The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-28 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

After inspecting Tregantle Fort on Tuesday,
General Sir John Burgoyne and Colonel Jervois
visited Screasdon and the other defences to the
westward of Plymouth. On Wednesday they in-
spected Staddon Heights to the eastward. Yester-
day they left the district.
Intelligence has been received at Chatham gar-
rison that 1,500 sick and disabled men, together
with cavalry and infantry soldiers whose period of
service has expired, are now on their passage home
from India in various vessels, and may be expected
to arrive at the invalid establishment during the
present summer. Owing to the length of time
which has elapsed since the arrival of any troops
from India the strength of the invalid establish-
ment at Chatham has been considerably reduced,
and now numbers scarcely 100 men of all ranks.

The non-commissioned officers and men of the
Royal Engineers who were about proceeding to
Canada in the Victoria steam-transport, to lay the
electric telegraph between the various military sta-
tions, have returned to headquarters, Chatham, in
consequence of the accident which befel the vessel.
The Duke of Cambridge has expressed, through
Major-General Eyre, his approval of the manner in
which Lieut. Ardagh and the non-commissioned
officers and men of the Royal Engineers exerted
themselves on board the Victoria, on the occasion of
the accident. The party of telegraphists will re-
embark for Canada as soon as a vessel has been
chartered for them by the Government.
Yesterday detachments of non-commissioned offi-
cers and men belonging to various regiments ar-
rived at Chatham garrison from Colchester and
Woolwich, when, after medical inspection, 13 of the
number were admitted into the General Hospital
at Fort Pitt for treatment.

Yesterday a serious accident occurred at the works
on the Horse Shoal, near Spithead. A body of
workmen are engaged in constructing the founda-
tion of the fort to be erected there. To enable them
to carry on the necessary operations the ground on
which the foundation is to be formed is surrounded
by piles driven into the shoal, which supported a
ponderous scaffolding. Yesterday morning 11 men
were at work on the northern part of the erection,
on which two cranes stood ; the water was perfectly
still, and everything was going on in the usual
manner, when the whole framework gave way, and
fell, with the mon upon it, in one confused heap
into the water below. A mile off two watermen,
named Robert Martin and William Butcher, with
a wherry, were proceeding towards Portsmouth,
They beard the crash of the falling timber and saw
the whole scaffolding collapse. They pulled towards
and finding the men
thels pc
loitn
ga
isnqgu coktlhye asII poaotsisnibglteimber luckily rescued
the whole of them. Several of the men were found
to have received serious injuries. One with a frac-
tured thigh, and another with his leg broken, were
sent to the Royal PorNtsmouth and Portsea Hospi-

House of Commons at some inconvenience to attend
the meeting, and that the objects of the association
swaeidreeti
Mr. Hubbard's commit-
tee last session, and after full consideration had
fallen very much into that
.gentleman's views as to
thatn he relyhad in :oerckoerddar with his own views,
the objections which applied to the incidences of
the tax, and to a great extent, though not entirely,
as to the remedies he suggested.

Mr.
cheered, moved
the followingilußß ARon
Ds' resolution Whouti was
:
lewdly"ifhatthe Property and
Income Tax Act, which expires on the sth April
r e
next, operates with great inequality ; that it in
many cases taxes at the same time income and the
property which yields the income;
that it charges
alike the products of capital and the industrial
earnings of intelligence and skill, and tends to pro-
voke on the part of the aggrieved fraudulent self-
assessment as the remedy for the injustice of the
tax. That in any re-enactment of an income tax

the charge on the products of invested property
should only apply to the net income ; and that an
abatement should be made of at least one-third of

the amount derived from the profits of trades, pro-
fessions, and salaries, previous to their assessment."
He observed that the returns the taxpayer was
called upon to make every year required his signa-
and regulations
tur e toa
stated
declaration
to h
according
duly r
tiles
made:
fadthee7 sHeveerhaald alwaysacts of
u p Parliament
to
last in that behalf
year attached his
name to that declaration, in common as he supposed
with everybody else assessed; but seeing, first, that
no one could know what were the rules and regu-

lations of the numerous income tax acts, and, se-
become con-
gevied was un-
ve
nn
edel
dy ,
tahf ter t chaer et fauxl
as
at inquiry,
pr e
sheeny: nl
equal, inconsistent and unjust, he, in making his
last return, struck out the objectionable words, and
He then pointed
pon the various
t the injustice of
classes
lua
st intendedstehseof alwaysnineqcoamal tt, a
noyd
edo f s
poithented
u
ux
or eu,
charging upon terminable annuities the same rate
as upon permanent incomes and upon the rent of
houses, which were subject to considerable expense
in repairs and other charges, the same rate as upon
the rent of land ; and more especially the in-
justice of charging upon the precarious incomes
arising from trades, professions, and salaries, de-
pendent upon the life and health of the taxpayer,
and in many cases liable to vicissitude from causes
over which he had no control, the same rate of tax
as incomes arising from funded or other permanent
property. He quoted Mr. Gladstone, and other
authorities, as to the inequalities, and stated that
the remedy he proposed in regard to schedule D
was that from all industrial incomes, profits of
trade, amount of salaries, and fees of professional
men, one-third should be deducted, and the tax
levied on the remaining two-thirds. He did not
mean to say that this proportion was strictly accu-
rate, but it had the approbation of nearly all the
eminent commercial and professional men examined
before the income tax committee, and of Dr. Farr
and other distinguished statists. The principle
upon which he proposed this was, that in levying
an income tax they had no right to tax capital. He
met "the objection that his proposal was, after all, a
resort to averages, and averages could not be just
in all cases, by observing that the tax as now levied
was based upon averages, but the average he pro-
posed would have the advantage of being far more
just than that which now ruled. The Government
admitted the difference between capital and income
in the deduction allowed, to the extent of 1-6th of
the gross income where a life policy was taken out
to that amount; and Mr. Pressly, of the Board of
Revenue, in his evidence, distinctly stated that the
ground of that exemption was that money put by
for the purchase of a life policy was not income.
But why should the Government dictate to the tax-
payer in what particular way he should invest his
savings ? He referred to the clause which enabled
a trader to defeat the three years' average clause
by not paying upon more in any year than the
total income of that year; to the injustice
inflicted upon those whose incomes were just
above the limits of £lOO and £l5O respectively.
Upon the £lOO income £2 10e. was charged,
while the persons whose income was but ls.
under, paid nothing ; and while the £l5O
income paid £5105., or 9d. in the pound, the £149
income paid only £3 14s. 6d., or 6d. in the pound.
He proposed that the rate of the tax should be equal
upon all incomes under schedule I), but with regard
to the lowest class of incomes, his proposal was that
no less deduction should be allowed than £6O,
which would bo the one-third from £lBO, leaving
the tax-payer to pay upon £120; and the man
whose income was £lOO would pay upon £6O, or
30s. This was a perfectly practical plan, and one
which he believed would meet the injustice of the
tax in a great measure.
Mr. R. N. FOWLER seconded the motion.
In reply to a question,
Mr. HpBARD stated that his proposal did not in-
terfere with the limits within which the tax was
now levied.

Mr. LEE moved an amendment declaring that all
incomes under £l5O should be exempted, (Cries
of No, no.)
Mr. HAMAN seconded the amendment, Which was
negatived by an overwhelming majority.
A person in the body of the hall contended at
some length, but amid much interruption, that they
should go for the entire repeal of the tax, leaving
the Government to make up the deficiency by eco-
in the
as spirit
stated in the notice. of the objects for
which
nomy. He moved an amendment to that effect,
which the chairman declined to put, en the ground
that
thew asnot with
meeting
called,The original resolution was then put and ca./Tied
it
unanimously.
Mr. MURRAY moved the second resolution :--
"That this meeting urges the public to sign peti-
tions in harmony with the foregoing resolutions,
and requests the members for the City and for the
metropolitan boroughs to support the same ; and
also considers it desirable that meetings with the
same object should be immediately held throughout
the country, and that the necessity of reform-Tug the
income tax should bo impressed upon all members
of Parliament."

Mr. GIBBINS, the treasurer of the association,
seconded the Was also adopted
unanimously.resolution, which
A vote of thanks to the chairman was then passed,
in acknowledging which Mr. Crawford accounted
for the absence of several members of Parliament
who had intended to be present, by stating that
they were detained in the House of Commons by
the education debate.