. In 1838 they abolished slavery in the West Indies; but they had since adopted a course which was most injurious to the interests of the colonies—they prevented con- tracts with regard to labour, and effectually prevented a supply of labour to the colonies; and at this moment, there was nothing which was felt by all those who were acquainted with the subject to be so injurious to the colonies as the obstructions which were unnecessarily and constantly thrown in the way of obtaining labour. He would put it to the sense of justtce of the House and of the Government, to say if the colonies bad not a fair claim to justice and to a proper supply of labour. Our British colonies in the West Indies were now in as favourable a position for permitting the immigration of labourers as could be
imagined. They were as free as the districts at home, and afforded every facility and advantage for the introduction of that labour, if it were permitted. They had numerous Magistrates, and every means of protecting labourers. Why,
then, were those obstructions offered to the introduction of labour They were prevented in every way at this moment from obtaining a supply of labour. It was no general assertion which he made; and he could point to three differ- ent sources from which the colonies in the West Indies might get labour if they were permitted, and if all those obstructions and impediments were re- moved. First he should mention Africa. When the noble Lord the Member
for London was Secretary for the Colonies, he wrote to the Governor of Sierra Leone, and forwarded regulations for the exportation of labourers from Africa, which might be called the very model of regulations: but, according to the system at present in operation, instead of permitting the labourers to take ship- ping at convenient portions of the coast of Africa, there is a foolish regulation which required that they should take shipping at Sierra Leone ; and the la- bourers would thus in many cases have to come six hundred miles in order to take shipping at Sierra Leone : but when they arrived there, they were often obliged to remain six weeks or two months at Sierra Leone before they were allowed to embark for the West Indies. With regard to the Hill Coolies, there was a system which amounted to absolute prohibition. There was some time since a removal of the restriction as regarded the importation of the Hill Coolies into the Mauritius ; and since the removal of that restriction 40,000 of those labourers had settled in the Mauritius, and were now happy and con- tented and prosperous labourers. With regard to the supply of Chinese la- bourers from Penang and other places, there were two or three licences granted lately, it was true, for the introduction of labourers of that description ; but he saw an answer from Singapore with respect to one of the licences, and from the answer it appeared that it was impracticable to send the labourers in accord- ance with that licence, in consequence of the regulations which accompanied it with regard to forming contracts ; as the shipowners were not inclined to run the risk of entering into bargains with the labourers at their own hazard. And last, not least, among the hardships of the colonists, were the imperfect regu- lations of the Colonial Office ; a peculiarity which did not belong to any one particular Secretary for the Colonies, for there appeared to be some secret and invisible ar.ti-colonial influence, which made every Secretary act under its ope- ration. One regulation was that regarding contracts, which was retained with respect to European artisans and free Blacks in America ; and by that regulation, any of those free Blacks in the United States in making a contract for labour was to sign a document before an officer appointed by this Govern- ment not one of those officers had as yet been appointed, and the result of that was that no such labour had found its way to the colonies. The conse- quence of the scarcity of labour is, that in the majority of the cases, with luxuriant crops there were no labourers to make them profitable. His object in rising was to call up the noble Lord opposite, and to put him on his mettle with regard to the proceedings of the Colonial Office.
Lord STANLEY rose in defence of tie new sugar-policy ; speaking with emphasis and heat.
He believed that the announcement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was calculated to reassure the West India colonies with regard to the principle on which the Government were resolved to deal with regard to colonial pro- tection. The Government were determined to support, not so much the prin- ciple of colonial protection, as the principle of protecting free-grown against slave-grown sugar ; and the observation of the right honourable Member for Taunton was one that was well founded—namely, that they had now for the first time put forward a declaratory recognition of the distinction between slave-grown and free-grown sugar, and that such a recognition would not be without its effect. The announcement would show the colonists that Govern- ment were resolved to make a distinction between free labour and the principle of slavery and the slave-trade: it would show the colonists, that while Govern- ment would not object to a fair competition on fair terms with free labour, it was determined to protect the producers in the West Indies against the unfair competition of those who had the advantages over them of obtaining labour from that unrighteous source. It was not fair to bring forward the "model regulations" of Lord John Russell, when Lord Stanley's object, since he had been in the Colonial Office, had been to carry out his predecessor's regulations; and every step which he had taken since he had been in office tended to increase facilities and to remove obstacles to the introduction of labour into the colonies. By whom were the restrictions on the emigration of Hill Coolies removed ? By himself: And he had been attacked at the other side of the House for doing away with the restrictions on the emigration of Hill Coolies, and afford- ing them facilities for going to the British colonies, which had been prohibited by the Government that had preceded him—the Government of " model regu- lations," which the honourable Member had so much vaunted. It had been referred to the Governor-General of India to say when emigration might be permitted from India to the West Indies, under the same regulations as to the Mauritius. This Government, and not the Government of the " model regu- lations," had this year first permitted emigration from Singapore and the neighbouring districts. The honourable gentleman opposite talked as if an obstruction existed to labourers emigrating to the NV est Indies : now there was nothing to prevent labourers going to the West Indies from any part of the world, with the exception of certain regulations, the object of which was to prevent persons in India making agreements in ignorance of the condition of the West Indies, which agreements might place them for a lengthened period in the condition of virtual slaves, and cause them disappointment and dis- satisfaction when they came to the place where their bargain was to be carried into effect. But those restrictions also were removed, as far as had been deemed possible consistently with the interests of the labourers.
Mr. P. M. STEWART regretted that Lord Stanley was so excited, and that he had made the question a party question. His attack was not on the noble Lord, or his party, but on the Colonial Office. Every Colonial Minister was a puppet in the hands of other persons in that office.
Lord STANLEY denied that he had made the (question one of party ;
and he repudiated the alleged control. '
The honourable gentleman had alluded to the influence in the Colonial Office in no very complimentary way to the Colonial Minister : but the noble Lord who preceded him was not a into to permit his judgment to be usurped by the opinions of any person ; and as for himself, he could safely say that not a single paper passed through the Colonial Office that did not come under his own eye, and on which he did not form his own opinion.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, speaking with more good-humour, supported Lord Stanley's repudiation of the secret influence; and then launched forth on the Sugar-duties. "I can only say, while I was in that office, I paid on all occasions the beet attention I could command to every point that came under my notice; but while I entertained the greatest respect for the opinions of those gentlemen who were already in office—and I must here bear testimony to the willingness with which they furnished me with every information in their power—I hope I always decided those questions that came before me on my own judgment." The regulations which had been mentioned were only intended to be temporary. As to the introduction of Hill Coolies into the Mauritius, it was first proposed by Lord Glenelg, and a clause on the subject was defeated by the Conservative Opposition. No doubt, the present Government are in a position to introduce Coolies into British colonies for the first time, because, being then the assailants of the late Government, they cannot meet with any opposition from them now on a question which they themselves originated. But this discussion has formed an episode in the business of the debate ; and I shall now allude at once to the great subject of the Budget—namely, the introduction of foreign sugar into this country. I quite agree with all the objections urged to the plan of the Government by my right honourable friend near me. If her Majesty's Go- vernment have made up their minds as to the introduction of foreign sugar, it would be far better for them to say so at once, broadly and boldly, than attempt to draw distinctions between slave-grown sugar and free-grown sugar, which are absurd in theory and impossible in practice. It is, besides, vicious in principle. If I wanted a proof of that fact, I should require no other than that furnished in the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. That right honourable gentleman said that he had no hostility to Brazil, but, on the con- trary, had given facilities for the introduction of its coffees. Now, Sir, I can- not understand that nice and timid morality which shrinks with horror and dismay from slave-grown sugar, and yet which admits, without squeamishness or scruple of any kind, slave-grown coffee. What is the difference, in fact or in moral, between them ? It may be said that the labour employed in the production of coffee is lighter than that on sugar. But that is not the point. You wish to discourage slavery and the slave-trade ; and slave• labour is quite as objectionable in one form as in another." The only effect of the distinction would be to drive sugar round by a circuitous route, as coffee had formerly been sent to the Cape of Good Hope and the West Indies to avoid the foreign duty. " I can come to no other conclusion than that the Government are introducing a measure which they are conscious can- not hold water. The consumer will be benefited to some extent, however, by it. But, having made one step in the right direction, the Government will ulti- mately take the others, and finally introduce the bill proposed by me in 1841— with this difference, that instead of 34s. and 36s. as 1 had it, they will have 24s. and 26s. I foresee that this will be the case, and at no very distant pe- riod. The plan they now propose may be useful to them when that time arrives. It may cover their inconsistency for a year or two ; but the House will find that all their plans will finish in admitting foreign sugar at only a differential duty. And then they will have the right honourable gentleman the First Lord of the Treasury announcing his great principles of 1842, and stating that they were then to be brought forward and applied to the ease of the country. These great principles enumerated by the right honourable gen- tleman on that occasion were very convenient ones. Some of them were ap- plied in 1843 to the Tariff; and when, at no distant day, they shall also be ap- plied by him to sugar, timber, and corn, he will only have occasion to remind the House of his axiom, to buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest,' and to tell them that as we applied them to herrings, spice, and onion-seed formerly, an he now should apply them to sugar." Lord John con- cluded by approving the proposed reductions of duty so far as they went; accepting them as a proof that the principles of 1842 had not been abandoned.
Colonel SIBTHORP believed that if an angel comedown from Heaven to take the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, he would not be able to please all parties in that House.
There had been many reductions made by his right honourable friend that were not necessary, while some things that were bad not been touched. He did not support the reduction of the duty on balsam of capivi-,(Loud laughter)— because he did not need it. He was glad at the proposal to reduce the duties upon marine insurance; but he should have been more pleased if the principle bad been extended to ire insurances; for this was a tax of a most burdensome description, amounting to no less than 200 per cent upon the premiums, and consequently proving a discouragement to the practice of prudence.
Mr. MARK Pamirs and Mr. CHARLES WOOD approved of the re- duction in the wool-duty, but regretted that the duty on cotton had not also been reduced.
Lord HOWICK and Lord HARRY VANE said a few words in favour of reducing the export-duty on coal.
Sir HOWARD DOUGLAS, on behalf of the Ionian Islands, thanked Go- vernment for reducing the currant-duty.
Mr. Goulburn's pro forme motion was affirmed ; and soon after the House adjourned, at a quarter to twelve.
On Tuesday, Mr. BAILEY asked whether, under the contemplated regulations, sugar from Java would be placed in the same position as sugar from Manilla and Siam ; and whether free-labour sugar, admitted at the differential duty of 10s., would, in accordance with all former precedents, be required to have a certificate of origin, as provided in the case of East India sugar when the duties were reduced in 1835 ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he would take the earliest opportunity to bring the Sugar-duties before the House ; and therefore, as it would be very inconvenient, and might create misunderstanding, he hoped the House would excuse his answering previously any ques- tions on the subject.
Formal resolutions, the bases of bills to alter the duties on glass, vinegar, and marine insurance, were severally carried in Committees of the whole House, on Thursday.
RECALL OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH.
In the House of Lords, on Monday, Lord COLCHESTER put these questions to the Duke of Wellington—Whether the communication from the Court of East India Directors to Government alleged any reasons for the recall of the Governor-General? whether there was any ob- jection to state such reasons ? and whether the reasons were considered satisfactory by Government ?
The Duke of WELLINGTON replied ; regretting that the President of the Board of Control (the Earl of Ripon) was absent on account of in- disposition. " There is no doubt that the Court of Directors have stated reasons for the recall of the Governor-General. Those reasons not being concurred in by her
Majesty's Gov n —soot being considered valid by them, they have not enneu ted. Nay, more, my Lords, I will add, in answer
to that ues. a ajesty's Government did strongly remonstrate
against the:measurn, t to recall the Governor-General was secured
to the Director:eV- suOarse actments in 1784, 1813, and 1833; but un- doubtedly it is a right which se who possess it are bound to exercise with the utmost discretion. ' The CO rt of Directors has also the power to nomi- rude a successor in the si of Governor-General ; but it has no other power whatever, except under e direction and control of the Board of Com. missioners for the affairs of India ; and for the acts of that Board her Majesty's Government is responsible. Under these circumstances, my Lords, I venture again to say, that It is not a discreet act of authority to recall from power--4.a recall from such an important situation as that of Governor-General of India, an officer who was there for little more than two years—an officer who has given satisfaction, in so high a situation, to those by whom he was employed— an officer who has succeeded in every instance—whose acts have been concurred in and sanctioned by resolutions of this House. To recall that officer suddenly, making no provision for the performance of the great duties which ate to be performed, and which must be performed in that country—to recall an effieer in whom the Government fully confided, without the concurrence of that Go- vernment—is, my Lords, an act, to say the least of it, that cannot be called a discreet exercise of the power which is conferred on those who have so used it My Lords, I will say nothing—I will advert to nothing that is not notorious— that is not strictly in accordance with the act of Parliament. I beg your Lord- ships to observe, that the body that did this act—which I must call an act of indiscretion, at least—that body. as a body, has no knowledge whatever of the instructions sent out to the Governor-General, and under which he acted. They stated reasons for withdrawing the Governor-General from India; but, as a body, (except the Secret Committee appointed under the act of Parlia- ment,) they had no knowledge whatever—they could have no knowledge what- ever—of the instructions under which the Governor-General acted, or of the events which had taken place in that country—except that which is within the general knowledge of this and the other House of Parliament, and the whole public of this country. And yet, my Lords, they take this responsibility on themselves, without having any knowledge of the instructions sent out. Having no knowledge of the instructions which it was deemed necessary to send out to that part of the globe, they took upon themselves to pronounce their judg- ment on the conduct of this officer, and to disapprove of it. Now, my Lords, I must say, that they have no knowledge which could enable them fairly to pro- nounce their judgment on his conduct, or that could justify them in depriving the Government and the country of the best instrument—I say it again, the best instrument that could be found to carry on and to perform the various duties of that great office ; making no provision whatever for the performance of those duties which are now to be provided for by her Majesty's Government. My Lords, as I have said so much on this subject, I will, in order to illustrate the indiscretion of this act, (that is the best word I can find for it,) go yet a little further. My Lords, though I believe that this is the first time in the history of the Government of India that this extreme measure has been resorted to by the Court of Directors, or carried into execution, or will be carried into execution, it has more than once been called into contemplation ; but the intention has been always recalled on the remonstrance or advice of the Minister of the day. And it is the fact, that it was in contemplation by these very gentlemen, with reference to the same Governor-General, in the couse of the last twelve months. But they were at that time prevailed upon to pass a resolution, and to abandon the intended recall. This was previous to the late military operations in Gwalior, of which we have all heard with so much satisfaction - operations which I am sure your Lordships will have perceived, from the parcel of reports which have been laid upon the table, must have been founded upon the most just and discriminate measures. The equipment and maintenance of the armies placed in the field, under the direction and superintendence of the Governor- General, the support of the troops in the field, the maintenance of military communication, and the means of advance and retreat, were amply provided for. But, my Lords, suppose this case had occurred—that ,the Court of Directors, had thought proper to recall the noble Lord six or eight months ago, when he had these operations in contemplation. What would hoite been the result of' those great operations which have been carried on, as I before said, under the direction and superintendence of my noble friend the Governor-General ? Why, my Lords, they must have been left to be carried on by the gentleman who happened to be the senior Member of the Council ; a very respectable gentle- man, I doubt not, but still one not possessing the peculiar experience and talent of my noble friend with regard to this particular branch of Government. The direction, equipment, and management of the armies would have been left to such a gentleman ; and I leave your Lordships to judge what the situation of India would have been if that expedition had failed, and if such an army as we have seen described in one of the Blue Books upon this table had continued in existence ; threatened, as we were, at the same moment, by a similar body in the Punjaub, on the North-west frontier, and with the province of Scinde still in an unsettled state. The danger would have been imminent. This would have been the consequence of the recall of my noble friend six or eight months ago; a measure which was in contemplation, and was only prevented by our representations to those who have now committed this gross indiscretion, of the danger which might accrue to the public interests from the step they were about to adopt--danger resulting from the impossibility of their giving any order whatever to provide for events which most probably would occur without the consent of her Majesty's Government, whom they were about to deprive of the instrument for carrying their plans into execution. Such a step might then have periled the security of our vast dominions in that part of the world. I do, my Lords, pronounce this the most indiscreet exercise of power 1 have ever known, and I have now had a knowledge of public affairs for a long course of years." Lord BROUGHAM enlarged on the anomalous state of the law which enables the body of Directors to recall a Governor-General for acting upon instructions of which they know nothing. Down to 1784, the Court of Directors possessed absolute power ; a bill was then introduced limiting their power, and all the discussion turned upon that limitation, and not at all upon the ill-omened clause retaining the power of recall- ing the Governor-General ; nor was the subject discussed when the law was renewed in 1833. Undoubtedly, the power should only be exerted with sound discretion and on weighty and urgent reasons: whether it had been so exercised, might be judged from the grave censure pro- nounced by the Duke of Wellington. He believed that any proposition in either House of Parliament to approve of these extraordinary pro- ceedings, would meet a signal defeat. It was for Ministers to consider whether enough had now been done, in order that it might go out to India that the successful and brilliant policy of his noble friend the Governor-General had met with the entire sanction and approbation of the Parliament at home.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE deprecated any prejudgment of the
case, without any knowledge of the circumstances which had induced the East India Company to take this step. It is to be supposed that the Secret Committee, who do know the instructions given to the Governor-General, possess the confidence of the other Directors ; and, consisting as the Court generally does of persons favourably disposed to the Administration of the day, what a censure does the proceeding convey upon Government! The Duke of Wellington went too far in saying that the papers on Gwalior must have been perused with feelings of satisfaction. Was it the intention to lay before Parliament the com-
munications between the Directors and the Board of Control, on the subject of Lord Ellenborongh's recall ? '
The Duke of WELLINGTON- was not prepared to state what papers could be produced: but Parliament. was entitled to all the information
- -
that could be afforded. He thought that he bad at least made out a case of indiscretion against the Court of Directors. The papers on Gwalior had given him satisfaction, but he was far from wishing to pledge other noble Lords to that opinion. The Marquis of NORMANBY thought the House ought to be enabled to judge how far the Duke of Wellington's censure was borne out by the facts. He would have been prepared to show that with respect to Gwalior there was much to condemn.
The Duke of WELLINGTON made one more observation : it was quite right that Lord Normanby should hold his own opinion, but he was bound to say that the acts of Lord Ellenborough had the entire appro- bation of Government.
The Duke of BUCCLEUCH referred to correspondence between Mr. Charles Grant and the Directors in 1832, to show that the privilege of recall had been matter of serious consideration.
Lord BROUGHAM admitted that the circumstance had escaped his recollection.
Lord CAMPBELL could not pronounce the recall " indiscreet," with- out knowing the reasons for it. It might be a question whether the Company should not be abolished ; but if it were to retain the govern- ment of India, it must be allowed the power which it had just exercised. It was said it was dangerous to give the Company this power, because they might take steps in total ignorance of the instructions given to the Governor- General by the Government at home. It was possible, however, to conceive that a man might take such strange proceedings—might play "such fantastic tricks," that it was impossible for any Government to sanction his acts and deeds. If, for example, a Governor-General published a proclamation which made him the laughingstock of the whole world—if, despite a proclamation of peace, he instituted new wars upon every occasion and opportunity, and upon the most petty and trifling pretences possible—why, it was impossible to conceive that any Government would give their sanction to such a course of proceeding. He had no doubt, therefore, of the wisdom of the clause—as little doubt as he had that Mr. Pitt, when he introduced it, felt that an occasion might arise, in the course of time, when a Government, feeling dissatisfied with the conduct of its officer, might nevertheless not be in a position to recall him ; and when, of consequence, the exercise of the power vested in the East India Company might be attended with a result of which no party would really complain, however much they might be driven to affect a sorrow which they did not feel.
Here the matter dropped in the House of Lords.
The subject was also alluded to in the House of Commons; where Mr. ROEBUCK questioned Sir Robert Peel—
The determination come to by the Court of Directors, when known in India, must clearly be followed by very important consequences. Within two days, a despatch would leave this country which would unsettle the mind of every Native ruler from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas; and lie was anxious to know who was to be responsible for the government of India,—Ministers, or those in whose hands was left the power of summarily dismissing the Gover- nor-General ?—whether Sir Robert Peel was prepared to accept the respon- sibility, or to face the difficulties which had been created for him by any legis- lative measure ?
Sir ROBERT PEEL dwelt for a time on the anomalous nature of the law which has established two home authorities ; and then he answered 'the. questions thus, With respect to the removal of Lord Ellenborough, all he was now at liberty to state, consistently with a regard for the public service, was, that the Court of Directors bad in this case of the removal of Lord Ellenborough' exercised a right which they unquestionably possessed under the act of the Legislature, to recall and dismiss at their will and pleasure the Governor-General of India; and that determination was taken by them on their own undivided and exclu- sive responsibility. The act was one which had not received the sanction and concurrence of the Ministers of the Crown. Still, without that sanction and concurrence, the act was perfectly legal and valid. With reference to the honourable and learned gentleman's last question, he must under the present circumstances of the case decline entering into a discussion of it just now ; and could only say, that without reference to the question whether her Majesty's Government coincided or not in the act of the Court of Directors, their sense of public duty would induce them to take the course which they deemed best in order to diminish the risk of embarrassment and danger which they foresaw might ensue from that act. On Tuesday, Lord JOCELYN asked whether it was the intention of the Directors to lay before the Court of Proprietors or the public such documents as would show their reasons for Lord Ellenhorough's recall ? Mr. }loco said, he was not the organ of the Directors, and could not answer for them ; but, individually, it was his belief that they would be influenced in their course as to the production of papers by the con- duct of Parliament. He took occasion to express his hope that the House and the country would suspend their judgment.
OATHS IN SCOTCH UNIVERSITIES.
On Tuesday, Mr. Fox MAULE moved for leave to bring in a bill to regulate the administration of oaths in the Universities of Scotland ; the ject of his motion being to abolish the tests which honorary officers and Professors in the Scotch Universities are liable to take.
In 1707, by what was called the Act of Security, it was enacted, that in all time coming, no Professors, Principals, Agents, or others bearing office in the Universities, Colleges, and Schools of Scotland, should be allowed to continue in their offices, but such as signed an acknowledgment of the civil government in the manner prescribed by that statute, and also a profession of faith in con- formity towards the Established Church of Scotland, and as would submit them- selves to its government and discipline, and would engage never to do any act to prejudice the same. The test was directed not against the Scotch Dissen- ters but against the Roman Catholics and the Episcopalians, and was ex- cused by the struggle to resist supremacy in which the Presbyterians had been engaged : but it had not been very strongly enforced ; and as early as 1724, the Duke of Chandos, a member of the Church of England, was Chancellor of St. Andrews. From the report of the Commissioners of Inquiry it appeared, that in the University of Edinburgh the practice of administering the tests had been abandoned, and that at Aberdeen it had frequently been neglected, without any injury to the Established Church. His bill proposed to abolish the tests with respect to the Lay Professors ; Professorships of Divinity being excluded from its operation. The late unfortunate disruption in the Church of Scotland has raised the question of these tests from the oblivion into which it was falling ; attempts having been made to put out some of the most distinguished Professors of the Universities who have seceded from the Established Church—as in the case of Sir David Brewster, and others in Edin- burgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. By the application of such a test, Mr. Fara- day would be excluded if he were a candidate for the Professorship of Chemistry at Edinburgh: as if the Church of Scotland could suffer iu the smallest degree from Mr. Faraday's being permitted to teach chemistry without conforming to the Church of Scotland ! It is well known that for Classical Professors the Seigel Universities are obliged to go to England, and Episcopalians are ap- pealed. When Sir Robert Peel was Lord Rector of Glasgow University, no test was applied to him, and his vote even in electing a Professor of Divinity met with no objection : when Mr. Fox Maule himself, as Lord Rector, asked for the books of the University, Principal M'Farlan objected to his jurisdiction, alleging that he was disqualified by having seceded from the Establishment. He had no objection to introduce into his hill a kind of negative test, requiring a declaration from a Professor that he would not teach any thing in his lec- tures which should tend to subvert the Established Church.
The motion was seconded by Sir ANDREW LEITH HAY ; who esti- mated the Dissenters, the members of the Free Church, and the ad- herents of the Established Church, respectively, to amount to one-third of the population.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM opposed the motion.
He concurred in much that Mr. Fox Manic had said; but the Act of Secu- rity, passed simultaneously in the Scottish Parliament with the Act of Union, declared it to be a fundamental ground of the Union treaty that the test should be applied on the admission of all office-bearers in the Scottish Univers. sitics ; and on no occasion of minor importance should the British Parliament deal with an article which at the time of the Union Scotland declared to be fundamental No doubt, laxity in the application of the test has obtained: but the report of 1830 stated that the test had not fallen into general di.use, and recommended that it should be more rigorously applied,—an opinion shared by Lord Corebouse. In the University of Glasgow, Professorships are filled by Episcopalians, who all take the test without exception. The very extent of the recent secession, which he deplored, and the fact that some of the Professorships are in the patronage of Town-Councils popularly elected, show the necessity of not diminishing the protection of the Universities.
Mr. RUTHERFORD supported the motion ; remarking, that the tests exclude from the Scottish Universities two-thirds of the population,-4 grievance which will sooner or later unite the people of Scotland in' a demand for reform which no Government will be able to resist.
Mr. CHRISTIE foresaw that the refusal of the motion would unite the Scotch Seceders, the Roman Catholics, and English Dissenters, against
all tests in Universities. The motion was further supported by Mr.
BANNERSIANN, Mr. P. M. STEWART, and Mr. HOME. It was opposed by the LORD-ADVOCATE of Scotland, Sir GEORGE CLERK, Mr. MAC- KENZIE, Mr. FORBES, and Mr. COLQUELOUN. Mr. Colquhoun said that Sir David Brewster would not lose his office ; he was only threatened with excommunication.
The House divided : for the motion, 101 ; against it, 128 ; majority against the motion, 27.
LAW OF DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.
In the House of Lords, on Tuesday, Lord COTTENHAM moved the second reading of the Creditors and Debtors Bill ; explaining its ob- jects, the principal of which is the total abolition of imprisonment for debt.
He cited great authorities in favour of such a measure, especially the mem- bers of the two Commissions on whose reports he grounded this bill. The members of the first Commission were—Sir Frederick Pollock, Mr. Joshua Evans, Mr. Sergeant Stephen, Mr. Starkie, and Mr. (now Mr. Justice) Wight- man : the members of the second Commission—Mr. Justice Erskine, who long presided in the Court of Review ; Mr. Evans, Mr. Fonblanque, and Mr. Holroyd, Commissioners of Bankrupts ; Mr. Lawes ; and Mr. Wynn Ellis, Mr. Hawes, Mr. Richard Carr Glyn, and Mr. Horsley Palmer, gentlemen ex- perienced in commercial affairs. On each Commission there wag a dissentient Commissioner—Mr. Sergeant Stephen and Mr. Lawes; which showed that neither Commission was a set of persons collected all of one way of thinking. Lord Cottenham read passages describing the effects of imprisonment on debtors,—ruining their affairs, rendering them desperate, injuring their morals and habits of business; inflicting misery on their dependents; and not bena- Sting even the creditor. The number of persons who pass through the Insol- vent Debtors Court is 4,000 or 5,000 yearly : multiply that by the number of their dependents, and it appears that a large portion of the community is affected by the evil. He traced the alterations of the law on the subject, down to the abolition of arrest on mesne process before judgment, and the last modi- fication of the Bankrupt and Insolvent Debtors Court. 'We have now two eye- tems of law on the subject : the Bankrupt-law takes the debtor's property, but protects his person; the Insolvent-law takes the property, but before passing the Court the debtor must remain two months in prison. The Bankrupt-law protects the future property of the discharged debtor : the Insolvent-law makes it liable. The Insolvent-law can only be put in operation by the debtor ; the Bankrupt-law could only be put in force by the creditor : but on the same day that the law abolishing arrest on mesne process received the Royal assent, assent was also given to a bill enabling the bankrupt to issue his own commission. Altogether, therefore, considerable advance bas been made towards a proper law of cessio bonorum. It has been argued, that the debtor is a fraudulent person, and ought to be punished : but why punish the innocent with the guilty ? Of 3,905 persons who passed the Insolvent Debtors Court in one year, only ,789 were at all opposed, and only 358 of that number were remanded. The creditor gets nothing by the imprisonment : in ninety-five cases out of a hundred there was no property forthcoming. A person who " turned over " 200,0001. a-year in business, and who was examined before one of the Commissions, at first thought it to his interest to arrest his debtors ; but, on consulting his hooks, he found. that in that way his expenses had exceeded what he gained. Much expense attends the proceedings in the Insolvent Debtors Court : the average cost of a prisoner's discharge is 151.; and that very night he had presented a petition from two persons, one of whom had been two years and a half in prison, and neither of whom could command sufficient money to procure his discharge. The bill aimed at an effectual remedy for these grievances. It proposed to arrange a system under which the debtor would be enabled, without going. to prison, to deliver up his property for the benefit of those to whom he was in- debted ; and it gave to the creditor, on his part, a power of compelling the debtor to make the concession. Having done this, the bill proposed to abolish the right of imprisonment for debt altogether ; and, having secured a remedy for the creditor as against the debtor, and given a great boon to the debtor by relieving him from imprisonment, the next proposal of the bill was the abolition of the distinctions between the laws of bankruptcy and insolvency. The bill also provided punishment for those really guilty of frauds—of contracting debts without the means or prospect of being able to pay them ; leaving such a man to be tried in the ordinary way by a jury, and punished by imprisonment. By adopting this bill, the House would do an act of justice and humanity to the debtor, and remove unnecessary hardship, without injury to the rights of the
creditor. •
Lord Cottenham's speech was received with the strongest approbation ; and all the speakers who followed—the LORD CHANCELLOR, Lord BROUGHAM, the Duke of RICHMOND, Lord DENMAN, and Lord CAMP- BELL—supported the measure ; Lord LYNDHURST observing that he should have introduced the very provisions of this measure into his Bankruptcy Bill, but that be feared to endanger the passing of that night. be The bill was read a second time; to committed on that day fort,' igL
Cituditrai. APPEALS.
In the House of Lords, on Thursday, Lord CAMPBELL moved the Committee on the Bail in Error Bill ; the object of which was to enable the Judges in criminal cases to release the prisoner on bail, pending the proceedings under a writ of error. He hoped the Lord Chancellor would not support the system of a judge named Rhadamanthus, who punished first and then heard the accused.
The LORD CHANCELLOR would not discourse on the days of Rha- damanthus, but he must oppose the bill.
Lord Campbell must be deluded by his own zeal if be did not perceive that the bill was meant to apply to the present law-proceedings in Ireland. To be sure, it contained a clause postponing its operation till August : but if' the bill passed, would that clause be suffered to remain ? Besides, the protracted delays of the State trial would probably throw over the writ of error till Au- gust. Then, see the effect of such a bill. A man is convicted of a grave mis- demeanour, subjecting him to a year's or two years' imprisonment : he brings a writ of error, and is out on hail : he immediately crosses the water out of the jurisdiction of the Court: if the judgment is reversed he returns ; if it is affirmed, he remains where he is, living in a Continental town, defying the juris- diction. If a political partisan, he might reside abroad waiting for events, in the expectation that his own party, on coming into power, would reverse the udgment against him. Moreover, the subject-matter of the bill was referred in November last] to the present Attorney-General, who has a measure un- er consideration. Regarding the bill as vicious because made to suit a par- ticular object, he moved that it be read a second time that day six months.
Lord BROUGHAM and the Earl of Wicanow adopted the Lord Chan- cellor's view. Lord COTTENHAM condemned the existing law. The bill was supported, with some asperity, by the Marquis of CLANRICARDE.
The amendment having been put, it was carried without a division, and the bill thrown out.
LAW OF MASTER AND SERVANT.
In the House of Commons, on Wednesday, when it was moved that the Speaker leave the chair in order to going into Committee on the Masters and Servants Bill, Mr. THOMAS DUNCOMBE opposed the mea- sure.
The bill was brought in by Mr. Miles, who said that it was drawn up by the desire of Government ; and it professed to enlarge the authority of Justices for the more effectual recovery of wages. It passed the first and second reading under these false colours, and it was then proposed to go into Committee to make such alterations as were requisite. These alterations were made, Sir James Graham saying that he was responsible for them ; and the bill came out of Committee without one word, from the first line of the preamble down to the end, of the original bill remaining in it. It had therefore not really passed the first or second reading according to the rules and regulations of the House. A most objectionable principle was introduced into the bill : at present the only legislation as to labour relates to persons hired for a certain time, giving to Justices the power to fine a person disobeying his master or neglecting his work, with imprisonment in default of paying the fine : this law the bill ex- tended to job or piece work. It was said that the operation of the bill would not extend to factory-people : but in fact it would affect the factory-labourer, Who, if he did not go to work at a certain hour in the morning, might, on the oath of a foreman, be sentenced for two months to the House of Correction and the treadmill! The bill gave the servant no protection if the master should misbehave himself—the master was not to be sent to prison. Was not that making one law for the rich and another for the poor? In fine, Mr. DUN- COMBE moved that the House go into Committee on the bill that day six months.
Mr. HUME suggested that the bill should be referred to a Committee up stairs.
Sir JAMES Gitamard contended that the bill would promote the inte- rests of all the parties whom it would affect.
By the existing law, on any master complaining of the misconduct or mis- behaviour of a servant, it is in the power of one Justice of the Peace to issue a warrant for his apprehension, and to sentence him to three months' hard labour. On the other hand, if a servant makes a complaint against his master, no warrant can be issued against the master, but only a summons; and if the Justice of the Peace is satisfied that the master has misconducted himself, he has no power to imprison or to award the wages due to the servant. The ser- vant has therefore, according to the existing law, no remedy against the master in case he should misbehave or misconduct himself. It was the ob- ject of the bill to remove that inequality. It gave a power to the Justice of Fame to award damages against the master ; and the servant was only to be apprehended on warrant in case sufficient evidence was adduced before the Magistrate that he was about to abscond, a summons being substituted for the warrant as against the servant. Again, the Magistrate might award damages as against the master and in favour of the servant. The bill also reduced the term of imprisonment which the Justice of the Peace had the power to inflict from three to two months. He should propose to give the power of imprison- ment to two Magistrates instead of to one. The 4th clause, extending the law to piece or job-work, might be discussed in Committee.
The bill was defended by Mr. MILES ; who said that the question whether the master should be made liable to imprisonment, equally with the servant, might also be considered in Committee. It was also supported by Mr. GALLY KNIGHT; and, with some qualification, by Mr. R. PALMER, whose name was subscribed on the back. The amend- ment was advocated by Mr. GRAINGER, Mr. BERNAL, Mr. Escorr, Mr. Pause HOWARD, and Mr. CoLLErr.
On a division, the amendment was carried, by 97 to 54. Conse- quently the bill was thrown out.
SANATORY REGULATIONS: "MODERN ATHENS."
The Marquis of NORMANDY presented to the House of Lords, on Thursday, a petition from the working-men of Edinburgh, founders of public baths in that city, praying for more effective sanatory regula- tions with respect to the dwellings of the lower classes of the people, and for repeal of the duty on soap. Lord Normanby took occasion to regret the delay in legislating on the subject ; two years having elapsed since the Sanatory Commissioners made their report. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH said, that bills previously introduced in Parliament, however excellent their objects, were found to be imprac- ticable, as they did not provide for the proper distribution of the large sums necessary to carry them into execution. The present Commis- sioners of Inquiry have received information of a most important and valuable description, not only showing the evils which exist, but also the causes of those evils and the means by which they might be re- moved. The Commissioners are in the act of making their report, 'which will shortly be laid before their Lordships. It appears that some of the evils may be prevented by existing laws, if properly enforced.
Lord CAMPBELL, having formerly represented Edinburgh in the
House of Commons, cordially supported the petition. Edinburgh has deservedly obtained the name of " Modern Athens," from the beauty of its buildings and the intelligence of its inhabitants ; but it is very unhealthy, which might be prevented by good sanatory regulations.
Lord BROUGHAM started from the Woolsack, on which he sat, ex- claiming— ., I must really say a word as to what has fallen from my noble and learned friend. He says he has represented Edinburgh for a long period. It is well for him he does so no longer, for he has just mentioned a subject the most de- licate and painful to the Edinburgh mind that can well be conceived. (Mach laughter.) It is looked on in Edinburgh as the next thing to an insult to make the least reference to the phrase modern Athens '—so exceedingly vain and presumptuous do they consider the assertion, and so hurt are they by an assumed similarity which there is nothing in the slightest degree to justify. I remember using the phrase inadvertently in the presence of a learned friend of mine in Edinburgh ; upon which he remarked, Never use that word: nobody ventures on it here—'tis taken as next to a personal insult.'" (More laughter.) Lord CAMPBELL retorted- " My Lords, I am really surprised that my noble and learned friend should have found fault with the phrase modern Athens.' Why, Edinburgh pro- duced my noble and learned friend—himself at once an Alcibiades, a Pericles, and a Demosthenes. (Renewed laughter; Lord Brougham saying something to the Lords near him on the Woolsack.)
MISCELLANEOUS.
FACTORY BILL. In the House of Commons, on Monday, the further con- sideration of the Factory Bill in Committee was postponed till Friday.
BANK CHARTER. On the same day, Sir GEORGE CLERK moved that the Bank Charter Act be laid before the House ; and on the part of Sir Robert Peel he gave notice, that on Monday next he would move that the House resolve itself into Committee, to consider the same. Ordered.
SAVINGS-BANKS. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved, on Thurs- day, for leave to bring in a bill to amend the laws relating to Savings-Banks. At present, investment in those banks is liable to abuse ; persons of a class not intended resorting to them, to profit by a higher rate of interest than money obtains elsewhere, and others depositing their own funds for private gain, under the pretence of investing the funds of charitable institutions. The bill pro- posed to check those abuses, by lowering the rate of interest from 24d. to 2d. a day ; limiting the sum to be deposited by one person in a year to 20L instead of 30/. ; reducing the maximum of a sum paying interest from 2001. to 150/. ; and requiring trustees depositing to state the names of the parties in whose behalf they do so ; with some other provisions. Leave given.
RAILWAYS. Earl FITZWILLIAM asked, on Thursday, whether Government intended to introduce any general measure on the subject of railways? and he announced his intention of moving for the appointment of a Commission to in- quire what points of the country it is desirable to connect by railway, with other matters. The Duke of WELLINGTON was not prepared to discuss the question. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE and Lord BROUGHAM concurred in Lord Fits- william's desire for a comprehensive investigation of the subject.
COMMUNICATION WITH IRELAND. In reply to Mr. TENNANT, on Thurs- day, Sir ROBERT PEEL said that Government had come to the decision of maintaining Holyhead as the port of communication with Ireland; but they had come to no decision as to any outlay of public money on that harbour. IRISH POOR LAW. On the motion of Sir DENHAM NORREYS, on Tues- day, a Select Committee was appointed to inquire into the Irish Pour-law; Sir ROBERT PEEL taking the opportunity to declare that the Poor-law ought to be, and should be, maintained in Ireland.
METROPOLITAN COAL-DUTIES. In reply to the Marquis of LONDON,. DERRY, on Monday, Lord WHARNCLIFFE said, that although a threepenny duty on coals, for improving the port of London, had been recommended in a Blue Book, Government had not decided upon it : and he had no reason to think that Government would adopt it. NEW ZEALAND. On the motion of Mr. AGLIONBY, on Tuesday, the fol- lowing Committee on the state of New Zealand and the proceedings of the New Zealand Company was appointed: Mr. Aglionby, Lord Francis E,rerton, Viscount Howick, Mr. Lascelles, Mr. George William Hope, Mr. Robert Clive, Mr. Hawes, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Viscount Ebrington, Mr. Char- teris, Sir John Haumer, Mr. Milnes, Viscount Jocelyn, Mr. Roebuck, and Mr. Wilson Patten.
Previous page
