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    persuasion in this country and in Ireland , are attached to < he throne and liberties of this country ; but what we may think , and that of which 1 am convinced , is that if the jtoman Catholic clergy in Ireland had increased power { jiven to them , and iliat if they , as ecclesiastics , could exercise greater control over political op inions than they now exercise , that power would not be exercised in accordance with the general freedom which prevails in this country —( loud cheers)—and that neither in respect to religion nor in politics would they favdur that general treedom of discussion—that energy and activity of the human mind , winch belong to the spirit of the constitution . ( Kenewed cheers . ) I do not think that in that respect they cheers the

    are on a par with Presbyterians of Scotland— ( )— Presbyterians of Scotland , the Wesloyans , and the established " churches . of this country and of Scotland , all no doubt exercising a certain influence over their congregations , but that influence must bo compatible with a certain freedom of the mind , and a certain spirit of inquiry which the ministers of those churches would not dare to overstep , for if they did that influence would be destroyed . ( Loud cheers . ) I am obliged to conclude , therefore—to conclude unwilling ly , but to conclude most decidedly—that the endowment of the Roman Catholic religion in Ireland in the place of the established Protestant Church in that country in connexion with the state is not an object which t be Parliament of this country ought to advocate or sanction .

    ( Cheers . )" Mr . BiiiGHT immediately rose to express his sorrow at such a speech from a Liberal minister . ' ' He had warned the House , that if ihey allowed this proposition to be made , still more to be adopted and established on the other side of the channel , it would be very difficult to maintain the principle of the established church in England . ( Cheers . ) Well , they all knew that . ( Cheers and counter-cheers . ) They knew , of course , that that was one great reason why many persons in that House and out of it refused to do justice to the Irish people on this question , but what a miserable picture they drew of their established church in England , and upon what a rotten and decayed foundation it must be based , if they were afraid that if a measure of justice were conceded in Ireland , it would involve before long a simitar measure with regard to Enirland . " ( Loud cheers . )

    The Canada Clergy Reserves had been conceded to tlic opinion of the people of Canada , expressed through their representatives ; but if there was a parliament in College-green , two-thirds of the Irish members would vote in favour of Mr . Moore ' s motion . " Talking of catholic loyalty , Mr . Bright could point out a country where the catholics were as loyal to its institutions as the prolestants of England were to their own . He would refer the noble lord , not to Belgium , Sardinia , or Austria , but to the United States of America . ( Cheers . ) Let the noble lord point out any single fact , or any single opinionof an American writer which wont to show that

    , the catholics in the United SUtes were not as attached to the republican institutions of that country as any protest ants of this country were to our institutions . ( Cheers . ) And all this arose from one simple reason—namely , because catholics and protest ants were not known to the State as such ; but all were treated alike—citizen !) of the mune country , equal before the same laws , and treated with the same measure of justice . " ( Cheers . ) Mr . J . I > . VlTyAlvHAiA ) asserted that the Irish catholic : members luul always supported Liberal measures ; and Mr . Mooke made a general reply . On a division the motion was rejected by 200 to 98 .

    TUKKICY . Attempts to elicit information from Ministers as to the course resolved on by the Cabinet respecting Turkey , were made , both in the Lords and in the Commons , on Monday , Lord llAUnWickU being the questioner in one , Mv . DiSRAin . i in the other . The matter of their respective questions was almost identical . They pointed out , that the C / . ar , hearing on the 29 th of the Sultan ' s rejection of the ullLnatum , could cause his Heel , and army at Sebastopol to reach the Uosphorus , and master the Dardanelles on or about the 12 th of June ; but the British Heel , now at Malta , could , if immediately ordered , be in the Dardanelles on the Oth , two days before the Russians . Have they been ho ordered i' Lord Ci . AiuoNi ><>>* , in the Lords , and Lord

    John Russkm . in the Commons , declined to reply to Ihe questions . Lord John Russell added , " If the right honourable ! gentleman will make a motion on the subject , 1 will be quite ready to defend the course 1 have now taken . " ( Loud cheers . )

    1 NOOMK-T AX " AM KN DM ICNT 8 . " The usual skirmishing on ( he clauses of < lie Incometax Hill was resumed on , Monday . Mr , HauuoW wished to give farmers an allowance for the interest paid for borrowed money ; bill , Mr . Gi . austonic quieted ' him by an assurance that the act had already a general provision to enable persons assessed to deduct , the interest of borrowed money ; but lie would introduce a clause placing the matter beyond all doubt . Mr . Luoah hoped that Roman Catholic clergymen •\ v <»*|^ ha ^ kwqh with respect to deductions , on the wimft footing 1 rw ir ^ rStcsiunt clergymen . Mr- Gi , ai > - HTonk hhowed that they Ware , Mr . Hi'oonkr moved a clamt'i ' ftxeuiptiun tenants from inlying ( be urreai-H of Income-tax evaded byythp . previous twmyA ; l , hij . nb . j ec ) , of th ( j ,, c . lauRo builig to > ajta'' * M l « udlo *« MYrt *« « hn Adduction that the UHyirtoft * -4 UiM £

    make from the rent . Mr . Gladstone opposed this allowance to the landlord , on the ground that he gets from the law peculiar p owers for the recovery of Ins rent ; , . and if he chooses . to allow the tenant to escape the tax ho must pay the arrears . But with respect to houses , an allowance is at presentr made when it "is clearly proved that the landlord could not have recovered his rent . The amendment was rejected hy 145 to ( 39 . Mr . Lockhabt moved an amendment authorizing an allowance to Scotch payers of the tax for parochial rates , taxes and assessments , as in England . Mr . Gladstone pointed out that in compensation ior the want of such allowance , Scotch landlords had less deduction from thei r rents by charges for repairsrepairs in Scotland being generally executed hy the tenants . The amendment was rejected by 101 to 42 .

    In lieu of clauses 13 , 14 , and 17 , Mr . Gladstone then proposed clauses authorizing the application of the present poor-rate assessment to the levy of the tax in Ireland , and authorizing its collection from the landlord or immediate lessor . Some Irish members complained that these important alterations were unexpected ; but after a feeble opposition t he clauses were passed , with the understanding that their provisions could be discussed on the third reading .

    Mr . Blackett moved an amendment authorizing an allowance to creditors on acc ount of losses through the bankruptcy of their debtors—hut providing that as the debt is paid by instalments of a composition , the Incometax shall be levied on it . Mr . Gladstone opposed the amendment with reluctance , on account of the difficulty of the subject ; but he considered it opposed to the principle of the present law , and also unnecessary , the present allowance for bad debts being sufficient . Mr . Blackett withdrew his amendment ; also one fixing the allowance for wear and tear of machinery at five per cent .

    After a few more alterations had been suggested but not pressed , the committee concluded its consideration of all the clauses ; and the chairman reported progress . An amendment moved b y Mr . Butt , to do away with the discretionary power of the Commissioners respecting the taxation of the landlord or occupier in Ireland , and to fix that the landlord should pay when the rating was under 15 / ., and the occupier in all other cases , was rejected by 170 to 61 . A new clause enabling Irish landlords to deduct from after Incometax sums they had mid on accounts of rents lost through

    the insolvency of tenants , was added by Mr . Gladstone . Mr . Cairns and other Irish members proposed that instead of the landlord paying according to bis rental , and then receiving abatements , be should state his receipts for the past year ; but Mr . Gladstone objecting to this as introductory of the principle of self-assessment , the clause was rejected by 94 to 66 . Some new clauses were added by the Chancellor of the Exchequer . The most important were ono allowing a tenant to prove that his profits were less than half his rent , and so obtain a lower assessment ; and another allowing professional expenses to clergymen .

    CUSTOMS DUTIES . In committee on Customs' Duties , a discussion was raised apropos to the intended removal of eleven articles , producing 33 , 000 / 5 . to the revenue . As Lord John Manners intimated opposition , Mr . Gladstone postponed the clauses ; but Mr . T . Baking took the opportunity of protesting against this system of removing duties on a great variety of articles . If they could thereby reduce the expenses of collection , or enlarge the commerce of the country , he would not object ; but he thought that when finally all the customs were placed on twelve or thirteen articles of consumption the people would rise and demand the repeal of duties on sugar , tea , and tobacco , as the duties upon anchovies and . such " miserable" articles wort ! repealed .

    Mr . Gi , ai > , htonu said lie would not call the proposed removal a great national benefit ; but there was no national object ; involved in ( be levy oftlio . se " miserable " exactions . ( Mr . Having explained that they were " miserable" in point of relief ; but their repeal was a Haerilieo of thousands of pounds of revenue . ) Mr . DiHftAKM here made some general remarks on the manner and policy of customs' duties . He agreed with Mr . Raring . "In putting an end to customs ' duties on . small articles , you do not reduce the cost of general collection . You may abolish utmost ' every item of customs' duty , but , if you raise your revenue from a dozen articles , the cost of collection will still remain about tho same . You must examine the articles in

    order to charge ; them with duty , for if you do not , every article will come in free . Customs' duties did not interfere with ainy process of manufacture , and they were u healthy and profitable source of revenue . At this moment the very moderate Customs' duly proposed by Kir Robert J ' eol—the ono ( drilling per quarter <'> n grain-r . yielded a revenue of 500 , 000 / . yearly . Lord Jofrw M 4 £ NffiltB / seconded the tftateiuent by allowing

    that the customs' duties of ' 51 , though 1 , 450 , 000 * les » than those of ' 42 , cost 3 G , 1 G 1 Z . more nx collection . But Mr . Catjkwell pointed out that this was not surprising , for the commerce of the country had greatly increased ; for instance , the exports 48 , 000 , 000 / . in ' 42 were" 73 , 00 Q , O 0 OZ . in ' 51 . Respecting raisins , Mr . Gladstone stated that as there seemed a likelihood of a p lentiful supply of raisins , especially of the low qualities , which could only afford to pay a moderate duty , he would confirm the reduction toko * , per cwt ., as announced in tne first statement omhe tariff .

    The reduction of the duty on cordage was opposed as injurious to the persons employed at home in making cordage by manual labour . Lord JOHN Manneks opposed it on the same grounds , and also that the taking away of such duties did not dimmish the cost of collecting the revenue . But the reduction was carried by 194 to 68 . The proposition to reduce the duty on pictures , maps , and gold leaf , was opposed by Lord John Manners , who objected to throwing away 2000 Z . or

    3000 Z . a year , and thought the people would prefer to have their beer nntaxed . Mr . Gladstone was surprised at this opposition from Lord John , whom he always thought opposed to utilitarianism , and biassed in favour of what was ancient , venerable , and ' great . To make the people familiar with the works of great men was wise , for high culture was valuable in a nation . Lord John ManuekS sneered at theidea of encouraging art by remitting an eighteenpenny duty on pictures . The repeal of the duty was carried by ' 186 to 46 .

    The reduction of the duty on foreign butter to 5 * . per cwt . was opposed by several agric ultural members ,, on the grounds that home farmers had of late largely entered into the manufacture of butter ; hut the reduction was carried by 141 to 49 . The reduction on cheese from 5 , ? . to 2 * . 6 d . per cwt . was also passed by a majority of 135 to 40 .

    4 TEA . Mr . Disraeli invited Mr . Gladstone to make a speech on this subject , and ( Mr . Gladstone having declined ) complained that the house had not been informed of the probable result of the reduction on the revenue , and the effect of the Chinese rebellion on the amount imported .

    Mr . Gladstone said , the question was , "Will you have the speech of the . Minister , or have tea at a lower duty ? Would the commercial world prefer a speech , and allow tea to be locked up for three or four days ? Mr . Mastebman agreed with the Chancellor . Mr . Disraeli said this course amounted to a principle , that on tariff questions there was to be no discussion whatever . Lord John Russell considered that conclusion

    " somewhat hasty . " Debates and discussions might be good things , but the material interests involved in this case was of more importance . The question was , did Mr . Disraeli oppose this reduction , or did he not ? Mr . Disraeli again rose to say that this treatment of his remarks was " disingenuous . " Ho would not , however , oppose the motion , but persisted in saying that the Government should have stated their views regarding the elleet of the reductions , and touching the war in China . Here Lord AnoMHUs Vane rushed ia

    where " his right honourable friend" had " feared to tread . " JFv moved that tho chairman should report progress . I Jut Mr . Dihkaelt , thanking his friend for bis generous spirit , " rejected his interference . He would not oppose tho resolution , although lie did consider that the Government had acted unfairly—not for the iirst time—in not making a atatement , and then allowing him to vindicate the tea duties policy of the late Government . The resolutions were then agreed to , and the next day reported to the House ; .

    A 1 MCUSONAL Dlfll'UTK . Lord AnniuYirim moved that , tho House should agree to an address for an inquiry into the alleged corrupt ' practices in Maldon . Lord St . Leonakdh objected that the evidence before tho Commons' Committee did not justify such an inquiry . It wan not enough for uh that Maldon was " notorious" in corruption , or generally corrupt : the Commons'Committee , in asking for an inquiry , should have ascertained that there wen ! corrupt ; practices at the particular election made the subject of inquiry . To prove this point , Lord St . Leonards ,, fl ^' ' ferred to tho act of Parliament . ; , j ,,, i . „ Lord Oami-iikiiI ,: Read the words of the net . 6 f . Vita- < liament ! . ¦ , i , w- > ' >'

    Lord St . Lioonaudh was understood to rufoWt ^ THil the noble and learned lord moan to H » i . y l ^/ q «/ $ 4 " ij 3 ji state the ellect of an act ; of Parliament wi ^ ho ^ t , . roaming it ? ( laughter . ) | HiH lordship had taken , tyy ^ iuplj . tfi . ' lw , ; hand , as though about , to read from it , b . u ^ Hju ^^ Mojjfi on hearing the laughter he denoted . Y Mifft \ & / AwJJ"tol audible Hent . enc . en , oxprcsmvo of bin opposition to tho nd-

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    534 THE LEADER . ____ aSL

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 4, 1853, page 534, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1989/page/6/