The Press. — London, England, 1853-05-14 00:00:00

MAT 14, 1853. vents of the right hon. gentletuan has been. and the posi tion of the Ministry has been, that we are to consider that the ineome tax is to terminate at the end of seven years. What. then, does the right honourable gentlennut do? Having gloom that real property is assessed more than is equitable under his income tax, he says, with another ineousistency. •As you have at weakness in favour of vivacious incomes, aithonch I have proved to von that real property pays more thaa incomes derived front any other sources, yet I will propose a tax that shall compensate Otos: , who pay the fax upon preverbl , : in manes, in the manner you desire. (Hear, hear.) 1 will propose a tax upon soccessions, which will make the o wners o f r e al property contribute to the state, inde pendent and irrespective of those who enjoy vivacious in comes—it shall be a tax by wav of comp:nu:anon.' But, it' so, it ought only to be a tax tor riven yews. (('heeni.) If the tax is to be a tax by way of compensation, it will be unjust unless yon vim ode that it shall end at the tenui nation of sewn veers. The ground upon which the right hononntble gentleman is couvineed that he ought to impose * tax upon successions, namely, that a compensation is needed for those who pay the tax upon precarious inemnes, ought to induce him, denuding to his own argument, to propose that this tax upon SUCCVNAiIIng shall be equally liimited iu its dunttion with the income tax it-elf. (Cheers.)" Defending the consistent; of those who, after voting with Sir B. Lytton last week, should tote with Mr. Palmer this, and citing a last year's speech of Sir J. Graham's as proof that the present head of the Admiralty had advocated all that was now asked, and no more, Mr. Disraeli concluded : " The country which is interested in this question will ask itself, Can any one bring forward a valid reason why we should be assessed tutjustly ?' We, when in office, acknowledg.sl we could not attempt a perfectly just assess ment ; we offered a plan for an income tax in which we matte a certain difference and gradation ; we placed before the country the motives of our policy, and we endeavoured to support that policy. No taunt shall for the future pre vent us front doing justice to the fanners and proprietors of the soil, and while pursuing this comae we shall found our justification upon the arguments; of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and upon the recommendations of the First Lora of the Admiralty. (Cheers.)" Lord J. Russm.t. repeated the allegation that the last amendment, stating the injustice of relieving the burdens indicted on trades and professions, was irreconcilable with the present amendment, foitndea upon the assumed injustice inflicted upon the land. He asked what where the real opinions of the members who supportsd both propositions—under which thimble was the pea? Lord J. MAssErt remarke:l that the noble lord was so enamoured of financial injustice that he could not even comprehend how honourable gentle men should be anxious to render the income tax more consonant with justice on one side on one Monday and on another side on another Monday. It was upon the admissions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself that the present amendment had been framed. On a division there appeared — For the amendment... 2Ol Against it. 270 Majority for Government— . —75 THE FARMERS' INCOME TAX. The last amendment to the proposed income-tax resolution was moved on Thursday by Mr. VANSITTART, who demanded, in justice to the farmers, that their assessment to the tax should be based upon a third instead of one moiety of their rent. Such was the case with Scotch and Irish farmers, and the English agriculturist was no better oil than they. Fanning profits had diminished very seriously of late years, and were unfairly estimated at half the rental. The CHANCE:U.OR of the EXCHEQUER (math' not admit that the profits of the farmer were very differ( nt now from what they had been heretofore. Taking everything into consideration, and balancing the low prices of his chief product on one side with the in crease of quantity, the improvement of quality, the cheapness of production, the application of machinery, the extension of drainage, the greater economy of farming processes, there was no plea for any change in their assessment. As matters stood, the farmers were not left without remedy in case of overcharge. They might appeal, and, showing their net profits, demand to he taxed accordingly. Here lie found one fact which was alone fully " demonstrative that the profits of the farmer were not so small as was stated, and this was, that in the past year the whole amount of relief from assessment elainted by the tenant-fiumers of England and Seothind—upon a totl ses sment of 330,100/.—WaS between 3,(101/. and 0,000/. onlv ; the whole amount of relief actually granted being 3.4 i9l. Hoar. hrur. ) This filet, he would repent, demon. stratively proved that the farmers. as a body, had no case to show that their profits, inclnding, of course. the cost of the maintenance of their families, did not represent fully one-half of their rent." Sir F. Kr.t.t.v, objecting to all the schedules, each on aceonnt of special inequalities. followed Mr. Glad stone's various arguments to the logical conclusion that rive wrongs made a right, and that injustice to each was justice to all. Adverting then to the sche dule immediately before theta. he reminded the com mittee that free trade, while doing, much for other classes, had inflicted an irreparable injury on the THE PRESS. owners and cultivators of the soil without affording them any eorresponding safeguard or compensation." Altered eireumstances and prices since lkV had made it only just t o the hunter to alter hi' taxes too: " Half the rent as the criterion of the real stit 1111 l farmer's income to be made the aubject at taxation wag fixed in 11 4 11, when the earn lows existed. and wheat ranged at about (hats., whereas now, in a tone of teniporary. he feared. bat great prosperity, it might be said tat lw sale ant 4th'. But if one-half were a tiny eriterion iu WV:. surely nothing more than one.thinl eould be a fair crlivrion n l w." The ease of the farmers stood upon this plain princi ple of truth and justice, that it' their income were calculated at one half of their rent that was an over rated and excessive estimate. Mr. Butane believed that the. c omplaint o f poverty and distress among the farmers was now ILA old song and obsolete ; for he himself thought them vet) well off : " Many farmers with two hundred anal fitly acres kept carriages of one kind or mother—aome with that tallO itaall4o only ; they followed the hounds, and lived with conitiois— and, so to speak, with a gentility quite lwyond the way the man in trade with the apple umotuq of capital lived. The hon. and learned gentleman lcul drawn one of tilose old pictures about agricultural distress Willett haul been, he thought, oblitenited for ever. They really must put a stop to these speAlies, anal the subjeet alawiat to he lc: Nits away. So far from there loving way injustice in charging the farmer in the same proportions now as in past yl`llll4, the vevy reverse was the ease; and he considered the MU vantage of having a fixed maximum was in itself valuta to large iwr eentage on the whole tax. It' them was way of doing the saute for the traders they would accept it unani mously. Why. farming was, he believed, ala tter tx.aale than any other iu the country at this very moment." Mr. BANKES, Mr. AOLION KV, Mr. HUME, Mr. MMANS, Sir .1. V. Suculnr, and other members, continued the discussion, chiefly by adding their several testi monials to, or denials of, the existence of agricaltuval distress. ---- - On dividing, the numbers were— For the amendment Against Majority against the arneatintent The income-tax resolution was thou and agreed to without further debate. 'TIE LEGACY DUTY. When the r. solution affecting the legacy duties came on in its turn before the committee of ways and means, The CUANCEMon of the Excareuta, responding to an invitation given by Mr. Disraeli, gave a prefatory exposition of the details and the principles of his pro posed new tax on successions. Reason anif mo not clamour had induced him to suggest the tax. Ang those reasons he dwelt upon the following " In the first place it is plaits that the memare is esseu tbd to this main condition of the financial MetitillrliS of the tiovernment—that, as far as in ns we will place a ffiture Parliament in a condition to part with the income tax: that we shall lay the gmund and pre pane a train of (wises which will supply Parliatneat with the means of dispensing with it, if they shall think tit, at the expinstion of that term. ((heers.) Another purpose is to provide a fund by means of which, dining that interval of seven years, we may catTy into effect great and st%tended measures for the reml.:sion of indirect taxation. (( ' hem from llu Micia teriul aide.) This is im important and esseutial rup)e , — Hcar)—but 1 do not hesitate to bay that, behind stud inde pendent of all these, there is a purpo•.;e yet more perma nent in its character —Howdy, the removal of an anomaly which is unjust in its nature, which is galling to the public feeling—Wear, hear)—which liceoLies more and more ing from year to year, and which we believe it to N. for the interest of all dismiss§ to settle at once and permanently, living convinced that the longer you postpone that settle. ment the more difficult it will be to achieve, and the w - so will be the terms upon which it will be effected." Traversing, then, over a wide range of distinctions as now recognised with regard to property, personal and real, settled and unsettled. enctunbered or free, mid examining the incidences upon each of the probate, legacy, stamp, and other duties, as at present exit ing. Mr. Gladstone drew the general conclusion that the system presented nothing but a spectacle of use less complications , unjust inequalities, sitel bUCCCSKi - al fraud. It was high time to put all straight mid level. He disclaimed the imputation of having conceived his budget in a spirit of ly;tility to the laud, and ap pealed to the justice of the lauded gentry to support the legacy duty : " i wish, withoet any offence, to appeal to the sense of justice which, from actual expcnience and knowledgeeme n , I sin m in convinced does, and will , influence many gen tl , despite of what they think their own personal - inte!mts, vote for this tax. 'The ancient fable ran, that when justioc was banished front other quarters on emth, she still, for a while, was to b e , found among agrieulturists. (14higidor.) Whether that fable were wisely conceived or not, I may appeal. I believe, to your sense of justice: and 1 request you to consider whether, before the tribunal of justice, the proposition of the Government is one that ought to be ere teitained. it appears to us, that as cannel maintain or justify the present state of the law. null as you cannot abandon soiree of taxation, the wise (*muse is to make the tax general in its application. It ought to be an eqnal charge without exception, though with adaptation, made on all descriptions of property.' Respecting the ratio of the duty, the Chancellor of account non rateable Exchequer entered into some minute par tic u lars, stating that, as a general principle , the heavier pro portion would be made to fall tqu: o o r rateable pninerty, while rateable pre p t of its peculiar burdens, would he less heavily visited. This distinction he proposed to substitute for the unfair one now existing between real or settled pro perty Lula utt,.atied iusysouoat sp i s.urs to us that to that ilistinetion them is aome. thing like a principle. that the cleat burden which hills upon rateable property, whether real or not. in various forms. is a It-n fair matter to take ferret view when you are considering the amount at which von shall fix your legacy duty. or tax masa succession. for these respective) dttatlip• lions Of property. ( firm% ) ebur prop. mai therefore. wit Ii respect to rateable property is this. We do not propose to establish daerent rates Of ditties: lint we peopose that the person succeeding never shall be eitareisl with those duties upon any interest in the poiperty higher than his life interest. nse clfect of this is a matter of computation. admitting of some latitude of opinion, but I do not think it will he very far Irmo the mark it' we say that the etteet of that distimtion, unit some riellate i rill aalautages, Will that rateable 1 e.,1101.ty will. oo the whole, pay a wide under onelialf of the liintey duty paid by property not coining motor that description." Reverting to his estimate of two millions as the K(41111114.. amount of allitiimal rot mow to be antici pated when the new Dix eqino into full operation, Ito entered into some caleulations showing the grounds on which he had arrived at that stun total, but pith-toed that a ‘ory small proportion of the amount would in reality he anima front land. And in all cases the duty was not to be payable toad twelve months after the demise of the property whereon it was charged. After concluding his expoii Mr. Gladstone replied to sundry queries tottelting various points in his scheme, and the further debate was adjourned to Friday &yesterday). SECONDARY MTN' Sil MEN TS. Earl GREY on Tuesday detailed to the House of Lords the resnits of his own long experience touch ing the system of transrortntion and other secondary punishments. Admitting the numerous difficulties that surrounded the question, and the necessity of ab staining in future from transmitting coronets to certain colonies, and especially to Van Diemen'a Land,whielt had heretofore coustituted the main outlet for the eriminnls sentenced to removal front their native land, the noble earl maintained nevertheless that it was absolutely indispensable to preserve, and employ occasionally, that species of punishment. lie in sisted also on the necessity of renaming its actual infliction, after sentence to that effect ball berm passed, more certain titan it was at. present.. On this pint he accused the Government of having violated the spirit if not the letter of the law, by abolishing transportation in practice, though they still retained the name as a principal item in the list, of penal awards. Titus the law itself became disperaged, tit,. e ff ect of a judicial sentence, either by way of ter and ror or warning, was neatly effaced : To tletermitio that tninsportstion should no longer imply ultimate removal from this country, yet to coat' e in the courts of law solemnly to sentence convicta to Ire transported beyond the seam for seven or fifteen years. to' for the term of their natural lives—to ItHOW thaw tenet.* to be considered its nttorly unmet ttt i t and that tninsportat hot should not in futurt• imply di 'siltation at all—to come to that, decision, upsetting the policy winch tor IWO 0.111116 CH 1111.11 la-en acted upon by the t loActiente•tet. awl Parliament of this country, to ti' . that step without mithewity, or the saoction, et ill,• concurrence ill any way of Parliament. was, he was humid tie say, in his HO -16011, to go Iwyond the legitimate powers mid ditties a t Weir alto held for the tinie being the executive powers elf the country. (Near.)" inferring from a variety of symptoms and circum stances that the Ministry intended to persevere in their course, and dilating upon the injurious conse quences that must. follow the pir.etice t f keeping all our convicts at. home, Earl Grey moved an ad dress to the Crown— " mom that tar Majesty sill te eraelotAy pleased to latent of that the arrangement w!d• respect to the punishment ••f senteneed to transportsnon. which were In fin •••• they Year 101:4, buoy net Is', •L aut teel in stela a wanner as to to, • tent the ultimate removal of such offenders f this Cunntl) • Until a fall aeroaat of any contemplated alteratisof in the above arraaemacets Amu bleVi• b 4. 4 .11 tell I before Parliament, and till Perlisment. shell Woe kid au opportunity of eomilderiug the measures It may he Intended to adopt l iato. iourly to their heing earried into ef‘4 , ention." The Earl of ABERDEEN denied that his 4 oyt 111- ment had violated, or designed to violate, the law re specting transportation. They were ('idly aware of the value of that punishment, and meant to retain it, hut were met by practical difficulties which Karl Grey was himself chiefly u nental in creating. Van Diemen . * Land had been the chief outlet for convicts, and that was now closed through his mea s t ars and promises when Colonia l Secretary. The great object now was to find substitutes among our other dependencies, and thus they did not despair of doing "No doubt the field is diminisheil. ltnt there are manta that still remain. awl I think that by a gikal athninia• tration at home the number of com ids tran+ported may be su diminished es possibly w Ina weans ut accommo•