Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-11-02 00:00:00

THE ADDRESS.

This w s prepared and despatched at so sho7t a notice, that no
vopy was kept. It may be as well, however, to state its sub-
stance. It urged that, by the adoption and dissemination of the
principles of the Financial Reform Aamc'ation,lVz., economy
in the public expenditure, and the suhttru ion of an equitable
system of d•rc ct taxation for the present cumbrous, oppressive,
and expensively collected taxes on commodities, and materials
,of manufacture. The Isimional Associatipo would greatly
prom ate all, or nearly al its own avowed objects, whether the
hoptovement of the law, the punishment and repression of
grime the reformation of,criminala, the advancement of educa-
tion, the establishment of doe sinitory regul-tiocs, or, and
most especially, " the -recognition of sound principles in all
~questions of swill economy." It referred to almost eve ry
department of the state, as exhibiting most lavish expenditure
of the public money, and many of them the most shtmcful
waste and jobbery; contending that every, department should
Be efficiently conduc'ed.; that every public servant should
be well paid according to the v4lue of his services ; that,
excepting in rare crises, there should be no such things as
superannuations or retiring allowances, which encourage
extravagance and improvident habits in the employed, whilst
they afford oppor:uuites foe jobbing in patronage to
employer 4 ; that all useless and sinecure offers should he
abolished; end, in short, that the state, in every department, I
}rem the royal househo'd downwards, should pre•eut to .the
nation an ex imple to be followed, rather than, as at present, a
-beacon to he avoided by all who wood be honest, do their duty
and prosper in their respective spheres. As to taxation it was
urged that there were only two just and proper sources of
public revenue, property, and income,—after providing for the
lam asitier. of life ; and only two sound principles on which it
can be levied, the first, that every man shall contribute fairly
to the: just recessi.iei of the state, acro ding to his means ; the
second,,har the mode of collection, should be simp`e, and, there
fore, comparatively inexpensive, It was shown that these
principles arc set at nought by the preaeut system, uudor Tshict,

the. great bulk o' the revecueis raised by indirect taxes, which

press most heavily on commerce, manufactor:es, and in us'ry.
she Litt finance accounts were cited as showing that the pubic
incorna for the year 1855-7, exeluling Winces, &e., was
£72 794,885, to which customs and excise duties contributed
£41,782,302, of which no less a sum than £10.827,991 was
levied on 'hree necessaries of life, coffee, sugar, and tea, and
A 22,636 946 more on the luxuries of the industrial classes,
malt spirits and tobacco; showing a total of £33,464 937
levied on the masses, whilst the net produce of the land tax,
which ought to be,4r. in the pound on the actual annual value of
all the real property in the kingdom, was only £1,153 344.
The inequalities and consequent injustice of the system were,
however, represented as its smallest evil., amongst the rest of
which were described to he impediments to the operations
and extension of commerce, aricu'tme and ,m t ufacturers ;
restrictions on the employment of labour in a'l branches of
productive industry, tending greatly to the mere :se of pauperism
and crime ; vexatious ard unprofitable imposts, impeding
internal truth, and the mutually benrficial intercr in's° of
nations ; the prevention of the develop mint of many great
and salutary branches of commerce in now directons, and that,
in several instances, for the sake of paltry duties which hardly
pay the cost of collection ; premiums to smuggling,
adulterations, and other ftau 'ulent nnl criminal pianists,
greatly injurious to the revenue and to public morality, leading
• to the evasion and con-empt of law, and being, in many wave,
fruitful sources of crime. it was also alleged that the present
systeuktand not wealth, but the mears of protitui rg wealth;
that it w: .s demonstrib'e tha!, under it, for every rhitling which
finds its way into the exchequer, from indirect taxation,
two mere, at the very leas', ire paid or lost by the
community. The remedy proposed by the Fina cial Reform
Association ras stated to be the aboliti'm of cus'oms
and excise duties with all their cumbrous, costly, and
producing ,consequencea ; the Eut)stituti on of an equiTabte
system of direct taxwirr, and the establishment of perfect
freedom of ieternal and evernal trade. The beneficial results
of the partial adoption of these
.pritcieles by the late Sir
Robert P. el, in the repeal of the, Corn Laws and the modifi-

cation of the tariff, were referred to as jus!ifying the bel'ef
that in their further extension sald perfection lie the tr►!e

eprirgs of nttional greatu,se, and of a mighty improvement in
the condition of all classes of the community ; and it was
,therefore contended, that economy sn the public expenditure,
And the true principles of taxation, °nett to bold no inconsid-
erable peace in the deliberations of the NaConal Association

for the advancement of social science; ;Atemuch as, by their
practical adoption, all the ay.med objects of the association
would be greatly promotefr, failitfrg the adoption of those
r fottns, it is in Yalu to look for the ,complete success of
any of them.