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for other timber used for building or repairs , and for monies paid by the successor for timber purchased for such repairs . Mr . Gladstojte assented . But two or three members having pointed out that the clause would " cause confusion and duplication of allowance , and that the words , " necessary outgoings" include all equitable allowances , he retracted his assent , and the clause was negatived by 114 to 72 . It was then provided that no annual income , from timber , should be taxed , unless it exceeded 10 ? .
The power which the bill gives the commissioners " and their officers" to examine deeds of settlement and title , aroused a " sensitiveness" in the House which Mr . Gladstone said "ho did not blame , he rather respected it . " Therefore as a concession he proposed that the commissioners alone should have power to examine the deeds . This did not quite satisfy Mr . Mflkngs , who moved that " muniments of title" should be excluded from the deeds to be produced ; nor Mr . Malins , who called such forced production " unconstitutional ; " nor
even Mr . J . Phillimore , who considered the power " dangerous . " Notwithstanding those objections , the clause was passed by 132 to 100 , the House considering that the production of such documents was necessary for the assessment of the tax . After an added clause , allowing appeals , in cases under 50 ? ., to the minor courts ( County Courts , In England ; Sheriff ' s Court , in Scotland ; and Assistant Barristers' Courts , in Ireland ) , the report , amended , was agreed to , and the third reading was fixed to take place on Monday .
STAMPS ON NEWSPAPERS . The new law has been stated by the Attobney-Geotsbal . At present the stamps upon newspapers are regulated by the 6 th and 7 th of William IV ., c 76 , the schedule in which contains two sections , one of which defines as a newspaper " any paper containing public news , intelligence , or occurrences , printed in any part of the kingdom / ' and the second of which defines a newspaper to be any publication provided it is published ""at intervals not exceeding twenty -six days /' that it does not exceed certain dimensions , and is sold at a price not exceeding sixpence . It had always been thought that the first clause embraced every species of
publication , but the Court of Exchequer put a construction upon the schedule which has somewhat surprised the legal profession generally , and which has been very much doubted . The Court of Exchequer held that the second section was restrictive upon the first , and that a newspaper , to eotne within the general terms of the first , must satisfy the exigencies of the second , as regarded dimensions and price , and the intervals of publication . . The decision of the Court was upon the point as to whether a publication not published within twenty-six days came within the meaning of the act . That decision has boon much doubted , and the opinion of the- law officers of the Crown was taken thereon . If
it were expedient , lb would bo their duty to have appealed against that decision , and to havo taken it up for judgment to another court ; but the Government think it is not desirable to go against the decision of the Court of Exchequer , and think it , on the contrary , better not to attempt to enforce the act in casos where publications are not issued within the period of twentysix dnys . But then , with regard to the other two portions of the second section , thoro arises this difficulty —that if the second section , a . s the Court of Exchequer decided , bo restrictive upon the more general section , then any newspaper exceeding the dimensions provided by tt ' ic act , and wold at a price exceeding sixpence , would become altogether exempt from the necessity of paying any duty at all ; and thus the larger newspaper
would be exempted from duty , whilo tho smaller newspaper would have to pay the duty . This would bo a great injustice to tho smaller newspapers ; for to say that a newspaper like tho li . vaminer , which is sold at 6 ( 1 ., should pay duty , whilo the Spectator , which is sold at i ) d ., was exempted , would bo an injustice obvious to entry ono . It is proposed , therefore , to establish the Iuw on a clear basis , and muko it uniform with regard to all clnsses of nowspapers , whether largo or small , and at whatever prioo they may bo wold . Without , going into the policy or impolicy of the , stnnip on newspapers , it is ( dearly of importance that it should bo applied on tin equitable principle to all newspaporw , whether lurgo or small , and that m the object of tho present measure .
Mr . GmflON mud : •—Them aro two Bills before tho House applicable to newspapers . Ono of tho . so Bills defines what is ai newspaper ehargoablo with duty ; but , in order to ascertain what that duty iH , wo must ro to another Bill , called tho Stump Duties Bill . Now , tho definition of what : i newspaper is , and what duty iH chargeable , ought to bo found in tho same Bill . The present in a most inconvenient course . Tho Chancellor of tho Exchequer should put ; bin propomil with roforunce to tho duties o . nd tho supplements on nowapnpors into tins Bill , bo that wo may have only ono measure
to refer to . I am sorry that it was not thought fit to bring in a Bill upon this subject before parties were put to the expense of defending- themselves in a court of justice . This is a bill for the protection of Mr . Dickens ' s publication , the Household JSTarraiive , but the truth is that Mr . Dickens has already protected himself iii a court of justice , where it was decided that his publication was not liable to duty . The proprietors of monthly papers , therefore , owe the Government no thanks , for they have already fought their own battle . I should like to know , before sitting down , whether the costs which parties have paid in defending themselves against these prosecutions would not be paid by the Government ? When they exempt them from the stamp duty , it is but fair that they should be relieved from the heavy costs which they have incurred .
Mr . Gladstone stated that in the view of the Government there was reason to question the decision of the Court of Exchequer . In those circumstances Mr , Milner Gibson would see that it would be a roost anomalous course for Government to pay the costs of the parties . "With regard to the other suggestion , that the proposal as to the definition of a newspaper should be in the same Bill which regulated the charge of the duty , he thought there might be convenience in , that course ; and at any rate it would be considered . But , if it was to be done , the better way would be to import the few clauses of the . present Bill into the Stamp Duties Bill . The Bill was then read a second time .
BRITISH SHIPS AND BBITISH SAILOE 8 . The present law regulating the mercantile marine enacts , that the master , and , at least , three-fourths of the crew , must be British subjects . In the new Merchant Shipping Bill this regulation is proposed to be repealed ; and the proposal has been earnestly combatted . It was urged , that it was unsafe to place British ships and British cargoes under the charge of a motley collection of men of all nations ; that it would prevent the mercantile marine from being , what it has been , a nursery for seamen ; that it would bring down the wages of British seaman , by enabling shipowners to employ foreign competitors ; that the reduction in
the number df apprentices in our ships should warn us that we might want a supply of seamen ( out of 414 emigrant ships which left our ports , 300 had no apprentices ); that the inferiority of seaman ' s wages to the wages of other workers has also diminished the number of available hands ; and that the recent rise in . freights ( from 5 * . 6 d . to &s . ) should make owners willing to give seamen the increased wages now accorded to other workers , instead of seeking to diminish their wages by bringing in the competition of foreigners . Captain Scobell led the Opposition in urging these arguments ; and he was supported by Admiral Walcott , Sir George Tyler , Mr . William Williams , and Mr . Henley .
In reply , it was pointed out , that as tho British shipowner has been exposed , by tha repeal of the navigation laws , to the competition of the whole world , he should be free to employ seamen of all nations . Any restriction imposes a heavy duty on tho raw material of commerce—seamen . Tho repeal of the navigation laws , it was anticipated , would decrease the employment of British ships and seamen ; but , on tho contrary , British shipping has largely increased—the increase in the coasting trade being ten per cent . ; and since the repeal 10 , 000 British seamen havo boon added to tho merchant flcrvice . As to the
merchant service , it is not now the nursery for the royal marine that it was formerly ; tho merchant seaman now never riggs or unriggs his ship ; and by the uno of steamers towing from port to port the number of smacks has been greatly reduced . Of the petty officers now in tho royal navy but 285 are men from the merchant service , 1097 having been trained from boyhood in tho navy . If wo retain the useful practice of allowing ships of the royal navy to receive volunteers from merchant ships , it would bo extremely unfair not to allow tho merchants to roplnco them by foreign seamen . Otherwise tho Queen ' s fiervioo and tho merchant service will compete in wages for seamen , and tho Queen will not get enough of
wen . There is no falling oil" in ship apprentices ; thero aro 5 * 731 for tho first six months of 1853 , against 3204 . for tho correnpoiidfng period of 1852 ; and tho fear that tho repeal M' tho navigation laws would h \ juro tho supply of Reunion is disproved by tho fact , that thero aro now 8000 men moro available for tho merchant service than thoro were in tho year boforo thoso laws woro repealed . Tho ellbet of tho repeal now proposed will ho , not that British seamen will bo lean employed—for his superiority to tho foreign sailor will always obtain him employment ; but that disgraceful dcucrtions to foreign potts by British seuuuui will bo effectually remedied . Tho chief speakers on thin wide of tho question woro Sir Jamks Gbaiiam ,
Queen ' s ships from that right which had been enjoyed by them in common with all British subjects from the remotest period ? We should calculate what the effect of withdrawing the reward would be . A commander of a ship could scarcely be blamed for hesitating to go to the rescue of a ship in danger , when he knew that , in the event of his losing his life in the attempt , his survivors would reap no reward-for their gallantry . The amendment was then rejected by 131 to 20 .
Mr Cabdweli , ( in a clear , statistical speech ) , Admiral Bebkeley , and Mr . Liddell , the new Conservative member fqr Liverpool . On a division , the clause was carried by 142 to 36 . The claim for salvage by the Queens ships was objected to by Mr . Ingham . Sir James Graham made 'an eloquent , defence of the institution . Tins matter of salvage is the common-law right of the British subject , recognised from the earliest times of i ,: CT * . ^ , r Wlm- crfi / mid we debar the sailors of the
JUVENILE MENDICANTS . The newbill providing that children caught begging or sweepingcrossings in the streets shallbetakento the workhouse , and there supported at the expense of the parent , found an opponent in Lord Cbanwobth ( Lord Chancellor ) . He objected that the children to be arrested were criminals ^ or quasi criminals , and that their introduction to the workhouse would make the workhouse distasteful to the public . But then what is to be done P They cannot he put in prison , and there is no other establishment for them . Therefore with the present machinery the bill cannot he carried out .
Lord Shaktesbtjby : It is perfectly preposterous to say that a child taken out of the street at six or seven years of age shall he a Cause of disgust to the inmates of the workhouse , or that there should attach to the poor little thing the character of criminality . If we now give help to those poor little creatures sent to trade in crime and sin we shall find that within ten months the juvenile delinquents will have decreased
fifty or sixty per cent . It has been objected that the workhouses will be overcrowded , but so many parents will withdraw their children from the streets that in all probability the law will not have to be enforced in more than fifty or a hundred cases in London . But in any case the measure is limited for the first six months to the metropolis , and if too many are crowded into the workhouses the Secretary of State can stop the operation of the bill .
An animated conversation followed . Universal approval of the object of the bill was warmly expressed . Many peers , among whom was Lord Gbey , pointedly regretted the restriction of the bill to the metropolis , thus depriving the large provincial towns of its advantages . It was also emphatically asserted that the children thus taken up should not be considered as criminals , but rather as destitute orphans guarded by the State . The bill went through committee , and was reported to the House . A bill of a kindred character has been introduced in the Commons by Mr . Addebley . It proposes tho establishment of reformatory schools in England and Wales for young offenders convicted before the magistrates . The bill was read a first time . ,
MEDICAL BELIEF FOK THE POOB . Tho inadequacy of the medical aid supplied to the poor by the poor law organization has been discussed in an informal manner , Mr . Miles " calling the attention of the House" to the subject . The imperfect manner in which medical relief is administered is one of the few blots defacing an otherwise admirable system . Tho number of medical officers is nearer 4000 than 3000 , and tho average number of patients i » 835 , 000 . Tho only cheek upon tho improper treatment of patients is tho production of tho case-books at tho boards of guardians , but the guardians are incompetent to decide upon questions of disease , or tho propor means to be employed for its alloviation . The expenditure under tho head of " Extra diet" is ft cover
for abuse , and so also is tho practico of allowing medical officers to eko out a scanty provision by the supply of medicine . To remedy these ovils n medical inspector should bo appointed ; ho should hnvo power to Bend a sub-inspector , also a professional man , to inquire into any ease- of alleged improper treatment of paupers . And in future the boards of guardians should supply drugs , ond . then > in cases whoro it ia necessary to administer expensive medicine , tho medical officer would not bo exposed to tho temptation of sparing his pocket at tho cost of his duty . Another desirable object is the oxteimion of tho system of medical relief to tlie sick poor . A vast oxtont of pauperism is caused by noglectod nickness-i—tho average wages of working men leaving thorn without tho means of obtaining medical assistance .
Tlio defence of tho present system waa undertaken by Mr . Bainjjs , President of tho Poop Law B < mrd . Sinco 1834 tho medical relief given under tho poor
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fi 7 fi THE LEADER . [ Satprpay ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 16, 1853, page 676, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1995/page/4/
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