The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-09 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEB. 9, 1865.

The opposition to the Malt Tax, which has been
for some time increasing in force and extending in
action, is now becoming more and more prominent.
It is very evident that the agriculturists do not in-
tend to submit any longer with patience to an im-
post which presses upon them with very unnecessary
weight, and which naturally diminishes their profits
while it curtails their operations. We have long
been accustomed to hearing the abolition of the
malt tax discussed with animation at agricultural
dinners and rural meetings, and latterly the candi-
date for the suffrages of an agricultural district has
had but a poor chance if on the hustings he has not
been prepared to declare his unqualified and uncom-
promising hostility to the tax in any shape. The
matter has now, however, gone a step further, and
yesterday an assembly of gentlemen of position and
influence met at the Freemason's Tavern to consider
the question, being, as Sir Firinar KELLY reminded
them on taking the chair, the first time that the
agriculturists of England had assembled in the
metropolis to discuss the best means of obtaining
from the Legislature the redress of a political griev-
ance. The attendance was very large, and belonged
to no one district or party exclusively, gentlemen
connected with the agricultural interest • coming
from several counties, and farmers from all parts
Mustering in considerable numbers. Besides the
learned chairman himself, there was on the platform

a goodly array of members of Parliament, including

the names of Sir E. B. LYTTON, Sir J. TROLLOPS,
Lord TIowasDALE, Colonel NORTH, and others, but
the real strength of the meeting lay in the large
body of agriculturists from different parts of the
country, who completely filled the room, and who
were singularly unanimous in their sentiments. It
is certain that the grievance of which they complain
is no imaginary one. So large a body of practical
men would not be carried away by a theory. They
would not trouble themselves to assemble in the
Metropolis, and press their claims so strongly upon
the Legislature, if they had not some substantial
grounds for complaint. Though their claim to be
considered the most important body within the
QUEEN'S dominions, as advanced by Sir F. KELLY,
may very reasonably be disputed, yet the agricul-
turists are of sufficient
consequence in our national
system to claim a hearing, and to have a right to
expect that their well-groundedf complaints shall
receive prompt attention
Legislature.
The grievance which they
noorowm the b
rbforward with
so much energy and persistence
From the conclusion of the war in 7, n° new
one.
15 it has re-
mained substantially undiminished, •
havlng been
indeed increased during the Crimean
_war, after
which it returned to its former level. From 1835
to 1852—a pretty long period—the attention of
Parliament was not called to it, although in the
former year Lord CHANDOS, whom Sir F. KELLY
calls the tried friend of the agriculturist, but whose
excrtiors on their behalf during the passing of the

Reform Bill, had certainly not tended to increase
his popularity with the general public, tried to pro-
cure its repeal. In 1852, however, there was some hope
for the Armco; and it no proposed to reduce the

advent
tax by one-half. Lord Government,DEßßY'Saawththe
how-
ever, soon evacuated their seats, and
of the W pigs the farmers' prospects clouded over.itseff
In 1863 the long continued discontent ma
so actively felt that a committee was appointed, but
before its labours were concluded the bill for free-
ing from duty the malt used for feeding cattle
formed part of the Government measures. The
farmers declare that this has been a failure, but Sir
FITZROY KELLY thinks that it has done good service
in admitting the injustice of the burden. Now an-
other session has opened, the farmers and their ad-
vocates are determined to lose no time, but to press
upon the Legislature the strength of their claims.
Very strong arguments were adduced yesterday
on their behalf by some of the speakers. One of
them, Mr. PIINNETT, the chairman of the Central
Association, declared that in these Free Trade times
the farmers were the only producers that were not
free. lie further said that the grievance was not a
class burden, but a public injustice, since beer
which the London brewers now charged at ls. the
gallon, and the retailers ls. 4d., might, but for this
tax, be brewed at a margin of profit at 4d., instead
of Is. 4d. the gallon. In old times, before the in-
crease on this tax, farmers were in the habit of
finding their men in beer, and, if not, giving them
malt to brew for themselves. All these arguments
are, of course, very sound, and no one needs to be
told the advantages of cheap and good beer ; in fact,
they concern the townsfolk more than the country
men, for beer, so cheap as it might be, and compara-
tively unadulterated, would be the most powerful
opponent of those gin palaces which are the ruin of a
large portion of our population.
Still the question is not so much on the surface as
any uninitiated listener to the eloquent and lOgica
addresses of yesterday might easily have believed. In
the first place five millions is no trifling sum to take
off at ablow, and in fact it would not bepossible to do
it without adding largely to other taxes or imposing
new ones. But even supposing the tax to be re-
duced by one half, we must remember that there
are other taxes which press heavily upon the com-
munity. Prudence is still taxed heavily in the shape
of fire assurance ; good tea and sugar are still
luxuries to the poor ; while many thousands of hard-
working men with families groan under the pres-
sure of the inevitable income-tax, which no economy
can avoid, no self-denial can prevent. If the sums
claimed annually, in the shape of income-tax, from
the struggling professional man, or the hard-driven
clerk, were able to be spent in life assurance, we
should not so often see the melancholy spectacle of
respectably brought up families thrown helpless
and penniless on the world, crying eagerly for ad-
mission into schools, asylums, or other charitable
institutions. All these claims must justly be
borne in mind when listening to the grievance of
any particular class, however large or influential.
But there is another aspect to the case. No one
can justly begrudge a remission to the farmer, but
will the farmer get the benefit? We fear that the
landlords are interested in keeping up the agitation,
and that, thanks to their persistent refusal to grant
leases which places the tenants at their mercy, no
sooner will the malt tax come off than the rents
will proportionately go up, so that the real profit of
the reduction will not find its way into the pockets
of the farmers but into the coffers of the landlords.
When the beer duty, amounting to upwards of three
millions, was abolished the public gained nothing
whatever. The great brewers, who made a show of
a trifling reduction, took care to make the publicans
atone fona, and thus what seemed to be a great
public boon really, only served to benefit a few
capitalists. This, we fear, will be in some measure
the result of the-abolitien.of the malt tax, which is
at the most only an indirect tax whose burden is
Tread over the community. On these grounds we
think the exchequer may very reasonably have the
benefit of it for another year, when matters will
probably allow of its reduction by one-half.

Dull and dreary as the debate was on Tuesday,
there were some points which are worthy of notice,
and conspicuously among these may be mentioned
that passage in Lord DERBY'S speech which referred
to America. The noble lord spoke with his accus-
tomed terseness and lucidity, and ably defined the
chief characteristics of the case. In this his re-
marks are certainly very different to those of the
members of the Cabinet and the supporters of the
Government generally. They seem to try to make the
same use of language that TALLEvRAND was averred
to declare to be its intention, to conceal their
thoughts ; and when we have waded through the
long lists of sentences, we are no wiser than at first.
Lord DERBY'S idea of the great war which now
desolates the Western Continent is most excellent,
and no doubt we shall see the realisation of it in the
future, as clearly as its graphic definition now ex-
plains the present crisis. In the first place, the
noble lord said that, though earnestly desiring the
close of hostilities, there did not seem much chance
of it at present. Mr. SEWARD, the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, declared three years ago
that in another month, in all probability, there
should be an end of the war ; but at the present
moment the hostilities are carried on with more
tha* usual " savagery," This recapitulation of facts
shows how mistaken was the judgment of those who,
over and over again, persisted in saying that the
conflict was but a transitory one. With equal force
Lord DERBY discoursed upon the probable settle-
ment of this unhappy dispute, and remarked that
the state of things lately occurring has embittered
and envenomed the contending parties to such an
extent against each other, that future reconcil-
ment will be impossible, and the only prac-
ticable result will be " the separation of
the two portions of the country, or the
entire subjugation of the one by the other." How
true was also the remark that the side which bene-
fitted most largely by the " neutrality" of her MA-
JESTY'S Government has not exhibited much " good
will or gratitude." Indeed the manner in which
the Washington Government have received the
zealous advocacy and constant services of Earl
RUSSELL and his friends have been the very reverse
of appreciatory, and it is another proof of the
fallacy of making uncalled-for sacrifices and unne-
cessary concessions for those who have neither the
spirit to be grateful nor the sense to be moderate.
It is a most mistaken course which our Foreign
Secretary is now pursuing, and it will tend to
nothing but confusion worse confounded in the
long • Meanwhile he seems to think that it is
treason to criticise the Federals at all, and that we
are in some measure bound to pay an extraordinary
amount of deference to them in every respect. It
is not desirable that others should follow in
wake, Jiowever, and the spirit of tine Conservative
llis
leader is therefore very welcome, for he does not
intend evidently to let the matter go by default, as
the noble lord opposite would wish to see it settled.
The two measures which have lately received the
sanction of the Senate of the United States, were
commented upon by Lord DERBY with just severity,
and the inconsistency of their character fully ex-
posed. The giving notice of the termination of the
Treaty of
.
Reciprocity with Canada, and the notice
of the termination
ofthe treaty by which the force
on the lakes is
restrained or limited, were, as he
justly affirm; adopted in a spirit of hostility to this
country. This sentence is the exact xpianatic,n Of