SECOND READING. (Hansard, 17 July 1860)

THE DUKE OF ARGYLL
said, he rose with great satisfaction to move that the Bill be read a second time. Five or six attempts had been made to settle by legislation the disputes arising out of this obnoxious tax; but until now none of these measures had reached their Lordships' House, although more than one had received the sanction of the House of Commons to the second reading, and although it had been the anxious desire of successive Governments to settle this disagreeable, and, as far as Edinburgh was concerned, obnoxious question. To such an extent had the ill-feeling occasioned by this tax been carried in Edinburgh that the officers of justice who endeavoured to enforce payment had been assaulted, and criminal prosecutions brought against the aggressors failed from the impossibility of getting a jury to convict them. The ministers of the Established Church in Edinburgh were not, as in England and other parts of Scotland, supported out of the ancient property of the Church, but entirely by a personal tax, upon the occupiers of houses, which was imposed by an Act of the reign of Charles II. It was analogous to ministers money in Ireland, which had recently been abolished. He was ready to admit the truth of the arguments upon the other side, that property was taken subject to the tax; but the impost was growing more and more obnoxious, and the necessity imposed upon clergymen of having recourse to law to enforce payment called for immediate legislation. The Bill satisfactorily accommodated the difficulty by providing from other means the stipend of £600 a year payable to all the existing ministers of Edinburgh and to their successors, whose number was, as vacancies occurred in certain churches, to be reduced by five. As at present levied the tax was very oppressive, and but a portion of the city of Edinburgh was liable to the demand. The whole College of Justice, moreover, was exempted; so that while the lawyers, who formed a very considerable, and by no means the least thriving portion of the population of the city, had nothing to pay, the poorer classes found themselves subject to a tax of 10d. in the pound. To remedy this grievance, and to provide a substitute, the same sum of £2,000, at present de- 2014 rived from the revenues of the Leith Harbour Fund, would be retained; a new arrangement of the moneys received from pew-rents would be made, and the balance would be raised by a fixed rate of 4d. in the pound, which would be collected with the police tax, to obviate those conscientious scruples which certain persons might entertain. The security and permanence of the Established Church would thus be provided for, and a difficulty in the way of every successive Government would be got rid of. The magistrates and Town Council of Edinburgh, from whom the noble Marquess opposite had just presented petitions, had been active in urging on various Administrations the necessity of effecting a settlement, but they wholly neglected to suggest a substitute for the tax. Every one of the principles embodied in this Bill had successively received their sanction, and it was with regret and surprise that the learned Lord Advocate learned their determination to oppose it. The Bill had passed the House of Commons by a considerable majority, and all the Scotch Members present, with the exception of two, voted in its favour. He hoped their Lordships would consent unanimously to its adoption, as any Amendments which might now be introduced would endanger its success in the present Session.

§ THE EARL OF DERBY
said, that having examined the provisions of the Bill, and watched the spirit in which it had been introduced, he was of opinion that it was an honest attempt to settle a very difficult question. For this reason, therefore, and considering the inexpediency of postponing the settlement of the question, he hoped their Lordships would not endanger the passing of the Bill by introducing any Amendments into it.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR
said, he had represented the city of Edinburgh for some years, and with great pleasure to himself, except for this question of the Annuity Tax, which was the bane of his life. He, along with others, had endeavoured to come to some accommodation on the question, but unsuccessfully; and it was with great pleasure, therefore, that he now saw a Bill introduced which was likely to pass with the approbation of both sides of the House.