MOTION OF THE MARQUIS OF CHANDOS TO REPEAL THE MALT-TAX.
The first proposal which ministers found themselves compelled to resist proceeded from one of their own supporters, and it was also one in which their opponents were compelled to join them in resisting. On the 10th of March, the Marquis of Chandos moved a resolution for the repeal of the malt-tax, as a source of relief to the agricultural interest. The motion was seconded by Mr. Handley. Sir Robert Peel, in reply, contended that the motion, if it was to be made at all, ought not to have been brought forward till after an authentic declaration of the national means had been laid before the house. In the course of his speech, Sir Robert Peel said that if the malt-duty were repealed, there was no alternative but to have a property-tax to make up the deficiency. Messrs. Cobbett and Bennett, who supported the motion, saw no objection to such a tax; and the latter gentleman said that the English landowners were too depressed in their circumstances to fear anything from the change, as the property was in the hands of the mortgagees and money-jobbers. The Earl of Darlington was bound, he said, to vote in favour of the resolution, however great his reluctance to do anything that might embarrass a government to which he was friendly, and a minister who, he believed, would endeavour to effect what he considered best calculated for the interest of the country. Messrs. C. Wood, Rice, and Poulett Thompson, all of whom had been connected with the late government, spoke against the motion; as did also Sir Edward Knatchbull, Sir J. Graham, Mr. Baring, Sir R. Gresely, and Mr. Grote. The debate was closed by Mr. Hume, who supported the motion. On a division, however, the motion was negatived by three hundred and fifty votes against one hundred and ninety-two. So convincing were Sir Robert Peel’s arguments, that several members voted with him who had either pledged themselves at their election to take a different side, or had, at least, induced their constituents to believe they would.