The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-06 00:00:00

CHARGE.

Permanent Debt ......•••• .............
..
Terminable Annuities.... •. ...... ..„ ..............„ „ , , , • • . . •. .
Interest on Exchequer-bills issued to meet the charge on the Consolidated Fund •
Sinking Fund • .. -• .
The Civil List . . . .. .
Other Charges on the Consolidated Fund .... • .
For Advances ..•• •••• ••••. •• ..„........, .......
........................
......•
..................

Total Charge ...... .............

The Surplus • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Surplus Revenue at 'Oth Oct., 1851, after providing for the charge of that Quarter was ..... ..........
To which is to be added the Surplus of the Consolidated Fund above stated in the present Quarter• • • • ........

The Amount issued in the Quarter ended sth Jan., 1852, in part of Sums granted by Parliament out of the
Consolidated Fund for Supply Services •• • • • •
g for the Charges on the Consolidated Fund, and for the payment of
,iden the Quarter ended sth January, 1852 .... •• •• •• •• ••. • ••
ThseupSpulryplsuesn ofic letsevienn u,rue, ea atftßerriptaroi:in

he has done since July last, there is no saying
where we may, before long, see him. Who could
of to-day is the
same person as the Lord Stanley of 1828 ?—the
believe that the Earl of Derby
Noble Lord who, about that period, wrote those
" Commentaries on the Miracles of our Lord," which
were so universally admired for the evangelical
tone by which they were pervaded throughout, as
well as for the beauties and, in some instances, the
brilliancies of their style ? With regard to the state
of affairs between Lord John Russell and Lord Pal-
merston, we can state with confidence, that the alie-
nation between the two Noble Lords, increases every
hour. We say advisedly, that the disclosures which
will be made on the meeting of Parliament, will be
much more damaging to the Premier, than the public
have yet been led to anticipate. Lord Palmerston
literally pants for the re-assembling of the Legisla-
ture. Lord John Russell, on the other hand, dreads
the advent of the first day of the session. And with-
out pretending to know all, we happen to know enough
to justify us in affirming, that never had a Minister
of the Crown greater cause to regard a coming dis-
cussion with fear and trembling, than has the Whig
Premier the discussion of the matters at issue between
himself and the late Foreign Secretary.

THE QUARTER'S REVENUE.
TIMES.—The Quarterly Returns of the Revenue
continue to indicate prosperity, the decrease, such as
it is, generally admitting of a satisfactory explana-
tion. The receipts from the Customs for the quarter
are less by 37,1931. than those of the same quarter
last year, the decrease being considerably less than
was to be anticipated from the further drop in the
sugar duties last July. In the Excise there is a de-
crease of 162,9501., of which it is sufficient to say,
that in the quarter with which the comparison is made
the receipts were largely swelled by the arrears of
hop duty, and the good malting season of 1850. In
the Stamps the decrease is 32,2361., which, again, is
much less than might have been expected from the
accumulation of stamps thrown into the correspond-
ing quarter last year, which was the first under the
reduced scale of duties. In the Assessed Taxes the
decrease is 737,1311. In the corresponding quarter
there was due, and in great part collected
about 900,0001. of window duties. Their sub-
stitute, the inhabited house-tax, which for
the future will be payable in the quarter end-
ing January 5, is scarcely yet in course of collection,
having in many instances only just been assessed.
In the Property-tax there is a decrease of 50,7741.
We confess ourselves unable to offer any satisfactory
solution of this fact, especially as we had to notice a
decrease of 30,6641. in the same quarter last year.
Possibly the reduction of rents and the alteration
conceded last session in the assessment of tenant-
farmers may have something to do with it. In the
Post-office there is set down an increase of 94,0001.,
the highest, we should think, that ever occurred in
one quarter. In the Crown Lands there is a decrease
of 20,0001., and in miscellaneous receipts an increase
of 10,1831. On a comparison of these figures it ap-
pears that the net decrease on the ordinary revenue
of the quarter is 936,1011. Such a figure, of course,
will be eagerly laid bold of by those honest and sa-
gacious financiers who call a decrease a calamity what-
ever its causes, whether from the pressure of distress
or the reduction of taxes. It is scarcely
necessary for
us to tell our readers that it is no misfortune to pay
less taxes, and that, so long as we suffer no diminu-
tion of our comforts, what the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer loses we gain. On taking into account imprest
moneys, and a very extensive repayment of advances,
the decrease on the quarter's revenue becomes only
713,5471. As the principal causes of decrease have a
peculiar bearing on the quarter, the returns for the
year exhibit-a somewhat different result. In the Cus-
toms of the year there is an increase of 146,189/. ; in
the Excise, 89,2091. In the Stamps the decrease is
162,0921. in the comparison with the previous year,
and 431,9261. in the comparison with the year before
that. In the Assessed Taxes of the year the decrease
is 796,216/, being little more than that on the quarter.
The annual receipts of the Property-tax are less by
78,1141. than in the previous year, which, in its turn,
showed a decrease of 25,122/, The Post-office is
evidently the department that has reaped the chief
fruits of the Great Exhibition, the increase for the
year being 244,000/. As one of the great facts of
this wonderful year this is remarkable enough, but
the Post-office, including the foreign packet service,
has long ceased to be a source of revenue to the
country. The net decrease on the total ordinary
items, 527,0471. Half-a-million, then,
revenue is 573,3351., and, taking into account the
iraaltrlphiapbet
tee
reduction
ei willuffi
that
amount of our annual loss, after the
whale
edyuctio enacted or coming into opera-
tionthereturn before us—for this state-
ment refers only to the revenue and the Consolidated
eien sxxottttrehaneolas
arpi
svwdritei
ehnay
re a i
rn.
Tons this must be added what does
Iccmser uieegeda might
probably
net_dg s
tahhrberi
esegeear ati
from
surplusf y i n gfact
et ho an
at e next Aprilh
dt hi
teurree we
xi l_l
uolftittnheatedlyebt,
is a good, and applied
t
millionso and a half. Such a surplus
faf
increased revenue or de-
expenditure, practically arises from
the latter and more agreeable cause. How
cetbnioelnt to answer till the termination of the
made
Cape. On the slightest examination, then,
far
itoa,
the state of the revenue is as indica-
question which it
tive of prosperity as if it exhibited a positive in-
crease without any fiscal reductions. Of that pros-
perity there is from other sources an abundance of
proof. The copious reports we gave yesterday from
the manufacturing districts, from Manchester, Bir-
mingham, Belfast S and those from
Liverpool, which occur in our City Intelligence of
this morning, all conspire to show a steady and safe
improvement in all branches of
manufacture, in
trade, and in shipping, during the past year. It is
true that, like our agriculturists, our shipowners and
our manufacturers have to contend with the compa-
ratively low price of foreign Competition. On the
stimulus, however, of an increasing demand, they
show a proper alacrity in accommodating themselves
to their novel position. With cheaper ships there
comes in a new race of shipowners, and
capital pours
in from new quarters. The shipyards are busy.
Screw-steamers are rapidly superseding sailing vessels
for the shorter voyages. As an example of British
enterprise, it was yesterday related in the report from
Nottingham that the stockingers of that city, finding
themselves beaten by the low Wages of Saxony, set
to work, sent men who explored the resources of
the foe, and, by the help of Chevalier Claussen's
circular machines, have actually succeeded in beating
the Saxon fabrics out of the British market. It is by
such methods that England has risen, and will con-
tinue to rise, not by succumbing to the first shock of
adversity and the first bout of foreign competition. The
trade of this country has always been, and always must
be, liable to vicissitudes from fluctuating supplies of
material, from political events at home and abroad,
and even from ephemeral discussions. The alterna-
tions of the storm and the calm extend to all classes.
The greater part of mankind suffer these vicissitudes,
and see in them the natural and atheppointed colour of
each individual lot. They see in m only a reason
for continually increasing exertion. It is only the
dream of a few, the presumption of a class, and the
folly of an age, that tha Legislature is to exempt any
department of industry from the common lot of men,
and therefore deprive it of the universal inducement to
invention and labour.
CHRONICLE.—The Returns of the Quarter's
Revenue, which we elsewhere publish, will be deemed
highly favourable, except by those superficial ob-
servers who merely glance at the final figures of the
comparative columns. It may be true that there is

5,789,577
577,687

865,788
99,010
587,599
158,204

8,117,865
4,507,151

12,625,016

5,761,804
569,558

744,753
99,195
351,187
313,643

7,840,140
4,159,915

12,000,055

259,108
4,159,915

4,419,023
4,228,480

100,5,3

a seeming decrease of nearly three-fourths of a mil.
lion on the quarter; but it must be borne in mind
that the decrease is only apparent—for the whole
amount of it arises under the bead of Taxes, and is
simply attributable to the fact that the window duty
has been discontinued before it was possible to orga-
nize efficient arrangements for the assessment and col-
lection of the inhabited house-tax, which was substi-
tuted last session in lieu of that impost. The window
duty was formerly collected in the July and January
quarters ; but during the three months now expired,
the revenue has not had the benefit either of that
tax or of the new one which the Legislature has
imposed in its stead. It will be seen, therefore, that
the 700,0001. and upwards of decrease on the quarter
is purely nominal—a mere matter of account-keep-
ing, which will be set right on the appearance of
the April returns. Under all the other heads the re-
sults are most satisfactory, both as regards the
quarter and the year. In the Customs there is a
trifling decrease of 37,193/. on the quarter, but there
is an increase of four times that amount (146,1891.)
on the year—a fact the significance of which will be
at once felt when it is remembered that several reduc-
tions have taken place in the tariff. In the Excise
there is a decrease of 162,950/. on the quarter—
arising principally from the fact that, in the corre-
sponding period of last year, two instalments of Hop
Duty were paid under somewhat special circum-
stances. The absence, during the quarter just ended,
of this accidental addition to the return of course
produces an apparent diminution. On the year, how-
ever, the Excise exhibits an increase of 89,2091. The
Stamps show a decrease on the quarter of 32,2361.—
and on the year of 162,0921. We need hardly say
that both these fallings-off arise entirely from
the operation of the reduced scale of Stamp
Duties introduced in 1850. Moreover, in the
closing quarter of that year—which now enters
into comparison with the three months just expired—
there was an unusually large consumption of stamps,
because the preparation of numberless deeds and in-
struments had been postponed until after the 10th of
October, 1850, so as to bring them under the new
and reduced rates of duty. As regards the decrease
of 737,1311. on the quarter, and of 796,2161. on the
year, under the head of Taxes, we have already ex-
plained that it arises from the repeal of the Window
Duty, and the delay of the collection of the Inhabited
House-tax. In the Property-tax there is a small fall-
ing-off of 50,774/. on the quarter, and of 78,114/. on
the year. These sums, when compared with the magni-
tude of the impost in question, are exceedingly.trifling ;
and the fact may easily arise from accidental causes. It
may be well, however, to point out that it is impossi-
ble, from the very nature of the Property-tax, that any
increased assessments in respect of profits on trade
during the last year or eighteen months should
yet appear on the face of the Revenue Returns. The
basis of assessment in the average amount of annual
income duricg the three years preceding each month
of April, It is clear, therefore, that the Revenue
returns for 1851 can only bear very partial traces of
the general prosperity even of the preceding year—
whilst they are altogether uninfluenced by the state
of trade and industry during the last nine months.
This very obvious consideration is worth the attention
of those who may endeavour to find, in this portion of
the present return, some support for the theory of na-
tional ruin and distress. In the Post-office there is a
very gratifying increase of 94,000/. on the quarter,
and of 244,000/ on the year. The steady progress of
this branch of the revenue is one of the most encou-
raging features of the present time—testifying as it
does, in the strongest manner, to the development, not
only of the material, but also of the moral and in-
tellectual civilisation of the community. Under the
heads of Crown Lands and Miscellaneous, there is
no change calling for remark. The general results
of the whole return are a decrease of 713,547/. on the
quarter, and of 527,0471. on the year ; but, as we
have already shown, these diminutions are nominal,
and arise from circumstances altogether irrespective
of the real productiveness of the revenue. On the
whole, the document before us furnishes the most sa-
tisfactory evidence of the general well-being of the
country, and of the perfect success of our recent
commercial and fiscal legislation. We entered upon
that system in the expectation of obtaining increased
r evenue from diminished rates of taxation ; and the
return which we publish this morning is but one
proof among many of the soundness of the principles
and the correctness of the calculations, on which our
policy was based.