The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-13 00:00:00

mode of raising the necessary funds. It would
be submitted to under such circumstances, and
should therefore be reserved for the emergency.
Again, there is a general feeling throughout the

canntry that the reduction of the Mali-tax will

be of little practical utility, and that the principal
result will be to enhance the enormous profits of
maltsters and brewers. The total abolition of the
tax would indeed be a most acceptable boon. The
clumsy machinery now in operation would be
totally got rid of, and every man might have a
cheap, wholesome, and nutritious beverage. Good
beer is the chief, almost the only, luxury of the
labouring classes. It may indeed be regarded as
a necessary of life. By enabling the working man
to obtain it in his own cottage, surrounded by his
wife and children, the temptation to resort to
the beer-shops will be greatly diminished,
and a fertile source of demoralisation, that
has crowded our gaols and convict-hulks,
and reduced many once happy families to misery
and destitution, will be averted. We are con-
vinced of the vast benefits that would result from
" free trade in beer"—indeed it is only second in
importance to the " untaxed loaf." But that
" free trade" can only be obtained by an abolition
of the Malt and Hop Duties, and by what must
speedily follow, a revision of the licensing system.
So long as the smallest portion of these imposts
be retained, the monopoly of those leviathan firms,
who count their profits not merely by thousands
and tens of thousands, but in some instances even
by hundreds of thousands, will continue. It is
only as a step towards the total abolition of these
charges that we consider the present reduction as
worthy of acceptance. Even the farmer would not
otherwise thank him for the change, which, though
it would deprive the Exchequer of 2,500,0001.
per annum, would yet scarcely improve the condi-
tion either of the grower or consumer. The great
brewers reaped the entire benefit of the Beer Bill
of 1830, because other restrictions were still re-
tained—and so they will do on the present occa-
sion, until perfect freedom be granted, and an
exemption from every fiscal charge in the making
or vending of beer. Why, then, may not that
part relating to the Malt-tax be postponed,
until it be ascertained whether the whole
duty can be remitted. This can only be
known from the manner in which the House
is disposed to deal with the Income and Property-
tax : for it is on the equitable adjustment of
this impost, and its gradual increase, that the
other and much-required changes can be effected.
If, then, this reduction be given up for the
present—and, under any circumstances, it would
not come into operation until next October—there
will not only be no necessity for any legislation
with respect to the House Duties, but there will
be a considerable surplus available for other pur-
poses. Thus, the whole of the Hop Duties might
be at once surrendered. This would lessen the
amount by about 220,0001„ while 150,0001.
more might be conceded to the demands of the
Fourth Estate in giving up the Advertisement
Duty. The ten per cent, put on by the Whigs
in 1840, and which so completely falsified the
expectations of the then CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
CHEQUER (Baring), might also be given up. It
was put on merely to supply a temporary defi-
ciency. It proved a total failure. The Income-
tax was resorted to in its place, and yet the ob-
jectionable charge has been continued for twelve
years, and when we are blessed with a surplus in
place of being cursed with a deficiency. The
Paper Duties, Soap Duties, Taxes on man-ser-
vants, carriages, horses, dogs, &c., &c., are also
all worthy of deep and serious consideration,
before the new fiscal system be decided on.
The first matter, however, on which a vote
should be taken, is the renewal of the Income-
tax ; for, as we have already shown, that is the
basis on which the whole must eventually rest.
"If that were once disposed of, we should be quite
contented that the other matters should remain
in abeyance until after the recess. Indeed, it is
hardly desirable that a final decision should be
pronounced until the various points be maturely
considered, and Honourable Gentlemen have an
opportunity of ascertaining the feelings and
opinions of their constituents with respect thereto.
It was desirable that the public mind should be
set at rest on the subject of Free Trade and Pro-
tection. For that purpose the Parliament was
called together at an unusual and inconvenient
period. That object has been accomplished ; and
there is, therefore, no further necessity for de-
parting from the ordinary course, or obtaining a
final decision on the Budget, so long before the
commencement of the financial year.

Leeds has rejoiced for a few hours in the pre-
sence of a political star of the first magnitude.
Lord Josx RUSSELL has received from its intelli-
gent inhabitants the tribute of their respect as one
of the foremost statesmen of our generation. In
responding to the complimentary 'address present-
ed to him by the Mayor and the Town Council,
the noble Leader of her MAJESTY'S Opposition re-
viewed in a succinct but comprehensive speech ad-
dressed to a considerable number of the local bur-
gesses, his past career as a Reformer of the British
Constitution. Scarcely any man living could enu-
merate so many beneficial changes as his claims
upon the popular • admiration. During the last
five or six years, unfortunately, those claims have,
to our thinking, been overshadowed by the short-
comings consequent upon a do-nothing policy, as
unaccountable as it has been disastrous. Within
that interval we believe that Lord JOHN has
adopted every conceivable means calculated to
alienate the hearts of his former supporters, and
to militate against his earlier reputation. As
PRIME MINISTER, of England, he proved himself
in every way an unmistakeable obstructive. In-
stead of undertaking he merely talked about inno-
vations. Or, if he ever found himself compelled
by circumstances to bring forward some scheme in
the way of improvement, it invariably turned out,
on examination, to be only nominal in its character.
Under his rule we obtained no sanitary alterations
—nothing in the way of national education—

nothing in the way of colonial reorganization-_.
nothing in the way of beneficial development, and
of regulating the system of the general represen-
tation. No ! But directly he is out of power, all

his old hankerings after reform return : and,
whenever he begins to speak of the past instead of
the present, whenever he recalls to mind his by-
gone triumphs, and hints that from these we may
estimate the nature of his future achievements—
we are with him again heart and soul, we
forget his recent idleness in consideration
of his long-past but never-to-be-forgotten activity,
he has reanimated in his own regard all our dor-
mant esteem, thankfulness, and admiration. It
is upon an occasion like this, when he is addres-
sing himself to a congenial body like the Leeds
Reformers, that once again, in truth,
" the steam is on,
And languid JOHNNY glows to glorious JOHN."
Fain would we augur from the Whig Leader's
words in Opposition, his acts when at the head of
a Government. But—O those Whigs ! They
talk when out of power—ye Gods, how they talk !
And immediately they are raised to the dignity
of a Cabinet, on the strength of their fair pro-
mises, immediately they find themselves comfort-
ably " located" in Downing-street, they sit down
under their fig-trees, and let the world wag on at
its leisure. They are as disappointing as the Ga-
zelle of DICK SWIVELLER—taking, in this instance,
Conservatism as the market gardener. They say,
Open your Mouth and Shut your Eyes to the
nation—and then slip in, instead of a plum, a
pebble. It was so for nearly six years, until the
e"untry was fairly sick of them, and they retired,
;regretted, from the offices of Government.
Thereupon, however, they throw off the clamps
and
Ofl)poiitgi height
nt
`'hackles of official Toryism, and rise to their
flll hse
.again, as the Reforming chiefs of the
the What can be done with them under circumstances
? It is the problem of the age. ,
What can be
them _down tdoontheevi iftuhl
hnt h ee
nWt h iegfs
tshoe
ras
promises
when they resume
the reins of Administration ?
Are they better as a Ministry ? We think not. I
History declares otherwise. Experience tells us
tliat they are invaluable aids to the Reform
movement, so long as they are goad-
ing on their old rivals the Tories to
concession after concession. In testimony of this,