The Sun. — London, England, 1815-02-21 00:00:00

363 ,0001. Tat hon the horses of plea re' jor he sh ou ld re f ra i n from taxing those for •)(1' s bandry, wou l d b ring at the rate of SO per t t e ut• abo ut 632,5001. The new duty on the ` r cide or horses would only be 40 per cent. and 'N al(' Produce 85,5001. That on Dogs, at 30 per , e " 1- . would 'yi e ld 105,5f/01. and that on Game Ce rtificat es , Batchelors had hitherto. I • 4i d an additional duty on Servants only ; they should now pay an increase , of '5O per cent. both ° n Servants arid Carriages and Horses. The pro ',lice of t hi s tax was expected to amount to '20,0001. and the total of the new Assessed Taxes 1° 2,500 , 0001. H e s h ou ld now p r oceed to the 4'hlitions he intended to make to the War Taxes Ivi ' i ch were to be retained. He should propose ' 1 . 4 additional duty on Tobacco, o n t h e groun d l the peace w ith America would "necessarily i ,nder the price of that article very I°w.', and en :t L ' l e it to bear a fresh' duty of nearly 9d. in the 11., the rate of per pound pail to the Cus ‘l;"` 1' and 6d. p er p oun d pa id to the Excise, ,ell would j o i nt l y produce 300,000/. The ex duties on wine should also experience an in :-rease of 2 0/. per tun, which would yield a reve "of 500,000 E annually. The ne x t T ax wou ld L °l Perh aps, b e unobjectionable. It might press ward upon the persons whom it con c e rne d, but it l tl ~ s a°object which had scarcely experienced any Iv cr ease durin,, the whole o f th e l ate protracte d k y ' lr : Re me an t'". licenses on dealers under th e is c se• A duty. of 50 per cent. progressive upon would produce 300,000/. It would err be unequal in its pressure, but by a r e - It ertce to the forty-third of the King, 1759, ' w ould be found that what he proposed was , ti'°clerate. Th e w h o l e o f the new taxes under the 't;and'of the Excise would yield t o t h e countty ' b iu,o ool. a year. H e would now proceed to im ;,°s t 4 of a diff erent d escr i pt i on. The first would t„.,b i e very considerable, and' this was not the t, Irad tun e that it bad been thought of, though I;7never yet been entirely adopted. As early 88, i t was r ecommended that .one penny t'"ht be paid on every N ews p aper sent,. by ,est This had been ‘ C ar ri e d in to e fi ect ‘v i t h re eet to papers forwarded by Two-penny 'Post, not by the feneral; It was supposed that any tiling that would check the c i rcu l at i on Of p 4 l ' e rS :would have an injurious tendency. But 'as certain that every one who indulged in lu xary of r ea di ng a L ondon Paper, a lUxury `1 tilt W h ich all were w e ll acquainted., would not 4 :Ptive hi mself of that enjoyment for th e sa k e o f itv rvi c ig . °vie penny. He should app r eh en d, how er; that Aienthers of Parliament would Fontinue 0l receive their Newspapers' free o f p ost age.---- e i r t e I th 2 h v a g (.« e neral cry of No, N o , arose, and Mr. said across t h e table, . Tax Mem- Qf th e cad As it appeared to be the univerqal -sense .not to avail themselves of their pre ou n pti this oc cas i on ,, h e wou ld make o. ex- eat e rl in thei r favour this d u ty . , which wa s bent: t ed to p ro d uce 50,00 0 1. a-year. He should *Pectin l , : ., () N'se any rote to t h e , C om i n i ttee re pia,") t he Post-Qffice, but simply s t ate , t h at Tend kyas carrying in to execu ti on , to . ex - Packets- esta blishment_of .that office by rq.7;ular INtrt s. the. East I n die s ' , and other forei gn, *er e ~4 2 ; e . estimate s of its exp ec t e d 'p ro d uce co t/rs _ c as yet .very loose, but r a t e d a t tax ati° 1 On thes e two b ranc h es of additional )2- -'n'llo°l 2 the p u bli c revenue would be benefitted . l k i? i '7. yearly. The total amount of, the t axes ''' Ire should impose to night would th ere f ore 811„,.1 /28 ,0001. but with an understanding that he b ests be at liberty to. bring f o r war d ot h er i m- F he thought proper, to complete the ex aF Lie had in view an increase lalstamp duties, except on stamps employed in th e Proceedings. But the House was a..vare of a: 'difficulty and delay of preparing: a stamp tc ot iell ule's and therefore would admit his rea r, fqr rostppning a more particular mention of h ated, subject to another evening. After what he had te.d, there remained about 600,0001. to be made eliabut.these would be procured by the repeal of 34 , e t backs- on th e e x portation of several articles, t i u. ". as p r inted cotton s an d , sugar. For perhaps t 4e ,.ti " ( la th e ,our the fl our i s h ing state of trade draw ceased ceased to b e necessar y , and the public 14a ' i L found to pay more ou their account than on t oy of. the duties on exportation. He bad 1 41 „atrived ,to that great article, Be et; ; ( a - t ,, 1 , H e had received many suggestions to la that would touch th a t Commodity. t But some ago an illePeaSC had taken place in the price, x cilv. the public were perfectly convinced that it ti l i, v . i t "as higher 'than it ought to be. He was tliethe necessaries 'of life, and' should be most t Y L i . t the limit which he had given, led to artie`t";ag off, instead of impoSing, a tax on that tg l ,: e ' When the rise.had occurred some years te,hthe Brewers had called on him and' Lord Li eon,i , 1 ) atiti stated their intentions, which they - liv 4 , (l ereti fair at the time, in consequence of the lia r ' ? c harges to 'which war' subjected the trade. 4 given th e exp l anation, he trusted the pob- Q „ °l4 ll see, th at w i th the. present high price of tecilr.),le had not hi ng to do. (Laughter.) He then 11 1 ', t'tlllated the t axes w hi c h he had this evening Po se th e i r d, and which are all brought into view with koduc e in the following - statement : lA, Rec. lodacco ...... 2 1d.per lb. Duto p 2 d .6d. ditto ' 150,000 ouble • fixed 150 p,r. Cent. 000 0; . Per tu • • ....... 1 progressi ve ' " ..., 150,000 A ite 1 AssEssED T.lxEs, viz.— t4\,t,,, t lio ns , .. , pct • .a0a,500 i srv,, i „ •• L,v .• .30 pet Cent. 1 :,,. 6. t—etvants' Tax so to 90 do. 308,500 rltir. 4 "ers, &c. . • vatilnlS 101,f.00 r:Nit.;-',EV;l,llt•s' and Ser -1,1-ti,,t, !"r hik• - ... : { ditto -- T .. !... • ... ....... about 75 p.cent• 3 q 3 , o °° ))14411."..1 ,11:asure ....about 80 ditto' . 657,500 ~,,ii • • urses .... . •• • t tSG ditto - - 83 500 .... ...... a ;on . . ‘ L 'e Ce rt . ' .' • ..... '... about 30 ditto • 106,300 It:.: • LleateS ...... - - do. do. 42,000 , !,, , i uws. NEW DUTIES. kl , il,l /I 4111'i:rehouse k. 41. . 4 ( I ) ,, ll "tst•s .... s astAl. ii.window 50,000 19'„its arelitioses .... SAM eas limise9.lso,oo 1:11.,,„.? 5 0 Per cent. additional on 1:120,000 ', carriage.s,land Horses, ... 500,000 350,000 148,000 t 441.14. 1 ~ (.%* on each - 5 New;pap er 0,000 •.. d. Postatie rc,6ufatiori 75;000 2,600,000 . r 125,000 re k3,7zs e ono ' f eiPained to pr ov id e f or the cArges of the Loans fot present auzi suoit:atient !Ps, mid those on the unfunded debt. The Fund for the reduction of the National Debt now amounted to abOut sixty millions, and it seemed practicable to make it defray those expenses ; but he thought it would be more advisable to allow the Sinking Fund for the next four years to increase at com pound interest withou( being touched. At the end of that period, it would amount to 150 mil lions, awl would be so increased as to redeem at simple interest the whole of . the funded debt in 45 years, the , time proposed by Mr. Pitt, and would then become disposable for other services. Although,he hoped that Peace was now consolidated and secure, yet the renewal .of war might more justly be dreaded, when the revolutionary fermen tation which had so long agitated Europe had scarcely subsided,. than when nations had returned to quiet occupations, and the minds of men were settled. He now considered every month of peace as-adding to its security. Should, however, fresh storms arise in four- years, according to the system which he now proposed, the country would be -;more able to' meet any extended expenditure, should any such be unfortunately once more re quired. It would then he in possession of a fund equal to its wants, and the appropriation of which would support allits influence, and its credit un impaired. The best mode of rendering peace se cure was to be ready for mar. By saving the Property Tax and the Sinking Fond, as our never failing resources in times of emergency and dan ger, e should augment otieoneans, and whilst our moderation would prevent us from rushing into unnecessary wars, we should lay an immoveable foundation for our national credit, and enlarge our influence throughout the world. It was no small satisfaction to look over the immense extent of taxation which we had passed. This night would deliver us from 'nine millions of taxes, and at the same time, would powerfully coon ihute to the ex tension of our public revenue. This was matter Of exultation, and he hoped our prosperity would proceed with accelerated progress. _lt was matter of exultation, that, on Ale sth of April last, the total amount of our sevenuc, exclusive of the Property Tax, was 48,436,0001. ; whilst it had ortly risen to 47 millions the preceding year;- and that in ; the year ending last Christmas it . had amounted to 51,211,0001. Thus had the resources of the country continued to grow during a long and violent struggle, in which we had atchieved all the great and useful objects-for which we had con tended. On hailing the close of so long and tre mendous a confliat, he should not apologise to the House for recording a prophetic sentiment expressed by the late Mr, Burke. At.the 'first din ner given by the Speaker, at the commencement of our contest with France, Mr. Butke filled a glass with wine, and drank '' Siccess to this long war." The whole company were not a little sur prised, as there was no probability at the ,time that the war should . ,last, Mr. Burke perceived their astonishment, and added—" I say this long war, and say it emphatically, -hut, - .Purate, 'et vosmet rebus . wvate•secandis. Let Durate be your motto." It had indeed been , the motto of this. 'country. Constancy had triumphed over every difflealty and danger, and should a. new occasion arise to make . an appeal to the firmness and he roiStn of the British People, they would not be 'found, as they never have been . found, to - sfidnk filial the glorious .call,---(Hear, hear!) He con eluded by moving his first Resolution. Mr. WHITBREAD said; it was not his intention to have said any thing on the present occasion-, had it not been for a certain taunt or sneer that the Right Hon. Gentleman had, in a certain part of his speech,- thought proper to throw outagainst the trade of which he had the honour 'to be an humble member. In that part of the speech to which lie alluded, the Right Hon. Gentleman had said, " that h e h a d received several hifils, that an additional tax might be laid on, beer from the high prices at which it was kept up." The Right Hon. Gentleman had this night offered his plan of Finance, and Many were of opinion that one of his articles for raising the money he wanted would be a tax on beer. The Right Hon. Gentleman: had kept every circumstance.relative to his plan exceedingly snug and close ; not a whiSPer had made its way to the public till the whole promul gation had just issued from his own mouth. . All inquiries made l y himself. or his friends had been fruitless and ineffectual. He would not give the smallest hint in answer by which to guess at ; so that the trade to which lie belonged could not form any. true judgment by which they were to act, as to the continuance of the present prices of beer, till they were able to ascertain what the intentions of the Right Hon. Gentleman would he. The Right Hon. Gentleman had beet' waited - on, in company with Lord Liverpool, by a De putation of the trade, of which Deputation lie had the honour to be one ; in which they bad fairly represented' the state in which they stood, and the injuries they sustained from the then high prices of barley, &c. The consequence of which was, the prices had been raised. - A second De putation had in like manner taken place between the same parties, and a second increase of price had taken place ; but such second price was soon given up, and the trade had 'since 'waited to see what the Right Hon. Gentleman would do, before they could say what they should do. Now they were possessed of tohat, they would take their measures within 48 hours ; and, had the Right Hon. Gentleman condescended to be a little mo‘e communicative, the tipsiness would perhaps have been settled, and the Poblie acquainted with the intentions of the trade before this time'. With respect to 'the plan of the Right Hon. Gentlenidn, he should reserve his opinion for some future oc .. casioir. Mr. TiERNET said, he should not attempt to follow the Right Hon. Gentleman through the wide range of argument in•which he had indulged himself, and with which he had amused ninny "Members present, as it would seem from time se- Neral cheers with which they bad so cordially greeted his speech-, He - would confine himself 'to . those parts which he considered to be most falla cious, and to which .lie could not submit in si lence, without being guilty in his own mind . 4 a dereliction-of his parliamentary duty. In the lat ter part of the speech, the Right Hon. Gentleman had given the House the consolatory information, . that 21 millions a year of War Taxes would be necessary for the Peace Establishment. The Riglit. rtotteenathle Ceotlemen bad waetule ettleteised toe patience, the fortitude, and the patriotic perseverance of the - people, e by which they had en a bl e d t h e G overnment to bring the war to agiOrions conclusion ; and what was the effect and consequence of all this )' 'Why, Sir, no less than this—that this very people, who had fondly flattered themselves they should he relieved by a peace, would now find that eleven millions of the war taxes were to be continued ; and if they could place any confidence in the forebodingsof the Right Hon. Gentl eman th ey had every reason to flatter themselves that in the short period of four years they might again expert the happiness of being once more 'called upon to exert their utmost energies' in the same sort of warfare by which they had gained so much honour and pt'aise from the Right Honourable Gentleman. Howsuch information should happen to deemed such a " Gvd ~send" as, by the . cheers it re ceived, it appeared to b e t o a great part of the ijouse, he was at a loss to conceive. The H ouse , ehe was sure, would recollect lie had repeatedly told his Majesty's Ministers that whenever peace arrived they would find themselves in a state of great embarressment. • He knew they must, and he believed they now felt most sensibly that he was on that bead no false prophet. It was not, however, his intention to throw any impediment in their way which should add to their embarrass ment on the contrary, lie would much rather do every thing in his power to assist' theta in getting out of it.. When be said this, he spoke sincere ly, and in order to evince that sincerity to the House, it was necessary he should give' his can did opinion of the plan now submitted to the consideration of the House by the Right.-lion. Gentleman: By this, the Right Hone Gentleman first called on the lekiiise for six millions, to make good the war taxes ; and then five millions more, which were to beconsideredin the light of war taxes in time of peace. This he must Protest against ; for ilhe did not greatly mistake this plan, it was by much the, most unparliamentary one he had ever seen or heard of. The House would observe there was. noe_a Bing le document, not a word of information, before them to warrant . the assertio n , that it w as t h e frost advantageous-way for Par liament to. proceed at the present moment by rais ing a large sum, or in other wortk; the whole of the supplies within the year. lii his opinion a Loan would have been iefinitely preferable, and far better suited to the circumstances of the country. tie then spoke, he said, in the hearing of many who knew nothing of what had passed, hut through the newspapers ; bet those who vere - present in the House before.the late adjournment took place, would do him the justice to recollect, that at that period, When the House was called on . to vote- 24 milli ons , •h e h ad expressly' told them they were all war -taxes, and it now appeared clearly 'to be the case : for after the speech of the Right Hon. 'Gentleman; this night, he defied any\ one to say that he could tnow whether it was a speech -of„ a war character or of a peace charac ter... He wants , tp raise twenty- 7 one millions in a titre of profound-peace with all the world. What, said Mr. 'l'. can be his motive for pressing this . measure at7the present moment ? He had told the House it was because the Property Tax would 'expire o'n the sth of April; The House must, there fore;provide the'tnoneynow. This he denied to be the ease.; ,There-was no occasion for such a mea sure at. present, and the Right I-ion. Gentleman was not warranted in calling on the House for such a sum ',ornitiney. - The real fact was, he wanted it to-carry hint.on. a certain time longer ; andif e he obtained it, he (Mr. T,) should not be . surprised to see another adjournment. The House would remember, that' . before the late adjourn ment took place, he harp seriously warned them of the mischief that might arise from being so full of confidence in Ministers. He bad protested against voting so large a sum as 24 thillionsovith- Out it being ascertained as to the manner its which it was to be expended ; and when the Right Hon. Gentleman refused to answer certain questions on which' it was deemed important to receive infor oration, he '(Mr. T.) had adviSed the House to grant. no money till they received an, answer on such points as they deemed it necessary for the public gOod to have ascertained. Lord Castle reagh -was now expected very stain : when he at-• rived, it kVaS likely he would have it in his power to give such information as would nearly ascertain what money would eventually he wanted, and for what exigencies or contingencies it Might be re quisite -to provide : however, it was evident that the whole object now was to get the money without shelving for what purposes it would be wanted ; and be would venture 'to say, that such a proceeding was perfectly unexampled in the practice ) of Parliaments. To rai:se the supplies within the year was not usual, and only to be continued in time 'Of war. The Right lion. Gentleman had made a flue funeral oration over the Property Tax. De thortuis, nil nisi bbnutn, was certainly the maxim of all humane reasoners. But in this case it could scarcely be applied, for the Right Hon'. Gentlenian had given the House to understand, that his bantling was " not dead, but sleepeth ;". and that, if we were not very much out of luck's way, .we might see it revive again in four veßers in all its pristine vigour.* When the Right' Hone Gentleman, previous to the adjourn ment, - was asked when the Property 'fax would expire, he was at a loss for an answer ; he did not know whether it Would expire on the sth of April or not ; soon atter, he said it would expire at that time.; afterwards lie was in dOubts again up on the subject ; but as so o n as ever he got his 24 millions, of which thePropertyTax formed so'liirge a part, he turned short upon the House, and coolly told them, they might go.about their . business, he had no further occasion for them (Or three _ months, and aecordingly away they -all went to the right about--(a laugh.)—Having thus got rid of his legitimate counsel (the, Parliament), the Right Hon. Gentleman bent his view towards the country, and transferred his confidence to his privy counsellor, Mr. Gladstanes; of Liverpool. Hav ing been told in that House that the Property Tax would not be relished by the people after the sth of April, he wished, through the medium of Mr. Gladstanes to feel the pulse of the people of Liverpool on the subject, but it unfortunately turned out that the only Gentleman be consulted in that town was the only Gentliman the people there would net listen to. The Right Honour Ge:;tliihali soon tolln:! that tIW people o f Liverpool were as, averse to the Property 'Tax: as they were in every other part of the kiagdoni ; and to the loud and united cry of the Whole na tion against it, he bad been compelled to give it up. Having thus given up his darling tax, which was by far the most - productive of any of the War Taxes, be (Mr. T.) would he glad to kno,w under, ,what pretence the Right Hon. Gentleman could fairly call on the House to raise the Supplies within the year. Among the items voted before the recess, there was in one line ten millions - for Army Extraordinaries, which was then said to be all that was wanted on that head. Would the Right Hon: Gentleman say so now.? He,believed not; and yet the Supplies were in time of profound peace to be raised within the y€9r. The Right Hon. Gentleman had allud e d t o the Committee i n 1791 :—What w as that Committee? By the man ner in which he had talked of it, the Hiluse might he led to suppose it was a Committee of the Whole House, like that in which they were then sitting. no such fling. it was such a Committee as he (Mr. T.) had for the last four years 'been continually recommending to the Right Hon. Gentleman anti his colleagues, viz, a Committee to consider of the finances of the country ; a Committee, the'Metn-: bets of which would look all the difficulties of our situation boldly in the face, and would seriOusly and deliberately recommend Elle proper mea'sures to remove them. The Right lion. Gentleman, however, chose a different course. Mr. Pitt would not have done so. In the• Committee of 1791, every document necessary to probe the subject to the bottom was laid before them ; and every lien;. her knew as well what he was going to vote, As well as Mr. Pitt himself did : and yet the Right Hon. Gentleman -comes and trumpets forth praises on his own plan, as if it could bear a degree of comparison with that of 1791. The first call in it for five millions was, he insisted, a most bare. faced one. -The Right Hon. Gentleman takes the war taxes at their: full amount, • as available asset for four years. flow•then did he distin guish, or how could he pretend to say we were to look on that as a time of peace or war ? The House would, in his opinion, betray. its trust if they voted this sutra without a Committee. He by no means intended to say that Ministers were right or wrong, but a Committee was absolutely necessary. The Right Hon. Gentleman thought it was enough if he got the money, and for the House to consider the supply afterwards ; but we ought to see if our means are equal to our wants ; and if they are not, we should endeavour to:make our wants subservient to our means. He was confident thZ.re was no such surplus as six mil lions, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer boasted of; and he warned the\House against ' voting this money, which might draw the coun. try into difficulties which it would not easily get lid of. • • 'The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER diSdailll ecl any idea of intending to throw out any taunt or sneer against the respectable trade to Which the Hon. Gentleman 'opposite (Mr. Whitbread) harl alluded, Mr, • PONSONDY exp resse d hi s decided disappro- , bation of the mode jn which die Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer had proceeded. He • had not .condescended to inform them hoW these vast sums now asked for were.to'be expended. All the consolation he had attempted to afford them was, that the peace establishment wourtl only be 19 millions a year. He (Mr. P.) did not believe thiS calculation to be accurate; and yet the Right lion. Gentleman, without any documents to prove the . truth of his assertions, Wanted an enormoits suit by anticipation, "to Wind- up the war expenses : and the fact was, the 'House would never know, what they were about, if .they went on voting money in that Way'without any information. The reduction of our expenses was the only likely may to retrieve our affairs, and this could only be done by appointing such a Committee as his Right . Hon. Friend Mr. Tierney had pointed out. This • was his decided opinion, and he could not con sent to give his vote for the present War taxes in • time of profound peace, without being authdrised to do so by the report of such a Committee. Sir JOHN NEWPORT argued upon the pressure of: taxation which most fllll upon Ireland, with respect to the National Debt, the Sinking Fund, and the interest.. After the Honourable Barouet had made Various statements on the subject, Sir JAMES SHAW rose, and adverted to the origin of the Shop Tax as proposed by Mr. Pitt, which pr ocee d e d on a pr i nciple which that great Minister afterwards gave up. Mr. BAJiING thought that the Chancellor of the Exchequer proceeded on the idea that the taxes , ji would continue to be equally st productive. The change in the situation of the otry must, bow ever,•produce a different state of things; as it re garded the productiveness of the revenue. The . change of the price of the USt necessary article .of provision'; with which; lie trusted; eviry other, article would fall, was a matter of the greatest consideration. With respect, to the operation , of things as to - the Corn Laws, a farm might be at two thousand pounds a year, and might be soon at 10001. a year : but though the rent suffered that diminution, how would the question stand as to the taxes ? This, he would con- . tend, was not the the time to act upon a statement, without taking into view the allowances for re duced rents, • for the price of labour; ai.d for all the other matters connected with the :public ex penditure. He did not choose to give a vote' which Might establish a precedent on this bead:— The whole ought to be submitted to a Committee of Enquiry. Economy must be attended to. T-. In our Colonial EXpenditure, we bad a Gover nor at the Ca - pe of Good Hope with emolu ments. amounting to tw ent y t h ousan d pounds year—(No, no.) Perhaps it might be something less ; and, as he understood from the interruption, only 10,0001. a year. He hoped he had not stated the emoluments of this appointment too high ; if he had done so, he supposed it would be contra. dieted. Ile could not tell ‘vhat Ministers might feel it necessary to,do for a great family; but it was the duty of that House to look after the pub lic expenditure. On the departed Property Tax, be might say a good deal; but be was afraid of its resurrection. After having presented Peti tions against the P ro p erty T ax, h e could not ad. mil the panegyric passed upon it by the Chancel., for of the Exchequer ; and he thoup-hr ih2r .11 tb. I ~.