The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-22 00:00:00

SUN,

MILITIA. BILL.

Sir DE LACY EVANS wished to know if Govern-
ment intended to proceed with this Bill to-morrow?
Mr. WALPOLE replied in the affirmative.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Mr. HEYWOOD said he had a motion on the paper
for the 29th inst. relative to the retention of the Crystal
Palace, but a motion on the subject of the duration of
Parliament stood before him, and he should be glad to
know if the Hon. Member for Lambeth, who had charge
of it, would consent to postpone it.
Mr. D'EYNCOURT said the subject of his motion
was of as much importance as the Crystal Palace,
but looking at the peculiar position in which the
latter question stood he would readily give way.
NEW ZEALAND. _ _

Sir W. MOLESWORTH would be glad to know
when Government intended to bring in their Bill for
conferring a constitution upon New Zealand ?
Sir J. PAKINGTON said he should move a resolu-
tion for the purpose next Monday week.
THE CLERGY IN CANADA.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL wished to know if her Ma-
jesty's Government had any intention of bringing in a
Bill to extend the provisions of the Clergy Reserves
Canada Act.
Sir J. PAKINGTON said Government had no inten-
tion of bringing in any Bill to alter that Act this session.
EXPULSION OF CLERGYMEN FROM AUSTRIA.
Mr. ANSTEY would be glad to know if Government
had any objection to lay the correspondence which had
taken place on this subject with Austria before the
House.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
there would be no objection when the negotiations now
pending in the matter were brought to a close.
TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE.

Mr. MILNER GIBSON brought under the notice of
the House the policy of derivinc, revenue from taxes
upon knowledge, for the purpose of moving, in separate
resolutions—that such financial arrangements ought to
be made as would enable Parliament to dispense with the
duty on paper; that the newspaper stamp ought to be
abolished; and that the tax on advertisements ought to be
repealed. The Honourable Member said that on
bringing forward a motion for the repeal of any

portion of taxation, an independent Member
Loured under considerable difficulty, inasmuch
as it might be considered that he was
yielding to a clamour cut of doors against paying any
taxation. He admitted there were persons who were
rather indiscriminating in the course they took with re-
gard to the repeal of taxes, but he for one had avoided
supporting any motion for the repeal of taxes without
having satisfied himself of the grounds on which it pro-
ceeded. He hoped, therefore, that he might be understood
as bringing forward his motion on grounds of public policy
and in reference to the character of a tax and its effects
on the morals of the nation, rather then the effect it had
in increasing the price of the article taxed. There was
another difficulty which he had also to encounter. They
were sometimes told,t w
after the
improperfinancial sttoatebmrienngt hadbeen made, that i
for-
ward a motion for the repeal of taxes, because
the financial arrangements had been completed;
and then again they were sometimes told that it would
be improper to propose such a motion until the financial
statement had been presented to the House. Between
these two views it was impossible to fix upon a proper
time for submitting a proposal for the reduction of taxa-
tion, but he considered that the legitimate attention of the
House ought to be given to the general question of taxa-
tion, for the purpose of ascertaining whether in particular
instances taxation might not be levied in a better and
less oppressive manner. He wished to be understood as
not representing any particular interest, neither that of
the paper maker, nor the newspaper proprietor, nor the
publisher of cheap productions; therefore, if he were
told that certain paper makers, newspaper proprietors,
or publishers were opposed to the repeal of these taxes
on the ground of vested interest, that would be no
answer to the motion. Neither could he permit this to
be treated as a party question. When his proposal was
submitted to Parliament two years ago, it was sup-
ported by gentlemen of all political views. It was
supported by no less than four distinguished
members of her Majesty's present Government. His
first motion had reference to the repeal of the paper
duties. He did not propose asking Members to agree
to a large reduction of taxation, and he had pat his
motions separately in order that Members might, on
supporting one, not necessarily pledge themselves to
the principle of the others. With regard to
the first motion, he only asked the House
to agree to the recommendations of the resolutions
which had been passed by one of its own Committees
in 1834, when the revenue of the country was in a
ranch less satisfactory state. That Committee resolved
that the duty on paper, in conjunction with the other
two duties ought, on moral as well as general commer-
cial grounds, be repealed with the leaer, possible
delay.--(Hear, hear.) His motion was simply
that the duty on paper ought not to be considered as
pert of our permanent system of taxation. The Excise
regulations connected with the manufacture of paper
were most oppressive and vexatious; yet they were not
sufficient to protect the honest against the fraudulent
manufacturer. Notwithstanding the precautions of the
Excise, it was a notorious fact that large quantities of
paper were sold which had never paid duty, and they came
in competition with the goods of the fair and honest
trader who was subject to taxation. The county of
Buckinghamshire, which was represented by the Right
lion. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was
admirably adapted for the manufacture of paper,
but most of the paper-mills in it were now
shut up in consequence of the injurious
tendency of the excise duties, which created
a lend of congestien of capital, and threw the business
almost entirely into the hands of great capitalists. He
held in his hand a letter from Mr. Herbert Ingram, the
proprietor of the Illustrated London News, to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, in which he clearly showed
the evils arising from the exssting system,
and the great benefits that would result if
to the public as well as to the trade if the Excise impost
was removed. He mentioned that when the manufacturer
obtained straw from farmers to use in the production of
paper, that simple article was taxed 100 per cent. There-
fore, as an agricultural question, he submitted it to Hon.
Members opposite. If the tax were repealed, it would
have a most beneficial effect in increasing the employ-
ment of capital and labour in Ireland. There was no
reason why the people of this country, under a judi-
cious system, should not become the exporters ;of
paper as well as cotton to all the world.—(Hear, hear.)
Now he must beg to ask the favour that the stock argu-
ment that the duty on paper fell but very lightly upon
the purchaser of a book would not be made use of on
this occasion. It was said last year that the duty upon
an expensive work like " M'Culloch'e Dictionary" was
only 6d., but when he spoke of the paper duty as press-
ing upon the consumer he did not refer to such works
as that, but to the cheap literature of the day, and,
therefore, he asked as a personal favour, that this stock
argument should be avoided now. His argument was,
that the paper duty did not so much increase
the price of cheap literature as it retarded its
good. We have cheapness in our literature, but we
wanted goodness too, and he would now, with the per-
mission of the House, point out how the duty intefered
with its quality. Mr. Cassell, a large publisher
of Penny works, ono of which was called
tae
" Public Instructor," paid 100/. per week
to the Government for duty, and if that tax were abo-
lished,
the
money
e wouldof his not outb
lire
tiionnt,o
a monstrous bathis ratherpockent
oo tom
..
g
proving the
circulate such useful e rtajiym matter which it contained. It was
that a man before ho could
publications as he had in his eye
must pay 100/, a ‘l,l,
though he had failed to to the public Exchequer, and
make his position intelligible to
the House, he hoped day was not far distant
when the paper duty, Whichthe
its rightly belonged, not to
the Government, but to literary man, would be
sutbhjeect no had received a letter
statute book. Upon this
Knight, wherein h
the•
fbsrtroramuncckmh r ofou
Charlest t koe of the
proved that in
the ease of many valuable publications
Govern-
ment derived more profit from them than
when he
the contributors. This was not
a eonsnumteer,swriters or
people, he was sure the
at all, it W 33 moral question, and
him in the position he
remembered the anxiety which Parliament had
H alwaysHouse
n evreoiuelcdoels)femr
peducating
tthh e
had just taken np. Nothing could stop the progress
of
cheap literature; and it was, therefore, of the utmost
importance that it should be rendered as good
in quality as pessale. The paper-duty only yielded
100,000/.; and he called upon the House to decide whether
that was a fair set-off against the moral good which it
prevented In the country. The fact was the tax
like the stamp and advertisement duties, was put on in a
r time of war, not so much, he suspected, for the purposes
,4
of revenue, as to give the Government some con-
trol over' the press.
ca
nd he was convinced that
to look at the insiguifi-
canoe Of
the 'gQ,.UG the'l amountl whenit
which the dare© taxes annually
produced, would at once order the abolition of
knowleclge.—(Hear! hear, and
all these taxes (ill
r duty, which produced
The edvertistaic
cheers.) pid' was unj
stu ust. Need
160,0 W. a year Was as • iiirpreig of 00 country
ho point out that it !Tag for tat' t_ "- -

LONDON,

that its commerce and trade should be as free as the
air we breath.—(Hear.) Well, what was it that stood
in the way of one man making known his wants to
another but this very advertisement duty? In America,
where no such duty existed, there were 10,000,000
advertisements inserted in the newspapers every year,
but in this country the number scarcely reaches 2,000,000
a year. But the injustice of this tax was abomin-
able. The servant girl was charged the same as
the nobleman or the public company possessed of
beundless wealth, while a line was charged the
same as a page, but the fact was, he repeated, the tax
was intended to cripple our newspapers, and not to raise
revenue, or why was not the same tax imposed on
advertising vans, omnibuses, and dead walls? Then, again,
there was the legal difficulty that surrounded advertise-
ments. The Excise-office would not allow a political
paper to insert the sailing of ships, or sales by auction,
while in Bell's Life fights and rat matches were al-
lowed to be announced free of duty. The explanation
was this, that dog fights, rat killing, and steeplechases
only interested a class, but the other a❑nouncements he
had referred to concerned the general public. The ex-
planations, however, are ridiculous, for why should the
announcement of a charity sermon, say, for instance,
for the relief of the sufferers of the Amazon be charged
is. 64., and the intimation that soma prize ffght or racing
match would come off on a particular day, allowed
to go free. He called upon the House to put an
end to this anomalous state of things, and for the sake
of public morality—for the sake of promoting the free-
dom of the press—for once and for ever put an end to
this iniquitous tax. He would now pass to the question
of the newspaper stamp, and show that it was never
intended as a revenue tax. How was it originated?
On the 17th January, 1711, there was a message from
the Crown, and at the end of that message there
was a complaint of the license that was
than taken in publishing libels, and recommending the
House to devise some remedy. The House in its reply
admitted the evil, promising to find out some re-
medy, and in accordance with that pro-
mise certain resolutions were passed, amongst which
was one establishing the newspaper tax. So the House
would see the origin of this tax, as well as the adver-
tisement and paper duty, was to supersede the office of
censor. It was thought in 1711 that taxation would pre-
vent the publication of libels, and from a passage in
one of Dean Swift's works, it would seem that the taxa-
tion-law was to be directed chiefly against newspapers;
but the Dean told the world then, what all subsequent
history had proved, that these taxes had not prevented the
printing of libelous and blasphemous publications. Again
in the reign of Geo. 111., the object of the Bill, which
rendered the newspaper still more stringent, was not
to increase the supply, but to check the issuing
of unsound papers, but it was said, although the stamp
acted as a tax, yet the paper was denied an equivalent
fur it by being sent free through the post. Well,
he, fur one, did not object to the stamp,
so far as it related to the postal
transmission, but the tax was imposed on
80,000,000 of papers annually, while only 33,000,000
availed themselves of the post-office. What he wanted
then was that only the latter number should be
taxed, and ho was glad to say that Rowland
Hill thought with him. It would not reduce the expenses
of the Post•office if all the newspapers were taken from
it, and, therefore, the tax could be taken off,
except in the case of these papers pass •
ing through the Post-office without produ-1
cing any injury to the state. Bat this posts
question was beside the matter of his motion, and ho
would revert to the argument that the tax secured
the Government and the country against
libels. He maintained that it did not, for
the Act was so worded that it could not reach pam-
phlets and essays, the usual medium through which po-
litical and seditious matter was circulated.
(LEFT SPEA KING.)

FOREIGN DRAMA AND MUSIC.
OPERA COMIQUE.—An operetta has been produced
here under the title of Gelatee, with better founded
claims on the permanent favour of the public than the
trifles which have been recently brought out here. It
is founded on the graceful mythological tale of
i
Pygmalion and Galatea, but n this case it is Venus,
who, to punish the sculptor for his disregard of ber
worship, animates his statue, of whom of course he
becomes enanoured. Galatea, however, like her name-
sake in the eclogue, turns out so desperate a coquette,
and causes her lover such pangs of jealousy, that the
goddess—" Quem Jocus circumvolat, et Cupido"—
takes pity upon his sufferings, and finally restores Gala-
tea to her pristine state. Upon this little sketch, the
joint production of M. Carre and Barbier, the com-
poser,has written a partition displaying
melody, and, occasionally, an impas-
freshness AL
anMdas se,
impas-
sioned tenderness that augur well for the future
career of this young composer. Madame Ugalde
was the Galatea, and sang the music allotted to her
with her usual brilliancy and entrain, which made
some amends for her physical disqualifications for the
part. This lady's style, as well as her voice, has how-
ever undergone a deterioration since her first appear-
at the Opera Comique, quite psinful to witness.
Enough remains, however, to place her beyond any
other cancatrice this theatre can boast. The Pyg-
malion was Mlle. Wertheimber, who displayed her
fine contralto organ to the best advantage, and fairly
shared the applause with Mme. Ugalde. En pee-
sant, let us say that the enthusiasm of the public,
a " first representation public " it is true, broke forth
in plaudits as loud and frequent as though they were
listening to a work combining the efforts of Mozart,
Weber, and Meyerbeer all put altogether! The get-
ting up of Galatee is elegant and tasteful, and the
care with which Mocker and St. Foy went through
a brace of secondary parts, greatly contributed to the
perfection of the ensemble.
A fashionably attended concert took place on
Thursday at Pleyel's rooms, the bineficiare being
M. Albert, a pianist of great merit, but as yet better
known in foreign musical circles than in Paris.
M. Albert possesses remarkable agility and correct-
ness of fingering, combined with a rare power of
singing, as it were on his instrument, and though
not wanting in energy, he never makes those fierce
onslaughts on his piano which are so much the
fashion of the day, and that really make one feel
for the unfortunate instrument. M. Albert played a
sonata of Beethoven's, and several morceaux of his
composition, all of which were warmly applauded ;
two pieces, however (a duo for two pianos, with M.
Cellot, and variations on the Schleswig-Holstein
Hymn), were special favourites. M. Jacquard played
a fantasia of Servai's on the violincello iu a manner
deserving the highest commendation. The greatest
praise that can be awarded, however, is to mention
the fact that this gentleman's performance strongly
reminds one of that of M. Bazzini on the violin.
The other vocalists were Mmes. Dorigny and Donovan,
and M. Paul Briand, who gave a couple of comic
chansonnettes inimitably. In one of them particu-
larly he went through a certain ticklish part contain-
ing some political allusions with a kind of humorous
apprehension of being overheard, whispering it, as it
were, to the audience, that drew down roars of laugh-
ter on every side, and an irresistable bis.
At the Opera National, which has changed its
name to that of Theatre Lyrique, La Gazza Ladra,
in a French disguise, is in active preparation for Mdlle.
Duez.

M. Giorgio Ronconi, the great baritone, is said by
the Pirata to be engaged in the composition of an
opera.

An Italian opera company is performing with suc-
cess, it is said, at Dunkirk ; it consists of four artistes,
Mmes. Clary and Scott-Sainville, and MM. Moca-
ferri and Montelli.

It is stated in a Turin journal that previous en-
gagements will prevent M. Negrini going to London
before July.

A new director has succeeded to M. Solera, at the
Oriente, in Madrid, and has already commenced his
engagements for the ensuing season by securing
Mesdames Clara Novello, d'Angri, and M. Colletti
for the opera, and Madame Flora Fabri for the
ballet departments.
Letters from Vienna 'state that Linda has been
produced at the Italian Opera, and with the utmost
favour. Mdlle. Moray, and MM. Ferri, Mitrovich,
and Baucardt, sustaining the principal parts.
Norma with Mdlles. Medori and Czillag, has also
been well received.

Mdlle. Alboni and M. Rovere, a buffo of great re-
putation on the other side of the Alps, are, it is said,
shortly to take their departure for America, on an
artistical tour.