The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-13 00:00:00

THE PAPEIiDUTY.

e _
The discussion- in the. Commons yesterday morning
had all the usual characteristics of a Wednesday's de-
bate.: It was anaadjourned debate; the arguments had
been exhausted and the tale thrice told; to crown all,
the decision bad born anticipated, by the budget, which
had made no mention of ". taxes on knowledge." It is
always 'uphill work when men meet to reiterate what
has been said often before, and to diecuss what has been
already decided on. In spite, however, of these discou-
raging circumstances the llon.l\lembers contrived to get
up a really interesting conversation, more or less bear-
ing on the motion before them. A little divergence is
very excusable when we cannot otherwise escape-from
vain repetitions,. and when Mr. Cowan had recited the
contents of an old pamphlet chiefly relating to Excise
grievances long since removed, Mr. Gladstone created
a timely diversion by an excellent speech on the pecu-
liarities of the modern bookselling, system. As he fully
explained, his remarks on this snbject were quite to the
purpose in hand, inasmuch as it is ridiculous to expect a
sacrifice of revenue in behalf of a class which claims the
privilege of fixed prices that have no natural relation
either to the costs of production or to the demands of
the public. It is true that the excise on paper consti-
tutes a very insignificant item in the cost of new works
and as far as it operates as a check upon serials and
cheap publications reacts in favour of such books as Mr.
Macaulay's. It is true that original works are
indirectly protected by a tax which oppresses the
monthly or weekly compiler. But the public will
always take a general and, so to speak, au
external view of them subjects, and, as Mr. Gladstone
shows, there is a manifest absurdity to the popular
apprehension in extending the principles of free trade
in favour of men who repudiate them altogether in their
own practice. A trade which bristles with monopoly,
and in which printers, publishers, booksellers, and come
positore, have all their several combinations, surrenders
all claim to the sympathy of Parliament. It is not usual
to help those who show so little abrupt° in helping
themselves. The publishers of this metropolis have
the finest position and the amplest opportunities in
the world. At the centre of communication, and at
the head of intelligence, with fleets daily leaving
our ports for all nations in the world, with numerous
colonie,s tinder our rule, and more than fifty millions of
people speaking our language, we might make this me-
tropolis the great manufactory and depot of British
literature. These advantages arc neu'ralfzed, not so
much by financial oppression as by a sluggish and ti-
morous policy of self-protection; by the attempt to
combine small returns and large profits; by looking for
customers in a small class, and not in the world at
large; by a system -which renders the
thousand copies, even in the case of the most popular
writers, and on the most interesting selects, a surprise
than' real one
stomaarforce,
and Mr. Gladstone represents, with his ea
to the largest and most experienced publishers.
A popular objection is often stronger
trade will probably hints, have to encounter before they a
will always be
a prejudice which, thanks to thetnselves, the puillishoingr:
hope to see their raw material untaxed. I,t
y
said, what right have you to ask for cheep paper when
attempt to force on us dear books? Set the example
of free trade, and Parliament will fJP.ow. This, how-
ever, is only ono view of the'question. A more compre-
hensive survey briny to light a great variety of con-
flicting ensidtrations. Cei tainly, if we had cheap
in working 122 straw an,l rubbish of all kinds info
paper, ingenious;nen might. m
paper. The insoulactur4 of paper byes, papier :niche,
mike or lose for:c nes
weavers' cards, coarse wrappine and p:-any cycle,' as liar,
'solid receive a great stitnurus. hundreds of veal
parr mills, long
dislu'el, might be reopensd, ‘i'ca
there was no lonbier the nity of precaring hoary
bail, when the maeliiii!ry would no longer bs in con•
tinned pawn, urban the excia?rvza would no longer be
always about, or not at hand when wanted, and whtu
experiment would no I.n,er b a charged with the tax
B„
n production. `Perhaps pap would be cheaper.
ut a man must be ver
c far-sig In the first
htei who can
tell all the results of that,
place, with the exeis( 3 of three-haltpenco a pound,
there would go
"sat as a matter of course, the
hange.
Customs' duty of fourpence halfeenny, involving a pro-'
tection of threepence a
turc. Are our paper dealers prepared for that change?
Then, any considerable increase of manufacture would
only se
egravate an evil far more serious then the duty.
Pound ion the hem© manu,ae-
The increasing price of cotton raes, and the difficulty of
of the largest and most succes ful
enlarging our supplies, has lately
-- eaten up the profits of
of
the t
-o an "tent which threatens the business
Americans, of course, use all their own rags, and the
French do not permit the exportation of theirs. As far
as concerns ourselves, it is questionable whether we could
give the public the benefit of the reduction, even if that
reduction should ultimately cheapen paper to an appre-
ciable extent. The duty now, enhanc-s the cost of each
.third of a penny. Even su
copy of this journal, including h . imeat, between
paper m alters. The
.ng t e euepe
thr, E.-eighths and smo, e
the reduction to tell to its full extent on the price of the
material, we should have to chnl,, biL,vcea losing on
rather less than three-eighths.ppos.ne
every paper more than an eighth of 'a
penny, or gaining
be little gain to the public, the hatter course would be
gr'eat gain to ourselve% - A, in all probenility the ptiper
would continue to sell tit the railway stations at the
market price of 61., and our subscribers would be
The former course would
content toga on paying 54
- -,vie should accept the gain
of three eighths ,
and spend a largo portion of it in the
improvement of the paper, is quiehening the streams of
intelligence, and in setting up
new machinery to hasten
the publication. That would be the form in which our
readers would gain, by the remission of duty. But, we
repeat, it is vary questionable whether the remission of
duty would be followed. by any permanent reduction in
It is the opinion of many that
tthherrperwicillosf9PonaPebrel —anag' Ye neral cell
upon Government to
repeal the du'y on paper, not to melte it cheaper than it
now is, but to prevent it from beceneing seriously dearer
through the increasing deficiency
of materials.
So much of the afternoon was occupied with subjects
of a rather episodical character, such as Mr. Gladstoce's
remarks on "publication and trade prices" and the ques-
tion between the Commissioners of Excise and Mr.
Cearles D.ckens, that little room vvee left for the dis-
cussion of the stamp and advertisement duties. We ob-
serve that one Ilonoureble Member assumss as a matter
of course that the stamp is only ft mode of charging
postage, and that on the withdrawal of the stamp a
specific postage would be immediately charged on all
papers passing through the pgst. That such a sub-
of publication, and cir-
culateto some
e . g lie, but it would
not correspond to the principles on which the stamp
sub-
stitute wwoculdcanbe
eashfilgvhlyima i
printdo e o 4 3ahunyrd their inutpneajl
meanspluiags rtoesnfdcbi te:
fheoemrnpeernptos the
esei messengers,
ae.iesytlr
rat '
ereeWnihd woulde1:1 SW.
also_A
duty has been hitherto imposed.
our metronolitan
It would, as we
have formerly observed, give a dishonest advantage to
some of our proviuciel contempursrica, who would
re.
foreign
sleentttertso,
oeunrdcould only
Govern-
art
va
et ate na?
ornedmseetieght hundred and seventy thousand
phoiveihn
caina -1
great
npmanoueudaillntl:yuwsgrharinfinhoetressevpainqucsarrtreyrinogf a million for edueational pur-
poses,
to this
iiterteneeywvie.irmyitfarite.iondloyn its size and
aanneyw substituteils
peacep neerys
ibmeri madeoe a
whichspecies of
woulddif-
POWs, could not Witplip_emeelittpas:
t;or
hriocr,fsn. 1t .
141 1
ne I
opiocuusgrei a
et
11:
heavyt
tables
b les
crlreeeacilateet:aaa.ldWdi ffuhetyyr esonhncoettihtl that a t does not nowe?L i s t ? The
on our attempts to give our subscribers a better
But 'we have done
paper,apthtaenmadlpti
ytdayustowyni wtonuni witness
ih(;lltar Tab
the best we
d discourt
ectatious)g- sevmhiecalti end
have
happily dissppointed thede72
carotoicidle
ufoordethreitrhissisonfoeyte-nde ,
prompted
it; nor do. we wholly
against those who would try: to
for Itttlet
lest
of
fTtrieloUlatiOn
a postage we have
only
to
say
three
not worth i., 1 TY that
the advertisement duty is
subjects
tditiuriptir:usged
of
yesterday,.
'' 'eel.-- inzes.

,br
brought
u abscondedgt td o, tov
CAPTURE OF A
CWSTER., TUESDAY.— SFollinAe7nDrijo rhiss Ta
ago A 1?\11f.4 ii‘').l---.l3Ga.:rcir°cuht te-,
corn dealer and miller of this city, anti who a short limo pre-
Avinoluesribc•al:ataakbienegnvelethetohdimslamlrairtge
eofsuGmlouocresmleorney,
which
he
had raised chiefly by the tt•e of forged bile., the names of
several merchants, with whom he hod had transactions, and
others haying been forted t..) receptances by him. lio was
traced to the United State.; wlore he was captured,
was brought to this country in castedy, arriving by steamer
to
ot
GLiivouerepeostoelrobnySruanadwayay. .Ittedwiolgiamdminediately
gaol, and yesterday
he was taken before the magistrates en the charge of forgery
Acceptances, amounting to some thousands of pounds, all of
which are alleged to have becu forged by the prisoner, were
produced, and after the examination of several witnesses he
was remanded for a week. tie Appeared 'very dejected and
carewpru,