The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-23 00:00:00

ought to repeal it—(Hear, hoer)—because by maintain-
ing it they would bo guilty of the grossest injustice.
Now, in order to shove the absurdity of saying
that a
daty was levied uponnews and observations upon news,
he would refer to some unstamped publications, and then
leave the House to say whether they did nut contain
matter of this description. The Racing Times and the
Racing Telegraph both contained accounts of the begin:;
and of the rect s is different parts of the country, with
other turf news; the Legal Observer gave the proceed-
ings is the courts of law; and the Builder also con-
tained news of smother description. Now, he believed
all theca publications were in strictness liable to beroug!:t under the stamp
duties; but _the Board cf
In-
land Revenue had drewn a firm dietinction betcveen clzss
nowe and e'' Leeal new;--that is., if you divile a news-
paper, which must be stamped, into half a ii,- zee, each
may be published without stamp. He believed this
diviention was a pure invention of the Board of Inland
Revenue, and was not to be found in the Act of Parlia-
ment, which spoke of "news,
rences;" and certainly the papers to which he had re-
curred did -detail "occurrences." But the Legislature
by this duty did not alone affect the publication of facts,
intelligence,
but also of observations upon those facts, attacks
on the
Ministry,M aod so forth. He would, however,
and occur-
ask the m whether. the extracts from unstamped
papers, to
,which bo would now refer, did not contain
comments on public events? [The Right Flonourable
Gentleman -then read from the Home, conducted by
Richard Oastler, some comments upon a late speech of
gr. Bright's in the Hone of Commons; from the Legal
Observer, part of an article in support of the repeal of
the attorneys' eertiieate duty, and from the Lamp (a
penny publication), portions of articles aeon the late
change of Ministry and upon " the coming elections.")
These were certainly ulkservatiOns on public occurrences,
and were liable to the stamp duty; but the Government
durst not enforce the law against those publications, for
if they did they would have to deal with a legion of
them, and would bo involved in the same trouble that
they were in 183 e. This was, he thene'ht, one of the
etrongest pwsible reasons that could be adduced why the
House shuald give he ascent to his resolutions, and why
such a law should be repealed. The newspaper pro-
prietary ware not entitled to be considered as a body
having a vested interest in the maintenance of this sex,
nor did he believe that many of that body would urge
such a plea against the repeal of this duty. If, however,
they did, be contended that Parliament were, neverthe-
less justified in dealing with these taxes upon broad
public grounds. The Right nee. Gentleman concluded
by moving the first resolution of which he had given
notice. _ .

Mr. EWART, in seconding the
did se because this was a
pracical education of the
people, connected with the
He objected to these
taxes, in the first place, bees!) e.
ru s e
he mdeemed
s said tshtaatmhpe.
duty to be a tax upon the
assemblies; a
while the advertisement-duty :47
court, of watkind. He helieveds a tax upon the inter-
material of thought;
that the great advan-
tage of modern tunes was, that
ju ignionts upon public affahirys
the lo deliberatingp, „pie tor formedupon
t their
good order
he thought that, in
press, andr not by the
aTitteartiioal:(f,furpnuipshaeladr
athsse
ld give the people
order to secure the pesce end
was the House asked
prder of society and
the security of property, they should
ple seemed to con-
every means for this slow and
institutions of
deliberate formation of
their judgment. On what ground
to continue these taxes? Some
eider that they were a part of ancientthepeo
of recent origin; and
the country; but the fact was the
most
tosed by Mr. Pitt.
Chambers had stated before
from
ywere modern inne-
.vations. The piper duty dated the wars of Marl-
borough; the stamp duty was one
Commons
doovnfesr s et
that
to
tt
it
te
had
adhad deeclared that so
the advertisement duty was first
The paper-duty had proved
in-
terests of the country. Mr.
impossiblea ever again
one of his
pa
aCheliima
amtiiotnte,e
end
d the
ir.Hoicursi
ieghotf
rendered necessary the discontinuanmc
htoaxidwnhoitcahontain
long as it continued it would be
to publish such a work as the Cyclopadia.
It had also the effect of preventing theny
re of human in-
employment
of the highest class of talent
pure
The advertisement duty, as he had already
newspapers.
twearcsoiunrese—Ouvit
Yorkwa (twhhisin already said, he
considered to be a tax upon the highway
-eo more - than-- r-
--newspapers arising. The circulation of dainlytedectelyt„neerwt
one-
fourth the population of London) 130,000 m
in London it was only 60,000. Re
believed
eopies, while
that the
stamp duty was most adverse to the circulationvd
of sound
knowledge. In_ America -every poor manhad a daily
newspaper upon his breakfast table, and he should like
to see the same the case in England.
But
we were told
w that if the stamp duty as taken off we should cease to
have respectable newspapers. The reductionof the duty
from 4d. to ld., in 1834, had, however, been followed
by a great increase in the respectability of
ews
and why, therefore, should the repeal of the duty
duty have
an injurious effect? It was then said thatif the stamp
duty were taken off the newspapers would become local.
He believed that would be an advantage. The press
in America was decidoly local, and yet one of the wit-
nesses before the Committee of the House Commons
said that they were there found to be ofrth
schools put together. He believed,
indeed,wo all the
that we
should never improve the education of the people until
we attacked them on their practical interests,
an
ap-
pealed to them through the newspaper press. fr
w was he from thinking that an unstamped press So fur
promote the spread of republican doctrines, that he
be-
lieved that if we gave people under a monarchy every
possible advantage which they couldobtain d under a re-
puelic, they would be more an
itattached to our
constnutioeial monarchy. He thoughtte
the duty of a wise Chancellor of theg was
especially
Exchequer to re-
neeve the advertisement duty,
y, for, while it only yielded
150,0001. to the revenue, it pressed upon every interest
in the country. It was a tax, of the same nature as that
on almanacke, the repeal of which by Lord Althorp
was followed by so groat an. improvement in the quality.
In
and so great a reduction the price of those publica-
tions.
For all these reasons he cordially supported the
H
motion of his Right Friend; believing that if,
under:our limited ramrel
ie eln.Y' we removed abuses such as
those to which he had referred, we should not give rise
to-discontent, but should
increase the contentment as
well as the eecurie
Milton, "That it isY of the people. In the words of
hope—that no gamin not the liberty which we should
no ce should ever arise in the com-
monwealth; that let man in this world expect; but
when complaints are freely heard, deeply consider() 3,
and speedily reformed, then is the utmost point of civil
liberty attained
which
a wise man can look for."
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said—
In the few observationsethat I have to make upon this
th
motion, I can assure Right Hon. Gentleman that
neither I nor my collsinister feelings
which he eagues
are at all influenced by those
he
has ascribed to some of the
men who have been the originators or controllers of
these duties. I can
say
frankly for myself and my col
leagues that wo have no -
fear or apprehension r spectieg
the influence of the
established in the enjoyment of
r; and in a country like this—
in a country long
prac-
tical liberty, in a count
admit for a moment Y eminently
religious—l cannot
that experience drawn from the
instances of other lands, where I will not say the enjoy-
ment, but the experience of an unrestricted press, has
resulted in circumstances which we all deplore—should
be brought forward as
'own. But I must considerany warning to a country like our
much less interesting, this case, I fear, in a view
adapted to charm ot much less philosophical, much less
House than that which has been
pursued by the Right
Manchester. It is 'n. Gentleman the Member for
lean afford to view it only
at in a financial point of view that
us three propositions present, Now we have before
affects the finances of this t each of which, if carried,
s country. and which it car-
ried all together materially affect our finances. The
Right Hon. Gentleman first calls upon this House, if
not immediately, to ex
paper should be abolishedpress an opinion that the duty on
or repealed, yet to express
such an opinion as must
iLfluenee the course of the Mi-
nister responsible for the finances of the country. I
do not wish to contest the accuracy of the view which
the Right lion. Gentleman has taken with respect to
the effect of the excise
facture of that article ; I dutyhave on paper upon the manu-
facture
to vindicate the beneficial never been particularly
on. Gentleman calls our influence of excise du-
ties ; bat when the Right
at-
tention to the injurious effecmanufacture of this particular ts of an Excise duty on the
say that lam not aware that article, lem bound to
the injurious effect of the
excise duties is limited to
even that if we compare the that
particular; article, or
upon paper with their erect of these regulations
it would not be pe me to ssible for 'et
upon other articles,
which their influence is adduce instances in
more injurious. I do
not now wish to enter in
to any line of dis-
cussion upon this question,
and dilated :upon the injurious but if I had risen,
Excise upon any other article
example-4 dare say I should have made out a case that
manufacture—soap for
would have carried away the Rouse with equal success,
although the plea might not hare
boo
that which has bean put forth by nas ably urged as
tleman with regard to the manufacturethe Right Hon. Gen.
then we must consider whether in of paper. But
taxes are not necessary evils, and 'this country these
ability which we have to relievewe must consider the
the
country, which is the wisest direct' industry of the
move, so as to redress any wrong (1,,r in which we can
I am not wishing to give an Opinion in °rent any good.
in favour of the re-
lief of soap from the excise. r
- only
in-
stance in preference to that on paper,
mention it as an
,rAnd I think the
Right Hon. Gentleman will admit that the effects of an
excise duty are not less injurious upon this manufacture
than upon that which is immediate'Y before the atten-
tion
of
the
Ham Well, sir, I
am therefore obliged
to consider the question as regards the
purely in a finencial point of view. I _,
cduty on paper
be extremely
glad, in this ineeance or in any etherrn' il
industry or to advance the progress of stance, to relievo
the human race
and the education of the peel*, nut it
to consider who her with regard is my first duty
eto the main-
tenance of the revenue of this
consent to any propositions of
thiscountry I can
kind. I
cannot say that I shoult feel justified in assenting to the
proposition of the Right Hon. Gentleman. is scarcely
fair upon me to press one at this moment '
iupon this point.
I hope that to morrow week I shall
before the
House whet I believe to be the real stjiottoc;
the finances
of the country; and when the Right Ron.
Gentleman
and his frieuds are in full posevesion of
ha
facts which
I shall place bethre them—ethen they
it ve.listened to
the views of her Majestginisters— then be
perfectly open to them, if they think themselveswill
in disputing the policy whiell were 2 justi-
ohnmend,hto
advance their own views as counter
the
Housepropositions, to them.
At present I can only say that I do not feel
assenting to a vote vvhico would be equivalent ' to
claration on the part of this House that the tax on apaperdo"
should be totally repealed. With regard
to
the other
two points which the Right Honourable Gentleman has
placed before the House, namely, the duties on adver-
tisements and on newspaper stamps, ',have
. anh. no hesita-
tion in saying that I think they are ts that de-
serve the very grave censideriation of a Chancellor of
;he Exchequer. But, again, 1 mast Consider them pri.