The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

THE INCOME TAX.

A public meeting of the inhabitants of BRIDGEWATER,
convened by the mayor, Mr. J. Ruddock, was held in
the Guildhall of that town on Monday. There was a
large attendance of the principal merchants and pro-
fessional men of the place present, as well as the two
members for the borough, Colonel Tynte and Mr.
Follett. The hon. gentlemen addressed the meeting
at some length against the continuance of the present
amount of income tax for more than one year after
the terms of the treaty of peace had been agreed to,
the gallant colonel observing that he did not think
Lord Palmerston's Government would do so. After
resolutions had been pr,:posed and carried, the fol-
lowing petition was unanimously agreed to :
That your petitioners view the proposal to continue the
present property and income tax for more than one year
after the terms of the treaty of peace had been agreed to,
with considerable dissatisfaction and alarm.
That they consider the principle of a tax upon income
or profits. as distinct from a tax upon realised property,
unjust, arbitrary, and inquisitorial, and in its mode of as-
sessment derogatory to the freedom of Englishmen ; they
therefore pray your honourable House to take the same into
your serious consideration, and to adopt measures for the
reduction of the tax upon property and the total repeal of
the tax upon income from and after the fifth day of April
next.

At LI:ICI:SM. a public meeting, called by the
mayor, was held in the Town-hall on l'uesday even-
for the purpose of petitioning against the income
-,A.ient high rate of Is. 4d. in the pound.

THE PRESS.

The Town-hall was crowded. The first resolution
affirmed that the increase of the tax to Is. 4d.,
although justifiable and expedient during the war,
was unjust and burdensome in time of peace, and
that its reduction to 7d. was necessary and expedient.
This was moved by Alderman Manning, seconded by
Alderman Toiler, and carried unanimously. The
second resolution declared the proposed continuance
of the increased tax two years after the signing of
the treaty of peace to be unjustifiable and contrary
to the spirit of the Act of Parliament. Mr. Coun-
cillor Moxon and Mr. Councillor Hurdy were the
mover and seconder of the resolution. A third reso-
lution, proposing that a petition to the Legislature
be prepared embodying the above resolutions, and
declaring that, if the income tax be continued beyond
1860, the assessment of it ought to be based on more
just and equitable principles, was moved by T. Ma-
caulay, Esq., and seconded by Mr. It. Augrave. Sir
Joshua Wahnsley, M.l'., said he was not without
hope that the income tax in its present shape would
not again form part of the budget of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer. lie was not aware of any other
country to which so unequal a system of taxation pre-
vailed. Sir Archibald Alison, in his "History of
Europe," pertinently remarked

A greater error in finance could not have been corn-
nntted than the introduction of an income tax without any
graduation but that arising from the amount of revenue.
In this short but pithy sentence he embodied the
whole gist of the question. Something had been
urged as to the property and income tax being a war
tax. In his opinion all taxes were for the protection
of life and property, and the only distinction he
could draw was which was the most equitable for all
purposes. lf, however, it were specially a war tax,
it ought to be retained until those oppressive burdens
incurred by war were removed, and we were more
free to struggle in the race of competition, now so
severe, with other nations. To the eight hundred
millions left as a legacy we had recently added forty
millions more. It was due to all classes that there
should be a more equitable mode of taxation.
At FROME list week a meeting of the inhabitants
was held in the Assembly-room at the George Hotel,
Donald Nicoll, Esq., in the chair, when resolutions
were passed unanimously declaring the existing tax
of 16d. in the pound to be enormous in amount,
offensively inquisitorial, by its inequality unjust, and
that its continuance beyond the sth of April next
would not only be oppressive but a violation of the
spirit of the act consented to by Parliament and the
people of this country in the belief that the impost
would not be continued more than one year after time
termination of the war with Russia. Also that to
tax precarious and permanent incomes alike is mani-
festly unjust, and that a petition be presented to the
House of Commons in accordance with the foregoing
resolutions. The meeting was addressed by Messrs.
Coombs, Chapman, Beal, Rev. S. Manning, Morris,
Rev. E. Edwards Holroyd, and others, and after a
vote of thanks to the chairman the meeting was dis-
solved.

At CAMBRIDGE a large meeting of the inhabitants
was held on Wednesday afternoon, at the Town hall,
the mayor in the chair, for the purpose of petitioning
Parliament for the reduction of the income tax from
16d. to its original amount of 7d. in the pound, from
and after the month of April next. The speakers
manifested great unanimity in their desire to be re-
lieved of the burden, and a petition embodying the
opinions of the meeting received immediate signature.
A preliminary meeting was also Feld at ELY, on
Tuesday evening, for the same object, at which re
solutions of a similar nature were unanimously
passed, and another meeting convened for the formal
adoption of a petition founded thereon.
A numerous meeting of the inhabitants of Sr.
MARY, Ismsoros, was held on Wednesday evening
at the Myddleton hall, Upper-street, at which reso-
lutions were passed for the immediate reduction of
the income tax to 7d. in the pound, and for the exo-
neration of all incomes under 150/. per annum, and a
petition to Parliament praying for the above objects
was forthwith adopted.

At a meeting of the inhabitants of BARNSLEY, on
Monday evening, to adopt measures for the remission
of the income tax, the following resolution was carried
unanimously:—

That the income tax is unjust in its application, oppres•
sire in its execution, and off•nsive in its inquisitorial
system. That while the nation generally seemed cheerfnlly
to submit to an increased tax in support of the war its
continuance after the termination of hostilities cannot but
be rzgnriled as a breach of gond faith and in the opinion
of this meeting the tax, from the present state of the reve-
nue of the country, might be dispensed with altogether.

It was Rix() resolved to get up petitions against the
tax.

Mr. H. K. SEYMER, M.P., writes to the Sherborne
Journal in reference to some observations made by a
local paper :
I have accepted " an appointment under Government" in
the same sense us Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley, members

SATIJitDAY,

of Lord Derby's Cabinet, have accepted appointments
under the Government. lam an unpaid commissioner for
the purpose of " inquiring into the most effectual means of
distributing the sewage of towns, and of applying it to bene-
ficial and profitable uses." 1 have yet to learn that a
m ember of Parliament who gratuitously devotes his services
to the investigation of a complicated question, interesting
alike to town and country, forfeits thereby the goodwill and
confidence of his constituents. i can assure your readers
that my "Government appointment" will net affect my
political conduct—of this they will be able to judge when.
Parliament meets.

tai.at its pre'set;t