The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-27 00:00:00

MINES.

1853, in round numbers, the taxes repealed on a balance
over taxes imposed, amounted to 6,716,000/. The effect
of that upon the revenue, instead of diminishing it, was
to increase it by 6,8C;0,600/. By now proposing to impose
these additional duties, they were taking the first step to-
wards the reversal of the policy which, daring the last 10
years, had produced this addition to the revenue of the
Country. Daring that period of 10 years the reductions
made in the customs duties alone amounted to 8,677,0001.,
conferring an enormous benefit upon all classes of the com-
m9nity. At the end of that period the country was in re-
ceipt of nearly as large an income as when it commenced.
If the war should unhappily be prolonged, they might triple
therevenues of the country by raising an additional revenue
in this way during the first few years of the war ; but it was
a question whether they would be ultimately compensated
in the permanent increase of the revenue by adopting such a
course. The effect of the recent commercial policy had been
to show that the upper classes were willing to beara share of
taxation in order to alleviate the burdens which pressed
upon the humbler classes, and the knowledge of that fact
has done more to remove discontent than all the legislation
which had previously been attempted.. He said,
embarked
in a great war they were—when a feeling
appeared to
exist against aristocratic mismanagement, was it wise to
reverse that policy, and to show that the upper classes were
now less willing to make those sacrifices which they had
before submitted to ? There were only two alternatives
before the Government—the one was, to have raised this
million and a-half by an addition to the income tax. Such
a measure as that would not have the effect of crippling
the resources of the country, or impairing the strings of
industry and trade. Next year he had no doubt that
they would be obliged to increase the income tax to
10 per cent. The other alternative was, to increase
the amount of the loan. They now proposed to raise
16,000,0001., and to have an increased taxation of
5,500,0001. It would have been better to make the loan
18,000,0001. or 20,000,000/., than to embark in a cause
which he was afraid would lead to most disastrous results.
He should therefore oppose the second reading of the bill,
in order to record his disapproval of the principle involved
in it. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. LABOUCHERE regretted that there should be a
necessity to impose an increased duty on such articles as
tea, sugar, and coffee. He could not at all agree with the
hon. gentleman that it was a necessary consequence of the
recent commercial policy of the country that, under all cir- 1
cumstances, Parliament should insist that the burden of
taxation should be borne only in the shape of direct taxa-
tion, and that there should be no attempt more equally to
distribute the burden by indirect taxation. As a free trader,
ho did not eonsider himself inconsistent in supporting the
present financial propositions of the Government. There
was only one portion :to which he objected, and that was
the provision for the repayment of the loan at the rate of
1,000,0001. a year after the conclusion of the war.
Capt. LAFFAN objected to a differential scale of duties
being imposed upon sugar. He thought that, as in the case
of wine, one duty only should be imposed upon all classes
of sugar. The best and the worst class of wines equally
paid Is. duty per gallon. He knew a sugar estate in the
Mauritius upon which 30,0001. had been expended in the
erection of machinery thereon for the refinement of sugar ;
but within the last year orders had been given by the pro-
prietor of that estate to allow that machinery to lie idle,
and to produce a cheaper class of sugar in order that the
duty on first class sugar might be avoided. It paid the
producer better to bring into the English market a cheap
class of sugar than to refine it and pay a high duty. He
(Capt. Laffan) submitted that the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer ought to propose one duty upon all classes of
sugar, which would produce an amount of revenue equal
to that anticipated from the proposed differential duties.
Mr. MALINS agreed in the general principles of the
budget, and he thought that the Government had made a
not unfair compromise between direct and indirect taxa-
tion. He thought that it would have been better to have
obtained by loan than by indirect taxation the 5,000,0001.
which the Chancellor of the Exchequer required above the
ordinary revenue and the 16,000,0001. The proposed in-
crease of duties on imports and exports would cause great
disturbance to trade, whilst the additional burden that
would have been imposed upon the country in the shape of
interest for a loan of 5,000,0001. would have been compa-
ratively insignificant.

Sir W. CLAY denied that the proposed increase of the
Customs' duties was at variance with the principles of free
trade. It was absolutely impossible to raise the revenue
by means of direct taxation. The income tax had been
already applied to incomes as low as 100/. per annum, but
many thousands of the people of this country still escaped
the operation of that tax, and it was only fair to call upon
them to contribute by indirect taxation to the exponKa of
the country. For the last 23 years every Government had
remitted some of the indirect taxes, and, at least,
25,000,0001. of that species of taxation had, during that
period, been remitted. Almost every tax that had been
imposed of late years was directed against the wealthier
classes of the community. It might be that before the
war was ended our expenditure would be considerably
greater than that estimated by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer for the ensuing year, and the income tax might
have to be raised 10/. per cent. But he trusted that the
right hon. gentleman would refrain as long as he possibly
could from increasing the income tax, which was a power-
ful engine that ought only to be resorted to in times of
national peril. He objected to the proposal of the hon. I
member for Wick, to procure by a loan the additional
5,000,0001. required by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
He (Sir W. Clay) was in favour of defraying the expendi-
ture of the war within the year, as far as that could be
done, because the people of this country would then feel
the burthen of the war press more heavily upon them than
if they were only called upon to pay the interest upon a
loan for carrying it on. He approved generally of the
budget.
Mr. P. -URQUHART said he would divide with the
hon. member for Wick against this proposal to increase
the Customs' duties, because he believed that the effect of
that increase would be a serious blow upon our manufac-
turing interest, which bad to meet the severe competition
of Germany, Prussia, and Switzerland. Those countries
had not to labour under the burthen of carrying on a great
war, and we should take care not to put our manufactur-
ers out of a position of competing with them. He could
not but think that any measure which crippled our indus-
try and commerce would be most injurious to the country.
Mr. GLADSTONE rose merely to do an act of justice to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, because it had been
stated by the hon. member for Wick, and other hon. mem-
bers, that he had taken the first retrograde step towards
adopting a Protectionist course. Hon. members had de-
scribed, and truly so, the mischief that would result from
adopting such-a course. But the right hon. gentleman
did not take the first step. He (Mr. Gladstone) was the
unfortunate person who, during last session, had
to advise the house to take the first step in the re-
versal of the course of the last twelve or fourteen
years. It was quite true, however, that the duties which
were proposed to be increased did not affect the question
of protection, As far as that was concerned, they had not
yet reached the point at which the house would have to
enter upon that serious question. The object of the Legis-
lature of late years had been to eradicate the bad principle
of protection, and to diminish the pressure of duty on
articles of large consumption. The first step in the undoing
of that course was taken last session, by levying an addi-
tional duty upon sugar, and also upon malt. These were
very great evils. (Hear, hear.) He did not believe that
the house would stop there ; for, if it was incumbent upon
the house for many successive years to add to the taxation
of the country to carry on the war, they would again have
to discuss the justice of protection. He thought the hon.
member for Huntingdon (Mr. T. Baring) had acted
unwisely in giving the advice that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer should not have exercised any discrimi-
nation as to the articles upon which he levied an
additional tax. He (Mr. T. Baring) would have
taken the article of wine, for instance, which ho (Mr.
Gladstone) believed to be most scandalously taxed at the
present time—(hear, hear)—the consequence being to keep
out of the market a large portion of the wino produced in
Europe—(hear, hear)—or he would have imposed the ad-
ditional duty on tobacco, which already was so great that
it was impossible to prevent smuggling. His belief was,
that, if the war continued for many years, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer then in office would find himself put to
such straits for money as to be compelled to resort to the
imposition of protective duties at a time, he believed, when
the last of the Protectionists would be dead. (Laughter.)
The number of Protectionists had greatly diminished ever
since the minority of 1852 or 1854. He believed that those
who struggled so long and so ably for protection would not
now receive it as a gift, and that if it did come back it
would come as the result of the war. It was all very well
to say that we should raise the whole of the taxation
by direct or indirect taxation. So far as equality, in
the abstract, was considered, there could be nothing
fairer than the house tax, and yet there was none which
created greater difficulty, or caused more discontent, than
that tax. It was not without great difficulty that the tax
was imposed at all. Ho congratulated his right hon.
friend in having been able to satisfy all parties. Those
who liked direct taxation had it ; those who preferred in-
direct taxation had also got what they desired ; while
those who liked loans were also accommodated—(laughter)
—and although there were some who thought that the
loan ought to have amounted to a round 20,000,0001., it
was not very far from it ; for the 3,000,000/. Exchequer-
bills seemed to have baon overlooked, which would bring
the sum up at least to 19,000,0001,, which was not very far
off 20,000,0301. (Hear, and laughter.) It was but fair
to themselves, and to those they represented, that they
should realise to themselves the truth that, as in successive
years they had taken off many millions of taxation without
loss, so they might be in a position to impose that many
millions without gain. As theprocess they had been engaged
in had been one which, with a small loss, added greatly
to the wealth of the country, so the present process was
one which, with little gain, took much from the welfare
I and comfort of the people. They had not undertaken the
war without anticipating these evils. They were matters
which ho hoped they would not try to escape the force of
by having recourse to loans. He was convinced that this
house could not commit treason so gross as to try to cover
up and avoid the difficulties of the case by resorting to an
unlimited use of credit—(hear, hear)—which he did not
hesitate to say had been the curse of mankind. For when
he considered the condition to which it had brought the
finances, and the permanent mortgage which it had placed
upon the revenue of the country, and, above all, the miser-
able, and unjust, and pernicious, and unjustified wars
which the innovation had enabled nations to carry on,ie
he could not too strongly condemn the practice,
He
h
had brought so many evils upon the country- H had
thought it right to relieve his right hon. friendfrom theHe
inference which had been drawn from his budget.
to meet
thought that, in whatever way they endeavouredhtnot to shut
the difficulties of their position, they u
their eyes to them, or, depend upon it,i3illocehbaprceocui
Itend to keep the public mind from fu yp. rasteie;otiliel
sacrifices they would be called upon to mtaxke
ought to have
Mr. ALCOCK thought the inceormean
been increased to 10 per cent. ratho.tehlasaiaenecwreearsee
ready to
upon sugar, coffee, Sze. The working
pay income tax rather than
which were
bacco, malt, and those other
an additionatax upon o-
paLicles of large consumption.
After a few Words from Mr. HADFIELD,
banettfeeit-tteor inaudible in the gallery,
Mr. I-lASTIE considered,
have borrowed two additional
itw°muilldliohnasverabteheenrfatrh
the industry of the nation h.y increased taxation.
that the right hon. member for Oxford
Mr. FOX
had failed to smaiadke.the discrimination that those who pre-
ferredV I so because they were willing
direct taxation t to
those
pay their fair
.quota of taxation, while who advocated
wished to pay as little as •
indirect taxation possible. It
had been objected that the income tax was unequal, but its
inequality was nothing as compared with the inequality of
taxes levied upon tea, sugar, coffee, Sz,c. He thought that
estiwarningthe necessity of reverting to protectionist principles
n the
event of the war continuing, was a warning agitfinhsi going
further than absolute necessity demanded.
friend divided the house he would vote with him,
buts hone.
would do so on no principle of opposition to the most
liberal grants of
or public money which they might be called
upon to make f the purposes of the: war in which they
were engaged —(hear, hear)—for though, on the part of the
people, he felt it to be his duty to protest against those-
burdens which fell too heavily on then, till, on their
part, he would say they were fully preparedb o bear every