GIBRALTAR LIGHTHOUSE. (Hansard, 24 July 1838)

§ Mr. Hume
objected to the tax of one shilling upon all vessels passing Gibraltar being imposed. This country allowed 250,000l. for the support of light-houses, but the expense of the light-houses did not exceed 60,000l. or 70,000l. The remainder went into private hands. It was said it was applied in pensions to captains and seamen by the Trinity House. If it were necessary to apply such a sum in pensions, it ought to go under the proper head. The commerce of the country was already very much taxed. This clause was adding to the evil of giving to an irresponsible body like the Trinity House, additional power. He would ask the hon. Gentleman at the head of the Board of Trade on what principle it was that they proposed to extend the power of the Trinity House to Gibraltar? No Government ought to seek to give such powers to a self-elected body like the Trinity House. He should move the exclusion of the clause.

§ Mr. Warburton
said, the Trinity House had come badly out of the inquiry on the subject of lighthouses. Why then was it to be selected for the purpose of superintending the Gibraltar lighthouse. The Ballast Board in Ireland and the Northern lighthouse commissioners went upon the regular and proper principle of apportioning their revenue to the actual cost of the lighthouses. Let one of these boards, then be chosen. He should support the motion of his hon. Friend the Member for Kilkenny.

Mr. O'Connell
put in a claim on behalf of the Irish Belfast Board (of which he was a member), for that board had conducted itself best of any. It had diminished the taxation on the public, and its members asked no remuneration for their services, thus standing in proud contrast to the Trinity House.

§ Mr. Poulett Thomson
said, that was not the time to discuss the rival merits of their lighthouse Boards. The Trinity House, however, had been proved before the Lighthouse committee to have conducted itself with great propriety; and a bill had been passed last Session, giving it additional powers. He did not think the board deserved the censure which had been heaped upon it. Now, with respect to the clause in question, his hon. Friend had asked why put this lighthouse under the Trinity House? The reason for doing so was, because Parliament decided two years ago that lighthouses should be put under that body, and the proposal now made was merely following out the precedent laid down in the case of Heligoland. His hon. Friend then objected to the toll, and said there was a surplus revenue at Gibraltar. If so it was carried to the account of the public, and therefore paying this charge out of the surplus revenue would be nothing more than making a charge on the public of the sum necessary to keep up this light. His hon. Friend in this was contending for the principle of all lights being paid by the country, on which principle the House did not agree with the hon. Member. The hon. Member said this was a mere trifle. He was perfectly aware of that. The country had erected the lighthouse, and all that was required was a small sum for the annual expense of maintaining it. The shipping interest were willing to pay these dues, and he had introduced the Bill at their request and with their sanction. He hoped the House would agree to the charge in the manner suggested.

Mr. Wallace
, as a member of the committee two years ago, begged to remind the hon. Gentleman that it was then understood that in case any new lighthouse was built they were not to follow the track of the Trinity House. He wished to know what was to become of the surplus income of Gibraltar; was it to go into the coffers of the Trinity House? It was monstrous to collect a revenue in the shape of lighthouse duty, under the name of charitable purposes.

§ Mr. Hume
said, that Gibraltar, since its capture, had been a free port, and the effect of the Bill would be to destroy that. He would put it to the House whether, for the sake of a paltry shilling, it would adopt such a clause. He wished to see the lighthouse erected, but he thought its 573 erection should take place at the expense of the surplus revenue of Gibraltar, or the surplus revenue of the Trinity House.

List of the AYES.
Adam, Admiral	Lefevre, C. S.
Archbold, R.	Lemon, Sir C.
Baker, E.	Lockhart, A. M.
Barnard, E. G.	Lowther, J. H.
Barrington, Visc.	Lushington, C.
Blackburne, I.	Lygon, hon. Gen.
Blair, J.	Lynch, A. H.
Blennerhassett, A.	M'Taggart, J.
Bowes, J.	Mahon, Visc.
Bramston, T. W.	Martin, T. B.
Broadley, H.	Morpeth, Visc.
Brotherton, J.	Morris, D.
Brownrigg, S.	O'Brien, W. S.
Bruges, W. H. L.	Palmer, G.
Campbell, Sir J.	Palmerston, Visc.
Canning, Sir S.	Parker, M.
Chute, W. L. W.	Parker, R. T.
Clements, Lord Visc.	Peel, Sir R.
Craig, W. G.	Perceval, Colonel
Darby, G.	Phillpotts, J.
Divett, E.	Ponsonby, C. F.
Douglass, Sir C. D.	Praed, W. T.
Dunbar, G.	Price, Sir R.
Ebrington, Visc.	Pusey, P.
Fergusson, R. C.	Rich, H.
Follett, Sir W.	Richards, R.
Gibson, T.	Rushbsook, Col.
Goulburn, H.	Russell, Lord J.
Graham, Sir J.	Seymour, Lord
Grant, F. W.	Sibthorpe, Col.
Grattan, J.	Sinclair, Sir G.
Grey, Sir G.	Stanley, Lord
Hastie, A.	Style, Sir C.
Hawes, B.	Sugden, Sir E.
Hayter, W. G.	Surrey, Earl of
Hill, Lord A. M. C.	Thomas, Colonel H.
Hindley, C.	Thomson, C. P.
Hobhouse, Sir J.	Townley, R. G.
Hogg, J. W.	Troubridge, Sir E.
Hope, hon. C.	Turner, E.
Hope, G. W.	Williams, W. A.
Houldsworth, T.	Wilmot, Sir J.
Howard, P. H.	Wodehouse, E.
Inglis, Sir R. H.	Wood, C. W.
James, Sir W. C.
Jones, T.	TELLERS.
Knight, H. G.	Maule, hon. F.
Lascelles, W. S.	Stanley, E. J.
List of the NOES.
Aglionby, H. A.	Kinnaird, hon. A.
Boldero, H. G.	O'Connell, D.
Bridgeman, H.	O'Connell, M.
Chalmers, P.	Pechell, Capt.
Codrington, Admiral	Power, J.
Dalrymple, Sir A,	Redington, T.
Duncan, Lord	Somers, J. P.
Hector, C. J.	Tennant, J. E.
James, W.	Thornley, T.

Vere, Sir C. B.	TELLERS
Warburton, H.	Hume, J.
Ward, H. G.	Wallace, R.