The Sun. — London, England, 1833-05-01 00:00:00

in faveut eat, tite. Hon. Baronet's motion, and those, also, Who think that alarge reduction might be made with out any additional taxes. Perhaps it may be houaht have been. imprudent in. that ; but it . i t s s . lear that those who will ' thus unite in voting against the amendment I- shall propo s e , disa pp rove of the po licy I have adopted with regard to the finances of the country, and if it should appear by the re sult of this evening's discussion, that a majority of the House agree in this disapprobation, I shall, of course, be obliged to resign the situation I have the honour to hold.—(Hear.) My case is hardly capable of proof, it being almost self-evident that it is impossible for the Home to adopt the proposition now Mare us, in addition to that agreed to on Friday night, without the substitu tion of other taxes to a large amount. No suggestion has been made of any other substitute than a ptoperty tax. And every Gentleman who holes at the state of cur taxation, roust agree that no other plan could pos-ibly be adopted.—(llear.) Therefore, in arguing against the proposition of a property tax at the present moment I have been arguing against the proposition of the Hon. Baronet. I admit that all direct taxes are causes of great vexation, but the proposition is not to substitute an indi rect tax, but to substitute one direct tax for another. grant that to have the tax-gatherer come round and raise a direct sum, is by no means a popu lar mode of meeting the exigencies of the state ; but I cannot quite agree with the Hon. Baronet that a proper house tax is so very unjust as lie endeavours to make out. The Hon. Baronet says the prin ciple of taxing a house according to the rent it produces and not according to the cost of its building, is unjust. If you estimate a man's property by what he has formerly spent, instead of by what he is actually spending, cer tainly the lion. Baronet's proposition is correct ; but I carrot see what proof of wealth it is in any individual that he has already laid out an enor mous sum in the building of a house. I admit there may be great difficulty in fixing what is fairly the rent of the home. But if it be fairly assessed, I think is a tolerably good rest of the power of consumption in the individual who resides in it.—(Hear, hear.) The Honourable Baronet spoke of the great expense of collecting this tax. But it so happens that, with the exception of the stamp duties, the expenses of collecting are the lowest of all ; the assessed taxes cost us the least in collection of the four great branches into which our taxation may be divided, of the Costa ms, Excise, Stamps, and the Assessed Taxes. I may now be allowed to make some observations, indeed it would be wrong of me not to do so, upon the proposition for giving a certain degree of relief to shopkeepers, which I brought forward on a certain occasion. One or two objections have been made to the mode of relief I proposed to adopt, the most serious of which is, that it would relieve the larger shopkeepers, but would not relieve the smaller shopkeepers. I think this objection has great force. I there fore propese to abandon the proposition for deducting a certain number of windows, and to say that all houses which have shops attach, d to them shall be relieved from one half the house duty.—(Hear, hear.) That is simpler than my original plan, and will relieve both the large and stead shopkeepers, in equal proportions, and that without a much greater sactifice of revenue titan I befere contemplated. I feel great regret at finding myself placed in a situation in which I think it necessary to appeal to the consideration of the Hous-t, and to propose that it should I econsider the decision it had come to; but, as I said before, it does appear to me that under the circumstances which accetn panied the adoption of that decision, it would not be justifiable in his Majesty's Ministers to coosider it as the fin it expression of the opinion 01 the House, as to the course which ought to be pursued. Ministers, therefore, did not feel justified in taking any decisive step one way or the other ; and I have been Wand, hewever disagreeable it is to me, however embarrassing I admit it to he. for the House, to give the House an opportunity of reconsidering its pro position. I will not detain the House further, but beg leave to move " That the deficiency in the revenue which would be ocestaened by a reduction of the tax on malt to 10e. the quarter, and lay the repeal of the tax on houses and windows, zooid only be supplied by the substitution of a eeeperal tax oa property and income, and an extensive eirsaaeee in our whole financial system, which would at present be inexpedient." The SPEAKER put the question, when Mr. HUME rose and said, that, differing as he did from the Noble Lord, he trusted the House would allaw him to detain them for a very short time, while he at tempted to show how the sum that would be wanted by the reduction of these taxes might be made up without adopting the course pointed out by the Noble Load.—(Hear, bear.) He had a very great respect for the credit of the country, and would nor attempt any thing that would in the least disturb the public creditor, for in so doing he should consider he was doing that which would be most fatal to the best interests of the country. The great outcry which was raised in that House against the late income tax, was raised by the more stealthy part of it.—(Cries of " No, no.") There was no doubt that it was a little inquisitorial ; but what direct tax , stas not ? or was it more so than the tax upon windows ? T he • great fault that has hitherto been committed in the system:if taxation in this country was, that it had been applied to the capital that was employed in the Manufacture of the country, and the landed property h a d been relieved from the great burdens of taxation which had been borne by tie middle classes. *The question for their present consideration was how to find out a firm and equitable plan. The duties now under the consideration of the House, he calculated would be a loss of two millions, e f ead the half of the malt duty he calculated at 2,800,0001., making in all a deficit of 4,800,0001. to be provided for. Now, from all experience, he certainly had a right to claim that tie falling off would not lie more than 2.800,000, cal culating that there would be increased consumption of malt. If any doubt wers entertained upon the subjec•, he thought be could satisfy the House by referring to several in sae:tees in which the diminution of a duty had had the tEct of increasing the revenue. He held in his hand a statement collected from pipers which had been 1 iid be fore the House, which showed, that whenever an attempt had been made to reduce taxation to alter the duti, a in any article of general con-Inept on, the result had irate riaaly tsoeu sues an increase of tb it consumption, that the revenue had in many cases been auernentcd. They had Lad the advantage of many years' experience. This had been the ease with respect to tea—with respect to e g irits tsvith respect to malt itself. Its almost every article it would be found that the aitirtant of the wind, duty col lected was increased when the tax taaa diminished. With Xee e etct to wine, it appeexed from the account, laid before the I,49eae, that from the time the increased duty was laid ,nn that rti,cle both in this country and in Ireland, the consumption the revenue derived from it had dimi nished, till it was only one-fourth of the amount which the duty produced ; therefore a great portion of the people ws re deprived of that luxuiy. in proportion ac the tax Was increased, in the same proportion. bad the consump tion decreased. He would call the att. nticri of the House also to another point in the paper which he held in his hand, and that was the effect of the diminution of the duty upon spirits. It appeared that the duty on spirits lusd been altered at two different periods. In England, during the year 1827, the duty was altered from 12s. to 7s. per gallon. What was the result ? The Pre ...Went of the Board of Trade was not right in the obset- vatrons which be had made, deduced from facts relative one particular year, which he contended was unfairly chosen, being inferior in consumption to the twenty yea ,: yreceding. He would not fellow the e xample of the Bight !lop. Gentleman, but would com pare the three yearc realm's to the diminution of the duty with the three yearrl,allowing it. lir 1824, 18a5, and 1826—the thiee years ptecejing the diminution of the duty—the amount of the revenue derived from that t x averaged 2,890,000/. ; in the three years following the diminution of tire duty it amounted to 2,760.000/. ; thus eatribiting an increase of revenue of 870,000/. with the ditoinisheil duty. With reap et to Ireland, in the three years atter the diminution of time tax, the amount of the revenue h.d exactly doubled. In the case of Scot land, the facts were still more remarkable, because the reduction was on a still larger cede. Instead of being reduced from 124. to 7s. it was a reduction from 6s. Wtl. to 2s. 41. It was true that the duty was subsequently raised to 2s. 101. Still that was a reduction of more than half, it g been reduced at first to nearly 0131:- tlird. The consequence was that the number of gallons distilled increased irons 2,739,000, in 1821, 1822, 1823, to 7,595,000; in 1825, 1826, arid 1827, the duty amounting to above 1,000,0001. sterling. The duty the three years preceding the decrease of the tax - dye uced a revenue of 913,6001 . In the next three years it was 1 , 294,000/., being tin increas e o f near l y 50 per cent. Smuggling- b a d been almost entirely destroyed. Mi g ht th e y not consider this as a fair example of what was likelytsttisk place in the case of the reduction of the duty on malt? In the three years before 1765, as many bushels of malt paid duty as for the las t ten years ; and the consequence was, that while the tax had been increased 65 per cent., the whole amount had only increased 15 per cent., thus leaving a decrease at 50 per cent., in consequence of the increase of the duty ; and it must be borne in mind, that 20s. Si, was not the whole amount of the duty daring all the period to which he bad mitred, It b ,(1 tit taw time SIS• ; EC3tlit 2iWay6 proved the a ccuracy of his reason6g, bnause an increase of taxation had constantly produced a decrease of consumption, and decrease of taxation had caused an increase of consump tion. One great evil arising from the continuation of the malt duties was, that the population of the country were drawn to the use of ardent spirits, which could not but he considered exceedingly injurious. The malt tax alone amounted to 2,400,000! ; but from the increase of con sumption, he considered that the diminution of the revenue would not exceed half of that, or 1,200,000/. When all these things were considered, he was of opinion the real deficiency would not exceed 900,0001. Now, were malt and spirits the only articles which it was exp ali-nt to tax ? The Right Hon. President of. the Board of Trade had spoken of the increased consumption of sugar ; but the changes of pike had been so great and frequent, that it did not appear to be fair to institute any comparison on the subject. If any tax were wanted to make up the de ficiency, he should recommend them to put a tax on real property. According to the showing of the Noble Lord, the Chancellor of the Exchttquer, himself, the deficit would not, these things considered, exceed 1,300,000/. Why not glare personal and real property on the same footing? On what grounds area it that a reduction of taxttfon was now called for? 50,000,000/. were raised from the country by taxation ; of these 22,000,000/. were required to carry on the Government of the country, and Le was dispesed to think that with that expenditure they would find no difficulty in reductng 1,300,000/. The Hon. Member then pro ceeded to make some temarks relative to tie Civil List, and to the pensions charged upon it or upon the Consolidated Fund, anti maintained that the amount of that which was properly termed expenditure, was 7,300,0001 .Of that only 459,000/. were devoted to the personal comfort of his Majesty. He was satisfied that, by looking over the lists of the several items, he had no doubt of the practicability of making several very important reductions. There were many persons upon the list who held two or three pension* for very d.fferent and distinct situ itions. These pluralities ought certainly to be removed from the lists. These pensions had been conferred for no other reason, but that the favoured parties, in general, possessed Ministerial infltience; but no set of men had a right to confer a boon of 5,0001. 0r2,0001. of the public money on any man without asking the opinion of that House. If a Committee were appointed upon the subject, they would hare it in their power to investigate the situation and merits of each of them ; and the sooner they set about that object the better it would be. Hon. Gentlemen seemed to think that when they had voted the Army and Navy Estimates, lac., they had voted all the great expenses to which the country was liable, but they forgot that there were four or five millions of expenses nit cessary fur the collection of the revenue. It was singular, if, out of an expenditure of from 17,000,0001. to 20,000,0001., they could not save 10 or 12 per cent. He thought, therefore that it would be perfectly practicable to supply the deficiency created by the repeal of the taxes in question without. having recourse to a tax on real property. In order to cover the diminu ion, they must resolve not to proceed upon t' at system of extrav .gent expense which had forced upon Upper and Lower Canata a larger army than that of the whole of the United States—a country containing fourteen millions of people. They must not proceed tin so extra. vacant a systetn, but adopt an economical plan, and they would then be able to effect the required saving of 1,300 000/. It was not to be done by such a plan as that of the Hon. Member (Mr. Attwood), who had pro posed to send 2,000 artillerymen to Constantinople, and, o course, some 30,000 in , antry to protect them. This country ought to avoid interference with the continent altogether ; end in this way he thought the re iuction could be supplied ; but if not, let them put personal and real property on the same footing. They ought to take off the duty on every species of raw material; on all means of conveyance on railways, roads, and every means of cummunication ; for roads had been aptly compared to to the arteries of the human body. These points, how ever, would be subjects for future consideration. If the Noble Loid should be able to carry the House along with him, and if the House should unfortunately affirm the Noble Lord's proposition, he (Mr. Hume) should be dis posed to take the sense of the House again respecting it, when it should be put as the main question. He hoped the House would act upon the same principle as Ministers had acted at the India House, when the Directors said they could not carry on the government of Indi i without money. Ah ! (said the President of the Board of Control) we will cut off the money, and you will then be forced to be ecenotnical. He sincerely hoped the House would not think of denying the vote which bad been agreed to on Friday night. For his own part, he did not !egret the conclusians he had arrived at,or the course he hail pursued. —(Hear, hear.) Teat course, under similar circum stances, he should in no wise depart from.—(Cheers,) He felt satisfied of the necessity of a little gentle pressure --(A laugh)—on his Majesty's Niinisters on these subjects. How was it, that what was good with them when on his side of the House, was bail with them on that, the Ministerial side.—(Cheers.) lie trusted, however, the House would consider it was not the fault of Ministers alone, hut that they hail to contend against a system, the whole machinery of which was of the most complex and pernicious character. They, however, must determine to cut uff . every useless branch of the national expenditure —( Hear, hear.) This, he well knew, could be done to the extent of five millions, by strict economy and good management, without in the slightest degree impairing the efficiency of our necessary national establishments. Under the ciicunistanites, he should support the motion of the Hon. Btronet, the Member fur Loudon, and at the proper time, if tie amendment of the Noble Lord the Chancellor of the Exchequer was lost, he should propose a resolution to the effect, " that any deficiency in the revenue caused by the repeal of 10s. of the duty on malt, and the relied of the assessed taxes, might, if possible, to tie made good by a corresponding reduction in the expenditure of the country; and if this could not be effected, by the imposi tion of new taxes on the property of the country." Mr. G. 11EATIICOTE was well aware that there was a great party in the country anxious for the imposi tion of a property tax. Considering it as he did in refe rence to the interest of the great agricultural body—a por tion of which he had the honour to represent—the most difficult form in which it presented itself to his mind was as regarded the question of the malt duty. By its repeal, two classes of the country would he henefitted. The first, all country gentlemen and all middling el ruses which lived in the country districts. He did not think, in re ference to tire labourer., that by the repeal of the malt tax, home brewing would be more extensively fo,lowed. But he did think that great advantages would result loin the abolition of this onerous burden, anti be had hoped the something might hereafter be found out as a substitute for it. But when lie came to consider at what price this abolition was to be purchased—that if the malt duty were to be repealed a property tax must take its place ; when he thought how his constituents would be fixed at the end of the year—that though their malt ditties would lie somewhat less, they would have to meet the tax-gatherer's demand of 10 or 15 per cent. on their pro fits in trade—he could not but say they would find they had bought the concession at a great deal too dear a price. 'fire second class he alluded to, would be found in the owners and fr, pent. is of beer-shops. Of this class he should say little, for it was one, he was happy to think, fur which the House and the country had no great sym pathy. Tile next subject was the assessed taxes, the pro position for the repeal of which he should at once meet with the moat decided negative. There were in this country 106,000 farm-houses wholly exempted frOni the taxes proposed to be taken off, and why should he, as one of the representatives of the farmers of England, consent to give up a tax to which they contributed nothing ? The assessed taxes, indeed, levied a very trifling amount on the agricultural portion of the community, and it would be very foolish, in his opinion, to repeal them. In the parish in which he resided (as we understood the Hon. Member amidst the noise in the gallery) they amounted to nearly 120/., per annum. Ht, as tire squire of ihe parish, paid 551., the clergyman 25/., and the farmers the other 10/. When he allowed these taxes affected so little the class he represented, how could he justify his con deet to his constituents by voting fur their extinction? There was a deal of talk about taxation, but he could show by cAnparitig the local arid direct taxation with the Government itnposts, that the former much exceeded the latter.-* (Hear.) One word on the subject of a property tax. If it was decided to impose one, Ite ba i ted it would ire carried into effect over the whole of the United KingO'om. He considered, placed as he was this evening, Ire ha 1 but a choice of two evils. If the question of the malt tax were before the House without reference to any other, he should certainly vote it, repeal ; but brought forward as it was with a property tax as the alternative, he considered he was best performing his duty to his con stituents by supporting tire amendment of the Nobie Lord the Chancellor of the Exchequer. air JOHN WHOTTESLEY reverted to the effect of the propert y tax imposed by that HOUSC, at whiela time lie bad the honour of a seat in it, anti contended that it was one of the greatest difficulty. The origin of that tax was the low state of public credit c lose(' by the system of aorrowing. Then it was we had recourse to an impost simply o f i ncome. N ot hi ng ever gave greater dissatis tom, or cawed more vexation from its inquisitorial cha racter, and it it was difficult to persuade the people to bear it then, it would be mon, so now. It was alto wards con verted into a property tax, amounting in the end to 10 per Gentlemen were perhaps not aware Oust there were the Aet of Parlittoent autlini 4 zing it. He would ask if it were possilde for them, within the limit of time they might be expected to sit, to pigs any such Act as this, containing, as he had no doubt it must do, many more clauses than even the original one did. (The Hon.' Member here went into a lengthened statement of the pro- duce from the five different schedules in the Act, to show that the different properties tributary under it, would not, and could not now produce anything like the amount for• merly collected.) Under these circumstances, he contended that this impost, which formerly produced nine millions, would not now produce more than six, if so much; and this too, be it recollected, inclusive of Scotland. With respect to Ireland, all he should say was, that he would leave it to the Stock Exchange, and the gentlemen engaged in money transa_ttions, to say what security they could have for lending money on the strength of a property tax. When it was paid formerly, it was looked upon by the people on account of the war, more as an offering than anything else. He was convinced there would be great difficulty in levying it, for it was a tax which the public would be most unwilling to pay, and which they would never consent to with anything like the cheerfulness usually displayed in their conduct i❑ respect to national burdens _ Mr. ROBINSON must say that he thought the spe,eh of the fh n. Baronet was extremely inconsistent, and was rather calculated to support the motion of the Hon. Barone. the Member for London than to oppose it. lie did not blame the Noble Lord for the manner in Which _ he had treated this question. Indeed the Noble Lord had put the question on a fair, candid, and manly footing, when he called on the House to consider all the cnnse- qu , nces of the vote of the other night. But then there were so many things mixed up with that matter. First of all, the Muse was called on to consider the expediency of rescinding the vote of the other night in a fuller House. Then the House was railed on to affirm or reject tit,- pro position of the Hn. B ironet. Thirdly, the Members were called on toll() this with all the horrors of property tax in full prospect ; and fourthly, the Noble Lord had mixed up with all these other matters an intimation—he would rot call it a threat—of resignation. Now, he must sly that he did hot like this last part of the proceeding; _ . for the No`fle Lord knew very well that, in making such an intimation, he made an appeal to the Members likely to influence the judgment of many of them. Still, however, he could not blame the Noble Lard for doing it ; all he regretted was, that the Noble Lard should have thought it necessary. For himself, his support of a property tax was well known. He did not desire it, he- cause he thought it in itself the best tax that could be devised, but because he thought its adoption a less evil than that of the continuance of some of the present taxes. What was the situation in which the country was now placed, when the people at large were unable to pay the present taxes, and men of property were unwilling to have the burden cast directly upon them? He thought that the vote of the oV , er night might he extended front the partial reduction to the total abolition of the malt duty, and that the hop duty might go with it, and yet that means might be found to meet the demands of the public service, and to maintain public credit. He did not think that the vote of the other night was good in itself, so much as he thought it good in forcing upon the House to consider the whole taxation of the country. He should not now go into the question of the distress of the country ; but he was not sorry that ihe necessity of considering it, and the best means of meeting it, had been forced upon the House. During the eighteen years of peace, various de vices had been adopted with a view to relieve, first one cuss of the people and then another; and he wished to know whether, at the expiration of this perio,i, the people were still to be dragged through other years of difficulty and experiment, before a property tax was imposed ; for it seemed that to that tax we must come at last, since the vary words of the Noble Lord's amendment only went to say, that it could not be adopted at present. He did not wish to force the Government or the country into the adoption of such a tax, except so far as it seemed to him most likely to relieve the 'Amiens of the people. As soon as there was any reasonable expectation of the amelioration of tie condition of the people, he should be willing to forego the proposition ; but, till that was ti e case, he should certainly support it ; and he believed that the causes which affecied the prosperity and comfort of the people were likely rather to continue than to abate. Under these circumstance., he thought it be came the duty of the House to take off the taxes upon malt and upon houses and windows, and to substitute for them a tax upon property. He believed there would be no diffi culty ta hatever in raising the money to meet the deficiency, although he must admit that he did not agree with the lion. Member for Miidlesex, who, in his peculiar way, proposed to take several millions out of the Exche quer, and to trust to savings to wake up the difference.— ( . A laugh.) He wished now to observe that, if it was necessary, lie could show high authority for the nifnions he held upon the subject of the property tax. He referred to a speech of Mr. Huskisson, delivered in 1830, in favour of a commutation of taxes. In that speech he found the Right Honourable Gentleman thus expressing himself:--." It is a growing opinion out of doors, from one end of the kingdom to the other, that the labouring classes cannot exist tinier the pressure of indirect taxation as it now welahs upon them. If this opinion be well founded, are we flat acting wisely in coming gradually to those changes which may be necessary to their relief? Are we to wait before we take steps to meet the evil, until a mat of the power and wealth of the country is destroyed ? If we find the labouring manufacturers and mechanics leaving their own country for others, in which their la bour and their skill will be regu - ated by better wages, are we to wait until the consequences of such a state of things overtake us in their worst shape, before we attempt to deal and grapple with them ? Why I hear every day of gt•eat numbers of those classes who are out of employ ment, yet if I take the labour of the whole of our popu lation as of one man, and compare it with that of any of er country in the same way, I find that our poor la bourer is infinitely worse off than any other population in the world. It is not likely that they will sit still and re main contentel here with unlimited labour and very stinted remuneration. I do not say that the ease is as is thus stated ; but I say that there is a belief of that description spreading itself witely over the country, and that its truth can only be ascertained by an inquiry into the system of our taxation." Now that was precisely the opinion which he (Mr. Robinson entertained, and which he wished to press on the consideration of the House. H e believed that it was now universally agreed that any tax on a raw material was a material check upon industry, by pressing upon productiveness in its first operations. H e knew that on the other hand, the property tax was objected to as inquisitorial ; but he wished to know whether the taste or delicacy o f individuals, in having their property inquired into, was to he put into competition with the mass of suffering existing throughout the country. H e did not speak on this question as the representative of any particular interest, for he considered it to be a great na tional qmstion, in which the interests of all were alike involved. lie wished to know in what situation they should he, if the Noble Lord's proposition should be affirmed, and that of the Hon. Bironet tejected ? Cer tainly not in the same situation as on Friday night ; and he must say that he thought the Government had bet er acquiesce in that vote, than attempt by any subt,rluge to • ~ e t rid of it. did not think that any want of confi dence as to the resources of the country was felt out of doors. Indeed, the very trifling fluctuation of 1 per cent. in the Funds, indicated no such thing, and was hardly more than was sure to take place on a distant prospect of a change of Ministry. He did not think that tee vote of the other night had reduced them to the position which the Noble Lord seemed to consider them placed in, nor had it rendered necessary that course of proceeding which the Noble Lord had adopted, and against which he (Mr. Robins m) sbould certainly give his vote. Mr. BENETT said, that he always felt he owed a debt of gratitude to the present Administration for the noble manner in which they had conducted themselves upon the s ubject of the Reform Bill, and it was there,ite his earnest wish never to be ca led on to oppose them ; but he must nevertheless act in such a manner as not to 14y himself epen to the accusation of his constituents, or of his own conscience. He eonsiderel that the vote of Friday night was a triumph of the popular caust•—(llear, hear) — it was the first working of the Reform 11.11—(Hear, hear) it was a proof of the axe...Hence of that change which Chu Ministers thetnse'ves had introduced into that House, t h a t the House were enabled to vote against an Admibis'ration the most popular that bad ever existed.--(Hear, hear.) lie thought that by that vote of the other night they lea 1 done themselves great honour, but they had done greater honour to those Ministers—(A laugh)—who had carried that Reform Bill, which had rendered them the representatives of the coantry, and given them the control of that Government which had been accustom e d to control them.—(Hear.) He regretted the proposition now made by the Noble bu d, sod his utter inability to vote with him, lie thought that the retirement of the Ministry would be a great evil to the country—perhaps, he might say, the greatest that could now befal the country—(flear)—but still, let the conse quence be what it might, he could not vote with them on the present occasion. It was, perhaps, true, that the time had not yet come for them to have a property tax, though, in his opinion, it was tie best that could be adokited for the purpose of assisting the productive industry „i tie country. He knew, however, that all were no t ot • that opinion, and that consequently the time for having such a tax had not yet come ; hut he also knew well, that the time was not far distant whe❑ a property tax must be adopted for the purpose of preserving the public faith. He regretted the manner in which the Noble Lord had row placed the question. The consequence of it was, that the Noble Lord would drive him either to stultify his own vote, or else to carry with it the reduction of a tax which would go to relitve a cliss of rich citizens, rather than the peop!e at large. In all the reductions of taxation which, is a humble Member of that flouse, he had recommended, he had endeavoured in the first instance, to get those re- duced which chiefly affected the necessaries of life, and the comforts of the lower ozders of the people. In his opinion, th. tax on malt was one of this kind. The persons who paid the house and window tax were in general per sons well able to hear it. That tax was, in point of fact, paid by the landlonls, not by the tenants, and it chiefly fell upon the rich citizens and shopkeepers of Lon lon. But it was the labourer who paid the malt tax ; it was he who suffered, either by being totally deprived of the use of a wholesome beverage, or by being compelled to drink beer (.f a very inferior kind. He (Mr. Benett) re. membered the time when the labourer went forth to the field wirh a gallon of good beer given him by the farmer, but that excellent custom had been totally put an end to by the effect of a heavy malt tax. To remove that tax would he to relieve the 1 tbouring classes of the country. fie wished, therefore, most earnestly to see that tax re moved, and he was sorry that the Noble Lord had mixed it up with another tax of a different description, and rest ing on different ground•. He regretted Vie result of the motion made the other night by the Hon. Member for Whit,haven, for, if it had been adopted, he did not think that the consequences would have bee❑ what the Noble Lord anticipated, for he was by no means convinced that the standard of value must necessarily have been lowered, or that pubic faith must have been broken. In his opi nion a property tax, such as than recommended by Mr. Ricardo, 'nicht be adopted, and indeed ought to be adopted; and that the ',vying of such a tax would fully enable the Ministers to meet the difficulties arising from the abolition of the malt duty, at the same time that it would press with less oppressive weight on the lower classes of the people. Some of the taxes, ton, proposed by the Noble Loid in opening the Budget to be repealed, might be continued without so serious an injury to the comforts of the lower orders as the continuance of the malt duty. —(Hear, hear.) The duty on cotton, that upon tiles, and that up' , n shop windows, the repeal of the last of which had produced very little satisfaction, might all be altered so as to meet the deficiency occa•ioned by the re peal of the malt tax. But if none of these \vould do—if those taxes proposed to be repealed must be repealed— then there was another mode of meeting the deficiency, which was, by a tax upon beer—(Hear, and Oh !)-1 tax which he did not believe would raise the price of r one farthing ; for the reductions effected by the abolition Of the malt tax would be more than sufficient to meet the increase that would to occasioned by the imposition of a tax upon beer. He thought there w.-re so many ways of me,ting the deficiency to be occasioned by the reduction of the malt tax, that he saw no reason for giving up the matter in the way now proposvd by the Noble Lord, and he should, therefore, vote against the Noble Lord's amendment. Mr. COBBETT rose at the same time with Mr. Slaney and perhaps half a ii zen other Members : the Speaker called upon Mr. Cobbett, and he procee led. I am sorry to interpose between the House and the speech of the Hon. and Learned Member ; but I hope he will hereafter find a time for making it. It seems to me as if every gentleman who has addressed the Chair to-night sedulously kept out of view the only important point to he decided, viz., the character of this House. My opinion is, that if the House rescinds the resolution of Friday last, the conssquences to the country may be most fatal. Be it observed, too, that the Noble Lord says not a word about resigning his amendment ; that also he has kept sedulously out of view ; but I shall make a few further remarks upon that before I conclude.—(Hear, hear.) Various obser vations have fallen from Hon. Members, which it is ne cessary fer me to touch; and I believe I must go back wards with them, as my memory will serve me better that way than any other. First, the Hon. Member for South Wilts said a great deal about a property tax, but nothing distinct as regards a plan—nothing that could be very clearly understood and defined. However, he quoted an authority ; and men should he very careful when they quotes authorities that they are good for something. What they tender us as the results of their own judgment, that we are hound to respect—and, generally speaking, it is worthy of it ; but he told us that he had Mr. Ricardo's authority in favour of a property tax. Do not let us forget, however, that the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir Robert Peel), had Mr. Ricardo's authority that his Bill of 1819 only reduced prices 3 per cent., while the Hon. Member for South Wilts himself, must know that it reduced them a vast deal more.—(Hear.) Therefore he should pause a little before he relies upon such an authority as the said Mr. Ricardo. It is always dangerous to find fault with those Who bestow praise, because it generally arises from the kindness and generosity of the applauder, but the Hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Robinsen), after eulogising the chat acter of Mr. Huskisson as a sagacious politician, and an enlightened statesman, told us that on his authority, we are to proceed to an income tax. True, Mr. Huskisson did not say so himself; but he is to be ureh•rstoo I as meaning it, being, according to the Hon. Merneer for Worcester, a grata man and a pro found statesman. But is the Hon. Gentleman aware that he might have quoted Mr. Hu•kisson's authority as to the operation of the Bill of 1819 ? He produced, in fact, the Bill of 1819, which, however, goes by the name of the Right Hon. Baronet; for, in 181 1 , Mr. Huskisson agreed to a resolution of a Commit - ee, of which, I believe, he was chairman (no, Mr. Horner, I remember, was its chairman), the effect of which was to compel the Bank at once to pay in gold, without restraint and without pi epa ration.. Then, ton, the whole Whig party urged the ne cessity of the Bank returning to cash payments within two years after 1811—this, ton, in the very middle of the war, while loans were going on, and all the world knows by this time that the plan was little short of downright madness.—( Cheers.) For this reason, I say that Mem bers should know the history of the conduct of these great and profound statesmen before they hold them up as autho rities. The consequence was, that Mr. Huskisson ap proved of the Bill of 1819. It is my unhappy lot to be doomed to censure the conduct of the Right Hon. Baronet in this resaect in a very public manner—to c nsure his whelem ; but this I must say, even for the Right lion. Baronet, that he was innocence itself compared as ith Mr. Huskisson.—(Cheers and laughter.) He was spotless innocence: for Mr. Huskisson might he truly called, and not the Right Hon. Bironet, the Coryphicatt of that band of blunderers.—(Laughter.) But, corning to more sober • and enlighten d days— (Question, question)—Mr. Hus kisson was one of the Ministry when the BM of 1826 passed—he it was that declared in the House of Commons that the country was within 48 hours of barter. Now, su ch a prominent person, though he might be thought at the time wise and prolound—the Mentor of a Ministry—is not txactly the p , rs,in in our day to be eulogised. We are liable to be misled by such praises, and I therefore request the Hon. Member for Worcester not again to commit such an error.—(Question.) I will now touch upon the question before us.—(Hear.) I was sorry to hear the Hoc. Mem ber for South Wilts, and one of the lion. Members for Lincolnshire, draw a supposed distinction between their constituents and the other inhabitants of the empire. They may be well assured that this is not the way to promote peace.—(Hear.) I have the honour to represent a great manufacturing town, where there is not an inch of land, where no person seems to know what land is—(Laughter) —bat have I shown any want of sympathy for the agri cultural districts? Am I less anxious than others to give teem the repeal of the malt t-A ?—( He tr.) Nu ; I should feel ashamed if I had any such feeling on my miod, for it is any duty to do whet I can for the w hole people.— (Cheers.) Such remarks as I have allured to must base an injerioue, perhaps a fatal tendency—they divide the pe ople among themselves, and prevent the restoration of hat numy—they set one class against another, and produce that irritation which, with the prospect before ns, is most to be apprehended. The same Hon. Gentleman spoke of the rich shopkeepers of London ! rich shopkeepers of Lundati ! rich ehopk•epers ! Does lie know how often the same leg of mutton hone in aches backwards and forwards to the table of rheas mirth shopkeepers ?—( Hear.) If he had to pursue the same frugal habits— if he had to eat the bread of care—in short, if Le had to endure what they er-lure, he would not call them the rich shopkeepers of London. —(Cheers.) It is nut the landlord who p ors any part of the tax upon houses and windows; the tenant pays the whole of it, and the house he occupies would be merely four walls, and worth not ing withhut the talent, the industry, an f attention of the tenant. Let me ask how many houses are male valuable merely by the reputa tion of an industrious tradesman? It receives a character from his character ; and, in such a case, how can it he said that the landlord pays the tax? I now come to the speech of the liabl e Lord, some parts of which 1 heard with very great pleasure. He told us that the motion of Friday night took him somewhat by surprise. By surprise! Why a notice for the repeal of the malt tax was given on the first day of the session by the Hon. Member for Surrey. The Hon. Memb er f or Li nco l ns h ire su b seque ntly gave a no ice which se eme d to supp l ant t h e ot h er , an d h e a lt e red it from the whole to half of the malt tax ; but the subject was nut brou g ht on unt il t h ree mont h s a f ter th e first notice, and it was talked of from the beginning of the session to the day on whirl, ti,e di9euss;on occuired. It is impossible, therrfore, fir ti.e Nobl. Lord tairlyto say, upon refl,eCon, that be was taken by surprise. What too was ever more deliberate than that di s cussion ? Thr Nob'e Lord says that the motion was advocated by dif ferent gentlemen on dif•rent grounds. I heard no diffe rent grounds; the only difference I heard was, that one set of gentlemen contended that it would be sufficient to take half the tax, while another set insisted that the whole should be repealed. I was among the latter; and I did not rear one word from the other side in the way of answer. The only answer was, that truly Ministers could not spare it. That appeared to my mind not so much the question, as whether the pevle could spare it.—(Cheers.) . . - However, that point I will leave, and talk of the part of the Noble Lori's speech which pleased me. He said in one place, that the income tax formerly imposed mis very unpopular, and be said truly. It was very unpopular. The Hon. Alderman told us, that if it were but a property income tax, he did not care about the particulars; but let me tell him that if it were such a tax a 4 was before itn- posed, it would not be collected half a year.—(Cheers.) Although, under no circumstances, would I give my vote for a property income tax, yet it might be made very dif ferent Rout th which existed famerly. What w,is that? It was the most unfair, the foulest tix, ever laid upon the people—(Hear)—one only excepted, of which I shall speak on another occasion. Hare was a surgeon with an incorne of one thousand pounds a year, depending entirely on his life, his health,...—his success, perhaps, in setting a bone. All taken together, it would not be worth four years' purchase ; and yet, though he might be fifty or sixty years old—thanks to the Whigs, who came in in 1806—ho was obliged to pay 10 per cent. upon his 1,0001. a year, instead of 61 per cent., which was the rule before they entered upon i.ffic What I have said of the sur• geon applies to other persons in trade. The surgeon was taxed 10 per cent. on his income—l was taxed 10 per cent. on my income. If I had broken a finger or two, or gone blind, I should have been ahle to earn no income, but will I must have paid my 10 per cent. The Lord or gentleman with a landed estate in his own possession in perpetuity paid no more ; his widow and children had it at his death, but the widow and children of the surgeon were left totally unprovided for. Was that a fair tax ?- I Clie-as.) I trust that the Noble Lord will not consent to such a tax. I trust that the Members for the City, if they were absent from the division on Frid.y night by accident, will not be absent when a proposition is made to saddle the country with such a t,:c as that.— ( Hear, hear.) But the Noble Lord said this, which pleased me so much—that you cannot exempt one class and not another. Maik the justice of this—that it is unfair to exempt one class and to lay the tax upon another. Such a course would render the Government and the Parliament hateful. I agree, too, with every vein in my body, when the Noble Lord laid it down that every man ought to pay taxes in proportion to the amount of his property and the protection it required. This position may be disputed by some, and very likely it will be m:t by my Right Hon. Opponent (Mr. S. Rice). I am pledged to show, and I will do it on the proper occasion, that millions a-year were collected from persons possessing nothing but personal property, while real property escapes from the payment of a single farthing.—(Hear.) I am ple , ged to show a great deal more than that to be sure.— (Cheers, and laughter.) Ministers have always promised a great deal to the people ; they have dealt in speeches which remind me of a line of Swift's— Fine words: I wonder where you stole 'em." I am sure they are not to be found in the 55th Geo. 111., nor in the 107th chapter of the 3d Geo. IV. both relating to stamps, and only differing as the one is more profligate than the other. Under chose statutes, a man having an estate of 200,000/. value, pays no more for stamps than a man who has a piece of land of only 2001. value. But I will put that matter aside for the pre- ent, that I may ad vert to what was said by some other Members. I think with the Noble Lord, that if any of the assessed taxes are to be taken off, the whole ought to be repealed because that puts an end to all expense at once. The vexation will nut be diminished, if you leave any part of them. I do not ascribe that vexation to the wishes or intentions a Government, because I do not ascribe to them a desire to create ill will, and to make enemies for nothing; but the mode of collection is such, that you must employ persons who ought not to be employed by anybody. The oppres sion under the head of surcharges is beyond all descrip tion. The Noble Lord will hardly believe what lam now going to say. I have been charged with the tax fur a shopman fur two years: now I have no shopman, but I keep a shoptvoman.—(Laughter.) When the collector has applied for the tax, she has answered that there is no shopolan ; and the retort was, " Well, then, Mr. Colotett may appeal." I did appeal; but it was of no use. When I was at Barn Elms I was charged with the tax tbr a bailiff. That, said I, 1 will not pay; and Gud knows how many letters I received from a Air. Bates, I think was his name.—(Question, question.) A motion has been made . for the repeal of the house and window tax : I am showing the evils anti annoyances that arise from the collection of it ; and if I am not speaking to the question, I am no judge of what the question is. —(Cheers.) Gentlemen may be well assured that if they have a mind to come to the end of my speech quickly, the best thing for them to do is nut to interrupt me. To return : I never did, and never woad pay that bailif tax. What I relate of myself is only an i lustration: it is notorious all over the kingdom that people in the middle ranks of life are grievously suf• fering in the same way. I had a petition to present to night, which I did not present because it dad not exactly belong to this debate; it is from nine tanners, and it con tains many very authentic details. They were cited to appear before Consinissioners fourteen miles from home, on a market-day, too, and at a distance from the market town, for sporting without a license : when they arrived not a particle of evidence was adduced against them, and they applied to the Commissioners to know who was to pay them for their loss of time and travelling expenses. I need not add drat they obtained nothing ; and this is one of the evils that ought not to be permitted to exist. If taxes are nut repealed, something ought to bedews to remedy this species of annoyance. A Noble Lord has talked of a mouvenient party, adopting the Frenca term, as if there oat a ntouvement party here, wishing to level all distinc tions of rank, and to destroy all rights of property. He asked what was the first cause of this party in France, and hinted that sotto:along of the kind was aimed at in England. But those who talk in this way never go back to the real origin of the French Revolution; they only begin with Danton and Robespierre.—(Question.) If they look into Young, they will see that the great first cause of the French Revolution was the unequal assessment of the taxes; not the weight of taxation, but the unequal assessment— (Hear) --laying more upon the poor than upon the rich, as classes became lower, the assessment was heavier, par ticularly upon the sub-delegues, which I believe answered to our surcharges. What was the answer to us, when we adopted the resolution we are now called upon to rescind ? What was the sole answer ? We proved the cost of the malt, end the injurious consequences of the tax ; that Go vernment only got 155., while the cost to the people was enhanced 40s. ; and what was the answer ? "We can• not spare the money—we must have the money—we can not do without it." Now the thug is, to show that Government can do without it. (Cheers.) And for this purpose, what have we more to do, without going into particulars, than to prove that our establishments now cost within a trifle of fourteen millions a year, while at the end of the last peaCe they cost no more than about 4 200,000/. Why should they cost mole now than then ? Is there any reason It rit ? Is the late successful war a good reason tot it ? Is your abuodant harvest of glory a good reason for it ? Is your having colonies a good reason far it ? Were your colonies a gain, or were they not ? " Yes, a gain, to be sure," the Noble Lord will say ; " we gained dominion." Dominion ! Did we gain wealth as well as dominion ? Strange, that we should grow poor by having gained wealth ! But this fact let me state, for the infor mation of the House, that we expend more upon Canada, in Englisti money, evt•ry year, than the total amount of goods exported to that colony. Thus, auto; colonies are no gain. It we have won anything, we have won a loss. --(Cheers.) But, besides our establishments, what have we? Our civil list us d the amount in 1792—sala lies are double what they were in 1792. The Right Hon. Baronet opposite (Sir J ones Graham) knows that 113 Privy Ominciilors cost the country no less a suer than 650,000/.—that pensions are far greater than they were in 1792, and that many of diem have been bestowed in defiance of torte letter of the law. We pay 51,000/. to the retired clef Its of the War-office alone. Last year 41,0001. wes expended for secret service-money ; after eighteen years of peace that sum was paid for spies and informers. We have an army, a militia, a yeomanry cavalry, a police for the treat towns, yet still 41,0001. was wanted for spies and informers. This money was so secretly expended, that no account is to be rendered, and the roan ,:, ‘ , : es tl e i lao p nw a d y spwei people :le); prove iepr ourselvesmt their I t , o mp name m ai i i tit e av . ea o nn i s .B to his colleague. We call ourselves the guardians of the public truly, ke. when ever they rie, eienr s s k te d i I,tittoi the take ol poor rm o m t b i t ,arn v fho n or a u t eisdvoeuhr South have tlpmi Le wish int of wholesome beer, and not be compelled to drink water, why does he not vote for saving this 11,000/. ? After all, the point for us to decide upon is, whether the money cannot be saved ? " Oh, no," say some Hon. Gentlemen, " we cannot save it without a breach of the national 00 4 faith,' I Lave often wondered ;viten I bear . . „.or gentlemen—aye, and officers of state—talk totho, of the nee( seity of preserving national faith, t! that did not think of it before. Do they rememnelobioi doubled the amount of the debt ? Yet theta sc ol o, there was a certain measure in tbe year under the guidance of the first-rate oracle fitr 3 ot d and second-rate oracle liuskisson—the OrPll:_teser Amphion of the day, who, as an Honourablereeeh, said, charmed the House by the music of thei n 'P r o —(Cheers and laughter.) They elt' no scruple i ing faith with all the rest of the notion.--(flearlaoo last it was discovered that it was impossible to do t t ° in this respect ; and here is what land.owners ohig ad attend to. Justice ought to be done between t el0; 10 the people ; but you never will prevail upon those i _. o live by the taxes to do justice to those who do not the the taxes.--( Hear, hear.) Those who live by th : 00 govern the affairs of the nation ; they fatten 01 1 ° 0 4 taxes, and therefore they ruin all those who receive 1819, ;were out of the taxes, and first or last ruin themselves too. j ierto is not at this moment a gentleman in England of tr oo l fortune, and who has a comfit erable Who, l o ,„ itt look round with sorrow at the number of chi l ' vhom he has to provide, in order that they nlaY,. a g , the same style as that to which he has birroelf be r a dia customed. Therefore it is that we go on anti onBo,to every direction are eaten up with usury ; and On te o: in consequence of a degree of infatuation such a ' o olr before afflicted mortal man.— Cheers.) But, in e tN sion—( Hear)—let me observe, that it ig character of the House that we are now to decine', 4 o! may amuse ourselves with the idea tha t what we rut? he undone ; we may fancy that we are tinse et ' ; 0 0°' truth is, that the eyes of the whole nat ion are ursore Last Saturday night the bells in Berkshire tare d pie were rineino fur joy at the repeal of the malt t, d oe how the feelings of the people will be dismal:Pint' pressed when they find that they hive been deceived( ofoThtr too, by whom? By a reformed House of Gunofol tbt having sat for three months, without Inak'niofiri slightest effort to relieve them. The 111ini 5ter o f, 1) ,. 1j ; produced his budget, which not only gave nn i re l e t t° . showed that no relief would be given, on Frt e aa o Y e s o ool: House of Commons—the reformed House 0 1 —took off half the malt tax, and that deteranioSiioia people hailed with joy. Are you prepared to 53 Y t oe . : morrow shall carry to your constituents the neel'o trio, Tuesday you rescioded the resolution which 0 f - tair ( you had without qualification adopted ? Ta lk !, - ( 1 0 0 ' 0 18 Parliaments! what nominee Parliament bad 'I I ,' oiacl e) thing half so bad? What could a nominee r a j it f r Ai do more than be the lacqueys of the Alin is ' er9 formed Parliament takes on Friday the first steP s' To a removal of the burdens of the people, and °° 04;) the Members of that reformed Parliament a re oe d in to do the behests of a Ministry vvhich Pr ° • ot elt s r opposed to all reductions Since your election ) j orl been breathing an atmosphere in which men c c ' er : i he e l tomed to eat their words, and the successors o' - 101 t1' nominee . Parliament evince as strong an aPPe t t i v te o t e p w e every withdraw , e v dge f r g o i m v given o t t o i a allb species of food as any of its predecessors. ' frt fidence can the people have in men who so deP a lo o''' eyes I n people will, if you rescind the best vote y o u e so I ; liament possesses the confidence of the peoPt i o V 4 anticipate any but the most fatal results. A 45 t tit on the other side, bad told the Hous-, that le•041, agreed to the proposition that he had tois nigh t fotof,o odcyonofifdecnocnes';'nea°o:?o - resign ; at which the House falls int ° I,bty s lie r utmost consternation.—(A laugh.) Like na il ' 00-' dren whom a mother might lock up in a dark r cried out, " Oh ! Do not leave us, mananiY--'4Vrtr' not leave us."—(Great laughter.) A se°3l-re quitted the senate house, saying that the sane 0 00 la, destroyed him, would likewise consume those left behind.—(Cries of " Oh, o h.") Id" ti t (1 14) the Noble Lord says anything of the no, nni 50f : that I should ever insinuate anything n r. „", e (Murmurs and laughter)—but, to repeat t' - oo t ti t ' d that I put let-fore—How can you ever aga irl t re ss ' constituents in the face after rescinding the vn te i ;oltt o a night—not that the importance lay in the e nte ,. er e' o ; in the dep. , e in which it might affect the cha r i a ; t he sietrctc,:fio o n f ou t , hi o t t wh e an u t n House itself, and the degree in which it wfl ul "o• ? ee annihilationdoet, the confidence of the people in their representat-efrig constitution th fi pr i i e d n e e a ' d o u world.—(Hear, heir.) A b e eo l d Mr. RICE said that strenuous efforts night made to alarm them into abiding by the ° p al:: they had adopted on Friday ni g ht. R' f're rice , o ste fl ,s' made to the Roman history, and to their ovt 0 :" liar history—from the dignity of ancient anna'ocitis/0 the language of the nureery, for the purpose °f o e , O r their minds sentiments of dread. Let the 1 • 113 •• s o' mind that they were not called upon to repeal a te lS 'osr o l they were not even required to alter a res"•, t :bit l a which it Bill was to be founded ; it was no ' l3c- I'be e o was merely the change of a simple resolutioo• to'r.o Hon Members prepare() to say that theY el el O, - ooro relief to all the other classes to whom t he 1 hi e '' t ld hwei h , aei ,Ei t ir h aas i t o i g oionaof;: relief had been held out by the finance plan n ' i ota Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and g i rl t h i g obi only who were to be benefited by the rrr ti • ° ,oe" : :1, tax?—(Cheero.) Much had to - n said ab " of the House ; but let it not be foraottem theythat House adhered to the resolution of FridaY, &Pi consult their consistency much less than if o th ': o te'l ° from it, for he would contend that they ha d iperP le solemnly, and after full notice, ',jeered the Pr te rs;; ) property tax than adopted that of ,r 3 l ott l o o• the malt duty. By 220 to 125 theY ni` the v o V Committee on a question which involve° tha r . r o now in dispute; and he would, therefo l ec' or? re, o they did so, they much ily more forma. parP came to a vote than when—being taken 1 1 ). FrO e j, they arrived at the vote of Friday. His 14 Foe ouch., stated, that if the malt tax were y at all to o .t i . t oc Ef o l would be better to repeal it altogether; anj.l,tice'r/t how could they, with any show of reason or J a f the/ to the population of the towns the o Dent Of sr e a ate , de 31 ) and window duty? The two together ) 4 : 0 0 0 0. ' somewhere about 6,800,000/. Now he "` l 'o t he c o ° it was utterly impossible for the business ° I o to be carried on by any Government with sn' l lo tite t- 0 0 . of its means. He begged to know ovha t t bt proposed in lieu of that tax. It was a n easy t .AP e r ti" of a property tax, but the imposition of tha t f 3 o r C S Y it should operate equ (11y, and the machinery eel I it into beneficial effect were matters of the ? n evi°, culty, even supposing it was open to no obief t'c cb i it of any other kind. Ile confessed it did e% ci° the utmost surprise to find two Honn nr , sb tb e II representing the city of London advoc a l I sition of a property tax, for it °mal tose fit' oi less. In 1816 a petition was presenterlatitic", worshipful body in toat city, in which th e o r o f s forth the abhorrence with which they remi ts t he ; ps i tax, as well with respect to its principle aster 0131:0C, its operation as being vexatious and oppressifrots! big to maintain an odious, arbitrary, and tn t° fi0 4 , 11 /: quisition into the most private circunistonce9:oeorlo hostile to every sense of freedom which t he 0° r ev' country entertained, and repugnant to the b r e F e oi , i , the British Constitution. So abhorrent ° J o t , tbefotero of the citizens of Lon ton was that taxi 1 " $ 0 : e l ote, not hear of a reduction of it even to the es t : ee re' io d rif cent.—(An lion. Member said that at the ft fle„ o oi r t he did not belong to the city of London./ rt o " ore doubt the citizens of London were now as av o e tio r° „,lat s ation as they had ever b•en. Let those • a tot`•,,, ' ously opposed the malt duty and the asseSe ooro4 lest they brought upon themselves sorneth'r•gg they lost all recollection of the fable of I ‘ : l o ' icte u t,ii4. King Log ? Let diem beware how they, 0 0) 1( 0$' inconsiderate)y, and without delifterati°,7ete d Ot° lot Initiate as a property tax. Those Wl° t oo° l . ii or 'or the character and dignity of the fin u ' or oto, o tl° to look carefully lest they m i g ht co tt tt to more by legislation without inquiry thou ichebro, plan of the Government—a Governint nt to o t o lie permitted to say, had repealed trot less std oot`eif lions of taxes in two years. They Pr'S'ocl o° ,,ot il ,, creel at the saute rate, and for his part rie ( 4,3 r, ( A: in expressing a furl conviction that no r a t n t io . kind could he proposed for absolutely ge,aoge —all that c ,torl be done in the way of " o ,ooe o / s ' the nature of commutation. It Was , u nt) teetly vain to talk of taltitto, off °s e t "; to De o t a ' showed bow the necessary reductions %re it the e st o e e a let them economise firs . , and point 01 00 . 0 0, 1 t duced taxation alterivards, but not before:e atreo ti ty l of the window tax he wished to call tl rA House to a matter of some importonce, 1 3 10 . 0 ,1 ' .( i/ gooe a o llyi to a misappr.hensioo which had e Co ot I , hail fallen from his Noble Friend th „ o sea • o f nrOr Exchequer. What his Noble Frivn r, f r oito , o shopkeepers claiming exemptions as thato" he 1 .10 , oow tux, according to the scale ee d fio n o d? should, in consequence thereof, be relt . e e . osti t o of their house tax. Now that hocon( aiv_liesc'evffiri, boon to them, and be was the ore . I .° . ' f o o (1 if, lance of n's ` deo oi to the subject from the co coots ,iot o , e ao o • t hiving been " ;re ber, statement on the s ubject e de, ' fart 00 There was another tt pie to which eeededrtti attention of the Douse before he pr . o a , beet!„ jti alluded to the great outcry ib n • Window specttng the operation of tle