The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-15 00:00:00

SERIAL PARLIAMENT.
ROUSE OF LORDS—(irESTERDAY.)
(Continued from our Third Edition of last evening.)
eS MONTEAGLE said that they were not now
,ere
enag for the first time into a course of peril, but they
- severing
tiiti Pe evenng in a course of great danger by substi-
-1%11114,the principle of direct for that of indirect taxation.
ba 'ale friend the Postmaster-General would yemein-
r that this was not the first time that he had raised his
,
th protest to this principle. He did not say that
2fel" e should be no direct taxation, but where a revenue
BvA2,-;°°°,0001. had to be raised annually, and where
t'"0,0001. of that was not subject to reduction in any
th,l3,,e',he did consider that indirect taxation would be
Bir '4ls' Means to accomplish it without ruinously pres-
ttge upon the industrious classes. He was not an advo-
a:gaituit direct taxation, but against the entire sub-
Pert ation of direct for indirect taxation. When the pro-
it bY and income tax was proposed iu 1842, he supported
itteeneaains: he thought it was justified by the circumstances
ties • ne, upon its proposal. By a combination of par-
.ut the other house last session, it was agreed that
the ts,eenie tax should be voted for one year only, with
meloialstinet pledge from the Government that the
eo subject should be fully gone into by a select
I,oa,4linittee.
Was the direct tax, now proposed to be
to rpehPerpetual, called for ? The Government was about?
IthVal the malt tax by one-half. At whose bidding .
orfit u not been demanded by the petitions of the people,
the earnestness on the part of any one. It, as. well
1/41:11hstitution of a direct tax, were the mere gratuitous
eaDZ the Government. If ever there was a question
+
tife—te of being reasoned to demonstration it was that
eillilji,resent Government were making a sacrifice of two
Itaeals and a half of revenue under circumstances which
le. Yield them no corresponding return. The pro-
kiedi contained in the budget would neither benefit the
nor the lower classes. The Government pro-
klie4" °llly to substitute direct for indirect
.taxation,.ts
kiteta substitute for a direct tax, temporary ineairi
Opi„r,e, one that would be permanent. If the noble .
h'rea,7tc, had a personal enemy, he could not wish him a
B'll.-j'r evil than the carrying of the whole of his ra
tea--
Plyi'halld being represented in consequence in every axd
IvEL,"eg,house as the author of the new property an
'tx, and as a member of a Government which had
itwn-12,500;000/. in an act of kindness to a class which
ie2,4 not benefit. The noble lord concluded by mov-
tVe'following
Lue returns :—Detailed accounts showing
krst and net anaounts received of the revenue of Excise,
eeti;118: and Taxes during each of the last ten years ; ac-
tea "840 wing the amount applied during each of the last
Sl,Z!ars in reduction of the National Debt ;accoeuaoniti
of thi4g the amount advanced and repaid during
,4;llast ten years by the Commissioners for Public
kat—,l; aecount showing the state of the national debt
ti sl 'rob up to Janua 1852, distinguishing permanent
terminable debtir'account showing the several du-
-I,iR 41 tax •
t es imposed and repealed during each of the
Ileeob4Years, showing the actual or estimated amount
ti; and distinguishing the duration of such taxes,
The't temporary or permanent.
eot tarl of DERBY considered it a very inconveni-
ee?;l4'se, in a mere motion for papers, to which ma
VeCti would be offered, for any noble lord to avail
teeb'4 oi the opportunity to enter into a
thesedicussinn o.f
tioh-'res at present not even yet under onsiderah
i40,65f the other house. It would have been amuc
aeu7enient plan if the noble lord had proceeded. by
the r~ilihtiat to have condemned, by way of anticipation,
":44-t°le course of policy which the Government pro-
iitio Pursue, orhadwaited till the substantive pro-
e before their lordships for consideration.
therefore, that his noble friend would,.n.?t
wider
'qe as treating him with any disrespect
liozietieet state of the house (there were about half a
h, in
tY rke inn
Present) he declined to enter into an elabo-
n'tlussion of the consequences of the financial po-
!taelt-,•' tin Governme*. He declined to enter into the
Ittin'?naf the extension of direct taxation, or how far
the tr,g,it be considered desirable to rest the revenue of
Itleati,;llltrY upon direct or indirect taxation. The whole
!act it had been admitted to be merely one of degree,
:eeo ZaS not denied that direct taxation must be had.
teat to, in order to make up the deficiency of indi-
e-ti°ll ; and the only question, therefore, was
ker„,.-Xtexat to which direct taxation should be
NO2l, and the proportion which it should bear
-
hWo taxation of the country. There were but
the
,ckles in which the large amount of the revenue of
bs
ec)tlietY could be raised—by direct taxation affect-
iffeCtin 'rgest possible portion of the community,. and
ns them as equitably as possible, and by raising a
f4l°Unt of taxation upon those articles which en-
'' into the most general consumption of the people.
llit•
`;7l,e,ple of free trade would not admit the Govern-
zirtiel;" levya large amount of the revenue upon those
e Which entered into the general consumption of
;),cheoPli.e. Parliament had taken as its proposition,
"1• 11(11 blood of the people and the necessaries of life
,h"op as cheap as possible. Having laid down this
Lbet°l.-Zell, the alternative was clear, viz., that they
ikateth-44e the required amount of revenue by the other
"`efie f taxation to which he had referred. Up
dPri
on
• ie,Tneiples he would defy any of the noble lords to
e imposition ofo dluotoi,es upon malt and tea
to cent a and in the other to 200
p this Illetrhlioaneesca.7t
se t
Majesty's Government were then driven
}°llrse by the adoption of the principles forced
11.t'lAltv-era by the other side. The Government, acting,
fitv. and honestly upon those principles, had felt it to
titietivt dtutY to take the course of reducing the (amount
thing kin hanged upon necessary articles of consumption
p• eall'„ingdorn With respect to the effects of the
;NI the malt tax, he recollected that very high
iZerc)ii,'ies had declared' on past occasions, that
30 a% final repeal of the corn law it would
.be
~,,Ne:h-t`ule, if not unjust, to maintain
;tit114,7
~ef duty upon malt. Sir J. Graham also
th'eu. very strongly his opinion that the repth
1e corn laws and of the malt duty must be e
,101,i4 concomitants of each
.other, and that they could
re Justice, repeal the one without repealing the other.
,al,ll Deal the whole of the malt duty was an act which,et„,(ll4l regard to the finances of the country, her Ma-
tte is Government would not think wise or just.. Act-
sowever, in conformity with the views which the
'bat
hat 19 has sanctioned, the Government had considered
N a' Partial repeal of the duty on malt would be just
Itldt,Nsedient, or, if the phrase was better liked, "wise,
atid beneficial." It had also been objected that the
4,1/4111 Nent were continuing in its most odious shape.
"orne tax. So far from that being the case, if
one measure more clearly laid down than atnoo-_
Sthe 141)3T the committee appointed last year in respec f
ihecmie tax, it was that there was a plain and palpable
Nth'etioll to be drawn between temporary and precarious
ZVeBi, To the middle classes also material relief was
vamped: :Y. the reduction of the tax upon incomes of a
41"1". character When the late Government were
tligohiiebe! it became a question whether the window tax
I,keißre enntpreyal ed, and it was decided that it should, upon
the °:011 of its injurious effect on the sanitary condition
At that time the late Chancellor of the
ik°tildlier Was desirous of imposing a house tax
.whdiecwh
a4ve been equivalent in its amount to h
11.4tehit exc
weeding by 200, 000/. the amount of the tax
ghahe hn a's now intended to propose. But with regard
I th use tax, he was at a loss to understand on
,5114 . .
R Pie of justice it was possible to stop short at
tikaiseriti3„.rthe value of 201. a year, thereby leaving the vast
kla.tien,/ ef the houses of this country wholly free from
thtile'es ,the occupiers of a great num er of wh.ich w_ ere.
, weilhi_a,Xercising the privileg.e o.f the elective. fran
',ll, according to the principles
.of the Liberal
WO, ellt'gvnt to be coterininous and coexistent with the.
litit) trio '.,/ixes. But there was one other point in his
he r o.,but 8 speech to which he must refer—namely,
_
t\isth:°Z.rci to the maintenance of the public credit. If
to At marl of Derby) thought there was any one thing
eobtatetfr,asure calculated to shake the public credit or
ere in
degree with the good faith of the
their -larndyship might depend upon it that his
iihttehti,end would not smorewarmly oppose that measure
Pe But he saw no symptoms of any such
'for the good faith of the country. At no
Rerc pro`lllae were the funds of this country in a higher,
ht tPel'ous, or a more steady condition
_theannd they
at3tti the Present moment, and his fri
ed to
of tb have recourse to some such excuse for the
Out e funds as that if they were not high now they
411141:4 to have been high. (Hear, hear.) Now,
atk.4alnoble friend need not. have had recourse to the
1404'. WeiPlze of Sidney Smith's, " that the three per
~,P1)14.
no
the greatest fools in the world," for, without
or i,tre°4—, discuss the question whether the funds were
hi ~,°‘ a tolerable barometer of the public confidence
Ptet th,a4l4. of confidence, he might remind. his noble
Ater feeii"rille had not heard, in any expression of the
l
Nte esta gon the part of the monied and commercial
4ci whit
lithis country, the slightest apprehension ex-
y,l)°aeo b regard to the consequencesof the measures
th Y her Majesty's Government, nor did he find
lieett4",ell,ll,4 for such apprehension in the state of the funds
IN -8.
tie should like to know why the funds did
ilitliNier the apprehension that the Government
thhtY hi R duce those hyper-dangerous measuresw_ refterrweads
luid noble friend ? He wanted to know :r the pressure of those apprehensions_thoy_e
wfuhnot
rl.l,4the
tet3'en°4loWii ; why it was that the funds,
415"ee Government came into office. werew about 96,
pP johil ett eadily and gradually creeping up
h,t
.100
.r that event, and were now for .
the first time
from a few
Clthl'iltbstLand why it was that from that time to
.this,
4,1a1a4-411.1 ding all apprehensions of his noble friend,
_,kl„-gut theyer been below 100 ? (Hear, hear.). He
gov;qtric,o, was a tolerably fair indication, making full
arl the I°l' all other circumstances tending to keep
aftkqe ve-4;nterest of money,
.of the public confidence ;
bsep,,e,fulkia''nred still to think it was clear, from the state
7tio ' and from the absence of anything like an
tal :11 of hostile feeling on the part of the great com
4 tire of-taah ses, that there Was no apprehension of any
hi," Public credit in consequence of the measures
s bent Government. He ventured also to ex-
tl'oth4ll fr :lief that the funds would be much more likely
alii-a41011,,.. an apprehension of the consequences arising
the --settlement of the present state of things, and
!pt.3:lA,,,,idissolution of the present Government, than
etteZl be by carrying—what he hoped to carry
niedifications in the details but
'NI and as a whole those propositions which had.
hOti • omit
to the other' house of Parliament by his
NI:ell fri, end the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
iiiiitist,et.llsted would in due time come under the
motion of their lordships' house.
I°ll Waa agreed to.
-0. PUBLIC WORKS.
Ye‘ja,\;," I. Moved for a return of the amount lent
4e ~°nere since 1830 by the Public Works Loan Corn:
'eerze? ligland, Scotland, and Ireland ; return of
4eli • teans now outstanding in each kingdom : 1.
14 44 docks
t . ' County rates ;2. Railroads ;3. Roads,
p'. anti and harbours ;4. Other works and buil.d__-
41 aid fp" the years in which each of such loans will
thtleMitio together with the rate of interest now paid
ktentiPl. The noble earl also asked whether it was
of her Majesty's Ministers to provide for