asked the right hon. Baronet at the head of the Government, whether there would be any objection to lay on the Table of the House the opinion which had been given by the Law Officers of the Crown, as to the illegality of Art Unions?

said, as far as he was personally concerned, he could have no objection whatever to the production of those opinions. But as a general rule, the House, he believed, entertained an objection, and a very reasonable one, to laying the opinions of the Law Officers of the Crown upon the Table. The House was enabled to form its own opinion on such matters generally, and he thought, upon the whole, the course it usually adopted was a good one. With regard to instituting proceedings against the Art Unions for infringing the law, that was a subject that did not rest exclusively with the Government—it was open to other parties, the common informer, for instance, to take advantage of any infringement of the Act of Parliament, and to institute prosecutions. The only motive which had led the Government to interfere with these Associations was, that having received an opinion from the Law Officers that they were illegal, they thought it right to give the earliest information to the parties concerned.

expressed a hope that the Government would give their support to any measure for legalising Art Unions.

wished to put a question to the hon. Member for Finsbury, relative to a Petition which he had presented, and which had been printed and circulated, reflecting upon the conduct of certain Magistrates of the Borough of Warwick, and charging them with inefficiency and injustice in the performance of their official duties, relative to certain proceedings instituted before them for the recovery of Church-rates. The hon. Member had postponed his notice of motion, founded upon that Petition, from time to time, and on a recent evening had declined to bring it forward on the ground that the lateness of the hour would not allow of his entering into the points in connection with the subject. He understood by that, that the hon. Gentleman intended to introduce the whole question of Church-rates; and this, while the charges which he believed to be perfectly without grounds were hanging over the heads of those Magistrates; and as it was only fair that they should have an opportunity of defending themselves, he was anxious to know on what day the hon. Member's Motion would certainly be brought on?

said, the Petition he had presented was respectfully worded, and impugned the conduct of two Magistrates in relation to certain proceedings for the recovery of Church-rates. He had postponed his Motion on the evening to which the hon. Gentleman had alluded, not because he desired to introduce the whole question of Church-rates, but because the lateness of the hour would not have allowed him to enter into matters connected with the Petition itself. The Motion now stood for Tuesday week, when, if possible, he intended to bring it forward, or if not, he would then name a day on which the friends of those Magistrates would have an opportunity of defending their conduct. He believed, how-over, that it would be found they had overstretched and abused their official functions.

wished to know from the right hon. Gentleman opposite when it was likely the proposed reduction of the duty on foreign coffee, from 8d. to 6d., would come into operation.

said, that with respect to all the duties which it was proposed to reduce, they would come into operation on the same day, that was the day of the passing of the Act embodying the Resolutions which had been proposed to the House by his right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Those Resolutions he was prepared to lay on the Table of the House this evening, and he hoped no material delay would take place before they were carried into effect. He would take that opportunity of saying that they would not contain the article of vinegar, because there were some inquiries requisite respecting the use of malt in the making of vinegar. Some time would be occupied in the necessary investigation on that point, and hence it was that vinegar would not be included in the Resolutions.

would like to know whether the alteration of the duties would be passed in ten days or a fortnight.

said, it would be rather hazardous to predict how long the Resolutions would take to pass through the House. However, from the disposition which he was sure existed in the House not to retard any measure affecting commercial interests, he was of opinion that in the course of a fortnight, or the furthest three weeks, the Resolutions purporting to repeal the Duties in question would have become the law of the land.

asked the First Lord of the Treasury whether Government had come to a final decision as to the relative merits of Port Dynlaen and Holyhead Harbours as media of communication between the Metropolis and Ireland; also whether Government had determined to allot any public money for the improvement of the latter harbour; and, lastly, whether means had been found for carrying the Chester and Holyhead Railroad over Menai Straits without impeding the navigation.

said that the subject of the hon. Gentleman's questions was of considerable importance, inasmuch as it related to the speedy communication between this country and Ireland. With respect to the relative merits of the ports of Holyhead and Port Dynlaen for the departure and arrival of the packets, the question had been discussed by professional men of the highest eminence, who had concurrently given their opinions in favour of Holyhead, and the opinion of the President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Mr. Walker, had been taken upon it, and the preponderance of that Gentleman's opinion was in the same direction. Therefore he (Sir R. Peel) might say that Her Majesty's Government, drawing their conclusions from the highest professional authorities, were clearly of opinion that Holyhead was the preferable harbour, and as far as his opinion went, he should draw the same conclusion. With respect to the question as to whether the Government had decided to lay out a sum of money in improving either of those harbours, he had to say, in reply, that they had come to no decision upon the matter. The Government wanted first to know whether any Railway Company was inclined to make a railway communication between Chester and Holy- head, which would best suit the interest of Ireland. What the Government wanted was a Company which would make a line calculated for the most rapid communication with Ireland, without reference to local interest, therefore they must suspend their decision as to the harbour until they knew what line was going to be made. It should be remembered that whatever money they laid out for Holyhead harbour they were laying out for the terminus of a railway. They had a right, therefore, to demand that the railway should be perfectly constructed. In his opinion it would be for the interests of any Railway Company to make that railway in the most direct line. It would be much better for them to make a perfect line at once than to make an imperfect line, and have to amend it afterwards. He was anxious that the line selected through Anglesea should be brought from Chester to Holy-head in the most direct line. He thought it would be good economy in any Railway Company to make the outlay necessary for the formation of the line in the first instance. Then with regard to the Straits of Menai. It would be a highly improper mode of passing the Straits of Menai to take advantage of the present bridge. It was never intended for railroad communication. It would be impossible to use it with locomotives. In his opinion, a bridge over the Menai Straits, fit for a proper communication of railway, might be constructed so as not to interfere with the navigation. It might have the same elevation as the present bridge, which he believed was 120 feet above the level of the sea, and if they erected a railway bridge of equal height, there would not be any risk of interfering with the navigation. Unless they could enable those residing in Dublin to answer letters from London by return of post, they would do little to justify an outlay of public money. He wanted to see the day when a letter posted in London at eight o'clock on Monday, should be answered from Dublin by a letter received in London at six o'clock on Wednesday morning, when the party receiving the letter in Dublin on a Tuesday should be enabled to answer that letter by the return of Tuesday's post—that was to say, thirty-four hours should elapse between the departure of the letter from London and the receipt of the answer from Dublin. Let them take the hour of the departure from London at eight o'clock on Monday. In fifteen hours the letter would arrive in Dublin. There would be four hours allowed in Dublin for writing the answer, fifteen hours for the transit of the letter; and thus the communication would take place in thirty-four hours. This would be a great public advantage. It was an affair of minutes almost. The object of the Government was to make arrangements to secure the most expeditious intercourse possible between the metropolis of Ireland and of England, and he begged that the House would not urge them too strongly to the expenditure of public money, unless by that expenditure they could secure the public advantage.

Subject at an end.

asked whether Government drew a distinction between slave-breeding and slave-importing countries? He had understood that it was stated in effect that it would not be the policy of the Government to prevent the consumption of sugar the produce of slave labour, where the slave population was kept up by slave breeding, but only when it was kept up by slave importing?

would answer the question when the Sugar Duties came on for discussion.

The House in Committee.

Resolution to reduce the Glass Duties agreed to.

The House resumed, and Bill accordingly ordered to be brought in.

moved that the Chairman be directed to move the House that leave be given to bring in a Bill to repeal the duty of Excise on Vinegar made in the United Kingdom.

expressed his regret that the measure of the right hon. Gentleman would have the effect of encouraging the manufacture in this country of the inferior sorts of vinegar, which was nothing but purified pyroligneous acid. The really good vinegar came from abroad, and it would have been well to have given every facility to its introduction into this country when dealing with that article.

said if the hon. Gentleman had been in the House when this part of the Budget had been stated, he would have learnt that a reduction in the duty on foreign vinegar was also in contemplation. The Duties on home vinegar fell under the Excise, and those on foreign vinegar under the Customs, which made all the difference, and justified the course he had taken.

Resolution agreed to. House resumed.

The Resolution reported; and Bill accordingly ordered to be brought in.

moved the following Resolution.

Resolved, That the Stamp Duties now payable in Great Britain and Ireland respectively, under or by virtue of the several Acts, 55 Geo. 3, c. 184, 3 and 4 Will. 4, c. 23, and 5 and 6 Vic. c. 82, for and in respect of the several instruments, matters, and things hereinafter mentioned and specified, shall severally cease and determine; and that in lieu thereof there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid for and in respect of the same instruments, matters, and things respectively the several Stamp Duties following (that is to say—

said, although he approved of the measure, he concurred in the objections urged against the proposed scale of reduction, which would be found practically most inconvenient. In the first place, the scale contained too many breaks or rates. Besides, the rates were not in due proportion to the premium paid. A higher rate of duty was imposed on the expensive than on the cheap risks, and the result would be, that our own colonial wool, for example, from Australia, would pay a Government tax of seven per cent., while German wool would only pay about 3¾ per cent., in place of a duty in proportion to the actual premium paid. Now, if the right hon. Gentleman were proposing a duty on wool, would he tax our Colonial wool 7 per cent., and foreign wool 3¾ per cent.? Yet that is what he is now doing; and unless he revises his measure, he should feel called upon to oppose it in Committee. He did not complain of a duty in proportion to the rate of premium, but that the scale did not effect.

Resolution agreed to.

House resumed.

Resolution to be reported.

rose pursuant to notice, to move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Law respecting Savings' Banks and the purchase of Government Annuities through that medium. The necessity for amending the Law arose from the late alteration in the rate of interest, and the circumstance that the high interest which was paid by these Banks afforded a constant inducement to persons who were not the specific objects intended to be benefited by them to invest money in them. However unwilling the House might be to deal in any manner which might appear unkind or harsh to those who invested money in Savings' Banks, they would see that the public were under no obligation to pay them a higher rate of interest than they could obtain in any other manner. He proposed by the present Bill to reduce the rate of interest in Savings' Banks from 2½d. to 2d. per day, thus giving the holder of stock 1¾d. instead of 2¼d. Various abuses had been alleged to exist in Savings' Banks, and it having been said that large sums were unfairly introduced, he had felt it his duty to institute inquiry with respect to a number of those Banks, and he was bound to say that, although in some cases the law had been violated, there was no indication that the institution had been abused to any considerable extent. The House was aware that Savings' Banks required on their establishment a certain amount of deposit to cover expenses, and he found on inquiry, that in many cases large deposits had been made by benevolent persons solely with a view of establishing the Bank. This could scarcely be called an abuse of the institution. It was nevertheless true, that the state of the money market had induced many, not properly objects of them, to select the Savings' Banks as a mode of investment. He had, therefore, found it necessary to introduce a Bill reducing the interest, and containing provisions calculated to prevent abuse. The House was aware that the maximum of deposit for one year was 30l. He had ascertained that few of the depositors had availed themselves of it to that extent, and therefore he proposed to reduce it to 20l. By the Law as it now stood, no one could deposit a greater amount of money in any Savings' Bank than 150l.; he proposed to reduce it to 120l. The law also provided, that when such deposit, with interest, amounted to 200l., all interest should cease. He proposed to reduce the maximum in this case to 150l. Of course in making this alteration, he should, as in a former case, reserve the rights of the present depositors, and apply the new provisions only to future cases. Greater abuses had existed in Savings' Banks by persons investing money as trustees of others. To meet this case he proposed, that upon the passing of the Act no person investing money as a trustee for any other person should receive payment without the signature of all parties interested, so that money could not be drawn by parties as trustees without the signature of all the parties mentioned in the account. There was another point to which he wished to call the attention of the House. Persons ignorant of business, who had sums of money to invest, did not take it to the proper office, and the officer to whom it was brought might not, and sometimes did not, account for it at the Bank. Now he intended to amend the Law in this particular, and to provide that if any paid officer of the institution should receive money from a depositor, and should not bring it to account at the next meeting of the society, he should be considered guilty of a misdemeanour, and liable to be punished for fraud. There was one more provision to which he would call attention. In cases where the rights of parties were disputed, he proposed to give a right of reference to arbitrators or to the legal adviser of the institution, so as to give a power of obtaining justice without cost. There were other minor provisions which he would not then trouble the House with, but which would be seen if the House gave him leave to introduce the Bill.

was glad the right hon. Gentleman proposed to bring in this Bill. He had for three years past been calling the attention of the House to this subject, because he knew it was a fallacy to refer to the money in the Savings' Banks as a proof of the prosperous state of the country. The accumulation of the money in those banks arose from the high interest which was paid. He was of opinion that all persons holding Government Securities should be placed on the same footing, and that persons having 20s. in the funds should be placed in the same situation as those who had thousands of pounds.

said, that the hon. Member for Nottingham had expressed his hope that some regulation would be adopted to prevent persons from depositing sums of money in different Savings' Banks; but that was amply provided for by the Law as it at present stood. Where the Law was deviated from, it was only from the neglect of the trustees. When a depositor went to a Savings' Bank, he was liable to be called upon for a declaration that he had not invested money in any institution of a similar kind. The Law rendered it imperative on every person, before investing, to make this declaration. The hon. Member for Montrose had suggested a point which was a favourite with him, viz., that whatever the interest in the Savings' Bank was, it ought to be invested with regard to the rise and fall of the funds. But he thought such a contingency would not operate favourably for the provident man. The object was to induce the poor man to invest his small savings, but if he invested when the funds were at a high price, as at present, and hereafter they should fall to sixty, and he was expected to bear the loss of that fall, then he thought it would operate to the prejudice of the system, and that the poor man would not be induced to invest his money. The hon. Gentleman stated that, in his opinion, the abuse of the Savings' Banks was carried to a great extent. Certainly, there might be abuses, but he differed as to the extent to which they were carried. Latterly, he believed there had been a disposition to invest money, and therefore he proposed to introduce a Bill to reduce the rate of interest, and having other provisions to prevent the misapplication of these institutions for the sake of private gain. The right hon. Gentleman concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Laws relating to Savings' Banks, and for the purchase of Government Annuities, through the medium of Savings' Banks.

Leave given.

Bill brought in and read a first time.

House adjourned at a quarter past six o'clock.