The Express.
London, England, 1847-07-21 00:00:00

UNIFORM PENNY STAMP.

Mr. BROTHERTON moved for the appointment of a
select committee to inluire into the expediency of adopting
a uniform penny stamp, instead of the present high and vex-
atious rate.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER having slid
that he would give the subject his best consideration helore
the next session of parliament, the motion was withdrawn.
REVENUE DUTIES.
Lord G. BENTINCK said that with the permission of
the house he would state the reasons which induced him to
ask for the return which stood in his name on the paper, and
the result which he expected to arise from the production
of it. Within the teat few days there appeared
what ho might deem ibe as a state - paper, addres,cd
to the electors of Tamworth—(laughter)—in which state-

meets were made respecting the oieratio'n of the financial
measures which had taken place within the last six years,
which, if left altogether uurefuted, might have a dangerous
tendency at the coming elections. The general effect of
these statements was, that in consequence of the reduction
of duties which had been effected in that period, burdens
amounting to no less than 7,625,0001. had been taken off the
people of this country, with little or no loss to the revenue.
It was stated that the predecessors in office of the right
honourable gentleman had left • deficit amounting to
2,100,0001., and that their attempt to restore the ruined state
of the finances, by increasing the customs and excise duties
6 per cent., and the messed taxes 10 per cent., had failed.
The right hon, gentleman would have it believed, therefore,
that the result of his six years' administration had been this—
that while he reduced taxes to the amount of 7,625,0001.,
there had been an apparent loss to the revenue of no more
than 363,0001., or—giving the whig ministry the credit of
the increase of 416,0001., from the alteration of the sugar
duties effected by them last session—of no more on the whole
than 779,0001. No greater financial conjuror oould exist than
the right hon. gentleman, if this were a fair statement of
the result of his financial operations; and if, on the eve of •
dissolution it were permitted to pass uncontroverted, the
necessary result would be that the people of the cemtry
would come to the conclusion that they had nothing to do
but to take off taxes al ether, and that the revenue could
still be maintained. Now he (Lord 0. Bentinck) would
show that the right hon. baronet had dealt with only
104 millions of the revenue and that he left 37,388,2541. of
the revenue untouched, aad that there had been a deficit in
that portion with which he dealt of na less than 4,925,3191.
This deficit would have been most serious and disastrous if it
was not compensated for by the increased taxation imposed
by his predecessors on the 37,388,2..541. which he left alto-
gether untouched. A comparative statement of the amount
of revenue from the following sources in 1841 as compared
with 1846 would show what the real effect of the right hon.
gentleman's financial policy had been.
Bevsaae In 1841. Revenue in 1866.
Br ins 443,018 ... 638,422
Paper
Bssp 815,864 ... 963,040
Hop
Malt 569,833 ... 286,263
,M 3.363 . . 5,084,649
Ilcenata
British eptrite 5,118,173 .. 5,949,151
Aseemed end land taxis 4,715,353 ... 4,474,462
Posthorn duty 199,864 179,831
Post-office 1,495,540 1,963,837
Mamma 7,276,380 ... 7,673,931
enbite, rem
Tea
Thlmeee end east 3,530,823 ... 4,319,061
Wine
The Result of all this was, that the revenue which was not
touched by Sir R. Peel, rose from 37,388,2541. to 41,638,5731.
on the sth of January, 1847, being an increase of no less
than 4,150,3901., or of 114 per tent. on those branches of the
revenue with which the right hon. baronet had not meddled.
(Hear, hear.) It was represented that the ordinary revenue
on the sth of January, 1847, when the right hon. baronet
came into power, was 47,917,0001. Deducting. 37,388,2641.
from the sum of 47,917,0001., there remained • sum
of 10,528,7461., and it was in regard to the sources
of revenue from which this sum was derived that the
right honourable gentleman made his financial experi-
ments. The result was that this rum of 10,528,7461. on
which he tried his experiments dwindled down in 1847 to
6,019,4271. (Hear, hear.) And if the increase of 416,0001.
which was fairly attributable to the reduction of the duty at
sugar effected by the noble lord were subtracted, it would
have dwindled down to 6,603,4271., showing a loss to Ike
revenue on this portion of it with which the right has. gen-
tloman dealt of no lees than 44 1-3rd per cent. (Haab)
If, instead of trying his experiments on onl twe-ninds
Oil revenue, the right honourable bad
Wad thou ea the whole revenue, there would baw Moss a
dabbed= of no ler than 20,163,9361. Bat, paw, ft
idea be rid that though there was a loss to Ilto ewessno
an lbws Wine on which reductions of Jolt bad been
etheted, still mak an impulse had hem given to IN=
soannfloteras of the country la of
off las waled OM Mug cot tho splingo at , Mal as
lammasi kesompka iM boa komined k raped%

all other articles. Well, he held in hie hand a state-
ment of the comparative value of the exports of the four
great rap'e manufactures in the first five months of 1845
and 1847, and the result was that the declared value of the
exports of cotton manufactures and yarn in the five months
of 1845 was 19,289,8681.; in 1847, it amounted to only
9,820,7721. The exports of linen manufactures and yarn is
the five months of 1845, amounted to 1,750,5161. ; in 1847,
to 1,495,6361. The declared value of woollen manufactures
in the five mouths of 1845, was 3,046,4861. ' in 1847, it
was 3,110,5681. In silk manufactures alone there was an
increase from 297,7211 to 404,6021., owing probably
to the importation of foreign silk manufactures. The
result was that the aggregate value of these exports in
the five months of 1845 was 15,802,1911. In the five
months of 1847 it fell to 14,831,4781. With regard to
glass, of which there was to be such a large consumption
after the duty was reduced, after being told that then gas
and water would be conveyed by glass pipes instead of
iron, the result wee that the declared value of these exports
during the mine period had fallen from 215,635/. to 131,7391.
(Hear.) He did not think he would be told that the
increase of revenue was derived from the redaction of
7e. 10d. a gallon on brandy. Timber was another article
on which the duty had been reduced with • great
loss to the revenue, and it could hardly be pleaded that the
large increase of between 400,0001. and 500,0001. on the poet
office, and of 205,7721. on paper had grown out of the re-
duction on timber. (Hear, hear.) Another boast was, that
the duties en raw materials and dye stuffs, which were used
in manufactures, had been reduced, but as he had shown
that the exports of the four great staple manufactures of the
country had not increased, it could not be pleaded that the re-
moval of the duties of those articles connected with manufac-
ture, had been instrumental in increasing their consumption,
But what the right hon. gentleman left wholly out of view
was the gracious and merciful interposition of Providence in
his favour when the whigs went out of office. (Mai
laughter.) No sooner did the whip leave office than do
country was blessed with three abundant harvests in rue-
cession ; and it was not the additional 5 per cent. and 10
per cent. which prevented the revenue from prospering, but
the cause why it did not prosper in 1841 and 1842 was this,
that they had then three successive bad harvests, and a bad
cotton crop to boot. (Hear, hear.) He had spoken of
the interposition of Providence, but be might venture to
say that a more powerful cause was at work, and this was,
that instead of 150,000,0001., as stated by the noble loss!
(Palmerston), being sent to foreign countries, as loans, on
which no interest was paid, a sum of money equal to
100,000,0001. had, in the course of these six years, been spent
at home in railway enterprise ; and they would find in the
increased consumption of tea, tobacco, and engin., which was
the consequence of this, the true cause of the elasticity of the
revenue, and not in the often boasted effects of the altera-
tions in the financial and commercial policy of the country
made by the right hon. baronet the member for Tanowortk
(Hear, hear.) These boasts often reminded him of the two
thee described by the poet Prior, which ascribed to their
own exertions the dust raised by the wheels of the chariot—
." Say, Sire of Insecta, mighty Sol,.
A fly on the chariot pole cried out,
What Blue Bottle alive
Did ever with such fury drive!'
' Tell, Beelsebnb, great father, tell,'
flays Caber, perch'd upon the wheel,
Did ever any mortal fly
Rabe curt, a cloud of dust as I!
Mr tit meet turned the whole debate—
My ekuur saved the sinking state.'
(Much laughter.)
That was a fair sample of the leading characteristics of the
address he had referred to, and seeing the circumstances
under which it had been issued, he (L:rd li. Bentinek)
thought himself justified in making a eounter.stanment upon
the subject. He felt the more justified in so doing, because
if such statements went (oak unanswered, members might
be returned, placed in the position either of having pledged
their faith to such principles, or of leaving the public credit in
a position which would render it difficult to meet the de-
mends upon the nation. He was, as others were, in favour of
a repeal of the malt tax and the hop duties, but not without
some sort of commutation of other items of taxation. He
was not one of those who would delude the people by saying
that he ens ready to take off seven millions of taxes
without equivalent. (Rear, hear.) Wnat he believed was,
that, in the course they had rec. utly pursued, the parliament
was mistaken. He believed that duties upon articles of
foreign produce ought to be retained, and that if they were
retained upon the principle of what might be called a
revenue standard—that was, an ad valorem duty of some 15
or 20 ptr cent.--we might thereby derive such a revenue
as would enable us to remove the malt and the hop duties
immediately, and possibly the soap duty also, without risk
to the public credit. That was his view; and, thanking
the house for having listened to him, he would now conclude
by morlog for returns showing the comparative receipts of
revenue in the years ending the sth of January, 1842 and
1847. . _

The question having been put.
The tAIANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that of
course he had no objection to the return which the noble
lord had rightly described as an unopposed 'me, and which
being so, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) of course was
unprepared to enter upon the present occasion, into these
elaborate details upon which the noble lord had thought it
timely to expatiate. The noble lord had deemed it neces-
sary to answer an address puhlished by a right hon. member
of that house, and as there were, consequently, manifestoes
now before the public upon both aides of the question, of
course it remained with the public to judge between them,
and to decide for themselves which party had conferred most
benefit upon the country. (Cheers and laughter.) With
respect, however, to the noble lord's references to the
state of trade at the present time, he must take
leave to r,mark that the noble lord app'ared to
have forgotten altogether the state of last year's harvest,
and the commercial effects which were thereby occa-
sioned. To his mind, nothing more successfully proved
the value of free trade principles than the effect which
high prices of food had this year had upon the trading
interests of the community. He would only further add
that he hoped the house would not go into a premature dis!
cuasion upon this question. There was no occasion for so
doing, for the noble lord might have addressed hi. observa-
tions to the public through the medium of a letter to the
electors of Lynn, and thereby have spared the house the
address he had thought it necessary to deliver on the present
occasion.

Mr. HUME observed that new within his recollection
had measures been so entirely successful as the free trade
measures of the late government. Let them examine the
returns before them. It appeared by a parliamentary paper
of this session, number 260, that whilst the net revenue of
1842 was 60,979,5961.' the revenue for 1847 (although seven
millions of taxes had been taken off) was 67,589,0001. Of
this sum, the income tax amounted to 5,474,0001., so that
the clear profit, less the income tax, under the new measures,
was 1,145,0001. (Hear, hear) He mast say that he con-
sidered the noble lord had failed altogether in making out
his case. Ile should be as glad as the noble lord to sei the
duties taken off malt, hops, end soap—in fact, he would
remove the excise duties altogether—but he would make up
the deficiency in another way than that proposed by the
noble lord—namely, by direct taxation. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BANKES observed that the statement of his noble
friend went to show, not that the gross revenue had been re-
duced, but that it had been increased where the late prime
minister had not meddled, and had been reduced where he
had chosen to interfere. As to the surplus, the hon gentle-
man had shown, it was mainly attributable to railway
enterprise.
Mr. GOULBURN said it had not been his fortune to

he;;arypaTtoi the speech of the noble lord except ip
conclusion. He had audentood the noble lord', motion was
an unopposed one, and therefore not anticipating so
elaborate a statement, he had thought he might
safely leave the noble lord's facts and tieures to
the tender mercies of the member for Montrose.
(Cheers and laughter.) The noble lord, however, having
thought it necessary to enter into these matters at so much
length, he mast enjoy until his papers were delivered what-
ever triumph he might derive from the applauses of his
friends around him—(loud cheers); and to that triumph,
whatever might be its value, he (Mr. Goulburn) left him.
After an observation from Mr. W. Wattams, the return
was ordered.

11-•