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    yo. 431; June 26, 1858.] THE LEADER, 603...

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    Imperial Parliament. V , —•—¦ . Monday, June 2uc Cakubmvxa&Sgholm, And Hawick Rajlwat Bill. % *^&^^^£^£F^J™ Agreemenfct;Witri Tlie Contractors Were So Objectibnable That They Oaght Riot To Be Countenanced By Parliament A^^T Iti^Ate Not Expedient To Pro Ceed Further ^Itu Ie ¦ „ _ *: ' :^ Go Verb(Ktent Of India. Tke Earl Of Ma'tmesbuj**, In Reply To A Questitm Put By The Marquis Of Lansdown^On Tlie Previous Friday ^^T ^^L^S^^^^ 1 ^ Nfc Of India Affirmed B

    « 3 ammissit > n to inquire into the municipal affairs of Belfast , both as regarded -4 Me money -borrowed and the expenditure wader thepowers of the corporation , aad also to report upon the taxation of the borough . / ccnivuasuysa & RS wb : exhibition of-1851 bill . 'On the-House going into Committee on this bill , cansiderable discussion ensued . With reference to the Ifirat clause , Mr . Aloock said he iwas dissatisfied -at the different manner in -which the liattersea Park and Bridge scheme and the Kensington Museum scheme were to be treafced . In the former case , in addition to the capita ] , interest to the amount of 70 . 006 ? . was to be ; paicl , making ; , in all 3 de ) , G 0 Q / . H e was ready to show that the sum could be realised by the sale of surplus land , and lie thought therefore that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was bound to throw open Batter , sea-bridge toll free .. The land at Kensington is ¦ worth twice as much as it was same time jq ^ o , and he -suggested that , as the commissioners are only to pay capital into the exchequer , they should take charge of lie Sheepshanks Collection . — Sir H . Willougiibv tmoved an amendment to » he clause , to the effect that the payment should Le made fcy the < 3 oinmissionei '; s within < one year : ofter the passing of the bill . —After aomc . discussion , the lamoHdniertt ¦ was adopted .: —Mr . Sidsky ItBRBB » T asked whether the Government were . prepared to take part of llie purchase-money in land . Barrack accommodation would be speedily required , and lie knew no better site for the . purpose than , a part of the Kensington Gore Estate . —The Chahcei . lor of nm Exchequkr said that the question was one of gravity , ' « nd the Government hart not lost sight of it . J 3 ut tie ^ question was not before them -whether it was desirable to . procure a site for the purpose named . Wli at was before them was this : —The Boyal Cooimissioners asked to be relieved from . their ., partnership , so as to be enabled to carry out their original design , that of giving a complete industrial artistic education on the site in question . — ¦ Mr . Wilson moved aa amendment that , in the event of delay on the part of the Commissioners to purchase t he property of tlie Govern meat j they should pay a moiety of the intervening . profrts . —These words were added , and the clause as amended was agreed to . —Other clauses having also been agreed to , the bill was reported to the House , which then resumed .

    'TH 5 S PAPER J > tJTY . On the motion for going into Committee of Supply ( Edacational Votes ) , Mr . Milnem Gibson moved as an amendment a reBointion , That this House is of opinion that the maintenance of the Excise on paper , as a permanent source of revenue , would be impolitic , and that such -financial arrangements ought to be made as will enable Parliament to dispense with the tax . " The paper duty , argoed Mr . Gibson , is a . most penk'ious tax . During the lust twenty years , tiie paper mills in England haV 3 diniinished from rive hundred and twenty-five to three hundred and ninety-three , and the same effect has not been noted in other brandies of manufactures ; on the contrary , an increase is apparent . ' . The duty docs not press on expensive volumes ; it aifects those cheap publications which ought to be encouraged by the Government , as diffusing information among the people . It was first of all imposed in the time of Queen Anne , with a view to checkirg the vivnci . y of the numerous small publications whicti criticised the acts of the Ministry . Alluding to the penny daily papers of the present day , Mr . Gibson remarked that Sir Bulwer Lytton had recently spoken in favourable -terms of them . The Standard is said to have a circulation of fifty thousand a day ; if so ; it must pay a tax of 50 / . a day . " The reaolt ; of this heavy impost is , that the cheap press is printed [ oninferior paper . If the tax were removed , competition j would oblige the conductors of cheap papers to give the benefit to the public in tiie shape of a better production . The paper ilnty is a fund withdrawn , from those wlio conduct papers . It trenches on the author ' s * fund ; and it makes cheap literature bad literature . Could it be possible that the school book of the village is taxed thirty per cent ., while books used nt the universities arc exempted ? A correspondence had recently tnken place between a gentleman engaged extensively in the manufacture of puper and the Board of Inland Revenue . Tlic gentleman wais very anxious to promote education in bis immediate neighbourhood , ami voluntary subscriptions had been raised for a school . Application was made by this gentleman— Mr . Rawlins of ^ yYcxhJlmto the Inland Kovenuo Office in th « present month to l ) c permitted tome the cuttings of paper , free of duty , in the'Bt'hool ,-or to bo allowed a drawback on paper used in tiro school and returned to the mill . The answer to thin was tha . t . the application could not be acceded to It might bo sand that hm should suggest a substitute for this tax ; but he protested against that doctrine . If 1 uproved that tliis tax , forming only one sixty-lburth pnrt of the public revenue , was a pernicious tax , it was sufficient ; yet ho had nd doubt thut , if this duty wero ropculetl , the other sixty-three parts would swell out n « i | cover tho deli < : k ; ncy . The remission of the paper dut \ , about a million a-yenr , would < lo more good to tho general interests of tho community tlmn nu additional million voted for education , while tho abolition of the vexation-Ivxctau regulations would givo freedom and encouragewent to tho manufacture , in which we arc now n genera tlon behind foreigners . The motion -was aecondcu ty Mr . Inoram , and Wlu

    supported by Mr . Salisbury and Mr . Aybtosl , who urged the inconsistency and injustice of manyotffcfce exemptions from the tax . and suggested that a reduction of expenditure would furnish a margin for its remission . —Mr . Cowan testified to the correctness of Mr .-Gibson ' s statement , that the duty interferes wi « h our export trade in paper . He supported the resolution . The CuAirouEiLOR of tub Exchequer expressed his great desire to-do away with the paper tax . but said he could not-assent to the motion before t < he House . The paper duty is not the only part of our indirect taxes that requires revision ; and it would-be the duty of 4 Jovernment during the recess to take both . branches of the national imposts into consideration , and to offer some proposition to the House . He hoped the Hoase would hot ham pea * Ministers by previously deciding in principle on a giveti course , and that Mr . Gibson would be content wiith having brought thequestion forward , and would not press bis motion to a division . Mr . Bright said that the paper tax inflicts pains and penalties on three or four hundred persons engaged in carrying on the business of manufacturing paper . We live in a free country ; at least , so we tell people abroad , and we have a sort of freedom here . But we have -not the freedom to manufacture paper . ( Itdur / hter . ) Every exciseman is , to a certain extent , a spy , and acts in a very despotic way . The paper tax is a tax on making books and on making newspapers . "He kiieif a . ; respectable' manufacturer in t !> e neighbourhood of Birmingluirn , who had told him that it cost him 120 ? . a year . in . ' . wages--to . men whose only business was to wait continuously , on the exciseman . \ IZear , hear . ') At the .. deputation to Lord Derby the other day , a paper manufacturer from Yorkshire stated that , a little before the leceut commercial panic , he was in London , making a contract for a quantity of paper . The paper cost 400 / . ; the duty on it \ v ; is 400 / . ; making the total cost 800 / . The duty he had to pay in six weeks ; when he sold thti paper , he took a bill at four months in payment . Of course , he had to charge a profit on the 800 / ., not on the 400 / . only : he had to run the risk of payment during the four months on the whole 8 Q 0 l . ; and , during 1 that period , the commercial hurricane swept over the country . It -was an astonishing thing tiat any trade could survive such a system ; and he would not ask whether it was fair , but whether it was statesmanlike , tliat the Chancellor of the Exchequer should put a million of tea duty or a million of sugar duty in comparison with a million of tax on paper , which operates ou ' a-great . trade in a manner so offensive and so de-. structive . ( Hear , Jiectr . ) When the duty is off , we shall have paper made to a large extent from straw , and especiall y from oat . straw . Tn Ireland ihere is plenty of water power , there is an abundant population , there is t \\\ abundance at least of oat straw , for the purpose of making paper ; and there could be no doubt that Ireland offers a very admirable field for a ; great e . \ -i tension of the paper trade . " Mr . Bright suggested that ¦ M r . Gibson should omit the latter part of his resolution , so as not to hamper the Government . \ iicwis it

    Mr * j . j . ^ thought was objectionable for the House to bind itself to any abstract proposition . When we have n surplus revenue , it will be time to consider what tux has the first claim for abolition . —Mr . Puuaimoxi ) observed that simply repealing a tax , without pointing out any means of repairing the loss of revenue , was wronging tiie public . —Lord John Russell thought that the question of repealing this or that tax , should be left to the Government on a review of the whole of our iiulLect . taxation . He hoped Mr . Gibson would embrace the offer of the Chancellor of tho Exchequer . —Mr . Milner Gjbsou consented to omit all the words of his resolution after " impolitic , "and in tins form the resolution was agreed to . SUPI'LY . THE KDXJCATION EST 1 BIAT-E . The Houtc having gone into committee of supply , Mr . AuDicitLKY moved the Education Intimate , amounting to G 63 ; 000 / ., consisting of three classes , iand including the following items : —157 , 000 / . for imiUling and famishing . schools , 100 , 000 / . for training various kinds of musters , and 57 , 000 / . for the manngninent and inspection of those schools . There was an inci * a « o > of 83 , 000 / . over tho vote of last year , which imiwt affatx X unmixed satisfuction to Jill those wlioapprov-o of lilic present sj'stcm . A million of money had t > een invested in buildings and furnituro , which was equal . to an annual churgo upon the Treasury of 00 , 000 / . ; and , tuking tho current expanses at 500 , 000 / . a year , tlio wholoamn paid by the trensury lor education would amount to 0 GO , 000 / . a yenr . lie calculated that , by tho expenditure of that tiiun , » 0 O , O 0 O children arc educated . ^—After bouio discussion , and an amendment by Mr . Black , which was siibsequontly withdrawn , to the oflR ; ct that tho sum asked for should he reduced ) , tho vote was agreed to . Tho House having resumed , the I > tnmAiu County Palatine Jurisdiction Bill , and the PublicGrounus amt > Pr . AYGROUNDH IJill , were both read a third time , t » nd pisssod ; other forniiil business wa 8 got through ; nnd the Houses ncyournid at half past twelve . m ^ -w ^ Tuatcluy , June IZwl . NICTTLItf ) 10 STATK 8 ACT . In tho flouflis ov Lonna , Lord Cuanwohiim introduced a bill to amend the Sottlcd Eautes Act , with the view of fnciliuting tho execution of deeds uy married women . abroad . —Tho bill was roada * ilret . tinir .

    rflTE OATHS BrLTv . The Earl-of Malmksbuuy moaned the appointment of a « omniitfee to state their Lordships' rea »«» i 8 forakdheriug to tiieir amendmenta-in the Oaths Bill , and-he would aleo propose to their Lordships on Thursday that'ttutie renBOnseluould be sent , down to the House of Commons . I « consequence of Lord : Derby ' s illnesf , he askedl Ex > rd l < j ndhur » t to postpone his bill tmtil Tlmrsdayiin neatt iVeek .--LKvi-d LvNDiiimsT assented . —Lord Lucuif Sntimat « d tliitt l > e also would postpone his bill until the « anie day . —The motion was agreed to .

    PUOBATt AND IMTEKS Of ATttUNISTRATION ACT AMENDMENT BILL . On theswotion for the third reading , it was proposed hy Lord St .. Leonahds , that Instead of the property of nn intestate , on failure of heirs , being vested in the Crown , as propot ? ed by the bill , it showki be vested in the Judge Ordinary . —Tbe House divided on the proposition tliat the property should be vested in tU ' e Growa , when . the numbers were found to be equal- ^ -22 on both sides . — The Lord Chakckllor then stated that the noncontents had it , and the Jjidge-Advooate was . accordingly substituted ibr the Grown . —The bill vwas then read * third time , and passed . DIVORCE AND MATftfflOSIAL GAO 8 ES ACT AMBNCJ 48 KT . '¦ . . ' . ' ¦ . ' ' . .: ' ¦ ¦ ¦¦ -BILL . On the motion fur the third Tending of this \ fciH , I ; ord . Redssdalb . censured the speed with ' which some unopposed causes had been decided in the ' -.-Court « tf Divorce . Nine cases had been disposed of in one day , and one case only occupied the Court « leven minutes ! Serious objections were made to the manner in wtlcli this part of the business of the Court was conducted . Hahoped it would exercise more caution in future , as « o cases ^ ere more likely to involve collasion than those which were unopposed . — -Lord Campbet-L -was astonished Uiat Lord -Redesdale should have aorasUlyand unadvisedly impeached the conduct of some of the < J udgeB of the land . He had himself presided in the Court of l >" vorce , and could say that the cases were fully-examined , and justice done in each . —The Bishop of OXFORD said that the . religious and thinking portion of th « community regarded with nppreliension tbe rapidity with -rthich the decisions of the Court had been given . r—Eavl XtRanvillk thought Lord Redesdale should have givett notioe of his intention to censure the Judges of the OourU—Lord Cbanavorth and Lord St . Leonards dononrred in stating : that the old mode of proceeding g « ivo no greater security against collusion than the neir cue .-r-Loird Campbex . l , on addressing the House a second time , was called to order , and , after some conversation on this point , the bill was read a third time , and passed . BELAYS IN CHAN-C ERT . The Loirn Chanckllou called the attention of th 3 Etmso to the delays in the office of the Chief Clerk of Chancery which had been complained of on a previous evening by Lord Lifford . There had , he admitted , been some delay , but it was chiefly caused by one of the parties in the c . ise not being prepared with certain necessary evidence . —Lord St . Leonahds and Lord CkanWortu pointed out certain difficulties which cause deluy in the office in question ; and from their statements it appears that there is a want of good courts , with conrenienfc chambers for the clerks . —Lord St . Lkonak . ds said he would apply a remedy by removing the range of buildings now occupying the oast side of Slone-buildinga , and erecting thereon courts for the Judges , with chainbors in connexion with them for the chief clerks .

    cauJtcn icatiss . A petition from tho Society of Friends praj-ing for rho abolition of church rat « s Avas rejected because the word "humble" was omit led before " petition . " The Bishop of OxFonu said he had to present to > their Lordships the " humble" petition ( a laugh ) of persons who prayed that their Lordships would not do avray with church rates . The right rev . prelate presented several other petitions to the aamo effect . —Similar , petitions wero presented from places in the diocese of London by the Bishop of London . Tlio Houao adjourned at a quarter to eight o ' slo > clc . At Jtho morning Bitting of the Commons , tha House wont into committee on tho Local GovjcrnmicNt Bill , the object of which Mr . Audisuley admitted to be , to ^ ct rid of the existing Uoavd of IlealcU , and to toava looulattthoritiefl entire freedom in sanitary matters , under tho guiduneo of the Secretary of State . The clauses from 9 to 30 , inclusive , wero agreed to , come witU -a few verbal modifications . —Tho Medical Pjiactitbonehs ' IJill was commit tod for tho introduction of a-incndnonta ; and it was arranged that it should bo roptintod jiwl recouunitted on Thursday next week . STI & AM POSTAI- < BBRVI « B 'WITH AU * TRA 1 j . LA . In answer to Mr . Hknry Bkriselby , Sir E . Ddswkk Lxvi'ou stated that tho Australian cafonias bad modo t'opcMud oo-inplauUB of the . iitregularity in tho poxfonnrihco of the atetim postal ecrvioo between 'fcbia country tnd Auati-fllia . In December , 1857 , Sir William Doni-HOnaent home ropreaentations from the I * cgialat « re 8 Tipon die BuUjeat , and BuhooquenUy Jio sent nnoluAions from xlie Chamber of Commerce to the a » mo < ertbet . Th «< 5 os'ornment had received no roaolutiona or recotnm « ndaotana from ( ho Lcgialnturo of Viiotorio , cotiifAtdning « tf th « irccgulavity , And fluggesting that th « toatitr « ci aboKM -Uq Atuiullod ; but . do great ^ sugrwttMano imA notxesoqpttd

    Yo. 431; June 26, 1858.] The Leader, 603...

    yo . 431 ; June 26 , 1858 . ] THE LEADER , 603 r ' ' — _ ————_—_—_ . ' , " . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1858, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26061858/page/3/