Star. — London, England, 1815-01-25 00:00:00

THE PROPEATI TdX. NtEETING OF THE COUNTY OP SOUTHAMPTON. WINCRESTIM, JAN. 24. A Requisition signed by some of the most respec tat. inhabitants of this County, having been pre sented LO the Hioit &MD% calling upon him to call re neral Meeting, for the purpose o f taking into c o 'T'lsi , leration the expediency of presenting a Petition t ,, parliament, reprobating the continuance of the p„.p-rty Fax, that Gentleman, in obedience to the w ill thus generally and respectably manifested, ap -010 the Meeting to be held this dly at twelve •.-:ock, in the Town Hall. • At an early hour every avenue leading to the City was crowded with vehicles of every description, by e questriAns as well as pedestrians, all anxious by their i1 e).•;....7,. and unanimous voice, to prove the satisfac twn with which they were ready to subscribe to any roposition which had for its object the reprobation 4.t a vas, oppressive to all, bat peculiarly oppressive a . ad ruinous to the land-owner and land-holder. Soon after twelve o'clock, RICHARD Hotta, Esq. the High Sheriff. arrived at the Hall, attended by several of the Gentlemen by whom the Requisition was signed. His approach wit. the signal for the Hall being opened, and in an inktititi`the multitude which WAS assembled at the 's** riisliecl.:forward with an irresistible impetuosity; ownuining 'thiiie who had not sufficient strength test* the sewed stream. The Court in which* Oil New t!l i v " held was thronged to excess , and :triffeeff' but trifling accommodation fOrthe • newthai , 44 were present. ___. _,_ • fl The HIGII SITERIFF opened the business by work stating the purpose for whiCh the Meeting • was 0 .i cd, and the circumstances under which it had been; called. The UNDER SIIERIEF then read the Requisition— after which, The thou Sunnier said, that he would leave the introduction of the Petition, which it was intended to propose for the approval of the Meeting, to those Gentlemen by whom it was prepared, and by whom lle had no doubt it st. ould be submitted to them, with that ability and energy which- had always charac terised the individuals to whom he alluded. Mr. Poerar.r. rose to propose a Resolution, being one of the persons who had signed the Requisition to the Sheriff; and having oeserved the machinery of the Tax which was about to be brought under their e'en. sideration, he had no hesitation in offering himself to their notice, even in the presence of persons of much more importance, and who were more competent than himself to do justice to the cause. And before he proceeded further, he was anxious to disclaim all party motives. He did not intend to consider the tax wiw reference to the person with whom it origi nated, nor to the war, or to ,the origin of the war, which has rendered it necessary; but he would con. tine himself to the point of necessity, for continuing, reviving, or modifying the tax : or rather whether.it• ought or ought not to he suffered to continue under any modification whatever.—(Alitlause).—lt would net in the ordinary course of things have been neces sary to have disturbed ,he tax in its expiring moments by any petition or resolution of theirs; but by re fasing to give answers in the House of Commons, and by hints given;abroad, and other means, the Ministry had given the country reason to believe, that they were of opinion, the tax did not expire on the 6o: of Aptil next, or that they wished to renew :t ; by letters with the ordinary indorsement of psi. vats' upon thew, addressed to the supporters of Mi. I,:seas in great towns, she sense of the country was attempted to be probed, and the intentions of Mini. strrs manifested that by some means they were deter mined to renew the Tax on Property.—(elm/ause).--- The first point necessary was to examine the tax and the mode of carrying it into effect. • Under the sem blance of an equal tax, it was the most unequal that could possibly be devised.—(afftp/eure).---For iss uance, was it equal or ju st to call that profit which was the grass rent of one hundred acres of land, vithout deducting any of the inevitable charges upon it ; or was it just to call the net rental of a farm pro. fit, when trom that farm belonging to the church or to corporate bodies, a large sum was paid, perhaps every seven years, as a fine for the renewal of a lease? To follow up this argument in all its ramifications would be an insult to common judgment: but if this was unjust how much greater was the injustice and 1: equality where a trader or professional man, who was oblig.:cl to exert his physical or mental energies for die support of his family, and who was yet taxed to the amount of their incomes, although it arose from an absolute rental; or from interest of real capi. tit!. The whole of their income being falsely called profits.---(Repeatedtiaras shouts of Applause). The only case,- perhaps, on which the Tax would Le I qua! pr fair was, the income arising from property in the public fiutds, and even there the arbitrary na tl.% of the Tax was, visible, for these it seized upon tar money before it came into the hands of the owner, sAd prevented him from even receiving what was his own—(Apidause).—He. would now come to the ma chinery of the tax, which was even of much more importauce than the tax itself. It was not like other taxes—it was not collateral, or arising from creation or consutnptinit...it was a tax which took part of the thing itself. If a man had ten guineas, it took one. ft was a sort of highwayman tax. (He did not mean to use this 'Other ise disrespectful to the Legislature, or those entesistedWith the collection of the Property Tax). It certainly was not collected with the charge of a pistol, but by what was not less dreadful, the charges and surcharges of the Commisiioners of in-* come—before them the thing was done—they admi. c.:.ered the oath of purgation, and then they began he inquisition—(Leod ansleura).—He did not mean tcblame the Commissioners ; the tax had, perhaps, been as mildly collected as it could possibly be, but it was so objectionable and oppressive in its very na. tire, that nothing could render it even tolerable.— The tax was obnoxious to all those objections, and great ones they were, but still greater ones might • wrged ; it w e nt to d estroy all confidence in the COUlie "7, it destroyed the independence of the country. aid destroyed the courage of the country. He would he bold t o say, that there were many men in England 'ho would take a lion by the beard, and who would Levertheless shrink from the appearance of a little vey ur— ( Loud .rfoiaa.)--Thnse tax surveyors wine inceid the greatest terror, ia the country j the People were more afraid althea than of King, Lords, and Commons together. Those who had_made'the tax felt it necessary to assign. some strong reason. fqt its .existence. How was such a tax rendered neces. nary ! Why at the ' tient it was imposed the enemy was at the door, every thing wits at stake, and the people were therefore not very scrupulous about the means resorted to for opposing the danger ; he did not say this for himself; he said so from them who opposed the Tax—the Parliament had put this decla ration in the frontispiece, in the very tide-page of the Act, which was the 30th of the King.—(The Speaker then read the preamble of the A ct in proof of what he had asserted.)—Thus it was obvious dust the tax was imposed to save the Crown, the religion, the rights, and the constitution of the country ; therefore, before the Ministers could fairly ask the country to continue the tax, it was incumbent on them to shew that such a dense existed for it, as .that no other re medy was adequate to supply its place. Parliament had provided, that the evil should exist only with the cause which gave birth to it—it was to exist as lung as the war, and no longer. By the 43d of the King it was to remain in full force till the 6th day of May, after the signature of a definitive treaty of peace s and by the 46th of the-King it was to continue rn force till the 6th of Apse, after such signature. Thus the Legislature had shewn the greatest care of the duration of the tai, and hid tied up the operation of it to a certain tillit+ l 4o eipeiiid When it should cease ....which was at: the tortninetion of the war: But what was the war The war at thelime the tax was imposed filled all the world-,-it was no object but that war. It was the ; gigantic war wish France— rlitely it had been said, it was the war with America Ashish commenced in 1812, on which the tax de peekhdethis was 44 the present war;" but this groimd vas fond too untenable, and therefore it bad been abandoned, If pledges were worth any thing, this pledge that the tax should cease with the war was binding. The first Act said that the tax should cease with the war, and the second Act said that the tax and all the duties thereon depending, should so cease, and therefore he would, say, as the country had sup. ported the burthens so long, it had now a right to the benefit of the stipulations on the other side, and as the people had performed their part of the con tract, the contract of cessation should follow, and the tax be abolished altogether--Leedamkruse).—• The existence of the tax, and the compliaoce with the conditions on the part of the people, has been made the ground of the attempt to put upon us the new tat ; for if the tax were not now In existence, un der the present circumstances of the country no Mi nister would dare to propose such a measure; thus was the intended instrument of salvation used as an instrument of destruction—(Aelaurr.)—lf he had made out his case that the tax was inconsisttot with the freedom of the country, and that it was radically bad, he should presume to ask. what could be said on the other side ? In a creeping sort of way the Ministers had said to Mr. Gladstone, that they wished to continue the tax for one year ; but :this would not do—the country bad already not less than six pledges that the tax should cease, and if those six pledges could not secure them, bow could they rely on one I When the Ministers had possessed the tax for ten yeArs, was it probable that they woad be contented with one more ? 'lf the country would only give them the tax for one year, they would lure it ever after, and should there be no other reason to continue it, a snug little war would be conjured up. A war with the Dey of Algiers or the. Nabob of Ar cot—(4 haul laugh) and. indeed, it would be well worth the while pf Ministers to have such a war, for the purpose of obthinirig the influence to be derived from the exp:nditure and controul of twenty millions per year. He hoped the country would not be ca joled or swindled into the tax, and a war together-- (4p, laere.) The tax, he hoped, would never be re vived again, except in the case of imminent danger to the Crown, the People, and the Constitution ; not to support any war but such a one as threatened de _struction, not, for sanctioning an American war, from which, indeed, there was no great danger to the country to be apprehended. He had heard that the Parliament House at Washington had • been burned, but there was no danger to be apprehended to that at Westminster, and unless such dangers, or wol se existed, he saw no occasion for the tax. He there fore objected to the tax as leading to war. When a war was inevitable, all would step forward with per son and property to defend. the Government and the country ; but till such a case existed, the tax on pro. perty should not be suffered to exist. It was said the tax was to be modified—but it should be recollected, that the tax began at 5 per cent. it then jogged on to 6,1, and at last strode to 10 per cent. Itaccumu lated ai it rolled on like a snow-ball—(a lavik), and so it would do again if` it were permitted, as had been the case with the Horse tax, and many others; but lie should object to the tax at one per cent. or ev-11 tone quarter, because it dragged a man before the !Commissioners like a culprit, and with the feelings of a culprit, and contrary to the law of England, pre sumed a person to be guilty till he proved , himself to be innocent. It ferted persons to "give up the pro perty they bad a right to retain, or to 'be guilty of the horrible crime of perjury. The people were put under the rack till all was discovered, and he there fore hoped all the people would declare against the continuation or revival of the Tax. There was ano ther tax something like the one of which he had spoken at such length, and which bore bard on the country—this was the tax at' 2s. per bushel on malt. It would cease by the Act on the 6th of JUIN.• but in order that the whole case might be put on record it was deemed right to notice it in the Petition. Mt Portail then apologized for the time he had taken up and concluded by moving a Resolution, that it is Re-; cessary for the Meeting to petition Parliament against, the continuance or renewal of the Property Tax under any modification. Mr. Busy (of Bristol, who is also a freeholder of this county) begged to recal to the recollection of the High Sherif, the second - requisition which be bad presented to him, and which had been signed by 50 of the most respectable freeholders of the county.— This requisition, he trusted, would be read to the Meeting. The Ilion Stows had no doubt that Mr. Hunt wished, as he had always been, to be orderly ; at pre sent there was a question before the meeting, .which it would be proper to deride upon before any other Matter was introduced. SirWsq. HRATHCOTE rose to second the Motion or Mr. rortall, He was the ItereseatAtive of Ibis collate in err Pnrittinffittirhbrifihe tneonierii , apiittaa given his vote in favour of the TO, 9017 . ipari, ibe ondefitanding that it shonfd be abandoned'?. ; elusion of the war—(bardAwl.) With, this : be most fully acquiesced in the stentiMetill 'ex* Air the Honourable Gentleman who, had intruliiiied toe subject. With respect to the milt tax,. tp.wbicb allusion had, been made, this was a tax which'hehad opposed at the time of its introduction, and he was equally disposed to condemn it now—(loud cheer:.) The Resolution was then put and carried with una nimous approbation. The Hioti SHICRIFF then addressed himself to Mr. Hunt, and said, he would most willingly have in serted the requisition to which he bad alluded in the County Paper, if it had been presented at a period sufficiently early for that purpose. He had now no objection that it should be read to the meeting. It was accordingly read. After which The Earl of Noaxilist proposed a petition, which he moved might be adopted by the meeting. It was read, and was of considerable length. touching upon all the circumstances of the Property Tax, and also the tax on Malt, stating the sacrifices which had been 'made by the country, and concluded by praying that now peace was concluded, the said taxes •might not be continued or renewed. Mr. Conan-r said, if he had not known the place where they were assembled, and the subject for which they were called together, he should really have taken the production which they had just heard for a. Bill filed in Chancery against the Prince Re gent, rather than a Petition to 'Parliament. Having the highest respect for the Earl of Northesk, as he be lieved every one who knew him had, he could not but regret that he should have lent himself to such a peti tion. He did not oppose the Petition because it prayed tbr the abolition of the Income 'Fax, but because it tra velled into many other subjects which had no man ner of connection with that subject —such as the ap pointment of Knights of the Bath. What had the, Knights of the Bath to do with the question of thel Income Tax ? Did this not shew that some of those; lipereons who were concerned in framing the Petition' were fretting and fuming because some of the ho-' sours alluded to were not conferred on themselves ? [The, High Sheriff here interrupted Mr. Cobbett, te gearing him to confine himself to the business for which they were assembled ; but the cry of 44 Per fectly in order, " and “ Go on," was very general, and Mr. Cobb ett was suffered to proceed.] He was wavy to see that those who had had a hand in draw ing. up this Petition had had none of the honours for which they seemed to sigh. But he had stronger grounds still for disapproving of the Petition. The Gentlemen in question had not confined themselves to praying for the abolition of the Income Tax or she Property fax ; but, as must have struck all of them, they had called it a tax of a highwayman, or a high- Wayinan's tax.— [Cry of 44 Very justly."] For his part, he had never before heard such an epithet ap plied to it from that quarter. The Gentleman who opened the business of the Meeting had forborne to use such language when his own friends raised it to ten per cent. and when'tbey told the people of Eng land that those who occupied the middle of a house must remove to the garret. Were those the high waymen ? What must foreign nations think of us, when they hear us say that a tax which was necessary when imposed was a highwayman's tax ? For what wee this tax imposed? For the preservation of his Majesty's subj ects and our holy religion. The Gen tlernan who first spoke had told them that the tax was passed in a time of exigency, when the enemy were at the door, (which, by the bye, never was the case, and if they had come we would have beat them). So the tax, then, was imposed for the preservation of our lives and properties, and our holy religion, as George Rose said. No, Gentlemen, it was not im posed for any of those purposes : its general purpose waa to stifle the voice of Liberty all the world over. (Hisses and aftalause.) The Gentleman.had told them how the first I ncome Tax came to be passed; but he had nix told them the other Acts by which this was preceded, and which necessarily brought thim to that measure. How de highwaymen proceed (ob served Mr. Cobbett) ? Why, they first stifle your voice—then they tie your hands—and then they ram their hands into your pockets. They began by sea. tenting to the gibbet and to be drawn and quartered those who should send a bushel of potatoes to the re publicans of France, who were then thought to be in a starving state, though they were Ow in a condi tion to help us with provisions. This offence they made high treason. He would help the Meeting to a few other proceedings of that period.—[Here the Meeting was for some time interrupted, in conse quence of a motion for adjourning to a wider space, on account of a number of people who, it was said, could not get in, which motion was over-rided.] The next Act, (said Mr. Cobbett) which passed, he would mention to them—it was an Act to suspend in effect the Habeas Corpus Act. The Mon Sneerer did not see what the Hibeae Corpus Act had to do with a diseussion on the sub ject of the Property Tax. Mr. Connive said be would occupy less of their it. tendon than the gentleman who bad been allowed'Oe speak at such length. • Mr. HUAI' observed, that Mr. Cobbett was in or=, der. He was about to shew the origin of the die: rent War Taxes. • Mr. Conners said he wingshienfine himsellto no ticing generally the Acts peeled between 1795 and 1795, when the Income Tax was first proposed.— The Gentleman who preceded him had attempted to thew the causes of the Piciperty Tax Act. He would Act proceed to show what he considered to be the causes—he would proceed, however, more generally now thai before. The point for their consideration was not' merely whether the Property Tax or the Malt Tax, or any other Tax was to be repealed I It was the principle which they were at war with.—' Now here was a Taesthich bad been borne for ID years with very little interruption, few meetings called to oppose it, and with few remonstrances against it—And wily ? the enemy were never at the door—they neverdared to come near us—i.it was a false alarm--a mere pretext—the people of England were always able to defend their country, and always 'Wiwi° do so—it was a pretext to take from the peoldwtheir money. and then by means of it to en- slave them. Between 1793 and 1798, divers Acts were passed in dittct violation of the principles of the coostitutioas Us many as tea in all, fat the purpose ordep en renifi the people of their liberties and of At privilege of free discussion. They began first bf li t ta y ing the t y ht o p u e n o d p e le-tn the b ound tl tax hlae:ll...sitzdt twenty years, and yet the people of HaMpshire had not only let it go on for twenty yEats, but Well had done more—they bad elected and reelected those persons who first proposed, and who atierwArds sup• pined the Tax, and they were now electing, these who, if they did not Support the Taz now, supported it formerly. Mr. Pontar.t. wished to impress upon Mr. Cob. betty that the question they were now considering was, whether the petition which had been read, was to be the petition of the Meeting Mr. Comm ealili k tire was proceeding to answer that. He wished' to thew them that their petition stopt . drort. Mr. POZTALL observed, that if at Meetings of this kind, Gentlemen were allowed to travel oet of all felts, they could sever come to a conclusion. Mr. Consrrr expressed himself willing to abide by the decision of the Sheriff. The Hum &unties said, they were not called to gether to canvass the conduct of those Members who had either proposed the tax, or supported it, but to consider whether or not they were now come to the point, when the tax ought to be abandoned . Mr. Coaserr observed, that the Gentleman who spoke before had done more than this—for he had canvassed the conduct of Ministers in proposing to continue it. Mr. HUNT begged leave to submit to the Meeting that the Gentlemen on the other side had been per nutted to say every thing. Mr. Poweau. asked if he had said one word which was irrelevant ? Any Gentleman might speak as long as he pleased, provided he confined himself to the - basiaesir of the Meeting, but the moment he wan dered linen it be -ought to be stopped. Mr. Cosertr istoceeded.—When men complained of any evil, was it not reasonable fur them to inquire into the causes of it ? and when they proceeded to re. move the evil, was it not advisab le to remove also the cause ? The Gentlemen who brought forward the petition had acted disingenuously ; they had said nothing of the difficulties of the Government. Did they mean to say that the Government could go on without the Property Tax ? Did they wish to substitute any other tat ? [Cries of we have nothing to do with that, and' order.] He would ask them if they were ready to vote that the army should be dis. banded ? The Hruu SHERIFF said, he must take the sense of the Meeting, whether Mr. Cobbett should be allowed to go on in this manner Mr. COBBETT said, he was ready to shew that Go. vernment could not go on without this tax. Mr. PORTALL said, they had nothing to do with that at present. Mr. Comm said, they could not shew him that Government could go on without this tax. It was, therefore, from the factiousness of party that the ques tion was brought forward. It was the trick of a party to impose upon the people, by telling them that they were to get this tax off ; but they could not get it off without - having another, equal in amount, sub stituted for it. (Crier of this it nothing to the purpose.) The Thou Sentitter said he was anxious. to hear Mr. Cobbett so long as he spokein reason, but he was not doing so at present. Mr. CORBETT said he was toady wittanother peti- Lion,. which he wished to move in the room of that which bad been read. The limn SHER/FF signified that he might. move an amendment to the first petition. Mr. CORBETT then said, that he would move that all that petition should be left out--(lough)--and that another, which, it it had nctother merit, was at least much shorter, should be adopted iu its stead.— Mr. Cobbett then proceeded to read over his petition. He concluded by moving that this petition should, be adopted as a substitute to the brief which had been firs; read. Mr. Hour rose to second the motion. He denied that it was possible for the Meeting to comprehend the object, end, and aim of the first petition. There were more than one reason for his seconding the peti tion of his friend, Mr. Cobbett. He regretted the manner in which the discussion had been interrupted. He had beep in • the habit of attending lately many County and City Meetings on the subject of the Pro perty Tax; and this was the only instance where he had ever heard any objection in going into the causes of that tax ; indeed, the Honourable Gentleman who opened the business had himself assigned many of the causes which led to the imposition of this tax, end be had called it by many a hard name. In this second petition, however, every degree of moderation was observable : there was no Ants, in it of either party. . In the first petition there were many expressiens which the Honourable House of Commons might very well object to. He had no hesitation in saying, that it was not couched is language becoming a great County Meeting, petitioning Parliament on a subject like the'present. He bad no objection that they should express their abhorrence of the inquisito rial nature of the tax I but still, as petitioners against it, it became them, as Englisbmep, to couch them. selves in terms of respect. It had be aid that when this Act was first passed that it had not undergone a scrupulous inquiry. This was an assertion the truth of which be could deny: When it was first brought forward he was but a boy, yet it had not escaped his recollection, and be was sure that it had not escaped the recollection of many about him, that no tax • which bad ever been produced bad undergone greater scrutiny—had elicited greater execration. - It had (as had that day been the case) been pronounced in. quisitorial, oppressive, and, in every sense of the woi d, objectionable ; and he could not forget that Mr. Tierne/ had described it as so on just and so inconsis tent with the principles of the British Constitution, that the people would be justified in taking up arms to resist its collection. (Loud applause.) All this had been said, and much more, ; and all the evils which were now admitted to be the result of the tax were then foretold. (ifftitlaute.) Ent what was the conduct of the Gentlemen who were then opposed to the Ministry, ihen they became themselves the Mi nisters ? Surely it was not incorrect to ask this ques tion—Why they deliberately raised this dreadful tax * as they had previously pronounced it, from (4 rep s • I per cent . POSTALL Submitted to the Sheriff that 'them' !