The Express.
London, England, 1865-03-16 00:00:00

FIRZ INSURANCE DUTY.
eIIBLIC XIINTING AT TILE GUILDHALL.
(THIS DAY.)
" A public meeting of beakers, merohants, and
owes was held at the GeildbaLl this &Remote, at 2 o'olooh,
a kg tW porpoise of amiss upon the legislature the della-
bow et bitendin to all descriptions of insurable property
'gm rediatinn of the duty to is. 6d. per cent., u made upon
.A....le:trede in the last semion of parliament."
era swam was coavesed by the Association for the
Alwailiis or Reduction of the Duty oa Fin Insurances.
The chair wm tabs by the Right Boa. the LORD MAYOR,
use platform were—Mr. R. W. Ckawford, M.P., Mx.
M.P.,
LosktieLl:i.ilalgr. H. Lewis. M.P., Alderman J. Law-
man, Maley, Alderman Gibbose, Mr. Geo.
igasee, end several gentlemen representing insurance own.

rse egsfastair, in opening the promedinp, expressed
bb cell oonsurnam
.in the object of the meeting, which
be ereadered very important. Vat numbers of pasces
bibs City were interested in this question, and it appeared
to him that the duty es all lacerates§ ought to be rafted
b„ Ad. The tax was one on prudence, and os that
posed it ought to be kept as low as pewit&
Alderman GIBROSS moved the fleet reedutioo '
64 nibis the opinion of this meeting the duty chargeable
a Si. isinumess amounts to • tax span amasses. That it I
,remtg to.urance, and ought to be forthwith materially
rior wholly repealed."
g large number of persons were now prevented free
war* in totisequaim of the pressure of the ts x, and that
.1m a Wan in favour of the reduction now proposed.
tottelon of the duty to Is. 6d. in the pound was ass
in/Unwed Asps that parliament mold take.
""Kr. FAGAN, late mayor of Rochdale, in seconding the
aseeleasidbe was glad that the Lord Yaps had felt it hie
idea leithe a lading part in a gelation is which the eons-
imenegasrelly we so deeply istensted. The question was
!am
.no, se much for parliament as for the people. One
•ebject of legislation should be to encourage the
sad preservation of property, and the
ranee duty era opposed to that end. The
beery prism* of the tax at present led numbers
a pawns to become their own insurers, and thus
they eared risk without the revenue being benefitted.
lbs detection between stock-in-trails and household
Wolters was utterly indefensible on principle, sal
he felt certain that if the reduction had been
universal, the revenue would have been recouped.
In the whole range of taxation there was co
greater anomaly than a duty et 200 per cent on fire loamy
tete. ;WAWA% had a prior claim even to incomes.
(Cheers.)
Hr. ft. W. CRAWFORD, M.P., in supporting the motion,
said the votes which he had given in parliament showed that
betas in favour of the principle of reducing the duty on
fire iaeuraces, but he wished to avoid pledg-
ing himself to any particular course till he had
heard die budget. (Hear, hear.) He should give all
the propositions of the Chancellor of the Exchegner his
full consideration, and he hoped the right hoe. gentle.
man would be enabled to islands the insurance duty.
The resolution was then pot and carried unanimously.
Lease were read from the following members of par-
liament; expressing their cononerem, in the object
• IL Gurney, Lord Stanley, Joseph Solna, T. Barnes, Gangs
Hadfield, John J. Rogers, B. T.Woodd,and H. B. Sberidia.
Mr. CRAWFORD, M.P., said that Mr. Goschen, M.P., lad
rogneeted him to express his concurrence in the object, and
his regret that he could not ahead.
The second resolution was proposed by Alderman
Haw,
" That this meeting, whilst it thank! ally acknowledges
the vein of the redaction made last session in the duty
payable on the insurance of stock-in-trade, believe
that if that reduction had been made to apply to all de-
eeriptions of insurable property, it would sot only have
given greater satisfaction to the public, but would have
yielded a larger return to the revenue."
The following resolution was also proposed :
"That in the opinion of this meeting, the resolutions
already passed in the House of Common, point to and re-
quire a larger and more general reduction of this duty
than has yet been made. And that a petition be signed
by the chairman, urging upon the legislature the desirability
of extending to all descriptions of insurable property the
reduction of the duty to Is. 6d. per cent., as made upon
stock in trade in the last merlon of parliament."
[The meeting was proceeding when our report loft.]