The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-11-18 00:00:00

THE FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

The financial and social condition of a country are' so
closely interwoven, that it is scarcely possible that any
material change can be made in the one without the other
being in a certain degree affected ; hence it is that whenei;er
financial difficulties grow formidable in a country ite social
improVement is always either in danger of being impeded,
or of being thrown backwards in its career. In speaking
of the financial condition of this country at the present time
we must not be understood to apply the expression simply
to a balance of cash in the Exchequer, or to the annual
expenditure and revenue of the Government, though these
are items which are too impirtant to be overlooked in our
remarks. It is not an uncommon error to measure the
prosperity of a country almost entirely by a reference to the
above-mentioned items; but this plan though convenient to
State financiers affords a very faint view of the actual
financial condition of a nation. For instance the finance
minister of France in a recent report could appeal to an
increased revenue, an increased commerce, and to the
punctuality with which all the public taxes :were
paid into the treasury. Our own Chancellor of, the
Exchequer could in the same manner appeal to the
people through Parliament, by a reference to similar facts
in his last budget. He could refer to increased exports—to
an increased revenue—and congratulate the country on its
financial condition at the termination of a bloody and ex-
pensive war. But these facts do not s i'eak the truth when
we have to consider the. stibj-ct in its details. We must
cast our eyes over the dwellings of those who have to con-
tribute to these enormous amounts. We must look to the
general state of trade and industry, and we must discover
how our taxation operates upon the poverty and crime that

we see around us.
In the first place, if we apply our remarks to the expendi-
ture and revenue of the country, we shay find that they have
been made to balance without any great stretch of financial
genius; for let the exigencies of the Government he what
they may, it has only to ask and have its wants supplied
Fifty or hundred millions, are voted away with as much
indifference amidst yawning members, as a fashionable
coxcomb would saunter up and down Regent Street;
but it must not be inferred from this that there is no
tale to tell, except that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
moved a resolution to vote £100,000,000, which was carried
unanimously. To understand the actual working of the
machinery to produce these enormous reiults, we must go
into the details of its operations. The total estimated
amannt of the gross revenue for the financial year 1856 7
is £71,740,000, and the total expenditure £82,113,000,1
leaving a deficiency of £10,373,000 to be covered by other
means ; this was the financial condition of the G-overnment
in May last, according to the s'atement of the Chancellor of•
the Exchequer. To trace the progress of taxation we must
contrast its results in a time of war, with what it was in a
time of peace. In the year ending the sth of January,
1854, the total net revenue is given at £51,784,000, and in
the budget of last year it was £57,152,000, being an
increase of £15,368,000 ; but as the property tax in 1854
was put down at £6
,500,900, and in 1856 at £16,355,000,
this burden has been increased by £9,854,000 per annum,
or 150 per cent. It will at once be admitted that this is a
very easy m-de of meeting the demands of a Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and a very s'mple way of placing the
question of supplies before Parliament. But how is this
vast sum raised from the population of this country ? By
the latest official information we find the tax upon the
various descriptions of property raised for the year ending
the sth of April, 1856, was as follows, in the United
Kingdom.
Net amount of Property and Income-tax assessed in the
United Kingdom for the year ended April 5, 1855.
En gland
& Wales. Scotland. Ireland, Total.
Schedules. £
A (1) 5,365,948 656,865 693,707 6,716,460
B (2) 692,862 58,396 &I 238 , 805,496
C (3) 1,446,492. 81,105 1,527,599
D (4) 3,851.022 386.133 251,670 4,488,825
E (6) 730,196 39,396 50,118 819,700

Totals* ..12,086,522 1,140,730 1,130,838 14,358,080
By entering into an analysis of the above figures the
return affords no infmmition except under Schedules D
and E ; the first of which refers to trade and professional
incomes, and the second to the incomes on public offices
and pensions. But as Schedule D refers more especially to
the trade and industry of the country, we shrill confine our
remarks more particularly to this class of property-tax
payers.

- The gross total amount of income assessed to the
property-tax under Schedule D for the year 1854-5
amounted to £75,242,916; the number of persons assessed
was 261,662, and the gross amount levied was £4,230,036
Of the total amount assessed under this head £13,314,512
were upon incomes under £l5O per annum, or nearly one-
fifth of the, total amount. In applying the same analysis to
the number of persons chargeable, it appears that more
than seventy per cent. of the number have incomes under
£2OO per annum, and fifty-four per cent. have incomes under
£l5O per annum. And as the persons whose incomes are
under £2OO per annum pay £1,001,389, about one-fourth
or 25 per cent. of the income-tax under this head is paid
by persons whose incomes do not reach that amount. An
analysis of the sum, levied per head under each class is also
deserving notice. Tho following statement will give this
information ;

Amount of Income.

Number Amount Average
Income of persons or Tax rate
Assessed. Assessed. levied, per head.
dr £ .e a.
Under £lOO a year.... 1,356,198 21,891 56.508 211
,elOO and under .4'150.. 11,958 314 119.782 561,040 413
150 do 200...6,580 126 41,912 383,841 g 3
200 do 300.. 7,296,737 82,973 425,643 12 18
300 do 400.. 4,845,573 15,140 282,629 18 13
400 do 50,0.. 3.077 327 7,308 179,510 24 11
s'lo do ' 600.. 2,912 790 5,469 164,079 :0 0
600 do 700.. 1,946 742 3,152 113 AO 36 0
700 :do 800.. 1.524,116 2,095 88,907 42 g
800 do 900.. 1,406,742 1,717 82.06( -49 0
900 do 1,000 . 741,549 798 43,432 64 8
1,000 do 2,000.. 6,950,241 5,324 405,431 76 3
2,000 do 3 o'lo.. 3,535 927 1,557 20 ;,262 132 9
3,000 do 4.000.. 2,,90 954 81g 106,972 191 13
4,000 do 5.000.. 1,987,276 466 115,924 248 15
5,000 do 10:000.. 5,164,568 ' ' 773 '301,260 39 14
10,0' 0 do 50,000.. 7 813,065 445 457,512 1.028 2
50,000 and upwards.... 3 522,171 41 105.460 5,011 4

75,242,916 261,662 4,230,036
The most singular feature in the above statement is the
very limited number of persons assessed under the Income-
tax Act out of the total population of these islands. We have
long sustained the character for being "a nation of shop.
keepers," but it is certainly not borne out by this return.
But our present object is to deal with the amount of this
tax as a direct tax upon the people. We believe that the
operation of so large an amount of direct taxation upon a
very small proportion of the trading classes, is of the most
serious consequence, and is inflicting upon them an amount
of injury that is scarcely understood by superficial observa-
tion. The estimated amount of income-tax for the present
year is £16,355,000, about one-fourth of the gross
total estimated revenue. So far as the tax relates to real
property, which is paid only upon actual income, the objec-
tion to it is of less weight ; but as the proportion under
this head only amounts to about £7,000,000, we have
the enormous sum of £9,355,000 levied upon the other
classes, which is so much money extracted from the general
trade of the country. The correct way of estimating the
value of such a sum expended in the different branches of
trade is to measure it by the ordinary value of capital thus
employed. If the same amount of money were employed
in the pursuits of business, one might fairly assume that it
would create at least ten times its amount in the course Of
the year; while the sum now extracted by the tax collector
in hard cash is handed over at once to be distributed in
accordance with the demands of an extravagant and careless
government. We believe that no tax in our time has made
a more serious inroad into the social condition of our
middle classes and when it is seen upon how small a
portion of society this enormous weight is imposed, the
subject becomes of the greatest importance. Philanthropists
who are ever on the watch to lessen the burdens imposed upon
us by crime and pauperism, are too neglectful of the causes in
operation to produce them. But who that is acquainted
with our great cities and towns does not see that degrading
poverty and want of employment are the primary causes
Which produce this unhealthy state of things, and which
lead to vices of the most formidable character.

While, therefore, we boast of our great wealth, and our
extended power, we must take care that the social condi-
tion of the people is not sacrificed to an ignorant increase of
their burdens, or to an indifference about their complaints.
We hear from nearly every quarter that the condition of the
people is one of extreme dissatisfaction ; and that the `bur-
den of taxation imposed in various forms is most oppressive.
As the time for the assembling of Parliament is fast
approaching, let this be a warning to the Government to
prepare either for some economy in their expenditure, or for
some reform in our financial system.
(1) Real Property. (2) Occupiers:

(8) Dividends on annuities, interest on Exchequer Bills, &c,
(4) Income on Trades and Professions.

r,5) Public Offices and Pensions.

* The above are the net amounts assessed. and of course do not
represent the whole of the tax. The gro P amount under Schedule
D for Great Britain was £4.230,038,'and for Ireland £249,812, whi, h
is less than the net amount by some error in the return. Bankers'
Circular.

MAILLARD'S MAGNETIC AND MECHANICAL

COMPASS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES

Sir,—About a fortnight ago I saw a model of Maillard's
Compass in the Exchange News-Rooms, and, from the little
I could see of the invention, I was inclined to think it pos.
sessed some merit. But why does the inventor keep his
discovery so long in. the shade? Has the great idea of
giving the mariner the exact position of his ship, at all
times, " with mathematical accuracy," exploded ? or is the
patentee afraid to broach his revolutionary doctrine in
science, and about to abandon the task of completing his
work of " Navigation made easy ? " I ask these questions
as an underwriter and shipowper, largely interested in the
jesne•---Your obedient servant, INQUIRER.
Liverpool, Nov, 14, 1856.