The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-14 00:00:00

to quote from such a document without producing it.
(Hear, hear.) ILord Dalhousie, when he gave the
opinion which had been voted, had no notion of the
state of feeling in this country or of the measure pre-
pared by the government. The plea that agitation pre-
vailed on this subject in India was of but little avail, for
the measure proposed by the government was likely to
keep up that agitation. The most important evidence
had been given before both houses on the subject, and
more time should be taken to prepare the measure,
which ought to be held up to the people of India and
this country as a wise, salutary, and permanent act
of legislation, and not a mere temporary expedient.
The Earl of ALBEMARLE objected to a double
government as expensive, irresponsible, and opposed to
the prosperity and well-being of India. The President
of the Council said that more attention would be paid
to education and public works : but as long as the
double government existed, any improvement, intellec-
tual or physical, was impossible. As to the agitation,
an agitation for better measures would be salutary ; but
a dangerous agitation, arising from an extravagant ir-
responsible double government, was greatly to be appre-
pended. He remembered an outbreak in 1810, at
Benares, when the government attempted to lay on a
house tax in the province of Bengal. It was resisted
in a most determined way. All the population left the
town, the dead were thrown into the river because there
was no one to bury them, and the government at last
abrogated the tax as to Benares, but layed it on other
parts of the province. The noble earl instanced other
cases of similar agitation, and warned the government
against the renewal of such scenes which might arise
from the disappointment of the people at the meagre
and inefficient character of the measure. The opinion
of the Governor-General on such a subject was entitled
to but little weight, surrounded as he was by the Court
of Directors, whose opinions must necessarily influence
his views. (Hear, hear.)
The motion was then agreed to, and the house ad-
journed at half-past 9 o'clock.

They had at last the schedules before them, and he must
say that he did not wonder that the right hon. gentleman
should have kept them back as long as he could ; for they
plainly showed how onerous and insupportable this tax
would be. (Hear, hear.) Take two men of 21 years of age
—one of them might be in the bloom of early manhood
with a long life before him ; and another might be con-
sumptive with not two years to live ; yet by the schedules'
they were treated as precisely the same. (Loud cheers.)
Take again two men of thirty-five--one might be sinking
under heart disease and the other in the prime of life, yet
the same thing occurred. In short the same glaring ine-
quality pervaded the whole plan. One property might not
pay the tax once in half a century, whilst hnother might
(tconstantly becoming liable to it. (Loud cheers.) He
,
not take a
case operation. He would
not believe that the country was
at
injustice of the measnee
and he would, therefore, offer one
or two illustrations of its direct
pdrezenrtty,
inwhheerrietetdheh_yduettray
nwgaesrer
wlyhioenheppaiedr
cent.,of
or
of
ten ; but he would take the middle case, where person
succeeded to his uncle or brother, where' a
i the duty
three per cent. Suppose a matt in the prime of lifey was
suc-
ceeded to his brother at the age of 39, in property worth
property
would ' By the schedules the taxable value of that
would be 1,5061., or say 1,5001. The three per cent, on
that would be 451., which he would have to pay in eight
half-yearly instalments. He would thus have to pay up-
wards of ] 11., or 11 per cent. for the first four years, dur-
ing Which time every one knew that the charges were
unusually onerous, and that, he felt sure, would be found a
most grievous impost. Take again the same case when the
property was 1,000/. The sum that the heir would have
to contribute to the tax would be 4501., payable in four
yearly instalments of 1121. 10s. each, in addition, more-
over, to the income tax. (Hear, hear.) He could not con-
ceive a more grievous burden. (Cheers.) He came now to
that portion of the plan which referred to corporations.
These the right hon. gentleman proposed to tax at the
rate of 6d. in the pound, so that they had thus an open
avowal that the proposed measure was equivalent to au
extra income tax of 6d. in the pound. (Cheers.) It was
in fact' a property tax, and a property tax in the most ob-
jectionable form in which it was possible to be proposed.
(Cheers.) It would have been far better, far more candid,
and certainly far more just, if the right hon. gentleman,
instead of calling it a succession duty, had at once given it
its proper term of an income tax of 6d. in the pound.
(Loud cheers.) He was glad to find that the poorer clergy
were to be exempt, for the tax would have
,fallen very
NEW' WRIT. hardly ripen them ; but the right hon. gentlernan's admis-
On the motion of .an HON. MEMBER, a new writ was sion with respect to corporations sole was equally an ad-
ordered to be issued' for the shire of 'Edinburgh, in the mission against the whole tax. (Hear, hear.) 'lf this were
room of Sir J. Hope, deceased.. a tax upon property, he could not see why corporations
SUCCESSION DUTY BILL, sole should be excused. At all events, the bishops ought
to pay, for they had expressed their approbation of the
On the motion for going into committee on this bill. ,did not see
tax. (Loud cheers.) He certainly any reason
Sir J. PAKINGTON rose to move the amendment 'of why at least the richer corporations sole should not be
which he had given notice, that the bill be committed that made to contribute. for. though the right honourable
day six months. He regarded not only this tax, but still gentleman's argument in favour of their exemption,
more the machinery by which it was proposed to enforce it, founded upon the heavy expenses to which they were
subject in succeeding to their incumbency, was perfectly
with the greatest possible disapprobation, and he thought true, it was equally true with regard to all owners
that if they passed this bill they would abandon their first of real property whatever. (Hear, hear, hear.) He (Sir
duty to those who sent them there. In stating to the J. Pakington) came now to another objection, namely,
house the• views 'he entertained on the subject, he was the inquisitorial character of the tax. (Hear, and cheers.)
bound to bear in mind that he should not do so for the (Hear,)
The inquisition of the income tax was nothing to this.
Under the income tax a man could not be called
first time and that he had already, at considerable length, on to expose what his property was beyond that which he
explained his views when the right hon. gentleman pro- held in the place; 'nobody could tell what might be his
posed his resolutions. The speech of the right hon. gentle- property elsewhere. A tradesman returned his profits on
manns in introducing the resolutions, was marked in a con- his business ; and no one knew what property he might
siderable degree as delivered in a tone of authority. The have in railway shares, or in the funds 'or any other de-
scription of prOperty. The legacy duty now paid was
right hon. gentleman touched undoubtedly on the great wholly free from this objection ; but was the provision
objections felt in various quarters to this tax, but he under this bill ? The moment a death occurred, those who
glanced at them very lightly, and he abstained altogether were responsible as represertatives of the deceased, and a
from entering into any eiplanation of the details on which great many would be embraced in that responsibility,
must make a return of the whole of the property which
the objections to which this 'particular description of tax they inherited; everything they owed, and everything that
rested. In the speech which ho (Sir J. Pakington) then was owing to them—down to the fortunes of their chil-
tlah open
made, he challenged the Government to meet him fairly dren ; every circumstance connected with their affairs wasid
with figures, and to join issue with him in the objectionsto the eyes of the commissioners. (Hear.) And
,he . entertained.;..and he stated. then, and repeated is was sought to be enforced by what he must call ' the
that penal clauses of the bill. (Hear.) He did not blame the
now, that anythinglike ' party opposition to a proposal of Chancellor of the . Exchequer for those penal clauses ; ho
this-kind must- be unsuccessful, and Must fail, unless it' blamed him for proposing this bill ; and he knew that it
would be so odious and intolerable to the country that their
rested on the strong clear groind. Of reason and of justice, first
npulse would be to seek revenge. He knew that if
He was very likely to fall into errors of detail, as he had this tax were passed it must be fortified by tyrannical and
not access to official documents. He might have been hie
arbitrary enactments to eneoree its payment. (Hear.)
corrbirt in particular items, but he felt strong in the opinion He was wise in his proposal ; but thereweretwo questions
that, as regarded the general substance of the figures which remaining behind of no little moment—would Parliament
pass the bill—and if Parliament were so subservient, would
he had stated,: they were unimpugned in argument and in
the country -submit 'to it ? He hoped and believed they
justice. He.was not followed by any member of the Go- would not. He would be the last to counsel his country-
vernment, and he felt this a disadvantage in addressing the men to resist the law ; but, without hesitation ho would
house again. But though no answer was then made to the exercise whatever influence ho possessed in urging the
country to resist, leTevery legitimate and lawful means,
arguments he used, there were two important respects in
which he stood in a different sition from that which he an impost so vexatious, and machinery so tyrannical and
position
inquisitorial. (Hear.) 'He fully believed Chet such would
occupied when last he addressed the house on this subject. be the result. The 21st clause of this bill dealt with tim-
Vhere had been& moat- important discussion on this sub- ber. The bill ought to be argued as mainly affecting small
jest in another place sine that period. Since that period proprietors, and it might be said that in alluding to tim-
ber he was not considering that case • but he contended
the : bill bad been placed in their hands, and it entirely
that the rich and the poor were alike entitled to justice in
justified the opinions he had previously formed of the mea- that house. This clause -was so drawn that he was dis-
sure, and particularly of the machinery by which the tax posed to think the Chancellor of the Exchequer was not a
was proposed to be. collected. (Hear, hear.) He would, landed proprietor himself, or he would better have under-
however, first advert to the discussion "in another place," stood the way in which timber was dealt with. Two
to which he had already referred. The opinion of that modes of taxing it were proposed. The first gave the pos-
assembly was tested by a division ; and the Government sessor the option of declaring what he believed to bo the
was saved from virtual condemnation by a very narrow average annual returns procurable from the sale of timber.
majority—by the votes, in fact, of that portion of the as, This clause would require very considerable explanation
sembly whom ho might describe as ' " corporations sole"
(the bishops), and who expressed their entire approbation over
it could be enforced, as no period was laid down
over which the average was to be taken. The other alter-
of an impost that would fall neither upon their order nor native was that the whole value of the timber should be
upon themselves. (Loud cheers.) But what the country
would regard much more than the result of a close division estimated and a per centage paid upon its annual value as
was the signal triamph of argument and reasoning which, a life interest. He hardly knew which of these modes
was the most objectionable and the least fair. But it
in his opinion, was entirely on the side of the opponents
should be remembered that timber was never, or very
of the measure. (Heir, hear.) On the one side they had
in a remarkable'degree legal learning, close reasoning, and rarely, looked to as a source 'of income ; it was usually
gold as
great eloquence, wheaeas that reasoning and that eloquence
fore the proprietor
of covering the expense of repairs. The:e-
was only met on the other by brief statements of the one paying th incometrietor would not only have the pleasure of
tai o his repairs, which never came
only argument which hehad ever heard advanced in favour
of Vie proposal of the Government—namely, the alleged into hise pocket, but he nwould also have' to pay a tax upon
the money which he spent for repairs. The second alter-
anomaly of the present legacy duties. (Hear.) That had native was that the timber which stood up on the land for
been the argument, too, of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The right hon. gentleman told them like Wise that he pro-
vliigenerations,was looked
a would and still remain therefor generations,
posed the tax as a substitute for the income tax. Well, 10okedupon as an ornament, which had never
paid, and would not pay the proprietor a farthing, was to
his (Sir J. Pakington's) answer was ready. Looking at the be valued from generation to generation; every death that
nature of the tax on successions, and the proposed mode of took place a fresh valuation was to be made. Did they
levying it, the income tax was by far the lesser evil of the call that a tax ? He called it plunder. (Cheers.) If they
two. (Hear.) Again, the right hon. gentleman told the
house that the tax was to relieve them of a great burden of 'carried out that clause, with all its detestable machinery,
indirect taxation • but ho (the right hon. baronet) disputed it would be plunder, and not taxation. (Hear.) By
clauses 42 to 45 inclusive, what were trustees, guardians,
altogether the wisdom of attempting to get off a portion of and others called on to do ? They were required to give a
their indirect taxation—however desirable that might be-- full and true account of all the property, and all such other
by imposing a new tax that was open to such grave, seri- particulars as might be necessary or proper for enabling
ous, and, he humbly thought, insuperable objections. the commissioners fully and accurately to ascertain the
(Hear.) But could they vindicate the proposed tax on the amount due. If the commissioners were satisfied with do
ground which had been so often taken, of the anomaly that amount sent in, they might cause an estimate to be made
at present existed ? In his opinion they could not. (Hear.) by any person or persons appointed by themselves, and
The right -hole. gentleman had dwelt strongly upon that,
which was indeed the strongest part of his case the differ- upon that estimate might assess the duty. It, was true
once between settled and unsettled personalty; ,but he (Sir there was an appeal—to the Court of Exchequer. Fancy
of England •
the ease of a poor householder in the north ,--
J. Pakington) was prepared to resist the proposal of
Pak-
the Government most distinctly upon that very ground. first, he was called upon to do that which he (Sir J.
in ton) defied any man to do , then he was exposed to
The right hon. gentleman said that the present legacy duty
this attack of the tax collector and then he might appeal
was so extremely unfair that something must bo done or
to the Court of Exchequer. Then came a list of
they must be prepared to repeal it altogether. He (the fines, possibly
right hon. baronet) was quite ready to accept that alter- sdblY
of imprisonment for contempt of court,
native, and to say that it would be better to repeal the if every one these arbitrary and tyrannical powers
were not complied with. It was not the rich man who
legacy duty at once than to levy the tax proposed to be
imposed under the provisions of this bill. (Hear, hear.) transacted. his business through his solicitor by whom these
The argument of the right hon. gentleman might be thus regulations would be felt • it was the humble owner of pro-
The the small '
small landowner, or the small householder. Look
stated :—" The legacy duty is so unfair in its operation
and so unequal in its pressure, that I, as a minister, cannot lel! the frightful alternative they put before that man; and
leave it as it is, and therefore I will make it worse." he represented the great ;lumen...ca. 1 majority of those who
would have to pay the tale. Rich men were a small frac-
(Hear, hear.) lethey must impose the tax upon settled tion of the great whole. (Hoar, hear.) The small man
personalty, the ought not in fairress and justice to make it
:would have to comply with all these complicated. forms,
prospective ; otherwise they would be passing an ex Post which he could not or would not do, or, at the risk of all
facto la el. But what was the Chancellor of the Exche- these penal consequences, he must employ the neighbour-
quer's answer to that ? Why, ho treated this, a question
of principle, entirely as ono of expediency. Ho said he ins lawyer to do it for him ; and thus he would be bur-
could not consent to such a proposal, because the tax would cloned, not only with the succession duty, a most intoler-
not accrue for fifty years-e-in other words, his answer was able tax, at a most intolerable time, but with a lawyer's
that he could not afford to be just. (Cheers.) But the bill in addition. (Hear, hear.) The most unjust part of
the bill was the accumulated tax which in a given event,
real question was not one of anomaly as between settled and a very common event, the right hon. gentleman sought
and unsettled property, but as between personalty, and, to
use the right. hon. gentleman's own phrase, rateable pro- to impose. In the case of settled property, it seemed that
if one life succeeded another within five
perty ; for let him here remind the house that this was not years, and be:
all the instalments were paid, the instalments of the Are-
a question solely affecting land. No doubt the bill world
decessor would cease. But in the case of unsettled pro-
act upon the landed interests in an oppressive manner ;
but there were other interests to whom it would apply perty, to which the owners succeeded in fee, the unpaid
quite as much. There was, ho eever, a party in the country instalments were to be a debt to the Crown, charged upon
the estate, '
and the unfortunate sua.essor would have to
and in that house who were ready to adopt any course in pay, not only his own succession duty, but that of his pre
order to aim a blow at the aristocratic institutions of this decssor. This, operate
country, and at the property by which those institutions again, would not so much upon
were supported. the rich man as upon the man of small property ; and in
(Hear, hear.) He was sorry to see any
the case of brothers succeeding brothers, until these instal-
government, under the necessities of their position, lend- ments were paid off, the; burden in many cases would reach
ing themselves to further the objects of that party ; but
from 2to 25 per cent. upon the property. Such were the
the cry which had been raised in favour of the proposal grave objections to which this measure was open, and upon
adopted by the right hon. gent!emen was as delusive as it
was unwise and unjust. The o gen- sof every small house, what authorities did the Government rest in proposing it?
It was difficult to find authorities which would bear on all
the manufacturer who possessed a factory, and the mer-
chant who was the proprietor of a warehouse, were all as the members of this amalgamated Government. Perhaps
the noble lord (Russell) looked with respect to the names
deeply concerned in the bill as the landed interests ; for
they all held rateable property, and would all be liable to of Fox, and Grey, and Burke ; others might regard with
no loss re pect the name of Peel ; perhaps they might all
the tax. (Hoar, hear.) This was a tax upon the younger
children of families, and upon unmarried daughters at the recognise sthe high authority of Adam Smith. He could
appeal to all these high authorities as having condemned a
moment of their domestic affliction. When they were de- ll of this kind ; Mr. Mill had also condemned it, and
prived of the coal sorts of the parental home, and were Sir Robert Peel, quite recently, had met the motion for
thrown upon their own pittance, the tax-gatherer would this very tax by the emphatic Atatoment that before they
come upon their capital, and deduct no inconsiderable por- attempted to pass it, they must correct the inequalities of
tion. In a word, he need only refer them to the striking
taxation upon rateable property, and must deal with those
expression of one to who:3 authority the noble earl oppo-
site ought to be the first to bow. The late Earl Grey, stamp 'duties and that land. tax to which rateable property
was subject. Neither did the authority of Mr. Pitt tell
when a member of that house, and when in 185 Mr. Pitt much more in favour of the Goverment. In one respect
proposed to extend the legacy duties to descendants in the he hoped they would be like him, for he failed in his at-
direct line, said, with equal truth and force, that he could tempt to impose this burden on the country. But this was
" only designate the measure as a tax upon misfortune." not the measure of Mr. Pitt ; it differed from it as widely
(Cheers.) He had said, and this was the argument of the as possible.; the only resemblance was in the eight half-
hon. rrember for Lambeth (Mr. W. Williams), that the yearly instalments. But Mr. Pitt did not propose to tax
chief ground upon which the bill was suppei ted was the the direct succession to property ; and he did not (-my his
alleged &nomaly of- taxing personalty, while rateable pro- duty beyond the comparatively low rate of 6 per cent. It
perty was exempt ,' but was it a less anomaly that pee" was true, in 1805, he modified the personal part of his pro-
sonal property should be excused from other taxes to which Dose'. extending it to 10 per cent. and to directdescendants.
rateable property was alone called upon to contribute ? But Mr. Pitt proposed this as a war tax. (Hear, hear.)
(Loud cheers.) Did they not recollect that in times gone His arguments amounted to this—" We are involved in a
by—times that he hoped would never come again—in the war, en which property is to be defended, and it is fair
days when the battle of the corn laws was fought, the ae and right that property should be taxed for its own de-
culturists repeatedly raised the question of their peculiar fence!, And no doubt the country would now respond in
burdens ; and what was the answer they received ? Why, the same way, if we were involved in a sanguinary struggle,
that they had not to pay the legacy duty, and that was an or if we wore getting up an army of reserve to resist an in-
equivalent. (Hear, hear.) The landed interests were the wading army, Parliament, or the country, would not be
victims of not one or two, but several anomalies, that com- very nice about the means of meeting the emergency. But
*tele, counter eailed the alleged anomaly of their oxemp- was there any: such emergency ? They were imposing this
tion from legacy duty. They had to pay poor rates, and tax to supply the deficiency which they themselves created
for stamps upon con reyances, with many other similar
—(hear hear)—or to correct anomalies which did not exist.
charge, which personal property escaped. He knew it These grounds were not sufficient. The example of Mr.
had been said that they ought not to say anything about Pitt failed them ; the circumstances were different, and
rates, because they had bought theirestates subject to theme did not justify them in calling on Parliament for so objec-
but he altogether refused to concur in such an argument, tionable a tax. Ho feared there was a motive less creditable
They might just as well say, if by any ill fortune this bill for the proposal of this tax, arising from the extraordinary
should pass, that they had no right to complain, because manner in which this Government was constituted. It
they had bought their property liable to succession duty, had no party on which to depend, and must conciliate how
or any other duty they might think proper to impose. it could the support of some four or five different sections
(Hear, hear.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer had can- of its opponents. At one time this was to be done by an
didedlyadmittod inhis speech upon the budget, that the land
appology for a Protestant speech, by which :the Roman
was liable to "peculiar and exceptional burdens." Now, Catholic members of the Government were won back.
what was the amount of those burdens ? The right bon, (Hear, hear.) At another time—and he feared this was ,
tl had stated the annual value of the rateable pro-
gen mien a case of the kind—by pandering to the radical section
perty of this country at ,80 000,000/. ; and he had also his of the house. (Hear, hear.) He had begun to hope that
authority for estimating the burdens upon the land at this war of clauses was at an wad. He had never heard
14,000,0001. or 15,000,0001• eyear. He -ventured, how-, words in which he more thoroughly concurred than those ,
ever, to add to the right hon. gentleman's figures charges employed by Mr. Disraeli in his speech on this financial
for fire insurances; stamps, and other items, which rates- proposition, when he stated his strong opinion that this war
ble property did pay, and which would raise the annual between different classes ought now to cease, and that
taxation upon rateable property to 17,500,0001. or there- town and country ought to have a common interest.
shouts, which was about 22 per cent. And now what was (Hear.) The responsibility that rested on the Government
the amount of the income derived from personal property? was a deep and serious one in proposing a measure of this
He shrunk from naming the sum ; but the total amount description, which must inevitably have the effect of rais-
of taxation (exclusive of the income tax, which he had ing in the minds of owners of rateable property a revived
altogether omitted as being equal in both cases)—the total sense of injury and injustice. (Hear.) He traced this
taxes raised upon all the vast amount of personal property proposal to the necessity which the Government felt of con-
was at the most only three or four millions. (Hoar.) Howie ciliating the radical members of the house—to the faotthat
then, could the Government be justified in imposing this they had determined to propose an unmodified income tax,'
additional taxation on the ground of an alleged anomaly; and that they had no hope for supßost. to that proposali
(Cheers.) Another reason' whyehe• opposed the bill-was from any of that section on whom therdefendea for elciat-1
the excessive inequality of the tax. (Hear.) This argil- once, unless they accompanied it by another blow at rate-
pent had been urged in 1796, and was equally true now. t able property, Such had been his impression from the

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at five minutes to four

o'clock.