The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-16 00:00:00

have to stake their future existence as a Ministry.
Public journalists should avail themselves of the
°PPortunity to indicate the general feeling on the
question, that must for many years, if.not perma-
nently, appeal forcibly to their own pockets and
those of their children.
• It has been assumed, most unfairly, by the ad-
vocates of the existing system, that it would be
difficult, if not impossible, to levy the Income-tax
i4a any other basis than that of a uniform per cen-
"age upon each person's receipts, no', matter from
What source derived, and that, therefore, for fiscal
Purposes, revenue arising from mental or bodily
la. bour, or from the fluctuating and precarious
Profits of trade, must be placed on exactly the
one foundation as if it was obtained from accu-
raulated and realized property of the best descrip-
tion, from the ground rents of a well-circum-
4aneed estate, or the dividends on the public
ftulds. This, in other words, is, that because we
cannot introduce a perfectly equitable principle,
because we cannot exactly discriminate between
the 'value of professional or trade incomes of the
Izarcie class, both must be assessed at the very
highest possible rate, that one man must be
charged four times, and another eight times, as
41201 as he ought to be required to pay. This
'fficulty may be completely removed by giving
'IP the assessment on Income, properly so called,
and charging nothing but property, according to
caPitaliZed value. But if, despite of the nu-
us advantages advantages attendant on such, a course,
ll° Me of which we have recently pointed out, our
he are resolved still to retain their hold on
e earnings of industry, with all its demo.
Nizing results, and notwithstanding the serious
'Oases occasioned by the system of exemptions
thereby rendered necessary, some attempt
at least might be made, at an approxima-
-lion, sufficient to satisfy those who have
itherto been so heavily victimized, and who, so
i
°lig as any portion of indirect taxation is re-
.tamed, must contribute more than, their fair pro-
Portion to the national exigencies. Such an
tPProximation might easily be made which would
d"e a much nearer approach to perfect fairness than
e Income-tax in its present form, or any
eription of customs or excise duties.
13 The Principle of taxation generally recognized
that it is just and expedient to charge every
111:11
ntinpon what he may reasonably calculate on
ng
to spend. This will, we believe, be
tr• itted even by the advocates of the present
r3tena) who contend that " the balance of in-
'ustraents should not be distributed ; that every
should pay on what he could expend in a
-
Year without diminishing thereby the
iii .Inolint of his capital." Now, we shall simply
Iquire whether a tax levied on the capitalized
4,..tue of each
111 4 person's property would not exactly
.eaofd those conditions. The object should be that
h Person should have an equal power of ex-
4elicliture, and that the balance should remain the.
44-7•
1c when obliged to yield to the common lot
'sur,,,eurrender his possessions to a successor or
A-'escrs• It is palpably unjust to take as much
ni the holder of a terminable annuity, which will
• Pire in Some five or six years, and a considerable
Porti
rial mn whereof must be allocated to replace the origi-
caPital, as from the owner of a permanent or im-
bekluig charge, such as the 3 per Cents., or lands
is an improving neighbourhood; and if so,
4it„B" more inequitable to charge, in a similar
ex3,,Z Precarious income arising from personal
ch:10118) and which a failure of health, or a
recinge of fashion may, at any moment, greatly
:Pe) or altogether take away.
thilk°l3, but," say the solemn wiseacres, who
they can prove black white, or convince ersons .
but against the evidence of their senses, "Oh,
if, from all incomes alike, you deduct an
ttllnal rate of sevenpence in the pound, as is now
, ease, the remainder will, as is obvious, be in
alsame ratio as the original incomes, and so the
ance of investment will not be disturbed. But,
it from those who only get 3 per cent. for their
..Iponey we take sevenpence in the pound, and
tfrom those who get 7 or 8 per cent. only, three-
in: or fourpence, it seems apparent that the
L• ce will be disturbed, and capital will be
oilight into those investments which are most
tpctlY taxed, until profits are diminished, and no
an balance is restored,"—and from thence they
~frive at the conclusion, that is altogether
oTinaterial to professional men, whether, when a
is laid on income, they pay their full share,
troobtain a total exemption." If this, indeed, be
ANT' Why not let these professional men, or
jsd-ers of property paying .high rates of interest,
.gouge for themselves. Why continue a system so
co
h Inplained of if it be truiy a matter of
,the' Perfect indifference, so very immaterial as it
paiblb, stated to be ? The fallacy is, however, too
IsoTaaeble., the assertion too startling, to be for a
keo ut sanctioned. It is perfectly clear that, if the
11,4/4e, Which one man can obtain be greater than
,Vaao wnieh another derives from property of equal
ia op it can only be because the income, in one case,
he, a less durable nature than in the other, or
118 e it cannot be obtained without a degree of
,-Ask
.expos Or inconvenience to which the latter is not
Pret3eell' ,cl.• What does it matter what may be the
the , income, whether the revenue derived from
Bona e capital be large or small, since each per-
hatiWY invest his capital in the manner most
,etcrilY to himself, and he should not be
do so in any way by which he could
Let 8 Just responsibility to the nation.
118, for instance, assume that two brothers
; 6 been left
%eh' by their father fortunes of 5,0001.
It
'tcluan is clear that they should contribute
hahroeY to the
maintenance of the national estab-
Pert, 31, and the protection of liberty and pro-
j-ue one puts 4,9001., in the 3 per Cents.
obta„,... 1.4 • 1001. lying idle at his bankers, thus
-an& .
KtrehaBl" Permanent income of 1471. The other
Which long annuities, to expire in 1860,
Rive hat the present price of 6 11-16th, would
eight in
round terms, 7501. per annum for
oeve??,,ts. The first would pay nothing what-
dedum.„7 the national exchequer, or, if it was
t this instance, he would obtain a re-
anuu3;ll3;aother would be charged 2/. 19s. 6d. per
Lion,
and Or, suppose that there was no exemp-
aiinlitathat the first were charged on 1501. per
the 0 ' 41. N. 6d. a year. It is palpable that if
he
tZer of the long annuities be a prudent man,
tvc:t set aside a large portion of his income to
ski the capital that would otherwise be
hill • inited in eight years. Nearly four-fifths of
bt,ol, come is applied to this purpose--while his
„laer can expend the whole of his income
th
ta„:4lt impairing his condition, the difference of
ticia between the two, viz., 211. 17s. 6d.,
44,3118 41. 7s. 6cl.—or, 171. 10s. is, to all intents
tie111111)08es, a tax on 'capital, ',which these par-
be- co strongly object to. And that capital will
Pea taxed in its new form at the end of the eight
ina,
and indeed partially so during the interval,
as the savings of each year will be in-
taga:ti' the income increased, [and with', it the
.°11) as the term approaches its conclusion.
flee above will .sufficiently show the absurcli-
u of the would-be economists on this point. Eet
4131
.1 ISRAELI then disregard their theories. Let
• the b°41137 according to the palbable merits
and;i he Will receive the approbation of
the cordial thanks and
Xaa%tietti-iltde- nilnof "-thede reCn,
conlm.unity, and achieve a per-
place in the hearts of his countrymen.
1;4(3II°11se of Commons fulfilled last niht as
'l4 "IsitAtra Justly termed it, "a sorrowful
d,
gentie„,_ a noble u , g ,
y, and never was that right hon.
tiouse`utri more eloquent, and never was the
of
they, Commons more unanimous, than when
14,4 1 common with the rest of his countrymen,
pored their farewell tribute ofNo
admiring
WELLINGTON. In that HOUSE, of Com-
ber
cnit Which he had once been himself a mem-
h It is our . .
hoe, I_, pride," said the Leader of that
seives4st. nigh, " that he was one of our-
tpsttr '0 Is our glory that Sir ARTHUR
hetWEL-
91a 110.__Ilece sat upon these benches : " in
had 7 of Commons, at the bar of which
a „m re than once received the " thanks of
thatbeiul Senate
'AM hon for accumulated triumphs ;"—in
kotioh
ofse' night, it
4.o7l4.tticsstrz, was decreed, on the
,s_DISRA.ELI, seconded by Lord
" that the Commons of England
tic, thank her MAJESTY for havin-
-4a for the Pubc interment of th
g given
mortal re-

mains of his Grace the Duke of WELLINGTON,
and should assure her MAJESTY of their cordial aid
and concurrence in giving to the solemnity
a fitting degree of importance." The public fune-
ral of the Duke of WELLINGTON assumes, 111 con-
sequence, as her MAJESTY had graciously designed,
a national character. That last mark of respect
and gratitude has been decreed to the mortal re-
mains of the Great Soldier, not only by the
SOVEREIGN whom he served, but by the repre-
sentatives of the people for whom he fought,
and never were the services of the Duke more
gracefully set forth, never were the excellencies
of his character more felicitously exemplified than
in the eloquent and touching language in which
Mr. DISRAELI alluded to them last evening.
' The Duke has been called fortunate," said Mr.
DISRAELI, " but Fortune is a divinity which has
ever favoured those who are at the same time
sagacious and intrepid, inventive and patient. It
was his own character that created his career,"
—a significant truth, which reminds us of an
epigrammatic sentence uttered elsewhere by the
same speaker—a sentence teaching the same
invigorating lesson, "We make our for.
tunes and we call them Fate." Not to
fortune, but to the characteristics of his
own nature, the high position of the Duke of
WELLINGTON must be ascribed ; • " it was his
supreme self-control alone that regulated his lofty
fame." Then pausing in his panegyric to
give a rapid and masterly sketch of the
requirements of a great general, Mr. DIS-
RAELI enumerated those varied and almost con-
flicting qualifications, the combination of which
is so rare, but which combination is irre-
sistible. Having thus excited in his hearers a
wondering admiration for the abilities of the
soldier, most touchingly and most beautifully,
the speaker then brought before them the image
of the man, as they had last seen him, as they
had long known him. " Who, indeed," he ex-
claimed, " can ever forget that venerable and
classic head, ripe with time, and radiant, as it
were, with glory."

In the same strain of mingled admiration and
sorrow, the right hon. gentleman concluded his
address—an address eminently worthy of the
occasion, because it testified not only the
emotions of the speaker's own heart, but by
his lips, as the leader of the people's repre-
sentatives it gave utterance to the people's feel-
ings with regard to WELLlNGToN—feelings at once
of joy and sorrow, of gratitude for the glory of
the past, and grief for the bereavement of the
present.