that throne and to those institutions under which it is our happiness to live." The right hon. Gentleman resumed his seat, saluted with a burst of enthusiastic and protracted cheering. Several members asked questions with regard to particular portions of the statement, and Mr. Hume lamented that his property-tax scheme, which would yield nine or ten millions a year, was not adopted by the Government. Mr. Ball expressed his surprise that the agriculturists were not relieved by the repeal of the malt-tax. Upon the whole, the reception of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's propositions was very favourable. The formal resolution, with which he concluded, was then agreed to. CHAPTER III. The discussion on the Ministerial propositions begins on the 25th of April. -Sir E. B. Lytton moves an Amendment to the first Resolution-His Speech-The debate is continued for four nights-Speeches of Mr. E. Denison, Mr. Booker, Mr. Hume, Colonel Sibthorp, Mr. Fagan, Mr. Buck, Mr. Blackett, Mr. Knightley, Mr. Maguire, Mr. Warner, Mr. Newdegate, Mr. Monckton Milnes, Mr. Drummond, Mr. Muntz, Mr. Stanhope, Mr. J. Ball, Mr. Grogan, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Sergeant Shee, Mr. J. L. Ricardo, Mr. French, Mr. Bellew, Mr. Sanders, Sir F. Baring, Lord Lovaine, Mr. C. Fortescue, the Marquess of Granby, Sir C. Wood, Mr. G. H. Moore, Mr. J. M. M'Gregor, Colonel Harcourt, and others; Lord Jocelyn, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Cairns, Sir W. Clay, Sir F. Kelly, Mr. Lowe, Mr. J. Butt, Mr. Sergeant Murphy, Mr. Conelly, Mr. Disraeli, and Lord John Russell - The Amendment is negatived by 323 to 252-Other Amendments are moved, and some hot altercations arise amongst the Irish Members-Mr. Lawless moves to exempt Ireland-In the course of the debate which follows, great confusion and interruption is caused by a charge of corrupting Irish Members made against the Ministry by Mr. Duffy-Mr. Lawless's Amendment is rejected—Captain Maguire's charge against the Government of breach of contract with the Irish Members occasions some further angry discussion-Mr. R. Palmer moves an Amendment—In the debate which follows he is supported by Mr. Miles, Mr. Buck, Mr. Aglionby, Mr. Spooner, Sir W. Joliffe, Mr. Disraeli, Lord John Manners; and opposed by Captain Scobell, Mr. Phillips, Colonel Harcourt, Mr. Bright, Sir T. Ackland, Mr. Gladstone, and Lord John RussellUpon a division the Amendment is negatived-Mr. Vansittart proposes an Amendment-Sir F. Kelly, Mr. Banks, and others speak in support of, and Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright, and Sir J. Shelley against it— Upon a division the House supports the original Resolution-A Resolution is then moved by Colonel Dunne, Mr. Gladstone, Sir J. Pakington, Lord C. Hamilton, Mr. Scully, Mr. Maguire, Mr. Ball, and Mr. O'Connell take part in the discussion which ensues-It is rejected by 194 to 61; as also are other Amendments moved in Committee by Lord C. Hamilton, Mr. Frewen, Dr. Michell, Mr. Walpole, Mr. J. Butt, Mr. Spooner, Mr. G. A. Hamilton, Mr. Blackett, and others-The Third Reading is carried after a short discussion by 129 to 55Clauses moved by Sir F. Kelly and Sir A. Campbell are rejected, and upon the motion of Mr. Gladstone, fire new Clauses are added.—In the House of Lords the Earl of Aberdeen moves the Second ReadingHis Speech-The Earl of Derby states his objections to the Bill-After some discussion, in which Lords Portman, Berners, and Brougham, the Marquesses of Clanricarde and Lansdowne, and the Earl of Wicklow take part, the Bill is read a Second time-Lord Brougham offers some opposition to the Third Reading—Amendments are proposed by the Earls of Wicklow and Lucan, and a Debate ensues, but the Amendments having been rejected, the Bill is passed. ON the 25th of April, the debate on the bold assumption that his ΟΝ on the Income-tax propositions of the budget began; the House having gone into Committee of Ways and Means, upon the resolution being read, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton moved as an amendment in lieu of it, that these words be inserted after the word "that" in the first line, "the continuance of the Income-tax for seven years, and its extension to classes heretofore exempt from its operation without any mitigation of the inequalities of its assessment, are alike unjust and impolitic." He admitted that there was much in the budget worthy of the high reputation of Mr. Gladstone and of the approbation of the country; and the Income-tax might be retained to work out the Minister's financial scheme; but it need not remain as it was, and the country might have all the good things in the budget compatible with the reform of the tax. He asked the House to remove the unpopular features of the tax, and to terminate it at the earliest possible moment. That was the intention of the late Government; but Mr. Gladstone proposed to retain its unpopular features, and continue it to the latest possible moment. Particular interests would not wait until Mr. Gladstone had developed his scheme, but would forestall his balance sheet before 1860, by propounding reductions of their own -the full repeal of the advertisement-duty, and the stamp-duty on newspapers, or the malt-tax. Mr. Gladstone based his calculations remissions would by 1860 replace themselves. No doubt the reduction of duties on articles of large consumption has a tendency to compensate any temporary loss of revenue; but this principle obviously has no application to the duties on soap, in amount 1,126,000l., and customs 53,000l., making a total of 1,179,000l. of taxes absolutely abolished, and, therefore, not subject to the commercial law of reproduction. Nor does this law apply to duties on articles of luxury; nor was he sure that the smuggler would not receive the augmented receipts arising from the augmentation of the spirit duties. One-third, then, of the assumed surplus is altogether visionary. Sir Edward anticipated that prosperity would augment the Income-tax receipts, and make the Chancellor of the Exchequer unwilling to give it up; and that its immoral influence as a premium on evasion would rot the character of the English tradesmen. treated as absurd the concession of the Irish Consolidated Annuities, a partial debt, as compensation for the general imposition of the Income-tax on that country. He criticised the distinction drawn by Mr. Gladstone between land and trade as baseless, since bad debts might compensate the peculiar charges on land; but the distinction would hold good as regards the fundholder. Arguing that the Income-tax presses severely on intelligence and skill as compared with property, Mr. Gladstone pro He posed to repair that injustice by laying upon property a new tax amounting to not less than 2,000,000l. a year. (Opposition cheers.) He hoped that Mr. Gladstone would, as others had done before him, retain his position and correct his measure. (Laughter.) It sometimes is represented that gentlemen on Sir Edward's side of the House are indifferent to all taxes that do not oppress themselves; he rejoiced that upon this occasion at least they could triumphantly rebut that charge. It might be true that some had thought it their duty-and he believed correctly thought-to vindicate the claims of British industry upon the part of the farmer. It was something of the same principle that they would defend now in the case of the British tradesman (Cheers, and laughter from the Government side of the House) because they believed that the rights of industry are invaded whenever they tax at the same rate the precarious earnings of labour and their own hereditary possessions. There had been, he believed, some vague intimations of a dissolution in case this measure should be lost. He, and those with whom he acted were quite ready to encounter such a calamity. He could not pretend to judge how many gentlemen, the representatives of towns, might be disposed to vote against this resolution. He could not doubt their honest motives if they did; but, if they did not, and if the threatened dissolution occured, let them go back to their town constituencies, canvass them on behalf of the Income-tax, and tell those whose sole fortune was their toil and skill how they had been opposed by those selfish aristocratic countrygentlemen of England who were the supporters of Lord Derby's Administration. (Cheers.) For Mr. Evelyn Denison declared that, after listening attentively to the speech of Sir Edward Lytton, he was at a loss to know whether he wished to continue the Incometax in an amended form, or to put an end to it altogether? himself, he thought this was the first time since they had embarked on the sea of the Income-tax that they had seen land-the first time that there had been any fair and reasonable prospect of coming to an end of the tax. He applauded the compensations of the budget, and was determined to support it as a whole. The country would feel, as the House must have felt, that a great mind is engaged in its affairs. The people would know how to appreciate such rare intelligence and truthful honesty. Mr. Booker, representing an agricultural constituency, felt the greatest dismay at Mr. Gladstone's plan, which offered no relief to owners or occupiers of land, whose case he said was made out by Mr. Gladstone himself, when he showed that agriculturists are paying 9d. in the pound, while others pay but 7d. At that rate, agriculturists have been mulcted of 10,000,000l. during the last ten years, and would be mulcted of 3,000,000l. more if this proposition were carried. Now, they had no desire to shrink from the competition to which they had been subjected, but they asked to start even in the race. With regard to the manufacturing and commercial community the proposal placed them in an improper position. He claimed on their behalf that there should be a marked difference be tween precarious and permanent income. The agricultural community regarded the tax on successions" with horror:" it would "go further towards the ultimate dismemberment of the empire than any scheme hitherto devised;" it would "slowly but surely break up the great landed aristocracy of the kingdom." ("Hear, hear!" and laughter.) Mr. Hume expatiated upon the inequalities of the present scheme of the tax, the defects of the system of assessments, and the abuses existing in the collection, and eulogised the merits of what is termed the "actuaries' plan." He meant to regard the Budget as a whole, and as such he approved of it, especially of the legacy duty, which was its great charm. He concurred in the extension of the Income-tax to Ireland, and in the proposal with regard to the assessed taxes, because they interfered with labour; and in the repeal of the soap duty, because it induced to the health and comfort of the working classes. Colonel Sibthorpe had always opposed the Income-tax, and should continue to do so. However good in time of war, the tax was unwarrantable in a period of peace. Mr. Fagan felt compelled reluctantly to oppose the proposition of Mr. Gladstone. He argued that Ireland, just recovering from her embarrassments, could not be justly charged with the Incometax; that the Consolidated Annuities ought not to be considered in relation to this question; that England had been largely the gainer by the remission of duties concurrent with the imposition of the Income-tax; that if imposed at the eleventh hour, Ireland would pay more than her share; VOL. XCV. and that it would drive still more emigrants across the Atlantic. He further contended, that the extension of the tax to Ireland would be inconsistent with the Act of Union, which stipulated that Ireland should contribute to the general taxation only in a certain proportion, which had already been exceeded. Mr. Buck dwelt upon the suf ferings of the agriculturists, and wondered Parliament should be asked to renew the Income-tax, which he said had crept into the House under a false pretence." He declared his opposition to every part of the Budget. Mr. Blackett, approving the Budget as a whole, regretted the omission of the timber duties-that no amendment was made in the machinery for the collection of the Income-tax, and that its extension was not accompanied by the electoral franchise.-On the other hand, Mr. Knightley, taking the Budget as a whole, disapproved of it; agreeing with Mr. Gladstone's premisses, he demurred to his conclusions. Mr. W. Williams combated the arguments of Mr. Fagan, and approved of the Budget in its entirety. Mr. Maguire replied to Mr. Williams. Ireland had been told she might cultivate her manufactures; which, from the time of "hook-nosed William" downwards, England had done her best to destroy. She was in a worse position now than in 1842: then she exported 93,000 quarters of wheat and 2,358,000 quarters of oats, in 1851 she only exported 44,000 of the former, and 1,141,000 of the latter. Was it a sign of Ireland's prosperity that no less than 8,700,000l. worth of property has [F] |