The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-02 00:00:00

chieyously in that unhappy and altogether illegitimate mode
of artificially enhancing the price of articles raised at home

by taxes imposed upon foreign imports, not for the purpose
of feeding the public Exchequer, but for the purpose of
adding to the price to be paid to the home producer, while
at that time, gentlemen, there was hardly any single article

of importance to the labouring man which was not sub-
jected to an enhancement of price ; but with great enhance-

went by the operation of that system the importation of
meat from abroad was prohibited, each was subjected to a
very high duty ; foreign fruits were subjected to very high
duties ; tho elements of clothing, in some important con-

stituents, were subjected to duty; all the materials of house

dwellings were subjected to duty—l do not speak of stone,

in which Scotland happily abounds—but I believe that no

philosopher ever has been ingenious enough, or bold
enough, to tax the stones of which your houses are con-
structed ; but the Englishman who owes his dwelling to
the useful and homely material of brick, had a very diffe-
rent story to tell, and the bricks could not be put into the
wall of his house without having first paid a high duty to

the excise. The wood, however, which, next to stone and
brick, was the most important constituent of dwellings, was
subjected to an immense duty, imposed more for the pur-
pose of protection than revenue, though partly for that,
too ; even iron, the production of which is so eminently
characteristic of this country, and even foreign iron was
not allowed to come into the country without a protective
duty imposed to enhance its price, though I do not believe
or know that it was effectual for the purpose of enhancing
its price. On glass, that essential condition of cleanliness,

neatness, and comfort in the dwelling of any man—glass
was enormously enhanced in price ; not so much, however,
by protective duty, though partially also by that, but also
in a great degree by the operation of the system of excise.
Well, now the protective duties are gone, and the duties,
on what may strictly be called the necessaries of life,
with few exceptions, are gone also ; there is no duty
upon bricks, and there is now no duty upon glass. There
is no duty upon iron ; the constituents of your dwellings
are free, the constituents of clothing are absolutely free,
and not a shilling in any form is levied upon them
for the purpose of augmenting the revenues of the
State; the bread whieh you consume is free, the meat
which you eat is entirely and absolutely free, and you have
a command of the markets of the world ; the cheese, butter,
eggs, fresh fruit, all those articles which can fairly be de-
scribed as necessaries of life, are free from taxation, and of
the tax-gatherer in any form or shape whatever. (Cheers.)
if we pass on from necessaries of life to the comforts of life,
then, at any rate, a considerable progress has been made ;
the duty on sugar—one of the most essential and valuable
comforts—may now be stated at Id. per lb. Twenty years
ago the duty in its direct operation on the revenue was not
less than 2id. or 3d per lb., and the price was further en-
hanced by the operation of a protective system—so that,
perhaps, I would not be far wrong if I were to say that, on
the whole, the tax upon the sugar which you consume, and
consume, I hope, pretty largely— (cheers)—for that is my
interest—(laughter and cheers)—has been diminished from
probably not less than 3d. to 4d. per lb. to a rate of about
ld. per lb. That is a great progress made. (Cheers.) The
other great and capital article, which may be said to con-
stitute a comfort all but essential for the masses of the
community, is the article of tea. (Cheers.) Five and thirty
years ago, I think, the average duty paid on tea in this
country was about 4s. per lb. ; it is now reduced to 6d.
(Cheers.) That also indicates considerable progress. There
are, gentlemen, those who are so sanguine as to believe
that the whole of those duties may be removed, and that all
the comforts as well as the necessaries of life may be quite
absolutely free. (Hear, hear.) I have no doubt at all that
consummation would be extremely desirable— (laughter)—
but I do not come here to flatter or mislead—(hear, hear)
—and I am bound to say that whether my great grandchild
may or may not live to see that consummation arrive, I
have not the smallest expectation of seeing it myself.
(Hear, hear.) There is another description of taxation,
gentlemen, which has undergone, on the whole, no reduc-
tion, and in some cases even an increase, and that is the
tax upon what I may call stimulants. (Laughter and
cheers.) Under the description of stimulants I include
spirits, beer, wine, and tobacco ; and, gentlemen, with re-
spect to that class of article, it certainly is not, I think,
my own business, who do not deny to myself the use of
them, to come here and preach among you a high and as-
cetic doctrine. (Hear.) And I will venture to say, particu-
larly in respect to tobacco, that as regards the mass of the
community there is no sort of evil or mischief of a serious
kind, at least so far as my experience and knowledge goes,
to be traced to its use—(cheers and laughter)—but I do not
venture to say that the exigencies of the country will per-
mit us to look forward to a very great diminution in that
class of taxation which is laid upon what I have termed
stimulants ; and I think that so long as these exigencies
continue to be what they are, and so long as wo have not
found any more satisfactory method of getting by direct
process at the pockets of the taxpayers, it will be necessary
for us to continue to raise money, I doubt, upon the stimu-
lants that are used by the population at large. However,
gentlemen, on the whole this review, which is perhaps of
a homely character, presents to us satisfactory features; it
shows that at all events we get our fee from the poverty of
the country as well as the magnificence of the State—it
shows that the first wants of the human being, that are ne-
cessary for ,xietenee, that are necessary for decency, go free
untaxed. (Hear.) It shows that the first comforts of the
people, though they are not untaxed, are subject to taxes
far more moderate than any that have been levied in former
times, and likewise, I trust, that we may venture to believe
that beneficial process which has operated those diminu-
tions in the burdens of the country have not yet reached
the farthest point to which they may he carried. (Cheers.)
About 50 or 55 years ago the taxation of the country
amounted to £3 10s. per head. Immediately after the ter-
mination of tho great war it fell considerably, and was
brought down perhaps as low as £2 lOs ; it is now very

little over £2. But it would not be a fair statement of the
case were that 10s. looked upon as the whole advantage
reaped by the community, because an increase, a just and
necessary increase, has taken place in the expenditure of the
country. (Cheers.) You know perfectly well, and I re-
joice that it is known perfectly well, that the wages of al-
most all kinds of labour have particularly increased.
(Applause.) If the value of labour has increased to the in-
dividual employer it follows that it has rendered an in-
crease of pay to the Government officials necessary, and
that therefore the soldier, the civil servant of all descrip-
tions, is much better paid now and much better treated
now than in former times. (Hear, hear, and applause.)
That increase has increased the amount of taxation; but it
is an increase, so long as the rate of pay to the civil servant,
the soldier, and to the sailor is raised, and supposing justice
with economy is practised, which no man in this vast assem-
blage will for one moment grudge. (Cheers.) That there
is another way,a far more effective way, of judging how we
now stand compared with the manner we stood forty or
fifty years ago, is to consider what had been at the re-
spective periods the aggregate income of the country, and
to consider how much of it has been taken away by the
Government for the purpose of meeting the wants of the
public service. Now, as well as I can venture to make a
computation upon this subject, I will say that fifty years
ago, out of every £6 of private income or assets of all
classes taken together, £1 was taken away by Government
for the purposes of the Exchequer, and that now, on the
contrary, instead of taking £1 in every £6, which cannot
be said to be required for attaining the same purposes, but
in a more extended and efficient manner, £1 in every £9
in the country is taken. Well, gentlemen, in that same
period we have seen an extension of the political franchise
of the community in England ; indeed, it noes not appear
to be very clear whether the proportion of working men
who are now in possession of the suffrage is or is not greatly
larger, or even, indeed, whether it is larger at all, than it
was forty years ago, before the time of the Reform Bill.
(Hear, hear.) But in Scotland, at any rate, no such com-
parison has been drawn. That proportion of the working
classes which has been enfranchised has been a sheer addition
to the constituency; for before the Reform Bill I apprehend
there was no such thing as working men in Scotland who had
the capacity, either in town or country, of giving a vote for
their representatives in Parliament. (Cheers.) And, gen-
tlemen, without attempting to enter into the details, I will
venture also to express the hope which I have expressed with
regard to taxation, that on this point also we have not arrived
at the final term of possible improvement; but on the contrary
that the day may not be far distant when we may be per-
mitted to indulge the expectation of witnessing a further
progress in the direction of an extension of the suffrage.
(Cheers.) Another change, gentlemen, has taken place, of
which I for one scarcely know how to state the importance.
I mean the change that has been effected with regard to the
conveying into the houses of the community what may be
termed political information by the emancipation of the
Press. (Cheers.) The omanicipation and cheapening of
the periodical Press have constituted in themselves a new
era in the existence of the working men of this country.
I do not think it is necessary for us to find fault or pass a
severe judgment on the more restricted system that pre-
vailed before. The truth is that this method of conveying
information periodically upon public affairs to the various
classes of the community is one of the advances, one of
the real advances, effected by modem civilisation.
• (Cheers.) The newspapers altogether in the history of the
human race are but as a thing of yesterday. When they
began, their circulation was and long continued to be
limited. Gradually it spread from class to class; they were
the luxury of the very rich, then they became the enjoy..
ment of the middle class, and now, continually widening
' the circle of their benefits, they have become the privilege
• and accessible enjoyment, if ono may venture to say so, of
every member of the community. (Cheers.) No change,
I believe, of a more beneficial character has been carried
out for many years—nothing that has on the ono side
done more to convey satisfactorily to the public a large
amount of political information, together with all other in-
formation of general and public interest now constantly
supplied at the lowest charge, has done more by its reci-
procal action to strengthen the institutions of the country,
by the promotion of contentment and by generating a
strong sense of union and mutual goodwill in the various
classes of the community. (Applause.) Well, gentlemen, I
need not remind you how much has been done of late years
for the promotion of public education. Reference may indeed
still be made to that subject as one in which much remains
to be done. Of that I am fully aware : it must continue to
be the subject of most serious anxiety to the public men
• of England to consider how a beneficial movement in that

direction can be continued and extended until we are able
to say that, as now the necessaries of life for the purposes
of bodily sustenance are supplied, so the necessaries of life
for the primary purpose of mental cultivation shall be at
the command of every member of the community. (Cheers.)
Great progress, however, has already been made, and more
may be hoped for. Well, gentlemen, another important}
most important department of modern legislation, has been
beneficent and prudent—the limited and guarded interfer-
ence which the legislature has attempted with reference to
protecting against undue and exhausting labour the feeble
and the young. (Cheers.) There was at one time *
chance that by a narrow and one-sided view of the prin-
ciples of political economy we might have overlooked
what was justly due to the principles of a higher kinci+
those of humanity, philanthropy, and justice ; or rather
there was a danger that we might have forgotten for *
moment that there were in the subject two sets of princi-
ples, which, though they appeared to be at variance with
each other, are essentially in accordarice one with the
other. We have seen, however, beneficial restraints im-
posed without use of capital, and in the application Of
labour as regards the feeble portion of the community and
the young ; and this likewise may be regarded, I think,
as no unimportant chapter in the history of a true and
solid social progress. I confess lam one of those who
believe that a very small part of what Government can do
for the people is to be done by positive and coercive regu-
lation. By far the largest portion of the beneficial action
of the State is to be found in the removal of unwise
restraints, and in offering opportunities of which the free
will of the citizen may or may not avail itself as ho inal
think proper. We have, therefore, attempted to do some"
thing in that direction, and my hon. friend leas alluded t°
two measures in which it has been my happy fortune t°
take an interest and to bear a share—the organisation of
the Post-office savings banks, and the bill for facilitating
the sale of annuities and the granting of life assurances for
small sums. (Cheers.) These are measures which appear to
me to be sound in principle. They do not in any
way inter-
fere with the labouring man's liberty of choice, or the liberty
of choice enjoyed by any ono else. If he thinks he can do
better with his money than to carry it to the Governmentsavings bank, by all means let him do better with it.
All
that is done is done with a very moderate, nay a very low*
rate of interest ; a perfect security is offered, combined
with the greatest possible convenience. The attempt made
is to give him information so full and so clear that he cannot
possibly be ignorant of the precise terms on which the Go-
vernment holds his money, and likewise to put him in&
position in which he can reclaim that money whenever he
pleases, and wherever he pleases. Now that is the whole
secret of Post Office saving banks, and nothing can be
more remarkable than the manner in which they have
answered a real public exigency. I cannot reckon that
they have been in full work for much more than three years}
and yet besides having transacted an immense amount of
business, and having returned to depositors some millions
of money, we have got I think in that short period of time
between six and seven millions of the earnings of the people
in our hands—(cheers)—and that in sums beginning from
ls. upwards, and averaging I believe not more than £lO or
£l2 in the whole for each depositor. Now, gentlemen+
that is an important piece of modern legislation, became it
represents in the first place a very great growth in the
provident habits of the people, and that is the most essen-
tial and the greatest advantage that can possibly be brought
about by any act of legislation in such a province ; it re-
presents also, let me add, and add with satisfaction and
with joy, an increasing confidence on the part of the people
in the Government ; there is no more marked proof of that
confidence than when the hard earnings of the industry ef•
the poor are carried for deposit to the hands of the office°
of the State ; and if anything could render the exten-
sive action of these banks more signal and satisfactory Os
it is this, that that money has been tendered to the State A
a permanent, indeed, but a low rate of interest, during a Pe-
riod when, upon the whole, from the action of a variety of
causes the rate of interest ruling in the money-market at
large has been extraordinarily and exceptionally high'
(Cheers.) The other act is founded exactly upon the same
principle respecting the freedom of choice of every member
of the community, holding out no fictitious allurements or
inducements, not pretending in the slightest degree to give
to the labouring man the benefit of one farthing at the cost
of anybody else—for it is essential and vital to this measure
that it should contain no eleemosynary element —but at the
same time offering that kind of security, that kind of CO';
venienco which in case they are disposed to the exercise el
providence, and always in case they can find no bettermode
of investing that which they wish to save, will affordthent
the occasion they wish for. (Cheers.) The effect of these
changes has been as marked as it has been beneficial; it hal
increased loyalty to the throne, respect for the leg'
union, confidence and concordbetweon the several classes ef
the community ; and I know not on what point those wile°
Providence has blessed with larger means are now entitled
to make any complaint as to the general conduct of the
working classes. (Hoar.) As to the struggle which is in-
volved between capital and labour, as long as it is managed
by each party with a full sense of the rights of each other,
by fair and above-board means, and a full allowance to other
people of the liberty which they claim for themselves, I
have no apprehension myself of this kind of competition
between the capitalist and tho labourer. (Cheers.) As
have said, speaking in all characters, though unworthily,
as a Minister of State and a representative of law and au-
thority, I know nothing of which we have to complain in
you ; but the labouring classes have the great lesson to
learn respecting the rights of minorities. That is 6
lesson of infinite difficulty ; it is a lesson which Pdll
men of Glasgow have learned perfectly. (Cheers sn
laughter.) You aro accustomed to see in operation all the
energy which goes to increase production with the utmost
freedom ; but although you have learnt this lesson, 94
different portions of the working population of the country
aro in different circumstances, and have learnt this lesson
differently. I will tell you honestly what I consider is
involved in this lesson of respecting the rights of the
minority. I understand, in the first place, that machine/
is to be introduced wherever manufactures can be better
produced by machinery than by human labour. The ope-
ratives of Glasgow and of Lancashire would ridicule aPy
man who should attempt to tell them that the steam-en-
gine and the power-loom, by doing certain operations bet'
ter and quicker than human labour, are hostile to they
interests. But this lesson is not so learnt by every 13011°1
of the community, as to relieve those who feel an interea'
in the welfare of the working classes from the necessity
of reminding them from time to time that it is a leis'
take to look on machinery as hostile to the interests e'
labour ; but, on the contrary, it is not only beneficial, but
tends to raise the condition of the working populatioo•
But if you are to proscribe ell machinery, the same se:
meet which leads you to proscribe the steam-engine anus
lead you to proscribe steam ploughs ; and if the stea,A
plough, the horse plough, nay, even the spade, and well);
leave you to grub the ground with your hands. (Cheer%
I aver that at this moment there are some trades in vibic`;
the labour of women and boys is more or less either limits°
or proscribed by regulations enforced by men who are 6°
short-sighted as to believe that they are benefiting thenl-
selves by cutting off sources of employment from the rneui,
bers of their families. (Hear, hear.) That is what it come'
to. Well, gentlemen, there is another point, and
I again, I would appeal to you with some confidence, and that
is the labour of strangers. I believe there are trades ill
which it is very disagreeable to the workmen of one Pis°
if the workmen of another place are brought in by then
ter. The people of a certain district were not thought to 11‘
very clever at the process of boring coal. What did 04
do ? They introduced some Scotchmen. But the natif'
so to call them, were not altogether pleased with the arri7,
of these Scotchmen ; and even in some cases anonyreBl7
letters wore written, calling on the Scotchmen to with
draw, and to the employers, desiring them to dismiss thee"
Scotchmen. These short-sighted people forgot that if tbrei
Scotchmen, who were the more competent labourers, itto
withdrawn, probably the result would have been that or
district would not have been improved at all. Whatele.t
be the regulation among workmen. that may tend to iwio
the freedom of the individual's choice, that may tenci4
interfere with the moral right that every man has to car
7st
his own labour individually into what he thinks the it,
market—l venture to say those regulations are all in Pa
r,
ciple unsound ; and I confidently predict that in preeto
tion as the working community of this country cont
to advance in every attainment that tends to dignify linta,
nature, and to raise the people above the condition al
mere tool or instrument to that of an intellectual, ratiettto.
and so will all attempts to interfere oe to
part immortalof
one
ma being,
with the liberty of another fall more °no
bn ng'
more into disrepute. I admit that it is a much harder leaava
for the working man to apply these principles fairly
fully than for persons in circumstances of abund° is
Immense progress has been made,
and is being nisde'Dot
these respects, and all those interferences, if they all:ecred
dead, aro about to die ; and the reason why I en'e
upon such a subject was, that what I desire to see
continual advance of the working community, not 11161.-0,..
in their material circumstances, but likewise in the
ere
spect and confidence of their fellow-ciiizens. If thy,
be an apprehension that you cherish separate trir
terests, disarm that jealousy by your conduct. or
doubtedly some portion of the proceedings of the lab°oo
ing classes are still open to criticism, namely, the atilele
on the part of majorities to interfere with minorities•
right hon. gentleman, after a few further observation.,
sumed his seat amidst great cheering.

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4.9
London : Printed and Published by Wll, L1A.1.1 Ail' so, 11
at No. 112, Strand, Pi inter, at Tim Surf ottuti
Strand, in the Precinct of theS'‘voy. in the v"
Middlesex.—Thursday, November 2, 183