Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-11 00:00:00

THE BUDGET.

. _ .
The house having resolved itself into a•Committee of
Ways and Means,
The CHANCELLOR of the EYCrUEQLER rose to make,
his financial statement.' He said that the Year 1860 had
long been marked out as an important .epech in British
commerce—the long annuities, amounting to £2,146,000,
fell in; the war duties on tea and sugar, unless renewed, re-
lapsed;' finally, the commercial treaty with France com-
- pelled the Government to adopt anew and unusual course.
In' making the Anancial statement, before taking votes'
on supply, the result qf the past financial: year, inas-,
,much; as that year .had not been completed, must be.
given, partly in the form of 'estimate, but the Hope
might rely oh the fignres. Exceptional cases had affected
the estimates. „ There was the expedition to. China,
and the, additional cost of our military preparations.
There was the French treaty to be provided against in
addition. Corning to the actual state of affairs, he
showed that the total result of the revenue:of the last
year showed an increase over the estimate. The
revenue, had been estimated at £89,460,000, it-
had produced £70,587,000 ; on the 'other hand,
the expenditure estimated at £66,953,000 'bad been
£69,270,000. 'lt tbiis appeared that,. under exist-
ing arrangements, there was then an excess of
income over expenditure. The excess, though it was
, .
already absorbed by disturbing causes, showed the
wisdom of the. arrangements' of Parliament. The
expedition to China, and• excess of navy and army
expenditure, bad cost ran additional £900,000 for the
army, and .£270,000 for the navy. The commercial
treaty would, he, calculated, cause a deduction of
£640,000. • This 'would cause a total deduction ,of
' £1,810,000, and would jilace' us rather on the wrong
side of the balances. But, to compensate for this,
he had' "received most unexpectedly part of a .debt
from Spain,. in_ the_shape of bills to the aniount•
of £500,000, -half .of-, whiqh, would fall due in the
present financial year. In this way the balance
would be re-established. The estimated expenditure
for ,the coming year involved.an increase in the army and
navy of £3,618,000. The total expenditure is estimated
at £70,100,000. The estimated income for the coming
year would not, in the first instance, be satisfactory ;
but, at all events, it would compel their •attention to
those matters which most required examination. lle
shoald estimate the revenue as the law at present stood.
Taking the lades of tea and sugar at the maximum
and reduced rates, the income tax as it would stand
under existing arrangements—upon these 'terms the
estimate of revenue for the coming year would
give a total of £60,700,000, showing 'a deficit of
£9,400,000. He did not ask them to provide for.the
payment of txchequer 3onds soon becoming due.
Without this they had a deficit of £9,400,000. If they
had not • the Treaty to deal with they would know
precisely what they had to face. They might keep the
duties of tea and sugar at the present rate, which/mould
leave the deficit at £7,300,000. Even this would involve
an income-tax of 9d. in the pound. To fill.up the deficit
as it stood, this would require the next and intelligible
income-tax of •ls. in the pound. Now came the ques-
tion, what had become -of the estimates .of 1853 ?
had a clear answer to *ive. The succession duty
had failed from causes due to the actual law.
The debt caused by the Russian' war entailed a large
charge on the consolidated-fund, and the 'army and navy.
estimates now entailed upon us. The deficit thus caused
was, however, fully compensated by the financial. mea-
sures they had since 'adopted. The real cause was the
immense increase of expenditure. Had that expenditure
remained as it was in 1852, they would now have had a
surplus of two millions. That increase amounted to no
less than £14,720,000, which was equivalent to an
income-tax 0f,13-0. in the pound. It would not, how-
ever, .be fair to consider the increase 'of expenditure,
without taking into account the increase of the means.
This was especially shewn by the results of the income-
tax. He went through the results of several years,
showing an increase in the wealth of the country of 12
per cent. in the twelve years between 1842 and 1853,
and of 16! per cent. in the six years from 1853 to 1859.

No achedule,shewed a larger. increase than that, bf the
agriculturist, whose income had increased 19 per' cent.
.14lean*hile the. expenditure had increased' in a still
I greater proportibn. In the years from 1842' to 1852 it
had increased 41 per cent., and. in. the years from 1852
to 1856 it increased 221 per: cent. The .increase was
.still more evident in that expenditure which was under
the control of Parliament, • and whiCh he might Call the
Optional Expenditure. That increase in. the last six years
was not leSs than 58 per cent. Reeurring to the means
of nieeting the deficit, he owned that he,was. not satis-
• fled with our syAere. of eipenditure, still all changes
must; of necessity, be gradual. • There were again born-
menial reforms and improvements, There were those
who considered that these refornis ought to be kept for
fair weather and- a flourishing exchequer ; against that
doctrine he earnestly . pretested. lie declared •on the
part of. ~Government, • that they were ~ready and
prepared to go forward in commercial *prove-
ment. 'lt was only by means of 'these reforms
that „the country was enabled to bear high
taxation.'., Could the
.country have borne- the high in-:
come tag of the last half year if it had not been for
increased prosperity. He showed from figures that the!
relaxatiOn and reform of
.the commercial system had`
given the ';country .not only the dispositien,
.lint the
power to , pay *this, inasmuch as the revenue oe,
the departments were increased as the .dutieei were
relaxed. It thus appeared that indirect taxation
should be relaxed in fayour of direct taxation; and it"
.only remained to us upon what principle.. The Govern-
ment did not at present intend to deal with tea and
sugar. These were merely revenue duties, and in,
Volved none of the complexities of differential duties.
The labouring classes were more benefitted by an en-.
larged syStem of free trade, 'rather than by relaxing
individual duties, as creating higher pricesfor labour. It
was upon this principle that Government intended to act.
They proposed to retain the tea and sugar duties at the
present rate for a year. He then gave an outline of the
French commercial treaty. France redueed," from July
list, 1860, duties on coal; from October Ist, on iron ;
from December Ist, on. tools; from June 15t,.1860, on
goods manufactured from.flax, heMp, and jute. From
October Ist; 1861, France removes all prohibitions on
vEa.ino'grleish m
,n:
duty,anf
unagottureextegoeodindge, p3loaqing
per them an
ha;
ad
maximum was, after three years, to be reduced to 2.5 per
icent. On the other hand; England; On her part, abo-
lished, immediately, and w ithout exception, all duties on ,
manUfactured goods: .‘re reduce the duty on brandy from
15s. a gallonto,the colonial duty of Bs. 21, and the duty on
wine;from i ss. 10d. to • 35.;: to be farther reduced trent
April;' 1861,-'apein a scale depending upon the strength
Of the wine. As to the effect of these rednctions, he
estimated from wines relief to the consumers of £830,000,
and a loss to the revenue of £515,000 ; on brandy,
a relief to the consumers of £440,000, . and a loss,
to the- revenue of £225,000 ; ,and the loss' to the
revenue on manufactured goods at £132,000. He
declared that the treaty showed no subserviency to
France. They had given nothing to France which they.
'had not given as a rich-gift to themselves. And they.
had _Made: no sacrifice except what they would have
made in any case under an enlightened system of trade.
The system; had answered its purpose of political es-
trangement, but the new system answers its purpose by
Political amity. The union which had been in former days
between •France and England; a union of the 'govern-
ments should now 'be the union of the natiOni• ''lle de-
fended commercial treaties when' not grounded upon
principles of aclUsion, and gloiied in avowing that the
treaty was *a
consummation of free trade. 'He entered
into anelaborate defence of the treaty, declaring that we
should do equal good to ourselves and to France by the
itifrodUctiOn of a libefal system, anddeclaring that wine
which, like tea in the Jest. century, was, the rich man's
luury,,,would, like teat, be ,the poor man's comfort.
He denied that any of the duties repealed were revenue
duties.. As a proof they_ Weit only oppespd by interested,
parties. He entered at great length 'into the wine trade,
injuriously show how injuously the present system operated, and
what good: effect might be expected by the alteration. •
We.had now done with France what we had been
labonringto do for years past. He paid a warm tribute to
Mr. Cobden, who, as the apostle of free trade. had twice
in his life achieved so signal a, kiumphl ,He stated that the
immediate repeal of duties on French articles was not
presSed by the'Frenoli .Government--on 'the contrary, it
was the. device of our own. 'lie then came to a supple-
mental rerenn in the rnitems, giving a relief to the
consumers of above alnillion, and a loss to the revenue
of £910,000. He proposed to abolish the duties on,
butter, cheese, oranges, eggs, and to reduce those on,
timber and currants and hops. In return, he
.pro=:
posed to =levy on all articles exported or imported,;
a reeistration due of one, penny per packet.,
It gave a great idea of 'the, transactions of the. country
that that could produce £300,000 per annum. He'
further proposed to lay moderate charges upon'
certain warehousing 'proccedit'igs performed in the
Customs' offices, for the *ea_ of the importer.
Byrthis they expected.ll2o,ooo. He then, proposed a,
duty. of .6s, per, cwt.' on chicory, as . a protec-
tion to theecoffee revenue. This with an improveMent
on the coffee revenue; which it would cause, would pro
duce' £913,000: Again, he proposed a penny. stamp on
-broker's Contracti, and a 3d. stamp upon dock warrants,
licenses to eating houses to sellfwiee and beer.:' A rez
ductien in game certificates, which would increase the
sale,--granting theae certificates for a few months at a
reduced' post. To remove the "exemption , fromstamps
On 'Cheques draWn to self. lie likewise repealed some
other small stamp exemptions. He thus obtained an
!increase of .£510,000 in the 'Customs and £386,000 in
(the Inland Revenue. In managenient they hope to'Save
£50,000" in customs, and £36,000
,in the inland revenue.
The total would be £981,000, thus compensating the
second part of these customs reforms. Thus,' on: the
whole, including the loss on the French treaty, the new
arrangements ievolved.a loss of about £1,000,000. He
next came to a yet larger item. He proposed to repeal
the paper duty—that duty lead already been con-
demned by a direct-vote of that house. The actual,
duty not only operated 'unjustly against publications
for the masses, but prevented' the manufacture of
paper from an enormous qUantity of. fibrouaiubstances.
So many articles might be .made out of paper, that a
vast "impulse would 'be given to rural labour. The
Inland Revenue itself adthitted 'that the present law
was untenable,' and ftilly' agreed with the abolitionists
that it Ought to be repealed. The next repeal 'was that
of the impressed stamp upon newspapers, which in-
volved great trouble and inconvenience. Fora the con-'
venienee .of the newspapers who paid a 1 id. stamp,
he , proposed to introduce a lid. book' postage.
He !nit proposed to abolish the hop credits ; while, on
-the other hand,leTedUced the duty, including the paper
:duty, which remission. of, £1,000,000, and consi-
dering the increase of consumption, which he valued at
£840,000? the total loss to the revenue would be
£3,000,000,' while the relief to the consumers would
be £3,931,000 ; making, • further alloWanees for
the ,new charges and the saving in management,
the nett loss to the revenue would be £28,000.
Thus in the present year only forty-six articles rCinaineet
on the tariff, and"onty forty-fonr would remain in 1861.
'The tariff would he'relieved of all its remaining deformi-
ties. lle had proposed to take up the hop and malt
credits, which would give £1,400,000 to the treasury in
the present year. The account then stood thus for the
coming
etungyael law,ar :=Expenditure, £70,100,000' ; income,
made
£60,700,000. From this, deduct loss by
remission of duty which would. reduce,it to £58,5,92,000.
put he proposed to retain the Present tea and sugar duties,
which raised the income to £60,692,000. This leave 4 a
deCcit of nine millions and a half. Against this there