§ MR. MACFIEsaid, he had received a telegram asking whether the Corn Duty was not to be remitted at once; he would, therefore, beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, If he would answer that Question?
MR. GLADSTONESir, inasmuch as there must be some delay before the House can pass judgment upon the Bill to be introduced for altering the time for the collection of certain taxes, I conceived that it was understood in Committee of Ways and Means that it might be for the convenience of all parties that we should take in the meantime the preliminary stages upon the other Resolutions relating to the reduction and remission of duty; but it was also distinctly stated that if we asked that these stages should be gone through, it was on the understanding that no such Votes should be considered as decisive, and that substantially the judgment of the House should only be taken after it had had an opportunity of considering the Bill for the collection of taxes on which these remissions depend. It is, therefore, obvious that the payment of duty on corn cannot be dispensed with until we reach that stage in the financial measures of the Government when the substantial judgment of the House can be given respecting them. It is right that this should be clearly understood out-of-doors. Although the common, but not the invariable practice, has been that re- 480 missions of Customs duty should be carried into effect immediately, it is clear that this course cannot be taken in the present instance until the House have definitely decided that the corn duty should be abandoned.