THE BUDGET.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 506, 17 August 1850, Page 4

THE BUDGET.

(From the Spectator, March ]6.)

The chief business in the House of Commons last night was the financial statement of'tho year, by Sir Charles Wood, in committee of ways and means. Sir Charles re-entered the house, after his recent illness shortly before 5 o'clock amidst emphatic cheers from members on every side. He appeared perfectly recovered; but hs bespoke indulgence for inaccuracies that might creep into his statement, on account of his indisposition.

'His-estimate of the income he should

- receive up ■to the /sth April had been .£52,262,000 ; he now expected that his receipts up to that date would be £52,78:3,000, while his expenditure would ■' be £50,583,351 [less than his estimate '-by £1,62-3,000] giving a surplus of about '£2,250,000. The whole income for next year—though the sugar duties fall short— -would probably rea::h £52,285;000. The Merchants-Seaineriyßill. will impose an ; additional £30,000 on the Consolidated "Fund ; the. arctic expedition a further outlays and he proposed to increase the vote for the new House of Parliamnt: in nil probably £150,000 for these additional expenses. He took the total expenditure of next year at £50,703,582 ; f leaving a surplus of £1.521,410—5av £1,530,000. Much anxiety ha 1 been shown to assist vhim in/disposing of bis surplus.. Deputations had advocated a reduction on tea, ■ whi'ih would involve a first loss of at least £3,000,000 of the £5,471,000 produced 'by.the te.vduty; the duty on bricks, windows, and soap, £.'3,275,000; that on ■ paper, £754,000, the advertisement-duty, '£157,000, certificate-duty, £170,0',)!); besides reductions on ship-buihlirg timber and the malt-tax ; and also the irans"fer of items of local taxation .".mounting ..to about'£2,soo,ooo to the Consolidated Fund. Looking to the interests of the great body of the working classes, many -of these duties have not the first claim for reduction ; others cannot be replaced for revenue ; and the last proposal involves a reversal of the policy pur-ued 'during the last twenty years, of removing from labour to accumulated pro" perty. Government desire much to m:ike

some reduction in the .flebt. Since the reduction of war-taxation, £33,000,000, ■have been added to, and only X"11,000,000 subtracted from that deht. The rule seems to be that in times of difficulty vn; "borrow, but in time of pmsporiiv wo do not reduce the deht. That object, with som remission of taxes, makes it obviously necessary .-to-renew the income 'tax.

la the reduction of taxes, primary objects wore to bcneßt sniiil! owners-of •innd, improve the system of cultivation. and augment, employment of labourers. Hβ therefore proposed a considerable redaction of stamp- dutioe upon the transfer of landed property and mortgages under £1000—the stamp-duty in these c;iaes to be a uniform half per cent.; and' he proposed to repeal the duty on bricks. The 1039 to tho revenue by these remissions would be £750,000, half the expected surplus, the other half he proposed to apply to a xeduotion oJT the Crebt.

Concurrently with those measures, he proposed another to promote the outlay of capital on land, namely, t-> advance for drainage and land improvements in England and Scotland £2,000,000; in Ireland £1,000,000; £800,000 of this latter sum to he appropriated to arterial drainage. These advances could be made in the present state of the Exchequer -without any addition to tho public debt, and the repayments would be available: for the reduction of the debt. -Ke proposed to apply £2;>0,000 immediately to the extinction of a part of the debt by discharging the Equivalent Fund in Scotland ; and he hoped the hoj'.se-would-suffer him to retain the surplus of £■500,000 remaking.

Sir Ckarles moved a vote of i£:>,200,000 towards supply, to be raised by exchequer bills.

The statement was followcl by critical 1 remarks from a numbers of speakers.