388 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM OF. 



bonus of i of 1 per cent, and the continuance 

 of the old rate of interest for another year. 

 The scheme effects a yearly saving on the 

 charge of the public debt of 1,400,000 from 

 the beginning of 1889 and of double that sum 

 from 1903, when the rate of interest will de- 

 scend to 2 per cent., which is guaranteed for 

 twenty years thereafter. The holders of 514,- 

 000,000 out of 558,000,000 3-per-cent. stocks 

 of all descriptions accepted the arrangement, 

 and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was au- 

 thorized to pay off the remainder during 1889. 

 The new stock, which acquired the market 

 name of " Goschen's," stood for some time above 

 par. A similar scheme of conversion was con- 

 templated by Mr. Gladstone, when at the head 

 of the Treasury, and was attempted by Mr. 

 Childers without success. 



In the budget for 1888-'89 the Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer looked for a surplus on existing 

 taxation of 2,377,000 ; but he had to make 

 provision for the promised contribution in aid 

 of the rates for the new system of local self- 

 government. Grants from the Imperial Ex- 

 chequer to the locnl bodies, amounting to 

 2,600,000 were to be withdrawn, but per- 

 manent resources estimated to bring in 5,- 

 500,000 annually were promised instead, con- 

 sisting mainly of license duties, some at pres- 

 ent operative and others to be afterward cre- 

 ated, and, in addition, the Central Government 

 was to pay over to the county council one half 

 the total receipts from the probate duties. 

 But the withdrawal of the control of public- 

 houses from the county councils, and other 

 important changes in the local government 

 bill, necessitated considerable modification of 

 this financial scheme. 



The immediate obligation on the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer to facilitate the changes in 

 local government was met by a grant of one 

 third of the probate duty, distributed in Eng- 

 land and Wales according to the amount of 

 indoor pauperism, which, with the abolition of 

 the hawkers' duty, the readjustment of the 

 carriage duty, and the relief from income-tax 

 of lands returning no agricultural profit, re- 

 duced the surplus by nearly 1.500,000. On 

 the other hand, the withdrawal of local grants 

 was to come into operation at once, though to 

 a limited extent, the succession duty was in- 

 creased by $ percent, in the case of lineal suc- 

 cession and l| per cent, for heirs by collateral 

 descent, heavier taxation was exacted from 

 the Stock Exchange in the form of an addition- 

 al stamp on contract notes, a transfer duty on 

 securities to bearer, and a registration duty on 

 limited liability companies, and an import duty 

 of 5s. a dozen was laid on bottled wines. Thus 

 Mr. Goschen reconstructed a surplus of 1,762,- 

 000, which enabled him to reduce the income- 

 tax from Id. to fid. in the pound. The proposed 

 duty on bottled wines was modified so that it 

 falls only on expensive champagnes, while in 

 compensation the hawkers' duty was not abol- 

 ished, but reduced one half. 



The Parliamentary Session. The third session 

 of the present Parliament was opened by Royal 

 Commission on February 9. In the Queen's 

 speech mention was made of the completed 

 Anglo - Russian demarkation of the Afglian 

 boundary, the unsuccessful mission to the King 

 of Abyssinia to dissuade him from engaging in 

 war with Italy, the pending fisheries negotia- 

 tions at Washington, the arrangement con- 

 cluded witli France for the regulation of the 

 Suez Canal, the New Hebrides convention with 

 the same power, and the sugar-bounty confer- 

 ence in London. The House of Commons was 

 asked to consider estimates for improvements 

 in the defense of the ports and coaling-stations 

 and for providing a special squadron for the 

 protection of Australasian commerce, the cost 

 of which would be borne partially by the col- 

 onies. The result of measures passed at the 

 cost of great labor in the preceding session for 

 the benefit of Ireland was said to be a diminu- 

 tion of agrarian crime and the abatement of 

 the power of coercive conspiracies. New 

 measures tending to develop the resources of 

 Ireland and to facilitate an increase in the 

 number of proprietors of the soil were prom- 

 ised. The principal measure in the legislative 

 programme was the reform of local govern- 

 ment in England, including the adjustment of 

 the relations between local and imperial finance 

 and the mitigation of the burdens resting on 

 the rate-payers. Other legislative proposals 

 relate to cheapening land transfers, the collec- 

 tion of tithe rent-charge, the promotion of 

 technical education, the prevention of prefer- 

 ences in railway rates on foreign and domestic 

 produce, the remedying of abuses in the forma- 

 tion of limited liability companies, and the 

 amendment of the law as to the liability of em- 

 ployers in case of accidents; also bills for im- 

 proving Scottish universities and regulating the 

 borough police in Scotland, and proposals for 

 diminishing the cost of private bill legislation. 

 The debate on the address was over on Febru- 

 ary 23. Mr. Parnell's motion denouncing the 

 administration of the crimes act, in the discus- 

 sion of which Mr. Gladstone inveighed against 

 the "cruel, wanton, and disgraceful bloodshed" 

 committed by the Irish constabulary at Mitch- 

 elstown, and declared exultantly that the Gov- 

 ernment had been unable to put down either 

 the National League or the Plan of Campaign, 

 was lost by a vote of 317 against 229. Mr. 

 Shaw-Lefevre offered an amendment demand- 

 ing the wiping out of arrears and the preven- 

 tion of evictions, which was rejected by a 

 majority of 261 against 186. The revision of 

 the procedure rules was the first work under- 

 taken after the address was voted, and changes 

 of considerable importance were carried almost 

 without resistance. The hour of meeting on 

 ordinary days was altered from 4 o'clock to 

 3 o'clock, and it was arranged that, while the 

 sittings were to end normally at 1 o'clock, op- 

 posed business should not be taken without 

 special permission after midnight. The closure 



