The Sun. — London, England, 1831-02-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The financial plan which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has submitted to the House of Com mons is not of such a nature, we regret to say, as to induce us to anticipate from it any considerable relief to the distresses of the people and the em barrassments of the country. It is, in truth, but another link in the series of partial experiments, by d mean s of which, for a long c ourse of years, an during successive Administrations, vain attempts have been made to improve a system of finance ori ginally bad in itself, and at variance with thdse principles on which alone a plan of taxation can be founded, capable of sustaining a large public revenue with the least possible pressure on the productive industry of the nation. As long as nearly cwt-thirds of the whole taxation raised upon the country is re quired to pay the interest of the public debt, it is clear that there is little more than one-third of that amount of taxation which is applied to those purposes of Government that cart be de the subject of econo mical reduction. It is ri made the subject of economical redUCtio. It is right hat faith should be ob served with the public crediter, t until that overruling necessity occurs which m a k es a regard for the :cilia populi superior to every other consideration. That necessity has not yet occurred, but we are of opinion it can only be averted by cut ting off all wasteful and useless disbursements from the public expenditure, and by altering the principle on which the taxation is to be raised to defray the just and legitimate expenses of the State, and pay his stipulated interest to the public creditor. We ad vised the last Administration, and we advised the present, to lay aside the shifts and contrivances of mere patch-work expedients in finance, and boldly reform the system upon sound and equitable principles. It is clear to any body who reflects upon the matter that et present the middle and poorer classes pay too large a proportion of their means to the support of the Sate, and the highest and wealthiest classes pay too little. The indirect taxes have the effect of making the labourer pay as much in consumable articles towards the public revenue as the most opu lent Nob!eman or the first capitalist in the land. Nay, in this point, the latter can evade the payment of all contribetion whatever to the exchequer of his country, by residing abroad, and consuming the produce of another nation, while the labourer is, of necessity, attached to the soil, and can in no way escape the grasp of the hundred-handed giant of fiscal exaction. The assessed taxes are also a grievous incumbrance upon industry, and serve to fet ter those energies which formerly raised this country to unexampled power and splendour, and which, if f ree ee ain, would, we are confident, soon re gain for the people of England much of that com fort and prosperity from which they have fallen. Besides, these assessed taxes were laid on with the ee p t ess u nderstanding that they were to be con sidered only as war taxes. That stipulation has been violated, and thus, in respect of those taxes, we are still under a war system of finance in the sixteenth year of peace. We recommended, as a substitute for the mass of indirect and other taxes which press so unequally on the poor, and so ruinously on the national industry, a property tax, and, as it is pretty certain we must come to this at last, unless we are prepared to commit an act of bank ruptcy townie's the public creditor, the sooner it is done the better; but by a property tax we do not meets an income tax, which is a tax in its nature and opera• tion too inquisitorial and vexatious not to increase rather than alleviate the causes of public discontent. A property tax,besi des relieving industry,would have the advantage of being more equal than any other, inas much as every mat; possessing land and other capital would then pay in proportion to his means to the necessities; of the State ; while he who has no pro perty would be relieved until, by his industry or good fortune, he acquired any, and then, like others, his contribution would be in proportion to what he had acquired, while the expences of the collection roust be far less than under the present machinery of taxation. The present Chancellor of the Exche quer has partially adopted our plan as to reduction of taxes, by taking off a certain portion of indirect taxation ; but he has not gone far:enough. Where he undertook to repeal the duty on seaeborne coals, and to reduce the Hexes on tallow candlee, printed calicoes, glass, and some of minor consequence, be should not have excepted soap, unless he thinks cleanliness is not as necessary for a labourer as for a Lord—nor do we see why he should have headed his plan of reduction leith the tobacco duty. This night be a good ad captanduni measure to begin with in the House of Commons, if the Honourable House were a great divan or smoking-club, but we really do not understand how it can afford relief to fee people who asant bread, that young gentlemen of luxurious elegant e of taste should pay less for the n uisance 01 fumigating the streets and public places w oh t h e cigar'', than its costs them at pre sent I There would have been some sense in taking off the malt tax—that would have been a relief to the agricultural interests, and would have been a measure equally judicious and popular. In the im position of new taxes the Chancellor of the Exche quer has been gill more unfortunate. The tax upon the transfer of land and property in the funds is a poor expedient to avoid the imposition of a real property tax. Setting aside all question about vio• lating faith with the fundholders, we object to it on another ground. We consider all taxes upon the cir culation of property as bad in principle, and a re stra'nt upon commercial transactions. Besides, the transfers in the funds are mostly made from neces sity, and not from choiee, and such a tax would con sequently be levied upon the persons affected there by, under circumstances which rendered them least capable of bearing the loss. The increased tax upon raw cotton is also bad in principle, as is every tax laid on the raw material of home manu factures. We would prefer to see, instead of this,a higher duty laid upon spirits, and the tax upon to bacco raised instead of being lowered, as we do not believe the sum of national happiness and morelity could be diminished by a decrease of the habits of smok:ng and drinking. If passengers by steam boats are to be taxed, why not by, rail-ways ?As to the equalization of duties on wine, it appears to us very unjust, as well as unwise, that the struggling matiufactto es of our own colony of the Cape should pay a duty equally heavy • with those of the finest and most costly foreign wines. This must hove the effect of a prohibition on Cape wine, and de-1 stroy the capital which, of late years, British sub jects bad invested in that manufacture, with a view to its improvement. Besides, we should think our treaties with Portugal, until abro gated by the mutual consent of both the contract ing nations, preclude us from establishing ouch an equalization of duties upon all foreign wines, without incurring the charge of breach of political faith. It was under the obligation of those treaties that Mr. Canning justified himself in sending troops to Por tugal, to protect her from the threatened Spanish invasion. The treaties that secure us certain com mercial advantages with Portugal, especially as to our trade in woollen goods, are as old as the days of Oliver Cromwell and John IV. But it is the treaty that Queen Anne made with Pedro 11., which has ever since regulated the commercial transactions of the two kingdoms. The second article of that treaty says, " that at no time, whether there shall be peace or war between the kingdoms of Britain and France, any thing more shall be demanded upon these wines by the mime of custom or duty, or by whatever other title, directly or indirectly than what shall be demanded for the like quantity of French wine, deducting or abating a third part of the custom d u ly. but if, at aay time, this deduction or abater ment of custom, which is to be m a d e as l aft)!e sa •d, shall, in arty wanner be attempted and prejudiced,. it shall be ju s t and lawful for his sacred Royal Ma jesty of Portug al a g ain to p rohibit the woollen c loths, and the rest of the British woollen manufac tures." This, w hich is best known by the name of the Methuen Treaty, has certainly not been re scinded, since Mr. Canning's time, by that which we merely consider the Government dc facto, or that which we recognised at one time us the Go vernment de jure, of Portugal; nor have we ob tained any reciprocal advantages from France, On t he whole, we earnestly recrArnnend the Ch a n ce ll or of the Excheq uer to reconsider his plan, an d - not re fuse to profit by public ()pinion, lik e t h e l ate Ad ministration.-IV/orning herald. The public has now had time to digest a little the articles of the Budget, and, perhaps, with the digestion a more temperate and calm constitutional feeling may come on. It will be seen that the chief objection urged by Sir Robert Peel was to the im position of a stamp duty on the transfer of funded property. We objected to it likewise, and if our information should prove correct as to the sum likely to be raised by it, there will be no great difficulty in relinquishing it for some other less offensive. The removal of the duties upon sea-borne coals merits and meets with decided aPprobation. An end, it is remarked, is thereby put to the wdiole of the coastwise duties; and of course a Reform, as the French call it, of persons employed in collecting them will follow. The abolition of the duty on candles is equally satisfactory, and will be sensibly felt. There are some duties, the re moval of which, as Sir Robert Peel jusly re marked, is not proportionably felt by the consumer; that upon candles cannot be of the number, for the consumer has always the remedy in his own hands by himself making, and that without any great stretch of ingenuity, the article he wants, if the dealer do not come down in his price. The chief subjects of discussion in the Budget are, the dimi nution of the tobacco and the newspaper stamp duties, and the imposition of the - transfer Of stock duty. To the reduction of the stamp duties on newspapers, speaking professionally, we can have no objection. As there may, however, often be difficulties in determining the number of printed lines in a manuseript presented for insertion, and as misunderstandings might thence arise between the advertiger, the newspapers, and the stamp-office, we think that it would be better to fix one rate (say Is. Gd.) for all advertisements, than to have a tlottWe scale of Is. or .-?s t 04 accord ing to their length. The produce of the tax would then be as great, while the inconvenience of its col feetiu:l would be diminished, and one motive be re moved for giving imperfect notices from the desire of avoiding Government charges. These doubtful points, however, may easily be modified or changed: aud, upon the whole, notwithstatuftig the local troubles in the rural districts, we cannot help re marking on the easy tone of confidence with which Ministers, both ins and outs, speak of the resources of the country. So much the better for England, we say ! It is not inappropriate to the present sub ject to offer to general notice an observation trans mitted to us by a valuable correspondent. Times of commercial and manufacturing difficulties are ge nerally evinced, and even measured, by the bank rupt list in the Gazette, Now we are assured by him, that for many months past, besides the dimi nution in lumbers, the magnitude of the dealings of those who have failed has been comparatively nc thing.—Tinw, - - - - - - There is, we believe, but one opinion with re gard fo the propriety of the choice of the taxes about to be repealed or reduced. The duty on sea-borne coals was one of the most wickedly partial and op pressive that could possibly be devised; and were there no other proof of the superiority of our own times, we might cite this tax, which no Statesman durst think of propo-ing, and which, at all events, no Parliament would now grant. The wonder is, how such an infamous tax has been suffered to con tinue so long. When it was proposed to remove the duty some dozen years ago, a strong opposition was, however, made by the Members of the inland counties, on ;he ground that capital had been em barked in mines, on the faith of the tax on sea-borne coal continuing, and that, were the tax to be repealed, this capital would be lost. But at that time Lord Durham (then Mr. Lambton) and the other Mem bers who advocated the repeal were not properly backed by the country, from sufficient pains not having been taken before hand to prepare the people, and they were borne down by the parties inter ested in the perpetuation of the injustice. Due pains have, however, been taken of late to exhibit the tax to the public in its true colours. An excellent pamphlet, attributed to Mr. M'Culloch, placed in a strong light the information obtained by Parliamen tary Committees, and derived from other sources; and this pamphlet having been most extensively cir culated, and the newspaper press having generally lent itself to the diffusion of the facts and arguments contained in it, no Ministry, no body of men could any longer have resisted the repeal; more especially after the disturbances in the Home Counties, in which the sufferings of the poor are so much aggra vated by the tax. The reduction of the duty on newspapers and on advertisements will also prove highly beneficial. To allude. only to books. The duty on advertisements amounted to a prohibition to publish works below a certa in size ; and it made I a deep inroad into the profits of all books to which the public attention was drawn. We instance books; but the observation is soseeptible of general application. The effect of the reduction of duty will necessarily be an extension of the means of com munication to the public. To avoid all cavilling about lines, as columns of newspapers are of various breadths, and the print may be large or small, it would be better to say a certain number of words. The disposition of Ministers to favour the diffusion of knowledge through the press, is, at all events, highly praiseworthy. The repeal of those duties which pressed with peculiar severity on industry, as the duty on printed cottons and on glass, also meet with general approbation. The repeal of the duty on candles is also a great boon. With respect to tobacco, opinion is not, we believe, so favourable. The tax is still sufficiently high to afford a strong temptation to the smuggler. Where the prime cost of a commodity is almost nothing, the half of such a duty as the praseet one on tobacco, will allow of little or no diminution of contraband. It strikes us, too, that the use of tobacco being attended with very injurious consequences (a veteran snuff-taker can hardly speak to be understood), a better subject for taxation can hardly be selected. It is, at all events, a luxury; and before relieving luxuries, the catalogue of necessaries should be exhausted. With respect to the taxes substituted for those repealed or reduced, we are happy to be able to state, that it has been determined to abandon that on the trans ference of stock. After the opposition which it encountered in the House, we were prepared for its abandonment, and we think Ministers have acted wisely in yielding at once to an opinion so unequi vocally rosoifested in every quarter. The tux on the tratodereuce of land, will, we suppose, be also aban doned. Indeed, of the two, ales on land seems the meet partial in principle, as it will bear almost ex clusivel on the smaller class of landholders. The great landholder's e state goes by succession to his eldest son; but the owner of an petate of 500/., or even VON. a year, usually conveys it to trustees for sale, and distribution among his children. By the smallest landlielders, therefore, the tax would almost exclusively be paid.--elforning chronicle. Lord Altborp's financial career has commenced most inauspiciously, - Ai, outrageous proposal of taxing the transfers of stock has raised a storm that men such as constitute the present Ministry are totally incapable of allaying. In their distress ing embarrassnient, the Chancellor of dee Exche quer had yesterday (Sunday) a meeting not only of his official colleagues but of his comoserpial and city Merida. Lord Althorp informed them that he continued unaltered in his opinion respecting the justice of the proposed measire of taxing the trans ter of stock ; but that if his friends dissented from him, he would. riot persist in it.—Mr. Baring stood prominently forward in the declaration of his opi nion, that the proposed tax was et once obnoxious and iispraetieable, and must in reason and policy be abandoned. An income tax, chiefly referable to the funds, was then suggested, .but received with disapprobation.; and on its being proposed to be made general, it was objected that its application to Ireland would under the present circumstances be highly imprudent. Nothing specific was determined 1 upon. All was doubt and uncertainty at the break- kg up of the meeting; and Lord Althorp, in hi; perplexing and pitiable situation, had only to re quuest the early attendance of the friends of Mini sters in the House of Commons this day, when he hoped to be able to submit some new proposition to Parliament. We hope the true friends of the people, ;and those who alone understand the real in terests of the country, will not fail on their part to give due attendance on this occasion. The prin ciples upon which the Administration of Earl Grey have proceeded in framing their financial arrange ments are evidently the following :- 1. Blind attachment, or abject servility, to Foreign Revolutionary Governments merely as such. 2. Enmity to the colonial interests of Great Britain. 3. A determination to violate public faith, as a prepa ratory step to sponging off the National Debt. (1.) In the alteration of the wine duties we see an un eluivocal proof of the attachment and servility of Earl Grey's Administration towarila the revolutionary Govern ment of France, for which indeed we were already pre pared by the previous language of that Minister and seve ral of his colleagues. Every consideration of policy, justice, and humanity, requires that there should be a permanent distinction of duty in favour of Portuguese in comparison with French wine. The settled, and, so far as has yet appeared, the unalterable policy of France, is to impede and repel commercial intercourse with Eng land. That of Portugal has been, and is, to fester and promote such intercourse. The wine of Portugal is consumed by the middle classes principally, and by the lower, fur medicinal purposes, almost exclusively, while French wine is a luxury, the taste for which is confined to the higher orders of society. The French wines besides, for which there is any demand in Eng land, are originally more costly than Port wine, and the nominal equality of duty which it is proposed to esta blish is therefore in reality unfair and unequal. All this is so plain and reasonable, that Ministers cannot have over looked it. Their arrangement of the duties loudly he speaks a partiaity to France, for which no other reason can be given than that which their uniform language war rants us in assigning, their infatuated fondness for every thing that bears the name and impress of revolution. - (4.) 4ntnity to the Colonies of Great Britain is evinced ley equalizing, as it is falsely pretended, the duty upon French and Portuguese wines with that which is the growth of the Cape of Goop Hope. This equal duty is in truth an ad valorem duty, twice as heavy upon Cape as that to be imposed upon Portuguese, and at the very l eas t th ree times as heavy as that henceforth to be collected upon French wines. It will at once annihilate this production of one of oqr improving colonies, upon which, in the firm faith of :Parliamentary protection, immense capi tals have been expended. The same spirit is displayed towards Canada in the alteration of the duties upon timber, the increased duties, he it remarked, upon an article of raw produce, upon which much British industry is em ployed. This preposterous increase of duty displays in very strong light the spirit by which the Administration is actuated towards the colonial interest of Great Britain. The increase of duty upon foreign timber is eleven per cent. ; that upon the timber, the staple of a British colony, is one hundred per cent, (3.) That an ulterior object is in view in the limited and partial inroad upon public faith proposed by the Chan e lior of the Exchequer is a supposition necessary to rescue the Administration from the charge of folly and stupidity altogether without example. Would any set of men not absolute idiots, for the sake of 800,000/. a year in a revenue of fifty millions, attempt to violate the express terms of the solemn contracts embodied in an un v trying series of Acts of Parliament, which have been made on behalf of the nation with the public creditor ? Could any but an absolute idiot dream that it was worth while io provide a substitute for the coal duty, by a mea sure of which the effect must at least be to agitate with great and not chimerical alarm the possessors of pro perty amounting to eight hundred millions of money ? Would any other than such a person have conceived the insane project of attaining so insignificant an end, by clogging with a tax the transfers of this immense mass of property, the value of which, as estimated both by Englishmen and foreigners, the facility of transfer, has always bsen a most important element ? Would any other have sought to relieve the burdened in dustry of the country, by a repeal of any taxes, however objectionable, to the amount of 800,0001. a year, intend ing to supply the deficiency of revenue thus created by a measure attended even with the risk of driving capital, the means of employing industry, in large masses out of the country, and of rendering the capital which remains less effective, by disturbing the wholesome reciprocal action of the mercantile and the money markets, and depriving merchants of an easy mode of securing temporary invest ment ? This degree of idiotcy is far beyond the boundsof rational superstition. A project of confiscation more ex tensive than they announce, the Ministers must have. They could never, rash and incapable as they are, hays de termined to encounter consequences so fearful for an object so small. This view of the subject is confirmed indeed by the arguments they offer in support of this their initiatory pro. ceeding. There is not one of these arguments that would not serve as well to justify a tax of five, ten, twenty, or fifty per cent.on the transfers cf funded property as the proposed . duty of one-hell per cent. Their main argument, the precedent of Mr. Pitt's income tax for instance, is silly and inap. pliable, and would plainly go as far in vindication of a transfer duty of 10/. as of ten shillings. Ce n'est que lc premier ims qui coute. Let them establish their point now, and all the rest will be easy enough. The income tax affected the fundbolders; the legacy duty now touches funded property, when it is tranferred in consequence of death; but the important distinctions between both of these and the present project is, that by the former the fundholders are identified and amalgamated with all other classes of proprietors in the kingdom, •and by the latter they are singled out as a distinct and separate class ; that the former was not, and the latter is, an express viola tion of the contract, which is the title of the fundholder to the whole of his property. The presentation of such a project by any Mis nistry to the British House of Commons is in itself, and independently of its success, a fatal wound to the public credit of the nation, unless it be irnme. diately healed by the ignominious dismissal from office of its contrivers. In the proposed reduction of taxes, that project which at first sight appears most equitable and beneficial—we allude to the duty on sea-borne coals—will on mature consideration be seen to be open to serious objection, it is said that the tax upon sea.borne coal is an unequal, oppres sive, and bad tax. Nobody doubts it. But does any body doubt that there are many other taxes, the re peal of which would have afforded, at this period of general distress, more general and beneficial relief? The coal tax is a very old tax—so old that the rate of wages and all the other important circumstances of society in the districts upon which it operated, were assimilated to it. The repeal of it is there. fore to be considered less as the removal of an unfair and unequal burden than as the grant of a partial boon t© particular districts of the country. Why, it may fairly be asked, when one part of the country is crying out for relief as loudly as another, should it be granted peculiarly and almost exclu siVely to the inhabitants of the southern division of the kingdom ? Why should Middlesex and the adja , cent counties be the special objects of Government favour, while the counties of York, Lancaster, Nor thumberland, Durham, and Cumberland, are coMparn" tively neglected? The repeal ofthe assessed taxes,of the malt tax, of the hop duty, would have been w holly free from this charge of partiality. One certain effect of the repeal of the coal tax will be an un mixed evil—that of collecting an immense manu facturing population around the seat of Govern ment, and this to the prejudice of the present chief scenes of manufacturing industry. Neither can it be hoped that the public will derive from the re peal of this tax an advantage corresponding with the sacrifice of revenue on the part of Government. There is, and in the very nature of things there must always be, a combination, tacit or express, an.lopg the grunt coal : -owners, not a very numerous body, to regulate the supply 4',0 as to keep the article at an average price profitable to themselves. With this power in their hands—a power which they do not deny that they habitually exercise—it would be idle to doubt that a consideral;le share of the tax remit ted by Government will go, not to relieve the pub lic, bat to swell the profits of the coal-owners. 1 When these various considerations are duly weighed, we think it w!ll appear that the coal tax is not one o f t h e first, but one of the last, taxes which an equitable and an enlightened Government would have remitted.—Morning Post. The nature of the discount on newspaper stamps , which Lord Althorp proposes for the future to with hold, and the circumstances under which it origi7 . noted, being very imperfectly understood, it may not be unnecessary to give some explanation to the pul?lie in regard to this subject:—Formerly no discount Whatever was allowed ; nor did it take place in consideration of proMpt payment, as seems to be ge nerally understood—prompt payment having always been made on the delivery of the stamps. But, at the time of the non-existence of this discount, the printers of newspapers were permitted to return to the Stamp-office all spoiled, torn, or unsold copies, for the whole of which the full price of the stamps was allowed. The facility which was thus afforded to reimbursement of loss to a considerable degree, made some printers perhaps rather careless in re gard to the numbers printed off, so as to cause much inconvenience and additional trouble at the Stamp office. In consequence of the increasing abuse some preventive measure was deemed absolutely ne cessary ; and it was accordingly proposed that for the future no more spoiled copies should on any ac count be received, and of course no allowance what ever made for such copies ; but as a necessary com pensation for the losses thus sustained, it was agreed that 20 per cent. discount should be allowed upon all sums paid in the purchase of stamps. This arrange ment was perfectly equitable—it satisfied the proprie tors of all properly conducted papers—was immedi ately enforced—and has continued to be acted upon for nearly 30 years, to the acknowledged advantage of the revenue. In consequence of the discontinu ance of this discount the public will not derive that advantage which prima facie might be expected from the new arrangement. The reduction of the stamp duty is nominally twopence; but the with drawal of the 20 per cent. with all its attendant dis advantages will by no means place the proprietors of papers in a better situation than that in which they stand at present, if they reduce the price to six pence. It is scarcely necessary to say another word upon this subject. In brief, therefore, we observe, that had the discount been 'continued, the public would have derived some benefit worthy of notice. The stamp duty being reduced from fourpence to twopence would have enabled the proprietors to reduce the price from sevenpence to fivepence ; hut the discontinuance of the discount rendering the reduction, within a fraction of a farthing, a penny only, instead of twopence, (the nominal estimate of Lord Althorp,) the proprietors, in lowering the price, will be rather losers than gainers in fixing it at sixpence, when the material fact is taken into consideration, that the machinery by which the prin cipal papers are now worked, necessarily causes in its operation a far greater waste of stamps than was usually attendant upon the old mode of press work. —Morning Post. Never was a Budget looked for with greater anxiety than that which was opened on Friday last by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and never was there a more senseless cry raised than that which has been got up on the subject. The reduction of no fewer than 210 places, averaging from 601. to 6001. a-year, in the short space of less than three months, along with the promise of still further re ductions in the Chancery and Colonial departments —the total abolition of the duties on coals, tallow candles, glass, and printed cottons, not to speak of the reduction in the stamp duties on advertise ments and newspapers—ought not only to have satisfied the most sceptical of the patriotic inten tions of the Government, but to have shielded it from those rancorous and malevolent attacks which have been levelled, in such abundance, at its plans both in and out of Parliament. The evident duty of the Government in the arrangement of the Budget was to afford as much direct relief as possible to the poorer classes, of society, by reducing the taxes which pressed upon them, and as much indirect as lay within its power, by endea vouring to stimulate industry through a reduction of the taxes which bore hardest upon it; and in the accomplishment of these objects it appears to us to have succeeded :—not, perhaps, to the utmost ex tent that we could have wished, but to an extent which ought to satisfy the public that more will be done as soon as a fitting occasion may present itself. The reduction and diminution of the above taxes could not, consistently with a due maintenance of the credit and establishments of the country, be accomplished without the imposition of fresh taxes; but even in this part of the Budget it will be seen that, with one exception—we mean the new duty on cotton wool—due regard has been had to the observance of the same principle. The new taxes are those which press on the wealthier and middle classes of society who can afford to pay them, and not on the poor, who are already sufficiently burthened, and cannot afford to pay more. These taxes are a tax of one-half per cent, on all transfers on sale of funded property, and an equal ad valorem duty on the sale of land ; and a tax of I. and 2s. 6d. (according to the distance of the voyage) on steam-boat passengers—and why, let us ask, should there not he a tax on the transfer of landed property and stock, as well as on the pay , ►rent of money ? Are not those who buy and sell • land and stock, more capable of bearing a portion of the state burthens, than those who have neither the one or the other to dispose of? But, observed Sir R. Peel, it is a breach of national faith to impose a tax on the funds; and the cry was re-echoed by Goulburn and others, who alleged that it was not ' only, to a much greater extent, a question of morals than of finance, to tax funded property, but that there were Acts of Parliament ' which rendered such an attempt illegal ! If the subject were not too serious for jesting, nothing could be more amusing than such declarations from such men—Ar cades ambo et canerepares—from the one, whose Bill of 1819, and subsequent Small Note Repeal Bill, imposed a heavier burden on the country than a tax of even five per cent. on funded property would have effected—and from the other, whose Beer Bill not only reduced the value of the property of a nu merous and industrious class of men a full third, but seduced many to embark in a trade for which they had not capital, and whose engaging in it has only been productive of ruin and mischief to themselves and others. Such men ought at least to have beets silent on questions of morals and breaches of public faith; for they could say nothing on the subject which would not recoil upon themselves with tenfold greater justice than those against whom it was levelled. l ßut tef to bo cometh to to the the workinga rgu a m n e d n , t , t r4d o n i t t h i ge classes,A ct af Nei- Cher Par liament,do wwehesne,eleettlyuoshajsekel,iewl,tastoht.thee dis there an Act framed which had in it a principle of p e rpetuity ? Ar e n ot all Acts p asse d f or th e t i me b e i ng , an d not f or t h e purpose of tying up th e hands of future Parliaments ? Nay, is it net the express business of Parliament to amend deficient Acts—to expunge those which are injurious, and to frame new laws which may be more beneficial to the community ? Nay, of w h a t use would Parliament be if it did not thu s d ea l w ith the affairs of the country ? But, ho wever t h e P ee l s and Goulburns may endeavour to opp ose th e t a x on of the funds, the Government may rely th a t it is one which every one will approve, save an d exce pti n g t hose whom it affects, and th e i ns i gn ifi cant po li t i ca l junta which would fain thrust t h em ou t o f o ffi c e; and when was it, we may ask, th a t a new t ax w as re lished by those on whom it w as l a id ? Th e tax on s teamboat passeng ers cannot we ll b e comp l a i ne d o f; for although p assengers b y coac h es are no t taxed, the coaches t h emse l ves are , w hi c h comes t o the same thing. It appears to us , h ow ever, that the Chancellor of t h e E xc h equer would have accomplished th e o bj ect i n v i ew muc h more re adily by laying th e t ax on t h e steam- b oats i n stead of on the passengers, t o w h om t h e co ll ect ion of it w ould be a great inconvenience. "With regard also to the reduction of th e stamp d uty on ne wspapers, it appears to us to b e more a d v i sa bl e to continue, than to do away w i t h t h e twenty p er cent. dis count ; for newspap ers m i g h t t h en b e sold for five pence instead of s evenpence, an d w hil e there would o n the one hand b e a greater co nsumption of them, there would on t h e ot h er a lso be-a greater amount of -revenu e f or t h e E xc h eque r, from the in creased produce of th e d ut i es on th e articles of which they are composed. Th e reduction of the duty on advertisements, what e v er wo uld-be 'monopolists may say, is a sensible boo n t o t h e public, and, a great re-. tinetionl awn between those amounting to, awl-0305P exceeding, ten lines. Let the Act only establish the standard by which the ten lines are to be computed, and the tax will be as easily collected as the 3s. 6d. duty which is now imposed on them. We have thus, partially, gone through the objections which have been made to the Budget, and endeavoured to shew their futility. The Chancellor of the Exchequer would, no doubt, have done a more popular act had he been able to have taken off a part of the assessed taxes—and continued the high duty on tobacco; but, on the other hand, it ought to be remembered, that the high duty on to bacco has given rise to an enormous system of smug gling, which it is desirable to repress, and, on the other, that the assessed taxes furnish a greater amount of revenue than the Treasury can possibly dispense with. The plans of the Chancellor of the Exchequer will, no doubt, undergo considerable modification before they are carried into effect; but we trust the principles of taxation on which they are based will be strictly adhered to, and that no silly clamour, on the part of the funded gentry, the value of whose property, has been so sensibly in creased by the rise in the value of the currency, will induce him to depart from the tax on the funds. Morning Advertiser. BRIGHTON, FEB. 13. Their MAJESTIES attended divine service this morning at the Royal Chapel. Prince GEORGE of Cambridge, Sir ANDREW BARNARD, Lord and Lady ERROL, Mrs. Fox, and Mademoiselle n'EsTE were present. The Prin cess AUGUSTA and the Landgravine attended divine service also. The Rev. H. M. WAGNER preached an eloquent and impressive sermon, taking his text from the 25th chapter of St. Matthew and 14th verse. The Rev. Dr. EVERARD read the prayers. The body of the chapel was crowded with nobility and gentry. This evening their MAJESTIES will have sacred music at the Palace. The KING did not leave the Palace yesterday. In the course of the day Count MUNSTER had the honour of an audience of his MAJESTY. Her MAJESTY took an airing on horseback, and was accompanied by Mrs. Fox, Mademoiselle n'EsTx, Miss MITCHELL, the Earl of ERROL, Sir ANDREW BARNARD, Lord BELFAST, and a numerous suite. Her MAJESTY looks remarkably well and enjoys excellent health. The Duke of SUSSEX drove out both on Friday and yesterday. The Margravine, with Miss WILSON and the Marchioness of ELY, drove iu a carriage and four through several parts of the town. The Princess AUGUSTA and Miss WYNYARD took a carriage airing. Lady ERROL drove in an open barouche. The fineness of the weather drew forth most of the fashionahles on the drive and Pro menade. The Duchess of ST, ALBAN'S, Lady BEDDING FIELD, the Duchess of ROXBURGH, and the Duchess of LEEDS, were on the drive. The Royal :dinner party yesterday included the Duchess Dowager of LEEDS, the Marquis and Marchioness of CAR MARTHEN, Marchioness WELLESLEY, Miss CATON, and Colonel PROTT. On Friday their MAJESTIES honoured the following persons with invitations to the royal dinner, Colonel WALLACE, Sir H. and Lady MATILDA WYNYARD, Colonel DOWNMAN, Colonel GREY, anti Colonel PROTT. Their MAJESTIES have select parties each evening • the Queen's Band has been in constant attendance. MICHAEL BOA', the chin performer, had the honour of performing before their MAJESTIES on Friday evening. The Marquis CAMDEN left the Palace for London. Viscount VALLETORT has arrived, and joined the royal suite at the Pavilion. Their MAJESTIES intend giving a splendid fete at Wind ' sor on a scale more extensive than that given here. Their MAJESTIES feel so solicitous for the amelioration of the condition of the trade and p nor of Ireland, that the pre sence of Irish Nobility and Gentry, who are not corn pelled by official or other imperative duties to visit this country, would be willingly dispensed with at present. The calls at the Palace have been exceedingly numerous on Friday and Saturday, and include most of the fashion ables at present in Brighton, viz.—The Dowager Duchess of LEEDS, the Duchess of ROXBURGH, Marquis and Mar chioness CARMARTHEN, Marquis and Marchioness of BRISTOL, Marchioness of WELLESLEY, Lord W. HER VEY, Lord and Lady JAMES O'BRIEN, Lord JOHN TowssnEND, Lady TEMPLETON, Lady MATILDA WYN. YARD, Lady FALKINER, Sir.JOAN BURGOYNE, Colonel and Mrs. PAREER, Lady FARQUHAR, Lady RTCROFT, Sir A. DALRYMPLE, Sir H. Ross, Sir CHARLES PRATT, Sir GEORGE and, Lady WEsTrusr..L, Sir F. COLLIER, Sir G. and Lady Pococx, General and Mrs. RIALL, General UPTON, Lady SUSAN HOTHAM, Sir 0. and Lady Glass, General SEWELL, Colonel CLIVE, Alderman and Mrs GARRATT, Mr. LESLIE, Sir CHARLES DOTLE, Mr. and Mrs. GEORGE MORGAN, Colonel and Mrs. MACLAINE, Captain THORTON, &c. We learn from a source to which we give credit, that the Royal prerogative is about to be most gi a ciously exercised in the restoration to his rank and honours of that distinguished naval officer Lord COCHRANE.— Court Journal. The Rev. Dr. ANDREW THOMSON died on Wednesday evening, at Edinburgh. He was just returning home from a meeting of Presbytery, and having met a friend at the west-end of Prince's-street, he was giving hint an account of the proceedings which had taken place. This gentleman walked along with him to his own door, where, stopping for a moment, as if he wished to say something more, be muttered some words indistinctly, and instantly fell down on the pavement. He was carried into his own house in a state of insensibility, but on opening a vein only a few ounces of blood flowed, and he expired. RICHMOND REFORM MEETING.—On Mon day last a public meeting of the clergy, gentry, bankers, merchants, tradesmen, and inhabitants of Richmond, in this county, was held in the Common-hall, pursuant to a requisition numerously and respectably signed, " for the purpose of taking into consideration the proFiety of peti tion►ng the Legislature for an effectual Reform in the Commons' House of Parliament, for economy and re trenchment in the expenditure of the public money and for the support of the principles of nun-interference in the in ternal affairs of other nations."—Leeds Mercury. REFORM.—" In regard to the extent to which the agitation may go, I should apprehend Europe will hardly bound it. The combat will be renewed again and again between old superstition and young enthusiasm, and the issue will, I dare say, be generally favourable to the l as t."—(See HOME'S Essay on Superstition and Enthu siastn.)—" My notion is, that all Governments will finally be reduced to the system of utility, and that in proportion as they now differ from this, may the changes be expected to be. Judging in this way, our own Government re quires, I think, reformation only. "—Mem. of Dr. Currie The life of F.isBLI, which will accompany the forthcoming and anxiously-expected Literary Works of that celebrated artist, is not only an amusing biography of the man himself, but also a history of the Royal Academy and of English Art for the last sixty years. The memoir, which, front the perfectly original and ec cantric character of its subject, must be unusually interest ing, contains numerous recollections of distinguished characters with whom the painter held constant inter course; such, for example, as the late Mr. COUTTS, JOHNSON, the bookseller, SMOLLETT, FALCONER, ANGE LICA KAUFFSEANN, LAVATEIt, GARRICK, Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS, Dr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. WEST, Mr. Roscor, CowrEa, the poet, BOYDELL, Mrs. WOOLSTONECRAFT, OPIE, Sir THOMAS LAWRENCE, &C. The thaiv on Tuesday caused the Severn to overflow its banks and inundate the low-lands. Hay stacks, timber, and outlying agricultural implements were swept off in one general ruin, and even dweliing-bouses and outbuildings shared the same fate. On Wednesday a bargeman in a fishing coracle sailed for a wager over the town walls at Roushill, near Shrewsbury. In some of the houses the water was from six to seven feet deep on the floor, and in some cottages at Roushill it covered the first story almost to the ceiling.—Ehrewsbury Chronicle. T b e E e n A a l hav S e t - e ß ly o ln A 4 Tz t --- 0 Of the many attempts that prevent the loss of power arising from the obliqu e p os i t i on of t h e p a ddl e s when entering and leaving the water, none seem to have succeeded in practice, at least on the sea; Leither is it likely that any contri vance which requires the paddle-wheels to consist of moveable parts, will be practicable; for, should the ma chinery of such a wheel be damaged or out of order, it is impossible to get at it in any but the calmest weather.— While ingenious projectors were thus at work to remedy an evil by difficult means, it appears to have occurred to some one, that increased speed might be obtained by an easier proc e ss than altering the wheels, anti that by in creasing the length of the vessel, retaining the same ma chinery, an advantage scarcely to have been anticipated was the result. One of the Margate steamers was lengthened last year, and performed the voyage, cettris paribus, in half an hour less time than she had done be fore; and at present several steamers are undergoing the same process.--Athenourn. SURRENDER OF ST. JOHN LON BRo S r t n . E .) j o t h , n at Lo G ng ui lv d a li s a b n r , ou o g n ht s b a e t f u o r r d e a ll y? . b A y l ci r l r. and C. Her&field, the Marshaltnan. The prisoner had, it seems, surrendered binl4l l course of the day to the Governor of Nessfgate,,in to take his trial at the ensuin g S e ssions ; bPt tbe 7,,, l l .0 :tra‘ not having power to detain him without A"); he was, in consequence, brought before the M in Mr. Gibbons, one of Mr. Hartner's Clerks 3 the defence) identified the prisoner as the !WV 11 Lij a warrant issued by Mr. Justice Patteson, Jn c 0 of an indictment having been found against hii „ n „ g ett Mr. Ald e r ma n F A REBROTHER said he etlych, object of the d e f en d an t i n surren d e ring thu s e, a ;' tr that there might b e n o p re t ex t for postponing °ls the s n t. ex j t ni S in es L ai n o n n g s. I admitted that it was so; Ir• bons remarked, that th e s o li c itor on the ot her notice of the surrender, and had no intention t° adj Mr. ournment. c o , Alderman FAREBROTPIER then signed th e Ne o ment, and the gentleman was conveyed back to in his own carriage. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING. LAST WEEK. .........:? . ..,-. 1 Wheat. Barley. 21 ...... ....a ti " 'to 1. Per Quarter. s. to s. Is.to s. S. to 41 .. g .'" Carlisle 64 ' 40 -- ....--. r n Carmarthen........... 65 —' 40 23 oo 0 ".. Hexham,....--,...... 52 72 33 31 22 a 4u Morpeth ...*........... 56 66 34 38 21 o '" •••• Penrith .....—........ 63 40 -- ". .":. Skettield--............. 76 46 -- ~,,*"" - 0, Winchester 68 78 32 39 21 -' 0a• d. ' 6 Per Bushel. s.d. s.d. s.d. s.d. s. d. 5 ; 0 b i C0ventry...,.,....~. 70 9 0 4 8 54 36 -", 9 51 Newcastle (Staff .) 11 0 11 6 6 0 7 3 4 3 '", , 5: Northallerton ......- 7 0 9 3 3 6 4 6 3 3 .: 0 11 Stafford..,- —...,-. 90 94 59 62 36 7., 8 0: Swansea ................... 80 88 44 49 '2 4 g 6 i• Warwick 90 100 46 50 24 ' 96 Per 8011. a 0 n Barnardcastle —.... 18 6 20 0 9 0 11 0 7 4 - 0 9 - Durham 17 6 Alb 90 10 050 A 10! Richmond ---..... 17 0 21 0 86 96 60 ~I 2 i 0 ° Stockton .....,--.... :7 0 21 0 9 0 10 0 5-8 ' - p,b i 9 ..........." 1 __ WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.- - ;- v ;;k: /1' OA ------- --.- 1 WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.--reb.- Pe; 1 fillg4 Wheat, Red, Norfolk and Suffblic 665. 68d. t" "i Lin. and Cam. 64s. 68a. to 7 ° L ' Ape 0 --- Yorkshire 63s 66a. to , i 7 , 7 1 :. 0 ~ 087 0 --- White tru. 7344 to •. - go. a ----- Foreign, Red 6,1 3 . 68 s . to 7.., 4 " tot White 705..735. to 7 7 s ' ' A I . 005 Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk! 4ls to w 7 00% 4 - Li nco l ns hi re 3 7,. to.- # 1 07) - Yorkshire Wold 334, to 361 ' 00 4 0 - Foreign Beans, - New Oats, Potato - Poland - Friezland and Small . s. 25s to;. , .. r p , ..L'i - Mealing lll4d. to 16)9 , I• 5,0r,i Shelling .375. to 395. u. „ f r k;jl Malt 468 48s. tine 5 1 * rt, P .- Rapeseed t . '. ‘l.l. ..".1 •.1.1 - - ------ -------.- SCOTCH MARKETS. _/ t )' e " Barley Oats. I Bea ns ' IA I Aberdeen ..... 50 70 22 29 22 26 .-- ... 0 8erwick........ 45 52 24 28 18 2l 26 ° a ! , Coldstream ... 47 52 24 27 17 22 26 i" - Cupar ............ 60 76 30 35 26 28 36 54 / i Dundee .......... 54 72 29 30 23 26 , I Elgin —......... 58 61 30 33 17 23 19 .` 4" i $ Inverness-- 39 ,56 60 32 34 22 26 36 , Kelso 49 53 25 28 20 21 30 %.,'" 7 Kirkaldy....... 42 79 27 34 26 30 30 r', Perth 48 64 21 25 18 21 28 "'OF The size of the measure varies throughout th e - b. l3 ' 14. 0 EDINBURGH MEAL MARKET.--te,„„ , 5 , We had a large supply of Oatmeal at this day the which met with a dull sale, at an advance of 2s. r and 2d. in the retail. Barleymeal al so wa s 35., and Is. higher on the sack, and 28 in the retail. ~,K 1 1, ,, 5 Per Sack of 28015. Imp. Per Stone of 3 ." -- . k 5 First Oatmeal £2 8 0 First Oatmeal ........ ' , 5 ... l Second ditto 2 7 0 Second ditto ......... t 5 Barleymeal Peasenseal ll 1 6 6 0 0 B pe a a rl s e e r m n e ea o l ........................... Pot Barley—Ne. 1, per cwt. 145.-28. 165.--.35. 2 04 ' - . 910) EDINBURGH CORN 51ARKE1'.—ke b ' is Our supply of all kinds of Grain was large to-dal!,01 with a brisk sale at considerably lower prices, c , "'"' which was Is. higher on the top. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Peas_e• 9O! First 74s 08 44s Od 37) 4d 50s 0 ,1 _,' . 0r.,, Second 6ss Od 38s Od 30s Od 46s Mt P . 'fliird p, PRICES OF PROVISIONS. &t. ,0.1.q0 Beef, per 1b... , Os. 31d. to os . 6d. Fresh Butter,lb.s.: o 4 0 Mutton ,0 4 0 6 Salt Ditt0......... o 'B ' i Veal.- .0 6 010 Ditto, pe 6 rcut. 9 4 0 0 0 P0rk................... 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per dos. 0 ~ Lamb, per qr. 1 0 2 6 OatStraw(kr%) 7 6 6 'Fallow, cwt.... 37 6 40 0 Wheat Ditto.. 0 6 , 1 Quartern Loaf 0 8 010 Barley Ditto ~. 5 0 Potatoes, 1711 b. 0 4 0 5 Hay, per 5t..... I GLASGOW CORN MARKEL—FeII:Y . s. 141 Wheat, per 2401 b. s. d. 5.d..1 Oats, per 0.54 1 . 55, British, old 35 oto3B (r Irish. .. ............ ...• 04 , new 30 0 35 0 British ....... ,t,;',,, , Canada, free 34 0 36 0 Beans, per ......... 0 Irish Barley, per 3201 b. __ _ I Scottish .............. 0,- r iA o li a K„,,, p '. e — ro34 Fo3 4 9- ;i0 Irish... ............ • o,lv British ......... Beans, pe;. 410 ."'"0 . : English ... . .... Scottish .............. o°, Pease, Scottish 2po , Oatmeal, per 1401 h. bQ 0 Flour, per 2801 b.... CORNWALL MARKETS. _ost4 TRURO—Wheat (average) 283.—Barley, 13s. ST. AUSTELL—Wheat, 235. to 21s.—Barley, 124 . ,s. to Os. Od. BODMIN—Wheat (average) 26s.—Barley, 13s. Od• , 4 ,• v.- - LA UNCESTON—W heat (average) 2Os. ) I Is. 3d.—Beef, 6d.—Mutton, 6d. lIEL3ToN—Wheat, 275. Od.—Barley, 13s. Od. PENZANCE—Wheat, 255. to 27s.—Barley, Os. to Bs. Od.—Beef and Mutton, sd. to 6d.—Pork, Butter, 13d. per lb. 1 LisaeAun—Wheat, —s. Oct to 265. Od.—Barley , • ) to 9s. Od. 1 23 . t0 Sr. CoLuma—Wheat, 255. to 27s.—Barley, and Mutton, sd. to 6d.—Veal, 4d.—Lamb, Od. 4 - new 300 350 Canada, free 34 0 36 0 Irish Barley, per 3201 b. English 36 0 37 C Scottish 3l 0 32 0 Irish MINING INTELLIGENCE Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Redruth last Thursa" Average :no ----- Quantlt of fine Cpper 1 Amount of Sale, 0,5701.25. o(l—Average Stand Ar.. 01 SEA EAGLE.--About a mo nth T o i 1 i gamekeeper at Davenham Hall, Cheshire, thesegsbif HosicvNs HARPER, Esq., observed a remark ree d bird seated on a branch of one of the highest L 0 00 park. He tired at it, and the bird was' mortallYe 1 On approaching it he found that it was a sei e d OP ' traordinary size, as well as beautiful in form 0 i t Front the tip of one wing to that of the otllero t k tended, it measured nearly nine feet. This grl S°'e I ,' has been presented to the Natural History po t o l oo l l 4' town, and now enriches the Museum, it be iog specimen of the sea eagle which the socie t y 0 : Manchester Guardian. IF ' ' cl a fi t On Thursday se'nniciht the mad t ip 1 rive at Holt till eleven or b twelve hours afte r ' 4 time. The snow last week drifted in one of otl.rol or seven feet, so as completely to stop the tho r o ii since which the alternate frosts and thaws , I f 10 them to be extremely dangerous. On Tues da y od i rose upwards of seven feet above its usual le vel .' $ 0 ii' a foot higher than it was in February, 182 IV is the force of the stream, that on Monday a n i 4 eight quanta reached its wharf with considerambeit P, On Tuesday the water had risen to such a beig i e . iti leave room for the passage of these vessel' or bridges. The flood is, however, subsiding I Norwich Mercury. $ 1) • - PI 1 GERALDINE OF DESMOND, 011 ,1 .4 IN THE DAYS OF ELIZABETH. --A Second 5" 1 , 4 01r very interesting romance is just p u blishedt ho ;4 l with fac-simile autographs of the principal c o is undoubtedly a work which promises to 11 016 Of/ tinguished rank on the list of histt,rical r°, 1 1 : 0 4 1 4 1 tact, it may stand alone for individual exce#,Lje, liar to itself. Founded upon Irish annals, 3P t ! -f the most interesting and eventful period i li st aid of the sister country, it connects with the e . 07,1 DESMOND family the political record of tb ELIZABETH'S domination, when the yoke Na Ito it finally fixed on the necks of the Irish- people' l b ly of romance will find in these pages wiler efg . S 3 O .A S thin his idle hours. The antiquary may leo - or 00 the deep research displayed by the author On -900,01 netted with the customs of the native Irish ° tir d i and the politician and historian will be enab l 7,ied cause of much that has occurred in that di strs " since its final conquest by the English Queell. I. ---...--• it BIRTHS. ~i, 0 -ro A On the llth inst. at Newark-on-Trent, the la'' , ughter. IL - r ' -, J. S On M.A. of ada g ert pi the s:th , lost. at Clifton, the lady of ' ~- , f a daughter. 4' ' On the 12th inst. at St. Ja mes's MARRIED. vig Ch u rch, the'n iter,,r Elizabeth Pack, to M a j or -G e n e ral Sir 'Thom i);1 k K.C.B. a l, / mitik h. jr ' On the 12th inst. at Kensington, D. be -- 0h3",,6 . 1' cola's-inn-tields, to Miss C. H. Harding, of 0 , 1° , 0 .0-'7 4 '1!" . ; sligtoil, niece or J. Jacks .n, Esq. It. A., of '' iv ., qv John's Wood. On tile 11th inst. at Trinity church, BroollIT:o . i lle. of Rutland-square, Dublin, to Miss Mary 1 3 °' Brompton. 11 0 TIC i‘ f • ;I: lE. ! - On the Bth hut. at Edinburgh, D the A O s uddenly', $ll or) '1 honison. ' p On the 10th inst. Mr s . Ann Truwhitt, c f late Ow. Queen.square, aged 78, widow of the pd. • 1 0 or many years Vestry Clerk of St. Mary-le-Str s C. On the 9th inst. at Clifton, A. G. PrinCl e t t of the late J. Pringle, Esq., Agent to the h as the Cape of Good Hope, aged 19. h e l m ' E , Th V A P kei 0 1 na tion. no n SQua LA 8 4, 4 for p, tt ea e i tlrdl e ,. ktitful' With man G ro k r .1 are tapt~ Pr o L l ", d a i ~atitetl Wire Ge nt ' Poult Ill eo ;`"neo Vr t „,!leeo . 6 4 k Mal PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY munD 6 yo o lj>,, SUN OFFICE, 112, SritAND