The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-05-10 00:00:00

of ft iaece, as it •refilatre amounted to some millidies ;
end the utritost care should be taken, to avoid doing
an injury to such a body of persons. The sum to be
raised by the tax, bore nn proportion to vielat those
must amount to ; and, therefore, it was not an ob-
ject deserving such a risk. 'MS tax had been men-
tioned to the House ten years ago, when not 40s.
but only eos. a ton, was proposed to be laid on ;
and then his Right lion. Friend, who is no more,
the Noble Lord's immediate predecessor, after great
consideration and consulterion, found it necessary to
inform the House, that the tax must be given up.
The magnanimity of his greet mind was sucletbathe
was never ashamed to give up any thing whicli he
thought would be i*rious to the interests of the
count; y, though he had before proposed it as a
proper tax ; and he hoped his Noble Friend would
shew an equal degree of magnanimity on the pre-
sent occasion. It has long been a common prin-
ciple in taxation, that you should not tax an article
in its earliest state ; nor iii such a manner as to fall
heavy on the people, witheut greatly benefiting the
Exchequer. In this case, there is an immense
charge laid, which never gees to the Exchequer—
there will be 900,0001. or, perhaps, a million paid,
and the net receipt to the Treasury will not be
more than 200,0001. which was an immense dis-
proportion. He deprecated also the necessity that
the tax would give rise to, of extending the power
of the Excise, which would be liable to vex and
in irate the people, and if extended to every branch
of the manuteeture, would become like the bed of
Procrustes to which it was necessary tither to cut
the limbs shorter, or stretch them longer, in order
to make the person fit the bed—so you must either
relax many of your laws and regulations in this
departaient, or you will drive many of the present
menufeelurers out of it. This trade, which has
doubled its consumption in the last tour years, will
' be so much injured, that foreigninations will be able
to undersell us ; for when you compare the making
of iron from ore, as it is done in this country, and in
others, the.great advantage we have had, has been
in the machinery, and the operation of this tax cn
machinery will fall so heavily, as to endanger
.our only advantage, by strangling the mother that
gave it birth. lie said also, that the diawback
proposed was far too small to countervail the ex-
pence of making up the article; and it our iron
be so. inferior, that it will not make steel, it will
operate as a premium to foreign markets, and an
'injury to our own. This valuable and important
class of men, the iron-workers, look to the decision
of the House, this night, with fear and Alarm. In
the calculation of thh drawbacks, there were several
Errors; where it was 40s. it ought to Le 51. ; and
where 31. 10. •it owrlit at least to be el. in order to
- •
,enable us to meet tee manufaetures of other coun-
tries,—the total difference was very great—the draw-
backs intended,' amounted to 15;,0001.—the iron
Merchants say it should he 266,0001. It had lately
been found, that every foreign country was rapidly
advancing upon us. Some time since, there was
an order troth Portugal to this counriy, for ore to
the amount of 2COI. ; and the same House sent
I an order to Krem, or some town in Germany, for
1 hardware goods, of various sorts, to the amount of
' 20001. The ship was detained in the Channel by
einie of our cruisers, and it was found by the in-
voices and •Bills of laden, that all the articles were
cheaper than we sold them at. Brighter prospects
might break upon us, if we do not throw impedi-
meets on the progress of this manufeaure. It was
almost beyond the invention of man to say in how
meny ways it is used, and, therefore, it is dan-
gerous to meddle with it. lie hoped, therefore, his
leloble Friend would take it into consideration, and
peovide a suestiiiire for it.
Sir R, 1314 lON said, he was in favour of the
tax, because it tell equally on all.
Mr. Vs7ILBEIthORCE explained.
Sir W. YOUNG differed with thnae who opposed
the tax; the true principle of taxation was to lay
taxes on such articles as were of most general
consumption, otherwise a tax could not be produc-
tive, and it must have another in aid of it. He
should therefore vote ler this tax.
Lord A. HAMILTON said, he could not but
consider the princiele of this tax as unwise; for
though it will eperate generally, it will not be pro-
dative. He considered the article of iron as in
its infancy, anti not yet ripe for any tax; but af-
ter what had been so ably stated from the other
side of the I louse. by the Hon. Members for York-
shire, and others, it was not necessary for him to
take up the time of the House further, than to say,
that it his Noble Friend persisted in it, though he
should be sorry to oppose a tax proposed by one
in whom he had so great and so systematic a confi-
dence, yet be should, in the present instance, oppose
it in every stage.
Mr. CA LeRAFT could not agree with the
Noble Lurd who stated, that the Iron Trade
was not yet ripe enoegh to produce a rote.
nue ; indeed, he was astonished, when he considered
the tales which had been already laid on leather,
and on salt, and the enormous tax on incomes,
that iron had not been before now the object of di-
reel taxation. With respect to what had been said
of the tax proposed last Session, on Husbandry
Horses, be certainly allowed, that it was bad, but
he could not see that it furnished any argument in
the present case, as this was much more universal,
and therefore pi eferable. He allowed that the argu-
ment,with reaped totheinsufliciencyof drewhacks,was
important ; and if he could be convinced that this tax
would injure the sale in the foreign market, he would
not vote for it, but of that he thought the Gentlemen
might despair fiord mire of heat ! hear !) as the
foreign trade depended entirely on the excellence
of the articles, in which there was not the smallest
danger that they should be rivalled. Nothing could
prove this more clearly than the flu Ructions which
the trade was liable to ; it was at times 20 per cent.
higher than at other times, so as this had no effete on
the foreign market, it was evident that the sale there
depended on the quality of the goods. He con-
cluded by saying, that it was not seemly in Gentle-
men to oppose this tax. which would diffuse itself
into every man's house; and as having amore general
operation, was fairer and would be more produaive.
Mr. FRANCIS declared, that any thing he had
to say was not by way of objcdtion, but merely to
gain information. Government, be said. was the
great consumer, and therefore would pay a great
part of the tax ; now he wished to know, whether it
would net be a great waste of the public money, to