The National Register. — London, England, 1816-02-26 00:00:00

~~ j ~ ~ No. 4!2.:.—V0L. VIII. POLITICAL DISQUISITION. Tin . INCOME TAN a perpetual BURTIIEN ; a Tax ..f WAR, and not of PLACE. Its EXHAUSTING QUALi Y 01..MONSTRATED. THE 'seamy-Tax has been considered in our two last numbers, in several points of view, which, we be lieve, have no where else been sufficiently noticed ; and, having been present at the Westminster Meeting on Friday, we were glad to kind that our opinion has circu lated widely. One of our arguments was publicly adopted by SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. It was, we confess, but ill Suited to the audience which he addressed, and not well saesorteel with that declamatory stile of party vehemence which he is sure_to mix up with all his public speeches. ft was that part in vinieli we have ridiculed the absurdity, so happily adopted by his friend in the Morning Chronicle, o'4, tax to touch the pockets of the miser. In this it was not to be expected that his audience could feel any sympathy, wherever else there might he an anxiety for defending the penuriousness of wealth, which imposes privations upon itself for the benent of posterity. Having discussed calmly the principles of the Property- Tax, considered as an abeeement from the immediate imenne of any class of society, and shewn that it is pal pably unjust, and that it must lead either to gross par tiality, or a system of spies or inquisitions, absolutely in leete:istent, not only with freedom, happiness, and the inn ; rals of Society, but also with that inereetse of wealth in a re.tonercial co..wry, which is " the tbuntain from which tie current of all fature taxations flews, or else dries up:" we proceed to consider it as connected with the eircula- tien of money, and rate of prices ; by which we shall see, that those who levy a tax of one-tenth, or any other gi ven proportion, upon income, seize at one grasp, and ±hr ever, on just so much, not only of the actual, but of the future, wealth of the country ; and that having once pos sessed themselves of it, they call no longer increase the amount of taxes, but by augmenting the rate or propor tion of the tax. I fe wiaiTe rtoduce of the land, the value of the Stock, the int'on'e of the pceple, are rated at different periods in different sums °fluency; and this in a state of advanc ingciyitizatien, while the gold-mines of the world shall be productive, will be increasing partly in real, and tartly in nominal value. if, at one time, the rent of Lead is one pound per acre on the average, and at another it shall tx raised to two, it may either happen because there is an actual increase in the value of the land, and it prialtices more commodities, and minims more money to circulate the increased quantity of eommodities; ur else, beivune the value of money is depreciated by a mere in crease of the quantity of the money, without an increase in prnrlnce. lf, also, the population of a country is ;itemised, whiell cannot well happen without an ince-case t' its wealth, and, we may almost with eertainty say, rot -vithout a great increase in the quantity of the mere means of subsistence, which are derived entirely from agri eulture, the w ea lth of the country, and the power of sus teining taxation, will, by this means, be in7.l-_acrd; trop the value of property, and the number cf the peo . e4e, we may fairlY estimate at all times the arterd pressure of taxes upon tile tuition. Thus, if tle• -Thole value of the property of al. le he at one t.:t.e 16 millions rte.- :jog, and toe tax 1.. eoe,tx)ol. with a population of live anion persens, it is Elisions, that if the property were n•rett.eel to 32 millions, argil the population raise- - . to ten militant, taxes to the amount of a million might fie levied the qupp that in the Wen it. mini s ;L. ••L. ntity.. t i • tf..v.. t 101 l v.-as broniitt into e . .ir the 13111 land, by b?fter farming, was wit& Ink x ttcrester sto•!1: of , ns, nna, eansoquently, to pro.hwe c•op!er sar,v)rt fat nn inezeu.eing pixilation. the qu;:nti; - .y of money, .whether of paper or rich in circulAtion thoald also inermstrl in the like proportion, the burthcn of tam.. vef.y.li be greatly reduced. For instance, tie should the 71 havo to double the first nide of ifi,oan,nont. 1w eurroaing that two acres Were cultivated instead of. orr: snlif the price of each buihe/ of corn, or mei+ 11:ticle of Property, nerc Roubled by the ineretuge of muicy in circulation, so ss to raise the prices to double the :,-11:11;at of the former prrio,',. then we enntltl have the whol • value quadrupled. ard the amount of ineorne would be fi4,006,000/. populatiln would to donblell only; for the increak. of price in the eurn wooll bcS no addition to its power of sustniniN7 life ; ant the population being ten millions, a gre.ucr prorrtion than atilt:mat it toiOttr+ Our iiing, (~'onotitution anD MONDAY. FEBRUARY !'ZG, 1816. merely ot:c milli m of taxcs would be ltorne. It would allow two or more millions ti he supported by the country, which originally could only bear 500,000/. per annum. We have put here an'imagintrry came ; but it will be very e:e to VlZer.t . Y it referable to England in direct terms ; we know nut that we can do better than to state frmn public documents the progress of taxation ;;ntl its burthen in England. In the year 1796 Sir Fravis Blake petitioned the I House of Commons to be relieved from taxes, upon charging his landed estates with 3!i,0001. or such other sum as might be his pmportinn of the national debt, and to pay interest at 4p& cent. upon it. I lad all the other proprietors of land joined in this petition they would have been wise, and they would be right in doing it at some future day. But far one to du it is somewhat absurd. He stated the landed revenue to be in the year 1600 equal to 6,000,0001. in 1688 equal to 14,000,0001., and in 1796 he calculated it at about 50,000,000/. although the Minister Lad estimated it at 9.5,000,0001. which is a much nearer calculation, as we believe the territorial revenue is now stated by the In come Tax returns at 58,000,000/. though we should have thought it much higher. Now; supposing the debt to have remained fixed during that time, the bur then would have been greatly diminshed; and knowing the population, anti the proportionate into of pries, poll.- tical economists have been enabled to calculate the exact portions of the burthen upon th,e people and the increase of the population. Thus we take an abstract from a work of much learning on this important subject*:— " To determine the effect of the decrement of the value of money aiiil the inerea.r of iiiiiiiihilion on Ilie lowiheit of tii‘es, at iiII times, the rdlite of money is first to be ta1,..0 as livid. In _ether with the quantity of coin tittles eons ttttt eil by the in dividual on all average in any c try. This is the yearly ex pense ot the people per head: which, multiplied by Ihr number of people, gives the total expense. Leta tax of two billiiingi in the pound be laid mt that gross snot. Suppose the popula tion live millions, that it is of , . :.var.l.4 Increased to seven mil !MOs and a half. the con•inaption of each individual, and the total sow eiilleeted remaining the sane : the Charge on each in divirlual. %thief' was before ime•tentli of his income, will be reilneed in the prepori ion of ti re tasevetvaind a half. or ten in fifteen, the ilieitiotie lAeconalia one fifiet - illk. or Is. - .*+.—in - Qui pound oule. If the population had become ten Holum's, the charge and gushers Would each have been reiltiecil to half it. liriiier amount, or to one twentieth, that it, to tt stalling iu the pound." This is upon the suppositiun of 11.0 Inn-then being fixed ; but the itinerant of taxes could not remain always fixed ; for taxes are either levied by a fixed rat" on elan modities, as 101. per pipe on wine ; or at a per emit ego er r ni,al rent upon land or colontialities :woo-ding nt their value ; and this will mitive a considerable differ enee in our fature consideration of the effect of a tax. If it is calculated at 101. a pipe on wine for instance., the tax is increused only by the greater consumption of wine, foul it is greatly diminished by the increase of the price of wine. For instance, it' a pipe cost 601. and paw 101. duty, there is one-sixth of the value ; but it' it rise in price to 1201. it is only one-twelfth; and here We ice the ti . in , e• tiler advanta of raising taxes by a fixed rate, imtead of a rate according to the value el land or commislities. In the one rare, the tas is every day growing lighter ; in tae other, it is every day increasin:n By taxing ern , matlities in tale * so'r, lest! ,r, iron, lead, hemp, ii hors, 'r.os on into• I:ft ralltll . l W.:;: , the price imediately riser ; and by ewer', oil other lit m iees ritrino, and the value ' of monev fiallial;. the we .4' taxes r heeornetroatly diminish - ed. But gi.,... an d ial 'orew duty, mail there is a i escape from the but :—...,r, by a xa ,✓odden fall in the prim, which also rist; u:1 amennt of the t: , anl errs:Aims a ne-v i.,,„,g,riii on. 4' . 1 • .• ' tail and in arithreetimol cal r ettintiorta, wpm principles • bib cannot ra-r, the true source of the in , ..ans by %Alti-li we lave b--en enabler? to support a coostart. incro. •,...- or birthens. t:1 of late, when Trices begtm to f... 11; or 1 rt blive a elite not only to the increasing burthea of :al 4' 116 Ify a rrand rate, such as the income-tax, but we rtety see that it entieirateit all the rat - pins of the p• *Fie, end throws them into the hands ot t`.ta Ge.o•ramen i revocably. Experience has shown. that the .amine-ta... hy increase of prices, rises ever , rear. anti the.. ;• ra).a...1 the people incapable of making any new exert . is the time of danger. We m.o. cone-lade, the'-;Le, that it is very •ecll adapted to a coat.. ofilespotism and t''4itary gavernment, where a great and continually incrensinx standing army is to be ' kept; but not to a free state, wlich hopes to hot e some re laxation in puce. In a worl, it is a grievance limn which • sec of n e e Sei..nee of levy, by Jot ■ Prirec'Smit •, p. Yuck 9'd. time gives no relief, it sticks to the people's back, like the shirt of Nem: that destroyed Hercules, and as a matter of state policy, it ;;rasps all present and future wealth, an 3 tempts the crown to a constant increase of expenditure. To use homely language, it eats the calf in the cows Lelly , anti it kills the goose with the golden egg. It is peculiar lv a tax of extravagance, a tax adapted only to' a war i: which the existence of a people is nt stake. Wisely, therefore, was it promised, that as it was imposed to resist the revolution in France, it should cnd with it; and we do hope, that having succeeded in happily placing the Bourbons on the throne, we may nut be burthened with it, fur the mere purpose of keeping them on it in per petuity. We have supported it during war upon principle; and with the same view, and upon the same prnciplas, we hope every loyal wan, who wishes to be again prepared fur war when it may be necessary, will now oppose it. They who wish to preserve the crown, will du the bcst service by not exhausting the people. &unDav amusemento. "Divide SUNDA Y from the W eek."—SII4NESPEARIt. TN furtherance of the intention lately announced to our Readers, we propose, in the Mere numbers of THR NATIONAL lietesexa, to give, under the above Title, some short composition partaking of a Religious Charac ter, and possessing some conformity with the style of reading and thinking recommended for the CHRISTIAN fs , ..venera. Without censuring the publication of a Sun.. day Newspaper, which we sanction by our practice ; we may be permitted to say, that a short Le-ey, dedicated to the subject of Brun:lox, would be, in our opinion, an appropriate addition to its contents; would act as a kind of qualifying and redeeming ingredient, and, without destroying the general interest of its coltimne would render it more consonant to the wishes of the %yell.: ie peseil ; and, together with tare in the selection of inte:- ligence, would constitute a passport into serious and re ligious families. The young and the busy might be induced to peruse a siert portion of a Newspaper, cce tsining sacred instruction, or inculcating useful advise, while their rolattility or aspeations moat render them averse to look into a religious quarto, and who could me begin a sennon without king reminded el the forma lities of Chundi service. In ectirg upon this impreseion,. we shall avoid being obtruve in our manner, or tecliozs in our details. No puritanical solemnity will he reseete melded, no asperity of remark itulu : we shall nbetu'.3 front all discussions concerning erects or (wife:Nit:us; v c shall neither censure ncr support the tenets of atty SA.7. Brevity will be most scrupulously olemrved, and greet variety of subject will be combined with strict unity ef design, and general tendency. Sometimes we shall enter upon a short mid:is:n(la new religious tract, ur volume of sermons, extracting from them valuable passeger; sometimes we shall state, in a cersory and popular man ner, the principal evidences of our reliteion ; :.t efter times, we shell give a short account of the ditlerent stets into which religious opinions or ceremonies have divided the world ; and, at others again, lay before e. to reader a train of moral reflections. a 14,,gruphical netiee of u religitets character, a religirus poem, or easy other composition whore tendeney accords with what we have in view. In these Essays there will be no stateliness or solemnity of manner aimed at, no attempt at any thin:;; te:romlite. protintrel, or systematie. We make ee p ee _ tensions to instrect those who either are alreudy in strteeed. or betieve themselves so, in religious matters ; we despair of gaining the attention of the man of busi ness. who is employed in examining the last wetL's ( ;melte, to find his debtor on the life of bankrupts ; and we lay :to eleira to the ear of Cee. politician, who is so much engaged with rtn.tling the affairs of Errope, that he has no time to think of higher interests ; but to ti' • young. the ineeperls iced, and the decal' ffir'ernay con vey useful infinenation, or *wart . " e tiOeltee uri Ak i ja We shell, by the means alley-mentiorte.. " ilknt that Sr snav is sti:l includol in the weak; that ltdrit cs. along wirhin its periodical returns appropriate duties; end that the communication of secular intelligence rhould, • not prevent the indulgence of those serious refe.tiens which the remission of seenlar employment, and the re{ e lay services of the day, suggese. We shall supply-Nome thing which the younger branches of a family may reed to those more advanced, for the mutual benefit of both, conformable to the Prover-book or the Ude, a ponies) of which may have come under their review, and compa tible with the public worship to which the. °settee invites elsem. It is superfluous to ray, that, to be of any t.se, day 1 1 (t; tto , 11, Is. / I