The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-29 00:00:00

THE INCOME TAX.

As the opening of Parliament draws near, we have
almost daily pamphlets on the income-tax. We have
not been so much struck with the force of any of the
arguments adduced as with the proof they afford of
the remarkable tendency inherent in the human mind
to make difficulties where none exist. A man—a
" clever man," of course—may be as completely
under the influence of this propensity, as he may bc-
come the victim of dramdrinking or short whist. For
how many centuries was it the school philosophy
reigned supreme? During this period the intellect
of Europe fairly revelled in hairsplitting and e
ever wire-
drawing
upon subjects which would not admit of such
difficulty.
The great point was to raise, not to solve, a
So, again, in the last half of the last cen-
tury,
his mysticism wass at a
doctrines discount,
bu tt,
one
e German
when e
philosophers threw themselves manfully into the
breach. Kant, the Corypbseus of the school, had the
satisfaction of declaring on his death-bed "that no
oner understood
man—
Fichte—and he understood them wrong. It is the
same thing throughout. In this discussion
upon the
income-tax we are just now in the hands
of economic schoolrhen and mystics. Not one
of the number appears to content himself
with the immutable distinctions between 2
and 4, black and white, and other self-evident discre-
pancies of the like nature. Not one of them fairly
sits down, to consider if something better cannot Ise
contrived than the present anomalous method of
assessment. Because any form of assessment must
necessarily carry with it a certain amount of injus-
tice, it can in any case be but a question of degree ;
so what does it matter ? A little more or a little
less cannot materially affect the question. To be less
than perfect is to be imperfect ; to be imperfect in the
least degree is to be obnoxious to every reproach
which is rightly bestowed upon any arrangement
short of absolute perfection.
We cannot, of course, in the very limited space to
which our remarks must necessarily be confined, pre-
tend to answer all the problems proposed to us for so•
lution by these amateur Blends and Bonnycastles.
The thing is a mere typical impossibility. Any amount
of personal exertion would be insufficient to remove
in detail the spiderwebs that have been spun round
our windows. It may be, however, that a broad
sweep or two with the besom may let in air and sun
light, though we must again protest against that mod
of reasoning which would leave it to;be inferr€d
that because we, and those who think with us, do not
come forward with ready-made plans, there is no pos
sibility of remedy at all. Here is a strange inver -
sion of the relative position of parties. We are pa -
Heats, not physicians. "Ah ! Doctor," said Mr.
Deadrnan to that eminent member of the faculty, Dr.
Sphynx, "my head is aching; my pulse is beating
three where it should beat one; I can only stand
upon one leg ; and I feel shrewd twinges under my
left shoulder." " That is all very well, replied the
Doctor, " but, my dear Sir, I have a right to call upon
you to mention the remedies which suggest them-
selves to your own mind. Depend upon it, if you
adopt this course, you shall have the benefit of my
most patient attention, and most conscientious criti-
cism.' " Doctor, I know nothing about remedies.
All I know is that my head is aching, &c." " Vague
declamation 1 vague declamation The man who
can't propose the appropriate remedies for his own ail-
ments is perfectly well. Good morning, Sir."
Now in what material respect do those who tell us
that we should be content with the present method
of assessment differ from Dr. Sphynx. They tell us
we are in the wrong because we do not by a
kind of divine inspiration slip the " perfect sug-
gestion " into Sir Charles Wood's hands. We an-
swer at once, that any one of half-a-dozen schemes
which have been proposed and discussed contains less
of injustice than the present Ministerial anomaly.
We do not therefore jump to the conclusion that the
best arrangement which could by possibility be de-
vised has yet been made known. Such inquiry as has
actually taken place has been carried on notably in
the very teeth of the Government, and at all the dis-
advantage which is the inseparable incident of an at-
;ack upon existing arrangements.
We have said thus much in order to get rid of

zwo very obvious fallacies which lie at the threshold
of the discussion. We would next tell the partisans
of the present most unfair and most iniquitous me-
thod of levy that, if their arguments prove any-
thing, they prove that an income-tax is necessarily
the most scandalous and abominable tax that was ever
imposed upon a nation. The theory of direct taxation
may be as perfect and as philosophic as you will,
but if it be utterly inapplicable in practice, what
then ? Like other things in this world which
we can't arrive at, such as perfect health, perfect hap-
piness, perfect immunity from the tempers and pre-
judices, passions, and follies of others, we must make
up our minds to fag on to the end of the chapter
without it. We say most emphatically, that if one-
half, or one-quarter of the oppressive effects said to be
inseparable from an income tax are really so, the Act
is one of mere robbery and spoliation. The sooner
we get it out of the statute-book, for our sakes, and
for our children's sakes, the better. We have given
our consent to a graduated property-tax in its worst
form. We say in its worst form, because its framers
have so juggled with names as to hide the operation
of their scheme by a mere play upon words. Surely
it stands to reason that if a property-tax be a fair im-
post, an income-tax, that is a tax levied in a straight-
forward manner upon income, irrespective of the
source from which it may be derived, is an ob-
vious injustice. Under such an arrangement
what becomes of property ? A earns 301. in one
year by his professional labour ; B, the owner of
1,0001. Three per Cents. (we take the simplest in-
stance for illustration's sake), at the end of the same
twelvemonth finds himself in possession of his origi-
nal 1,0001. equal to 301. interest The Chancellor of
the Exchequer deducts the like proportion from A's
30/. and B's 30/. ; but who meddles with the 1,0001 ?
What rate is levied on the property of the country
under the present system ? If it be at all affected,
will any one have the kindness to inform us bow
single sovereign's value of it is drawn into the finan-
cial drag-net ? And by what arguments is it endea;
voured to bolster up this scandalous anomaly ? Oh •
"Drawbacks are not taken into account un_de.o
r
Schedule A." " Fluctuations are not credited
ot-
Schedule C." Men who have entered intoapssr
gassed
fessional life since the Income .tax Act wwaesrep now
would be presented with a premium if it
abrogated." as
This very argument, t stands, Ns e
take from a pamphlet before us, though not precisely
in the author's words. But
why. are not draw-
backs and fluctuations taken into account ?
Are not fluctuations taken into accounti readily
enough under the tithe assessment ? what
difficulty is there in estimating drawbackscaant the
Custom-house? The principle is the samein _
any
case. If machinery has been devised which
pro-
duce the result in one instance, the operation can be
repeated, and with similar effect. " Difficulty"
" Difficulty," is the cuckoo note of indolence and in-
,
capacity since the world began. No exertion worthy
of the name has yet been made to grapple with the
whole question. If this be once done, and the result
o then we are
is a conviction that nothing is to be done,
prepared to alter our tone, We will then admit that
no remedy is left us but to discard the theory of direct
taxation from our working
day calculations, as a
beautiful vision, only fit for philosophic dreamers,
and at best calculated for the meridian of Utopia or a
better world.
But we do not believe in any such result. We
do not believe that under a wise Administration the
theory which has been so warmly applauded by
philosophic thinkers may not be worked out so as
to receive the cheerful assent of practical men.
Let us not confuse ourselves with all the relations
and qualifications of property throughout this vast
empire at one and the same moment of time. Let
us collect into one room, before the writing-desk of
an actuary, a few representatives of classes. Le t
there be an owner in fee simple, a life tenant, a
mortgagee, a fundholder, an annuitant, a professional
man, a tradesman—and let each of their incomes be
represented by the same figure. Will any one be so
bold or so ignorant as to tell us that an actuary of
good capacity would not, after veryte p
brrieeeisfce valueonsid efera-
tion, tell each of the company the
his income ? From such a result to an equitable as-
sessment of the income-tax there can surely be no
very enormous distance. The axioms of the levy
would soon be established, and applied in each case
as a matter of course. The danger lies in delay.
Already the partisans of this most iniquitous assess-
ment are beginning to talk of " prescription," and
" vested interests. They tell us that in order to
eradicate all injustice from the levy, it need but be
made permanent. From such a conclusion may
their own common sense and energy deliver the pro.,
fessional and trading interests of this country !.
I Times.
)ns-

•
A NOBLE MAST.—Mr. Somes the ship-builder,
has just imported in the Coromandel, from Bloulmein, the
largest mast ever brought into this country. It is of teak,
72 feet long, and 27 inches in diameter.