The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-01 00:00:00

EVENING,

had no doubt that if the duty on soap were also reduced it
would have the same effect, while it adder, to the employ-
ment of the people, and we might become an expo. ting
country for soap, as we were for other articles. But the pre-
sent budget was a stand-still budget.— (Hear, and cheers.) It
was a budget to do nothing but to continue the burdens of
the country.—(Hear, hear.) The Right lion. Gentleman
might say he wanted no relief—he was contented; bet he
(Mr. Hume) was not contented.—(Hear, hear.) He was
one who had certainly expected a very considerable relief to
those classes who were so much affected by the Excise
duties; and he would put it to the Right Hon. Gentleman,
it he would only use his own discernment, whether he could
rise from the consideration of the Excise duties on great
articles of consumption with any other conviction than
that it was a most mischievous system? He hoped that
the duties on paper and soap, and also that upon
malt, would be removed, and that thereby they might get rid
of a system of Excise which cost the country 600,000/. or
700,000/. a year fur its collection.—(Hear.) N-ow, the Right
Hon. Gentleman h.d proposed the renewal of the income-
tax as temporary ; but if he bad proposed it as a permanent
measure, on just and sound principles, no man in the House
would be more ready to support it than he (Mr. Hume) would
be. But he would do it only to enable the Right lion•
Gentleman, as the late Sir R. Peel required, to make change 3,
an t remove the odious taxes that existed. The Right Hon.
Gentleman said that direct taxation was carried on to a great
extent: but he would tell the Right Hon. Gentleman that it
amounted only to ten per cent, of the whole taxation of tne
country, while the Customs and Excise amounted to 75 per
ceut. Let him extend the principle, and let every man feele
,e
the weight of it, and know that he his
share contributing ''
share and quota to the taxation of the country; but let him
be convinced that by that means he was enabled to
reraove indirect taxation on the necessaries of lite, and
that, while he paid one penny to the income-tax, he Was
relieved from twopence of indirect taxation. The Right
Hon. Gentleman had denounced with great force the injus-
tice of the house•tax of last year; but, if he thought "
was unjust as it stood, let him extend the tax to all houses.
The Right lion. Gentlemon had stated a fact which lie (;tilt.
Hume) wished him to explain. He had stated that out of
400,000 houses only 350,000, or some bagatelle like that'
were assessed. Well, why were not the whole number as"
seised ?—(Hear, hear.) If the Government had not pro-
ceeded upon sound principles of legislation hitherto, let the
Right Hon. Gentleman begin now. He (Mr. Hume) wish,7.:
to see the income and property-tax continued and Ma'
permanent, in order that means might thereby be provide",
for enabling them to get rid of the indirect taxes. For these
reasons he felt bound to disturb the unanimity which secretes'
to prevail in the House, and to express his dissatisfaction
with the star, ment of the Right Hon. ,entlemate—(Hear.)
Mr. NEWDEGATE said that the Right Hun. Gentle's:tall
the Member tor Halifax (Sir C. Wood) had taunted him
with having, year after year, printed, published, and cir-
culated statements with respect to the balance of trode
which he was pleased to say were illustrations of explode'
,fallacies. Now, he (Mr. Newdegate) begged to say that he
had made the same calculations for this year, and had
found that the balance of trade was against this country to
the amount of 13,000 e 001.—(Hear, hear.) If the right
Hon. Gentleman doubted the tact that any such amount of
capital had been lost by the commercial classes of tlito
country, he begged to refer him to Mincing-lane and Live"
pool.— (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BARING said that one of the great motives which
actuated him in supporting the financial views of his right
.
Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the same
as that which the Hon. Member for Montrose had given
oppo ing theta. It was because his Right Hon. Friend, with
his estimate of the expenditure, had determiued to do
nothing, that he (Mr. Baring) had determined to sup'
port him.—(Hear, hear.) So far from thinking it a
demerit in Government to stand still when they were
not sure what might be the future expenditure, and when
they anticipated a reduction of income, he confessed it
seemed to him to be a ground of approbation.— (llea,e;
hear.) He knew very well that there was great popularity •
connected with the taking oil of taxes, but he knew a'''
that if there was one duty more incumbent than another
upon a Ministry, it was nut to endanger the future for soy
momentary popularity.—(Hear, hear.) But there was one
thing in which he agreed with the honourable Member for
Montrose, and that was an admiration of the motives of
the late Sir Robert Peel.— (Hear, hear.) He was one of
those, indeed, who had never doubted the purity of he/
motives.—(Hear.) He was one of those who had alWaec
felt the greatest admiration for his talents; and '—
could imagine nothing more painful in the future, as there
had certainly been nothing more painful in the past court)
of his life, than the necessity which compelled him to with'
draw his support from that Right Hon. Gentleman in 18";
But he was then of opinion, and the opinion still remained
unchanged, that in dealing with great commercial questioriFP
and in dealing with great interests of any kind, sefdTd„ert:
revolutions were the worst and most dangerous —Ole
hear.) He thought that his Right Hon. Friend the Chan-
cellorshouldthat of the Exchequer had taken rather too bright a vi,,
able to teO late
gatherCo one Commercial
1851 had been a most disastrous year.—(Hear.) He di d
mean to say that there might not here and there he reined
an exception ; that there had not been some well coin eant
operations or some happy speculations; but what he the
to say was this, that taking the exports and imports
country, he believed it would be found that the prices°'
cation had left a serious loss upon the interests in of the
the
He admitted that these losses did not necessarily a..e -
manufacturing interest, and that the bulk of them had phrea;
bably fallen upon the middlemen. He rejoiced to find that
his Right Hon. Friend bad been able to state that the raa':
facturing interest was, on the whole, in a state of prosp.esri'T
and he lioeed to see also that Schedule D showed satii,n7o
tory results. But, financially speaking, he did not w
conducive to the prosperity of the country. He thougna,.'e:
touch the question as to what en tent free imports had 1)e! :et,
better to treat the question at present altogether financisn):„,
H® though that when they attributed their financial pinup
city to the measures of 1846, they really meant the me,senotoe
of 1840. He considered it impossible that without the inc of
and property tax, then imposed under circumstances of
pressing emergency, and since continued for other purP°-„"
we could at any period have been without a deficiency, and
could not see, after all the reductions which had since
taken place in the Customs and Excise, that we could now
dispense with it.— (Hear, hear.) But there was another
question. To what extent had the country gained by the
transfer of taxation which had taken place? It was said
that the country had, since 1842, been relieved of 10,0 0,0001•
of taxation; but it ought to be recollected that during ih"se
ten years the Government had been regularly abstracting
5,5';0,0001. annually from the pockets of the people in LI
shape of new taxes, so that, in those circumstances, they
well afford to give tl e people a little in the way of remission
now and then. If he gave them Si. out of his pocket every
year for ten years, he thought they could easily afford a
give him a present of 101. at the end of the period, as Willie
a pound now and then in the course of it.—(Hear.)
then, they took a debtor and creditor account of what the
_5.
country had paid, on the one hand, in the shape of incoens
tax, and saved on the other in the shape of a remission
taxation, he should be surprised if they did not find that
gain was not so large as they supposed.—(Hear, jells
There was another point which he wished to allude to..
olio
Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer had alio
that he could account for the reduction in Schedule hlee
(Mr. Baring) quite agreed with him that a bad year 9,
1847 must influence several years; but he thought it ant— s
Abate-
Bible to account satisfactorily for the reduction w he
supposing the existence of evasions. He confessed re-
thought there must have been evasions in . tie-isbed
turns, otherwise there must have been chu?,'. pros-
profits in trade. But how were they to test thel`seid,--•
purity ? Honourable Gentlemen opposite always ken as
'• Look at the exports." If the exports were t•beetnd that
a real test of prosperity, he thought they would 11,r1 ;shed.
the produce of Schedule D ought not to have dinuni test
But he did not believe that the exports afforded a rea e ap•
of their prosperity—though it was one which was believedalvf
pealed to by gentlemen on the other side. What he 1..0tc)
was this, that so long as the income-tax continued
the means and disposition to evade the returns would 01*.ght
creased; that although the prosperity of one Yeaer,enilljoisle
swell the result, and the adversity of another year dim de
it, the tendency and disposition always would be te't` the
the returns. While, therefore, he did not think thawed;
prosperity of our commerce was so great as had been s or
while he did not believe that either the colonial interest, a
the shipping interest, or the agricultural interest wahsongbt
state of prosperity, thve was one point upon which he t with
there would be no difference of opinion, and that was the
regard to the ability which the Right Hon. Gentlenetwaiee.
Chancellor of the Exchequer had displayed on this c'cet
—(Hear, hear.) His was a mind which seemed to be aleer it
grapple with anything; and, grapple with whatev
might, the result was always to elucidate and enforce it. alee
this occasion his great talents had been applied with ,ingti,.
success to the practical concern of the administration 01e
country.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WILSON thought they would arrive at an 11-, for
conclusion, if they were to suppose, as the Hon. Metnuetheln,
North Warwickshire (Mr. .Newdegate) would have , Li-
that because of the losses sustained by the merchants
not
:0 a
verpool and Mark-lane, the country, generally'', was t
that
precedentedly large, yet in consequence
prosperous condition. On the contrary he was satisfied ue„,
although the commercial losses of last 'year were almost 0
losses th
of those
the trade of
the present year promised to be more successful than
(ha
been for many years past.—( Hear.) agreed
that the el."
Hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Baring), -
ports of the country could not be accepted
as
an it
evidence of the prosperity of the country; but he thought
derived from
would be admitted that the amount of revenuefactory. evidence
the Customs and Excise afforded verythseat.,
Rif,
Honourable
on that point.— (Hear, hear.)
Now'' chequer had himself
Gentleman the Chancellor of the Ex
that while the Cus-
that occasion,
shown in his speech on
to the extent of 9,000,0001,
toms' duties had been reduced with
bad increased to such an extent
gumption of of the country
'fie of the same amount of revenue aS
as to yield within a trifle
lie thought that this important
and the Excise duties to the extent of 1,500,0001., the con-
before.—(llear, heitaero''es an unquestionable evidence of the
fact ought to be.tta
of the country. But the Right 0
Yade one statement in the course of his able
the trade accounts of this year would hardly
speech which
He had attributed the increased amount
bear him out in.
tion 1851 to the eircumstances connected with
of consumption Gentlemen general
the Exhibition ;but the trade
that the ; accounts of the present . sere,
he Exhibition had very little to do with ""0
case• t
provede
doubt, With respect to sugar, for instance, although, II
tare,
consumption of that article lust year was te•
as compared with that of the preceding year, yet it
year
peered
that for the first three months of the present
the consumption had been 15,000 tons more than the con'
sumption of last year for the same period, thus showing
that it was not the accidental circumstance of the Exhibition
which was the cause of the increase, but that the consume'
tion was going on in an increasing ratio.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. GLADSTONE said he had heard some remarks from
point
the lion. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Baring) upon a
so vitally important, that he was unwilling to allow them
to pass without a few words of observation. He of
Gladstone) should be perfectly willing ee
to allow the Cage_
the commercial policy of the last ten years to rest upon "We
statement of the Right Huu. Gentlem in the Chancellor
the Exchequer._( Hear, hear.) In a manner bigitf,
honourable to him, and with an ability peculiarly
,hat
( own, he had laid before the House the results of
policy; and he (Mr. Gladstone) ventured to say thittil'at
speech which the Right Hon. Gen.leinan had delivered that
night would constitute an epoch in the history "
cosies °-
policy, and would not soon be folgotten.—(Loud
tingdna
" Hear, hear.") But the Hon. Member for elun _ the
had grappled with a statement which had been made. °Yew.
Right lion. Gentleman, and repeated by the Right t' be
Baronet the Member for Halifax ; though he confessedrn se e.
•their state e".•
did not think that his attempt to impair „
.eas
d 1 11 ".
was at all successful. How did the matter sten
clearly
vitally important that it should be brouht out
iu
the face of the public. The figures, as put together'l 1•Y
by the
Right Hon. Baronet the Member tilt Halifax, , stood thus •
taxa-
duced 12 200 000/. `source)
tion, since te42 Parliament had reduced 1.2,`200,0001.
sources
produce of the taxes from t e co/.
tion, and that the
had operated had risen 1,400„
upon which the reductions
If they deducted
of the original amount.—(Hear,hear.) noon
from the 12,e00,6001. the money which they gave away
.ae charade ,
the window-tax, which was not of a reroducav
had reduced
the account would stand thus :—that Parliament
of 0
3 th "
elastic Part
11,000,001, of taxation upon the e