The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-27 00:00:00

REPEAL OF THE PAPER _DUTY.

The sixth annual meeting of the Association for the
Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge, was held at St. Mar-
tin's Hall, London, on Wednesday night, Sir Joseph
Paxton, M P., presided, and amongst those present we
noticed—The Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, M.P. ; Mr.
3. P. Murrough, M.P. ; Mr. Herbert Ingram, M.P. ; Mr.
Sergeant Parry, Dr. John Watts, Dr. Epps, Mr. Charles
Westerton, .!See &e.
The Chairman, aiter...-Linding to the interviews with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, went C. 1.1 to say that the tax
Was put on in 1712 as a war tax, and a war tn-x it had
remained up to the present time ; in 1835, there "vas a
modification, and then it Was reduced to hid a pound. Tiie'
repeal of the tax upon parer w(lttid bring forth better
articles, as on a circulation of 20,000 penny papers there
would be a saving of £2,500 per annum, and if that sum
Were applied by the proprietors in securing literary talent,
they could have a first rate paper for one penny. To show
the operation of such taxes, he might instance that which
was formerly imposed on glass. Mr. Chance, who manufac-
tured the glass for the original Crystal Palace, was paid for
the hie the sum of 413,500, but had the duty been then
on glass, that duty alone would have amounted to 454,000,
and then they never would have had a Crystal Palace at
all. The greatest advantage in taking off duties was that
it enabled persons to try experiments without restrictions,
and that was a great thing. Ile was sorry to see that,
although this was the last. of the obnoxious taxes, the
Chat-teener did net feel disposed to repeal it. He (the
Chancellor) appeared to have a faney for that expif..'cled
notion of having a large number of little nines, and he
based his authority upon a man who lived about a centtiry
since, Arthur Young. In all probability the meeting had
1 never heard of him who had suggested it; and not.
withstanding Sir Robert Peel had taken off the duty from
eight hundred articieS, the Chancellor seemed to take
quite a different view. It was perfectly useless to talk of
reformatories, or educational improvements, until this tax
was repealed.
Dr. Epps moved the first resolution. It was as fol.
lows :—" That the excise on paper limits its supply and
enhances its price, is ruinous to the small manufacturer,
restricts the field for the employment of capital and labonr,
and thus tends to produce pauperism and crime ; and that
the interest of the country imperatively demands that a
less injui ious mode of raising money be resorted to than a
tax on so important a manufacture."
Mr. Herbert Ingram, M.P., supported the resolution,
and, in the cour-e of a long and eloquent speech, said he
was perfectly disinterested in respect to the paper duties.
lie could say that it was a most outrageous tax, and ought
at once to be repealed, and he did hope that this year
would see the last of it. Much complaint had been made
about the way in which the income tax was levied, but it
was net half so inquisitorial as the paper duty. It was
the most obnoxious tax in existence; and, in conclusion,
said he would support the resolution, because it was a tax
on education, it was a tax on industty, and it was a tax
on the intelligence of the country.
The resolution was then put and carried nevi. con.
Mr. Sergeant Parry moved the following resolution :
" That the tax on paper is a tax on knowledge, which, by
destroying the author's fund, deteriorates cheap literature.
and checks the enterprise of the best publishers. That it
ought therefore to be immediately repealed." He considered
that the duty on paper was a duty on the raw material,
by means of which knowledge was disseminated. It
onght not to be allowed to exist. It was not one of the old
institutions-alike, for instance, the bench of bishops.
(Laughter.) It was only. imposed in the reign of Queen
Anne, in the same year ne believed when the newspaper
stamg was imposed;+ and which had the of e!° of stopping
oae of the most brilliant publications which England ever
produer:—namely, the Spectator, edited by Addison. Well,
as it was not such an old institution, there was no reason
why it should not he aboiieeed, and he believed that it
Would before the year closed. The newspapers paid to
the Government the stun of 462,500 per year in direct
and unmitigated taxation. Now, if they had that amount
to distribute amongst literary men, would not the public
be bcnefitted by it ?
Mr. Elt seconded the resolution, which was canied
unanimously.
The Right Hon. T. M. Gibson then said, it bad been
his lot to visit various Ministers of State to represent the
mischief arising from the duty. He had been politely
received, and then as politely bowed out. Some of them
had expressed an opinion in favour of the repeat, and
ethers vice versa. He did not believe they had any oppo
nents, but there Was always some excuse. The question
then at once arose—How Were they to get rid of the paper
duty? They must support this association, for, it must
be remembered, they had started with three Objects : the
remission of stamp, advertisement, and paper duties; two
of those had been carried, and they must continue their
support until the third was carried. The tax was not put on
originally for the purposes of revenue, but it was because
the poorer classes should not be well informed on differeteL
subjects, and amongst others as to the different actions of
the Government. The remission of the duty would cause
the greatest good to result to the working classes by the
extension of the cheap press. (Cheers.) Every man
should be able to have his paper, whether he could pay
5d for it, or only ld (Cheers.) In conclusion, he observed
that the circulation of the metropolitan press had
increased to a very great extent, thus showing the good
that had arisen from the remission ()Stile stamp duty, and
which he said would be doubly beneficial if the paper duty
was repealed. He had great pleasure in moving a vote of
thanks to the chairman.

Mr. Langley seconded the motion, which was carried
with acclamation.

The meeting then dispersed.

A letter from the Cliineha Islands, dated Jan. 9, states
that they are at present in possession of the party in
Peru. who have revolted against President Castilla. It
also descriqes the services of Her Majesty's ship President,
in preserving order and preventing the abduction of men
from the vessels engaged in the guano trade.
THE MINT.—The total amount of money advanced from
(inclusive) for the purchase
the consolidated rund:!nce 1837
of bullion for coinage, is £5,316,;.',29: of which the sum of
£450,000 was advanced last year. The zotti.l amount paid
into the Bank of England in repayment of such advances
from the fund (since 1837) is £5,220,000.
The King of Prussa. has just presented the well known
actor, Herr Emil Devrient with a gold snuff box, in recog-
nition of his pleasure and satisfaction with the artist's acting
in Berlin. The box is ornamented with the PruFsian eagle
in relief. lieu Devrient had refused to receive any
payment when performing before the King, considering the
honour of the invitation as a sufficient remuneration.
ELECTION RIOTS.—One life has unfortunately been for-
feited during the excitement which prevailed at our recent
election. A man named John Sullivan was set upon by
some of the more turbulent of the mob, and beaten, for
declaring himself in favour of Mr. itagwell's return ; he died
on Tuesday morning. An inquest was held on the next day
by James John Shee, Esq., and a verdict of manslaughter
was returned, against some person or persons unknown.—
Clonmel Chronicle

CONTINUED ILLNESS OF THE REV. MR. SPURGEON.—
This reverend gentleman is still in a very it firm state of
health, notwithstanding which, and contrary to the advice
of his medical a'tendant, he preached on Sunday, at the
Surrey Gardens Music hall, to a congregation numbering
nearly te❑ thousand individuals. The reverend gentleman
was compelled to terminate his sermon abruptly, and had
to be assisted down the pulpit stairs, being completely
exhauste?.

NEW PRA NKLIN EXPEDITION.—We understand that
Government has decided on sending another Arctic expedi-
tion, to clear up, if possible, the mystery shrouding the
fate of Franklin and his party. The expedition will, we
believe, consist of two vessels, with ordinary steam power,
and be equipped in such a manner as to enable the most
complete and exhausting search to be made for our country-
men.— Morning Chronicle. [We think this is going too
far. Sir Charles Wood, the first lord of the Admiralty, in
the House of Commons the other night, expressed a very
decided opinion agai,lst such an undertaking ]
A very curious case is very likely to come on for trial at
the ensuing Surrey Assizes, at Kingston, in which a high
dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church in England will be
defendant. It is an action brought to recover the value of
a bond given by a princess of the Bonaparte family, some
time back, and entrusted to the defendant for safe custody,
but which, it is said, be cannot now produce. It has
acquired value from the fact of Louis Napoleon having
expressed his readiness to pay his relative's debts. The
bond, however, is not forthcoming for that purpose. Mr.
Serjeant Shee has, we are informed, been already retained
for the defendant, and Mr. Edwin James for the plaintiff.
The case is one calculated to excite much curiosity. _

THE GOOD OLD TIMES. —There is now living in Epper-
stone, Notts., an octogenarian, who has been blind for
several years from the effects of an accident. He says that
when he was a child, white bread was considered a great
luxury, so much so that, when his father (who was a frame-
work knitter) used to take his work t o Nottingham, he
would frequently promise to bring the children a white
penny loaf each on his return ; and such was the anxiety
of the little ones to possess the luxury, that they have many
times gone the distance of three or four miles to meet their
father, in order that they might have it a little sooner, and
this in the depth of winter, its frost and snow. What would
the present generation say to this ?—Leicestershire Mer-
cury.

THE UNEMPLOYED IN LoNn3w,—On Wednesday, at one
o'clock, a large number of the unemployed assembled in
Smithfield, thinking, according to the announcement, that
a meeting was to have been held. Shortly after they were
assembled, a man made his appearance with posters,
announcing a postponement of it. Not wishing to disap-
point the people present, some of the
" Free Emigration
Committee," from Clerkenwell•green, proposed Mr. Wade
tailor, to the chair. Mr. Osborne and other speakerst
addressed the meeting in favour of emigyalion, and
Some
meeting appeared to appreciate the speakers views.
one in the crowd proposed to carry themtheoffice
w to
into practical
of the
effect, by proceeding en ma .
Association, and signing the petition
to
both
all ;:This resolution having been
carried they
Houses of
all the petitions on hand,
adjourned accordingly, when some hundreds soon filled up