rose, in pursuance of his notice, to move for leave to bring in a Bill to prevent frauds on the revenue, and to put an end to the injury which was done to the fair trader by itinerant auctioneers. As this Bill would be in a great measure founded upon the Bill which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had withdrawn, he hoped to have that right hon. gentleman's assistance in its progress through the House. In addition to the clauses which were already prepared, it was his intention to introduce others, the objects of which would be, first to prevent auctioneers from giving a fraudulent description of themselves by assuming the name of persons more respectable than themselves in business; next, to prevent the sale of goods under false descriptions, by calling them the property of insolvent persons and bankrupts when they really were not so, thereby giving them a value in the eye of the purchaser, which they did not possess; and, thirdly, to provide that no person should sell goods by auction, unless he had obtained his license for three or four months. This regulation was to prevent persons from taking out li- cences for the mere purpose of effecting one sale to the injury of the fair auctioneer. He should introduce another clause to regulate the duty upon goods bought in. He thought that such goods in general should pay a mitigated duty of one-fifth of the ordinary demand; and with respect to lots not worth more than 5l. he thought they ought to pay at all times an advanced rate of duty whether sold or not, as by this means many frauds on the unexperienced purchaser would be prevented. The hon. gentleman, after dwelling on the necessity of the adoption of some such measure as that which he had proposed, by the legislature, concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to prevent frauds against the revenue and injuries to fair trade, by itinerant and other auctioneers.

seconded the motion, and hoped the Bill would be carried.

said, he hoped it was the intention of the hon. gentleman to exempt foreign freight from the operations of his Bill. If it was not, he should feel it his duty to oppose it. To a Bill for the abolition of those fraudulent auctions, which were continually carrying on in the city of London, he should be happy to give every assistance in his power.

trusted the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer would lend his aid towards facilitating the progress of this Bill, as it was absolutely necessary it should be passed for the protection of the fair trader.

said, it would produce unmixed good to the public. It was much wanted, and he sincerely hoped the hon. member would be enabled to carry it through, notwithstanding the lateness of the session.

supported it.

said, that though he himself did not originally intend to submit any disjointed part of the plan which had been recently before the House, yet, as it was now brought forward in its divided shape, he thought the hon. gentleman entitled to their thanks, and he should be happy to give any support to it in his power. He thought, however, that it would be unadvisable to go beyond those clauses of the former Bill which had received the concurrent approbation of the House, but rather to select just so much of that Bill, as was not likely to create objection.

supported the Bill, and after a few words from Mr. Lockhart, who intimated his intention to forego certain additional regulations which he had intended to introduce, and to confine himself solely to so much of the former Bill as was approved of, leave was given, and the Bill was shortly afterwards brought in.

was desirous of putting one or two questions to the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, upon a subject, relative to which it was his intention to found some motion in the ensuing session. He observed, from the Report of the Bullion Committee, that a compromise was made by the Bank of England, with the Stamp-office, by which that company only paid 42,000l annually, for their stamp duty. Now, upon looking to the duty paid by the country bankers, upon their issues of notes, which it was calculated were no more than equal to the issues of the Bank of England, it appeared that they paid annually a sum of 120,000l. This was a circumstance of such manifest favouritism, that he should be glad to know in what manner it was to be accounted for. With respect to the Bank of Scotland, too, the system was pretty much the same. Their notes were issued without stamps, and the duty was paid only upon such calculations as the bankers might think proper to send into the Stamp-office at the end of the year. He did not mean to say that any imposition was practised; yet he could not help thinking that it would be far more satisfactory, if all the notes issued, both from the Bank of England and elsewhere, were regularly stamped. The total amount of stamp-duty paid by provincial bankers upon their promissory notes and bills of exchange, amounted to nearly half a million; and when he knew that the Bank of England often issued notes, to the amount of one, two, three, and to ten thousand pounds each, he thought it was very extraordinary they should not bear their full proportion towards the revenue of the country, as well as others.

replied that the payment by the Bank had been regulated according to a certain scale arranged at the time of first imposing the stamp duty. Since that original composition it had been increased with every increase in the rate of the duty itself; but not, he admitted, according to the increase of the issue by the Bank. So far, therefore, the Bank might be considered as favoured; and he, as an officer of the revenue, could certainly have no objection to any new regulation which should equalize the two cases. He had no doubt, also, if the hon. member at any future period would submit a distinct motion upon the subject, the Bank would enter into a fair discussion of it upon their part.