The Sun.
London, England, 1830-03-26 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 20, 1830.

ADVERTISEMENT DUTY.

(From the Scotsman Of Wedneiday)

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY GOUL-
BURN, CHANCELLOR OF HIS MAJESTY'S

EXCIIEQUEII.

Six,—About eighteen months ago, I addressed you on
the subject of the taxes affecting Newspapers; but observ-
ing that you are about to revise the laws relating to the
Stamp Duties, I hope you will not deem it an intrusion, if
I again take the liberty respectfully. to solicit your atten-
tion to a few faets.regarding one branch of these duties,
the tax on Advertisements, which is felt to be a great
grievance in its present form, and a grievance for which
there is the less excuse, as the tax easil}• admits of-being
placed upon a footing, which, without causing any sacri-
fice of revenue, would remove the heavy obstruction which
it now throws in the way of the internal trade of the king-
dom. I feel grateful to you for what you have just done
in lightening the burdens of the country, and only solicit
your attention to what I have now to propose, on the
ground that my suggestions, if carried into effect,: will not
take one shilling from the tr.•asury, and that if they are
calculated to confer some advantage on the newspaper
-press, they are certain to benefit the genekal industry of
the country in a ten times higher degree.
Tlie bad effects of the present advertisement duty are
rendered palpable, by
,a -comparison of the cement and the
price of advertising—in Britain, where it is subject to
this duty, and in the United States, where it is entirely
untaxed. •

In order to get correct information, I caused a friend to
write to a gentleman in New York, explaining my object,
and requesting him to send me such specimens of the New
York press as would exhibit the average amount of ad-
vertising. He sent me eight papers, all dated the 26th of
March, 1828, and stated that I might take these as fair
specimens of the twelve daily papers published in that
city. These eight papers were transmitted by me to your
office, in October, 1828, that you might verify my state-
ments by examination.
anvEnnsEmENTR.
The eight New York papers of the 26th March contain 3,117
Average number in each 389
From these data the number of advertisements published
by the twelve papers in a day, a week, a month, and a
year, may be easily calculated.
Advertisements published by Twelve Daily Papers in New
York.
In one day 8
In one week 2/5,008
In one month (26 day,) 121,368
In one year 1,456,416
(There are at least sixteen or eighteen other papers in
New York, published once, twice, or thrice a week, which
must be equivalent to four daily papers more, and must
raise the annual number of advertisements to nearly
2,000,000 ; but as I have no precise data respecting these,
I pass them over.)
Now, it appears from the Finance Accounts that the
gross produce of the advertisement duty, on an average of
the years 11
26, 1827, 1828, in Britain and Ireland, was,
In Britain .£153;709
In Ireland

In the United Kingdom £168,919
From which, by a very simple calculation, I find the
number of advertisements published annually to be as under
Advertisements published by 400 Papers in Britain and
_ .

they do not; and for this they are entitled to ins.eit 312
advertisements in the tear.
,Such is the price of advertising in New York, let us now
see what :it is in London. I have before me the rate of
charge in one of the.most respectahle. Morning Papers, as
announced in irs own columns in 1824 ; and I believe it
has Since undergone no change. It stands thus—
" Eight lines in Nonpariel type, seven shillings; all above eight
lines, sixpence each line."
Prom these data it is easy to compute the charge fOr any
number of insertions in a London Paper and a Nim York
Paper.
An advertisement of 20 lines inserted once, costs=--
In a London Paper
In a New York Paper
The second insertion of such an advertisement costs--

In a London Paper l3s. Od.
In a New York Paper " 2 2
The third, and every additional insertion, costs—
'ln a London Paper l3s Od.
In a New York Paper 0 6,/,
The insertion of such an advertisement every day for one
week costs-- .

In a London Paper
In a New York Paper 0 7 7
The insertion of sue!' an advertisement every day for one
year ensts---

In a London Paper £2o2 16 0
In a New York Paper (:12 dollars) 6 18 8
Thus for advertisements inserted more than twice,
the charge in London is to the charge in New York, as
ttOitty-ftiiir to one! Even on advertisements not repeated,
it will be as eight or ten to one. '

A small part of 'the difference may be ascribed to the
stamp duty in this country; but it is evident that nine,
tenths of it result 'from the tax on advertisements. A very
great proportion, probably 19 out of 20 of all the adver-
tisements which appear, are under 20 lines. On each of
these the publisher of the journal is subjected to a tax of
3a. 6d. ; he has this tax to pay every three mouths,
while the advertiser only pays him once a-year ; and he
has the duty to pay on these -advertisements for which,
owing to bankruptcies or other causes, be never receives a
farthing. Indeed, every one connected with the Press
knows and feels, that ris. for eight lines in London, and
6s. Gd. in Edinburgh, is no more than an adequate re-
muneration. It is needless to say how different the situa-
tion of the American Journalist is in all these respects.
Nor will any person who reflects on these facts be sur-
prised to discover, that there is twenty times as much ad-
vertising in America as in England, where the expense is
twenty times less.

I think it may 1:e fairly concluded, from the details I
have given, that the present ditty of Se. 6.1. suppresses nine
advertisements out of ten, or more probably nineteen out
of twenty, which would otherwise go to the newspapers ;
and I submit to you, that a tax operating so mis-
chievously, and yielding only 160,000/. per annum, has
less title to be considered as a source of revenue, than as
an engine for extinguishing the business of advertising, and
for obstructing and depressing all those branches of trade
which require its aid. I doubt if another instance can be
found in the whole circle of our revenue, where the sum
yielded to the Exchequer is so small compared with the
injury inflicted by-the tax on the industry of the country.
There are two special objections to the existing law.—
First, it falls with a ruinous weight on short advertise-
ments, which comprise nineteen-twentieths of the whole;
and secondly, as the duty constitutes neatly half the price
of these, it completely precludes the Journalist from
making any abatement on advertisements often repeated.
Now every bookseller knows, that a single insertion is of
little avail, and that the whole virtue of advertising lies
in frequent repetition. In America, the third and all
additional insertions cost only one-sixth part of the price
of the first.

The effect of the nresent law evidently is, to make the
cost of advertising extravagantly high, to keep the profits
derived from it small on the whole, and to divide them
most unequally—to enrich a very few journals and starve
the rest.

The evil may easily be rectified without the loss of a
single shilling to the revenue. A duty graduated according
to the length of the advertisement should be introduced.
The objection to this has hitherto been, that a legion of
clerks would berequired to ascertain the charge, by count-
ing the lines; but the difficulty is easily obviated. Let
the duty be charged at so much for every inch in the
length of the column which the advertisement occupies.
The difference in the breadth of the column, which only
amounts to one-third in the extreme cases (ranging from
211,- to 3 inches) is of so little consequence that it might
be entirely disregarded, or if necessary the rate might vary
with the breadth. The mode of computation would be
much more simple for the Stamp-officers than at present ;
for as the length of the column in each paper is a known
and fixed quantity, it would only be necessary to count thz
number of columns, and add their product in inches toge-
ther. It would be a farther advantage that all disputes
would be at an end as to whether an advertisement
embracing many distinct articles (such as a book-
seller or broker's) should pay duty as one advertise-
ment or several. I am confident, that were a duty

of sixpence or eightpence an inch imposed as a substitute
for the present preposterous duty of 3s. 6d. upon every

advertisement (v;heher it consists of three lines or three
hundred), the price of advertising would be reduced three-
fourths, the quantity augmented in a still greater propor-
tion, and no loss would be sustained by the Treasury.
At eightpence per inch, an advertisement of three or
four lines, which now pays 3s. 6d. would pay only 3d. or
4d. of duty. Short announcements of books or reviews
published this (lay," coaches to start, or steam-boats or
packets to sail, of exhibitions opened, and of a thousand
other things requiring many repeated insertions, might
then be put in ibr a fifth or a sixth part of the sum now
charged. To Booksellers, to Shipping Companies, to
Agents, Salesmen, and Auctioneers, to all who find it ne-

.cessary to advertise frequently, the''cliange would be in-
estimably advantageous. Large sums are paid to keep up
a post establishment, that one merchant may be enabled to
correspond easily with another in a distant quarter, and is
it not worth an effort to relieve advertising from the fetters
that destroy its utility; and to place it on a footing which
would render it a universal medium of correspondence for
enabling all the persons in the kingdom who make or im-
port commodities, to communicate with all the persons who
consume them ?

A penny, I think, might he taken from the stamp duty
with an equal certainty that Ihe revenue would lose nothing
by the change. In cousequence of the tax of 4d., the
price of a paper, which was only 4:1,d. at the commence-
ment of the last war, has been raised to 7d. The annual
charge for every one of the six daily papers published in
Boston, is only eight dollars. In London, for a daily paper
not containing more type, the charge is nine guineas !
The effect of our stamp and advertisement duty together,
therefore, is to make us pay sevenpence for what costs less
than three halfpence in America—to enhance the price of
newspapers five-fold! On the evils of the stamp duty,
however, I shall not enlarge, as they would require a more
ample discussion than I have room for.

My great object, I am confident, will be gained, if his
Majesty's Ministers will only take the trouble to inquire
into the effects of the present advertisement duty, the evils
attending which appear to me so flagrant, and the expe-
diency and advantage of a change so clear, that even a
slight investigation must, I am certain, dissipate every
doubt. Ample means of information may easily be found.
There are American Coneuls in some of our ports, many
American merchants in London, and files of New York
and Boston papers may be procured at some of the colL,e-
-houses.--I am Sir, your most obedient and very humble
servant,

THE EDITOR OF THE SCOTSMAN.

Major DENfrAm exhibited a musical snuff-
box to the Sheik of B,rnou, who was greatly astonished,
and exclaimed several times, " 'Wonderful, wonderful !"
His feelings were completely overcome by the sweetness of
a Swiss air—one of the Ilanz des Vaches. He covered
his face with his haw!, and remained silent; and a man
near Mtn breaking the charm with a loud exclamation, he
struck him a blow, which made all his followers tremble.
fierf a
The
e replyske
u`.‘a
~ one
yes;twice a
lmts large
it
wouldwo
tbi led t not be b
yrice as better."rr
He exclaimed, " It would be cheap if it cost a thousand
dollars."

The cow-tree of South America is one of the
not extraordinary of the many natural productions of that
hemisphere. The milk, which flows from incisions in the
trunk, is drawn by the negroes, who till their vessels with
it, and who either drink it under the tree, or carry it
home to their children. Trees by the road side are full of
there incisions made by travellers, who appease both their
hunger and thirst with the milk.

RUM FO RD MA II KET.—March 21.
F. ti. to s. d. a. d. a. d;
Reef.
Mutton - 3 2 4 2 Pork 3 4 4 4
Suckling Calves from 14s. to 40s. ; Quarter old Pigs I2s to 16s. each.
Supply limited, and a dull trade.

SECOND EDITION
SUN OFFICE, Seven o'clock,

1111 E LONDON GAZETTE

OF THIS EVENING.

Lord Chamberlain's Office, March 25, 1830.

Notice is hereby given, that His Majesty will hold a
Levee at St. James's Palace, on Wednesday the 21st April
next, at two o'clock.

REGULATIONS TO BE OBSERVED AT THE KING'S LEVEE,

AT ST. JAMES'S PALACE.

The Noblemen and Gentlemen who propose to attend
fhe Levee to be held on Wednesday the 21st of April next,
are requested to bring with them two cards with their
names thereon written, one to be left with the King's
Page in attendance in the Presence Chamber, and the
other to be delivered to the Lord in Waiting, who will
announce the name to His Majesty. And those Genth.
men who are to be presented are hereby informed, it is ab-
solutely necessary that their names, with the name of the
Oentlernan who is to present them, should be sent in to
the Lord Chamber Lin's Office, Prow Friday the 16th until
two o'clock on Monday the 19th of April next, in order
that they may be submitted for the King's approbation, it
being His Majesty's command, that no presentation shall
hereafter be made at the Levee, but in conformity with
the above regulation.
The State Apartments will not be open for the reception
of Company coming to Court, until half-past One o'clock.

Lord Chamberlain's-office, March 25.

Notice is hereby given, that the King will hold a
Drawing-Room at St. limes's-Palace, on Friday, the 23d
of April next, at Two o'clock, to celebrate his Majesty's
Birth-day.
N.B. The Knights of the several Orders to wear their
Collars.

THE DR AWING