Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/100

 92] ENGLISH HISTOEY. [may

ceded (May 16), that the new Borough Councils should act as overseers for the purpose of rate-collecting, and that the town clerk should be the officer responsible for the registration of voters. New clauses were also added (May 18) to the bill qualifying borough mayors as justices of the peace, protecting open spaces, including the precincts of the Inner and Middle Temples, within the City of London. The parliamentary divisions of Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, Lewisham and others were added to those already scheduled, and the attempt to divide Westminster into two boroughs was decisively nega- tived, and the bill was reported to the House on the eve of- the Whitsuntide recess.

The other important measure of the Government was the Finance Bill, against which the Opposition made a strong and not altogether useless stand. The debate was opened (May 1) by Sir H. Fowler (Wolverhampton, E.), who expressed the fear that the new wine duties would diminish consumption and so reduce our trade with both France and our own colonies. With regard to the sinking fund, he said that the effect of the plan would be to reduce the fixed amount of the sinking fund from 25,000,00W. to 23,000,000Z. He urged the Govern- ment to appoint a select committee to consider the whole question of the Savings Banks* investments. As to the National Debt, it was a tax upon the industry of the country, and it was the duty of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to get rid of it as far as he could. Mr. Haldane (Haddingtonshire) pointed out that by enlarging the scope of trust investments a good deal could be done to reduce the price of Consols. Sir M. Hicks-Beach, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, with regard to the wine duties, that any other taxation would have interfered more with the trade and industry of the country. Explaining his reasons for his proposal with regard to the debt, he said that they ought not to incur loss in the future by adding largely to the amount set aside annually for the reduction of the debt at a time when the Consol market was narrowing con- siderably. If they did not reduce the fixed debt charge, it would not be very long before it would be practically impossible for the Government to purchase the Consols which they re- quired. There was no doubt that the position of the Savings Banks and their fund was one of considerable difficulty ; it was, however, so important that it deserved exhaustive inquiry, which should include the area of investment, the rate of interest, and the limit of deposits. He intended to com- municate with members who took an interest in the subject with a view to ascertaining in what way and by whom such an inquiry could best be conducted. With regard to fixed debt charge, the money set aside for the payment of the debt was surplus revenue raised by taxation, and to propose fresh taxa- tion in order that the fixed amount might be paid would be unreasonable and would result in an agitation against the fund.