The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-23 00:00:00

NATTSPAPER STAMPS.

A meeting of the NewQfuner Trade was held last ever -
ing at St. Martin's-hall, Mr. Wild in the chair, to con-
sider the proposed measure of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer with respect to the removal of the stamp
from newspapers.

The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said he
could not see in the speech of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer any good reasons for repealing a tax which was
voluntary in itself, and for which great convenience and
important facilities were received in exchange. He cer-
tainly did not think that this was the time to give up
an amount of revenue which the Chancellor himself
estimated at a quarter of a million. He, however, be-
lieved that the reduction would be much more consider-
able, since this calculation of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer was founded upon the supposition that a large
part of the revenue at present received for stamps would
remain as a postage charge. But the fact was, that if
we, had a cheap press, the journals would
_be sent to
their destination by the cheapest conveyance. Now,
every one knew that it would be much cheaper to send
them in bulk by railway rather than in single
copies through the post. Nor was it probable that
what the revenue lost by the removal of the stamp
would be supplied by the increased amount received for
the excise on paper, since it must be remembered that
the same parties who had agitated against the newspaper
stamp bad also declared that they would not be satisfied
until the paper duty was repealed. There would, there-
fore, be no compensation on this head. Another im•
portant point for them to consider was this. If parties
were permitted to publish newspapers without giving
security for good behaviour, journals would be started
by men without means or character, who would publish
libels in order to give piquancy to their papers and in-
crease their sale. And then when actions for libel were
brought they would abscond and the newsvender would
be left to bear the penalty of their misconduct. This
was no imaginary case, as many would recollect the pro-
secutions which took place some years ago against the
Age, Satirist, and other publications. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer said in the course of his speech that no
inconvenience would arise from stamping only a portion
of the impression of a newspaper and publishing the rest
unstamped. And in proof of this the right hon. gentle-
man said that he had been told by the manager of Punch,
and some other papers, that no practical difficulty would
be felt on this head. But it should be recollected the
stamped portion of the impression of Punch was published
on one day, and the unstamped portion on the other;
and with respect to the other journals to which reference
had been made, they were all published at the early part
of the day. The case of such journals as these was not,
therefore, analogous to that of newspapers published but
a short time before they were required to be sent out.
He believed that the greatest possible difficulty would be
experienced in sending out a mixture of stamped and un-
stamped papers at a late hour and under great pressure
in point of time. He contended that it was quite an
error to regard the newspaper stamp as a tax. It was
really a postal arrangement for which very adequate
public convenience was received in return. This, at any
rate, was not the time to give up a source of revenue
easily collected, and paid without reluctance on the part
of the public. (Hear.)
Mr. TERRY, of Hatton-garden, moved the first reso-
lution, "declaring that to permit newspapers to be either
stamped or unstamped would be attended with great in-
convenience to the -newsvenders ; while the 'facilities
which it was proposed to afford for the starting of jour-
nals without security would very probably subject the
sellers instead of the publishers of newspapers to actions
and prosecutions for libel." If he understood the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer's plan, papers which did not
stamp any part of their impression need not be regis-
tered, nor need their proprietors give any securities. The
result would be, that they might be started by men of
straw, and the newsvenders might be prosecuted and
ruined for the sale and publication of libels of which they
had never read a line. (Hear, hear.) The greatest pos-
sible inconvenience and difficulty would be felt in pack-
ing and sending out a mixture of stamped and unstamped
papers. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said he
had been informed by the conductors of Punch and the
illustrated News that no difficulty would be felt on
this score. The chairman had, however, disposed of the
case of Punch, and with respect to the Illustrated News,
all he had to say was, that that journal had not yet com-
menced to publish a double impi'ession. The newsven-
ders had even now the greatest• difficulty in getting the
copies of this paper in' time to send out, and how in•
finitely would the difficulty be increased under the new
system ! Even that, however, did not exhibit the full
difficulty of the case. Let them consider what would bo
the state of things when the whole of the London jour-
nals were permitted to do this and availed themselves of
the privilege. It was very possible that if they had
time to make their arrangements for packing and sorting
the different editions, they might succeed in meeting the
difficulty ; but it should not be forgotten that the des-
patch of the papers to the country was all to be done at
the la.t moment. He believed that the practical difficul-
ties of this operation would be insuperable. Then sup-
pose they had several quires of unstamped papers over,
what were they to do with them, since it was very likely
that they would not be able to exchange them for
stamped copies ; and they would thus be left unavailable
on their hands. Mr. Gladstone's scheme was in so tar
preferable that he did propose to permit a stamped wrap-
per to be used. This however was no great boon, since the
greatestdifficulty would be experienced in finding stamped
wrappers for papers at the last moment. Another man-
ner in which he believed inconvenience would be felt
was this. It would be almost impossible in the burry of
business to keep the stamped and the unstamped parts
of the impression separate. They would, constantly be
getting intermingled. Then the parcels would be stopped
and examined in the Post-office, and at the very least
great detention would ensue in the delivery of the news-
papers, or the erewsvendors would as likely be subjected
to heavy penalties for a perfectly unintentional and un-
avoidable breach of the law. (Hear, hear.) He denied
that this was a tax. It was a postal arrangement ; and
he thought nothing could be more absurd than to sur-
render a large amount of revenue raised with great
facility and with hardly any public inconvenience at
a time when we were oppressed with war taxation.
He did not think that the repeal of the stamp duty
would raise the respectability of the press. He
feared that it would cause it to fall to the level
of the American press ; nor was he without
some apprehetision that this measure would lead to
the appearance of an immoral class of publications.
There were certain persons who were looking out for
this. Did they think that halfpenny or penny papers,
such as had been announced to appear if the stamp duty
were repealed, would tend to elevate the minds of the
people ? He feared not. (Hear.) Again, would not
the repeal of the stamp duty lead too pilfering from the
established papers which now spent thousands of pounds
in procuring original intelligence ? If so, they would
be no longer able to go to this heavy expense, and the
result would be that we should no longer have a press of
the same high character as at present, when the
practical copyright protection of the stamp was with-
drawn. (Hear, hear.)
WALTERMr.
upo
jealousy,
seconded the resolution. The trade
looked the efforts of Mr. Blight and Mr. Gibson
with
withdraw the newspaper business from London to the
provinces.
great believing that their object was to
A NEWSVENDOR—They dislike the London press. It
is too respectable for Manchester.
Mr. HOLYOARE opposed a resolution which appeared
to put the interests of the newsvendors against that of
the public, The legal liabilities under which newsven-
dors lay now were much greater than they would be
under the bill of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
He did not believe the repeal of the stamp duty would
lower the character of the press, for he believed
that no cheap unstamped papers would indulge in
the licence of language which often characterised the
Times. It was said that the effect of repealing the
duty would be to throw away an' immense, amount
of revenue. But there would be no loss if a postage
charge were levied at the rate of ono penny for
every four ounces of printed matter. An amendment
in that sense would be moved in the House of Com-
mons. It was said that this tax was collected with little
difficulty and at small expense. But let them aek the
officers of the Inland Revenue-office whether that was
the case ? It was generally admitted 'that it was per-
fectly impossible to carry out, the law as it stood at pre-
rent. No doubt there might be some practical difficulty
in dealing with a mixture of stamped and unstamped
papers. 'But he believed that, like many other difficulties,
it might be, and would be, overborne ; and at all events,
it was not for them to set their own interests against
those of the public. After dwelling upon the benefits
which he anticipated from the diffusion of knowledge
that he thought would be consequent upon the multipli-
cation and the cheapness of newspapers, Mr. Holy/mks
concluded by moving, as an amendment :—" That, in
the opinion of the meeting, it is desirable to abolish
the newspaper stamp and security system, and admit all
printed matter to postage at the rate of four ounces
for a penny."
Mr. TRUELOVE seconded the motion.
Mr. TERRY briefly replied.
The question was then put to the meeting, when the
original motion was carried by a large majority of those
present.
Mr. TERRY then moved two other resolutions, de-
claring that the revenue would sustain a loss by the
proposed change, because the railways would success-
fully compete with the Post-office in the conveyance of
the unstamped papers ' • and that it would, moreover, in
reality rather restrict than increase the circulation of in-
telligence, since papers would no longer be circulated
first in town and then in the country, and consequently
their cost to the reader would not undergo the reduction
consequent upon this double circulation.
The resolutions were agreed to, and the proceedings
then terminated.

THE REPRESENTATION OF SOUTH WILTS.--A for-
± midable opposition to Mr. Sidney Herbert is being
organised in South Wilts on behalf of Lord Harry
Thynne, the young brother of the young Marquis of
Bath. Retainers Cave already been given to several
solicitors, and the contest, when it happens, is expected
to be a very severe one.—Sherborne Journal.