PARLIAMENTARY AND GENERAL ENGLISH NEWS.

Marlborough Press, Volume XII, Issue 752, 14 June 1871, Page 4

PARLIAMENTARY AND GENERAL ENGLISH NEWS.

[Dates from April 18 to May 4.] In the House of Commons, on the 17th, Mr Gladstone opposed the resolution discontinuing the telegraph and postal service on Sunday, as depriving many of employment. He succeeded in defeating the vote of censure on the naval administration indirectly, arising from the loss of the Captain, by fortynine majority. The Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced the Budget on the 20th April. He referred to the stupendous events which had transpired in Europe since the last financial statement was presented—events of a character and magnitude to set at naught all the estimates of trade and revenue ; nevertheless, the resources of the kingdom had shown elasticity; the revenue was two and one-third millions in excess of the estimates, and the expenditure fell half a million below them, while the cost of the army was half a million more than had been calculated; that the civil service was a million less.

The estimated expenses of the army including those incurred by abolition of the purchase system are £>16,500,000 and for the navy £>9,756,000. The estimates for the civil service show an increase of £>425,000 over those of last year, in consequence of the educational measures. The revenue from the Customs for the ensuing financial year, is estimated at less than last year. The total receipts from all sources, it is expected, will not exceed in round figures <£*69,000,000, while the total expenditure may reach £>72,000,000.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed a half-penny stamp on a box of each one hundred matches, and larger rates on wax lights. He estimated the results at £>55,000, the remains of the deficiency to be had from the increase of the tax on incomes, producing a total of £>72,000,000 —the amount required. A running debate followed, generally hostile to the budget. A division was demanded on the match duty; the minority was 157The subject of the declaration of the Paris Treaty of 1856, against privateering, and establishing the principle that a neutral flag covers the enemy’s goods came up. Mr Bertwick argued in favor of the withdrawal of England from the agreement, and advocated the resumption of the right of search. He believed the United States and other Powers would disregard the declaration in case of war. Sir Roundell Palmer, Mr Cave, and others, spoke to the same effect. The {AttorneyGeneral replied, defending the Paris declaration; he said it was impossible to escape its obligations. Mr Disraeli lamented the subject had not been introduced earlier, so that it might have been brought to the attention of the recent Conference of Powers in London. He said it was agreed that the deelarawas injurious to England, but it mnst be respected until it is formally revoked. Mr Gladstone insisted the declaration was binding, and its revocation could not be thought of. The late Conference was unauthorized to re-open the settlement of 1856. The subject then dropped. The budget in all its stages was violently oppisid by both Conservatives and Liberals, but the majority commanded by the Government sustained them throughout. M r Jacob Bright mo ved the second reading of a bill to enfranchize women on the 3rd of May. An amended debate ensued, but it was lost by a majority of 69. The Marquis of Lome and his wife, Princess Louisa, aie both descended from James Stuart, Earl of Lennox, who lived about 400 years ago. Her Majesty is descended from the EaiTs eldest son, and the Marquis from his eldest daughter. A young woman named Jane Parry of Liverpool, was, on April 10th, filling up a Census paper, when she fell backwards and died almost instantly. Shocks of Earthquake have been felt in Shetland. Writing on the 10th inst., the Lerwick correspondent of the Dundee Advertiser, says,—“A shock of earthquake, attended by three distinct reports, similar in noise to the firing of large cannon, has been felt here. The shock seems to have followed the range of hills above the town called the Stonyhill. The subterraneous noises were heard in two different places, thirty miles distant from each other, and seemed to pass from south to north.”