Star. — London, England, 1826-03-14 00:00:00

Lion. 1n1516. it was true, the currOncy-was in That state that a change becanW necessary. It is true, th* a depreciation in the value of money took place to tire amnurit ofs percent so that it may not unfairly- be 'contwicle.l. there has nut been a remission of taxes to the full Amount of 27,000,0001. but if that depreciation was not m-re than 5 per c nt. which I presume to be the fact, the revenue, amounting in 1816, to 61,000,0001. .3,000,000/. will be sufficient to deduct on that account. It w;tl thus be seen, that there remains 24,000,000. over and above what was necessary to be so allowed on account of the alteration in the currency. Common sense then tells us, that the increa,ei produce of the taxes still remaining, must be ascribed in a great measure to the reductions which I have enumerated. If the taxes %vele diminished by 24,000,000 that sum deducted from 58.000,00 W. the revenue of tile following year, would have reduced the public income to 84,000,1901. bad the consumption of the country continued what it had previously been. It is, therefore, clear that the revenue, after such vast reductions being made from it, has been raised to what it? is by the greater power of the country to consume thoseirticles on which the taxes are imposed. If we try the effect of this on the feelings of those who pay the taxes, we shall find that it has afforded-general satisfaction. I see the Hon. Member • for Wareham (Mr. Calculi) in his place, who so ac• tively exerted himself to procure the repeal of the duty on salt. On what ground did he recommend the re peal of that impost ? It was this, that it pressed heavily on the poor man, and while it drained his purse, made him discontented. Let it be seen if the same party is not better pleased to contribute to the revenue as be now doe:. I have no doubt that such is the fact, and that he feels grateful to the Honourable Gentleman for having in duced the House to repeal that tax. I will ask, do the 171,700 persons relieved from the House Tax last year, feel no satisfaction, when contemplating threzemption they now enjoy ? And do the 145,000 persons relieved at the same time from the Window Tax, feel no addi tion' made to their comforts by the adoption of that measure I should like to know whether these indivi duals attach no importance to the relief thus afforded, and whether they, and the other classes of society, who no longer pay in any thing like the proportion which they formerly did, are disposed to agree with the Hon. Member for Aberdeen, that Parliament has done no thing for their benefit. It has, however, been said, that nothing has been attempted for the good of the people, but that Government continue to plunge into every un necessary expense, regardless of the sufferings of the nation, to preserve, undiminished, their own trumpery patronage. I declare to Gon, that of this I never had a thought, and any thing of the kind, I completely set at nought. I can solemnly assert, that it never, for a single moment, crossed my mind, " what will be the consequence rite Government should lose this, or that patronage." It . would, certainly, have been very con. venient for me had a different system been acted upon —bad the Government patronage not been cut down as it has been; for,in that case, I could have obliged many of my friends who have been sent away disappointed. The importance of preseivhig such patronage, never, for a single moment, suggested itself to my mind.— WI:do applications ,havi been made to me, my answer has been, "I am very- sorry I can do nothing for you, but I cannot put winnow in a situation who is too old ortoo yoting for it, I tan Only recommend to a situation under tiorernment the man who is competent to fill it properly. If yon are not competent I am sorry for it, but cannot serve you."—This principle has been gene rally well lion, and I believe it is agreed on all hands t rein ttseetficievicy Of those engaged in the public ser- i vice was never more •complete than it is at the present moment.' Allow me now to state what has been done during the period of which 1 have been speaking, to di minish the•permanent burden of the country. I mean that connected with its debt. The charge, on account of the debt; has been materially diminished—very ma ierially diminished indeed. I will, however, not go to' this point,*till I have touched on another of some inte rest. It will not be unsatisfactory to the House to know, in what ratio the power of consumption has in creased in the country. The statement lam about to make, will [stove to the House how unfounded is the idea, that we cannot, by possibility, restore our currency to what we consider a sound state, without making some extraordinary change in the 'establishments and expenditure of the country. I hold in my band a list of articles paying duty, which specifies what the amount of the consumption was in 1816, and what increase on that amount has since occurred. This I tined to be as follows: CONSUMPTION PER CENTUM OF INCREASE BEYOND THAT OF 1516. Incr.per Ct. . 641 . . 161 . 18$ . 1411 . 11 . 11 1-5 . 1101 . 1131 • 1211 . 101 . 956 . 101 • 104 . IDS 1-3 . t 9 . se Beer S. Bricks Candles Licenses Paper P. Goods Soap H. S. Tee Clain Gresa Glass B. Spirits F. Spirits I . 'Butter Sugar Tallow . Tiutber Deals . • Coffee and Cocoa Han) num Silk It. T. Tobacco 'Wine Wools . ........ C. Glass Flint -- Place Leather Malt Ina' per Ct. . 53 2.5 . . ale . 3176 . 19 . 201 . 196 . 182 1-3 . 43 . 744 . 121 . 274 i 190 13i •8 . 443 . 119 • . . . It may be said, 44 Do you mean to say, that a conti nuance of this increased consumption may be expected ? Do you mean, fur instance, to sly, that an increased consumption of wool, to t h e amount of 443 per cent. may be calculated upon ?" No, Ido not mean to say this ; but 1 contend, that the paper I have read, proves a satisfoctory progress to have been made in that power of •consumption which is indispensable to our great ness, which proves the strength inherent in this country, and.which will enable it, in the pre,ent instance, as it always has enabled it, to meet and triumph over diffi asides of the most formidable kind. I now come to speak of the debt. While 27,000,0001. have been re mitted in taxes since the year 1816 ; and while, within the last three years, taxation has been reduced to the antiount of- 8,000,0001. what has been the state of the debt? On the sth January, 1823, the public funded debt amounted to 796,529,00 W. It amounted in Ja nuaty 5, 1826, to T 78,128,0001. presenting a diminu tion of. 18,401,0001. It was thus, during that period, in the.course of being reduced at t he rate of 6,133,0001. per annum. 1 will now direct the attention of the House to the uniunded debt. The amount of the unfunded ddbt was,. On the Stli January, 1823 • • 426,1111,1100 da the litb January, 11N6 . . . 1 . 703 ,0 11 Leaving a redaction of . . . . 1 4.57 1 0 100 The total charge' was —and this is the true wad of looking at the subject, for that which we are interested" r in knowing Is, what it costs us, sts it Is of little im• Poilane* what its figures mati vg br i friiiia* time to time, big witkretiemee -se-din-burden Stite-Istre total dons wis e as tke yta barmy, tinakillag the dove fir MPSAIZOIrat) • • • • •• • • • ' ass,itspoo woe total 'oars on sth January, W., was 27,117,000 Leavings redaction of . . . ari,ookooo The interest on Exchequer Bills wai at the former period 820,0001. It had been reduced by 280,0001. — The total charge of this whole debt was thee, On the 4th January, 1823 . . . .11111,118f,000 Oa the Stb January, 1824 . . . 27,9444000 X 1, 3 40 , 000 To that extent the charge on the public debt has been reduced in the course of three years. Now, it is nothing to me, whether this has been effected by means of the Sinking Fund, or by a Surplus Revenue, it is enough for me, that substantial relief has been afforded. If the country lust° pay 1,340,0001- less than it had to pay three years ago for its debt, while good faith is k pt with the public creditor, and the honour of the country is maintained, and all its great interests adequately protect ed, at home and abroad; if under all these circumstances, the debt and the charge on it have been reduced by the amount which I have stated to the Committee, the House of Commons have done something, and we need not fear to face our constituents in whatever part of the country we may happen to be travelling. I have alluded to that portion of our expenditure which has been diminished by the reduced charge of the debt. There is another part of our expenditure against which, from trny coming intooffice,l have always waged the most relentless ,war—the expence of collecting the Revenue. With respect to this, then, Ministers have not been idle nor inattentive, nor have our measures been inefficient. In 1818, the expense of collecting the revenue of the country amounted to 4,850,0001. This is a very large sum, I admit. In 1825, it was reduced to 3,832,0001. Here there was a saving effected within the period I have described, of no less than half million. This, I consider, nas a great deal to do in the time, for it should be borne in mind, that we cannot effect the changes we wish to bring about, all at once; but I say, so considerable a reduction being made within a period so limited, is, prima facie, evidence in favour of Mi nisters, that they are resolutely bent on endeavouring to do their duty. It is not the easiest task in the world to effect such reforms. There ar• many prejudices to_ be overcome, and many interests to be interfered with, and a great many deeply-rooted habits to be broken in upon ; and I cannot give a better proof of the sort of feelings excited by changes of this description, than is furnished by referring to those sentiments I which have been published to the world in the northern part of this island. It seems that the ex tinction of the two independent Boards of Customs and Excise in Scotland, and the amalgamation of them with like establishments in England, is to be considered by every true Scot as derogatory to the dignity of bis country—an affront to national pride—and, good Go* 'Mat such a statement should be made, as subversive of all the public rights of the Scottish nation. The tone taken on this occasion is not very dissimil.r from that taken by Antony over the • body of Omar. It reminds me, at least, of the beautiful but mournful speech which Sbakspeare has put into the mouth of his hero— a , 0 what a tall was there, my countrymen; Then I, and you, and all of us fen down, Whilst bloody treason tlourhhed over us." I say, the apltealoof Mark s Ahlony was not more vehe mently made; his resentment of Limes death was not more pointedly directed against those who caused it, than is the resentment of this writer against the author of that measure, which had for its object the transfer of two Miserable and insignificant fiscal departments from one part of the United Kingdom to another—(Near). I felt,. indeed, like some guilty person who had done some heinous act, like one oppressed by the weight of some undefined crime ; and such was my plight, that I hardly dared to look into the face of my noble Scottish Friend, the First Lord of the Admiralty— (a laugh)—nor should I have ventured to do so, were I conscious of having inflicted any wrong upon Scot land. (Hear) I beg ray friends to know, that I have flowing in my veins some Scotch blood, and good old blood too, and can never without reproach feel in sensible to the honour , and character of Scotland ; and when I pass in review the signal triumphs of her rice, the benefits she has conferaed upon Atte human kind by her precept and her example, I have always been led to think, that the origin of her high moral station, the de served admission of her great fame, was to be found in the genius of her historians, the eloquence, the accuracy, and the resources of her poets, the elaborate lucubrations and the profound discoveries of her philosophers ; when I watched her progressive flight in the regions of fancy, when I Wield her soundings in the depth of history, I had hoped that her real glories were unshorn, and never before has it been suggested to me that among the stable works of ha immortality were to be reckoneJ and included these rotten fiscal hoards so lately re moved from Edinburgh to London—(Hear, hear). When enumerating her Abercrombie:, her Moores, her Lynedochs, and her Hopetowns, I never thought of coupling with them the obscure functionaries of a civil department. When, two years ago, it fell to my lot to move the erection of a monument to the memory of Lord Duncan, I never dreamed that the honour of Scotland would be tarnished by transferring the seat of the Board of Customs from Edinburgh to London. I thought that the honour of Scotland .rested on a more solid basis. I thought that the real glory of that coun try would have shone with perennial light, if the Ex cise had never meddled with its whiskey, nor the Cus toms coatrolled its commerce. I thought that the lustre of the national fame would not have been dimmed, though both these wretched Fiscal Boards had been swallowed up—oh woeful catastrophe!— in the all-devouring vortex of English uniformity.— When I am told that the abolition of these offices is something disrespectful to the impoverished Nobility of that country, I feel that if I were a mere S:otchman I should be too proud to admit that the ancient lineage of that ancient kingdom could consider themselves dis paraged because Government have less patronage to offer and they less emolument to covet—(cheers). — These measures, dictated alone by the necessity of re form and retrenchment, have been held up as punish merits wantonly inflicted on innocent and unoffending Scotland, and her wrath has been denounced against their author ; but as long as I can enjoy the consolation, while performing my public duty, that I am engaged in diminishing the burthens and. increasing the happiness of the people, I shall look without terror on the flashing of the Highland claymore, though it be evoked from its scabbard by the incantations of the first magician of the iage. I shall now proceed to look at the financial situation of the kingdbm, as it may probably be estimated during the present year. I have stated to the House the e wilt dcla the large r red ions in t • , Oe tried. .I have stat4i the benefit wa s h, I iaroY.L FG tile.Cointry.iipst have derived from those re knit. j have also sliewn bow, out of that diminution, will arise the mesfis of carrying it much farther. twofer such circumstances, and with this inspieesion my mind, chat I now proceed to state to the Com nee, what I estimate the amount of our et penditure in the present year: and, secondly, the Ways and Means by which it is to be provided for. Our expendi ture I take as follows : EX PEND IT U R E. The beads of expence are— For the Interest and Management of the Public Debt X 27,117,1211 For the Interest of the Deficiency Bills . 5.0,000 F* the Civil List, and Pensions of a permanent na ture charged on the Consolidated Fund, and not the subject of an annual rate For the Half-pay For the Sinking Fund 2,065,000 2,20_0,000 5,565,235 The whole Charge of the Consolidated Fund is, therefore, • . . . e 37,617,421 Then comes the Annual Supply— For the Army . . Navy . Ordnance . . Miscellaneous Services . Interest of Exchequer Bills . . 7,747,000 . 6,155,000 . 1,754,000 . 2,225,000 $50,000 . Which being added t. the Permanent Charge, raises the total Expenditure of 1826 to . X 56.748,421 I now proceed to state die Revenue on - which I calculate to meet this expenditure. In the first place, stands a small item which, being the surplus of last year beyond the demand of the Sinking Fund, I consider myself entitled to make available towards the ex penditure of this year. This sum amouats to 167,0001. The Customs and Excise I shall take together. lials course is rendered necessary by the tranfer to the Customs of a large proportion of the duties formerly collected by the Excise. These Items it is impos. Mile to separate wltheut confusion. I therefore estimate titer joint produce at The Stamps • The Assessed Taxes, inchidlng the Land Tax The Post Office Miscellaneous Items Surplus of 1825 • '07,446,000 • 7,400,000 . 4,000,000 • 1,550,000 . 1,360,000 167,000 The total Income from these sources, therefore, is . .f. 52,723,000 To which, if there be added the Payment from the Commissioners of the Half•pay and Pensions, amounting to . • • 4,320,000 The whole Sum to be received during the present year, will be raised to . . . .6'57,023,000 If from this Sum be deducted the Expenditure, amounting to . . 56,328,421 There will remain to be dealt with, as we think Ht, a clear surplus of . . 714,572 After providing for all the expenditure of the year (cheer:). I will now state what are the grounds 'on which I rely, in estimating this amount of revenue. It may appear that I am calculating on a receipt higher than many Hon. Gentlemen may think likely to be realised ; I will therefore fully explain on what I build my expectations regarding the current year. 1 begin by laying down, as the basis on which I proceed, the actual receipt of the past year, making such variations as the cbange of circumstances may appear to require. The actual gross receipt at the Customs and Excise of the United Kingdom, taken together, during the year 1825, amounted to 37,546,000/. but it happened that in the course of last year the net receipt of these branches of the revenue was affected by circumstances which operated upon it to a much greater extent than I anticipated. I allude to the amount repaid in consequence of the reduction of the Wine Duty to the holders of the stock on hand. This repayment amounted to 1,050,0001. .This sum will not be withdrawn this year, as in 1825; and to this extent., therefore, I stin entitled to assume the revenue will be increased. The reduction last year arose from a casual occurrence, which cannot again come into operation. I calculate also treon a small ad dition to the receipt of the present year, by the measures introduced by my Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Huskisson), in order to get rid of divers bounties; and which, I may observe, have been carried into effect with so much sue ' cess and benefit to the commerce of the country.— This saving will amoufit to 50,0001. Another circum stance which most unexpectedly affected the Customs last ye ir resulted accidentally from the extensive alter ations and amendments made in the Lawsof Customs. Several hundred statutes were, by the labours and ex ertions of my. Hon. Friend (Mr. Herries), the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Gentlemen Who assisted him, removed from the Statute-book, and the whole of their provisions, as far as they remain in force, compressed within the space of six clear and intelligible Acts of Parliament. (Hear.) It is nor wonderful that in going through so great a task some minor omissions wok place ; and it happened that by one of these venial errors the Revenue was affected. The duty on Tobacco was 4s. per lb. at the beginning of the year. By the strange mischance to which I allude, one sliming of this duty lapsed. From the sth of July, 1825, w the sth of January, 1826, the duty was reduced VI three shillings. This omission cost the Revenue 450,0001. Adding these three sums together, viz. The Repayment on account of the reduction of the Wine Duty " The Saving by the Repeal of Bounties And the amount of the Tobacco Duty lost Z 1,050,000 & total fun was produced equal to Which, being added to the actual produce of the Customs aud Excise of 18245 1,550,000 37,546,000 Would have raised it altogether to X 39,096,000 But it is obvious that to calculate on so large a receipt of the Excise and Customs, after so great a reduction of taxes has recently been made, would be preposterous, and I am quite ready to admit that it is not likely we shall realize it.during the present year. It is our duty, therefore, to estimate what is the amount of reduction we ought to expect. In the first place, there will be the further loss resulting from the reduction of taxes made last year. The statement of the views of Govern. ment having taken place at snearly a period last year, the effect of the reductions began to be felt almost as soon as they were announced. I calculated then that three quarters of the whole amount would be lost during that year. All that we, shall lose during the present year, from that source, will be the remaining quarter, which I estimate at $50,0001. —I stated the reduction of taxation last year to have amounted to 5,148,0001. and, compared with the pro duce of the previous year, to that extent the reduction was in fact carried. Yet, in calculating the actual loss to be sustained the Revenue, an allowance should be made for the increased consumption resulting from the reduction. The total amount of the real pure loss of 1826 was 1,500,0004 of which one-fourth is to be ab stracted from the Meow of the present year, I am very sensible that, under all the circumstances attending the late derangement and confusion of the Money market, and the consequent stagnation of the external commerce and internal industry of the country, it would' be unsafe to frame any estimate of the Revenue,withoto dedorroing for the great loss to be expected from dimi nished consumption, which I estimate at 1,300,0001. further loss. I derive the data for this elk' aiation, ai i great measure, from the actual state of the Revenue of the Excise during the first month of the present year, * month certainly of great distress and uneasiness, and one during which the Officers of Government were directed Ito abstain from pressing inconveniently upon those whd were not prepared to pay with their usual readiness.— let it appears that in the course of that month, com paring the gross produce of the Excise Duties of the. United Kingdom, in all its ramifications,Avith the cor resrnding month of last year, the deficiency does not exceed 23891. The gross produce of the Excise during the month of January 1825, was . . . , C 2,4158,86, During the same month, 1888 . 8,457,221 i Decrease . . • . ,E2;3Bi On rhose items in which there has been a reduction of Saari, cid, 11 glass, licenses, sweets, and vinegar, the reduction does ti . ~% amount to . . £lo2,etlf The total product in January, 1825, wai . . 299,95 i! January, 828, . 190.955 Decrease . xtos,cci But this decrease does not arise entirely from a nished consumption of the articles on which the reduc tion has taken place. It has principally resulted from an alteration of an extensive nature in the license sys tem in Ireland. The most absurd rates prevailed until lately in that country. The amount of lictnses varied in the different towns, as they did or did not semi Mem hers to Parliament. Another of the new regulations is, the assimilation of the periods to those at which the li censes become payable in England. Theconsequence, however, is, that the payment of most of them will be deferred till after the sth of July. From this, alone, there will result a loss of 100,0001. It is not unrea sonable, I think, in this way to assume that the tolat loss in Customs and Excise during the preient year, from diminished consumption,will amount t 01,300,0001. In Stamps, I estimate the loss for the present year at 47,9431. in the Post-office, 45,4611. in Taxes, 190,1381. - This year the loss to the Revenue will be more considerable in this branch, as three-fourths of the reductions of last year did not come into operation till the 10th of O:tober last. The Miscellaneous Items for 1826 will be much larger than usual. This increase proceeds from three or four extraordinary causes. In the first place, a sum of 100,0001. was, by Treaty, to be paid by the Government of Holland to this country is 1825. It was not actually received last year, and, coo -1 Isequently, could not form part of the receipts of 1825, but will of those of 1826. Then there is a sum which I really did not expect • at this day to fall into the hands of the Treasury. This sum arises from the apparently never•ending system of Lotteries. The last was con , tracted for in 1823. I confess I was not aware that it was the usual course to protract the existence of the contract for two or three years. The consequence is, I that there is a profit of 180,0001. to be derived from Lotteries—a source of revenue so much and in justly the object of the reprobation of this House.— I was glad to avail myself of the opportunity to put an , end to a system, which, however glossed over by so phistry, was totally inconsistent with every principle of good government, and tended directly to spread the evils of gambling among the people at large. Another of the miscellaneous items of the present year arises from the return of the silver coinage called in from Ireland. The cost of the new coin was 500,0001. The sum that is now coming back, and which will be appli- - cable to the general service of the present year, amounts to four hundred thousand pounds. There is another sum arising from an arrangement between the Admi ralty and the East India Company, who in considera tion of the increase of the Navy, made with a view to the state of their affairs in the East, have felt themselves bound in justice; as it is my duty to say they have, with the utmost cheerfulness, admitted, to pay sixty thousand pounds for the benefit they are deriving front the augmented naval force stationed in the Indian seas, in defence of their possessions. These sums together, amounting to 740,9121. account for the increase under the head of Miscellaneous Items. The general Esti mate for the present year therefore stands thus : REVENUE ESTIMATE FOR 1846. CUSTOMS AND Ilea& Produce of 1825 . . . . . . . '€37,546,000 Add—Progreraiye Reduction of 13ountioa X 50,000 Wine Drawback • •. • . 1,050,000 Lou by lapse of Tobacco Duty . 450,000 —..—... 1,580,000 Deduct—Further Lem from Reductions last Year . . . . 350,000 Farther Loss from diminished Consumption . . . 1,300,000 1,650,000 ;iodinate for 1146 . . . X 37,446,006 STAMPS. Produce of 1125 . . . • . . Deduct assumed Loss in 1126 . . . £7,447,945 ▪ 47,94 Estimate for Is2ll . TA X U. . £7,400,000 Produce of 1825 . . . . • . . Deduct Loss from Reductions in 1825 . . Z 4,990,138 • 190.138 &denote for 1826 . !Off orncs. . • AC4,400,000 .C 1 4115,461 45,401 Produce of 1823 . Deduct assumed Loss in 112 Eodmato for 1224 . .. meet.t.treobs. Produce of 1825 . Add—Payment from Holland, Lottery, . . .11,550,000 • and East India Company, on account of Naval Force . . 4140,910 Add also--Silier front Ireland . . 400,000 Estimate for MS . 740,9111 . 111,366,000 The result may, therefore, be safely assumed to be, that the Revenue during the present year will yield a surplus of 714,5761. This sum is not very large, but it is worth saving, and may be applied to useful purposes. Our choice, however, is fiery limited on the present occa sion, through the circumstance to which I have before alluded, respecting the redaction of the duty on tobacco. When the parties concerned in that manufacture were anxious to know what his Majesty's Government in tended to do with regard to the duty which had larci, whether it would be revived on the sth of January, or suffered to lie dormant, I replied, that I could give no intimation till the pleasure of Parliament was - known. But now I have no hesitation in saying, that it appears to be incumbent upon us to continue the reduction. I should greatly have preferred to carry this redaction still further. I know it is very desirable in the actual condition of the country ; but, I think, it would not be prudent or expedient to do se at present. I art vary much inclined to believe that great good has been pro• duced by that reduction, small as it is. The effect has seen material •in checking smuggling in Ireland, where he practice of smuggling t obacco was carried to an ace ,s, beyond all th at i magination can conceive.—