The National Register.
London, England, 1817-09-15 00:00:00

IRISH FINANCES.

The Dublin Correspondwit contains the following
article, relative to the object of Mr. Vansittart's visit
to Ireland :
" Fur the purpose of accomplishing any arrangement which
meditated a reduction of taxes most complained of, it was
necessary that the Chancellor of the Excliever should he.
come acquainted with the entire system, in all its details,
which provides the revenue of Ireland. This could not be
effected by a col sort' or hasty glance of what is, in of
so complicated a nature; and it received, therefore, the
attention front Mr. Vausittart, which it was necessary to
ben ow upon it. His quickness of conception, in t vet y thing
that relates to financial calculation, very hllOl .6y
put him in
possession of what he hail applied himself to lest 11 sod, when
lie bad reached this state of information—and, as e slow
presume, not until then—be entered npon the pi ojeeted
sore of diminishing the taxes, to which his :menthol Gad
been must particularly called. In bringing manete to this
point, he had able and intelligent assistants, who entered into
the spirit of his design, and made preparatory arrangements
for the completion of it. The result was, as we are inform-
ed. that different Taxes were marked out as being capable of
reduction. The Tax on Jaunting Cars—it class of %chicle so
very necessary to the recreation of the great body of our in.
dustrions citizens—was at once an object of diminution, and
to such a degree, as would Cillie it to be scarcely felt. W•
believe the reduction resolved upon was, f its present
ainunnt,to two guineas annually. The Tax on Carriages, on
Horses, and on 'Servants, as bearing inconveniently on a great
portion of the public, was included in the list of those thus
prescribedfor retrenchment, in which we understand Ohms
were also stated, but of which we have uo particular speci-
fication. 'tine Window Tax, that source of dissatisfaction
and clamour, engaged the anxious and inquisitive mind of
Vansittat t ; and we have reason to think that some mea-
sure is in progress, by which that Tax will he, at a future
period, regulated by the value of a home, instead of being
rated solely, as at present, by the number of windows which
it may contain.—This plan will, we think, remove every
thing that appears oppressive in the tax. According to the
existing mode, a house in Met rion-square, and a house in
Midi -street, or Francis-street, having an equal number of
windous, would pay an equal tax, though the value of the
house in Merrion.squnre should greatly extet d that of the
bons io either of the streets mentioned. On the modified
the payment will be but in the proportion that
one bears to the other ; and the occupant of a house in a pri-
vate street will have mach less to contribute than the occu-
pant of a house, of a similar size, would have in a public
.tree!, should the number at windows in both he the same.
This measatre is founded upon an &lin able principle—be-
cause houses of very modern construction have been bnilr
with a view to evade as much as possible, the operation of
the Window Tax ; while those of longer standing, and which,
from the great mass of all our private streets, have been erect-
ed without any necessity to keep iu view this principle of
frugality, and are lighted upon plans of convenience. The
old system of architecture gave a house a great number of
small windows—the new system, a small number of large
windows. The stopping of windows, where they are nu-
merous as to make the tax high, in old houses especially,
has been sometimes resorted to, as a mode of reducing the
tats but the uniformity of the building, and a great portion
of its convenience, are generally sacrificed to such a pro..
feeding.
" We have been rather elaborate in what may be said in a
mach shorter space, in order that we may combine, di far as
we are able to di) il, reasons with measures—and we imagine
we have skew') the public, that Mr. Vansittart has just done,
what an able, considerate, and conscientious servant of the
crown ought to do, in what relates to this country. He has
resolved upon abating taxation in Ireland to as great an ex ,
tent as it can he done, without depriving the state of its ne.
cessary resources, should time propisitions he has to make to
that etfeet meet the coneuirence of Parliameut. Beyond
this lie could not go. Clamour may be loud against him, be-
cause he has mot done fifty things that lie has no business
with ; but the rational and unprejudiced portion of the pub-
lie will give him credit for having fulfilled i,s much as be
could, with good policy perform, or as emild he conceded,
without affecting prejudicially the public income."

COMMON COUNCIL—After being foiled in former
attempts, Mr. Hartley, of New Bridge-street, Attorney
at Law, has been elected a member of the Cowl: of
Common Council for the Ward c' Farringdon
tbr the remainder of the year, in the room of the late
Mr. Blackett. Without pretending to know any thing
of Mr. Hartley's character, either public or private, we
cannot but lament that he is elected, and simply be.
cause he is an attorney. These men of the law have no
business in the Common Council—they are a set of
troublesome fellows in all public bodies, from the
country club up to the House of Commons, and it should
be every man's business to limit them to their own
practice in the courts, wherei" dog may eat dog" with...
out offence to the quietly dispo ;etc part of the comma..
nity.

In looking to the duties which Sweden chooses to
put on goods imported from England, we must also in
fairness advert to the duties winch England imposes on
Swedish articles: for instance, 100 deals, worth about
101. arc made to pay, on entering this country, about
221. or upwards of .200 per cent. on the value, a rate of
duty much higher than is imposed in Sweden on any
article of British manufacture or produce. We are
not now arraigning the polky of a tax, which was pro.
bably laid on with a view to favour our Canaklian.sub-
jects ; but if we have motives of national policy peculiar
to ourselves, we must allow a fair latitude of the Mme
kind to the policy of ihreign nations. Notwithstand-
ing the existing restrictive duties on both 6.des, the
open and legitimate trade betwe.•n England and Swe-
den is still a very brisk one. Only one soi.t ry vessel
has, up to this clay, been seized under nay of :tie new
Decrees ; and her owners entertain no doubt of ob.
taining hex relcas:, without difficulty and at little
cost.

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