debate be adjourned; but, after some further discussion,
this motion was negatived upon a division by 71 to 23,
and the bill passed.

The house then went into committee upon the Public
Revenue and Consolidated Fund Charges Bill, when the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained the object
of the measure, which was to alter the machinery of the
public accounts, by bringing the gross income directly
into the exchequer, including certain deductions hitherto
made in transit, and which would hereafter appear upon
the votes in supply. This new fiscal arrangement, he
observed, would furnish a fresh security for the
performance by the executive government of its duty. The
opportunity had been taken, he added, to revise the
charges already made on the consolidated fund.—The
clauses were agreed to after a short discussion.

Mr. HUTT obtained leave to bring in a bill for the
Promotion of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts.

The house then adjourned till Thursday the 8th inst.

On Thursday, June 8, Lord J. RUSSELL announced
the intended New Arrangements for the Military
Department. Two questions, he observed, had engaged
attention; one, that of giving more vigour and efficiency
to the war department; the other related to the various
subordinate departments connected with the military
administration. With respect to the first, it was the
opinion of her Majesty's government that the minister
having charge of the colonial department was unable,
physically and morally, to give the necessary amount of
attention, time, and labour, to the affairs of the war
department; and that these affairs, in time of war,
instead of being united with the administration of the
colonies, should be separated from them. In respect to
the next question, as to the administration of the various
departments connected with military affairs, Lord John
referred to certain plans which had been at different
periods suggested for the improvement of the military
administration, and to the objections offered against
each; and, in conclusion, stated that the government
were of opinion that the best thing that could be done
for the present was to confine themselves to the separation
of functions, by creating a distinct secretary of state
for the war department, and giving to him the
superintendence over the various subordinate military
departments. It was clear, he thought, that it would be very
unadvisable, at the present moment, to incur the
inconveniences, the delay, and the confusion attendant upon
a re-arrangement of all these various departments; and
the government were of opinion that the best mode of
proceeding was to leave it to the war secretary of state
to consider from time to time what were the best
arrangements that could be made, and what improvements
could be introduced. The patronage of the army
would still remain vested in the commander-in-chief. It
would not be necessary to have recourse to parliament
for authority to carry the proposed separation into effect,
and the existing establishment would be nearly sufficient
for the new arrangements.—Mr. HUME was glad to find
that the government had made a beginning; but the
house, he thought, could not be satisfied until a definite
plan had been laid upon the table. He wished to have
one head responsible to the house for all departments of
the army.—Mr. ELLICE did not wish the satisfaction
which must be felt at what was actually done to be
taken to imply a general assent to a statement which
stopped short of what he thought necessary. There
should be, in his opinion, one military head, to whom
all the departments should be responsible, and who
should himself be responsible to the house. If the new
secretary of state was to be a permanent officer, and if
he was to have the power of bringing, by degrees, other
departments under subjection to his own, which could
be better managed by such control, he (Mr. Ellice)
would be satisfied.

Mr. AGLIONBY moved the second reading of
the Criminal Procedure Bill, the objects of which,
he said, were threefold—to save a considerable expense
to the country, to prevent loss of time and trouble
to prosecutors and witnesses, and to spare the
persons charged the contamination of a gaol.—Mr.
COBBETT admitted that the object of the bill was good,
but urged various objections which he considered
touched the principle, and could not be cured in
committee, and he moved to defer the second reading for
six months.—This amendment was seconded by Mr.
ATHERTON.—Mr. J. PHILLIMORE supported the second
reading.—Lord PALMERSTON, admitting that there
were imperfections in the bill, thought they were
capable of being remedied in committee, and recommended
the house to consent to the second reading.—
Mr. HENLEY did not think the bill could be made to
work, and should vote against the second reading.—
After a short debate, the amendment was negatived by
59 to 9, and the bill was read a second time.

On Monday, June 12, on going into committee on
the Stamp Duties Bill, Mr. HUME objected to the
clause which imposes a duty on foreign bills of exchange
drawn out of the United Kingdom: this, he said, would
interfere with the principles of free trade. Mr. Hume
was supported by Mr. Masterman, Mr. William Brown,
Mr. J. B. Smith, and Mr. Thomas Baring. They
contended that it would be a tax on an article never
taxed before; it would disturb our commercial
operations with foreign countries; and it would inflict a
severe blow on the agricultural and manufacturing
interests of the country. It would take away the
advantage we at present possess over other countries,
where bills are taxed; as a precisely similar measure,
the imposition of a duty on marine insurance, operates
as a bounty on the establishment of marine insurance
companies in every country in the world. Our great
rival, the United States, was wise enough not to impose
any stamp at all. The stamp would be a tax upon
banking operations, and the increase to the revenue
would not be sufficient to justify the government in
placing difficulties in the way of commerce.—On the
other hand, Mr. Glyn, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Gladstone
defended the stamp. The measure would remedy
a great evil affecting the interests of holders of foreign
bills. The capital represented by bills of exchange is
£160,000,000—one-fifth of which bills are foreign; and
if any of these, purporting to be drawn in the colonies
or a foreign country, are proved to have been drawn in
England, then the holders cannot recover. The records
of the Bankruptcy Court show that this is not
unfrequently the case. Had the government proposed that
the bills should be sent to the Stamp Office to be
stamped, the argument of inconvenience might be used,
but the adhesive stamp deprives that plea of force.
What effect can the imposition of 1s. per £100 have
upon the operations of commerce? The tax is not new:
at present all foreign bills drawn in England are liable to
a duty of 1s. 6d. per £100; by the new scale the duty will
be from 1d. to 4d. for £100, and instead of 4s. up to
£500 the duty will be from 1s. to 1s. 8d. The only new
element is the imposition of the tax on bills drawn in
foreign countries and payable in this country. What
the house is asked to do is to remove the shackles from
the home trade and place it upon a footing of equality
with the foreign trade. At present the foreign trade
enjoys an unjust exemption.—On a division, the amendment
was negatived by 173 to 110, and the clause was
agreed to.—On the motion of Mr. PHINN, a clause was
inserted to the effect that every instrument liable to
stamp-duty shall be admitted in evidence in any
criminal proceeding, although it may not bear the
stamp required by law.—The clauses and schedules of
the bill passed through committee, and were reported.

In a committee of supply upon the civil service estimates,
on the vote for Government Prisons and Convict
Establishments at Home, a discussion of considerable
interest arose, in the course of which Lord PALMERSTON
stated that the government had determined to abridge
the term of separate confinement of convicts sentenced
to penal servitude to a maximum of nine months; so
that, supposing a convict to be sentenced to seven years'
servitude, the first nine months would be passed in
separate confinement, after which he would be placed
in association with others.—Mr. SPOONER objected to
an item in this vote, of £550 for special services of Roman
Catholic Priests in Government Prisons, observing that
this was the first time such an item had appeared in the
vote, and he wished to know what the services were,
and whether the charge was to be continuous? He
moved that the vote be reduced by £550—Lord
PALMERSTON said, as it happened that a large portion of our