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after four years would pay no more . Here was the case of hardship and oppression which had been so feelingly described . He ridiculed the bugbear about inspecting title deeds , hoped their lordships would not hesitate about going into committee on a bill in unison with the principles of justice , and which had been received by the other House , and by the country , with so muclv approbation . The Earl of Winchixsea , had he been present at the moving the second reading , would have divided
against it , had he stood alone ; and he described the bill as fraught with injustice , litigation , oppression , and cruelty . From the time when the " proud barons" of England had resisted unjust taxation , there had been no such imposition ; and " we live in fearful times if the proud barons of England , no longer worthy of their ancestry , submit to bills like this . " They had fallen into the hands of harpies . No amendment could ever reconcile him to the principle of this odious and infamous bill .
Their lordships then went into committee on clause 2 . The Earl of Dekby , in moving his first amendment , explained that , though aware of the difficulty existing in the way of their lordships' interference with a money bill , nevertheless there were precedents showing that such difficult' -might be got over . That House had upon a former occasion sent down to the other House amendments on a money bill , which the Commons , of course , refused to accept ; but , suspending their standing orders , introduced another bill totidem verbis with those of the bill from the Lords . He could not
consent that the Lords should merely register the money bills of the Commons . He refused to believe that the measure was popular on account of its being an attack upon large landed properties ; but lie believed that the pressure and the hardship of the bill would fall upon holders of small properties , especially in regard to the legal expenses which would be occasioned , and which would be as vexatious as the tax itself . He then described the second principle stated by the Lord Chancellor as new and unjust , but he urged that if settled and unsettled property ,
and real and personal estate , were to be placed on an equal footing , at all events the law ought not to be retrospective . To make it so was actually to make a new will for a deceased testator , a course which , even in the case of vested interests in abuses , the Legislature had carefully avoided . But here there was no abuse , but merely a revenue deficiency to be patched up by ex post facto legislation . The clauses to which his objections principally applied were clauses 2 , 3 , 5 , 15 , and 34 . He moved , in the first place , an amendment in clause 2 , for the purpose of destroying its retrospective character .
The Earl of Abekdeen commented upon the course adopted by Lord Derby , in refusing to vote for the rejection of a Bill which he had called the corner-stone of the Government policy , and in proceeding to introduce amendments calculated to destroy its character . Lord Derby professed much regard for small proprietors , but knew perfectly well that settlements were almost exclusively adopted by the owners of large properties .
He stated that in nine cases out of ton the wills of persons in the middle class of life wero bo made aa to Bubjoct the property to the incidence of the legacy duty . Therefore tlio persons for whom the noble oarl professed such tenderness were , in point of fact , liablo to tlio legacy duty , in consequence of the disposition they had made of their property , in nine cases out of ten . It was , therefore , truo , as the noble earl ( tho Earl of Winohelsea } who hnd spoken early in tho debate said , a mutter which particularly affected the interests of " the bold barons , " , to do them
justice , they scorned disposed to act upon tlio principles which actuated tho barens of old in tlio preservation of their own feudal exemption from tho burdons homo by the rest of their fellow-countrymen . Ifc is tho object ot this bill to bring these bold barons under the saino law which is applicable to the rest of tlio community ; and it is in that wayalono that the tax can be said to ho popular . No tax could bo popular in itself , but a senso of justice might render its principles popular when it was seen to bo equally applied .
His short answer to Lord Derby was , that his amendment would overthrow tho whole structure of the tax , by postponing its operation . Nothing like this course had been taken since the other House had asserted its exclusive right of dealing with money bills . He denied the justice of Lord Derby'b objection to tho measure , and in reference to tho remark that tlio Government had created the necessity lor tho tax , demanded why , if it had been thought ko oppressive , hud Lord Derby permitted the remission of the duties which supplied its place p Probably Lord Derby hud thought it would be a less popular course to oppose tho ropeul of tho former duly than the imposition of a new one . In answer to it remark of Lord Aberdeen ' s , that tho lato Government had contemplated some such tax , Lord Dkuuy utruclc in , and doniod that any such Bchomo hnd
ever been mooted in his Cabinet , or m any way come under the consideration of the late Government . The Earl of Abebjdeen read extracts from a speech of Mr . Disraeli ' s to prove that the subject had avowedly been considered , and then proceeded to controvert the " extravagant" statements of Lord Derby as to the operation of this tax on Scotch entails . He then remarked that this amendment was designed to do in committee what ; for reasons best known to themselves , noble lords opposite had not chosen to do on the second reading , and , so regarding it , he opposed it .
The Earl of Habdwicke supported the amendment , and ( having apparently not heard Lord Winchilsea ' s speech ) was especially indignant with Lord Aberdeen for his " sneer" at the " bold barons "— " dangerous words , and not likely to be forgotten . " Earl Gbanvxlxe , the Duke of Aegyxi ., and the Marquis of Lansdowne , defended the bill , and argued that it would strengthen the landed interest , by placing them on a footing with their fellow-subjects . The committee divided , and the numbers were-r-For the amendment . . . . . 68 Against it . . ... . . . 102 Majorityjfor Government . . 34 The clause , and the remaining clauses , were agreed to ; and the House adjourned .
The third reading took place on Thursday night . Lord St . Leonaeds moved several amendments , by way of recording points of protest against the Bill . They were negatived , without a division , and the Bill passed . THE CONVEESION SCHEME . A debate on Mr . Gladstone ' s plan for the conversion of the South Sea , and other stocks , commenced on Thursday evening . Mr . Gladstone formally moved three resolutions : the first of which was to provide out of the Consolidated Fund for paying off such holders of South Sea Annuities , Bank Annuities of 1726 , and Three per Cent . Annuities of 1751 , as should not have signified their willingness to ^ commute under the Act
of the present session , c . 23 . The second was to enable the South Sea Company to commute certain shares standing in the names of the Chancery and Bankruptcy officials and others , and to convert them into other stock under the said Act . And the third resolution was to enable the South Sea Company to commute any part of the annuity or interest payable in respect of such further amount of their capital as might be authorized by Parliament to be invested as a guarantee fund for the administration of private trusts , should Parliament authorize them to undertake such administration . Mr . Gladstone briefly explained the meaning of the resolution . The first authorizes Government to pay off those who have not accepted the commutation offered to them . The second extends the time for
option of commutations as regards that portion of South Sea Stock held by the Accountant-General in Chancery and Bankruptcy , or by joint trustees who have not had the option of such commutation , owing to having no right to vote on the question of option decided by the other holders . And as the South Sea Company are about to become trustees for private parties , it is better that they should be allowed thus to re-invest this money than to have two millions and a-half thrown on the money market in January next . As it is uncertain at what time the new commutations may take place , tho terms are to be arranged by the Government itself .
Mr . Disraeli , having objected that tho now resolutions came by surprise on the committee , proceeded to criticise the Government plan . He refused to give the Government leave to proceed with an experiment that had been a complete failure : nor was there a chance of this additional proposition being moro successful . Mr . Gladstono has introduced a novel element into consideration . First , ho has extended tho area of commutation by introducing now stock , and then ho has dono that which tho committeo should pondor well before sanctioning—ho has proposed that power should be granted to
tho Government , which is rary unusual if not unprecedented , of concluding at their own discretion tho terms on which the financial operation should take place . If tho proposition of tho Government on this subject had been successful—if they had shown such an acquaintance with the money market , and such a mastery of tlio phenomena with which thoy had to deal , that they had a right to appeal to tho confidence of tho House , as a matter of principle we still should hesitate to confide to any Government so great a degree of power , tho possession of which is not at all necessary . "Jiut I Jmvo a right to consider whether tho
antecedents of tho Government nro- such as to entitle them to the confidence which they claimed , Mr . Gladstone or liis colleagues cannot prefer any claim for this unusual confidence- on the , score , of tho success of their financial operation . Tho manner in which they formed thoir judgmont on this important subject of a commutation of tho public funds is not ono which they can look back to thomsolvos with unlimited or unalloyed satisfaction or self-gratulation . The project , when first brought before tho House , wan of very largo dimensions . Ueforo any discussion could take placo upon it , it was groatly altorod and modified . 'Xho limitations wliiob . woro proposed to tho
various kinds of stock brought under consideration * from day to day . The subject , the question , the meas ^ were hurried through the House , because , they were tla such was the eagerness to accept the commutation that R House must waive their right of criticism . ( The Chan < o lor of the Exchequer made a gesture of dissent . ) I Jji | J to the House whether that was not the conclusion to ^ arrived at , and I confess I am rather surprised at the j terruption of the right honourable gentlem an , when 1 recalled to the House the fact that no discussion upon thit important measure ever took-place : on , -those . occasions which discussions usually occurred , namely , on the 'Second and third readings of the Bill . When the right honom . t ted
able gentleman inerrup me I was pressing on the com ' mittee two points—first , that it is most unwise to extend to any Minister the power of entering at his discretion into bargains of this kind ; and , secondly , I think I am only fulfilling my duty in . reminding the committee--trust not in language which is offensive—that the antece . dents of the Government are not such as should make their case an exception to the rule which . I have ventured to impress upon their attention . I think we ought to resist the granting of such a discretionary power to any Government . Ana why is it to be granted ? The right honour ! able g-entleman made a proposition of financial coinmutation , and brought in a measure which has not succeeded . It appears to me the wisest course would be to conclude and close that business as soon as possible . These person *
must be paid , and must be paid in money . Let the House know the cost of the transaction . Let them see that instead of a very moderate saving of 25 , 000 ? . a year , there ' will be a certain loss . Let them know what that loss wi ]] be , and then we s hall be better acquainted with the st ate of the public finances . But because the Government has brought forward and carried a measure which has turn ed out , as they were warned it would , perfectly illusory and inefficient , it appears to me most unwise at the end of the session to be patching up that scheme , entering into new speculations , founded on the same erroneous and im perfect data , and asking the House to grant a power to the Administration which must leave the public finances , when Parliament was prorogued , in a state of uncertainty and doubt . "
The first resolution was agreed to , and discussion ou the second ensued , and continued , until four o'clock interrupted the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the commencement of a reply . -In the House of Commons , in a morning sitting yesterday , which was occupied in unusually important business , Mr . Gladstone delivered himself of an elaborate answer to the criticisms spoken the previous day by Mr . Disraeli and Sir F . Kelly , upon his scheme for the conversion of stock . In the first place he denied in toto , the assertions of those gentlemen that in his new set of resolutions he was proposing to offer to
the holders of South Sea Stock any better terms than he proferred under the original plan , and which they had declined ; and he further denied that he was now contemplating "the giving himself any advantage by securing an unlimited period for carrying out the negotiations . He stated that he simply proposed to empower the Treasury to offer to those holders of South Sea Stock who were disqualified by the existing law from accepting the option held out to other holders , the same identical terms which those persons had so far thought right to decline . He confessed that he was disappointed in his scheme ; he had not calculated on so small an amount of stock being commuted ;
but he accounted for the partial failnre in various ways—to the . delay which had occurred in passing the plan through the House ; and to the . political disturbances , occasioning financial suspense in Europe . To a great extent he contended that he had succeeded . Several small stocks had been commuted to the advantage of the Exchequer , and had laid the foundation of a financial operation , which was only commencing , so that decisive criticism was inappropriate , likely to bo both profitable and convenient . These are tho points of an elaborate statement , of a defensive character , which was warmly received , and made ft distinctly favourable personal impression .
Sir F . Kkmat continued tho discussion by proposing a clause restraining trustees from converting truBt property without tlio concurrence of those who were beneficially interested . His object was to remedy on evil already committed , and to prevent ita increase . After various opinions had been offered , Mr . J . B . Smith and Sir II . Wiixottcuiby opposed the new course proposed to bo taken to " bolster" 3 failure , by Mr . Gladstone . Mr . Glyn defended tho schomo in its entirety , and acquitted Mr . Gladstone of " failure . "
Mr . DrflUAiCM ( after much incidental discussion I "" taken placo ) briefly replied to Mr . Gladstone , and protested against the explanation— " European disturba-ncea " - —of tho " failure , " which ho said had been fully predicted by himself and others long before theso disturbances had been threatened ; and ho attributed tho failure precisely to those circumstances which ho ha < stated at the outset . Tho second resolution was carried—testing the uuc * « ohh of Mr . Gladstone ' s dofenco—by 117 to f > 7 . The further proceeding in tho matter , after thia » b > V wnti adjourned to Monday .
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724 THE LEADER . [ Satprpay , g
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 30, 1853, page 724, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1997/page/4/
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